Today I drove by a sign that said “Job Expo and Career Fair”, since most of what I do involves networking with people, I thought that I would stop in.  When I did, I was shocked at the  “energy” in the room or should I say lack there of.

Everywhere I looked, there were vendors looking down at their phones.  I walked a whole isle before one person looked up and even offered a smile. The rest of the isles weren’t much better.  It was confusing!  I mean these people actually paid money to be in that room for the sole purpose of meeting and connecting with other people.  Yet, for many of them, it looked they were serving time in prison, just counting down the minutes until they were FREE!

When I left the Expo I felt grateful for my situation but mostly I felt sad.  I felt sad for so many of the people in that room today because it was obvious that they did not like their jobs and if they did, they certainly did NOT want to be there.

If I had a wish, it would have been that each person in the room search for and find their purpose in life.  Not just a job or a career, but an actual deep burning desire, doing exactly what they wanted to be doing.

Last week I traveled to Canada.  During my travels I made it a point to meet at least 10 strangers.  I met 11.  There was a Radiologist that rarely got to see the sunlight and struggled to stay awake past 3:00 in the afternoon, a Packer Fan that loved playing football and 2 divorced people on a date.  The couple on the date were 69 years old and full of life.  You could actually see the happiness in their eyes.  In talking to them, I learned that they found each other after spending many years in a miserable marriage.  Now, they are in love with each other, and planning a future.  I met 2 dog lovers and an engineer that dreams of sailing around the world.  Then there was an IT project manager that dreams of being a librarian and the waitress who was the mother of a newborn that dreamed of being able to stay home with her child.  I also met a store manager that wished he didn’t have to work so many hours and an immigrant Real Estate Broker that lost his business in the 2008/09 housing crash now turned historian.  Most of these people had a dream, the sad part was that their dream wasn’t their reality.  IS YOURS?

Personally, I think that I needed to have this experience today.  I needed to see exactly what it was that I would not be willing to accept in my life anymore.  Years ago I made the choice to choose happiness over money.  For some reason, since then, I have been telling myself that I have to make a choice.  Happiness, love and passion OR money, stress and loneliness.  The reality is, it doesn’t have to be one or the other, I can and will have it all.  I hope that you make the choice and take the necessary actions to have it all too.

Have a great day!

Kevin

Today I wanted to discuss how you become the person that you / I wish to be.  After considering this for a long time, I decided to make a list of qualities from people that I look up to or admire in my life.  After my list was complete I wrote down the completely opposite quality to remind myself of what I don’t want to be.  Making this list has really helped me.  For example, I will only seek advice from a person who exhibits the traits / qualities of a person I wish to be.  I hope that my list will get you thinking.  I highly recommend that you make a list of your own and no longer allow those in your life on the wrong side of the list to steal your power.  In case you can’t read the image, the details are below.

Have a great day!

Kevin

The traits / qualities of who I want to be and of who I want to attract into my life and into my business.

Loyal, kind, open minded, good hearted, upfront, straight forward, motivated, passionate, outgoing, grounded, balanced, active, good listeners, generous, loving, fun, genuine, professional, helpful, leaders, family orientated, successful, low maintenance, health conscious, charitable, spiritual

The opposite traits / qualities of who I want to be and who I want to attract into my life and into my business

Disloyal, hateful, opinionated, mean, shady, wish washy, indecisive, lazy, indifferent, introverted, lazy, indifferent, groundless, unbalanced, afraid, self-centered, stingy, hateful, boring, fake, ignorant, hindering, follower, loner, hopeless, high maintenance, needy, toxic, selfish, secular

• Continually ask yourself, “Which traits / qualities am I exhibiting right now”? “Which traits / qualities are the people in my life exhibiting right now”?  “Which trait / qualities are the people that I am attracting into my business or my life exhibiting”?
• After evaluating the above questions, consider what actions you can take to become the kind of person that you wish to be. Remember, you can only change yourself.
• Jim Rohn is famous for teaching us that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Now ask yourself, is that a good or a bad thing. 

Finally, author Andy Andrews states that if you can easily accept the traits / qualities of the people on the right, it is because you yourself are exhibiting those same qualities.

  
 
 This year I’m on a quest for knowledge. Evey day I read a chapter of Proverbs from the Bible. For whatever reason, when I read the Bible last year, I was drawn to Proverbs and King Soloman. 

Today I read this particular Proverb. 

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NIV‬http://bible.com/111/pro.12.1.niv

I was shocked. King Soloman is the wisest man ever to live and he states that “whoever hates correction is stupid”.  

Think about this for a second. When was the last time that a friend, a coach, family member, boss or business partner suggested that you change or correct something that you are doing?  

How did you react? How did you feel? Did their advise make you mad? Did hearing their suggestions make you feel less competent about what you were already doing? If so, why?

Moving forward, I’d like you to consider this. If someone in your life is actually taking enough interest in you to help or correct you, don’t be offended, feel blessed.  

A complete stranger will accept you for who you are because they don’t care about you. But someone who loves you will be willing to risk hurting your feelings if they believe that they can unleash the greatness within you that even you have yet to see. 

Have a great day!

Kevin

Michael Jordon Chicago White Sox Baseball March 14, 1994 X 45811 credit: John Iacono – staff

Have you ever been disappointed?  I know I have.  I’ve been disappointed by people, situations, sports teams and well, just about everything at one point or another.  I have to be honest, I don’t handle disappointment very well.  In fact, in the past, disappointment has had the ability to stop me dead in my tracks.  How about you?

One thing that I have learned to be true is that at one point or another we will all face disappointment.  What sets apart the good from the great is how the great handle that disappointment.

Lately, I have become obsessed with late night watching of documentaries about people or whole organizations.  There is a series that I found on Netflix that was produced by ESPN called “30 for 30”.  These short films dive into the stories behind great athletes and public sports figures.  Most of them are extremely well done.

One of my favorite “30 for 30” stories was about Michael Jordan.  No, not Michael
Jordan the as an incredible basketball player, Michael Jordan the “want to be” baseball player.  If you remember the story, Michael Jordan’s Dad was killed.  After his death, MJ decided to retire from basketball and pursue a career in baseball.  Like most rookies, he started in the minor leagues.

The critics had a field day with him.  They said he was making a mockery of the game, they said that he had no business trying to play baseball and that he should give up.  Each time he struck out, his critics cheered.  None of the baseball purists wanted to see him succeed.

For MJ’s part, he was a good teammate, he wanted no special treatment and he wanted to start at the bottom.  He wanted to “earn it”,  ONLY if he was good enough.  In the beginning of the season, opposing pitchers learned that MJ couldn’t hit a curve ball, so of course, that is what they kept pitching him.  One curve ball after another. MJ’s batting average was poor about .200 (meaning he was failing 8 out of every 10 attempts). His strike outs were mounting.  In fact, he struck out 1 out of every 4 attempts!

Was he disappointed?  You bet he was.  But it was then that I saw what the great do with disappointment.  They turn it into fuel which fires their passion for success.  As MJ’s story goes, instead of hanging it up and realizing that he was no good, MJ went to work.  He arrived early in the morning each day and worked on his hitting for a few hours before the game,  hours before his teammates would arrive.  Then after the game, he would stay for a few more hours and work on his stroke again.  By the end of the summer, MJ even hit a few balls out of the park!

In the fall league, MJ improved his batting average to .250 a HUGE improvement in the baseball world!  By the time the fall league started, MJ’s work ethic and progress earned him the respect of his teammates, coaches and even his critics.  At the end of the season MJ decided to end his baseball career.  When he left, many of the same critics who said he was making a mockery of the game, believed that if he had continued to keep playing baseball, he would have been good enough to make it to the Major leagues the following year!  As it turned out, instead of continuing to play baseball, MJ went on to lead the Chicago Bulls to 3 more NBA Championships!

For me, MJ’s story reminds me that if you want something bad enough, there will be critics and disappointment along the way.  However if you want it bad enough, let no one or nothing stop you.  Not the critics, not a lack of skills, not your own disappointment.  You can only control what you can control and that is you.  Your thoughts, your efforts, your desire, your actions. And finally, even if what you want to do doesn’t work out, but you gave it all you had, you may just find that the success you had been searching for was just around the corner.

Have a great day!

  
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 it’s job. You are light. So wake up. Wake up. 

From “The Noticer Returns” by Andy Andrews

The other night I watched a TED Talk that really got me to think about my life.  The talk was about a study that began in 1938 and followed 724 men throughout their lives. This study has been on going for over 75 years!   It is a must watch!  

“What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness”

This is a great video.  There are so many great lessons and so much inspiration to be had.  Watch it!

Have a great day!

You are not a victim. Listen to this!

http://youtu.be/YM2XAzJh4Ew

Have a great day!

This morning as I was reading my Bible study for the day and I read a VERY interesting story.  I felt like I needed to share it as there are so many of us in the world that are always trying to “save” or “rescue” someone in our life.  For years, I have been a “rescuer” and the truth is, the more I tried to help, the more I drowned.  Until I read the story of the “Lifeguard”, I never really understood why.  Here’s the story…

“I know I don’t look like it today, but for three years I was a lifeguard. And every lifeguard knows you can’t save people as long as they are trying to save themselves. If somebody is drowning and flailing around in panic, a lifeguard knows to just stay back for a few seconds and wait until that person gives up. Because if you try to save others while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under, too.

When they finally give up, they relax; you put your arm around them and just swim back to shore. It’s really quite easy.

God wants to save you. Jesus Christ wants to save you from your hurts, your habits, and your hang-ups. He wants to save you for his purpose and by his grace. But you’ve got to quit trying to do it yourself. You’ve got to relax. You need to let go and let God be God.” – Pastor Rick

For some of you that are reading this, my references to God may make you feel uncomfortable, that’s ok.  Several years ago I felt the exact same way.  The odd part was that I believed in Jesus Christ and in God, I just didn’t know how to have a relationship with them.  When someone would openly speak about them it made me squirm and even turn away.  Yet when I had an awful stomach ache I wouldn’t hesitate to ask them for help! Then one day I was posting inspirational quotes on my profile page when a dear friend started to return those quotes with similar verses and scriptures from the Bible.  After a while it was pretty obvious that much of the wisdom I was sharing originated from the Bible.  Little by little I started to read more about Jesus.  First starting with a christian story called “Wild at Heart” by John Eldridge then moving to my first daily devotional called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.  I’ll be honest, much of what I read, I didn’t understand.  Luckily, my friend Brandi was there to answer all my questions.  She let me challenge her when I didn’t believe and in the process she never judged.  When my faith would waiver, hers stood strong.  Watching Brandi as she “lived” a life of faith (not just talked about it) is the main reason that I feel compelled to share my faith with you.  Unlike Brandi I do struggle with “letting go and giving it up to God” but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t.  If you are struggling with your relationship with God, know that you are not alone and please understand that there are many people and resources that you can turn to get you started on your journey at the pace you can handle.  If you’re not sure where to start, contact me, I’d be glad to help.  Thank you for everything Brandi.

Have a great day!

The important thing is this: to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become.- Charles Dickens

If you’re like me, you read a quote, it makes you feel good, you read it once or twice more, then you move on. But what if you tried something different? What if you internalized it? Lived it? Let it truly soak into your soul and the cells of your body?

My life coach challenged me this year to do just that with the Bible. She challenged me to read it, then live (put to action)  what I read that day.  

My assignment is to read the book of Proverbs. One each day (there are 31 of them) find something that speaks to me, then repeat this process for the remainder of the year.  Essentially reading and living the Book of Proverbs for 12 months. 

Why Proverbs?  Because I loved reading King Solomon’s wisdom and because  this is a year of taking action, thus the blogs title “an ounce of effort”.  Here’s the interesting part.  The word Proverb means; pro=for verb=action together “for action”. 

So the next time you read a quote or a passage in the Bible, I challenge you to slow down, internalize it, search for its meaning and then live it.  

So with that in mind, let me ask you, what ARE you willing to sacrifice for what you could become? 

Have a great day!