People are...

Mike Wagner talks about the positive aspects of being strange.

Commencement Time

Usually, commencement speeches can be rather trite, condescending and droll. Not this one! I so would have loved to hear this message when I was graduating. As someone in a "third act" (really watch the video!), I know exactly what Adam is saying here. I hope regardless of where you are at this moment, whether you are actually graduating or are years from that moment in either direction, you are inspired by his words. For they are just that - inspiring.
Enjoy (Adam starts at about 5:30)

Moments are Rooms in the House of Life

If you were to look at life as a giant house we inhabit, moments are the rooms we visit to relax or invigorate, or to mourn and recharge. In between the moments, we travel the halls. The halls present us many doors to choose from which lead to those moments.

Those doors are our choices. Some are easier than others. That’s part of the journey. We all reach that point in the hall when the decision can be a burden; the choice is not clear or may be difficult, and we need help figuring out which threshold to cross. We may even need help navigating the halls and their potential barriers. Sometimes we are just looking for the stairs.

When those instances arise, we need a little push to get us through a door and to learn from what is behind them. One thing about moments is they are never ordinary, and we must make the most of them regardless of the situation. There are lessons in them all and leaving that room with an understanding will help us if we find another one that is similar.

Don’t get caught wandering the halls!

Which room are you looking for?

Hurdles

Throughout high school, I struggled with math and when I reached as far as I could, I stopped. Whether this is chalked up to being more interested in other things or an actual blockage, I can’t say from this vantage point. For years, I just avoided it and used a calculator.

In college, I finally reached that point of having to take algebra. The way they did it in a normal semester was as a lab. In this setting, it was pretty much up to the student to do the work on their own and tap teaching assistants when we hit a wall to get help. At that point in my life, I was rather introverted and reticent to ask someone I didn’t know for help. Needless to say, I failed.

I signed up for the summer version to get rid of that ‘F’ and to see if I could understand it enough to pass. This was your traditional class with the professor up front writing out the problems on a board. This person broke down the problems into something I could grasp bit by bit. I was getting it. I understood what was happening and passed. With an ‘A’.

This was HUGE for me. To go from an ‘F’ to an ‘A’ really boosted my confidence and also helped me understand the best way I learn. I need someone to break down the big picture into bits so I can see what is going on with each step, and then I can understand the whole.

I used to be afraid of math and, while I am no math guru, I know that I can tackle it and ask for help if I don’t get it. What is something you struggled with and were able to overcome?

This is spot on!

I can't add to this

Reach your goals!

Gary Vaynerchuck is a HUGE inspiration to me and a lot of what he says and does makes sense!

If you have a dream to do something more, watch this video and contact me so we can get you moving to live your life on your terms!

Dream BIG!

I have attended and volunteered at The Big Dream Gathering a couple of times and they wrangled me to talk about my Big Dream!
Check it out!

Good Motivation!

Meet Ben Milne!

Parents!

Coaching is for more than just adults needing to find their place or reach a goal. Students in high school with unclear goals and unsure about what to study in college or even those considering not attending can benefit from finding out what drives them.

Contact me and we can set up a time to talk with your child and get them on the road to their dreams.

Resolve

The New Year harangues us with the need for changes in our lives. Various media and acquaintances heighten the assault. It is an endless cycle of procrastination and broken self-promises. There are plenty of sources for you to try and keep those New Year’s Resolutions but I am here to suggest you don’t make any at all.

You see - waiting for a date on the calendar will only generate excuses when the date occurs. If you want to change, do it now!

Telling yourself you will modify the situation and your place in the world is different than actually doing it. We are creatures of habit after all, so we don’t really cater to change that easily. We need motivation.

Guilt and its cousin, regret can take a hike. You have decisions and choices. Decide now is the time to do whatever it takes to live a more beneficial and contented life and choose the right course to make it happen. That’s it. Is it easy? Most likely not (it’s that habit thing), however, if you believe to your core that what you want is what you need to express, then the burden does ease somewhat.

It’s hard to do what you love, so do what you are! What you do is a projection of who you are and because it is coming out of you, you will love it!

Now…who are you?

Fill Your Page

Doing what you love does not come without sacrifices somehow. Whether it is a drastic reduction in income or reduced family time, they are there. To many, those are worth it, but to many more, it is not in the cards. So how do we do accomplish or reach the goals that stoke the fires of our passions?

It’s in the margins.

Copyright Pink Sherbet Photography

Picture a piece of lined paper. Personally I prefer college ruled, but you roll with your image. Imagine jotting down everything you have to do in the body of the page. Those things we all have to do. Now, instead of doodling on the side of the page, write down all those things you’d like to do.

There are moments every day when those things can be worked on. It is possible that you will lose sleep along the way, so be prepared for that. That’s one of those sacrifices I mentioned. That being said, if this is something that drives you and you can’t imagine not doing, you will enjoy every moment of it by using every moment.

Living in the Now can seem like some mystical BS attainable only to the enlightened. Not so. It is as simple as being exactly where you are, doing precisely what you are doing. No hoity-toity, no wishy-washy, just here. Now.

No thinking about 5 o’clock on a Friday (unless it is of course). No pining away for some other activity that you are not doing (unless that is what you can focus fully on without distractions of what you really should be doing). If you are going to daydream, then give it your full attention. Otherwise, you are missing out on what is right in front of you that demands your attention. Not living in the moment can best be compared to texting while driving. Driving is a demanding effort that commands your attention. Doing something that takes away from that puts you at risk.

So in chasing passions one must have goals to strive for, but balance that with working on what one can right now. Remember Frogger? That arcade game where the goal was to navigate various obstacles to make it across to your goal is quite apt. There will be moments where we may take the eye off the short-term goal (the next hop) and falter. Knowing when to leap takes understanding what is around you, thus being aware of Now. Set the long-term goal, move toward it, do what you can now.

Give yourself freely, meaning be honest about what and who you are. Be genuine. Giving yourself can also be putting yourself completely into your passion. Living it, breathing it, and doing everything to make it happen. If it is some sort of business, then you will have expectations. You put your heart and most likely money into something and will be looking for some return.

Interpersonal relationships are a way to give yourself without expecting a return. It will come about most likely, but going into it thinking, “what can I get out of this,” is only placating some internal fantasy of how you see yourself. Be good for goodness sake without thinking of how it may make you appear to others.

I get it!

My aha moment.

It was well edited for length I am sure and to be honest I did flub a few moments. I also should say my aha moment did help me meet over the course of years many people who I would have never met and I am grateful to know all of them and call many of them friends.

Be well.

What is the condiment?

"Where do these stairs go?"

When Ray asks that question, Peter replies, “They go up.”

I have always loved that scene from Ghostbusters. The pure audaciousness of the answer in its obviousness gets me every time.

Answers require effort to be found, however. Climbing stairs is apt, insomuch as we tend to look up to goals. Reaching them takes some determination (step by step) on our part but the reward is well worth it.

Will it be easy? Depends on the staircase. A straight run has the next floor in sight. Some stairs have landings where we can take a break before turning and heading up again. Spiral stairs hide the goal as well as the steps a few strides ahead of us and can make us dizzy from the climb.

So let’s call it challenging. Each step has distinct rewards. Every one is a little accomplishment raising you up. You have the goal in mind but you can’t take focus off the steps happening right now. You may catch a toe on the tread and stumble. When that happens you have the handrail to help you keep your balance.

What lies at the top of your staircase?

Brew Night

Thanks to Pete, Horton, Trevor, Cristi, Tod, Beth, Rod, Adrian, Norma, and Jason for attending Brew Night in Omaha! There were some good conversations and information exchanged!

Jumping the Line

A lot of us toil away doing things that hold us down. What is it you really want to be doing? What’s stopping you from doing it? We are in a great time to reach out for those dreams and catch them.

There is no reason you should not be fulfilling your passions. None. You don’t have to quit your day job. Yet. And no, you can’t just add water and expect it to happen. It takes effort and time for anything to grow. But if you love it, that doesn’t matter. Imagine when you look back and see what you nurtured and created.

That’s where I come in. I assess where you are and what you want to accomplish. Together we establish the path with lines in the sand for you to leap over to reach your goal, and I hold you to jump them. I am going to push you too. You will know what you want, and I want you to have it. This is about creating a great time, relishing life, and doing what you love.

Shoot me an email, and we can set up a time for a chat, on me. Or if you know of someone that could use that kick in the butt to get moving, have her or him drop me a line.

Ride The Wild Wind

Spun around by the chaos of the every day, we can lose that sense of direction from time to time. That’s okay. Enjoy it.

Waitaminute! Enjoy it? Really?

Yep.

The character that shines through when you hold your head up and smile at the craziness all around will relax you and those near you to an extent. It can also give you a clearer picture of what is happening so you can do what needs to be done.

When you are really not sure of what is going on or where it may lead, trust your gut. Do what feels right.

Too often we can overanalyze the moment, listing off the various things that may happen, good or bad. On occasion, the louder voice beats down the one that should be heard or followed. These are the times when you need to improvise. Improvise in the sense that you have your experience and faith in your ability to tap into and do what needs to go down.

Let me tell ya, it ain’t easy, but it can be done! The way you do it is you get out of the way and let things unfold and what you do will come naturally, and you will relish in it.

I have worked in a couple of industries that gave me that “deadline rush.” That sense of just making it in the nick of time, pushed up to the last moment, can take it out of you but leave you energized as well.

When you are focused on the task, you and the moment are one. You flow through the tasks to reach the final goal.

When have you trusted your gut and did what felt right?

Got a Question for ya!

Somebody give me a beat(down)

Ever have a gut check from an outside source to make you second-guess what you are doing? This anxiety can stop us in our tracks and the wheels just spin over and over without moving us along.

Your brain loops a beat of ominous drums in the distance sparking that fear. Those thumpings distract us like the chuffing of bad subwoofers in the trunk of a passing car.

Figuring out how to use that can be as simple as feeling the groove they offer. Adding that beat to yours eases the fretfulness and may even inspire you.

Not fighting it and allowing the waves to wash over you can clarify your brain with the shock of ice water. The shake up of that moment may help you see things from a new perspective.

It is okay to have these feelings and concerns as long as you accept them for what they are and do not let them shut you down. Stay with your dream; keep your goals in sight.

If you hear the drums, start dancing.

Leave Some Change Behind

Any interaction is an open door to affect someone and motivate. In some cases this could be a movement toward change.

When we come together with anyone, we have a distinct opportunity to affect that person. Ideally, we strive to better the relationship somehow and part with buoyed spirits and a clearer, perhaps different, outlook.

In that instance, the change we leave could be an affirmation of the path we are on. Just through conversation, we can clarify and set goals for ourselves.

Granted, reaching those goals can be a difficult road and help may be needed along the way in various forms. In a lot of cases, the answer is in you but the right question may not have been asked yet.

Has someone asked you the right question yet?