The Ultimate Success Formula Part 3

Welcome to the third and final segment of this three part series called The Ultimate Success Formula. I certainly hope that you're getting value from the content, but more important than that I want you to learn this stuff. Before you say to yourself, "I'm learning!" I'd like you to consider learning from a perspective that you may not have considered. In this day and age we talk about learning as the accumulation of information leading to knowledge. Although there is nothing wrong with this, I'd like you to consider the thought that this isn't really learning. I'd like you to consider the possibility that information and knowledge not acted on is not learned. Consider the definition of learning to be defined by action. If you take this information and you're able to talk about and even regurgitate it, but you're not using it to change your life, you're not learning. So please take this stuff, put it in to practice and share it with others. DEAL? I know you said, "YES!!" so we'll move on to the last part.

The last part has to with the actual achievement, so let's use a historical event to put all of this in to perspective. At one point in history, man made the decision to go to the moon. To be more specific it was to go to the moon and bring him back. If you think about this goal it certainly fits the criteria that I laid out in part one doesn't it? Know what you want! We had the specifics, we had the by when, the what, we even had the why, and we all knew how much it would suck if we didn't beat the Russians, right? All of that played into an emotionally charged goal that not only charged up the people directly involved, but it charged up the whole country. When John Kennedy got up in front of all those people at Rice University and publicly said we choose to go to the moon, that certainly was a commitment to be and do whatever it takes, wasn't it? So all of the aspects of step one are in place.

The second step is Take Action...NOW! Think of all the people that were involved in the project. Just from a numbers scale there was massive action taking place. Think of the deadlines that needed to be met, especially in light of the underlying need and massive desire to beat the Russians to the moon and back. I don't know if you've ever seen the mini series on HBO "From The Earth to The Moon", but it is fascinating the massive amounts of thought and activity and learning that occurred to make the mission a success. Once everything was in place, think of the massive effort to simply launch the rocket and pull away from gravity.

The third step is to KEEP ON KEEPING ON! Another reason so many people fail to reach their dreams and goals is that they quit, and the reason they quit is that things don't go smoothly. Imagine all of the setbacks that the scientists had to endure and learn from and overcome to get everything ready for that first trip to the moon and back. If you ever get to watch a documentary about the moon shot, I highly recommend it. It's a fascinating tale of how to achieve anything in life. So what's the big deal with setbacks and bumps in the road. The real big deal is that most people, for some reason, don't expect them. Most people have this notion that success is a straight line from point A to point Z with smooth tracks on a relatively flat terrain with regular stops for bathroom and leg stretch breaks at every letter from B to Y. The truth is very different than that. The truth for ALL of us reaching for something BIG is that not only will the path be bumpy, curvy and all that. The truth is that the whole trip we'll need to lay the tracks and put down pavement while we're in motion. Using the moon shot example, not only did the people on that project have to overcome all sorts of adversity just to launch, once they did launch that wasn't a straight shot either. It was constantly adjusting, sometimes by a little and sometimes by a lot, to get them from here to the moon. Once they got there, it was a whole new ordeal to get back.

So here are the points for Step 3.

1. Create a system of accountability.
2. Resolve up front that you will succeed and you will never quit.
3. Learn with every success and setback
• Am I getting closer or farther?
• What's working?
• What's not working?
4. Practice shifting your attitude
5. Change your approach

If you do those things, eventually you'll reach Step 4 Success! Once you've reached your destination there are things to be done as well. Remember to CELEBRATE! Take the time to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Take the time to reflect on the journey that you've just taken and all that you've learned.

As the directions on the shampoo bottle says, rinse and repeat. Set your next goal. There's no better time to set another goal than fresh off the victory of accomplishing a goal. If you sit around and wait, I promise you that you'll get lethargic, again. The best thing you can do is to set the next goal, and repeat the steps...on to the next thing.

Having said all that, consider this for a moment. A while back I heard someone say that the most important part about setting and achieving goals isn't even about crossing them off the list. The greatest benefit of getting after Big Hairy Audacious Goals or BHAGs is the person you will inevitably become in the process getting after them. It certainly has been that for me. This is a picture of me when I was about 24. I'm the one on the left. By the time this picture was taken, that kid on the left had already attended a handful of seminars and workshops and had big dreams and goals, but he also really cared mostly about drinking a lot of beer. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure this was taken just before a huge party we threw that night for my friend Philip. When I look at this picture and I contrast that to who I am today, I'm amazed at the difference.

You see, the truth is that time is ticking away all the time. Eventually five years will go by and then ten. Next thing you know twenty then forty years will have gone by. I think about all of these people I see around who all had some dream or goal, but never learned to get after it. Making excuses or justifying their reasons why they had to wait became their inertia. They never set out on that journey of discovery, and because they never took the first step they never found out who they could become. Don't let that be you. Work the steps. Know what you want. Take action, now. Keep on keeping on. Succeed. Repeat. If you make this a part of your life you'll find that The Ultimate Success Formula really does work, even if you never actually hit any of your goals. How is that possible? I'm not saying don't hit your goals, hit all of them, most of them, some of them. But the greatest benefit you'll receive is that you'll discover who you really are, and that's an experience that no amount of achievement could ever replace.

Until next time...

Live FREE!

Jang

The Ultimate Success Formula Part 2

Awesome!

Did you read The Ultimate Success Formula Part 1? I certainly hope you did. If you didn't, please go back and read it. If you did, did you write something down as a goal? Did you get specific about it? Did you get in touch with your "Why?" your emotional reasons for wanting this goal? We used to have a saying, "If you have a big enough why, you can figure out any how." We also used to say, "Unless you have a why that makes you cry, you won't be able to withstand the challenges that will inevitably come your way." Not every goal has to be of the earth-shattering variety, of course. You can set some little fun ones along the way, but even with those, really hone in on your why. This is very important, because of the next part. Of course, once all of that is done, you got to commit. It's not just enough to want it, especially with your BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). You gotta be committed with every fiber of your being. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. it's gotta be something you're willing to live for, willing to die for. What we call LEVEL 5, BE and DO Whatever It Takes committed. Which brings us to...

Step #2 is TAKE ACTION...NOW! So why is getting in touch with the emotional aspect so important, because emotion creates motion. Unless something moves you emotionally, you probably won't take action. Even if you do take action it probably won't be massive enough to sustain momentum through to the end. This is so often the case for so many people. Think about all the people right now at this time of the year who set the goal of losing a bit of weight and quitting smoking. It happens year after year, and according to all the stats over 95% of the people have already quit. For many of these people the issue is that they never got started.

When it comes to reaching a goal, I want you to think in terms of inertia. What does physics have to do with this? Well what does inertia tell us? Objects at rest tend to...stay at rest. Objects in motion tend to..stay in motion. (I know that's overly simplified, but stay with me.) Tell me if you've ever done this. For whatever reason you get a wild and crazy idea in your head at night, and you get all fired up about it. So Excited!! You can't wait to get up in the morning to start. You think about it all night. You have a hard time falling asleep because you're so excited. You tell yourself you'll get up early and get started first thing in the morning. You finally go to sleep, and you wake up excited. You haven't been this excited in a long time. You can't wait to get started, but then you tell yourself, "well, I gotta eat breakfast, right. I'll get started right after breakfast." After you're done eating you say to yourself, "Well, I gotta take a shower and brush my teeth and get dressed. I can't get started until I've gotten ready." While you're doing all this, another part of your brain starts to kick in, and it sounds something like, "Will it really work? What have I missed? It can't be that easy, let's think this through a bit." I know I've been there, and the truth is I'll probably be there again at some point in the future. The thing I want to stress here is TAKE ACTION! When? NOW!! Nothing takes the place of action. You need to do something in the direction of your goal and capitalize on all that energy and emotion or you'll never get around to it. The inertia of your past is too strong. You've got to start...NOW!!!!! The worst thing that could happen is that you'll fail miserably and fumble along the way, which means you'll learn something. The best thing is you'll get exactly what you want. So what's the lesson? TAKE ACTION...NOW!!

So here are a couple of points:

1. START IMMEDIATELY!
2. START MASSIVELY!
• DO MORE!
• DO IT FASTER!
3. Plan as you go.

I know that sounds counter to what most of us have been taught about the whole ounce of planning, blah, blah, blah.  I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that most people don't have an issue with planning, and planning and planning and planning....The issue for the vast majority of the people on this planet is that they have a lack of getting in to action problem. NO! The BEST thing for most people, and that probably includes you is to GET YOUR A$$ IN GEAR!! As soon as you have the idea to lose weight by doing jiu-jitsu you need to get out of your chair and go sign up for a class...NOW!! As soon as you have the notion of asking out that girl, you need to ask her out...NOW!! As soon as you have the notion of starting your own business, you need to start it...NOW!! As soon as you think to yourself I'm gonna hire Jang as my personal peak performance coach, you need to do it...NOW!! ;-) Are you getting the picture? DO IT NOW!! DO IT NOW!! DO IT NOW!! If you don't the inertia of your past will take over and you'll go right back to doing life the same way, and nothing will change. So one last time...DO IT NOW!!!!!

I certainly hope that clears up step two of The Ultimate Success Formula, so until next time...

Live FREE!! and GET YOUR A$$ IN GEAR...NOW!!!

Jang

I'm out of cream for my coffee, what can I do?

I had just brewed some coffee. Most of the time I take my coffee with cream and sugar. When I went to look for cream in the fridge I was completely out. Rather than run to the store immediately I looked for a solution to my dilemma.

The solution? Vanilla ice cream. I took a scoop, melted it and then poured my coffee on top. Gotta tell you, it wasn't too bad. There are solutions everywhere if we just take the time to look for them, rather than getting caught up in the problem.

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Enjoy your day!!


Jang

The Ultimate Success Formula Part 1

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away...I was a much younger man. ;-)

For reasons I will get in to at some future time, I was up very late, most nights. On one of these nights I saw an infomercial for Tony Robbins' Personal Power program. I remember watching that infomercial, and having some hope for my future. I watched it several times. There were some nights I would flip through channels hoping that it would be on. Finally, one day I not only watched the infomercial, I actually bought the program. I had no idea then, but that would be one of the most pivotal moments of my life. Very rarely do we ever make a decision and in the moment of making that decision do we realize that this could be a life altering event. Most of my earth shattering and life changing decisions seem to have happened much like taking an extra deep breath.

One of the most important things that I got from my experience with Tony Robbins (and I've gotten and continue to get much) was The Ultimate Success Formula. In fact I still use it to this day whenever I'm setting goals. Over the years I've modified it a little to fit my own needs, but at its heart and essence it is the same. I'm going to write about it in three parts, so please do come back and read the rest. I will go in to the steps fairly deeply and pull out what I think are some key distinctions that will help you. Ready? Not Ready? It doesn't matter, because here we go...

1. Know what you want! That's it. The first step is to know CLEARLY what you want to accomplish. It's so simple, but most people either have no idea what they want or are so vague about it that they wouldn't know if they achieved their goal or not. Over the last fifteen plus years of being a coach, I've asked thousands of people this question: What do you want? You know what I here almost all the time? Here are a few: "I know I don't want...", "I'm not sure, but I think...", "I think it would be nice if I could...", "I don't know, I just want something different." Nearly every person I know says this. I have my ideas about why this might be, but the point here is this: If you don't know where you're going how will you know if you've arrived? Are you with me?

The second mistake people make when it comes to setting a goal is that it is reactive rather than proactive. This is where they get into the thinking process of, "Well, I don't like what I've got so I just want something other than what I've got." It's kind of like this: I got this seafood platter, I don't like this seafood platter, I want something/anything that is not this seafood platter. Are you with me on that one? Again, nothing wrong with the line of thinking, it's just so vague and so broad. Life gives us no limits on what we can accomplish. It's amazing the opportunity this affords us, but at the same time if you don't focus in on what you want to accomplish, you could dabble in a bunch of everything and never actually accomplish anything. This isn't about limiting your life, this is about focus. You can still dabble in a bunch of stuff, but almost every person I know who has feeling of fulfillment about their lives have focus and clarity about what they are up to accomplishing.

The single greatest reason why most people never accomplish their goals is simply because they don't know what they want!

To help you along your way here are a few things to consider when setting goals:

1. Write it down. 
2. What do you want? NOT What do you not want? 
3. Get specific: who, what, where, when, how much, how many? 
4. Get emotional. Why? Get in touch with how you'd feel once you accomplish it. Get in touch with how much it would suck if you don't. 
5. Commit fully: Be and Do Whatever It Takes!

I certainly hope that helps you get started, and I hope you come back for the next two parts as well. Until then...

Live FREE!!
Jang

Why Do You Have To Die?

Last night my son, Payton, asked me "Dad, are you going to die?" WOW! I said, "Yes, we all will die some day." He asked me, "I don't want you to die. Why do you have to die?"

Me: "Well, Payton, what does it mean to you when someone dies?"
Payton: "It means someone goes away forever and ever and never comes back."
Me: "If you knew that someday that person was going away and never coming back would you be nice or mean to them?"
Payton: "Nice."
Me: "Would you want to have happy, fun times or angry times?"
Payton: "Happy times."

We don't really think about the fact that someone we love will not be with us forever, at least not so often that we allow the thought to have an impact on our daily activities, do we? For example, I know that I won't be here forever, but it's not so much on the front of my mind that I think to myself "I'm not going to yell at my kids today, because if for some reason I was to die I don't want that to be how they remember me." Nor do I think to myself, "I'm going to call up that friend that I owe an apology to today, because this may be the only chance I get."

The more and more I thought about it, long after he went to bed it seems to me that the end of our lives is there for us to appreciate the life that we have that is someday going to end, and to appreciate the lives of others because we know that they, too, will one day cease to be with us. I think we all know this like we know we should love our neighbor as ourself and do unto them as we'd want them to do unto us, but for some reason like so many things we're so busy that it doesn't really register as important. Perhaps it has something to do with the perception that it's still far away in that place known as someday. I know that all of those somedays that I've thought about usually are here before I know it and much faster than I thought it would arrive.

I'm sure that this nothing profound, but perhaps my son in his own way was reminding me of the fact that I only have a limited number of days left and that I could not necessarily do more, but rather I could just be better...patient, loving, risking, passionate, excited, enthusiastic...just BE ALIVE!

Me: "Maybe, Payton, the reason we die is that because if we knew we could live forever, we'd just waste all that time. What do you think, buddy?"
Payton: "Yeah, but I'm gonna be sad when you die."
Me: "Are you crying? Are you sad?"
Payton: "Yes."
Me: "That's ok, buddy. Being sad is just a part of being alive."

Until next time...

LIVE FREE!

What does it really mean?

A little while back my wife was talking with a man who had very briefly met me, and he told my wife that he was intimidated by me. He mentioned to her that I came across with so much confidence and because I didn't talk that much to people it was very difficult for him to approach me. For him, just apporaching me and talking with me was difficult for him to do. Of course he did approach me and we did talk. Eventually after talking with me he realized that there was nothing at all intimidating about me.

It's interesting to me that as I've gotten older, more and more this has happened. I've gotten this feedback on severa occasions that I'm somehow intimidating. One of the reasons people have given is this perceived level of confidence and I've even gotten arrogance. What's been even more interesting to me is that the one distinguishing characteristic that people always point to is that I'm quiet and don't talk much. It's funny because when I was younger, because I was quiet and didn't talk much, people thought I was shy.

Of course nowadays when people meet me, it's generally in some business setting and I get introduced as the communications expert, the trainer, the guy who's spoken in front of thousands of people. I suppose with that context people have a tendency to take my being quiet as being aloof or arrogant and feel intimidated.

I'm just surprised by how a shift in context can shape people's perceptions. I've been quiet my whole life. I was quiet as a child because I was observant most of the times, and when I did speak it was quite a whirlwind of activity. So much so that it would always surprise people. The comment I used to get when I was a younger was something like "I thought you were shy, but you sure can talk when you have something to say." or "For someone so shy you sure can talk when you have something to say." I was never shy, just observant. People loved to label me as shy, though. Now, the same behavior has me being labeled as intimidating.

It's amazing how we as people love to jump to conclusions and label things. I suppose it gives us some false sense of knowing what is going on. By labeling things and people we can put things in a box, and if we're wrong we can be surprised. What would it be like if we were just open? How would life change for us if simply met things and people wherever they were and were open to seeing things for what they were rather than seeing them the way we wish them to be? How often do we miss out on opportunities because we've jumped to some conclusion ahead of time, rather than engaging with the moment? After all if you really think about it, our assumptions and conclusions say more about what's in our own hearts and minds than it does about what's actually occuring, doesn't it? Until next time...

Live FREE!

My Defective Travel Cup Part 2

So did you figure out what was going on? The first step to solving any problem I believe lies in the questions we ask. If we ask the poor questions then inevitably poor answers will come out of it, wouldn't it? If we ask better questions, we get better answers. Are you with me so far? Sometimes we only get to the better questions by struggling long enough with a series of poor questions, though. It's interesting how our education system puts a premium on knowing the "right" answers and is less than encouraging about asking a bunch of questions. Anyways, I digress, but on a similar vein...I once did a a very simple card trick for a friend of mine, and he asked me to do it again to figure out how I was doing it. I'm not a professional magician, so I broke the cardinal rule of magic and did it for him, again... and again and again. After a while he said something like, "I'm looking and looking, but I can't figure out how you're doing it. I'm really looking, too." I simply said, "What do you think you're looking for?" The truth is that many times in life we are looking for answers where we can't find them, not for lack of effort, but because we don't know what we're looking for... are you following me, here? Good, so here we go with the cup.

The first thing was what if there was nothing wrong with the cup? Then the issue lied with me, but what about me? Was I not using the cup correctly? Well, how could that be? I've been drinking out of cups most of my life, right? What if there was a design issue with the cup and the way that I used the cup was combining to create this issue? There was the answer, literally at the end of my nose. So what was the issue? The way I was using the cup and the way it was designed, when I tipped the cup to drink from it, my nose was covering the vent hole. This obviously restricted the flow, and when I pulled the cup away from my nose, just enough for the air to go through, this action caused a sudden surge of liquid to come pouring out when I wasn't expecting it to. This was what caused the spill. Problem solved! Now what possible life lessons come from this?

Well, I got some good lessons out of it, but for this time I'd like you to simply think it through for yourself and email me or comment on what you got out of this post, okay? That's all for now, and until next time...

Live FREE!

My Defective Travel Cup

I was having a cup of coffee this morning when I remembered something funny that happened a few years back that has a life lesson in it, so...

My wife decided to buy me a travel cup, one of those cups with a lid on it that keep your coffee warm. I'm not sure why, but it's probably because she loves me. :) I'm not all that in to gifts, but when I do get a gift I tend to use it right away and I use the heck out of it. When I got this travel cup I decided to brew a cup of coffee, just so I could use it. I was very excited to use my new cup! I poured the coffee in it, put in a bit of sugar and cream and went to take a sip. Much to my surprise, hardly any coffee came out. I literally had to suck on the opening of the cup for any decent amount of coffee to to come out of the cup. I thought perhaps I wasn't tipping the cup back far enough, so I tipped it back. Still hardly anything at all. Then, ust as I was pulling the cup away from my lips a bunch of coffee came pouring out. I now had coffee all over my face and shirt. Suffice it to say, I was a bit annoyed. I thought it strange, and quite frankly, I'm a bit of a slow learner, so I decided to take another sip. Wouldn't you know it...the same thing happened, again. Like I said earlier...me, slow learner...so I did it again and again, until I decided that there was something wrong with the cup. I decided to return the cup and get a new one.

A few days went by, and I hadn't returned the cup yet...it just wasn't that high on my list of priorities. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, I knew what was going on. I ran to the kitchen, took out the cup, poured some water in it and took a drink. This time it worked just fine, and I had figured out what was happening. I am happy to say that was over six years ago, and I have used that travel cup many times since with absolutely no problem whatsoever. So what was going on? I'll let you know tomorrow, but if you want to venture a guess, please do so. :)

Are you a lion or a LION?

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book: The Undustrial Revolution! Enjoy, and until next time...

Live FREE!



As we get started here I want to discuss with you a few things, because as you get in to this book you’ll see yourself falling in to a few different categories. My goal in writing this was not to offend anyone; however, it is pretty apparent to me that some people might become offended. If you happen to be one of those people that become offended, please understand that I have no intentions of offending anyone with what I’ve written. Another group of people are those who will read this book, and do little or nothing with the information. They might even agree with a lot of what they read, but for whatever reason they’ll never do anything with it. The third group is predominantly whom this book was written for, and you’ll know if you belong in this group in a little bit.

Let me ask you a question, though, what makes a lion a lion? Would you agree that there is a difference between a lion in the wild and a lion that lives in captivity? Is a lion in captivity, one that has never lived in the wild, truly a lion? Yeah it certainly looks like one, doesn’t it? Which begs the question in my mind what is the difference between the two?

I don’t know if you’ve watched the movie Happy Feet, but in the movie the main character Mumble goes in search of finding the answer to the problem of shortage of fish to eat. Eventually he finds himself living in captivity, being fed all the fish he wants. When he first arrives in his captive environment he asks one of the other penguins, “Where am I?” and the other penguin answers back “You’re in heaven.” At first the environment makes no sense to Mumble at all and he tries to escape, but after a while his eyes glaze over, he becomes like all of the other captive and captivated penguins, merely existing in this environment, being fed when it’s feeding time, jumping in the water to swim around a bit, never having to worry about anything, not really accomplishing anything, surviving but I wouldn't say LIVING! One day he has a vision of his family that he left behind. He remembers why it is that he left them in the first place, and gets back on track with his mission and ultimately accomplishes it.

Back to the question about lions. If you were born in to captivity how would you know the difference between your existence and the existence of a wild lion? You’d never know, would you? You’d only know what you were missing once you saw the existence of a lion in the wild, wouldn’t you? Two lions that on the outside look the same, to the untrained person both would seem to represent the same danger. We do understand, though, they are not the same. The one in captivity, if it’s been in captivity long enough or it was born in captivity, is quite tame. It has the potential to be dangerous, but the higher likelihood is that it will never do any harm to anyone. The one in the wild, unlike the one in captivity is a completely different story. The one in the wild when it is hungry will find food. The one in captivity will wait for someone to feed it. Yes it is true that both are actually lions, but at the same time we could agree that they are not at all the same.

Now, let’s think about this. Two people look the same on the outside, yet what drives them are two different things. I’d like you to consider the possibility that most human beings at this point in history have been born in to captivity. That most people are sitting around waiting to be fed. I’d also like you to consider that most people also have a much greater potential than this, but that is in fact where they find themselves. Quite frankly, most people have never questioned this, and until they come across a person who is “wild” they never would even think about it. Here’s how you know if I’m talking to you. If you’re one of these people who are never satisfied, who sit around saying to yourself things like, “I know I’m capable of much more than what I’m currently doing.” Or “I want so much more than what I have.” You’re more than likely the person I’m writing this book for. If you’ve started more than one business and failed, but you keep telling yourself that the next one will be the one, you’re probably the person I’m writing this book for. If you’re cynical or think that it couldn’t possibly be you, then more than likely it’s not for you.

There’s nothing wrong with being a lion. Please don’t take this the wrong way. Plenty people are happy being a lion, living in captivity, living in safety and security, knowing when their paycheck is coming, being able to predict the next fifty years of life. Then again, there’s nothing right about this way of being either, and certainly there’s nothing wrong with being a LION. For some of us we’d rather live life on our own terms. We understand that living wild guarantees nothing, but we love being in the hunt. We know that we will experience hurts. We know that there will be times when we go hungry. We also know that it’s ultimately up to us, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We may fall on our faces more than others, but we also know that we will experience the ecstasy of winning big. We love to win, hate to lose, but ultimately it’s the competition that drives us…to see what we’re made of.

So let me ask you are you a lion or are you a LION? If you’re the “right” person reading this book I will break down some very simple concepts and ideas along with some historical facts and truths that will forever alter your future…as long as you take action on what you read. I will also introduce you to some other LIONS, so that you can start identifying with these people. These are not the only LIONS in the world, but their stories of success, setbacks and SUCCESS will not only encourage you, but you will also be able to relate to them. Ultimately, I believe that everyone reading these words has the potential to be "dangerous" and my goal is to shake you up and arouse that spirit inside you.

Perhaps you’ve already decided that you’re not the person this book was written for. That’s too bad, because I know that deep inside you resides the spirit of a LION. Perhaps you’re not sure if you are or you are not. Either way, I would encourage you to finish this book. You may read something that ignites that spirit in you, and you’ve already come this far, why not just finish what you started, right? Are you ready? Because ready or not here we go...

GO!...FIGHT!...WIN!

Do you remember high school? Ok...you probably don't remember everything about high school, but what do you remember? What are some of your fondest memories? How about your first kiss? OK...maybe for you that was junior high or even elementary (I don't condone this behavior by the way :).

For me, some of my fondest memories from those years revolve around the game of football. I loved every minute of it. I loved the off season and staying in shape. I loved lifting weights, running, sprints. I loved "hell week" and the comaraderie with the other players. I loved practices. I even loved the sprints we had to run for punishment sometimes. I loved watching the other guys who were just going through the motions and learning about character. I loved the guys who always gave it their all and learning about work ethic and the value of hard work. Most of all, I loved Friday nights and the games played under the lights. I even played a couple years of college ball. I can honestly say that although I never reached the NFL like I dreamed of I have no regrets around the game, because I left it all on the field.

As we have already moved in to 2011, we are 33% of the way through the first month, I'd like to ask you and myself this question...Are we leaving it all on the field? Are we playing to win...with reckless abandon? or are we playing just to survive and get to half time? Are we even in the game?

On January 1, 2011 at 6am, I led a workshop at the Riverside office of PHP (People Helping People - www.myphpdream.com) one of the companies I've aligned myself with. I wasn't sure what the response would be, after all we were asking people to give themselves the morning of the first day of the year. Would people even show up? If so, how many? I was very surprised that over 40 people showed up. Isn't that amazing? That tells me that people are hungry to win, and some people are actually willing to get up and do something about it. Think about the prices some of those people paid to be there that morning. Going to bed early on New Years eve. One couple even brought their very little children. Are you willing to pay those kinds of prices to win this game called life?

Going back to the football memories, as I was running this morning, I remembered one of the cheers that the cheerleaders used to do. I don't remember everything, but there was this section where they would yell, "GO! FIGHT! WIN!" I think there's a formula for success there, so let's break this down.

1. GO! If you think about it this really is the first step, isn't it? Yes you should do some goal setting and figuring out what you want, but after all of that you must simply...GO! As Andy Andrews says, "The purpose of planning and analysis is not to do more planning and analyzing. The pupose of planning and analysis is to take action." I don't know what the correct amount of time for planning and analysis is, but I do know that the quicker you get in to implementation and action, the quicker you will learn through experience. Think about it...if you keep planning and changing directions right where you're standing, you may be looking in a different direction, but you're still standing on the same spot...you haven't gone anywhere. Gathering more information and knowledge is fine, but it doesn't necessarily lead to action. I know a lot of people with plenty of knowledge that never do anything. So knowledge doesn't lead to action, but action always leads to knowledge...even if that knowledge is, "I'll never do that again!" So just GO! Get after it, whatever it is. Getting moving before the fear has time to set in. JUST GO!

2. FIGHT! Now that you're going, now that you're actually in the game, what now? Well, FIGHT DAMN IT! Give it everything you've got. Life has a way of testing our commitments by throwing obstacles in front of us. These obstacles were given to us not to stop us but to help us become the man or woman we will need to become so that we can achieve the things we want to achieve. Consider this...when you start off from afar to reach the highest peak, it is clear in your sights. As you get closer, you will encounter a smaller hill that when you reach the bottom of that hill it will obscure your view of the peak. You have a choice at this point, to complain about this hill or get to the top of it. If you decide to take on this hill, when you get to the top two things will happen. The peak will come in to view again, first of all. The second thing is that you will have gained the experienced of climbing this hill, and become that much stronger. This experience and strength will prepare you for the next bigger hill, and that one will prepare you for the next one still. Your job is simply to keep taking the next hill, but you got to fight for it.

3. WIN! Finally if you do the first two you will win. Just win, baby! I think if you do the first two, you will always win. No regrets.

You know, Vince Lombardi once said, "The harder you work, the harder it becomes to give up." I think most of us have never gotten to that point, and that is why so many of us give up so easily. You see, at some point if you go far enough in the journey towards your dreams, you will eventually cross that line. That line is the point where you are closer to the dream than from where you started, and it makes no sense to turn around or stop. There is only one thing left to do, and that is to keep going. Think of the explorers who came to the "New World". Think of Christpher Columbus and his crew. At some point they were so far from home that it made no sense to go back...they'd die on their way back. The only choice they had once they crossed that line was to either get to the other side or die trying. Are you with me? Have you crossed that line? Well, what are you waiting for? Get busy! Get to that line as quickly as possible! Then get over that line! Then go all the way!

I wish for you the greatest of success in 2011, but mostly I wish for you the bigger hills to climb, because that let's me know that you're getting closer to your dreams. If you'd like, send me an email of your biggest goal for this year, and perhaps we can create a dialogue so that I can support you in reaching it. God bless, and until next time...

Live FREE!

What I've learned today.

Just a quick note on what I've learned today from my soon to be 2 years old son, Michael.

He's starting to talk, so it's really fun watching him interact with others. Obviously his tool box of words is quite limited, but do you think that stops him from getting things done? Absolutely not. He even mispronounces the limited words he has, but he still finds a way to get things done.

For example he says, "Mommy!" Sometimes it takes a bit to make out what he's saying. A little while ago he starting saying, "Mommy!" over and over again, a good two dozen times or more. Using just that one word along with a bit of body language and changes in tones he finally got his intended result...a cup of water (which he decided to share with me, by the way :)So what do you make of this?

Here's what I've learned today:
1. If I'm committed I'll find a way.
2. Communication is more about intention than it is about the right words or even saying them correctly.
3. Use what I've got. Even with the limited resources at his disposal he uses the heck out of it...combined with the commitment and intention to get it done the results happen.
4. Don't worry about what it looks like.

Great lessons going into the new year. Have fun, learn lots and until next time...

Live FREE!

How was it?

Well, another year is about to come to an end, and of course that means another one is about to begin. For about a decade, I've engaged in the practice of utilizing the last two weeks of the year to evaluate and then set new goals for the upcoming year. I've also read one of two books over and over again at this time of year as well. (If you'd like to receive my self-evaluation and assessment questions, goal setting questions and the two books I've read over and over again, just send me a comment or an email.)It's not about resolutions, it's about learning and growth. I think that this level of self assessment and evaluation has been invaluable for me.

For what it's worth, I hope that you had the best year of your life in 2010. I hope that you had a ton of challenging situations that called for and brought out the best in you, even more so than you thought was possible. I hope that you also had some major as well as minor victories this past year as well. Most importantly I hope that you gew this year as a human being, that you became more integrous, committed, determined, trustworthy and trusting, courageous and bold, confident, powerful and loving. I believe that if you grew in such a manner, no matter what the results of your life look like now, with that continued growth the results will eventually catch up to you. So whether you think 2010 was the greatest year of your life or the greatest bust I wish for you the best year of your life in 2011. May it bring great challenges and victories. May you exercise the courage to rise up and meet those challenges, and may you exercise the humility to accept those victories with gratitude. Mostly I wish for you love and joy! Happy new year!

Live FREE!

Messy, Messy, Messy...Perfect

I love being a dad. It's certainly one of the greatest joys that I've experienced in my life, and am grateful for it. It's also one of the best learning experiences I've been a part of, and quite frankly it's one of the most interesting experiments that I've conducted as well.

For me, I started with the premise that my job as a father is to provide my children with the best envrionment possible for learning and growth to occur, which in turn (hopefully) will have my children turn out to be highly contributing members of society who will do more good than harm and in the end will leave the planet a bit better for them having been here. The intention and premise are simple, and I've got to admit that the methodologies and practices can get a bit confusing and frustrating at times. Certainly those moments far out weigh the victories, but those moments of victory sure seem to make it all worthwhile.

Recently I've been dealing with my third child, Michael, who will be two years old in March of 2011, so he's about three months away from what many people call the "terrible two." I'm not sure that all children go through that, certainly I don't recall my other two children going through a period of "terribleness", but it does seem that Michael is a bit different than the other two. Okay he's a lot different. He's certainly much more independent and stubborn to boot. Then on top of that he gets loud, really loud when he doesn't get his way (think tantrum).

What I've determined about him, and perhaps you're like this as well, he learns by doing. In fact I think he likes the process of learning. He makes huge messes, but rather than observing and then doing, or even being instructed he just dives right in and starts at it. I'll admit, it gets MESSY. Like him feeding himself. It's funny, because I don't like messiness, I find myself constantly trying to take the spoon from him to feed him. He gets upset that I'm trying to take the spoon from him, and he cries and screams. Then I remind myself that it's good that he learns to feed himself, and the faster he's able to do it the easier it will be for me...but the mess I've got to clean up...ARGH!!

Sometimes it seems that the best thing a leader can do is allow the learning to occur, and simply create a safe envrionment for the learning to occur. So what am I talking about? Well in the learning to feed himself example my job is simply to allow him to make the mess and clean up after him. I may attempt to instruct him, but if he's not ready for the instruction then the only thing that'll happen is a fight. I allow the learning to happen. In the case of him climbing up the side of the bunk bed, rather than discourage the behavior, I simply hang out close enough so that should he fall I'm there to catch him. Interestingly enough, though, he gets stuck at times and asks for help, and when he does I assist him.

So how does all of this occur. Ultimately I think that what allows this learning envrionment to exist is the strength of relationship, and a foundation of trust. High trust creates strong relationships and this allows for learning to occur, because learning takes time and learning creates big messes and the endurance required to get through the big messes is the foundation of trust.

What does this have to do with anything...well I think a lot. Here's how I see it. There is the relationship we have others, and then there is that relationship we have with ourselves. If there's any validity to this theory that learning and ultimately growth requires a high trust envrionment, then it seems that for one to learn and grow oneself then one must have a high degree of trust in oneself. So why is it that so many people stop learning and growing as they grow older? Perhaps one reason is that they don't have very supportive environments for growth and learning to occur, but also it may be because they don't have a high degree of trust in oneself. How does one change that? Well, we'll talk about that some other time. Until next time...

Live FREE!

What kind of shape are you in?

I don't know if you follow MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), but I like it. There's this guy Fedor Emelianenko, even with his recent loss most people would rate very high as among the best fighters in the business. The thing is that when you look at the guy, he doesn't look that great. Physically he's a bit pudgy. On the outside, you'd never know that he's that good, but over and over again, he just gets the job done. He's one of these people that I'd say trains to win, not to look good. I've been thinking about this for some time, when the other day, I was watching on The Golf Channel an interview with Phil Mickelson's trainer, Sean Cochran when he said the following:

"...you're gonna train an athlete...for the physical requirements of the sport. We're less concerned about how they look, but more concerned about how they perform. We're gonna train and develop the body for performance, not to be on the cover of a magazine."

That got me to thinking...What about the game of life? Are you training for performance or to look good? In one of my workshops I make a distinction between the professional attitude/mindset and the amateur attitude/mindset. When I do that, and the people start thinking about the difference between the two certain differences become obvious. Then I ask the million dollar question, are you approaching your life with the mindset of a professional, to be the best you can be, or are you approaching life like an amateur, at a hobby level? In all of the facets of your life do you go about it as a professional would or as an amateur? Are you a professional at being a husband, a father, a wife, a mother, a friend, at whatever your chosen career?

So in the game called life, perhaps you could ask yourself the following questions as well. What kind of shape am I in mentally? What kind of shape am I in emotionally? spiritually? physically? Am I in shape in these areas or have I let myself slide? If I am working out in these areas, am I training and practicing for peak performance or to simply look good? How would I even begin to measure myself in these aspects of life? It's been my experience that the things that get measured can be improved, so how would I go about measuring my performance as a husband, father, friend? How about a customer survey? What customer? Well, as a husband wouldn't your wife be your customer? What about as a father? Friend? We say things like I want to be the best person I can be, but beyond simply feeling good about ourselves do we really measure our performance? Let's go beyond that. Let's really set some higher standards to be measured and live that life.

Until next time...

Live FREE!

Joy

As you are well aware, this coming Thursday is Thanksgiving. What do you think about when you think about Thanksgiving? Food? Quality time with family…catching up? Football? Sharing in abundance? The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade?

According to the Scholastic.com website, the English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion, but these were days of prayer, not days of feasting. Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest.

As you may have noticed, the title of what you are reading is Joy. What does Thanksgiving have to do with joy, you ask? I'd like you to consider the possibility that what it doesn’t have to do with is the meal that you may be eating, or the football games or family time or anything outside of you that you may be looking to for the source of your joy. After all how many people these days cringe at the thought of eating that meal for the fear of gaining weight or get stresed out by the thought of family time. That's not to say that the meal or the family is the source of pain neither.

What I’m talking about here is how does one generate an experience of joy in his or her life? I think it is fitting at this time of year, especially in the economic climate that they keep telling us about through various media outlets over and over again, we stop to consider gratitude as the beginning of our joyful experience. Sure you could look at all of the things that may be “wrong” in your life, and certainly I can, too. Of course you have the right, the privilege and you are even entitled to look at the circumstances of your life and use those things as evidence of why you should be grumpy, sad, frustrated…or you can be grateful, have an “attitude of gratitude” about not only the things that are easy to be grateful about, but more importantly of the things that are not so easy to be grateful about, like the challenges that you may be facing, and that you have the oportunity, capacity and the resources to face them head on.

So for Thanksgiving this year, I choose to be grateful for all of the so-called challenges that I’m faced with and the challenges that I will be faced with, and of course I am grateful for all of the wonderful things as well…my wonderful family, all of the people who I’ve been so fortunate to get to know and serve over my lifetime…and the list goes on and on.

This would not be complete of course without me asking you some questions. I’d like to do something a bit different this time, though. I’d like to hear back from you the answers to the following questions. Just post it on the comments or email it to coachjang@yahoo.com so here goes…What are you grateful for, right now? Who are you grateful for, right now? What could you be grateful for if you just looked at it differently? How could you create more gratitude in your life? And What would your experience of life be if you cultivated for yourself a permanent attitude of gratitude?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from the Kim Family and the iLead Team, we are grateful to you and for you. We look forward to being your partner in your success! Until next time...

Live FREE and JOYFULLY!

Two Questions

A while back I was at a late night restaurant with a friend of mine I hadn’t seen in some time. He called me up and wanted to get together and talk about life, so we agreed to meet at a get-together I was invited to. Once we sat down, he started to tell me about his current situation in life; really just to complain about the circumstances of his life. After hearing his story for about ten minutes I came to the conclusion that the story would never end unless I stopped him. So, I stopped him: “Let me stop you right there,” I said, “I’ve heard enough.” Then I asked him two questions: “What is your purpose for being in…that relationship, that job?” And, “What’s next?”

My friend wanted to keep telling me his story. He wanted my opinion about why the people in his life -- his girlfriend, his co-workers, his boss, his customers -- do what they do. All of which, even if he knew the answers, still would leave him with the same two questions.

It occurs to me that most people I run in to are caught up in the same circular thinking that my friend was caught up in attempting to answer. In our pursuit to know “the truth” we lose sight of where it is we want to get to and what needs to be done about it, right now. Let’s say something about “the truth” right here: I’m not saying that “the truth” doesn’t exist. Let’s face it, we could write a whole book on the subject. What I’m saying here is that “the truth” that most of us get in the trap of attempting to figure out is not the truth anyways. In our Access To Power workshop we spend a great deal of time separating fact and interpretation. What most people consider to be “the truth” is usually nothing more than an interpretation.

So let’s bring this home to you and your life. Whatever complaint you have right at this moment about your situations - whether they be about your boss, spouse, co-worker, up-line, down-line – what if you did find out “the truth?” What if it was far worse than you ever imagined it was? What if it was not nearly as bad as you thought it was? Do you really need to know? Then ask. Whatever the answer is, far worse or not nearly as bad are you okay with “the truth?” And honestly, does what they do really have anything to do with your decision to take action or not? Then obviously the next two questions are…

What is your purpose? What’s next?

Until next time...

Live FREE!

The High Trust Environment or Culture

What is the foundation of all relationships? If you said trust, I would agree with you. The foundation of all relationships is trust or it could be said that a relationship that works, one in which the people involved have mutual respect as well as mutual benefit is built on a foundation of high trust or occurs in a high trust environment. On the other side, I’d say that a poorly functioning relationship, one in which there is no respect and no benefit, is built on a foundation of low trust or occurs in a low trust environment. If that’s the case, how does a foundation of high trust get created?

We create trust and also destroy trust with our words. Specifically stated, we create trust and also destroy trust with promises and declarations. It’s a rather simple thing. When we make a promise and then keep a promise, trust goes up. When we make a promise and then break a promise, trust goes down. I understand that in our society we allow room for excuses as to why a promise wasn’t kept and we even have certain rationalizations that we have come to agree on as fact. For example when someone says I’ll be there at a specific time, here in Southern California, especially the Los Angeles area there exists a socially acceptable amount of time in which people are allowed to be late, why? Well as a people we’ve bought in to the idea that traffic, that uncontrollable circumstance, makes us late, therefore if I promise to be on time for a function you couldn’t possibly have believed that I’d actually show up when I said I would. At least that’s how the game is set up. The formula is I say “X”, whatever X is, we play a game where I don’t have “X” and I have a great reason, story or justification and on some level the other person is supposed to buy in to the possibility that the two are in fact the same. For example, I tell you I’ll be there at 3:00 for the meeting. I show up at 3:30 and tell you that the traffic was really bad, and you are supposed to say even though I am half an hour late, because I had a good reason it is acceptable that I am 30 minutes late, in fact it’s the same as showing up at 3:00. I know that doesn’t sound right, but based on how we play this game called “being our word” that is exactly how it gets done. The real issue comes in to play when we realize that although the other person tells you it’s okay that you were late, what they are really thinking is that I don’t trust this person. As a result the relationship suffers.

Our word is all we have to relate with others by. When we make and keep a promise the relationship gets stronger. When we make and break a promise the relationship suffers. If we are cognizant of this then it is completely in our power to strengthen as well as weaken our relationships, moment to moment. No matter how bad the relationship may be we have the opportunity to strengthen it by making and then keeping our promises. This applies to ones relationship with oneself as well.

Now I know that some of you may be thinking, “If I make and break a promise and the relationship suffers, well what if I never make a promise. Then I’ll never break a promise, and therefore the relationship will never have to suffer.” That seems to make sense, but if you think about it that would mean at the very best your relationship would stagnate, which is no better. The reality of the matter though is this, have you ever been with someone who never makes a promise, never commits to you for anything? They are always saying things like, “We’ll see how it goes.” “Let’s wait and see, and play it by ear.” “I can’t promise, but I’ll see if I can make it.” Let me ask you this question, does that person instill in you a lot of confidence and trust? Probably not. In fact when I ask this question in our seminars the overwhelming majority of the people say that they don’t trust people who are like that, so playing it safe doesn’t work either.

Making promises is how human beings create the opportunity to grow a relationship. Although the possibility to break trust also gets opened up when you make a promise, the opportunity to grow the relationship is also created. Whether you keep your promise or break your promise the relationship shifts, and if you break your promise you have the opportunity to create a new one and shift the relationship again. As long as it is moving the opportunity to grow exists. If it stagnates no possibility for growth exists. The question is what are you about growth or stagnation? Until next time...

Live FREE!

What can you learn from a Two Year Old?

My son, Michael, was born on March 23, 2009 so he's not quite two yet, but watching him engage in life is an amazing thing. I've learned a lot from him lately as I wrote about before. Lately, he's helped me to remember a few things also, so here goes.

Know what you want. Michael is crystal clear about what he wants. He knows it specifically. When he wants a cookie, it's COOKIE!

Commit to what you want. Michael is committed! There's no backing down. He will go toe-to-toe with anyone who stands in the way of him and the COOKIE!

Take action. He will do whatever it takes! He doesn't have it all planned out he knows what he wants and just simply goes for it, he will enroll you in to his vision, he will do anything and everything especially delegate. :)

Persist until. There's no quit in him. He will inevitably get what he wants. He doesn't take "NO" for an answer. He just keeps going and going and going like that bunny on that battery commercial.

Express Yourself. He has a limited vocabulary, but you know what he's saying. He doesn't get hung up on finding the "right" words or the "best" way to say it he just gets his point across.

Who cares what others think. He is absolutely uninhibited. As long as he gets what he's after, it's all good. He doesn't care if you say "NO". What you think about him is the last thing on his mind.

Enjoy yourself and be in the moment. Michael is absolutely in the moment and enjoys himself. If he bumps his head, it's absolutely "WHAAAAAAA!" and then it's done and on to the next thing. He doesn't take that event in to the next day and complain about it. He's in it and then it's over. When he's happy, he's happy. When he's upset he expresses it and then it's gone.

Now I'm not necessarily advocating that you cry and scream as he does from time to time (BTW we do our very best to discourage that behavior and not give in, even though it's difficult at times :) The questions are do you know what you want, specifically? Are you committed or is it just a nice wish, a fantasy? Are you in action towards your goals, do you have an attitude of doing whatever it takes? Are you willing to persist, no matter how long or how difficult? Are you caught up in doing it "right" or are you caught up in gettin' it done? Are you allowing what you think what others might think stop you or are you willing to go through the perceived pain of ridicule, persecution, etc. to get to where you want to get to? And finally are you in the moment, completely engaged in life and enjoying each moment?

So what can you learn from a two year old? A LOT!

Until next time...

Live FREE!

Life Lesson at Hot Dog on a Stick

So yesterday I took my kids, Payton, Grace and Michael to the mall. Why? Yesterday was $1 Tuesday at Hot Dog on a Stick, which is a great excuse to not cook. We got our food and proceeded to eat, and something interesting occured.

My youngest Michael is just twenty months old, and he hasn't quite figured out the process of eating. He has a tendency to stuff his mouth until he can't fit anymore in. Then he proceeds to chew, and sometimes he swallows and sometimes he spits it out. My way of controlling this behavior is to not put all of his food in front of him at one time, but rather one bite at a time...portion control. :) So I was doing the same thing last night, breaking off a piece of the corndog, letting him eat that bite, then when he was done swallowing I'd set another piece in front of him. In the midst of taking care of my other two children I'd be a bit late in tearing off another piece for him. At this point he'd point to his corndog and grunt. At which point I'd give him another piece. Then it happened. I noticed that he was swallowing the previous piece, so I put another one in front of him. Apparently he wasn't paying attention in that moment, his focus was elsewhere, and he did not notice that I had placed the next piece of corndog in front of him, but below his eye level. He finished swallowing the bite that was in his mouth, turned to me pointed to his corndog and grunted. At this point I pointed back to the piece that was in front of him. He then pointed back at me and grunted again with a bit more passion. I did what I did, then he did what he did (he's got a bit of a stubborn streak, I have no idea where he gets this from :) and finally I picked up the piece that I had placed in front of him and lifted it to his eye level. At this point he took it from me and ate it.

I think there's a lesson in there somewhere, and taught by a twenty month old who can't speak, but can and does communicate very effectively. How often do we lose perspective? How often do we take the posture of "gimme, gimme, gimme!" that we miss out on what's already been given to us? So often the answers or solutions are right in front of us, just not at eye level. We get so busy in being arrogant and then being stubborn about our arrogance that we miss it altogether. Then some of us are engaged in looking up to the heavens for the answers thinking that the solutions are going to to come by raising our eyes higher, when that's really been the problem all along. The solutions are in front of us, but below eye level because it requires humility to look down and bow our heads. Until next time...

Live FREE!

It's just a sandwich.

As some of you may be aware, I'm currently writing a book entitled "The Undustrial Revolution!" For this book, I've been doing quite a bit of research on the economy and the industrial revolution as well as marketing. It's been quite a ride so far, and I can't wait to get the book finished and in your hands. I certainly feel that it is going to be of tremendous value to those who get a chance to read it.

Certainly the industrial revolution was a huge turning point in man's capacity to manipulate resources and crank out products at an unprecedented rate. It also has been a wonder in terms of economic output, and many scholars have made a case for how the overall standard of living has gotten better for the masses due to the production capacity. It can also be looked at as the downfall of man as well, though, in terms of people being used and manipulated for monetary gain at an unprecedented rate. What payoffs we've gained in terms of production certainly seems to have come at a price in terms of people being human beings. We've become human doings, part of the machinery and machines ourselves. Think about how the personnel department has now become human resources. People are now considered resource no different than any other raw material to be used up and thrown aside. I think that we are currently in a stage in human thinking where we are making a move back towards being human beings again all while keeping our capacity to produce...this is what I've termed The Undustrial Revolution.

Part of the issue in my mind has been how we've marvelled at our capacity to produce. Part of the issue has been the narcissistic way in which we've become so fascinated with ourselves. We've focused so much on our capacity to manipulate raw materials and resources and make something out of them that we've lost focus of the fact that we can't make the raw materials. Let me explain. Let's say that you were given some bread, meat, cheese, lettuce and such. What could you make out of that? Well, you'd probably make a sandwich, wouldn't you? You could make many different variations, but in the end it is still a sandwich. It could be a fantastic sandwich, and we could all marvel at how great your sandwich is and even call you a genius when it comes to creating sandwiches. In the process of that we tend to lose sight of the person who created the bread, the meats, the cheeses and grew the lettuce. There's nothing wrong with celebrating the sandwich and the sandwich making genius. In fact let's do that. Let's celebrate the people who make great sandwiches, but let's not forget to celebrate the ones who made the bread, the meat, the cheese and grew the lettuce. In fact let's go right to the source and acknowledge the source where all of it came from. Let's be grateful that we've been given not only the raw materials, but the capacity to manipulate the raw materials. After all, without this source, I'll call this source God, we'd have nothing to manipulate and we wouldn't even have the capacity to manipulate. I think it's awesome that we've produced machines that can fly, buildings that soar in to the sky, and all of the machines that create the machines that crate the machines that make all this stuff. So as we celebrate our capacity to produce as well as the products, let's not lose sight of the fact...it's just a sandwich. Until next time...

Live FREE!