“What’s the plan for today?”  That’s usually one of the first interchanges I have with my wife every Saturday and Sunday.  However, it is not the question you think it is. 

 

‘What’s the plan?’ has nothing to do with what are the tasks for today.  It is really code for “What’s the adventure for today?”  And last Sunday when I asked in code, “What is the plan for today?” Sheleen’s reply was, “I am not sure, but let’s do something.”  It wasn’t to long until she was reading aloud from the newspaper about a little town called Nelson in the Eldorado Canyon.  The article said that the desert flowers are beautiful at this time of year and it is only a short distance from Las Vegas.  “Great, I am up for that!” was my response. 

 

Let’s skip forward to Monday morning when I was conducting a teleclass.  The class is part of a series on Napoleon Hill’s classic book, Think and Grow Rich.  The topic of the chapter was the brain and how it is both a transmitter and a receiver.  Over the years I have studied and talked innumerable times about the human ability to transmit and the Law of Attraction.  So for that class, I choose to do something different.  I focused on the brain being a receiver.   

 

As I prepared for the class, I was inspired to create the Law of Receiving.  It states that you will always receive what you are prepared for and open to receive.  What good is it if you are sending all those wonderful messages into the universe and you are not prepared for the response?  I am sure you have all heard the story about the fellow who drowned in a flood.  When he arrived at the Pearly Gates and was greeted by St. Peter, he inquired as to why God had not answered his prayers to be rescued when he was stranded on his roof top?  St. Peter replied, “We sent a row boat, a power boat and a helicopter.  To all three you said, “No thanks God will save me.” 

 

Obviously, he was not prepared to receive that for which he asked. 

 

I have asked that my life be an adventure that is full of learning and discovery. 

 

I didn’t forget about Nelson, Nevada.  The adventure of seeing magnificent desert flowers and quaint little town wasn’t quite what we expected.  Yes, there were flowers, but not many.  The town consisted of a handful of double-wide mobile homes and a narrow dirt ‘Main Street’.  Not quite what we had requested/hoped for.  We were literally at the fork in the road and we had to decide if we were open to receive other possibilities on this adventure.  Should we proceed further down in the canyon?  We choose to continue.  That afternoon we encountered an abandon gold mine, an old general store with tons of memorabilia, and spectacular rock formations that can only be found in the Southwest. Oh, and lots more flowers.   It was a very rewarding adventure. 

 

Saying yes at the fork in the road isn’t always easy for me.  The restrictive fear based life patterns are disappearing.  More and more I am saying yes and putting the Law of Receiving to work.  When I put a gap between stimulus and response, the Divine is always there to fill it with possibilities. 

 

Are you ready to receive what you have been asking for? 

 

 

 

 

 

My last post was about the energy of the surf, today I am writing about a different energy – the energy of learning. 

Two weeks ago my bride and I had the pleasure of spending a few days vacationing in Sun Valley, Idaho with my daughter and her two kids.  It was a skiing trip that produced several unexpected gifts.  The first gift was that I was able to ski with my 5 year old Granddaughter, Makenna.  No, I wasn’t her first instructor; a very talented young man employed by the ski school at Dollar Mountain had that honor.  The ski instructor did a marvelous job of teaching her the basics, including how to get on and off the chair lift.  After Makenna’s initial lesson on Saturday, we skied together for two days.  The difference from our first time down the hill, to the last run on the second day was amazing.  On our first try, I had to ski about 10 feet in front of her, stop, turn around and catch her as she skied to me.  The last trip down the hill, on the second afternoon, she jumped off the chair lift and requested that I wait at the top of the hill while she went down on her own.  Of course I wasn’t willing to do that; instead I skied about 100 feet behind her.  As I followed her, I was surprised to see her skiing over small bumps attempting to, as the skiers say, “catch some air”.    The learning that had taken place was phenomenal.  In case you are wondering, grandpa is way past the stage of “catching air”. 

Those two days of skiing were a gift on many levels.  The obvious gift was the joy of skiing with my Granddaughter and having so much one on one time with her.  It is not often, as a grandpa, that I get that kind of time with one of my Grandkids.  Wow, what a thrill!  The second gift was part of the first, but not so obvious, it was the delight I got from being part of her learning experience.   For me, there is no greater feeling than to be part of helping someone learn something that brings a smile to their face and joy to their heart.  The energy that surrounds those events is unique.  A sense of connection occurs that is very special. 

The third gift was that I had to learn something as well.  I had to learn how to coach a five year old, who was just learning to ski.  That pushed me to rethink how I get on and off the lift and get down the hill while making sure that Makenna was safe.  I felt anxious as I learned something new.   I will admit that I was very nervous the first couple of times.  What if I messed up helping her on the lift?  What if she got scared while we were skiing and as a result she didn’t trust me?  Then I remembered, smile, breath and enjoy the process.  None of my ‘what if’s’ came true.  

Fortunately, everyday I get to experience the energy of helping others to learn and being pushed to learn something new myself.  I sincerely thank each of you that have participated in that process with me. 

How about you, are you experiencing the energy of coaching others to learn and feeling the push of having to learn yourself?  Are you recognizing those opportunities when they come along?  Jump in, the water is fine. 

Yes the surf is up.  The new picture in the header was taken 2 weeks ago at Anini Beach on the Garden Island of Kauai. 

 

Not only was the surf up, it was roaring all day and night long.  The waves were often 10 -20 feet high and the sound they made as they crashed against the lava rocks made my senses tingle.  Not to mention the visual spectacular of watching the surf rush under the lava on the shore and then explode through an opening in the rocks and soar up the cliff (see picture).  The cliff in this shot is at least 70 feet high and the surf frequently sprayed to the top of the cliff as it pounded the shore.  We were blessed to be able to experience this for six days.

 

I always feel energized when I go to the beach.  This time it was more profound than usual.  Perhaps it was because I had not seen or heard the ocean be that tumultuous for so long a period of time.  Whatever the cause, the outcome was wonderful.  I can still feel the power that I experienced when I took the picture and the energy it created in me. 

 

If you have spent time at the beach, you know that when the surf is up, there are always wonderful surprises left on the beach when the tide retreats.  Anini beach is protected by a coral reef, so at low tide we found wonderful and beautiful little pieced of coral that had broken off and washed ashore.  So in addition to the auditory and visual delights of the surf, I had the pleasure of discovering natural treasures on the beach. 

 

When I connect with energy of nature, it always causes my creativity to flow.  This trip was no exception.  I am looking forward to sharing those insights when I launch a new teleclass next week  titled “Quantum Change – The secret to joy and abundance”. 

 

My wish for you is that you can find a source for renewal as powerful as what I experienced in Kauai.  If you have or you do, please let me know so that I can share it with others.  If you haven’t found it or aren’t looking for it, I encourage you to begin the process of finding a way to re-create yourself. 

Creating is one of the joys in life for me.   One of the things I love to create is ideas that capture the essence of concepts I can use in my coaching and teleclasses.  When I am working on these ideas time flies and I can literally feel the energy humming inside of me.  If I didn’t know better,  I would say  I had drunk way too much caffeinated coffee. 

This week I have been in one of those creative moods.  I have been looking for a way to more fully explain what it is I am teaching in my Change Your Energy – Change Your Life class.   I think I have a partial answer.  Please feel free, if not compelled, to respond to my thoughts. 

I have created a new word. The word is Gap-ability.  The definition of gap-ability is; it is your ability to create and sustain the joy that occurs when you expand the gap between stimulus and response. 

Now that you know my big idea, let me explain why I think it is important.  In the Change Your Energy class I explain that throughout life we are constantly receiving into our mind and body stimulus to which we respond.  It is in the gap between stimulus and response where the outcome of our lives is determined. 

Stimulus – Gap – Response

If the emotion we feel in the gap is fear, then we limit our response.  When the emotion we experience in the gap is love, possibilities we could not imagine begin to materialize.  I could tell you hours of stories about the success people (myself included) have had when they expand the gap between stimulus and response. 

Expanding the gap is a function of creating love based life patterns that cause the gap to expand.  The concept is simple, yet the practice of it is difficult.  We have years, perhaps even decades of living with an automatic fear based response that occurs every time it is triggered.  With the fear based response comes a life of untapped potential. 

Personally I am striving to tap into as much of my potential as I can.   My desire is that I will not die with the song still inside of me.  If I were to rate my gap-ability on a scale of one to ten, I would say that my gap-ability is about a seven and I am working to get it to an eight. 

Have you found a way to express the song inside of you?  What is your gap-ability?  Do you want to raise it? 

I was searching the web today for research on smiling and I came across this list of facts on smiling.  I thought you might find the list interesting.  If you’d like to test your knowledge about smiling, read the facts listed below and check yes or no as to whether you knew the fact before you read it.  When it comes to knowledge about the smile, are you ready to be a certified Change Your Energy facilitator or a candidate for antidepressants?

More Facts About Smiling

A smile as a universal expression of happiness and recognize that such by all cultures.  Yes_No_

A smile is the most frequently used facial expression.  It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles, and as many as all fifty three to smile.  Yes_No_

Regardless of the precise number of muscles used, smiling causes far fewer muscles to contract and expanded than frowning.  Yes_No_

Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better.  Yes_No_

Even ‘faking’ a smile can lead to feeling better.  Yes_No_

People are born with the ability to smile.  We don’t copy the expression, even babies who are born blind, smile.  Yes_No_

Babies reserve special smiles (Duchenne smiles of joy and happiness) for their loved ones.  Yes_No_

A newborn shows a preference for a smiling face over a nonsmiling face.  Yes_No_

Women the smile more than men.  Yes_No_

Younger people smile more than older people.  American males with high testosterone smile, least of all.  Yes_No_

There are 18 different kinds of smiles use a variety of social situations.  Yes_No_

Human beings can differentiate between the felt ( Duchenne) smile ( of joy and happiness) and antisocial smile –’ it’s in the eyes.’ (literally).  Yes_No_

A smiling person is judged to be more pleasant, attractive, sincere, sociable, and competent than a nonsmiling person.  Yes_No_

A person who studies laughter is called a “Gelotologist”.  Yes_No_

If you marked between-
12 – 14  yes answers, you should be a Change Your Energy Facilitator
8  -  11  yes answers, you are probably a successful graduate of Change Your Energy
5  – 7     yes answers, you need to attend a Change Your Energy Teleclass
0  - 4    yes answers, you are too busy to be interested in being joyful and you are a candidate for antidepressants. 

What a poserful thing the smile is.  And it is Free!!!

When you combine the smile with an affirmative declarations, you have the formula for CHANGING YOUR ENERGY AND CHANGING YOUR LIFE. 

If you have other interesting facts about smiling, please feel free to foward them to me or just post them here. 

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, all of the time your smile can be the source of your joy.”  adpated from a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh.   

Last weekend was one of those wonderful weekends that was filled with enjoyable activities.  I won’t bore you with details, other than to mention a movie that we saw on Saturday night.  The movie was “Atonement”.  And no, I am not becoming a movie critic.  However, it is a very engaging film and I would encourage you to see it. 

 

I enjoyed the movie on two levels.  One level of enjoyment was for the film and the story itself.  The second level of enjoyment was an insight I took out of the story.  The movie is about a young in man England during the late 1930’s and early 40’s.  The hero obviously is very intelligent, has potential that he hasn’t found a way to actualize.  Then in a ‘blink’ of an eye his life is changed and the result is __.   Guess I shouldn’t spoil the ending.  Suffice it to say in a “blink” of an eye everything changed. 

 

I left the theater with a renewed appreciation for the importance of living the life of my dreams, not some day, but now!   If I don’t do it now, I may miss wonderful moments that won’t come this way again.  That is not to say that there won’t be other magical times that will appear, but I will have missed a special time that could feed my soul for a long time to come.

 

One of the things I am learning to do is say ‘yes’ to adventures that a few years ago I would have forgone.  Fear based life patterns have caused me to say ‘no’ too often to who I really am.  Not only am I saying ‘yes’ to adventures, I am proactively creating them.  Last weekend was great because I decided to create a weekend full of things I love to do.  In the ‘blink’ of an eye I created the plan for the weekend and then in another ‘blink’ the weekend was over.  The great news is that I had loving and joyful times between the ‘blinks’.   

 

In a ‘blink’ of an eye you can decide to live the life of your dreams.  Are you ready?

This Christmas I was visited by the ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’.  The Ghosts of the Present and the Future didn’t appear.  The Ghost of Christmas Past appeared in the form of a much younger Frank in his high school and college years.  The Ghost reminded me of all the term papers that were always due right after the holiday.  It showed me how I spent most of the Christmas break worrying about what to write and only occasionally working on the paper. 

 

In four decades you’d think that I would l have learned something about using my time over the holiday.  Well I didn’t.  My wife and I spent the holiday at our home in Michigan and visiting kids and grand kids.  We had a wonderful time.  When I wrote the last post on this blog on December 20th, my intention was to use the Christmas break to formulate a full proof method for making New Year’s Resolutions come true.  As you probably have guessed, all I achieved on that ‘earth stopping’ piece was thinking and no writing. 

 

Today, back in my office in Las Vegas, knowing that I was running out of time to write about New Year’s Resolutions, it occurred to me that I was approaching this from the wrong perspective.  Creating a powerful way to keep resolutions is not the solution.  Not writing resolutions is the answer!  So,  

 

On this 3^rd day of 2008 I resolve not to make any more New Year’s Resolutions.

 

Instead of focusing on something out of the past, I am going to work on the present, knowing that it will create the future.  I know there are three keys to creating a present that is joyful and abundant.  They are:

 

1. A mission statement for my life that I am actively living.
2. A vision statement that outlines the preferred future.
3. Love-Based life patterns that support 1 and 2.    

 

In the next seven days I intend to check to make sure that my mission statement is still on target, update my vision statement to reflect my current reality and make sure that I have at least 3 smile exercises to support my mission statement and facilitate the fulfillment of my vision statement. 

 

Words have power.  I choose to focus on what I want to create and be, not on what I think should be fixed. 

 

Surprise, once again the ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’ succeeds in teaching a lesson. 

Wow where did 2007 go?  It has been a whirlwind year with more change and excitement than I could possibly imagine.  Relax, I am not going to turn this into a Christmas letter that details everything the family did this year.  I just want to write about the ‘speed of life’.  

 

The ‘speed of life’ for me this year has been phenomenal.  I drove across country twice, moved to Las Vegas, adjusted to running my business in a new city and time zone, numerous flights back to Michigan, a new grandchild, etc., etc.  When the ‘speed of my life’ starts to crank-up, I want everything around me to move at the same speed and to do it perfectly.  Things don’t always go perfectly and then I focus exclusively on the things that aren’t working.  I lose sight that I am living the life of my dreams.  Life turns into a struggle.  I did that on occasion in 2007. 

 

I am committed to that not happening to me in 2008.  No, I am not going to decelerate my ‘speed of life’.  My New Year’s Resolution is to accelerate my ‘speed of life’ in 2008 and to enjoy every moment of it.  The adventure will continue in 2008.  I choose to be joyfully conscious of all that is happening around me.  In 2008 I plan on giving the “Smile Exercise” a workout. 

 

As you prepare for 2008, I encourage you to:

1. Decide what your ‘speed of life’ will be in the New Year.
2. Check to make sure your ‘speed of life’ is in alignment with your mission and vision.
3. Create life patterns that will flow smoothly with your ‘speed of life’.
4. Experience the power of love that the smile exercise creates. 
5. Invite others to join you on your amazing journey. 

 “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming…’Wow! What a ride!”  Source Unknown 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

      

About three weeks ago I volunteered to do something I had never done before and I thought I would never do.  No, it was nothing extremely daring or illegal.  I volunteered to ring the bell for the Salvation Army.  The Rotary Club, I recently joined, supports the Salvation Army every Christmas season by ringing the bell and collecting money. 

 

Three weeks ago at the Rotary luncheon, they asked for volunteers and passed around a sign-up sheet. On Saturday and Sunday, December 8^th and 9^th the Club committed to staffing two locations.  When the sheet came to me I quickly passed it on hoping that no one would ask me why I hadn’t volunteered.  Thank goodness they didn’t.  However, not only am I proficient at spotting fear in others, I am getting pretty good at spotting my own fear-based life-patterns.  For 20 minutes after the sign-up sheet went by, I sat there debating with myself about what the fear was and why shouldn’t I deal with it.  Thinking of ringing the bell brought back memories of all the times in the Midwest when I saw bell-ringing volunteers standing in the freezing snowy or wet weather ringing their hearts out.  I always admired them for standing there in the cold while others rushed about enjoying the holiday.  As I approached them I would alwasy say to myself, “No way would I ever do that.” 

 

I am not sure what came over me, but before the meeting was over, I found the sheet at another table and signed-up for a two hour bell ringing shift in front of Albertson’s Grocery.  I can’t remember the last time my hands sweat as much as they did while I was signing the sheet. 

 

That evening during dinner I told my wife, Sheleen, what I had done.  I threw out the idea that maybe she would like to join me for some of the shift, fully expecting her to give me the joy of doing this on my own.  To my surprise, not only did she say yes, she decided to dress up like an elf.  My bell-ringing challenge suddenly wasn’t feeling so bad.  Maybe this could be fun. 

 

As you can see from the smiles on our faces in the picture, we had a ball.  We talked to lots of people, brought smile to kids faces and interacted with a couple of folks who were probably going to be recipients of the Salvation Army’s charity. 

 

And we collected lots of money. 

 

You know you are married to a wonderful person when she volunteers to be an elf and ring the Salvation Army bell with you. 

 

Ho, Ho, Ho!!! Merry Christmas. 

For over three years I have been “writing” a book on Change Your Energy – Change Your Life.  Well that is not exactly correct.  If I were to be factual about the statement, I haven’t been writing for three years, I wrote on and off for a year and one half.  For the past year and a half I have been stuck and added very little to the 70 plus pages that I had written.  Several of you, who are reading this, are very much aware of my being stuck and lack of forward progress on the book. 

I know that the application of the principles of Life Patterns and the Smile Exercise generate a gestalt for people and that lives are changed.  However, I haven’t been able to fully describe what is happening to me and others when the concepts are applied.  A major reason for writing the blog was to get unstuck.  I sensed that when I started writing about what I talk about every day, clarity would follow.  In addition to writing the blog, I have also been mediating on becoming unstuck and finding the words to articulate the concept.  And of course I have been smiling, feeling the energy flowing through me while declaring, “I easily complete my writing projects.” 

It has been very frustrating for me to listen to other authors who have developed powerful concepts that draw people into learning more about what they do. 

That is the bad news. 

The good news is that I am no longer stuck.  I am creating the space in life to write and I am making notes that will lead to writing the rest of the book.  To that end, today several things became clear to me:

1.  Everyone of us has a soul and our soul contains within it a plan/dream that will maximize the unique talents that we possess. Somewhere around the age of 40, the ache inside of us becomes to strong to continue to ignore .  We realize that there is an untapped talent/potential and we want to experience it.  The ache in our souls is accompanied by an absence of joy in our lives.  The plan in our souls is not being fulfilled.  We feel “stuck”! 

2.  Our life is determined by our ability to consistently experience joy. 

3.  Emotion followed by action that is consistent with the plan is mandatory to relieve the ache in our soul. 

4.  If one, two and three are correct, then you must learn to consistently generate the emotion of love/joy while taking actions that move you in the direction of the plan/dream. 

5.  It takes courage to do it. 

There will be a book titled “Change Your Energy – Change Your Life”!