Archives for March 2014

When I Win the Lottery

March 25, 2014 by 1 Comment
When I Win the LotteryI’ve been thinking lately about what I would do when I win the lottery. It started when I sent back my Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes entry. I could win $7,000 a week for life. That’s $364,000 a year! That’s way more than I make now. That’d be sweet.
I thought about what would I do if I won that kind of money. After thinking about it, I decided I’d like to write more, publish my work, record an album of my music, travel, exercise more, help more people, spend time with more of my friends. When it came down to it, the things I wanted to do once I hit the jackpot didn’t require more money; they required more action.

Sure, I wouldn’t mind having more money. I could find ways to spend it, but I don’t need that in order to live a fulfilling life. I just have to commit to living life on my terms. No one is stopping me from doing it. The only thing that’s holding me back is me.
So, here’s the question I need to ask myself, “What could I do today that would fulfill at least one of those items from my list?” If I can do that, then I’m living on my terms. Then tomorrow I ask myself the same question. Soon, momentum will build to where I’ll just be doing what I want that creates the life of my dreams.
I don’t need to wait for something to happen before I can live my life. I need to throw away the excuse, “I’ll start (blank) when (blank). You know the kind, I’ll start exercising when it’s warmer out. I’ll call my friend that I haven’t talked to in a while when it’s the right time. Don’t wait. Start today; stretch and do some sit-ups inside, call your friend just because.
Life is too short to put things off. If you feel like doing something, go do it. It’s like winning the lottery. And when Publisher’s Clearing House knocks on my door to announce my grand prize winning, I’ll have to ask them to hurry up, because I”ll be too busy living life.
What about you? What have you been putting off? What are you going to commit to today?
Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: ,

Gaining Confidence and Success Through Visualization

March 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Gaining Confidence and Success Through VisualizationWe are more confident when we are in comfortable situations. When we’re surrounded by people and places we know, it gives us a sense of security. We feel relaxed, loose. We perform better under these conditions.
The unknown, although I wouldn’t call it terrifying, scares me. It makes my heart rate go up. My mind races about the endless possibilities. Anything could happen. Even though a lot of good things could happen, I tend to think of the negative consequences. Its unnecessary worry.
But, what if you put yourself into a situation where you could be more comfortable, even if you haven’t been in that real-life situation before?
I’ve found that visualization is a tremendous tool. It’s helped me feel more confident in situations that would have caused me great anxiety without it.
I started using this technique about 30 years ago. I was a baseball fanatic and had dreams of being a major league player. Back then we didn’t have the facilities that we have today, so I used to practice in my bedroom during the winter months.
I would pretend I was in the batters box, facing the pitcher. Most of the time I had a bat in my hand, but sometimes I didn’t. I would visualize my entire trip to the plate. Not everything was a strike and I would visualize how different pitches would come in, and visualize how a pitcher would try to work me, set me up. Would he throw a curve here, a fastball, a change-up? I would have to adjust my swing to where the pitch came in and the pitch that was thrown.
It was good practice for those months when I couldn’t go outside and hit a live baseball. When spring would come around and a new season would begin, I was confident that I could hit anything that was thrown my way in actual games. I had prepared myself through my mental preparation with the visualization techniques.
I’ve used this visualization technique throughout my life. When I’ve had to give presentations, prepare for interviews, when I know I’m going to meet people. I play the scenario in my head before I am in the situation. It helps me to be more confident.
I also use it in another sport now, golf. I go over the holes in my head before I play them. What will each shot look when I play it? Then when I’m on the course, I’m confident that I can replicate the same result. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are just a few of the greats that have used visualization to fuel their success.
Visualization has helped me. Let me know about your experiences with visualization. I’d love to know.  
Filed Under: Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

Who Matters to You?

March 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Who Matters to You?I spent some time this past weekend cleaning up my Twitter account. Apparently there’s some magic formula where you can’t follow a certain amount of people more than people who follow you. So I went through the list, and decided to un-follow anyone who wasn’t providing value to me. It gave me space to follow new people; people who matter to me.

It was interesting to go through the list; some people I have a personal connection with, so those are most valuable. Then there are those that share awesome information. I enjoy reading what they post and I learn a lot from them. They were keepers.

Some people don’t tweet much. Some people just tweet garbage. I don’t need to fill my life with junk. It was easy to un-follow them.
Then there are those that I follow, but didn’t follow me back. I liken this to the person who wants to tell you everything about their life, but doesn’t want to hear anything about yours. We’ve all known these types of people. If you give your time and energy to someone and they don’t reciprocate, it’s acceptable to cut the cord. In most cases its probably necessary. You don’t need to give your time and attention to people who aren’t going to give theirs in return.
Though I was cleaning up my Twitter account, it made me think of the people I have in my life. I want the people who matter the most to have the most involvement in my life. Those that take up my energy without providing any sort of nourishment or enlightenment in return I don’t need around.
It also made me think about whether I’m adding value to others. Do I provide enough support and encouragement? I try to, but it’s something I can do better with. I will make a conscious decision to give more of myself to those who need it.
Every relationship is a two way street. If you want to grow, be happier, be inspired, be with people who make you feel those things. Don’t devote time to people who bring you down or suck the energy out of you. Be with people that matter. Be with people who allow you to be the best version of yourself. Find out who matters to you and be with them.
Filed Under: Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

4 Lessons from the Oscars on Achieving Life-Long Dreams

March 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

4 Lessons from the Oscars on Achieving Life-Long DreamsWatching the Academy Awards I was struck by the speeches of the winners. I could sense the struggles everyone went through; the rejection, the under-appreciation, the menial jobs, the ramen noodle diets, all in the pursuit of achieving their life-long dreams.

Here are the four lessons I learned from watching the Oscars on achieving life-long dreams.
1) No one is going to hand you anything. You need to go for it yourself. Actors aren’t asked to audition, writers aren’t discovered at the coffee house, cinematographers aren’t found on Instagram. Everyone who won an Oscar, went to Hollywood and worked for it. They probably spent years perfecting their craft, at home, with their friends, at school. But, in order to do what they wanted to do, they did what they needed to; they went to endless auditions before someone said yes, they submitted countless scripts before an agent said “maybe”, they took meeting after meeting showing their work before they were asked on set. Each and every person nominated, and those not nominated, didn’t sit back and wait to be discovered. They went out and discovered who they needed to connect with in order to do the work they loved.
2) Be a role model for rejection. How many “no’s” do you think these people heard before they got a “yes?” For some, it’s hundreds of times. Can you imagine hearing “no” 500 times in a row? How do you get yourself up to go to the next audition? It didn’t mean anyone was lacking in talent. It might have been that the timing wasn’t right, something about their delivery was off, their look wasn’t right, or maybe they weren’t in front of the right audience. Eventually, someone was the first person to say “yes.”
3) Learn to sacrifice, a lot. Not many of the people in that auditorium grew up in Hollywood. It means that in order to achieve their dreams, they had to pack their bags, leave their friends and families behind and start a new life somewhere unfamiliar. It was either fail or go home. There were odd jobs, crummy apartments, loneliness. How many people get off that bus on Sunset Boulevard and end up getting back on the bus a year or two later to go back home? I’m guessing there’s 1000 of those people for every one that stays. Some got homesick, some couldn’t deal with rejection, some found out they weren’t that talented after all, some found out they have other dreams. To pursue your dreams takes a lot of personal sacrifice.
4) Success does not happen overnight. There aren’t many overnight successes. Even if they are making their first film; an entire life’s work and experience went into shaping their career. There’s a back story that we never know about. We don’t know how long someone has been working at their craft. No one achieves success overnight.
The ones who held that Oscar in their hands after their name was called, had a lot of things fall into place for them and a lot of luck, but they also put in their hard work; their blood, sweat, and tears, literally. Think of that type of dedication the next time someone tells you “no” or you feel like people should be noticing your work. Maybe you need to draw attention to yourself and all the great work you’re doing. Not everyone knows how awesome you are, yet.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: , ,