First Word

I have been working on a self-help book soon to be released by my company 3L Publishing titled Step Aside and Get Out of Your Own Way by Syndee Hendricks . I've also been working on a new program of meditation and hypnotherapy, which ask me sometime about. Hypnotherapy should never be discounted. I have several success stories about it. The sub-conscious mind is amazing. Anyway ... back to Syndee's book. She discusses drama queens and kings in the book. I would have to say that as I've gotten older, more grounded and rational, and aware I've been able to discern these personality types much better. I don't like or invite needless drama into my life. And the more I don't invite it, the less it comes to me. How is that you ask? Drama people cannot knock through what I'll call the "grounded" wall of cool observation. When you learn to ground and stay grounded you are far less prone to provide the necessary response or "fodder" the drama ...

The New Year is upon us so I thought I would give my pep talk. I always like the phrase "the world is my oyster" -- and it is! Anything can happen ... if you let it. I don't know what is true, but I do know that it's possible to do whatever you set your mind to do. It might not like look like how you expected, but with persistence, determination and a lot of go-to spirit, you can achieve your dreams. The story of how 3L Publishing came to be is the best example of dreams coming true -- not just how I expected. After years of doing everything in the professional writing industry (magazine features, screenplays, custom publications ... you name it), I finally decided to write a book. The product of that decision was Second Bloom published in 2009. The self-help book about reinvention went on to win several awards. Authors suddenly took notice. I was asked to publish their books. Becoming a publisher was the easy part (actually), but the rest was a lot of hard work ...

I like to inspire others. Life is a journey loaded with lessons. If we don't learn the lessons, we get to repeat them until we learn. So many people don't understand that basic concept, and I have certainly fouled up enough to express understanding. I am writing this blog today though to say to others that the journey is beautiful even when it's wrought with challenge and sometimes pain. But you have to sit back and figure it out: am I going to repeat the same mistake over and over again or am I going to learn, reflect and change course? In a sense this is also a love letter to the man that I have compromised my own value system and repeatedly made the same mistake -- always with the same outcome. Love is not enough. And sometimes you have to sit back and realize that doing the same thing over and over again will always give you the same outcome. So today I did something painful. I decided to change the outcome. Doing what I had done over and over again; forgiving the m...

“Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.” ~ Paul Coelho I have learned so many valuable lessons on this road of life. You always have to look as your experiences as lessons. What do you need to learn about living, about yourself? In March 2012, I took a major leap of faith with one full swoop and made a HUGE change in my life. Not only that I invited someone very special to me to "take a journey with me," which was a bold, profound move on my part. Sometimes, though, you have to make bold, profound moves to change your life for the positive. I recently realized t...

"Sometimes you have to walk into the unknown to find out the known. Risk is scary and frightening, but to settle for something "OK" in lieu of something really, really special but also scary is to live life with limitations and never fully spread your wings! I like the idea, 'A moment of something really special is way better than a lifetime of nothing remarkable.'" I posted that on Facebook yesterday. I want to say something about risk (in this case personal risk). Most people avoid change and risk. I wrote my first book Second Bloom on personal reinvention. Risk is indeed scary. You don't know the outcome. You don't know if you're going to get hurt. Pain sucks! I think we can all agree on that fact. I got asked once, "Why do you run from the pain; what are you afraid of?" My response, "I won't be able to function if I felt it." And yet despite some real hardship here I am functioning -- more than functioning ... succe...

Who likes change? Most people shy away from change, and for good reason. It can feel nebulous and scary. I've been going through a number of changes. I've felt really off-balance most of the time. I started to pull inward (and to my friends who noticed, sorry it's not personal). Pulling inward has a lot to do with personal healing. Expending energy outside of myself, became difficult. I had to pull in toward my reserves, meditate, ground and find my center. I had some amazing spiritual revelations over the weekend. And when I say amazing, I really mean mind-boggling. I won't say specifically what those were other than they are personal and profound. I did come to this point in the road where the word "unconditional" resonated. In healing myself, I realized that to be connected to the outer world again, I need to learn not to put "conditions" on things, not to place expectations, and certainly not to demand. And when I say this, I mean not just on oth...

Success in business isn't arbitrary, airy-fairy stuff. No magic-wand waving and poof! You have a successful and profitable business. I see people make it. I see people try to make it. I see people who want to make it. What I know with absolute certainty is that success and making a business work takes tenacity to overcome and plow through. Wear-with-all to hold up under fire. And a whole of persistence to make it work even when it clearly looks unworkable. You maintain your passion and dream, but also be open to retool and rework and reinvent when things don't go your way. I've had my moments to be sure when I watched my often shaky house of cards get a little shakier, but I've also been open to trying something different -- something with a fresh twist on an old model. Sometimes you just have to sit back and re-evaluate the what's next. And here is something super important: Be prepared to move your fixed thoughts out of the way. Sometimes those fixed thoughts may ...