Why You Shouldn't

I have used this blog to reach those whom I might not normally have an opportunity to talk to in person. I talk so much about why you should chase down your dreams and go after your passions in life. I have shared tips and motivational stories with you. I've shared some of my struggles and triumphs to help inspire you to your own personal greatness. Maybe I have been able to reach out and help you when you have been down. Or maybe made your day a little brighter or gave you some strength when you were feeling weak. This time I would like to share with you why you shouldn't go after your dreams and passions. You shouldn't go after them because you are just fine where you are in your life. You are happy enough and it's just not worth the effort. You could be happier but why? Things in your life could be different but you have managed just fine so far. After all, fulfilling your dream and passions in life could only mean more drama in your life right? Like you really need more drama. It could only mean more work load and more hours and you don't really have the ability of time for it. Maybe when the kids get older, get a little further along in your career, maybe when you get a little older, or maybe it just plain to late in life to even try. Things are just to hectic right now.

Now I don't know if reverse psychology works or not  but my point is that there is no such thing as a perfect time to begin. You just have to start now. You have the ability to do something now, with what you have, where you are. We get focused on the excuses and seeing the problems that we lose sight of the solutions. Don't give up, don't settle, and believe in you. Sometimes we have to believe in someone else's belief in us before our own belief kicks in. I believe in you.

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

"Average Joe" Speaker

What sets me apart from all other motivational speakers and life coaches? I didn't have a terrible childhood. I haven't survived some horrific accident. I haven't been in prison or been involved in drugs and alcohol. I wasn't born with a disability. I didn't become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and I haven't made millions. From the way I see it, I've had a pretty run of the mill life. Sure it has had it's fair share of bumps in the road. My Father died when I was young and for much of my childhood I was raised by my Mom. I've been so broke that I had to live with friends and family. I was a Dad at the age of 19 and I've never graduated from college. As far as my career, I've spent over 20 years in retail and I have been the store manager for a few different companies. See, nothing spectacular. You'll get no glitz and glamor from me. No fancy suits or words from me. But here is what you can't see, my drive, my passion, and my commitment. I have a heart for helping people. Those who have taken the opportunity to work with me have seen this first hand. I can't change lives, I can only change my own. However, I can help you change your life. The key word there is "help". It is still your decisions, actions, or lack thereof that will ultimately change your life. I don't pull punches and I tell it like it is. Make no mistake about it, I have your best intentions at heart, but it won't be easy. Living the life of your dreams, a life filled with happiness and love, is worth every effort that you choose to make. Are you ready for the changes that you have always wanted? Get ready for the ride of a lifetime.

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

Karma...It's Not Just For Revenge

The overwhelming majority of the posts that I read on facebook in relation to Karma is about how it will come back and get the person who did you wrong. While this might be true and maybe it gives you some sense of satisfaction, I think that we are greatly obscuring our view of all that it encompasses. When our morals prevent us from taking revenge on someone that has personally done us wrong, we watch and wait for Karma to work it's magic and secretly hope that we get to watch. I think that this is a little sick and twisted, but alas, I have been guilty of this myself. The basic concepts of Karma are know by many names, The Law of Attraction and Reaping and Sowing are just a couple. In all actuality, it's not a concept, it is a natural law formed when the Earth was formed. This natural law cannot be averted, nor can it be broken. Whatever you want to call it, it envelopes more than just revenge. Sure, that person who wronged you or another, will get what is coming to them but lets apply this law in it's fullest form. What ever we put out in this life, whether it is positive or negative, that is what we will get back. So many time we are putting all of our mental and physical efforts towards the negatives in our lives that the positives get lost in the much and the mire. Sure it sounds like "pie in the sky" talk, but when I realized and then applied this law in my life, it began to change my life. Do I have it perfected, no, but I realized that when I place my efforts on the positives in my life and that positives that I want in my life, I began to see and live the life that I desire. Did it happen overnight? I wish, and actually it took a lot longer than I would have liked it to. It's a process...remember, you didn't get into your present circumstance overnight, it's going to take some time to get out. What you sowed in the past still has to be reaped at some point in time. But what you begin to plant now, will be harvested in the future. I'm not saying that once you live this law that you won't still have bad things happen in your life. But those time are just a part of the human experience. Those are the time when we have an opportunity to grow and become stronger as a person. I want to challenge you to put a whole lot more effort in the positives that you have and want in your life. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. No one is expecting you to change the world, but you can begin today, with small, persistent, and consistent steps to change your personal corner of the world. I wish that words could explain how much this has changed my life. Whatever you spend your time, energy, thoughts, and actions on, is what you are going to get more of in your life. I heard so many people talk about how they are sick and tired of all the drama in their lives, and yet that is the majority of what their posts are on facebook. Want to live a more drama free life, stop feeding it. Just walk away. "But Dan, you don't understand." No, I do get it. I have had to limit and in some cases, cut ties with the people, places, and things that cause strife in my life. The people that we associate with, the things that we have and do, and the places that we go either add value to our lives or take away from that value. Time to take inventory of what is and isn't adding value to our lives and make the adjustments. Fear of cutting ourselves off of what has been comfortable will keep us from the lives that we were born to lead. Change is hard and sometimes it even hurts. But, from my experience, that pain is temporary and hurts a lot less than settling for less than what we should be.

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

2012 again?

Even though the end of the 2012 calender is here, you may have the opportunity to repeat it. You have the chance to have many of the same struggles and triumphs in 2013 that you had in 2012. The same awards in your career, are possible in 2013. The same failed relationships are there to do all over again. You also have the opportunity to write down the same resolutions and keep or not keep them. You get a change at a do-over. What are you going to do with this opportunity? Are you going to live you life the same as you did in 2012? Do you want the same successes and failures or do you want something different? The choice is yours. It won't matter what 2013 has to throw at you...good or bad. It is all up to how you choose to respond to what destiny has in store for you. What do you want your 2013 to look like when it comes to an end? The decisions that you make today not just the resolutions that you will make for 2013 will begin to shape how your 2013 will look. Decide that you want to build on your successes, taking good to great. Decide that you are going to take a different path towards the struggles that you had in 2013. What you have been doing has got you to where you are and if you don't like what it has got you, time for a change. Be willing to try something new, even if you don't think it will work for you. Obviously what you have been doing hasn't been work so well either. The saying goes, "If you want to change some things in your life, you have to change some things in your life." Stop just complaining about how unfair life has been to you. Life is merely responding to how unfair you have been to it. Life is just responding to your thoughts and actions. As long as you keep feeding the negatives in your life, you will keep getting more of the same. No, I'm not an expert on your life, that would be you. But what I do have to offer is my personal experiences and those the things that I have been able to learn from what other people have been through. So my challenges to you are, when 2013 comes to an end, what will it have looked like because of your beliefs and actions? What will be different in 2013? And what are you willing to sacrifice to get what you deserve out of this life instead of what you have been settling for?

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

Why Yes, It Does Revolve Around Me

The world really does revolve around me...sort of. Not in a literal sense but in a figurative sense. What kind of world do you want to live in? What is it that is missing from your world? We have the ability to control one thing in our world, ourselves. We cannot change nor control what others will do. We can be the kindest person and someone will treat us like dirt. We can be the most giving and someone will steal from us. We can be the most loving and someone will still hate us. I would still challenge you to be the kindest, most giving, and most loving person despite what others do or think. My world is what I choose to make of it based upon how I choose to perceive it. I'm not naive enough to believe that the world is all sugar, spice, and everything nice. I know that this world has it's fair share of less than desirable people and situations. I'm secure with this situation because I can choose who is in my circle of friends and I can see possibilities within in every problem. Over the past couple of years, my life has changed so dramatically. I credit to just a couple of things. One, how I decided to perceive myself and two, how I choose to perceive the world around me. These two simple practices have transformed the love in my life, my finances, my career, and my passion for life. I'm not where I want to be but I am a hell of a lot closer than I was when I decided to make a change. But I figured out that the simple principle of reaping what you sow is a life changing thing when you apply it consistently and persistently, This principle WILL transform your life. Not only reaping into your world but reaping in yourself.  Knowing the changes that you want to see in your life and being honest with yourself is the beginning. Don't fear what you cannot change and don't let it keep you from the life that you deserve. Concentrate on what you can do and go make it happen. Because I changed, my world changed and now revolves around me.

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

Faceless

As I walk the streets, I am merely a man without a face, a man that blends into a crowd, and  goes unnoticed. I have never really had the desire to be the center of attention. My name up in lights, my face on TV or on magazines, or being recognized by the masses is not on my list of things to do. I have a very simple goal, help others to help themselves. I cannot change people, they can only change themselves. I can be a light to them when they are in a dark place, be that helping hand when they have fallen, and I can cheer them on as they achieve their goals. I am okay with being in the background. I am okay with being "unknown" but don't get it twisted, my message will be heard. I may be faceless but I am definitely not voiceless. I will he heard and I will reach the masses. If you have been following since the beginning, I thank you. If you are just find my blog, I hope that you enjoy it and continue to follow me. This journey is just getting started. I have learned patients and I know that my work will not go unrewarded. The Universe will respond to the seeds that I have planted to help others. My time will come and opportunities will arrive because I refuse to give up. Refuse to give up on your own dreams and passion and your efforts will be rewarded. Take a step everyday toward the life that you want to live and toward to person that you want to be. See it clearly, work on you, and watch amazing things happen. Life is such an amazing blessing once you accept that you are in control of how you experience it. Surround yourself with people that build you up and rid yourself of those who are holding you back and keeping you from the happiness that you deserve. 

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

Life Hoarders

I have seen a few episodes of the show Hoarders. I can relate how they can let their house get out of hand, it happened to me when I was going through a really rough time in my own life. I always find it interesting, the things that these people hang on to. Looking from the outside in, much of it doesn't make any sense to me. I understand that it is a serious psychological problem that these people have and they need the help that is being offered to them. These people have had some serious things happen to them in life and many times that is some of the biggest root causes of their hoarding. In my life, I have been guilty of hoarding as well. I have hoarded my struggles, my set backs, and those things that have happened to me that prevented me from moving on in life. I held on to growing up without a Dad, being verbally and physically abused by a man that was suppose to be my step-dad, my failure in not being further along in my career, and I'm sure that there has been more. I held on to these things like they were important in my life and let them define who I was becoming. In all actuality, I was hanging into these things and they were holding me back from who I really needed to be and the person that I was designed to be. The struggles that we experience in life are not meant to define us, but rather help create us. They are merely lesson to be learned to help us develop the person that we were designed to be. If you think that you were not designed to be great and to fulfill a purpose, you are sorely mistaken. We all have a destiny to fulfill and holding onto those things that hurt us, severely hinders this process. Let go and begin the process of moving forward. Begin to hoard those things in your life that add value to it. The times that you spend with loved ones, the accomplishments that you have made, and if nothing else, the fact that you have made it through all that you have. Take a moment and see what you are hoarding in your life. Are these things adding to your value or are they taking away from that value? Are these things a reason to become better or are they the reason you are stuck in a rut? Be honest with yourself when you answer these questions. Don't let yourself off the hook, but love yourself through the process.

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