Friday, April 29, 2011

Choose Happiness


Did you know that happiness is a choice? In fact, happiness is one of the bravest, boldest and most radical acts you can make. It's subversive to choose happiness.

Same thing with health. Last week, I was at a talk by Robert Kenner, the director of Food INC. and he said that the three most revolutionary decisions in your day (and your family's) are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Imagine that - you can choose to be vibrant, healthy, energetic and alive based on your food decisions.

In either of these cases, you are making a choice to be happy and healthy. It's not a result of outside circumstances or genetics.

Often times, we think we have to add something to be happy. Or we see ourselves as the victim of bad genes. The common denominator is that we play the blame game. We're not where we want to be because of something or someone else.

Everything changes when you look within and take ownership of your life. You change your destiny once you realize that happiness, even health, is a choice!

Here's an amazing passage from Mark Murphy's must read book on goal setting called Hard Goals.

"This is why I get cranky when I hear the 'it's all genetic' crowd fatalistically tell us that our lives are predetermined by our DNA (if you don't have the natural talent, oh well, don't waste your energy trying)... I'll tell you what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful that Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, among others didn't buy into any of those crazy arguments. I'm thankful each one of them was willing to push past what's easy in order to achieve some exceptionally difficult goals. Otherwise they wouldn't have founded a country, put a man on the moon, liberated a nation, freed a people, and so on."

Saturday, April 16, 2011

What are your limits?


Did you know that it has been proven that really big, inspiring goals are more achievable than small, forgettable ones? If that's the case, then why don't all of us dream huge? According to Paul J. Mayer's amazing story, the reason is most of us are programmed to think small - much like circus elephants...

"An elephant with his trunk, can easily pick up a one ton load. But have you ever visited a circus, and seen these huge creatures standing quietly, while tied to a small, wooden stake? When still young and weak, an elephant is tied by a heavy chain to an immovable iron stake. No matter how hard he tries, he can't break the chain or move the stake. Then, no matter how large and strong an elephant becomes, he continues to BELIEVE he cannot move AS LONG AS HE CAN SEE THE STAKE in the ground beside him. Many intelligent adults are like circus elephants. They are restrained in their thoughts, actions and results. They never move out any further than the extent of their own self-imposed limitations."

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Future of Food

Dr. Vandana Shiva is one of the world's most inspiring and important voices on behalf of sustainable agriculture and the environment. It was once said by Dr. Max Gerson that the soil is our "external metabolism." If our soil is toxic and deficient of minerals, then we will be the same.

If health is a priority for you and your family, check out Dr. Shiva's talk on the future of food:

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Safe is way too risky

Master motivator and marketer Seth Godin encourages us to make our businesses (and lives) remarkable - as in "worth making a remark about." To Godin, playing it safe is the riskiest thing you can do. Instead of aiming for good or even very good, you need to think and dream REALLY big if you want to live a truly extraordinary life or have a remarkable business. Enjoy the video:

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