What is Your Purpose?

What is your purpose here in this life? It is so easy to get pulled into other people's lives and their purpose that we lose track of our own purpose, passion and reason for being in this world. Family, Friends, Co-Workers can all distract you from moving closer to the dreams and goals that you have for your life. It's not being selfish to pursue what fulfills you and gives you a sense of making a difference, not just in "THE" world but "YOUR" world.

Personal or professional growth and satisfaction is connected to moving in a direction that makes you feel more whole and complete as an individual. When you expand as an individual you actually expand the lives of the people around you. Staying focused on your personal or professional development is not selfish... it is selfless because of the effect it will have on others. Stay true to yourself and as you expand you will also help others to expand as well.

Live Out Loud!

Disconnect and Detox Your Mind!

"It's become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity"

---Albert Einstien

Have you looked around you lately? Everyone is either on their smart phone, ipad, laptop, or listening to an ipod. Facebook has become our way of interacting with each other rather than actually getting "face time" and speaking to each other. Have you received Happy Birthday messages through facebook? Is it the same as getting a card that has a hand written message from a friend or family member?

Don't get me wrong I have embraced technology just like everyone else...it does help to make things more efficient and a whole lot faster. What I am trying to say is that we need to go on a technology fast from time to time to detox our minds, helping us to back out of the constant noise that we are bombarded with all the time. You always hear about detoxing your body to cleanse it of contaminates for better health but we don't usually hear of the same for our minds.

Make it a point to disconnect form technology and detox your mind.

Live Out Loud!

Adopt The Attitude of Kaizen

Adopt the Attitude of Kaizen

“Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best.”

Do you have a personal rating system to measure where you are in any area of your life? It’s interesting in areas such as work, and school there are systems in place that measure performance, however when it comes to our own lives we never seem to have that system in place. The Japanese have a term called Kaizen. It means constant improvement. The concept that we should always be growing and improving in all areas of our lives is important.

Develop a rating system that helps you to measure where you are at in any given moment. When I coach individuals or groups I will stop them at certain points and tell them to rate themselves based on attitude, energy, and effort. I have them use a rating system from 1 to 10. 1 is the stinkiest, slimiest, sloppiest they could be and 10 is the super, shiniest, sharpest they could be. By monitoring where we are on a constant basis we can adjust our performance and attitudes.

I am not suggesting that you try to be a 10 all the time. That would be exhausting. I am suggesting that you pay attention to where you are so that you know how much you have improved, or need to. By adopting a system to evaluate personal improvement and performance we can save time and be much more effective in the Kaizen of our health and fitness, relationships, career and any other area that needs improvement.

Keep a journal and document your progress. If your life is worth living it is worth documenting. By journaling you can reflect on where and how you improved and develop a road map for success. It’s your life, get started now.

Live Out Loud!

Look for The Best and Overcome the Rest.

What is your Best? What is your families best? What are your co worker's or client's best? What is best in your friends? In a world that leans more towards looking for faults rather than a good find, it's sometimes hard to focus on what is best in us personally and the people, places, and things around us. It really comes down to what you are looking for. Focus is everything! It's like the idea of coincidence or serendipity. People who experience more of the two are usually more focused on what is best around them and they have a tendency to find it. If you change your focus everything changes. The latest brain research even proves that we have what are called Mirror Neurons in our brains. When someone smiles at you these neurons start firing off and your brain signals that you should smile. Another example is if you see someone yawn. What do you usually end up doing? In a world where bad news sells we need to be guarded when it comes to our attitudes and not let things like media blind us to all the good that is around us. The title "Focus on the best and overcome the rest" has allot of meaning because what you focus on expands and that expands you. So would you rather focus on looking for the best in the people, places, or things around you or focus on the opposite. It's Up To You! You create your world.

What's Your Face Value?

A smile confuses an approaching frown.

What face do you take with you everyday? Is it one that when people see it they look forward to it or try to avoid it. I am not talking about the physical structure of the face you are born with. I am talking about how you structure your face. What expression do you use most? If you find that most people avoid you or would prefer not to interact with you then you might need to change your face. Not with plastic surgery but with a different expression.


I guess what I am really trying to say is SMILE!!! A smile makes you feel better and makes the people around you feel better. It's not always easy. There are times when you need to Fake It Til You Feel It! But when you develop the habit of smiling more just like laughing regularly you literally signal your brain to release endorphins into your system that are known as the feel good chemical. It's been proven that endorphins are more powerful than heroin. The best part is that it's legal and FREE. Let's face it, there are days when we need to just decompress and take a nap. It is impossible to feel great all the time. That's alright! How about we decide to walk around feeling good at least most of the time.

A smile is infectiuos,

You can catch it like the flu,

Someone smiled at me today,

And I started smiling too.

How infectious are you? Do you inject people with viruses or vitality? I know that I have developed the habit of smiling when I most need it.That is when I start to feel angry or upset with someone or something. I know that if I can smile then I can laugh and that helps me to keep control of my anger or frustration at any given time. You may say that It's not that easy, and you are correct. What habit is easy. It takes focus, practice, and commitment. The more you focus on it and stay committed to it, the easier it gets.

Just think how it feels the next time that you see someone coming towards you that may have an expression on their face that is less than open and inviting. Those are the same feelings and signals that you send if you are using the same expression. I know one thing about life. The older I get the more I realize that my thoughts, expressions, and feelings are all really dependent on what I decide they should be, and not what others or the environment decides they should be.

You will be a much more effective communicator and a whole lot happier if you just get in the habit of SMILING. What's your face worth?

How Big is Your BUT?

"What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say".

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you know anyone that is always talking about what they want to be, do, or have yet you never see them do, be , or have any of those things they talk about. Then when you ask about what they wanted to do, be, or have you find out how big their BUT is. Of course I'm not talking about their physical backside. I am talking about their psychological backside. When asked they always say Yeah BUT the weather was bad. Yeah BUT I don't have enough time. Yeah BUT I'm not smart enough. Yeah BUT I don't have enough money. Yeah But my spouse doesn't agree. Does your BUT resemble this?I know that in the past mine has.

Watch your words. They will develop a mindset that will literally paralyze you from taking action on the things you want to do, be, and have. The YEAHBUT is a mysterious and elusive creature like the Lock Ness Monster. Every time you turn around somebody says that they have seen it or a mysterious picture is taken of something that looks like the monster. The YEAHBUT monster will keep you from achieving the things that you want, simply by calling it's name. Work on replacing YEAH BUT with What If? How can I?

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

Benjamin Franklin

Most definitly when a phrase starts off with a YEAH BUT it is followed with self sabatoge and excuses. Sometimes it makes us comfortable because we have found a reason or excuse to not acheive. Is that really the person that you want to be? Taking baby steps consistently will help us to get closer to doing, being, and having everything that we want. And just remember, when babies start taking their first steps they very often fall on their Buts. Get started today taking those steps and when you fall on your But then you know it's behind you and not in front of you anymore.

What's Your E.G.O.?

"Big egos are big shields for lots of empty space."

Diana Black

We all have this thing called E.G.O. What is it? Well it can be an incredibly motivating thing when it is used for personal development or service to others. When your E.G.O. drives you to take a sense of pride in learning new things being open minded and always being ready for the people and experiences that you want to come into your life.That E.G.O. I call, (Empowering Great Opportunities). That's when you use your sense of E.G.O. and pride to be good for yourself, your community, and the people you come into contact with. Using that E.G.O. to get through life's challenges and obstacles so you can not just Go forward, but GROW forward.

So often our sense of self or E.G.O. is centered in possessions such as what house we live in, or what car we drive. When your sense of E.G.O. is centered in the pride that you are improving as a human doing and not just a human being then you will start to meet with true success. Success that cannot be measured with money or possessions. So use that E.G.O. energy to improve yourself, because then you can't help but empower those around you.

"Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it."

Colin Powell

Now there is always a polar opposite to every thought process or idea. The opposite of the previous is E.G.O. (Eliminating Great Opportunities). That's when you are focused on your opinion being more important than others. Measuring your success by what you own and not who you become. By being focused on always being right instead of doing the right thing is terribly counter productive and almost paralyzing to any organization, company, team, or family. So the next time you think about your E.G.O. think about which one you will choose.

How Do You FEAR?

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret to life."

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the early eighties I had the privilege of teaching Taekwondo at one of Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee's studios in the Washington D. C. metropolitan area. There were about ten studios at that time. All of the instructors were very competitive and most were either world, national, or regional karate champions. Every so often someone would come up with some new group adventure like white water rafting or rock climbing. Someone came up with the idea of skydiving, so everyone followed suit and we set out and found a school that teaches skydiving.

There was a group of about ten of us in this class. The class was a day long class that covers everything from your equipment to all the procedures for skydiving including if and when something may go wrong. Along with our group there was another group of what I like to call "at risk students". All these guys did was cut up and goof off. I don't know about you, but if I am going to jump out of a plane at over 3,000 feet in the air with nothing but a sheet attached to my back I was going to make sure I listened to the instructor.

Love is what we were born with, Fear is what we learned here.

At the end of the lessons it was time for us to get geared up and go up in the plane and JUMP! The At Risk Group went up first. As we were standing on the ground watching them getting ready to jump there was definitely a great sense of anticipation in the air. Well the first guy jumped and his chute came out perfectly. We all applauded because the chutes seemed to be working. The next guy jumped and the same thing happened. However guy number three jumped and his chute came out fine, but instead of grabbing the cords that help to control the chute he grabbed the release straps and completely released his chute.

Everyone was terrified. He was potentially falling to his death right before our eyes and then at the last minute he released his safety chute and saved himself. I guess he should have focused more in class that day. Well at that point it was our turn to go up. Needless to say we were just a bit nervous but instead of focusing on that, we started quizzing each other on all the procedures we had learned in class that day.

Once we reached over 3000 feet, I looked out of the window and made the comment that the ground looks just like pictures that I had seen where everything looked miniature. My friends laughed and said; you act like you have never been in a plane before. Well I never told them but, I had never been in a plane before. When they found out they thought I was crazy. I then asked; had you ever jumped out of any of the planes that you had flown in? The answer was no. They had flown, I had not but none of us had ever jumped out of a plane.

At that time the Jump Master called my name to jump first. I really didn't want to be first, however there was no turning back. I instantly focused on the things I had learned in class. The jump master was going to give me three commands. 1. Step out onto the platform. 2. Pull yourself out. 3. JUMP!!! The jump master also informed me that if I did not jump then he would proceed in kicking me off because the wind was so strong he could not reach out to pull me back in. Well needless to say I am here today, which means my chute worked well.

You talk about feeling FEAR. That moment that I had to jump was pure fear energy. The one powerful lesson that I received is the fact that we all have fears and challenging things that happen in our lives. Facing your fear is the greatest challenge and has with it the greatest rewards. Fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of criticism, or whatever else your fear may be, will often cause you to experience what I call FREEZE FEAR. That's when you are fearful and only focus on what can go wrong and what you can't do. I have found that fear is energy like happiness or excitement. To get closer to using it use FOCUSED FEAR. Use that energy to say I am afraid but what can I do about it. Remember what you focus on expands. So get your fear FOCUSED!