Are you HAPPY?

Are you Happy?

Today I saw one of the best pictures that described happiness.

The thought process goes like this. Ask yourself: Am I Happy? If the answer is yes, then the answer is simple, Keep doing what you are doing. If the answer is NO, ask yourself “Do I want to be happy?” If the answer is YES then change what you are doing. If the answer is NO, keep doing what you are doing. The choice is yours.

I understand and believe that happiness is a choice. Each morning we have a choice in which way we approach the day. Happy or pissed off. Your choice. Do you wake up and grunt, groan and moan that you would rather be back in the bed. Or do you wake up, embrace what is in front of you, the day that is yours to use and look at the opportunities it will provide. It doesn't matter what opportunities you face, it is how you deal with them that really determines your outcome. Are you choosing to make the best of it or are you going to find the whine in it? Your call.

Waking up with the thought that I want to be happy will get you start looking at what do I have to do to be happy. You see the moment you ask how can I be happy or say I want to be happy you begin to find happiness. So, to make the day, your day, it is critical to look for the positive. The good in the time you have. This month I have had the chance to meet one of the bravest men I think I have ever met.

Let’s call him Bill, and we will call him that because, well, that’s his name. Bill has lived a very full life, he has lived, traveled, experienced so much and has been in love and loved by a wonderful woman. Let’s call her Mary. Yes, that’s her name too… They have felt what I can see is true, deep real love for one another for over 30 years. This is a real accomplishment in this day and age of disposable relationships. Commitment. They lived and loved and even fought and got mad too. The point is they chose to be happy.

Well, growing older has it’s challenges as many of us know. Bill, over the years has seen his body break down some. Over time his kidneys lost some of their function and had to start dialysis. No big deal, he and Mary handled it. They still did things, laughed, loved and lived a full life. She drove; he was the copilot, three times a week to dialysis. Recently Bill was served up what must be one of the toughest diagnoses a person could have. Cancer. Damn! Options are limited. Chemo, surgery, radiation, but only if they can find the source. One kicker, if you choose to treat the cancer, you cannot do your dialysis. Without Dialysis... Life expectancy is 4 weeks.

WOW! Talk about decisions. They really don’t come much tougher than this in my book. BTW The cancer was stage 4 and left untreated would take him in 6-8 weeks.

Talk about lose/lose. Bill chose to turn it into a win/win. This is what I mean by choosing to be happy. Bill chose to hang in there, not treat the cancer with chemo and finally stop dialysis. During this time he had a loving family all around him, continued to tell jokes, make everyone else smile with his strength and humor. He put his family at ease; put his family ahead of his needs. He was and is more concerned about Mary and the family than himself. This is choosing to be happy. He spread joy, peace, laughter and happiness to all that came by to visit and talk with him. Heck he was even telling jokes and making others laugh at every chance.

The point is while we can’t really control what happens, (Bill sure couldn't’t, in fact he had what I call a pretty crappy situation.) we can chose how we react to what happens. Choose to be happy. Bill has!

Now make the choice, Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get To Work!

Living Life in the Present

I’ve discovered that I have greater success with living life in the present moment when I remove judgment from what I’m experiencing. Rather than making an event a bad or a good experience, I find myself being in the “isness” of the moment; that is, what I’m feeling is much more helpful than why it isn’t what I think it should be. This is called allowing rather than resisting what is. Even if I wish to change the moment, it’s far more useful to allow it without any judgment and then notice everything I can about it.

The more I stay out of my good-thought/bad-thought routine, the more I’m able to just be with it. I love to observe the instant without any judgment. Birds simply allow whatever comes their way, no matter if the wind picks up or the rain comes, and I work at being like one of those fabulous creatures. The way I do so is to ask myself this question: “What’s happening right here and right now, independent of my opinion about it?” Then I notice all that I can take in—the sky, the wind, the sounds, the light, the insects, the temperature, the people, the judgments…everything. I stay free of opinions and just let myself be. In these moments, I don’t need an excuse or an explanation for anything.

I try to keep in mind that whenever I react against any form that life takes in the present moment, I’m treating the now as some kind of impediment or even as my enemy.
Be without judgment and you’ll never feel the need for some tiresome excuse to use up your precious seconds, such as “I’m too old” or “It will take a long time” or “It will be too difficult.” Instead, you’ll be in the now, welcoming your constant present-moment companion, your Source of being, which knows nothing of excuses and doesn’t know how to be anyplace but here, now. As one of my spiritual predecessors, Dale Carnegie, once wrote: “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon—instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”

Become one in the present moment with all of the roses that show up in your life. Stay present: every second, every minute, and every hour. Every day of your life is full of present moments of infinite value. You won’t find God yesterday or tomorrow—your Source is always only here, now.

Reposted from a Positive Thoughts email.

Enjoy and Live well

Coach Rick

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get To Work!

That's why they call it illegal!

Are we legalizing illegality?


Almost daily I hear something about illegal activity. Illegal immigrants, illegal drugs, illegal business practices, all kinds of illegal activities and the list goes on and on. I don’t know but when I was growing up if it was illegal, it was wrong. Plain and simple, wrong. No don’t get me wrong, I have done my fair share of this wrong, some of them I’m sure even “Illegal”. But what does the word really mean nowadays?


Let’s take a look at Webster’s definition: Not according to, or authorized by, law; contrary to, or in violation of, human law; unlawful; illicit; hence, immoral; as,
An illegal act; illegal trade; illegal love.


Illegal is simply a violation of human law, immoral and or illicit or in other words wrong! I guess my question is why are we trying to legalize illegal activities but still calling them illegal? Case in point we are trying to protect the rights of “Illegal” aliens. WHY? They have circumvented the legal process to arrive here in the good ol’ US of A. If I circumvent a legal process are my rights going to allow me to continue to violate the process. I HOPE NOT! That is why we have put into place specific rule, guidelines and regulations.


So why do some think that the rules don’t apply? Why do they continue to do whatever they please regardless of the agreements they have in place then cry “oh woe is me”. When did we become a nation of spineless weak leaders? The rules seem to only apply to those that abide by them and agree to abide by them. Anyone else gets a pass. I think it is time for people and leaders to stand up and do what they say. Be congruent with your words and actions. If you call it illegal, then don’t do it. If you say you will do it, then do it!


It is time for each of us to do what it takes to make this the society we know it is. Stand up for your rights, give our word and keep our word. Today what can you do to make a change.


I say… Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get to Work



Coach Rick

It's ALL about you!

I was reading through some e-mails and found this. I was so touched that I just had to share it. I cannot take credit for actually writing it, just sharing. Thanks to Jon Gordon of www.jongordon.com I hope this inspires you today. Roll up Your Sleeves and Get to Work.

God Bless
Coach Rick
http://www.coachrick.net/

I believe it is about you. If it weren’t about you, you wouldn’t be here.


You are not an accident.
You are here for a reason.
You have a destiny.
You have a purpose.
You have gifts and talents.
You do things that only you can do in the way you do them.
You and only you can leave your mark on the world.
So it is about you!


However, it’s not just about you. Because if it was just about you, you’d be:


Self-serving
Alone
Narcissistic
Empty
Unfulfilled


It’s about more than you. It’s about knowing you were made for relationships:


To love
To mentor
To learn
To serve
To create
To build
To dream
To work together
To change for the better


It’s about living for more than you.


For a bigger purpose.
For a greater cause.
For a deeper meaning.
For those who will become your legacy.


It’s about you knowing you are part of something much bigger than you.


You live in a universe.
Uni-verse means one-song.
Songs don’t happen by accident.
Songs are created by organizing notes into arrangements and patterns.
And so there is a Creator of the one-song.
You are an expression of the Creator.
You are a note in His symphony.


It’s about you!


It’s about you contributing to the one-song.
It’s about you playing your part to the best of your ability.
It’s about you lifting others up.
Its about you living the purpose God created you for.
It’s about you, the Creator, and the song becoming one.


It's about you and now what you do is up to you.



Live life to the fullest... Now Roll up Your Sleeves and Get to Work.

CR

Are you SERIOUS???

Apple finally released the new iPhone 4 to an avalanche of excitement. There were people just drooling over this new phone. When I say excitement.. I'm serious! people were nuts trying to get their own iPhone. I mean seriously, who camps out for a phone? Why would you? I drove by my local Apple store about 10 am this morning just to witness this phenomenon. There were 500+ people in line, some with chairs, umbrellas (Texas heat), I even saw one person who had brought their own box fan and extension cord. This to me is NUTS!



With all that I began to wonder this... Why would these people subject themselves to this torture? No sleep, heat, loss of productive time, and the hassle just for a phone. What does Apple iPhone have that you can't get in another smart phone? I will tell you. Mystique. It has that wow factor that makes it different.



Apple has created a culture, a brand loyalty, that very few companies or people ever do. Think of the brands you remember that conjure up such fierce loyalty that people will create tributes to or even tattoo it on themselves. Harley Davidson, Apple, Nike, The Rolling Stones tongue logo, Marilyn Monroe etc. Why would anyone put the logo of their favorite motorcycle or computer or athletic shoe tattooed on their body? Because the brand has created a remarkable distinction and made itself different from the competition. What would it be like if your brand had such loyalty?



What do you think drives this loyalty? How did Apple become the brand synonymous with revolutionary ideas? Now ask yourself, how can I build brand loyalty for my brand? We all have a personal brand in one shape or another. Whether it is a company brand or maybe even your own personal "brand". How can you or what could you do to make your "brand" remarkable. Many years ago when I started my latest career as a speaker and executive coach it was critical to build a brand that works for me. I began to brand myself as a business coach call "COACH RICK". Now when someone asked about me most people will say "Oh yea, Coach Rick, I know him or I get his e-mail the "BALD TRUTH" good stuff."

I took years to build this brand and continue to promote Coach Rick as the speaker for your event or coach for your business. All my clients call me Coach Rick and when the talk about going through one of my programs or seminars the refer to me as Coach Rick. This is branding. Personal branding. My brand stands for a couple of things; Integrity, commitment, serving, relationships, quality and Fun. What does your brand say about you? This week work on how you can become remarkable and make your brand stand out head and shoulders from your competition.

Just Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Coach Rick

http://www.coachrick.net/

Work from your Core Strengths

Today I read something that reminded me of how important it is to remember your strengths and work from them. All too often we try to shore up our weak areas and forget to look at what has gotten us to where we are now. We cannot grow to our full potential if we continually work outside our core competencies and strengths. Improvement is related to ability. Find what you are good at and become great at it.



What happens if you spend all your time working on your weaknesses and forget about working on your strengths? You become good at best, and probably just mediocre or average at what you are trying to become. Occasionally you may have to work outside of your core strengths but you should always come back to what you do best. Don't settle at mediocrity, focus on your strong suit.



We always are taught to look at the areas that we are not doing so well in. In school we are told to keep ALL our grades up. For me, sometimes I just didn't get a subject and didn't get an "A"... OK I really didn't get many "A's" I will admit, but I did well in the areas that interested me and these were the areas that were my strengths. Math, English, Arts (drama/acting) were some of the areas that I was pretty strong in. Over the years this has served me well. I run a successful small business that requires I do the books (math) and speak and write for my living. (Drama/English) The other subjects, well, they just were not something that I found particularly important to work on. AND so far this has served me well.



I was reading a daily devotional and it told a story about a group of neighborhood kids that built a fort in the woods. They formed their own club with officers and all. When they shared this with their parents they explained who held what office the parents were astonished. See they had elected a four year old boy the president. Every one thought "he must be a born leader". Au contraire... See when asked how the boy had become president and why the boys had elected him president they explained; "Well he can't very well be secretary, because he can't read or write. He couldn't be treasurer because he can't count. He would never do as sergeant at arms cause he is just to small to throw anyone out. If we didn't choose him for anything he would feel bad and like we left him out. So we made him president.."



Unfortunately life doesn't work like that. You can't and don't become successful just because you show up. It is critical that you work from your strengths and continue to expand than hone them to be as strong as you can. This will assure you are a success at what you are good at.



Seek guidance, sharpen your core strengths, be patient and doors will open for you.



Live life with passion and a clear direction.



Rick



http://www.coachrick.net/

Change is Inevitable - Growth is optional

Daily we are all faced with doing new and different things. Change can knock us off track in an instant. How are you measuring how change is affecting you?

You must constantly be measuring your results to make sure you are on track to achieve what it is you want. You will get just what it is that you expect to get. It was once said that if you think you can or think you can't... you are right. So true.

Just this morning I was commenting on how important it is to establish benchmarks for performance in an organization. Without a target to aim for how will you know if you are progressing towards your goals? You must evaluate whether the action you are taking are moving you forward towards the results you want or in the other direction. It is critical that you take the right actions and then continue to act on them in order to get the success you are looking for. When working on a goal you and only you are the final say in whether you are getting the results you want. You get to decide what actions to take, it may mean that you re-evaluate the goal, or change it or even forget it altogether. Your choice.

When trying to grow you will go through some major changes. You will experience obstacles that will either hold you back or take you off track or you can embrace them, learn from them and grow! The choice is yours. Do you grow or change course?

Evaluation is critical! If you see yourself heading down a wrong road, a slippery slope or even at a dead stop... Change course. take new actions. If you are going along and ignore the directions and feedback, the warning signs, you may get so far along that it may be too late to fix it and you will have to start all over again. You may even not notice you are headed the wrong way because this is what is normal now and you have not looked at your original goal for quite some time. Evaluation is critical.

Start by setting your goals, then decide on the actions and implement. Simple right? It would seem so, but why do so many fail to accomplish things. It is because they fail to set measurements and regularly evaluate progress. Start off knowing what you want and then set this as the standard. Then... Measure, measure, measure.

What are you going to do to measure and hold yourself accountable? Who keeps you on track? Do you have a personal "board of directors"? Find someone to hold you accountable and then let them help you achieve more than you ever thought you could.

Live life with a passion and a clear direction!

Rick

www.coachrick.net