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
Sunday, January 25, 2015
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:
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
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:
- Write it down.
- What do you want? NOT What do you not want?
- Get specific: who, what, where, when, how much, how many?
- 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.
- 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
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, March 28, 2011
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. :)
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. :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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...
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...
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