You want to be a winner?  Better learn how!

There is so much to know if we are to progress from a mere beginner to a champion.  We will need to bring our passionate fire every time we enter the playing field of our dreams.

Practicing like a champion requires us to be focused on the skills and techniques that will bring our game to peak performance levels.  The more we know, the more we will grow!

Being fully present is key to the awareness and coordination necessary in yielding top notch results, each time we are practicing.  How we practice will determine how we perform in real life situations.

The greatest of champions practice with unparalleled precision and aim.  Their entire strategy is driven with intent and purpose.  They have their eyes on the prize!!

So, if you really want to win…

Think about it,once again.

And learn to practice like a champion

It was John Lennon who said, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”  A more relevant quote could not sum up the truth about our lives more eloquently or emphatically.  Plans make excellent skeletons around which we can build the body of our work.  Plans need to have room for growth and the flexibility to accommodate change. 

Learning to expect the unexpected is crucial in a world that functions at warp speed, throwing us uncontrollable conditions constantly.  The only thing we can really rely on is that change is the one true constant.  Understanding how to work with these various deviations from the plan will actually make us more productive, leave us better prepared, and less stressed.  The old saying, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”, rings so loud and clear in reference to our uncontrollable conditions here on planet earth.

When we allow life to present itself, it does, in full living color, like one gigantic stage show in progress.  Sometimes a good front row seat is far more interesting and enlightening than starring in the lead role.  Let life’s players, performers, and portrayers to present themselves in full character, uninterrupted by us.

In time, all things sorts themselves out, evolving to become either more or less important and influential in our lives than we originally believed.  Building our awareness skills, so that we can absorb and understand our immediate surroundings, is essential.  Environmental sensitivity is another key, that will unlock the doors to us knowing just what is required in each situation life places us.

While we work towards our goals, a clear picture of our intended destination will provide an excellent road map of which way to head.  The journey, however, will unfold as we travel, revealing the characters and events, that will tell the whole story.  Think of it like a trip across the country, where you have nothing but time and the open road.  And where the plan of not having a plan is the greatest freedom you ever hope to experience.

We have very busy lives.  Lives that are consumed with more commitments than we can handle.  We work too much. We say yes too often.  Our time is divided into more pieces than a jigsaw puzzle.  Where is the focus?

Making choices helps us to choose what is important.  We separate the things that are important from the not so important items.  Are your days filled with the activities that move you along, towards your goals?

Every moment offer us the opportunity to take action.  Any little step we can take counts.  Reading and learning more about the skills and experience we may need.  A drive by the building we want to work at or plan to own someday.  Going to an inspiring live performance by someone who motivates us.  Reaching out to communicate with our heroes.  They may not reciprocate but that does not matter.

Observe your world, your environment, and your life by slowing down so you can take it all in.  Absorb it.  Understand it.  Spend your time diving into your dreams and exploring your passions.  Turn them into goals by assigning them a time line.  Say goodbye to anything that distracts you, preventing you from success.

Starting here. Starting now.  Put the pieces together, one by one, walking the walk.  Find the information your need to gain knowledge.  The knowledge to make intelligent decisions.

More listening. 

Better communication.

Stronger connections.

Focus on you where you to go and the path will appear…

With our camera as our constant companion, we are always prepared to capture images of the world around us. The world is ours to document.   We point the camera directly towards anything that catches our eye.   What would we look like if we turned the lens, focusing  it on ourselves?  What kind of study do we make?

All of our potential lives with us, regardless of whether we make use of it or not.  In “Connect The Dots”, we began creating associations between our interests, skills and goals.  Making connections.  Finding pieces that fit together. Creating change in our lives by turning dreams into workable goals.  The thought process continued flowing…

We must now focus in on these associations.  Where do they fit into our lives?  How do they relate to our future?  Why are they important?

Just like we point our cameras, adjusting the lens, we look outward.  We are seeking information.  Look at industries where our special gifts may be applied.   Follow people who have been successful in their respective fields.  Search for opportunities to apprentice under someone who can be a guide and mentor.  Maybe we can begin building a freelance business on the side. 

Following… Studying… Planning…taking action.

By focusing all of our raw potential we begin to see a clearer picture. Information from studying will applied to our personal resource center.  Our resource center will hold all of the knowledge we gain regarding our future. We now have some directions to follow.  We are narrowing the field…. 

We take action…step by step!

Our future will get clearer and clearer as we continue…

Focusing the lens!!!

Just like water flows collectively down rivers and streams, so too do our thoughts, dreams, and goals when we put them into writing.  By writing lists of our interests, goals, dreams, skills, and areas of expertise, we create flow.  A thought flow that moves from our head to paper or electronic document.  Creating movement takes time, patience, and a commitment. 

Once again, our lists need to take shape like the way streams collect water, allowing it to flow towards the much larger rivers.  We must collect our thoughts and organize them.  We begin by gathering  what we have written into categories. Each category will head a column, under which the associated thoughts will be gathered. 

Create columns for: Interests; Dreams & Goals; and Skills & Expertise.  Organize each thought that flowed out under the corresponding category.  When the columns are complete will begin the “association game.” 

In the association game we will begin to reorganize our columns by similarity and subject.  We are looking for interests, skills, and goals that could, or may potentially work together.   Example:  My interest figure skating lead to my becoming a highly skilled expert at the sport.  My childhood dream  was turned into a goal when I became a professional skater.  After gaining business skills at college, I pursued a goal of opening a skating company, Skaters Landing.  This is the type of association we are searching….

Interests+ Skills x Goals = Your potential

Keep playing the “association game” with all of your interests, skills, and goals!  Let them flow….

Like streams flow towards rivers, feeding them their constant supply of water.

Our thought streams are putting it together…

We are on a journey towards our futures…we are committed.

Using time…

We are…… connecting the dots!

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There comes a time when we must walk the walk, pulling together all the pieces we have gathered. In “Baby Steps” we discussed the importance of time, practice,and patience.  In “Who Are You” we explored self awareness, purpose, and creating change.  Sharing our unique selves and finding our calling were addressed in “Inside Out.”  And in “What Rocks Your World” we engaged in those life changing moments that make us feel so alive and stimulated.

It is the understanding of these many aspects of ourselves, the people in our lives, and the world around us that will ultimately lead us to discovery.  Discovering that at every moment in our lives the opportunity for change exists.  That opportunity dwells somewhere inside.  We need to understand how to tap into it and use it for creating change.  Real change…not just imagined.  We need to move from talking about the things we want to do, to actually doing them.

Putting our dreams into action means reaching inside, tapping into what we love do.  Finding that special something that makes us feel so alive.  And acting upon it!  We should begin by writing down all of our interests, skills, talents, areas of expertise, dreams, and goals.  Just a simple list without judgment as to where, why, or how any of these may fit into our lives.

By simply writing the list we have put all of our earlier discovery work, into action.  This action will take shape as we move the list into some kind of organization. 

The process of organization will start to bring your future into focus.  For you will begin to see that the creation of change really can take shape.

Step by step, we are walking the walk…

At this point in the process we have already changed..

Because we are “Putting It Together!”

2. That feeling when all of your senses seem to be stimulated, your heart is pumping full throttle, and every nerve is aware, is beyond memorable.  It is unforgettable and can be life changing.  Those moments and times that touch us so deeply in such a special way.  It is from these incredible experiences that we find what really moves us.

   The things that move us can be large or small, grand or tall.  It can be the way a concert or piece of music touches our spirit, making us soar.  Perhaps it’s the lessons of a great teacher that stay with us, helping shape our course in life.  A friend who lets us know how special we really are or family member who believes in us so strongly.  A sporting event…or the big championship!  The beauty of the arts.  The characters in a movie, a book, or from real life.

   The important thing here is recognizing those people, places,and things.  When did it occur?  How did you feel?  What was the feeling like at the time?  And the bigger question is….How can you incorporate these experiences into your life? 

   The things you love that make you feel so alive are worth exploring.  They are your calling.  You will never feel greater purpose or achieve greater results than when doing something you are passionate about.  No one will perform better than you, when you do the things that fill your heart with joy. 

   No need to look deep inside here.  The simple joy of feeling so alive….in the pleasure of a beautiful moment. 

   Capture the energy and use it in your life…

   Share it through your work…

   Engage us with……what rocks your world….

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Like a rare and precious jewel, we are all blessed with something unique about us deep down inside.  Most of us live in fear of revealing our true selves, thus it is sadly not shared with the world.  When searching to find pearls we must first open the protective shell, revealing insides that are raw and sensitive…..but it is there inside the oyster, where we find our precious pearl.

Modern times seem to call us to be more mainstream.  Globalization. The sharing of similar technologies worldwide.  And the ideology that we are all the same…  Truth is we do share many commonalities, but we really are individuals with our own perspectives and perceptions.  We experience life from our unique point of view, looking out our own window to the world around us.   Our commonality is probably that no one truly fits in…..we are  all strangers in one way or another.  Strangers together!

Where food is our universal language shared together everywhere, our special gifts tend to be left boxed up and wrapped.  They seem to rarely be opened up.  Yes, the outside may be beautiful, capturing our eyes.  But the joy of what’s inside can bring joy and fulfillment.  It may warm our hearts.  It can leave a special imprint on our lives.

We all take on jobs at that time in our lives when we need to earn our own money and take care of ourselves.  Through education and experience we build skills, moving onto a career which tends to be higher paying and more purposeful.  We tend to feel a greater  satisfaction or connection to our work.   

There is a place where all the pieces or ourselves merge together.  Our jobs, our career, our hobbies, our passions, and our special gifts  blend.  That place uses the greatest part of our intellect in perfect harmony with our heart.  The pieces fit together.

It is our calling!  It comes from inside.  I have heard that call…and I am listening to it!

I will follow my calling!   I am willing to reveal myself transparently and honestly!

It calls me to not live in fear.  It calls me to express myself from the inside out!!

And it is priceless!!!