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I Almost Needed An Enema

by Walt | May 18, 2017 | Success | 0 Comments

We prescribe the medicine all the time to our clients: Take regular breaks. Take time off. Take your vacations. All of them.

You’re not a machine. You can’t go 24/7/365.

You can’t focus on your work to the exclusion of everything else.

You can’t stay at the net responding to constant expectations and demands, responding incessantly to emails and text messages and notifications and alerts.

You can’t play full out day after day without a break.

You wouldn’t run a high performance car for 10,000 miles without a pit stop; without changing the oil; without switching out the tires; without letting the engine cool.

Except that’s what way too many of us do.

Because busy has become a badge of honor. Busy means something. Busy means that we’re important; that we’re significant; that we’re indispensable.

We buy into the cultural lie that to be successful, we need to be busy; that we need to work more; that we need to work longer, harder, faster; and that to do otherwise somehow means that we’re weak or not motivated or not a team player.

“We are a culture of people who’ve bought into the idea that if we stay busy enough, the truth of our lives won’t catch up with us,” Brené Brown suggests.

Because to stop opens up an existential abyss.

Who are we really if we are not doing and achieving?

So we keep going. Like hamsters on a wheel.

Because we are afraid to stop.

And the collateral damage is huge.

We lose the capacity to create space for ourselves.

We lose the capacity to sit still, to be still, to know the beauty and the grandeur of the here and now.

We lose touch with that place of quiet, that still point within us.

We lose the capacity to be: To just be.

So the medicine to stop is a critical component of our well being.

Not only because it is essential to peak performance (indeed, peak performers in the arts, entertainment and athletics often focus on their work for only 4 or 5 hours a day); but even more important because it is necessary for a life that is rich and full and joyful.

But, as we discovered once again, how challenging it is to pull out of the habit of busy.

Just another week; or another quarter, we told ourselves.

There are clients to serve, coaches to train, books to write, workshops to teach,

What will we miss if we go off the grid? What balls will we drop? Who will we disserve?

We stayed at it for far too long. Months without a meaningful break.

Dishing out the medicine with reckless abandon; and not taking it ourselves.

Until exhausted and depleted we finally did. (And thankfully without resorting to any unnecessary means of prescriptive application.)

We’re on our bicycles in the south of France. Staying in cozy ancient villages. Eating bread and cheese; and drinking wine.

Reveling in the open space.

Feeling the wind and the sun.

Soaking in the quiet.

Connecting with one another; and with ourselves.

So that we can come home again rested and renewed to the do the work we love.

“How are you doing with your medicine?” he asks, reminded and chastised.

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My call to action for this weeks blog: Don’t email me. Just stop.

Take Out Your Trash

by Walt | May 11, 2017 | Success | 0 Comments

For nearly three decades, a dear friend of mine was a flight attendant on a major airline flying long-haul routes. He would tell this funny story: At the end of an especially long, customer service-challenged flight, when they would come down the aisle for that last time with the garbage bags, saying “your trash, your trash,” what they were really thinking (and actually saying), was “you’re trash, you’re trash!”

This post is not about the joys of flying. It is, however, about your trash. Your head trash, that is.

Because, your head trash is what keeps you stuck; it’s what keeps you from launching your business, writing your book, advancing your career, getting in shape, finding a mate, speaking your truth; it’s what keeps you from sharing your gifts with the world; it’s what keeps you from living your very best life.

Your head trash are those voices in your head that whisper to you:

I’m not ready
I’m not enough
I’m not worthy
I need more training
I need more experience
I need a degree
I need another certification

And no one escapes them.

Tony Robbins suggests that the two primary questions that every human being struggles with are: “Am I enough?” and “Will I be loved?”

Brené Brown, in her beautiful book, The Gifts of Imperfection, says that every single one of us comes face to face with self-doubt; that every single one of us questions our worth; that no one escapes that worry that someone will find out that we are a fraud.

So… recognizing that you’re not that “special,” that you’re not alone, that every single one of us struggles; every single one of us confronts these fears and doubts… the only relevant question then is this: What are you going to do now?

Even in the face of fear and doubt: What action will you take? What commitment will you make?

The time will never be right. You will never feel ready. There will always be more that you could do.

But the clock is ticking; and the world is waiting for you.

Don’t waste another moment.

Step up. Step out. Get busy. Start now.

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Want to get started? Let’s connect. Email me: [email protected]

About My Beans. And Your Beans.

by Walt | May 4, 2017 | Success | 0 Comments

As I get near to my birthday, I think a lot about beans.

About how many I have; and how I want to use them.

I am acutely aware that I have a limited supply of beans.

I want to be mindful about my beans. I never want to squander them.

Because my beans (and your beans) are precious.

How many beans do you have?

What would you do if you only had a handful of beans?

What if you had just one?

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Are you wondering about what to do with the beans you have? Let’s connect. Email me: [email protected]

How Many Can You Spin?

by Walt | Apr 27, 2017 | Success | 0 Comments

Busy is a badge of honor it seems.

“How are you?” I ask.

“Busy,” comes the reply with that wan smile and shake of the head.

Or more frequently and wide-eyed: “Crazy busy,” as if to convey even more significance and import.

My response: “Oh, I am so sorry to hear that.” (As if they’ve just shared the news that someone they care about has just died.)

This usually elicits a confused look, which I think is good. Because “busy” usually isn’t good.

“Busy” usually means that you’ve lost control of your time; that you’re caught up in the urgent at the expense of the important.

It’s easy for to buy into the cultural lie that to be successful, you need to be busy, you need to work more, that you need to work longer, harder, faster; and that to do otherwise somehow means that you’re weak or not motivated or not a team player.

It’s easy to become addicted to the forward motion; to keep on going like a hamster on a wheel.

It’s easy to become addicted to the stimulation and outside input, checking and re-checking your smartphone and tablet; responding incessantly to the phone calls and messages and notifications and alerts. Overwhelmed and inundated by the expectations and the deadlines and the demands, endeavoring to pay attention to everything and succeeding only at a continuous partial attention.

But in the end, you will not wish that you had spent more time in the office, billed more hours, accumulated more miles, closed more deals, seen more clients, sold more product, networked more, Tweeted more, or updated our Facebook status more frequently.

The value of your life will not be measured by the number of plates that you’ve been able to keep spinning in the air.

What will matter will be the experiences you have had, the lives you have touched, the love that you have shared. What will matter is whether you have fulfilled the deepest longings of your heart, whether you have spent yourself not on the urgent, but on the important; whether you have lived without regret.

Slow dance; and slow down.

Take in the sunrise; and the sunset.

Linger more; laugh more; love more.

Spin fewer plates.

Do fewer things well.

This is the path to freedom and joy.
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Want some tips to help you become less busy? Download your free guide HERE.

Find Your BFFs

by Walt | Apr 20, 2017 | Success | 0 Comments

We traveled across 8 time zones to do it. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.

It was an amazing three days. Days of collaboration and planning. Days of inspiration, learning and connection.

A gathering of entrepreneurs from all around the world. Colleagues filled with passion; and driven by a sense of mission. Passionate like-minded comrades who want to create amazing businesses, who want to make an impact in the world.

Here’s what is true: We are the average of the 5 people we hang out with most. Average in terms of what we want, where we live, what we earn, what we drive, and what’s in our bank account. Average.

There’s nothing wrong with average.

But, if we thirst for more, we need to surround ourselves with others who also want more. We need to seek out new relationships and new communities so that we can be nourished and uplifted, supported and encouraged.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely path. It’s easy to get isolated. It’s easy to get brought down by the naysayers. It’s easy to get discouraged and despondent when you don’t see the results you want.

And so it is essential to seek out others who are on the path; to find your people; to surround yourself with those who believe what you believe, who want what you want. To be cared for by those who have your back, who want for your success. To drink at the well of inspiration.

We began our Summit Mastermind Community for that very purpose.

And regularly we travel far and near to be with those who do the work we do, and want to make a difference in the world.

We need that support. You do too.

Because with BFFs, anything is possible.

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If you’d like to join an amazingly supportive community, check out the Summit Mastermind by going HERE.