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It's Difficult Sometimes To Not Be Afraid

6/10/2016

"It's hard not to be afraid. Be less afraid."   — Susan Sontang

This has got me thinking from a few different perspectives. First I look at today. There is a lot going on that I am concerned about. Things about my family, my job, friends of mine and what they are going through, the economy, current things going on in my community, state and the country. Am I afraid? Sure, a little. But Susan is right, I need to be less afraid. I need to start doing things that are under my control to help these things that I have concerns for. Fear is part of life. I am choosing to find some great things from it.   You can too!

Some of these worries I need to recognize that I cannot control. I need to look at them and realistically look at from the standpoint of what can I really do about them? If there are things that I can do about them, then I need to decide to do those things or not. Both choices will have consequences. So does doing nothing as I must remember, that is a choice too.
Some of these worries, in fact all of them now that I think about it, actually make me want to become better! Instead of falling down, crying, complaining that these things are so horrible, that life is unfair, blaming others, etc., I really need to become better in all aspects of my life in order to handle these and other things that get thrown at me. Sam Crowley has said this over and over, we need to become bigger than our problems. We need to become better in order to deal with things better throughout our lives. At age 50 this seems so clear to me and I really wonder why it didn’t appear to me sooner.

The truth is simply that this message did come to me, in fact much earlier in life. The key was that I was not ready for it. Or maybe even it wasn’t the right messenger that told me about it earlier in my life. Whatever the reason, I’m sure glad that I have the understanding of it now. Please feel free of taking this thought and using it to help yourself and your future now. Don’t wait.   How can you take Susan’s advice to heart? What is holding you back in some area of your life? Because of the things going on in my life, there needs to be things I have to do and make changes with, in order to get better and do the things I know I need to do! How about you?

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Change Is Mandatory In Life - Change Happens No Matter What.

6/1/2015

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“Unless you change how you are, you'll always have what you've got.” – Jim Rohn

Lot’s happening these past few days. We had graduation at Lake Shore High School for the Class of 2015 and I was blessed enough to be asked to deliver the commencement address. It was such a humbling and fabulous experience. I want to make sure the Class of 2015 knows how much I appreciate them having me share their special day with them.

This thought by the great Jim Rohn above is one of the things I am focusing on in my life right now and that is I’m looking to change for the better. I need to continue on this journey of getting out of my comfort zone. I need to keep working hard to learn new skills and to play bigger in my life. Getting out in front of over 2000 people to give that speech on Saturday at gradation was a big step for me. I am totally comfortable in a classroom in front of 30 teenagers, but Saturday was such a rush! It was a great feeling to look around and see all of those people. I practiced that speech many times with the vision of being at that podium, on that stage, in the gym along with all of those people in the crowd. I had to change and expand my comfort zone in my mind before I did it for real.

I think about this quote and I know if I stay where I’m at and not change, not only will I not go any farther in my life, but also I will begin to lose things that I currently have. I would not meet new people along with not learning new skills. The people that I currently know would be slowly start going places and I would be staying behind. The skills that I would possess already would slowly get rusty by me not improving them. My current relationships with those that I love and care about would also suffer and slowly start disappearing with me staying the same, not wanting to do new things, invest in the relationships any more, all of those would really suffer. This game of life is constant in change. From the weather, to economics, to the stock market, to the sports teams, to us simply getting older, and the list goes on and on.

I’ve used this example with all my students over the years. I have yet to find a student who comes into my classes letting me and everyone know they want to get worse in life. They have all wanted to at least get by and get through high school. Plus, we all have to realize that it takes time to realize we need to change along with it taking up our entire lives to keep working at changing for the better. Change is definitely an inside job that takes a lifetime to work on and do.

There is also an old saying about when we look at all the things we want to change, the list looks overwhelming. But if we can just focus a little at a time, just 1% improvement a day, in any of the areas we need to work on – the difference after a month will be incredible. How about 6 months? How about after a year of just improving 1% a day? Just let that one sink in there a little bit. Any thoughts?

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Don't Wish For Things To Be Easier - Wish To Get Better!

4/19/2015

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“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.” – Jim Rohn

It’s no surprise that I found this from the Success Magazine Facebook page. Jim Rohn has helped many, many people with Leadership & Success ideas over the years and this thought should be at the top of the list when it comes to advice to follow.

I’ve been a personal fan of Jim Rohn’s work for a long time. His quotes and books are pure gold. Watching him over the years through his videos, he is so down to earth and relatable, which are two key elements I think to help connect with people.

This whole quote is built off the very first sentence. Don’t wish for things to be easier is such a powerful and easy sentence. We have heard many times from different lessons and different leaders about this fact. They key to this where Jim says wish you were better is to first think about wishing or wanting to be better, and then doing something about it. Create a plan so that wish of yours to be better actually starts coming true.

We all have problems in life and it’s hard to not dwell on them sometimes. By dwelling on them it gets in the way of us being able to solve them. Most of the time, the worry that we put on those problems will cause them to grow in size and become even bigger and more troublesome for ourselves and those around us too. If grow and learn more skills to help solve those problems then we will become stronger, wiser, and better able to solve future problems too and you know there will be more problems in the future.

The key to this quote is for us to do things to get better, to learn new skills and to become wiser with life’s lessons. Creating the habits necessary to help make these things happen involves more reading, hanging out with some different people that will help push us out of our comfort zone, and beginning to change our regular routines that have lead to our current state of where we are today. I think anytime is good to re-think some of these things in our lives, but especially in springtime. It’s a time of new growth, colors come back into view along with new life happening all around us. A perfect time for us to make these things happen.

What are you going to do today, this week, this month and this year to help follow Jim’s advice? I know I need to start working on many things to make this happen and as I’m finishing this up, I’m about to head out the gym to get a workout in. I’ve been going for the last couple of weeks, more faithfully and it’s making a big difference in helping me to change the things for me to get going in the direction that I have to go in.

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Quote of the Week - Dec. 30, 2013

1/1/2014

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“Be kind whenever possible. For it is always possible.” -- Dalai Lama

What a great and simple idea to start out the new year with.

As we get going for 2014 with hopefully new ideas, new energy, new optimism, etc., maybe we can add this quote to our list of things we want to do this new year? I know all of us has at least one example of where you can be kinder to someone. I have plenty of people that I know I can (and should) be kinder to.

One at the top of the list, should be ourselves. We are all fighting many little internal battles. We are the ones that know all about the dark thoughts and actions we have done throughout or lifetime, even if it's been hidden from others around us. We look at ourselves every day in the mirror and these thoughts and memories are always with us. Part of what our new year's resolutions should be about is being kinder to ourselves - forgiving ourselves and stop the beatings that we give to ourselves over things in our past that we haven't one too well.

I had the opportunity to have breakfast yesterday with a very good friend and one who I count as one of my master-mind group members. We had a great discussion and one of the many things that I remember from that time spent with him, was the fact that I needed to continue (and even improve) my ability to encourage others. The biggie - was that I need to do it with myself.
We all need to do that - encourage others and encourage ourselves.

So as we start out 2014 - let's try to remember that these new ideas, goals, resolutions, etc., should not be focused on and started on for January 1st. We really need to continue to have new goals, new ideas, new resolutions, etc., all the time and not just for the new year. But start with being kinder to others and especially to ourselves. What are your thoughts or ideas? Is this something you can add to your list to start out 2014 with?

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Quote of the Week, November 18, 2013

11/19/2013

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"You can't stay around if you're not getting better. You have to constantly be looking for ways to improve your value." - Cal Ripken Jr

If there was one guy who always looked to get better, it was Cal Ripken Jr. He had to do just that if set a record of playing in 2, 130 consecutive games. This is one thing that I always try and mention to my students every year, and of course I try listen to it too; and that is to become a person of value. To your friends, your family, to your employer, everyone!

In today's world there seems to be more opportunities to get better and improve ourselves but for many reasons it seems more difficult too. Lot's going on with the economy, pay-cuts, job loss, technology in all parts of our lives, the negativity out there in society, politics, etc. There sure are a lot of distractions that's for sure. That is probably the best reason to listen to Mr. Ripken. In today's world, more than ever before we MUST look to improve and get better due to all of these things going on around us. There is an old saying that says if we are not improving and moving forward - we are really moving backwards in life. Even if we think that we are "doing pretty good", or "I'm better off than 'ol so and so neighbor of mine", that type of thinking won't create anything that is worth working hard for.

For me, as I get a tad bit older here, I know this has to be the case for me. I can't afford to not get better. This has to happen in my marriage, me being a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a teacher, a coach, a Christian, a neighbor, a friend, a nephew, a cousin, a brother-in-law, a son-in-law and all the other hats I wear in my lifetime. These things is who I am. Like Cal says - if I want to stay around, I always have to look for ways to get better and improve. Every single day. How about you? What does Cal's quote mean to you? Always looking to learn from others... leave me a thought or two.

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Quote of the Week - October 7, 2013

10/7/2013

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"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Standing still is just not in my plans any more. I look back and there have been a few too many spots in my life where I have stood still and let things go by, let things affect me without doing anything. and even let things affect me where I stop moving forward and blamed those other things. This moving forward idea or mindset has been on my mind for years now. So many things happening in education for example (and life in general too) where standing still is not an option. I have really been focusing on these things that are affecting me - using them to make myself better.

Standing still is just about like giving up. Believe me, there have been plenty of times that I have done just that. It hasn't been permanent though. These things that happen throughout life - all of them are just things that we have a choice about. We can let them affect us, beat us up, change us for the worse or we can take them on, fight back and have them change us for the better. When you look and think about that statement from President Roosevelt, there truly is only 1 way of standing still. You stop. Just take a moment to think about all the different ways there are to keep moving forward. Holy Cow! Are you kidding me? How the heck did he know that this is so true? Simply put, he was a man who lived this statement over and over again throughout his lifetime. We can do the same thing.

As much as I hear just about everyone talking about how fast time is going by - and for me personally it is doing just that - isn't it time that we look at all the different ways there are to move forward in so many areas of our lives? Relationships, financially, spiritually, professionally, fitness wise, the list goes on and on and on. Just take a few minutes to think about just 2 areas where you can move forward in and all the different ways you can do just that. In the time it took to write that last sentence - way more than 2 came into my head on what I can do to move forward in. Not only think about a couple - but share them with me or others... get others thinking about this statement. Show them all the different ways there are to moving forward and not just standing still. I look forward to hearing some of your thoughts as always.

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It's Difficult Sometimes To Not Be Afraid

Change Is Mandatory In Life - Change Happens No Matter What.

Don't Wish For Things To Be Easier - Wish To Get Better!

Quote of the Week - Dec. 30, 2013

Quote of the Week, November 18, 2013

Quote of the Week - October 7, 2013

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