find a better connection

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Barry

“There is no WiFi in the forest but I promise you will find a better connection.”

-Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Radu Emanuel

Remember when you played outside until your mother called you in for dinner? Today’s children probably won’t. The National Wildlife Foundation reports that the average American child spends as few as 30 minutes in outdoor activities each day, and more than seven hours in front of some form of electronic screen. Our kids are out of shape, stressed out, and truly tuned out due to their lack of connection to the natural world so essential to their health and development.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you, your children, and others you care about spend far more time in the green and natural beauty of the outdoors? Imagine all the benefits to your body, mind, and spirit!

Be Your Own Hero

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Barry

“There comes a time when you have to be your own hero.”

-Author Unknown

Image from Flickr by Loren Javier

Action films are one of the most popular movie genres, especially as we enter the summer months. Can you recall, as a child, reading comic books by DC and Marvel? Today, a great deal of their revenues and profits come from telling their stories of adventure and heroism on the big screen.

The classic theme of The Hero’s Journey is one of the most popular and has been reused, refreshed, and adapted innumerable times over many years, simply because we all connect with it and because it touches our deeply held human instincts.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what situations it is time for you to be your own hero?

Where can you help bring out the heroes in others in your personal or professional worlds?

our truest paths

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Barry

“Our truest paths are carved out by the stuff that’s in our hearts.”

-Author Unknown

Image from www.breadandyoga.com

When was the last time you experienced pain? Many people experience frequent or ongoing pain. For the purpose of this post, I’d like you to examine the last time you experienced a headache, a stomachache, or given today’s quote, a heartache.

Fortunately for most, headaches and stomachaches are often temporary and subside in a reasonable time frame. Heartaches, on the other hand, are often more debilitating and endure far longer, due to the significance we attribute to the people and issues associated with them.

For myself and many others, these heartaches are an indication that we have been “all in” and fully invested in someone or something great or significant to us.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways can you express your truest path by living more consistently and fully with your heart and make any future heartaches well worth it?

Friday Review Humor

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Barry

Friday Review: Humor

For greater success in everything: bring more humor into your home and work. Here are a few humor-related posts you may have missed. Click on the quote to read the full message:

“I learned that when I made people laugh, they liked me. This is a lesson I’ll never forget.”

“Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.”

“Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom.”

unbeatable combination for success

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Barry

“Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”

Napoleon Hill, America’s foremost success/motivation author

Image from www.newinki.com

I recently finished a chapter on Personal Mastery for a book titled Essential Wisdom: Personal Development and Soul Transformation, which will be published soon. As I researched my topic, I discovered how relevant Napoleon Hill’s statement is to virtually every journey of success.

When we combine these three qualities, they appear to have far more helpful impact than their additive effects. We say that 1+1+1=3, but perhaps 3² or 3 to the second power, might more accurately demonstrate their potential synergies.

EXERCISE:

Where would combining greater patience, persistence, and perspiration make the biggest difference in your personal and profession endeavors?

“There is more than one right answer.”

-Dewitt Jones, National Geographic Photographer

image from www.english-forlife.com

There is something satisfying about getting the right answer.

Take a trip down memory lane back to school, where the goal was to get 100% on a test, or a perfect score on the entrance exam for college. Striving for excellence or perfection can be the source of great upset and frustration since we humans quite often fall short of the mark.

There can be many paths to excellence and achievement. Today’s quote coaches us to relax a bit and determine what is right for us, which may not necessarily be what others or society dictate.

EXERCISE:

What are the right answers for you regarding the following questions?

Where do you most enjoy spending your free or leisure time?
What strategies work best for you in your marital and parenting relationships?
What qualities and attributes bring you the greatest happiness and life satisfaction?
Where else would it be of value to remember that there is no one right answer to any question or issue you face?

Love will draw

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Barry

“Love will draw an elephant through a key hole.”

-Samuel Richardson, 18th Century English Writer

Image from quotesgram.com

The image of an elephant being drawn through a key hole is difficult to grasp. How could the largest land creature, whose weight can exceed ten tons and whose heights reaching almost four meters, get through such a tiny opening?

The power of love is without question the source of miracles that often cannot be understood from a place of normal reasoning and logic.

When Lawrence Anthony, author of The Elephant Whisperer, passed away, the herd of wild elephants he had lived with for years came to his home to mourn him—a clear sign of their love for him, and their awareness of his passing.

EXERCISE:

Where have you observed the miraculous power of love in your life?

How and where would demonstrating even greater love in your world make the biggest difference?

Busy is a form of lazy

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Barry

“Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

-Timothy Ferriss, Author

QC #1046

Timothy Ferris is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker, best known for his 2007 best-selling book, The 4-Hour Work Week.

Assuming the average worker puts in 40 hours each week, we would see that Ferris is suggesting we work only 10% of those hours.

To achieve such a breakthrough would clearly cause us to do far less and in many cases stop the majority of our daily tasks.

EXERCISE:

How would decreasing the time you spend in meaningless work and focusing on your most important priorities improve the quality of your personal and professional worlds?

Begin today by ruthlessly cutting out at least one hour of busywork that is adding no real value to your world.

Friday Review Strength

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Barry

FRIDAY REVIEW: STRENGTH

Leadership requires inner strength. Here are a few strength-related posts you may have missed. Click on the Quote to read the full message:

“Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.”

“People are like tea bags. You find out how strong they are when you put them in hot water.”

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

better to walk alone

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Barry

“It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.”

-Diane Grant, American Playwright

image from Flickr by Michelangelo_MI

Peer pressure doesn’t stop when we leave high school. Being “cool” and fitting in with the crowd is a strong influence in our personal and professional worlds. Just because others engage in certain behaviors and activities doesn’t mean we need to go along for the ride. At these times it is critical to lead our own lives, being clear about what we value and the direction in which we want to go.

EXERCISE:

In what areas of life, past or present, have you headed in the wrong direction due to the influence of others?

Where might it be time to choose a more genuine and authentic path even if it means going it alone?