Toastmasters Speech #4 – Life is What You Make It

This is a brief update from Coronado Beach in California, and a message that you can create any kind of life you want. I’ll have another update video coming soon after this exciting Youngevity Leadership Retreat.

I was rereading the Four Hour Work Week for probably the tenth time today, and this poem really hit me. Just sharing. Enjoy! Take every word in.

This reminds me that life is short, and that I should live in the moment every day, every moment, and value each of my experiences and all the people in my life today, not just sacrifice for some elusive future.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say “Hi”?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

(Reposted from FreedomPassionPurpose.com)
The concept of a Triple Bottom Line is relatively new to the business world. It means measuring business (and societal) success in more than just economic profits (the bottom line), but rather with the 3 E’s: Equity, Environment, and Economics… also known as the 3 P’s: People, Planet, and  Profits.

Many people (especially entrepreneurs), like many businesses, seem to live their lives with a single bottom line: a concept of success measured by the accumulation of finances… of material wealth and socioeconomic status. When I first started in business for myself, I had a similar paradigm. I wanted to achieve financial success so badly. I believed that financial success would bring me all the other treasures of life. As a result, I focused my efforts on learning how to earn, but not learning how to live.

While I have been slowly shifting this paradigm over the last couple of years, it made a dramatic turn for the better after I met with Robert Staub and read his book 7 Acts of Courage. He and I spoke about the concept of a Triple Bottom Line in business… and the Vision Development Exercises in his book allowed me to develop my own personal Triple Bottom Line.

The Triple Bottom Line that I have developed and discovered for myself is the name of this blog: Freedom, Passion, and Purpose. I know look at every activity and pursuit in my life through this new lens.

If I join this business, work on this project, study this subject, will it…

Bring me closer to personal Freedom?

Fuel my fire? (Can I be passionate about it?)

And will it help fulfill my Purpose? (To empower others to improve their own lives and the world).

If an activity, business, or project doesn’t match these three criteria, I try to keep it out of my life. That simple. I can’t begin to explain how much more rich and fulfilling my life has been since I started applying this principle.

I encourage you do the same. Figure out your Triple Bottom Line (it doesn’t have to be “triple” … you can have more or less central values). If you’re struggling, check out my post on creating your personal vision and complete the entire exercise. It takes some discipline at first to break the old habits, but once you start experiencing a more enriched and meaningful life, you’ll never want to go back. Decisions become lighter, and life becomes fuller.

For inspiration, check out my friend Ben Dixon’s post on why success almost cost him his life. Ben has accomplished so much at such a young age and is a huge inspiration to me – and there is a lot to learn from his perspective on life.

I hope this post inspires you to find your own Triple Bottom Line in life… to find your central values and aspirations. I look forward to hearing your results in the comments below.

As always, if you have any questions or need any help, contact me directly!

P.S. – If you liked this post, you may enjoy my future ones… Subscribe to my Blog and Newsletter below:

Thank you for reading!

Reposted from FreedomPassionPurpose.com ….

Without relationships, the human experience of life as we know it cannot exist. (That in itself is a blog post for another day).

Relationships are of course complicated and have many elements – but there is one element that glues it all together. That fundamental element is trust.

How do you build trust in your relationships – including your relationship with yourself?

Live your life with these two values: Honesty and Integrity.

Honesty: Be true to others in all that you do.

Integrity: Be true to yourself in all that you do.

Of course you can have varied definitions to these terms, but let’s work with these basic definitions for now.

Why are these values so damn important?

Firstly, the greatest success in life is being happy with yourself. If integrity is absent from your life, you cannot be happy with yourself. Sure, you can still pursue pleasure … but you will be blocking yourself from any real significant fulfillment. If honesty is absent, you will have to lie to yourself to be able to come “comfortably” to terms with your own actions. And the minute you lie to yourself, you violate your integrity … and in the process block yourself from true happiness and fulfillment.

If you cannot be honest with people, you cannot developing long-term meaningful relationships with them, because there is no trust.

If you are not honest with yourself … if you violate your own values, you will have difficulty trusting yourself. You will eventually become overwhelmed with doubt, and with good reason.

In an earlier post, I spoke about authenticity. Authenticity in your business is impossible without honesty and integrity in your life. Especially if you are building a business or a brand online, your moral values and the way you live your life will tie directly into the outcomes in your business.

If you think that taking a shortcut, and sacrificing your integrity, will somehow get you more money and success or more fun and pleasure, think again. You’re probably thinking short term. In the long term, violating trust with others or with yourself is the surest way to failure. Also remember to never confuse pleasure with happiness … they are very different terms and values (again, another post for another day – but the basic idea is that pleasure is a shorter term feeling while happiness is a long-term element of the human experience).

Of course, your values and the meanings you attach to honesty and integrity can be different from mine – but regardless of how you define these values, I strongly urge you to take a serious look at how you apply these values in your life, your business, and your relationships. Short-term results may be deceiving - think about the life you want to create … the person you want to become.

Please comment with your own experiences, negative or positive, regarding honesty and integrity in your life and relationships.

This video is so extremely powerful that I almost want to keep it for myself … but since a great friend shared it with me, I want to share it with you. Watch the whole thing and take notes!

WHY are you doing what you do? What drives you? What’s your purpose?

Until you determine your inner WHY… your CORE VALUES… forget the how, and especially the what. Find your inspiration first … then work towards creating a plan around it and executing that plan.

This is reposted from my new site at FreedomPassionPurpose.com

“We always have time enough,
if we will but use it aright.”
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Are you familiar with the 80/20 Rule? If not – get familiar.

It is a life changing concept that 80% of people (ironically) completely overlook in managing their time and prioritizing (if they manage and prioritize at all!)

What is the 80/20 Rule?

The 80/20 Rule (also known as the “Pareto Principle” after its founder) is a concept that states that 20% of the input creates 80% of the output, and the other 80% of the input creates 20% of the output.

20% of the people in a given economy earn 80% of the money.

20% of the customers make up for 80% of the revenue.

20% of the sales people generate 80% of the sales.

How Does This Apply To Your Life?

It’s usually close to impossible to get everything done in the time that it needs to get done, especially for anyone with significant goals and aspirations.

The 80/20 Rule applies directly to how you manage your time… 20% of your activity will produce 80% of your results.

What does that mean? That means that if you have a to do list of 10 things… there are probably 1 or 2 of those things that matter more than the other 8 or so put together.

Most people do the little things first and put off those 1 or 2 important things until … sometimes never.

This is why so many people are busy all day running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but never really getting much done, moving forward, or feeling satisfied with their accomplishments.

Resist The Temptation To Clear Up Small Things First

Remember that your daily activities are largely habitual … that means that what you do today is largely the result of behavioral patterns that you have established over the years. If you usually do small things first and the get the easy things out of the way before getting to the big important tasks, you will continue this pattern … and ultimately you will not get much done.

However, if you choose to consciously break this pattern, you can form a new one: work on big things first! If you can get yourself to consistently accomplish the important (not just urgent) things on your list first, you will eventually develop the habitual pattern of doing big things first. You will start to move forward. You will feel satisfied with your accomplishments. You will set greater goals for yourself, knowing you can accomplish them.

Activity For Today

Make your “to-do list” for today… List your key goals, activities, projects, and responsibilities today.

Determine which 20% of these tasks you feel could represent about 80% of your results for the day. Highlight these tasks.

Resolve to do these tasks first, even if that is all you accomplish all day today. Do this again tomorrow, and the next day.

For even better results, make your list and pick your activities for the next day the night before. Make a habit of this. You will be surprised how much more you are getting done, in less time, and how much more freedom you begin to experience in your life.

Remember, the goal of activity is to be productive, not just busy. Get things done, so that you can spend your time and energy on more important values.

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For more great Time Management tips, pick up Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

(I reposted this from my new site at www.FreedomPassionPurpose.com … enjoy!)

This blog is entirely dedicated to help you create a life of Freedom, Passion, and Purpose… but what the hell does that mean?

The truth is … those words, those values, those principles … can mean something entirely different to each and every person. I encourage you to create your own definition of a life of Freedom, Passion, and Purpose and pursue it vigorously.

To get you started, I will give you my definitions…

Freedom

What is personal freedom? It’s living life on your own terms. Breaking away from the financial, religious, political, and cultural restrictions and limitations that hold us back from living our lives the way we truly desire. This includes financial freedom to walk away from the chains of bills and liabilities… but also from materialistic desires. This includes breaking out of the prisons of organized religious to pursue an individual and unique spiritual path. It can mean going against the grain culturally, rather than giving into society’s ever-changing values.

More importantly, it means tearing ourselves apart from the greatest prison of all: our ego. Let go of self-doubt and self-pity… let go of prejudice and judgment… let go of the need for recognition. Release the negative emotions which poison our lives. The thirst for competition. The hunger for revenge.

No force will imprison you so much as your own ego. The moment you let go of what other people think of you, you will feel immeasurably lighter… more free.

Living a life of Freedom means living life on your own terms.

Passion

While this is seemingly the most obvious, I find it the hardest to describe in words. Living a life of Passion means living your passion… doing what you love. Everyone has their own unique passion, their own gift to themselves and world. Some people are passionate about dogs. Others are passionate about marketing. I am extremely passionate about personal development, especially in youth. Others are passionate about wine!

Take advice from the section on Freedom here and let go of your ego and of what others may think. Look deep within yourself. Think of what you love. Discovering your passion is the greatest gift that you can give yourself and the world.

It will allow you to climb to heights that you cannot imagine without it. Most importantly, discovering and living your passion will allow you to live a life of happiness.

To me, living a life of Passion means to only pursue projects and goals which bring that special fire to my belly. Which drive me and excite me. Which energize me to dream and act upon that dream.

Living a life of passion means doing what you love and loving what you do. It means living with a fire in your belly. Always.

After being boxed in for a lifetime, it can be difficult to find your true passion… fortunately there are many exercises out there which you can do to help you discover your passion. I will have many of them available on this blog soon for you.

Purpose

In a society driven by largely by egotistical and materialistic ambitions, this is unfortunately one of the most overlooked principles in designing our lives.

Living a life of Purpose is to live beyond ourselves. Find a purpose – a cause, a mission. Something that we can contribute in our time on Earth. The key here is that our mission must be a cause… something outside ourselves, greater than ourselves, whether it be the environment, humanity, God, animals…

To some, a Life of Purpose may mean to save the environment by creating oil independent countries. To others it can be as simple as raising a good family and bringing up children with unique gifts and goals.

After some deep introspection, meditation, and some exercises out of Robert Staub’s book 7 Acts of Courage, I have discovered and decided that my purpose is to empower others to improve their own lives and the world. And this is what I hope to do here with this blog, while simultaneously living my passion and working towards financial freedom.

Decide For Yourself

Take some time with yourself in deep introspection. Think of what each of these principles means to you…

What does living a life of Freedom mean to you?

What does living a life of Passion mean to you?

What does living a life of Purpose mean to you?

Once you come up with your definitions. Think deeper: What is my passion? What is my purpose? How can I create the life I envision?

I look forward to hearing your story… please feel free to share your meanings and your vision in the comments below. You never know, you just might inspire someone to change their life.

I can’t believe someone actually made this song and video … I am claiming this as my official theme song! And I’m sure I’m not being original with that claim. Enjoy…

I was inspired this morning and wanted to share some important recommendations with you…

Here are the books:
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuck

The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life by Jeff Olson

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9 – 5, Live Anywhere, and Join The New Rich by Timothy Ferris