Live in the now

It’s my last morning in Mexico. I am sitting out in the hotel lobby and in about an hour the shuttle will come and take me and the rest of my family off to the airport.

At the very least, it is an overcast day, so it makes it a little easier to leave. That being said, it is always tough when something you have been looking forward to for months comes to an end, especially when a winter wonderland awaits you! As the saying goes, all good things eventually come to an end.

Let me say this again, one day, everything good in your life will end. Vacations end, your favourite car eventually needs to be replaced, great jobs change, moments pass, pets die, and even the best thing in life (your relationships) will eventually end when either you or they pass on.

Morbid, perhaps, but it’s a fact. Rather than be in denial of this fact, accept it and EMBRACE it! The very fact that all of these things are finite are what make them special.

You could choose to live in the past and dwell upon all the things that used to be in your life that are no longer there, but that would make for a pretty sad life.

You could live entirely in the future, dreaming of what is to be. Saying things like ‘WHEN I get my promotion, things will be different’ or ‘WHEN the new year arrives I will change’ or ‘WHEN I win the lottery, then I can be happy’. WHAT IF… WHEN never comes???

The only ‘WHEN’ is now. EMBRACE the moments you have in the present. Be happy, now. Feel RICH, now. Enjoy, NOW.
Be grateful for all those magical moments in the past as well as every thing you have in the present. Ensure you have a future that excites you, as with every ending ushers in a great new beginning.
But again, love and live to the fullest, now. For now, is the only time we will ever have.

Your friend and coach,

Bryce

Knowledge is Potential Power

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I just finished a book called 'blink', by Malcolm Gladwell. He ends the book with the following lines (no worries, it won't ruin anything):

"Once we know about how the mind works - and about the strengths and weaknesses of human judgement - it is our responsibility to act."

Using one of my new fav. questions, I challenged this and asked myself, "WHAT IF... I didn't act with this new found knowledge?". And hence the title for today's post; "Knowledge is potential power."

Let's take going to college or university for example. If you diligently read your books, did your assignments, etc... you would have lots of additional knowledge. Would this result in any difference in your life? Other than student loans, new friends, and some liver damage, no.

The difference comes when you 'act' with this knowledge. Going to school, reading a book, or learning in any capacity in general is much like charging up a battery with a limitless capacity. You can charge it all you want and it will have even more and more potential power, but until you put the battery to use, it is worthless.

Let's expand this thought even further. The same would apply to all 'resources' in our life, wouldn't it? And by resources, I am referring to anything you have at your disposal; knowledge, money, friends/family/your network of people, material items, your physical self, etc...

For example, being born in Canada instantly gave me access to a lot more resources (education, libraries, healthcare, infrastructure, etc...) than let's say somebody born in a developing country. That being said, they would have access to resources that I wouldn't... at least not initially. But again, if I don't act and make use of these resources they are worthless.

One thing to keep in mind is that just as with any battery, a resource needs to be charged from time to time or else it will run dry.
A trend you will find in the most successful people is that they #1 have access to a vast array of resources (and more than just $$$) and #2 they use them to their full potential when appropriate. Some were born into a world of resources and others chose to continously expand their resources.

What resources are in your life which you are not leveraging to their full potential? What are all the ways you could expand your resources? What resources may need a recharge?

And to bring it back to the opening quote and end today's post on a philosophical note: once you know about these resources, is it our responsibility to act and use them?

Doing so could result in not only expanding your own resources, but also potentially that of the entire world! This effect then compounds and is returned geometrically!

Reminds me of a proverb; the more you give the more you get.

Your friend and coach,
Bryce

Options are good!

Tony Robbins explains how in life, we always want options. 

Having only 1 choice means you don't have an option.  Not a nice feeling.   

Having 2 choices means you have a dilemma.  You can either do A or B.  People who live in a black and white reality like this because it keeps things simple.  Only having 2 choices is also the root of that internal feeling of when you are torn between what to do.  Sometimes it feels like you are torn between right (usually what you feel you should do) and wrong (usually want you want to do).

Having 3 or more choices means you have options!  This is when you start living in the grey.  Even better, step out of the grey and into colour and all the different shades/combinations thereof!  This may be a scary or stressful thought for those of you who like to keep things simple, but what would you rather, a simple life or a life of discovery, growth, and passion??!?!?

A fundamental presupposition of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is that the system (person) with the most flexibility will have the most influence on the system (other people, work environment, world, etc...).

Flexibility = Options = Power!

I have discovered a very simple way to do this by making a small change in the way you ask yourself questions.  Replace the word 'How' with the phrase 'What are all the ways...'.

For example, ask yourself the following:

How can I get to Fiji?

Your brain probably replied back with, buy a plane ticket and fly there.

Now ask yourself:

What are all the ways I can get to Fiji?

Completely different answer, no?  And didn't some of those options start to get you excited!?!?!  All of a sudden the 'task' of getting to Fiji became a part of the trip... part of the fun!

Here are some more to ask yourself...
What are all the ways I can show somebody special I love them?
What are all the ways I can make money and have fun?
What are all the ways I can live life to the absolute fullest right now?
What are all the ways I can improve on my physical health?
What are all the ways I can make a contribution?

For any situation, there is always at least 3 choices. If you are feeling torn or stressed about something, chances are you only see 1 or 2 choices. Stepping into the world of OPTIONS will help reduces stress significantly! And on the rare occasion you have 3 choices and still feel stressed.... focus on finding more choices!!!

Life's a trip. Give'r.

Your friend and coach,
Bryce

PS - Who are all the people who could benefit from the post?  Send them a link/email now. Simply click on the envelope below with the arrow (-->) on it to easily help others.

What if....

INTRO

Some of my posts will be information, some of them humorous, some of them are meant to get you thinking, some of them (like this one) are simply a documentation of stuff that is rattling through my mind, and no doubt all will be a combination of the above! ha ha

On my trip of personal development, I have made it a habit to ask myself some tough questions.

For example:  On August 16th, I asked myself:
- What is important to me in a 'job'?
- What type of book(s) would I bring on vacation with me to read?
- What would I still do if I never received any recognition for it; monetarily and socially?

This led me to discovering my destiny; being a world-class coach and professional speaker.

After attending Tony Robbins' signature event Date with Destiny last week, several new questions popped into my head which have become part of my daily routine.  Two words form the basis of what is turning out to be some of the most powerful questions.  Questions that have the potential to truly rock the foundation of my soul.

THE QUESTION

Something tells me you may just already know which two words I am referring to; 'What if...'.  In the following example, I am using my 'What if...' questions to explore me being self centered. It can be used to explore any belief/assumption/reality you have in life.

What if this situation has nothing to do with me?
What if I had no control over what people thought of me?
What if the way that person is treating me/behaving around me has nothing to do with me?
What if the only way to fulfill my self (spacing intentional), is by being selfless?
What if the purpose of my life had nothing to do with me?
etc...

IMPORTANT NOTE: These "What if.." are being used constructively and forward thinking!  In other words, they are not to start/continue a downward spiral of negative emotions about something that happened in the past; e.g.: what if I had only not been talking on my cell phone, then I would not have hit that person.

THE APPLICATION

In the past, I would often wonder what it was I did to have somebody ask me something, or say a certain thing to me, or behave in a certain way.  The fundamental assumption being, that I had to do something in order for that to happen.

When I ask myself "What if this situation has nothing to do with me?". My brain responds with something which may sound INSANE, but here it is.  Maybe.... juuuuust maybe, it had nothing to do with me and it's simply that other people have their own 'stuff' going on. 

What if it this was true? How would you handle that situation differently in the moment? And even more importantly, what different meanings might you attach to it?

Life's a trip. Give'r.

Your friend and coach,
Bryce

Tony Robbins' Secret Power!

As some of you may know, I just returned from Scottsdale, Arizona where I participated in one of Tony Robbins' signature events; Date with Destiny.

Words can not describe the awesomeness of this event and the impact it has had on me as well as the other 3,000 participants.  Simply put, "Life will never be the same.".

What most people want to know is...  WHAT IS HIS SECRET?

For a start, the man is well prepared! Tony has dedicated over 30 years of his life to the study of human dynamics and peak performance. (Worth noting: this is 30 years of Tony-time which would be equal to at least 300 years of average person's time.) He is also an NLP Guru (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)!

However Tony's secret, in my opinion (after all.. this is my blog) is the belief he instills in all of us. Participants come to these events believing in Tony and his abilities.  Throughout the event, Tony works with people in front of us all and you can physcally see them change before your very eyes! After a few of these, even the skeptics become believers.

Now what makes Tony one of the most incredible people on the face of the planet is that he gives this gift back to us.  He takes the belief all of us have in him and uses it to manifest a belief within ourselves to make massive changes in our lives.  In other words, we believe in Tony, Tony in turn believes in us, and soon we believe in ourselves. The very definition of empowerment!

What gifts have people entrusted with you in your life?  What do you do with these gifts?

Hmmmm.... something to think about.

Life's a trip. Give'r.

Bryce

Workforce Tipping Point on the Horizon

Quick Reminder: This is an interactive blog. Please add your comments, send me your feedback, and let me know what topics you would like to see or hear more about; it's like having your own personal researcher/author!

If you have visited and just as importantly READ my website (http://www.brycehealey.com/), you may already know how I recently left a well paying job in order to fulfill my destiny of becoming a world-class coach and professional speaker.

This has been BY FAR one of the most interesting journeys I have ever taken and I am just getting started! One thing I have noticed is that more and more people are following in my footsteps. This could be the same effect as when you buy a new car and all of a sudden EVERYONE seems to own the same one! ha ha

BUT... I think there is more to this. There is a storm brewing on the horizon and its not hard to see the workforce as we know it reaching a crucial tipping point. (For those of you not aware of the term 'tipping point' comes from Malcom Gladwell book "The Tipping Point" (2000) and is essentially the point when all the small things add up and WHAMMO 'sudden' massive change. Kinda like when boiling water... a whole lot of nothing and then before you know it your pot is overflowing!)

OK, time to get to the meat and potatoes of todays post (or tofu and potatoes for you vegetarians).

I will discuss two MAJOR factors which are leading us closer and closer to this Workforce Tipping Point, but first we need to ask ourselves a question... What is the company you work for?

When you strip it down to the bare bones, it is essentially a system which gives you the opportunity to add value and get paid for it. And hopefully the more value you add, the more you get paid.

Factor #1: 'Back in the good old days' this system also offered a degree of certainty in the availability of this pay. At the risk of adding to all the doom and gloom; a company can't offer something they can't even give to themselves! Regardless of the company's state of affairs, it is surprisingly easy for companies to terminate an employee without cause and little severance. I am sure all of you reading this can think of at least one friend, if not themselves personally who 'had the career options opened' in the not so distant past.

Factor #2: The internet is making it easier and easier to start your own business. Like no time ever before in history can we reach such a large potential market, with such speed, and low cost. AND!!! It is only getting bigger, faster, and cheaper.

This fact alone is what keeps most big business owners up at night. You see, chances are, the company work for was built in a different age and therefore has a lot of expensive infrastructure (things like offices, machinery, computers, etc...) all of which need to be paid for by your customers. Once paid, they then pay your salary and make sure you work hard enough to also put some in the pockets of the owners.

Also, in general, the bigger more complex the system (aka the business) the less efficient. Less efficient means more work to get the same return.

But now, you could open up a business which could directly compete with your current company at a fraction of the infrastructure costs, meaning you would not need nearly as many customers to make as much as you do now. Less customers also means you would not have to work nearly as hard or long!

BONUS FACTOR: Work more for same or less! Best explained using a real example from my life. My first corporate job I was hired at $35K a year. I was a good little worker and put in my 40 hours a week and had time to enjoy the finer things in life; which at that point was Kraft Dinner, Motocross, and Beer. Then I got my first big promotion and my salary went from $35K to $55K!!! WOO HOO! Soon Kraft Dinner will be a novelty, not a necessity! Along with the promotion came additional responsibilities, which is corporate code for longer hours; typically 60 hours and sometimes more. Which if you look at in an hourly rate meant I received a raise from $18.22/hour to $19.10/hour! And needless to say, my quality of life suffered BIG TIME.

OK... you've hung in there this long.. give yourself a pat on the back... no seriously... pat your back! DO IT!

So if a company is a system for us to get paid, but today's systems 1) offer little to no security in the continuity of this pay and 2) offer little real opportunity to increase our income based solely on the value we put in (i.e.: only way is to put in more hours), AND the cost of starting your own business is the lowest it has ever been.... why the heck are we still buying into this system!?!?!?

Simply put: our own mindsets. We have all been programmed to be workers. But as the pain and frustration around all of the above increase we will choose a new system.

Soon the WORKforce will reach its tipping point and the big business dinosaurs will become extinct. It won't be medium business who will step up to fill this void, nor small business, it will be microbusinesses! And so a new era will usher itself in... an era of empowered experts.... the Eforce!

Life's a trip. Give'r.

Your friend and Coach,

Bryce

What is your best?

Welcome and thank you for coming by for a visit to read what I have to say. This marks the first of what will be many MANY posts. How EXCITING!!!

This blog will be focused on living life to the absolute fullest and will include:
- Inspirational thoughts and questions
- Free tools and tips you can use
- Observations from my own person journey

MOST IMPORTANT: This is an interactive blog! Please add your comments, send me feedback, and let me know what topics you would like to see on the blog or hear more about.

Learn a little more about who I am at my website; www.brycehealey.com (permanent link to the right).

OK, onto today's topic: What is your best?

Here is a fun exercise (Yes, this means you will have to get up from your computer. Trust me, it'll be worth it):

1) Sit on the ground with your legs stretched out straight in front of you.
2) Do your 'best' to touch your toes or (for you yogis) see how far past your toes your 'best' is
3) Sit back up nice and straight, take a deep breath, picture going twice as far, and with pure determination, see how far past your toes you will go this time.

GO DO IT! Picturing it in your head doesn't count. ha ha
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.
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Did you do it? Good.

So if you did your 'best' the first time, how come the second time you went further? And probably not just a little further, but several inches further!

Paradoxically, doing your 'best' is often limiting you from achieving your best! And this applies to all areas of your life.

An every day example of this would be the value of a coach or personal trainer. Invariably, just as you squeeze out that last painful repetition, you hear "Give me 2 more!". And what do you know, you can do it! And it is in these final repetitions when you truly push yourself, you achieve your biggest results.

What areas of your life are you doing your 'best'? What would happen if you pushed yourself and did better?

Life's a trip. Give'r.

Your friend and Coach,
Bryce

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!