8 Traits For Crushing It At Life

Jul 31, 2019 | Uncategorized

Crushing it at life doesn’t mean wrestling it to the ground. It’s quite the opposite. When you’re aligned, life flows. It’s like riding the top of a wave and letting it carry you through to its unfolding. Doors open, your timing is perfect and everything is effortless. Fighting or struggling is unnecessary. People who surf through life are well positioned, balanced and they have these 8 traits for crushing it at life.

MISSION

This is the most important, and oftentimes the most overlooked, step to succeed at just about anything. When starting a new business or new project, your mission is the first place you start. Why should it be any different for your life? Take the time to reflect what you want, why you want it and how you’re going to get there. If your “why” is big enough your chances of succeeding are great.

Your mission defines your objectives. Having a purpose gives meaning to your existence. It’s no wonder that some people who lose their jobs or become empty nesters seem lost. Their reason for “being” has been taken away. It’s the ones who get up and dust themselves off quickly that win the game.

Why are people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and others at the top of their game? They’ve defined their mission and little deters them from achieving it. Nothing crushes them, no matter how big the wave is.

VISION

While your mission is your purpose, your vision is your desired future. It’s the road map to get you there. Your vision is fueled by an undeniable passion, a reason, a purpose that only you can feel. Happy people are tuned into and follow their calling. They operate from a place of inspiration, the sweetest place to be.

Vision gives them focus and keeps them from useless distractions, getting sidetrack or meaningless activities that don’t contribute to their mission.

To “crush it” at life, write down your mission and vision statements and put them where you’ll see and be reminded of them every day.

FOCUS

Focus is an unyielding determination to accomplish what you set out to do. Think of a laser beam. Why is it so powerful? It produces an intense and narrow beam of light that can burn through anything. Be laser-focused, put on blinders and be equally piercing. Crush through barriers. Go around, crawl underneath, jump over them.

Falling off the board is bound to happen. But, if you’re focused, you’ll get right back up again and ride the next wave. With each new ride you’ll see and experience new things. You may even learn how to do something better.

Focus requires envisioning. What do you see? Keep the picture in your mind as often as you can. Those who achieve their dreams kept them in focus.

This came up on my Facebook feed posted by Jay Shetty, one of my favorite influencers. “Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners.” Which one are you?

DISCIPLINE

We live in a noise-filled world that keeps us from connecting with ourselves and with others. Take time for personal reflection and to be serviceful. Discipline is the methodology to productivity and success. It means doing something repeatedly until it seems effortless. It’s like the muscle memory I’ve gained in Ashtanga yoga. There’s a sequence of postures and having repeatedly done them for so long, they’re now second nature to me. They’re no longer an effort but an experience I look forward to.

A daily log helps to develop discipline. It keeps us on track and it’s a way to look back and see how far you’ve gone. It doesn’t have to be long. A bulleted list will do.

Don’t be tough on yourself when you can’t stick to your regimen. Life happens. Kids may need you. Your pet may fall ill. You may get a flat tire. The boss may want you to stay later. When you can’t meet what you set out to do, be happy with what you’ve accomplished thus far. Go easy but remain disciplined.

Be clear on the difference between busyness and productivity. I know a lot of people who have no time for anything yet they seem to accomplish very little. It’s better to do one thing really well than ten incomplete or meaningless ones, just for the sake of filling your calendar. When you do something, do it from the heart. Set your intention to a higher purpose. Remember the Law of Attraction, what you put out you get back.

CALMNESS

When I look at ascended thinkers like Esther (Abraham) Hicks, they have one thing in common. Very little seems to agitate them. They maintain equilibrium under all kinds of circumstances. They’ve learned not to react under adverse conditions.

Those crushing it at life are observers, not reactors. They see setbacks as growing opportunities. For them, road blocks are stepping stones to go even higher. Life never happens to them. They make life happen. They create circumstances by their mindset and they never think of themselves as victims.

Charles Swindoll best put it: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. … The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it.”

UNSWAYED

The happiest people on earth are unaffected by what others think. “Remaining unswayed by what other people assert” is an ancient teaching for crushing it at life. Successful people are not special. They’ve merely learned to listen to their inner voice and drown others out.

Life crushers hang around Masters. They keep like-minded company to strengthen their convictions. Tony Robbins built an empire by drowning out critics and continuously learning from other great achievers.

EMBRACE UNIQUENESS

Masters rarely compare themselves to others. They march to the beat of their own drum. They take risks. They think out of the box. They question. They typically don’t follow the norm. They’re always learning, growing and evolving. This often puts them on a lonely path. However, like the thrill of riding a wave, it’s an experience you must do on your own. No one else can do it for you.

Those crushing it at life, rarely think of experiences in terms of gain or loss. They go with the flow. Like a surfer, when they fall, they get right back up again. Winners don’t waste thoughts on the fall but on the next ride. To crush it at life, this is the mindset you need. Think differently than the masses.

Being unique is what makes successful individuals so attractive. A rare object has more value. It’s more appealing. It’s sought-after. Think of someone that inspires you. What stands out about them? I venture to say you’re attracted to them because they’re unlike anyone else. They’re one of a kind.

Life crushers are not afraid to be themselves, even when people dismiss them as being weird or different. This characteristic makes them stand out. In some cases, it makes them magnetic.

Those crushing it at life fear or reject being average. They’re impassioned about growing and are continuously learning. It’s why they outgrow others and the reason they stand out.

BALANCE

Successful people lead more balanced lives. I was raised to think that things could only be one sided: good or bad, right or wrong, black or white. This puts too much emphasis in one direction. It’s taken me a lifetime to understand that what may be right in one situation may not be right in another.

Like a pendulum, ife swings back and forth. It doesn’t favor one side. From where I’m standing things look very differently to a person across the street. To crush it at life, we need this understanding. It will keep us from feeling flustered when the pendulum doesn’t rest in our direction.

This awareness comes with life experience. In Chinese philosophy, it’s the ying and the yang, two sides of the same coin. When we operate from this point of view, we can’t be crushed when waves come.

Keeping balance means not placing too much weight on one side. There’s little benefit to working out if you’re not eating healthily. While having money is fun, using debt to buy things may not be the smartest option. Mental over-stimulation can be disastrous if you can’t keep the mind calm.

They key is to know when we’re out of balance and do something about it. To be happy, model the Masters and mirror these 8 traits for crushing it at life. You’ve already taken the first step by being here.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Keep your dream alive

Jul 24, 2019 | Uncategorized

I learned a lesson about the importance of always keeping your dream alive. After my book was published in 2014, I began doubting its value and questioned my dream about touching lives around the world with its message. I wondered if anyone outside the United States would be interested in what I had to say. As I reread it, I thought “I wish I had said this or written that.” As most of us are, I’m my own worst critic.

MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK?

How often do we question decisions after we make them? It’s one of the worst things that we can do for our state of health and mind. A Monday night quarterback is a person who passes judgment on or criticizes something after the event. Being a Monday night quarter back splits our energy and keeps us from focusing on the next step. It’s often the reason people take no action at all. They rather do nothing than to make a mistake.

The best advice I ever heard comes from Abraham (Esther) Hicks, “Make a decision and then make the decision right. Line up your Energy with it. In most cases, it doesn’t really matter what you decide. Just decide. There are endless options that would serve you enormously well, and all or any one of them is better than no decision.”

We have been conditioned to think that when things don’t turn out as we thought, that they’re mistakes. We need to rethink this. When we do something to the best of our ability and with the highest intention for good, there is no such thing as an error. There are a myriad of outcomes possible and our role is simply to put the energy forward.

Life is about discovering what we prefer. Without contrast, how would we know what we like and don’t like? All experiences, whether perceived as positive or negative, are lessons from which we grow. When we have an inspiration to do something, we should make a decision and move forward.

Despite my post-assessment of the book, I contacted a foreign publicist to see if there would be interest abroad. Fast forward months later, I received two-dozen copies of my book published in Polish and a contract for its publication in Turkey. My role was simply to put it out there and to let the Universe take care of the rest. The matrix filled in without my telling it what to do and despite my literary criticism.

CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY

Life’s challenges, at times, have a way of diminishing our confidence. When unexpected circumstances shake our beliefs, it’s important to get back up, dust ourselves off and keep going. Had I not been fired from a non-profit (as a result of disobeying orders for the benefit of saving lives), lost my confidence about being a valuable worker or “bought into” the idea that getting fired means I was no good, I probably would not have founded a humanitarian agency that touched lives around the world.

When we’re feeling insecure or get stuck, there are several things we can do to snap out of that state. We can listen to motivational speakers, hang around inspirational people and stay away from naysayers. I had some critics when my book came out. Despite them, I went out looking for international exposure.

Life is meant to have challenges and contrasts. How else can we grow and define what we want unless we know what we don’t want?

THE BEST COUNSELOR

To achieve your dreams, you must tune out negative talk, especially from yourself. Undesirable inner conversation is harmful to your well-being and to your growth.

If you want advice, look for it inside yourself in the quiet of meditation. In silence you will connect to the Source of all creation. We have within us a guiding system, our intuition, that always points us in the right direction. This nudging comes in the form of a gut feeling or a desire. Sometimes we dismiss this inner voice thinking that other people’s are more important or because it’s drowned out by external chatter. Children are great at following their promptings and it’s why they’re mostly happy and live playfully.

Have you ever been told that you couldn’t do something? What was it? Who said it and did you go along? Why?

All of us have conversations with ourselves. What story are we telling? It’s important to keep our thoughts in check. If we repeat a dialog long enough, eventually it becomes a belief. Beliefs are very difficult to let go of. A thought can be changed instantly.

VISION

It’s important to envision our dreams and keep that focus until they become realities. Thoughts become things. Be happy with your thoughts and hang in there long enough to see your dreams come alive.

We’re vibrational beings. The thoughts and energy we put out we receive back, so they might as well be the best. It’s the Universal Law of Attraction. As a child, did you dream about being someone or doing something? Is your dream still in focus? Until you achieve it, you will always feel like there’s something missing in your life, like there’s something left undone.

What steps are you taking to keep your vision alive? What do you have left to accomplish? What is keeping you from reaching it and how can I help you get there?

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

What is an ascended entrepreneur?

Jul 18, 2019 | Uncategorized

A successful business professional with the public interest at heart is an ascended entrepreneur.

There are countless individuals around the world who have reached a level of success and wish they could give something of value back to society but don’t know where to begin. They’re stumped thinking, erroneously, that they need vast financial resources like Melinda and Bill Gates to make a huge impact. I was one of them.

In 2003 I founded a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, Volunteers on Call, Inc., with the mission of raising public awareness about the value of volunteering and to provide opportunities for service to homeless and underserved populations.

We took volunteers around the world to build houses, classrooms, churches and work in orphanages as well as teach. We sent volunteers to Thailand after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to help in the reconstruction of the area and provided computers to the Cameron Parish school system in Louisiana after hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Volunteers paid their way to participate in VOC programs and put in sweat equity, literally. Quite often our projects took us to high heat, high humidity areas around the world like the Amazon in Peru and rain forests in Costa Rica where amenities like air conditioning are non-existent. Many participants used vacation time to further our cause. Some even pooled funds, when we were in the field, for the purchase of building and school supplies.

Other than a six-month period when we paid an Executive Director, no one on staff or the Board of Directors drew any salaries. The organization’s expenses were minimal and our mission was to keep very low overhead. Our office space, utilities, equipment and supplies were donated allowing us to use 100% of financial contributions for programs.

Our single largest fund raising effort raised around $60K. The average event yielded much smaller amounts. In the eyes of philanthropic circles, VOC’s efforts were insignificant but in the hearts of the recipients our efforts were invaluable. Volunteers never returned the same.

“Who could have imagined that a spring break trip to Thailand would ultimately lead to the experience of a lifetime? After returning from a short vacation there, my best friend and I were filled with a passion to go back to Koh Phi Phi, an island that had been all but destroyed by the 2004 tsunami. Volunteers on Call turned these dreams into a reality by adopting our program and actually making it happen. Five weeks later, we had raised enough money to return to teach the local children there for the next eight months. This life-changing journey certainly never would have been possible without the insight, support and ‘can do’ attitude of this organization.” VOC may not have changed the world but we changed someone’s world.

My single greatest desire, and what I believe to be my purpose, is to help raise the consciousness of people and the vibration of the planet in whatever way I can. It’s in service to others that we expand our hearts. Traveling the world has brought down barriers in my mind and erased biased ideas about other people and cultures.

One thing I learned while mixing cement with a shovel in a construction pit is that around the world, we’re more alike than we think. All of us have basic desires. We want freedom, security, health and financial success. When we strip away labels, colors and nationalities, we have more in common than differences.

In my quest for understanding, compassion and evolution, I’ve met some incredible teachers and learned from highly evolved mentors. These are masters of ascension who work tirelessly in service to others without compromising their entrepreneurial desires. You can have both. You can be spiritual and financially successful. Let me introduce you to some of them:

Abraham (Esther) Hicks

Rudy Tanzi and Deepak Chopra M.D.

Here’s wishing you success in all your efforts and hoping you materialize all your desires!

Space, the final frontier?

Jul 16, 2019 | Uncategorized

Space, the final frontier? I beg to differ, Mr. Roddenberry. The final frontier, in my opinion, lies within us, within the confines of our thoughts and within our power. Unlike outer space, a domain where only a very privileged few will travel to, inner space is accessible to all and it’s free. It’s a world that we can visit any time, anywhere and go there at a moment’s notice. It’s a realm of infinite possibilities, endless joy and infinite potential. Why? Because unlike outer space, we create our inner space.

Do you know how to access your inward world? Just go within. Meditate. It has been said that each of us has the potential to light up the earth. I believe this. We just have not discovered how. But it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The potential is there. Perhaps we haven’t found a way yet because we’re not ready for this kind of power. Maybe we aren’t prepared to use this kind of energy. But we can. Masters of all ages have made this known to us. They have told us that we are beings of energy. Why does the world “light up” at the tweet of something wonderful? Because we’re connected through energy.

What is energy other than usable power? Google definitions for energy include: the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity, vitality, vigor, life, liveliness, animation, vivacity, spirit, spiritedness, verve, enthusiasm, zest, vibrancy, spark, sparkle, effervescence, ebullience, exuberance, buoyancy.

Imagine the benefits to humanity by exploring your potential, capturing your ability and sharing that power instantly around the world. Today, that kind of immediate exposure can only be done online. Perhaps tomorrow it will be done telepathically. But for now, using the tools we have available, digital communication is the fastest and most efficient way of sharing information globally.

The potential for using digital marketing as an altruistic tool is enormous. Look at what people like Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Bob Proctor, Esther Hicks and Louise Hay are doing online. They have tapped into their inner power and money, for them, has just been a byproduct of helping others. Imagine leaving behind the 9 – 5 schedule, doing something purposeful, quitting the commute and getting paid for your efforts. Like space, the power of a digital life is limitless. Look shortly for our updated website under the Digital Freedom tab to learn how you can create a purposeful mobile digital lifestyle business.

Now go within. Listen to your inner voice. Find your power. Explore the ultimate final frontier. What is it telling you? What would you do with your digital life?