“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
~Mahatma Gandhi~

Who do you believe yourself to be? Are you the type of person filled with I can’t? Someone scared to take on the tough challenges in life who just sorta goes with the flow and excepts everything the way it is? Or are you the much stronger, much more effective type of person who believes in your ability to create your desires and takes the pictures inside of your mind and manifest them into physical reality? The Yes I Can & Yes I Will Type of person! In whatever you want to do or create in life whether you think you can or you think you can’t you are correct.

I can’t vs. I can type of people have a completley different experience in life. I can’t leads to mediocrity or worse while folks that believe they can simply find away to make things work. Their belief in themselves brings with it the determination that ensures success. Thier belief in themselves is a foundational principle of Excellence. Is it in you?

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
~Lena Horne~

Perspective is such an important thing in life. Often times two people will look at the exact same thing and yet see something different. No where is this more evident than in the problems we face on a day to day basis.

Problems are simply an unavoidable part of life. They happen to the rich and to the poor. They happen to the weak as well as the strong. They happen to everyone who has been blessed with the gift of life. So since we know that we are going to have problems, why not learn the most effective way to deal with them?

We can choose to wine and complain about all the things that are wrong in life but the problem with that is that doing so creates more problems. It make our load heavier and more difficult to carry because it disempowers us. It focuses on what’s wrong instead of how to make things right. Not a very effective strategy is it? However when we decide to take responsibility for improving our situations we feel very different. We gain a renewed sense of possibility because we are focused on solutions. We gain the energy and enthusiasm needed to utilize the vast resources we all have to shape a situation into what we want it to be. This is the essence of excellent living and strengthens our ability to carry any load!

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“It’s better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.”
~Jackie Joyner Kersee~
Olympic Gold Medalist

So have you looked ahead and prepared for an amazing week? What about an amazing end to 2010? We are almost a 3rd of the way through the year and it will be over before you know it. Will you end this week and this year with regrets or with the good feelings and power that comes from making things happen?

Preparation is a prerequisite to success in anything we do. Preparation can be considered protection from a life of unfulfilled promise. Are you protected? What are your specific plans this week that will allow you to avoid regrets come Sunday? How do those plans play into your desire to end 2010 off as one of your most successful years? If you take a look at what you want for the rest of the year and work backwards to today you will be able to come up with a vision of what the rest of the year should look like. This vision should drive your decisions on what matters most in your life today and every day thereafter. Plan it out & Make it happen!

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“I used to want the words ‘she tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘she did it’.”
~Katherine Dunham~
Producer & Choreographer

Happy Monday All!

When Katherine Dunham said this she was thinking about how she wanted to live her life. She was taking a high level, big picture view of the type of person she wanted to be. This view was an important part of her success!

Her sentiment works as a guiding principle for life but her quote also can be a reminder of how we want to live our lives this week. Do you want to reach Sunday saying that you tried to have a good week? That you tried to eat right, that you tried to work on that business plan, that you tried to finish studying for that test, that you tried to spend more time with your kids, that you tried to watch less tv?

Or would u like to say I had a fantastic week? I maintained very healthy eating habits, my business plan is done, I aced my test, I spent quality time with the kids and created memories they will never forget by turning off the TV and focusing on them!

Which set of statements are more powerful? Which set of statements will leave you feeling better about your week? Easy answers, and since I know its a very powerful group of people reading this message I don’t even have to say much more. Lets forgo trying this week and make the things that will advance our goals and dreams happen! Sunday we’ll say we did it, not that we tried. So now….Just do it!

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“It’s pretty hard for the Lord to guide you if you haven’t made up your mind which way you want to go.”
~Madame C. J. Walker~ Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Each and every journey in life begins with a decision on where to go. Can you imagine how crazy it would sound if someone said they where going away on vacation today but they had not chosen a destination; if this person just got in the car and started driving aimlessly in no particular direction but yet they still expected to have a great vacation. Sound silly right? Well this is exactly what so many people do with their lives. Many people wake up everyday and just sorta go with the flow. No concrete choices are made to ensure that they get the most out of their time or that they head in any particular direction. If this is the way life is lived it is just as silly to think you’d be able to live a great life as it is for the person that doesn’t even know where he is going to have a great vacation.

So what about you? Do you know where you want to go in life? What about where you want to take your life today, this weekend, for the rest of this month, year etc.? Just like having a great vacation these decisions must be made up front. These decisions proceed the plans and then the actions that will lead you to the destinations where your most amazing life awaits you. To make sure you are on the journey toward success you must decide and define what success is to you! Once you know this, guidance from all over the place will help you along the way.

Summer is winding down, so lets make the rest of it count. Have an amazing weekend fam!

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.”
~James Allen~

In 1902 James Allen wrote a book called As a Man Thinkenth. It is considered a timeless classic in the field of personal development. His words ring even more true today then when he wrote them 108 years ago.

We live in a world where so many different things are competing for our attention. So much so that often we are controlled by desires that don’t serve us. Right now I ‘want’ to go get some Mickey D’s for breakfast. I also ‘want’ to go home, sit on the couch, turn on the TV and skip work. If I succumb to these desires I would not be moving towards a healthy, fit lifestyle or advancing my financial future and career. This would not be an acceptable trade-off so I’ll go get a healthy breakfast, stay at work, make some sales and make some money!

We all go through these types of choices and struggles everyday. But every time we make the correct choice we grow and become closer to the greatness that I believe each of us is destined for.

What’s your dominant aspiration? What controlling desire sometimes keep you from moving towards that aspiration? What’s going to happen today that will help you step into your greatness?

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.”
~Unknown~

“It is written. I’m entering a brand new chapter in my life.  I have a 6 year old daughter that I just found out about to raise.  This is by far the most important thing to ever happen in my life.  What do I want?

I want to raise a child who goes on to be a productive member of society.  I want to raise a child who has gratitude, self-disciple, a good heart, intelligence, productivity, happiness, determination, integrity etc.

How do I make sure that this is the kind of child I raise?  I need to be this type of person.  I need to be the type of person I want my little girl to become.

I’m going to meet her tonight.  This will be very interesting.  I’m excited,  I must be excited.  I must be grateful and I must fill my heart with love for this child.  As I fall in love with my little girl she will fall in love with me.  My Princess!!!

This is a crazy change for both of us and missing the first 6 years of her life is a tragedy.  But I can’t do anything about that and must always remember that everything in life is always exactly as it should be.”

This is what I wrote to myself on the morning August 17th, 2004 which is the day I first met my child.  I was a scared 25 year old who’s life was about to change drastically.  To this day I remember it as the best day of my life.  The day I truly became a man.  Today is the 6th anniversary of that day and every year my daughter and I do some special things to celebrate.  This year will be no different.

I  guess the takeaway here is that life can certainly throw the unexpected at you.  It is our job to roll with the punches and make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in.  Never fight against the things that have already happened because it is completely out of your control to change them.  Make the best of every situation and do the best you can from wherever you are; that is always right here right now!

All Reach In Search of Excellence!

“There’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.”
~Morpheus (The Matrix)~

So many of us know exactly what we want out of life yet remain too far away from creating the reality we know is meant for us. What is it that we are waiting for?

An old Chinese proverb states that to know and to not do is to not know. These words are real because unless we act on the things that we hold in our minds, those things will never find there way into our physical reality. What a shame it would be to let all the gifts we have for the world to stay cooped up inside.

Borrowing from the movies story, moving forward will you take the blue pill or the red pill? If you take the blue pill you will wake up back in the Matrix thinking again of how much you “know” the path you must take. Living the same life you’ve been living and doing the same things you have been doing. If however you want to take the option reserved for the brave, you can take the red pill. This leads to concrete steps on a path toward your chosen future. The first few steps are often the most difficult but they start right here and they start right now! Are you ready?

A new week is upon us and with it new opportunity to move beyond knowing what we want to do and on to actually doing it. For me that includes taking huge steps forward toward my decision on a designer for the new and improved Arise Ventures website. It also includes 7 Days of working out and improved diet in order to move toward world class health and fitness. What does the opportunity of a new week mean for you? What do you want to do more than anything else in this world? What will you do this week that moves you past knowing the path and on to actually walking it?

Lets make it an amazing week filled with growth. Take the blue pill and walk the path toward everything you desire in life. Walk the path of a life of excellence!!!

PS: Thanks for the quote Dana…

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence!

“Hold fast to your DREAMS, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot FLY.”
~Langston Hughes~

Have you ever seen a bird that can’t fly? It’s not a pretty picture. Don’t let that be what your life looks like. Seize opportunity! Live your dreams!

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence

“Some said Hov, how you get so fly?
I said from not being afraid to fall out the sky!”
~Jay Z~

One of the biggest fears most people have is a fear of failure. Living your life afraid to fail and to make mistakes will not get you very far in life. No matter who you are hurdles, frustration, failures and mistakes will stand between you and the things you want most in life. What matters is what you decide to do when these things arrive.

We must fail in order to succeed and the best way to look at is is that every failure is another way not to do something. You will gain powerful experience through failure and If you apply your focus correctly failure will allow you to more intelligently begin again. Those who live life at its highest levels fail far more than those who are just mediocre. They have the determination to look at adversity with the belief that it can’t stop them.

So what are you afraid of? Is that fear holding you back from your goals and dreams? What are you gonna do about it?

A.R.I.S.E
All Reach In Search of Excellence!