Yossi Ghinsberg has an amazing message. For those of you who follow this blog, my wife and I attended a conference in Puerto Rico last week that included Yossi as one of the speakers. The overall theme of this conference was “Exotic Adventures.” So all three speakers at this event had accomplished some sort of tremendous adventure and have a story to tell.

Yossi Ghinsberg

Yossi has a pretty thick accent, and at first, I was a little worried that I was going to suffer through his presentation. He started out pretty slow but picked up the pace pretty quickly. As he spoke, he sucked his audience into his story by his passion and the dramatic use of his words. His story began as he entered the uncharted jungles of the Amazon. Shortly after entering the Amazon, tragedy struck a member of their camp, a division happened among them and he found himself alone, in the middle of the Amazon, fighting for his life. His story of survival was the turning point in his life and one that I will not soon forget.

Without telling you the entire presentation he gave, I will tell you a few points that really hit home with me.

Yossi made a reference to fear, and how so many people in this world are controlled by it. Fear of losing their job, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of heights, fear of talking to a pretty woman, fear of success. It dictates the very decisions we make and for the most part, when faced with fear, most move in the opposite direction. Of course they would. If you see something you are afraid of, you try to avoid it, go around it or shy away from it. Yossi has a different point of view. Instead of running, “When fear arises, head to it. Confront it. Say thank you for showing me the way!” How much more would we be able to accomplish if we all lived by that philosophy? When faced with fear, confront it, because most likely, that’s the way you should be going. Awesome!

“Our true power is revealed when we give it away…because our true purpose is to serve.” This quote came when he was describing a point in time during his exile in the Amazon when times weren’t so hopeful. He felt like dying and if I remember right, had just prayed to die. His was laying face down in the mud, his feet were shredded, he had no will to go on when all of the sudden he heard a voice. He looked to the side and saw a woman begging him to help her. Even though just moments before he had wanted to die, thinking all was lost, he jumped up and grabbed the woman by the hand and started moving towards the river. Well, the woman was not real. She was a vision, an imagination, hallucination or whatever you want to call it. But the principle here is….that when he had already given up on himself, without the will-power or strength to carry on, he still had strength enough to help someone else. “Our true purpose is to serve.”

These are just a few points I wanted to cover. Look for a video of Yossi in tomorrows post. Well be talking about something you and I are very familiar with called the box. Very cool stuff! And if you have seen Yossi speak or have any of his material, I’d like to hear the effects of his story on your thoughts.

To learn more about Yossi Ghinsberg and his exotic adventure of survival in the Amazon, pick up your copy of his book by clicking on the image to the right!

Last week while Amy and I were in Puerto Rico we attended an inspirational conference. This was a three day event centered around the Positive Media and Personal Development industries. This conference, just like many others we host around the world, is a setting to learn from some of the most amazing speakers, individuals, authors, entrepreneurs and guru’s in existence today. This is what I do! I show people with ambition, such as yourself, how to grow personally and financially through these events. It’s a huge industry and for the next three blog posts I am going to give you a sneak peek of the three top notch speakers I was able to meet and listen to while at one of these conferences in Puerto Rico.

All three of these individuals inspired me with their stories and for me, life is all about your story. As you near the end of your life, what story are you going to be able to tell to your grandchildren and great grandchildren? Is it going to be a story of passion? Excitement? Adventure? Accomplishment? Or is it going to be a story of wishing? Failure? Mediocrity? Misery? The choice really is yours and the start of your story isn’t what really matters…we all have to start from somewhere. It’s the middle and end that should be the climax!

What do you think will inspire a child more: Telling that child of all the hardship you had in your life’s story and all the things that child should learn from your mistakes, or telling that child of all the amazing things you were able to accomplish and experience? As I ask that question I can literally picture that child’s face. As I picture the child, the first story has his eyebrows looking stern and wrinkled. With the second, you can nearly see the dreams stirring through the child’s eyes. That’s more powerful than anything. Inspiring a child to dream by sharing your own dreams will allow him to soar far beyond a child who is simply taught how to avoid your mistakes. A dream speaks volumes in comparison to anything else.

Whether you can picture that day or not, it will come. You will one day tell your story. Is it going to be a story that inspires or restricts? Making a difference today creates a great story right now….but that story will continue to inspire and make a difference many years after it was created. That’s the beauty of it!

So what actions will you take today to make sure your story is exactly the way your heart wants it to be….not the way your brain tells you it should be?

Last week my wife and I dropped the kids off at the parents house and took off to the tropical island of Puerto Rico! We had an absolute blast and with this being our second visit to the island, we appreciated it even that much more. The weather was perfect and the resort we stayed at was top notch. We stayed at the El Conquistador in Fajardo in the Las Casitas section of the resort. Our room was a one bedroom with a living area and kitchen. It had a patio that overlooked the ocean from up high on the tropical ocean side cliff. The view was inspiring!

So while were were there, our days looked like this:

Saturday – We arrived at the San Juan airport and were greeted by our transportation to the resort by a woman holding a sign with our name on it. We identified our luggage and didn’t have to touch it from that point on. We had a Ford Excursion limo pick us up for the hour long ride to the El Conquistador resort in Fajardo. We ate lunch on a balcony that overlooked the ocean with other self-made millionaires and multiple 6-figure earners in my business opportunity. We hung out at the pool most of that day, just soaking up the sun. That night we went kayaking through a jungle channel which contained Bio-luminescent micro plankton.(I’ll tell you more about that later! Awesome!) After kayaking we hung out in the hot tub until midnight right on our balcony.

Sunday – We paid a visit to Palamino Island just off the coast of the resort. There I snorkeled while Amy soaked up the sun as she normally does. Later that night we had a catered dinner in one of the top steak restaurants in the country called the Strip House which overlooked the channel and cove we kayaked to on Saturday night. This dinner was followed by a small get-together for leaders in my business called “The Repeaters party.”

Monday – We went hiking through the Puerto Rican Rain Forest and guess what….we got rained on! Go figure. The rain forest was amazing. Look for some video footage a little later on. Monday night we attended a welcome reception to the event we were there to attend. We ate buffet style and were entertained by music and awesome company.

Tuesday – Yossi Ghinsberg was our first speaker of the conference. If you have never heard Yossi speak, do it. He is amazing. Following Yossi we heard from Steve Donahue and his uncharted journey across the desert. That night was pretty eventful. We went out to eat with Tony and Jessica Rush and Roger and Suzanne Curwin. Tuesday was the 13th of October, my birthday. The day I turned 33 years old I also broke my tooth on the wrapped duck! Later that night we watched the a new documentary that is soon to be released by our company featuring Michael Jr.

Wednesday – We heard from our final speaker, Neal Petersen, on Wednesday morning. He was great as well. More on him coming in my future posts. We spent our entire afternoon on Palamino Island once again where Danny Hawman and I snorkeled to a separate island approximately 100 yds x 50 yds in size. It was gorgeous! That night we attended a black tie gala to conclude the conference. The steak melted in your mouth..it was perfect. Amy and I spent much of the night taking pictures of ourselves making goofy faces with random cameras we found laying around. Fun stuff. We danced the night away to a band that was the best I have seen in a long time. After which we soaked it up on our balcony in the hot tub. What a great way to close out the event.

Thursday – Our car came to pick us up at 5:50 am, just when the sun was rising across the ocean. Our room faced the east so as soon as you walk out the door….there it was! Amazing! And I tell you what…the best place to ride is in the back of a nice car! Our trip to the airport was just as nice as our trip to the resort.

So that’s it. That was our experience in Puerto Rico. It was amazing, life changing and inspiring and at this very moment, I am going through some withdrawals, wanting to go back. Aside from me breaking my tooth, it was an absolutely perfect trip!

Does passion have anything to do with success? Now I’m not referring to the Lovey-Dovey kind of passion…I’m talking about the stuff that drives you. The ingredient that separates the people who just do average from the people that excel. Do you think it would benefit you to have passion for what you do, or at least for the end result you are doing it for?

The more prepared and passionate about the task at hand, the more perfect the outcome. In hindsight we can always recall the times we had the least passion and see the degraded results. We can also compare those to the times where we had the most passion and see the accelerated results.

So it’s obvious that the more passionate we are about something, the higher our chances are at succeeding or performing at a higher level. It will consume you until you accomplish your task. If you are passionate enough, you will be compelled to know everything there is to know about whatever it is you are passionate about. You will take the actions necessary, without thought of necessity, because it’s just the next step in moving you closer to your goal. Passion is like a fire lit within your soul that is not easily distinguished.

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire” ~Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch

“When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn.” ~John Wesley

Or in other words, the more passion you have, the more people you will attract. In network marketing, that is exactly what you want.

“Life without passion would be a dull wasteland of neutrality, cut off and isolated from the richness of life itself.” ~Daniel Goleman

Life without passion is just mediocre. Live your life rich with passion. Let it flow into your life’s goals and when all is said and done, you will be able to say that you have done all you have set out to do. You will truly be able to experience the joy of a life well lived.

This weekend I went on a road trip to see some family. I had a little extra time while there so I decided to shoot some hoops across the street at a school playground. It was the perfect setting. There was a slight breeze, the sun was setting and the weather was great. Not only was it a great time for basketball, it was also a great time for reflection. Sunsets seem to do that. They get me all deep in thought.

Change Hindsight to Foresight

As I was there I started to reflect a bit on my actions in the past. I started to think about how passionate I have been in pursuing all that I have up until this point. I started to wonder if I truly am following my heart and what I really want for myself and my family.

While thinking of all that I have been able to accomplish, I started to realize and acknowledge that my passion for being the best in everything I have done has been mediocre in several areas. I realized that I could stick my neck out a little more, put in a little more effort and utilize my time a little better. The reflection of the past turned into a reflection of the present and my immediate future. “I am 32 years old. I have accomplished a lot…but am I doing it at the rate I want to and am I making a big enough difference in people’s lives?” These were my thoughts. By looking into my past I became more passionate about my future.

As long as we don’t constantly dwell on the past, I think a good self check is in order, a quick glimpse into the past to keep ourselves accountable for our actions. We must review our performance from time to time to make sure we are acting as though we think we are acting. But isn’t that so true? While in the present we always think we are doing all that we can and once we look back, we realize that we could have done more.

This is a classic example of hindsight…to perform the action and then realize later how it could have been done better. Of course, as our knowledge of what’s possible increases so does our hindsight. But, the same is true for our foresight. As our knowledge of what’s possible increases, we are better able to foresee a bit of the futures outcome.

Our past and future are connected by the present…and at the same time, separated by the present. Our past will NEVER dictate our future unless we allow it to, through our present. Meaning, the actions we take right now, and right now and right now, will determine the future and if those actions are the same actions we have always taken, then our past is dictating our future. Now, if the actions we have taken in the past are good actions, leading to a brighter future, then all is good. However, if those action are not good and lead us to a life of misery, unfulfillment and struggle, we must separate our past from our future by our present actions.

It sounds simple right? All someone has to do to get better results is change the present. This is where your hindsight becomes important. The entire purpose of studying history in school is to learn from the past so that we might avoid making the same mistakes as humanity. The entire purpose of self reflection is to learn so that YOU might avoid making the same personal mistakes, over and over again. If you haven’t learned anything from your past, what the heck are you living for. Grab a pen and piece of paper next time you reflect on your past results and become a student. Learn how to avoid repeating the mistakes of your past. Surprisingly, you’ll learn a lot more than you think, if you do it right.

But it’s also important to know, if you spend too much time studying the past, you will lose sight of the future. So learn from your past as you gaze on your future. Learn for your future. That’s the goal.

To sum things up: To change your actions in the present, become a better student of your history so that you can become a better YOU in the future.

One thing we have going for us as humans is our own ability to create something out of thin air. Especially when it comes to our time. We have the ability and resources to spend it in an array of ways. How we spend it has a direct reflection on our results in life. If someone isn’t getting their desired results in life, chances are, they just simple aren’t spending their time doing the things they must do to get the result. The hard part for people is knowing how to change the way they spend their time. It’s so easy not to change, right?

My point is….so many people have time working against them instead of for them. It seems that most people are in a hurry to die, to put it bluntly. The sooner they get off work the better, the quicker the day goes by the better, the faster the time goes by so that they can sit there on their couch, the better. Most people want time to fly by and in my experience, thinking of all the times that I wanted time to fly by, these were the times when I was most miserable. I was either at a job I hated, with someone I didn’t enjoy being with, terribly sick, in pain or just flat out sick and tired.

These were the moments in my life that I wanted my time to go faster. These were the times that I wanted to speed up time and literally get closer to my end. I wanted time to pass by faster, I wanted to waste that time just to spare myself of the misery I was experiencing at the moment. I wanted to get older, just by a small bit, so that I could move on with doing what I wanted to do and enjoyed doing. In doing so, I wasted a small section of my life…..a section that I will NEVER get back. Your TIME is your LIFE. It’s a simple concept….if you waste your time, you waste your life.

Don’t Waste Your Life

So let me ask you a question: Who in their right mind wants their life to pass by quicker? Who, having a sane mind, wants to die sooner? Because that’s basically what you’re doing when you spend your time doing what you can’t stand to do, hoping it passes by quicker. Now, fifteen minutes of time wasted at your job may not seem like you are wasting your life, but what is fifteen minutes multiplied by five or six days out of the week times 52 weeks in a year times the number of years you have been wasting 15 minutes a day. That adds up to a lot of wasted time, doing something you cannot stand to do. And if you are just working that job or business just for a paycheck and get no personal satisfaction or enjoyment from it, what are you doing?

So let me rephrase the question: Who in their right mind, who is following their passions in life, wants their life to pass by quicker? Who, having a sane mind and is living life to it’s fullest, wants to die sooner?

So how do you live life to it’s fullest or at least know you are? Here are a few questions for you:

• Is there something you have wanted to do for a while but haven’t taken the action?
• Do you feel like you should be doing something more with your life?
• Do you hate your job?
• Do you feel like you are just going through the motions just so the time will pass by?
• Do you find yourself thinking of all the great things you could have done in your life up to this point?

These are just a few questions and if you answered YES to any of them, chances are, you are not living your life to the fullest. My suggestion to you: Time is ticking, get to it!