Daily Opportunity

Approach each day with the understanding that opportunities await you....because they does. To many times we have the mindset that opportunity is only this huge moment in life. So we cower away from most opportunities because we fear the changes associated with that opportunity and because we fear the unknown. Most of the time, opportunities aren't like that at all. Most of the time, opportunities are small, seemingly insignificant things that we pass on every day. When these seemingly small opportunities present themselves, we very nonchalantly turn away from them, thinking that they are just insignificant and won't change our lives liked we were hoping. We miss so many opportunities in live because we have the wrong mindset. Wake up every morning with the mindset that opportunity awaits you. No matter how small the opportunity may seem, you will seek it out and capture it. The reason this opportunity is there for you, is because you are ready and able to take it. So don't allow fear to hold you back. Don't allow what seems to be insignificant now, hold you back from something that could turn into something huge in the future.Opportunities, come in so many forms that we need to broaden our definition of what we think opportunity really is. Most of the time we only equate opportunity with financial gain. Every day we have the opportunity to brighten someone's day, to lend a helping hand, to educate ourselves, or to broaden our horizons. Sometimes, we are someone's opportunity. Become more open to all this journey in life has to offer. I don't believe that any opportunity is insignificant or pointless. We just merely need to become more open and receptive to what is happening around us. What opportunities will you come into contact with today? What opportunities will you take action on and which ones will you miss because they didn't fit the mold of what you thought opportunities looked like? This blog was inspired by an opportunity that I took just yesterday. I stopped and talked to the branch manager of a bank ,that had expressed some interest in my life coaching, to let her know about my up coming "Val-You Conference." She looked at her calender, and discovered that she will be gone on vacation that day. We discussed some of the difficulties that I was having find a conference room in our local community to hold that conference here as well. She told me that if I would get some materials together, they might have an opening the be a featured business of the month for their branch. What an opportunity. All because I saw an opening to share my upcoming event, it turned into something else and we will see where it takes us. Find daily opportunity in your life and take it...period.

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

Guaranteed R.O.I.

They say that if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is. But, hear me out. This investment is guaranteed to give you a positive return on your investment. Not only that, but the returns compound over time. The government has no way of taxing it and no penalties for earlier withdrawal. No need for a broker, so you will save those fees as well. So are ready to hear where you can make this amazing investment? In you. That's right, invest in you. With this investment comes happiness, peace, confidence, a better self-image, probably more money, and better health. Who wouldn't want these things? Now that I have shared with you some of the things that this investment will bring to you, let me share what it could cost you. After all, it is an investment. This investment will cost you time, sleep, and money, but you get to decide how much of each you are willing to invest. But remember, the more you invest, the bigger and quicker your R.O.I.(return on investment). How do you invest in you? That is somewhat up to the individual, but some of the basics don't change. You will have to read and/or listen to audio books on self improvement. You will have to listen and/ or watch motivational seminars. You will have to apply the knowledge that you have gained from these books and seminars to your life. These are not options, but musts, for this investment to work. You can't do these things occasionally either. They must be completed a minimum of 5-7 times a week for at least an hour each day. But Dan, I don't have time. Most people get a break or two and a lunch period at work. Instead of gossiping in the lunch room, use that time and invest in you. Turn off the TV and skip watching another "reality" show and invest in you. I don't have the money for the materials that I need, get a library card. The library has an almost endless supply of the materials that you will need and, most likely, if they don't have it, they will try to get it for you. You can also use the internet for videos and I have bought several books from Dollar Tree over the past couple of years and guess what, each book only cost a dollar. Here are some added returns that you will get by making this investment. Your personal relationships will improve, you will have better job performance(even if you don't like you job), you will become a better parent, and best of all the sun seems to shine a little brighter(even on cloudy day, or at least it has to me). I know, I made it sound so simple, but it works. A couple more things before I let you go out and begin your investment. You can begin this investment at any age, you will develop habits that should inspire the next generation, and you will change your world.

If you aren't sure what to read or watch, please contact me at aiaolifecoaching@gmail.com and I can share some of my favorites with you.

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

My 100 Pounds

 The picture above shows me, on the left, on May 1st, 2003. I'm not quite sure how much I weighed in that picture, but I believe it was around 240lbs. Even in this picture, I had lost some weight from my heaviest. I'm not really sure what I weighed when I was at my heaviest. The last thing that I wanted to look at was the scale. I has a very poor self image. I was living my life with the mindset that I was the "short fat kid in school." I had never really watched what I ate let alone exercised, especially since High School. In 2002 I have left retail for a warehouse job. I needed out of the stresses of being a manager and just go to work, punch a clock, do my job, and go home. The warehouse job was perfect for me. What I didn't realize, how physical this job was going to be. This job kicked my butt! I'm not afraid of hard work, but holy cow. I was even sore after a couple of days. With this increased physical activity, I began to lose weight. Imagine that, losing weight with increased physical activity. So, I decided to start watching what I consumed to help this weight loss along. Sure enough, it helped. Now, when I say, I watched what I consumed, don't get that confused with "dieting." I still ate what I liked, but just ate smaller portions. I limited myself to just one can of soda per day as opposed to the 4 or more that I had been drinking. Over the next year or so, the weight just kept dropping and I soon got to under 200 lbs. I felt amazing and my body was getting down to what I had weighted in High School. The weight seemed to stop dropping at around 185lbs. I was able to maintain that weight for the couple of years. Even though I knew that I was still overweight, I didn't feel obese. I had a different self image. In 2006 I began to realize that even though I had lost all this weight, playing with my son was still a struggle at times. Sure, I had more energy, but I had no stamina. I was out of shape. In early 2007 I decided to purchase P90x. I was going to work on my body and get in better shape and lose some more weight. What I found out was, P90x is not for beginners! Exercise and I had been mortal enemies for so long that jumping into this program insane. To make a long story short, I managed my way through the program the program, not once but twice. In 2008, in order to replace the cardio days of the program with something I could do outside, I began running. Once again, running, a form of exercise, we had been mortal enemies. I motivated myself through it and in 2009 ran the full 6 mile of The Great River Bridge Run in Burlington, IA in just under an hour. Also in 2009, I got down to around 165 lbs. I am guessing that in total I had lost almost 100 lbs. As of today I have put back on about 30 lbs, but I began running again this week and plan on losing 20 lbs. This weight loss journey had many ups and downs. I wanted to give up and I wanted to quit. But what I understood was, all the effort and pain that I am going through today, will pay HUGE in the end, if I just stick with it. I wasn't disappointed.

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

That's me in the orange shirt crossing the finish line of the Great River Bridge Race in '09.

Oblivious

I have to admit that, when I have time, I am a people watcher. I like to see how people interact with others and themselves. It is amazing what you can learn about others from their actions. I used to think that people are rude because they just are, but I have come to realize that I was wrong. As I have looked deeper into the actions of others that it's not people are rude but rather  from a lack of action. Those who cut you off in traffic or in the grocery store. Maybe it's someone who you said "Hi" to and they didn't answer. It could be that time that you held a door for someone and they didn't say, "Thank you." Most of the time, I don't believe that these people mean to come off as rude. Most of us were raised to be polite. Speak when spoken to, hold doors, say "Please and Thank you." But what happens is, we get so engulfed on our own personal life experience that we become oblivious to the things happening around us. That person on their cell phone in line at the store, ignoring the cashier, oblivious to their surroundings. My wife and I were in Wal-Mart the other day and I was attending to my phone, where I had my shopping list, and she started to walk away. She said, "What you can't walk and be on your phone?" I told her that I was capable but I didn't want to because it would take my attention to those who might be around me. I finished checking thing off my shopping list and then we continued to shop. I chose not to become oblivious to my surrounding. I would encourage you all to do a self check and see how oblivious you become. I understand that we are all busy and multitasking has become the normal in our lives, but take a step back from time to time and check you level of oblivious. Our world is moving so fast that we have take time to slow down. Maybe it is while we are watching TV and become more aware of what our children are tell us. You can still accomplish your tasks but you don't have to shut out the world. I believe that when we become more aware of our surrounding, we will be able to expand our lives. It is a big world out there, begin to take it in again. Remove the blinders and begin to live a fuller life. When you take that walk from the parking lot into the store, take in the sights and sounds around you. It kind of goes back to the old saying, "Stop and smell the roses" but I would take it one step further. Stop and look at the roses. You never know, maybe that opportunity that you have been waiting for is right in front of you, but you have been missing it because you have become oblivious.

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

Winning Is The Moment

Winning is the moment, better is forever. When we realize this, our whole perspective on life can change. The moment we win, it can be such a euphoric feeling. The pain is gone, the sweat, tears, and blood that it took to get us to that moment seems to have all but faded from our memory.Winning is what we were striving for. Winning means different things to different people depending on the circumstances. A few years ago, I ran my first 5k. No, I didn't beat everyone to the finish line, nor did I even win my age group. For me, winning was completing it. I finished it in just under an hour and from what I was told, that was a decent time. That was a winning moment for me. Crossing the finish line made me feel wonderful, just knowing that I had accomplished what I had set out to do. About a month ago, I was given the task to get a store ready for inventory in just 12 days. This store was no where ready when I arrived, but none the less, the job had to be completed. I ended up working an average of 11hours per day to accomplish the task but it got completed and we were ready for inventory. That was another winning moment for me. It feels good to when we accomplish our goals. What we sometimes forget to do, once we have accomplish what we set out to to, it to reflect on what it took to get us to that moment of winning. While winning is great, it only last for a moment. But the effort that we put in to get to that moment, lasts a lifetime. All the time I spent running, just to complete that 5k, made me better. All the hours I spent fixing that store, made me better. Better is forever. The journey is what changes us, not  the winning. Sure, we will meet obstacles along the way, but our sight is set on an end result. The goal motivates us, but the journey changes us. We find out what we are really made of, we find our weaknesses, our strengths, and our breaking point. When we come face to face with these things in our lives, we have an opportunity to become better. Becoming better is where the winning really is. Don't be afraid to stretch yourself for the sake of accomplishing a goal. While accomplishing that goal will create a euphoric moment in our lives, the journey will make a lasting impression in your life. The journeys in life are what help us create our lives. Go out and create your life by living those journeys that you have been procrastinating. Remember, "Winning is the moment, but better is forever."

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

Know The Rolls

It has been said that our lives are like movies in which we not only get to star in, but we are also the director. We also get to select our supporting cast, location, and so much more. Just think about it. We have the opportunity to create a record-setting, must see, block-buster of a movie. And it's never to lat to start because we all know that it's not how you begin, but how you finish that matters.

Sure, there are parts of our movie that we can't always control. We can't control how much time we have to make our movie, what kind of weather we will have to "shoot" in any given day, or even if we will be nursing an injury that day. These are the kind of things that I would like to talk about today. We have a choice in how much of a roll these kind of things will play in our movie. Will you allow them to take over your movie, our will they merely be a passing scene? We can either dwell in the little things or we can keep them little things. The longer we dwell on these kind of things, the more of a role you are giving them. And the more time we give them in our movie, the less time we are allowing for the good things that we want in our lives. 

You see things like pain(physical, mental, or emotional) only have as much of a role in our live as we give it. Would you rather watch a watch your movie filled with laughter, happiness, and love or one filled with misery, pain, and fear? It's your movie and it's your choice. When I was able to let go of the things that I didn't want in my life, I made more room for the things that I wanted. I am able to enjoy my life more. I sent things like not forgiving those who hurt me, physical pain, failures, and set-backs to the cutting room floor. I have decided that these things would no longer define my movie but rather the things that add to my life in a positive way.

What do you want your life to be known for? When people see the trailer for your movie, will it want them wanting to see more? Create a block-buster!

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big

The Alternative Family

Last Saturday afternoon I received a personal phone call from one of my regular customers from the Muscatine store informing me that his wife had passed away on Wednesday. This is the first time in my 20 years of retail that a customer took time out of their life to inform me of a upcoming funeral. Sunday afternoon, I attended this wonderful woman's funeral service. Another first, attending a customer's funeral. This lady, treated me like and even called me her son. She and her husband are wonderful people who never seem to have a gray cloud in their sky. Always a cheerful disposition and a smile on their faces. She even called me "Howie" from time to time, referencing that I look like Howie Mandel. She was like my Dollar Tree Mom. She always made a point to come find me and give me a hug.
 
When we think of family, we most often think of parents, siblings, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and such. Most of us have great family members who have always been there for us when times are good or bad. They have been there to give us some words of wisdom, been a should to cry on, or even helped us to get into mischief. I have some fantastic memories with various family members over the years. I am very blessed to have such a great family.

I have also been fortunate enough to have some amazing people come into my life who weren't family members. There again, a shoulder to cry on, words of wisdom, and even some mischief. We don't always understand why these people have entered our life until we take the opportunity to look back at the moments that we have shared. When did these people enter our lives, what role have they played, and what are the moments that we have shared? I believe that everything happens for a reason and I believe that these people enter our lives for a purpose. Many of the people that have came into my life, have only been for a short time. I have learned so much from these people and they have played such important roles in my life. Like the lady that recently passed, she was a smile when I needed it. Like the couple that entered my life in my early twenties, who became like parents to me when I had hit hard times. Like the man with multiple-sclerosis who taught me to appreciate what I do have and not long for what I don't. 

Sometimes the members of my alternative family have been co-workers, classmates, and now even customers. Take a moment and look at your alternative family members and let them know what they mean to you. Also, consider the alternative family that you might be a part of  or might become a part of and realize the impact that you can and will have. 

R.I.P. Nina

Dream Big...Pursue Big...Live Big