Have you ever felt like you weren’t really living up to your true potential and most of the time you feel like you are a Nascar driver at a go car track? At times, do you catch yourself thinking that there has to be more to life than what you are currently experiencing?

Over the weekend I took my family to an Optimist fishing day for the youth and while fishing we couldn’t help but notice the seagulls flying around the lake. There must have been at least 30 of them hanging around this little lake amongst the ducks and I started thinking to myself, “Aren’t seagulls supposed to be near the beach or a shore somewhere?” I mean, don’t they have as part of their name “Sea?” When I think of Seagulls, I picture them just gliding in the ocean breeze, hanging in mid air, without having to flap their wings. Yet, here they are, 400 miles from the nearest shoreline, at a little tiny lake, in the middle of the Arizona Mountains?? Why?

Now I don’t know much about birds, but what probably happened was once upon a time, a Seagull ventured off from the beautiful shorelines, got stuck here in the mountains thinking there was no possible way to get back to the shore, had babies and raised them to think that this was their true calling in life. So the offspring of this one seagull has been living inland for generations. Sound familiar?

One day, one, two or maybe three of those Seagulls will realize their true calling in life and fulfill their potential and return to the sea. Along with those few, others will follow and learn that they too have the potential to become more. It’s in their blood. It can’t be tamed, unless, they allow it to be tamed.

The only reason Dog’s and other domestic animals are tamed is because they are taken care of with food, shelter and in a good home, are shown love. So they choose to stay for those reasons. The only reason people work for someone else is because of the same reasons. They get food, shelter and at times, a little recognition….and that is good enough for most. So they choose to stay!

But for some, who know that they deserve more, won’t settle for the tiny lake in the middle of Arizona when they know the entire Sea is out there. It’s all a choice. And yes, I did say settle. Everyone of us has the opportunity, the potential and the courage to choose to be as the seagulls at the shores, or the parakeet in the cage. The real question is: Do you want to simply survive….or do you want to Live?

How many times have you heard someone else say: “I wish I could go back and do it all over again,” or, “If I knew back then what I know now, things would have been different.” I have heard it all too much and at times, I just want to slap that person and say, “Too bad! You blew it! Stop living in the past!” But then again, being a nice guy and all, I have to take into consideration a word called, “Feelings!”

Seriously, what’s going to happen to the runner who is always looking at who’s behind him? He’s going to run slower, veer off course to which ever side he is looking and most likely lose the race.

For lack of a better scenario, if it were intended for us to always be looking behind us or into the past, our heads would have a great view of our back ends, and we all know what those are used for. Our heads are put on facing forward for a reason and that reason is so we won’t have to see all the “stuff” we’ve left behind. All we see is the path ahead of us.

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ~Carl Bard, Scottish Theologian

I love that quote! Instead of dwelling on something that cannot be changed or altered, which is the past, focus your energy to something you can change and mold to your liking. The future is something that has no set destination because it can change with every decision you make. The cool thing is, you can be your own seer. You have the ability to see your own future. The crazy part, most people choose to dwell on the past instead of gazing into their future. You can tell where you will end up by taking the time to visualize it and then by making sure the small decisions you make every single minute of every single day are in alignment with it.

People deserve to spend more time creating their future than dwelling on their past!

I know this may sound crazy but I love to run. I love to wake up in the morning when the air is still cool, put on my running shoes, head out the door and run 2 or 3 miles. It allows me some time to improve my physical health while giving me some time to also think. At the end of a run, I am completely exhausted yet completely fulfilled. While thinking I get clear on my goals, more passionate about my enterprise and extremely grateful for what I have in my life.

If you would have met me 10 years ago, I hated to run. I was always running, but while playing basketball in school or during track or football. It was for a purpose and I was somewhat forced to do it.

I think the military taught me the benefits of a good run. I was still forced to do it but as my lungs adjusted to the long 5 to 6 mile runs, I started to enjoy running because of what it taught me about myself and about my life.

When you first start running it seems as though you will never reach the end. Sometimes it seems as though your lungs will explode or you will pass out on the side of the road and find yourself waking up to a bunch of concerned strangers. The beginning is always the toughest. But as your lungs get used to it, you start to understand that once that fatigue, or that burning feeling comes, by pushing forward, it goes away and you get your second wind.

I learned that I could actually control my breathing and bring my heart rate down to a level that was more comfortable and that didn’t seem as though I was gasping for air. I learned how to press forward, even when times get rough, or hard. I also learned that at times, especially when climbing big hills that it is easier to take smaller “consistent” strides rather than trying to sprint up the hill. I also know that for me, it is easier to sprint at the end of my run rather than maintain the same speed, especially if there is a small hill.

I went from barely passing PT tests in the Army to maxing them out in push-ups, sit-ups and the 2 mile run. Most people give up early in the 2 mile run by slowing down because it hurts a little, or it gets too hard.

The funny thing about the pains involved in running is that after the first few times, it’s all in your head. Give up and you may never enjoy running. Push through by being consistent and running 3 or 4 miles will be like a walk in the park.

The same applies to every business, most of the difficulty is all in your head. It is consistent action, whether large or small, taken daily that produces the best results. You must learn to always press forward, even when things seem difficult. Learn to enjoy the journey and love what you do and pretty soon, it will be a walk in the park!

While attending church with my sisters family this past weekend I heard a cool experiment in a talk that was given. It is amazing what you can learn when you actually pay attention! I can hear stories or experiences that I have heard once before but take away an entirely different meaning the second time around.

The experiment was done with fleas. Yes, fleas. Now, I want you to compare yourself to the fleas in this experiment. The person doing this experiment, caught a bunch of these fleas and put them in a tall container. As he watched this container, he noticed that the fleas would just jump right out of the top. I mean, there is nothing holding them in there, why not?

So during the next step of his experiment he put a lid on the container and then once again, observed the fleas. At first, the fleas would jump high enough to get out just as before the lid was put on the container and would bounce off the lid and fall back down. After a while of bouncing off the lid, the fleas started jumping just high enough to avoid smashing against the lid. So the fleas had learned not to jump as high.

In the next step, he decided to remove the lid from the container, and found that the fleas would still only jump as high as the lid. They weren’t jumping out of the container any more even though there was nothing holding them in.

Guys, I was once a flea. I was trained and educated to think that I had a lid placed above my head that prohibited my growth and what I though was possible. The sad thing was….this lid didn’t really exist. I just allowed myself to believe it did. Just because I was raised in a farming community did not mean that I had to become a farmer. Just because someone is raised in the ‘hood’ does not mean that he will or even has to remain in the ‘hood’.

You see we all have these imaginary lids in our lives that only exist in our minds. When you hear of the saying, “think outside of the box,” it just means realizing that there is no lid. There is only a boundless amount of opportunity and potential. The only thing holding you back is your vision for your own future. If your vision or belief only gets to the top of the container, then you may be stuck in that container for a very long time, or until you learn what else exists outside of the container.

It is amazing to see the difference it makes in someone elses life when they truly realize that their true potential is limitless and without end!

There is no lid, there is only you and your belief of what you are capable of!

Allow me to define something for you to preface this post. Those who operate their business, their life or their actions by what others say you can or cannot do, will always be like the others and will never excel. Now, if your actions are governed by your own rules, you will be whoever you want to create.

Don’t ever live your life by what others tell you that you can or cannot do. Living by everyone else’s rules will land you right where everyone else is. There is always someone out there that is going to try to dictate what you do. That person can be a relative, a friend, a colleague or even a complete stranger. Who appointed that person to the status that would give them authority to rule your life. Nobody has that status other than you. You dictate you. Most rules in this world are just made up, unwritten, unenforced or not even enforceable by law!

Example: In your home based business you decide to do some marketing by putting fliers on cars throughout a mall parking lot. Up comes a security guard that tells you it cannot be done and tells you to go and pick them all back up. What do you do?

Answer: Whatever the heck you want to do! Is he going to call the police? Is he going to beat you up? Is he going to yell at you? What can he do to you? The answer….nothing.

Do Business like a Rhino

A Rhino doesn’t stop and ask everyone else around if he can run through their area, he  just does it. Cattle, or the ones that live by everyone else’s rules, are the ones that would be deterred. Be a Rhino, not a cow in the midst of the heard of cattle! The cattle are the ones that are afraid to test the integrity of the little bit of wire or the sticks that keep them corralled. Take a look at the picture of the Rhino. Do you think a little bit of wire or a few boards are going to stop him? No! Then don’t let a few comments, a silly so called “rule” or anything else deter you from your goals of success! Be the Rhino!

This morning I was obligated to take a drive with my one year old daughter. We took this drive at 5 AM in attempts to get this little girl to sleep. I had been up with her since 3 AM and enough was enough. The good news, it worked! The bad news, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. I’ll live!

As I was driving around, I saw cars idling in their driveways warming up for the trip to work, people coming out of their homes and apartments in their work uniforms, contractors pulling up to job sites and it was barely 5 in the morning. Now, I live in a small town where the commuting time isn’t huge, so I know that these people would most likely be starting work at 6 in the morning.  As the time went on and 6 Am started rolling in, the streets were full of people heading to work.

It seems as though the so called “9 to 5” job is no longer only 9 to 5. In fact, I don’t think it has ever been 9 to 5. It is more like a 6 to 6! If you think about your time spent getting ready for the job and traveling to and from the job, it should all be counted. It is time spent for someone other than you and yours. That is time spent that you are not getting paid for. Take into account how much time, if added up over a few years or even a lifetime, that you are wasting in preparation for your job. Let’s say on average it takes 30 minutes to get ready, 60 minutes to commute to and from, and 30 minutes to get, so called, “unready.” That is 2 hours a day. Over a one year period, you have spent an average of 10 hours a week, 40 to 50 hours a month and around 520 hours a year preparing to get paid for your time instead of getting paid for your time.

What if you invested that time into a business opportunity of your own? I can tell you that I know people who have, like myself, made more in a 10 hour work week than most people make in an entire year! It’s all about getting paid for your results instead of your time. There is only so much time, but results are unlimited.