In 2012 my life began to change. It changed in many incredibly wonderful ways, but many were painful as well.  

This morning I saw this quote.  It is a quote that I posted during my time of pain.  I want to share it with you and let you know that after reflecting on all the changes in my life, the quote is 100% true.  Here is that quote. 

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life and in change there is power.” — Alan Cohen 

That doesn’t mean that “new” will be easy. It doesn’t mean that “new” will be the right decision.  What it does mean is that “new” is the beginning of progress and with progress, there is happiness.  

So, no matter your situation, if you feel stagnant, depressed or sad.  If you feel that your career or relationship is at an end, look for something “new” and start to move forward.  With that said, “new” doesn’t necessarily mean a new job it could simply be a new attitude or a new way of doing or improving what you are already doing.   Also, “New” doesn’t necessarily mean a new relationship, it may simply mean that’s time to reevaluate and make some changes within the relationship that you are already have. 

Lastly, remember that if you want your life to change, you have to change.  

Start small, take a different route to work, eat a different type of food, find a new activity or game to play with your spouse.  Trust me, the smallest of changes will have the power to make a HUGE impact on your situation and your life. 

Hmmmm after writing that, I think I may have to leave the vanilla ice cream behind today and go for the chocolate. 🙂 

Have a great day! 

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”

“Don’t count the days; make the days count.”

“Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”

I am not sure that I have ever heard a better speech on what it takes to live the life of your dreams.  Regardless of what you want to be or want to have, this video is a must!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-V8dg0BkAQ

“Light always trumps darkness. It always has, and it always will. Therefore… if you believe that your world is darkening…if you believe that the culture of your nation is growing dimmer by the year…don’t blame it on the dark! Darkness is only doing what darkness does.

“If darkness is winning the battles, my friend, it is because light is not doing its job. You are light. So wake up. Wake up.” – Author Andy Andrews

Mark Twain was once quoted as saying that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.  For 45 years of my life I have tried to figure out why I am here.  For 45 years, purpose and passion has eluded me.  I’ve been successful but not fulfilled.  I have had passion but it came without purpose.

Growing up I had a strong desire to help and serve others.  My favorite days were those I spent volunteering for my Grandma’s church at the county fair making French fries and serving milk or orange drinks.  My favorite job was bagging groceries and carrying those overflowing bags out to cars in the remote parking lots of Frank’s Foods in downtown Elkhorn, WI all the while meeting new people and building relationships.

As a child and young adult I was lucky to have incredible parents, relatives, neighbors, family friends, mentors, teachers and coaches to look up to and guide me as I journeyed into adult hood.  Today the world is a different place.  Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau taken in 2014, showed that 1 out of every 4 children being raised in the U.S. under the age of 18 are being raised without a father and out of those children nearly half of them (45%) live below the poverty line.

Imagine 1 out of every 4 children, over 17 million in total, are growing up without positive male role models.  Can you imagine how many additional children there are that have fathers that are either not present or abusive?

Have you ever met an adult that has lost “hope”?  Maybe they’ve failed too many times, been passed up for too many promotions, gone through a heartbreaking divorce, or lost a loved one to illness.  Even worse, maybe they reached nearly every goal they set for themselves only to find out that what they had dreamed of all their life wasn’t it after all.  Not only have I known that person but I have been that person and what I can tell you is that trying to rescue that person is much like trying to push a rope up hill.  It is nearly impossible.

Unfortunately, there are far too many people in our country that have swallowed their dreams or have simply accepted that what they’ve got is truly all they’ll ever have.  Hope is gone.  In fact, according to Google, the word “hope” was searched approx. 4.5 million times in 2015.  When “hope” is lost, it simply takes way too much effort to get it back and therefore many people never do.

So once again, as Mark Twain had once said, the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.  If that is true, the second most important day of my life is 4/22 of the year 2016.  45 years, 3 months and 11 days after I was born.  That was the day that all my successes, my struggles, my failures, my knowledge and my unique set of skills merged together and formed my life’s purpose, the reason I was born.

That reason?   (MY PURPOSE): To provide powerful male and female role models, programs of inspiration, mentor-ship and tutelage designed to equip young men and women with the skills, the confidence and the mindset required to believe in the power of their dreams and individual greatness.

I will keep the flame of hope alive in these children long before it ever has a chance to burn out.

After sitting on this for a few weeks, I have no doubt that this is why God put me on this planet.  No doubt at all.  After struggling for years and not knowing “why”, finally having the “bigger vision” makes everything else seem so easy.  It is all just part of the journey to get where I am going.  I know without a doubt that success is certain.

Thanks for listening-

Kevin

Today I want to share with you something that every person, regardless of age, needs to know.  The following is from the work of Andy Andrews.  As I have said in the past, I highly recommend his book “the Traveler’s Gift”  If you haven’t read it yet or if you have and need a reminder, the following link will take you to the seven decisions that Andy noticed that many of the worlds most successful people had in common.  In coming up with these 7 decisions, Andy read over 400 biographies.

I hope that you receive the same benefits that I have from them.  (or am practicing to receive)  Good Luck!

Click to access AA_SevenDecisions.pdf

http://video.grantcardonetv.com/previews/MNEmGKvE-HPH0iFzA

When I was in my 20’s, making a decision was easy.  If I wanted to do something, I just did it.  I figured why not, after all, what did I have to lose?  In fact, at age 25 I quit a very secure, comfortable job running a Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Sea Doo franchise.  It was a job that I loved very much and the owners, a close knit Italian family, loved me and treated me like their own.  Quitting that job was more like a divorce than a career change. For years I was disowned, it was all very difficult but the decision to leave was easy.  I knew that I wanted more.  At the time I was single, owned a house and had plenty of bills to pay but I didn’t care.  In my mind, leaving a guaranteed $65k / year salary for the unlimited potential of 100% commission, was easy.  I was willing to risk it all, no questions asked, I was certain that I would succeed and I did!

Then as the years passed by, my success, family and responsibilities caused me to analyze everything to death. I would make a decision, then seek advice to make sure that the decision I made was right.  Oddly, the more advice I sought, the more confused I became.  I struggled to make decisions in my life, both big and small.  Even after I would make a decision, I’d find myself second guessing it.  So instead of moving forward, I would seek advice from people in my life that weren’t fully equipped to give it.  They didn’t have the same risk tolerances, experience or understanding about my situation but I asked them anyway.  Oddly, had I done the same thing when I was 25, I would have never left the comfort of the motorcycle shop.

About 18 months ago, I was really struggling with a decision.  I arrived home after work and my weekend’s task was to build cupboards, counter tops and a hutch in my laundry room.  At the time, a friend of mine was telling me that I HAD to read a book called “The Traveler’s Gift”, so I  downloaded the book on Audible, hit play and started building.  To say that book touched me, would be an understatement.  By the end, I was literally in tears and felt empowered to make another big decision in my life, I was ready to quit a job, for which I had no passion, and dive full time into entrepreneurial-ship. I knew I was ready and the book confirmed it, it as talking to me!

That Monday I went to work with the intention of quitting.  I was in my office waiting for my friend and boss to arrive. As I was waiting, I started to talk myself out of quitting.  When he arrived, he came directly to my office.  I could tell something was wrong and as he sat down, he had tears in his eyes.  When he began speaking he told me that he was not going to be able to make payroll this month and that he needed to let a few people go.  Since I was one of the highest paid employees, I was one of them.  I was absolutely relived!  I stood up, walked over and gave him a hug.  I said don’t worry, you know that “network marketing thing” I’ve been doing?  It’s paying me as much as I’m making here and to be honest, I was going to quit today anyway.  We both laughed, hugged each other and I gladly packed up my personal belongings and left.

Looking back, the part about this story that really opened my eyes, is that in life, we either have the power to make a decision or we can leave it up to fate to make it for us.  I am so glad that, years prior, I had made the decision to start my network marketing business.  I am so glad that I had dug that well before I was thirsty. If I hadn’t, that time in my life would have been VERY different.  Christmas would have been ruined and I could have potentially lost my house.

Now back to my original question, the title of this post, “Should I or Shouldn’t I ?” In the book “The Traveler’s Gift” the author, Andy Andrews, talks about the importance of having a decided heart.  After reading this section of the book over and over again, I am certain that the reason I or maybe we, struggle so badly with making decisions, is because of this very concept.  We struggle because our heart is not yet decided.  We are not 100% certain of the outcome.  We don’t have faith that we can be or do all that it is that we are dreaming of.  Having a decided heart means that the outcome is certain, no outside advice is necessary, no opinions need to be sought.  Having a decided heart means that YOU are in control of YOUR destiny and the outcome is CERTAIN!

If you have not already read “The Traveler’s Gift”, I highly recommend that you do so immediately, if you have, you may want to read it again.  Until then, here is a short article in which Andy Andrews discusses the concept of having a decided heart. I hope that you enjoy it. https://www.andyandrews.com/downloads/press_articles/2014-08-Success-from-Home-Magazine_A-Decided-Heart.pdf

I hope that you have a great day!

https://youtu.be/5wcqVAOx0wg

This makes 2 Tony Robbin’s Posts in a row BUT they are that good and THAT important!

What would you do if you knew that you couldn’t fail?  That is a question that I have heard many motivational experts repeatedly ask their crowds.  It seems like a really basic question right?  But is it?

Personally, I think that it is a really STUPID question.  Let’s be real, EVERYBODY fails, EVERYBODY! FAILURE is inevitable.  Failure WILL happen. Failure is basically guaranteed.

Now as some of you are reading this, you may be thinking that I am being very negative but I am not.  I am simply being real. When a baby learns to walk, he or she will fall many, many times.  When a child begins to read, they will stutter and mispronounce words.  When a musician learns a new instrument they will struggle to learn the notes.  At any point they could allow those mistakes to become the reason that they fail and quit trying or they can use their mistakes and failures to be the foundation for getting better.

Like I said, EVERYBODY will fail.  That is guaranteed.  So if I am right and failure is inevitable, how is it that we are surrounded by success stories.  People like Bill Gates, Taylor Swift, Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan?  It is because each of these people, just like EVERY other successful person, knew the magic behind failure.  They all knew that in order to succeed they would have to fail, hundreds or even thousands of times.  Successful people accept failure as part of the journey.  Successful people learn from their mistakes and get better.  Successful people NEVER allow FAILURE to stop them because for them success was a CERTAINTY and for that reason, they never stopped following through.

So they next time some someone asks you what you would do if you knew you couldn’t fail, ask yourself this question instead.  “What would I do if I knew I would NEVER give up and that success was CERTAIN?”

I hope that you have a great day!

Kevin

Are you or someone you know in a “funk”?  Watch this quick and powerful video from Tony Robbins.

http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-robbins-explains-how-train-emotions-2015-12