Month: November 2014

Thanks and Gratitude (or Learning how to be Joyful)

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Greetings All –

I’m visiting my family for Thanksgiving this week.  As I am already feeling grateful for being able to travel this Thanksgiving to visit with my family, the holiday is providing another opportunity to reflect on thankfulness in general.

There comes a time in life, if we are lucky, through personal experience, growth, and wisdom we come to realize we are responsible for every element of our lives.  As such, blame is no longer a welcome companion.  We do not blame others for the state of our lives, and interesting enough, we do not blame ourselves — we simply take responsibility for our lives and are thankful.   It doesn’t matter if we prescribe to a religious philosophy or not, the simple act of accepting responsibility and being grateful adds such substantial depth to life that it can be described as being almost magically transformative.  The freedom and joy that can be experienced from this act is tantamount to love — love of self and others.

Accepting responsibility also means giving credit to those who have shaped us into the person we are today … regardless of how the actions of others may have shaped us or propagated our personal growth.

So how does this work?  Responsibility give us freedom. When we accept responsibility, we suddenly have the power to change our lives.  We no longer need permission or approval from anyone to direct our lives into the direction that best serves us.  It doe not matter what anyone else believes what it is to be a father, mother, brother, sister, man, woman, business person, lover, success, failure, good, bad or any other preconceived notion. We are good enough the way we are and moving forward to the person we are to become…whatever that may be.

Our thoughts and actions start to align and our thinking starts to see possibilities rather than limitations.  When responsibility is combined with gratefulness — peace, love and joy enter into our lives and we are no longer prisoners of the blame game or our a painful past.  We can forgive and move forward.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  I am grateful to you all!

Here’s to taking action and being grateful each and everyday.

With Love and Respect,

Gary

P.S.

I’ve discovered this little app that I think is wonderful; it helps keep me on track for several small personal daily goals; one of which is to be thankful.  http://balancedapp.com/  FYI:  I do not have a relationship with this company nor receive any sort of compensation from them. I simply like the app.

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Knowing the “Why” of things

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Hi All –

I’m a big fan of online content to find inspiration, ideas, and to learn.  It’s one of the reasons I started this blog — to provide information to others, like myself, who wish to pursue their dreams.  I feel that I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn a small bit about federal contracting and wanted to share that knowledge with others who do not have a background in pursuing Government contracts.

One of the sites that I love to visit is http://www.ted.com/.  The TED site provides content devoted to spreading ideas via short presentation and has topics such as business, psychology, and technology.  This particular talk by Simon Sinek “How great leaders inspire action” really resonated with me and I believe it will with you too.

As has been said by many wise individuals, it is vitally important to have our thoughts, intentions, and actions aligned to who we are and how we wish to live our lives.  What we do and how we do it is driven the the deeper why.  I hope Simon’s excellent video resonates as much with you as it did with me.

As always, be grateful and take action each and everyday!

With Love and Respect,

Gary

How to Move Forward (Persistence Revisited)

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Greetings All –

I’ve been away for a while working on my business.  As with many pursuits, this one had a major set back.  A contract we worked hundreds of hours on and won with a Prime teammate did not result in a subcontract as agreed upon in our teaming agreement.  It was a huge disappointment to say the least…especially after bringing  the opportunity to the Prime and writing 90 percent of proposal for a win.  However, when it is time to move on from a disappointment, then we must truly move on.  Life is too short to dwell on should haves or could haves.  There are many opportunities and we need always look forward.

On any endeavor, even those you are passionate about, there will come a time when we can lose momentum and drive especially in the face of a disappointment.

It appears that there are many people who have the delusion that if only they had the proper willpower, then they will succeed.  However, research has shown that willpower is limited and like a muscle becomes fatigued after use, our willpower can also become depleted.  So willpower alone can only take you so far despite how much you wish to succeed.

On a previous post (Fight Resistance – Gain Momentum and Velocity http://wp.me/p4xkC1-1F), I spoke about persistence –  the ability to view and conduct yourself as a professional as written about by Steven Pressfield.  The very act of getting up each day and then doing your work – without complaint (ok, some minor complaining) or excuse — is the mark of a professional.  Having this attitude can help us overcome the inevitable setback we will face on any challenge.  So how do we keep focus and maintain the necessary velocity to do those things that will bring us success?

1.  Treat yourself and others with kindness; love those who you love; do not waste time on anything else.

2.  Establish daily rituals/habits that will continue that help you work toward your goal regardless of what life throws your way; get up each day and take action on your chosen work – be it a business, a novel, or other endeavor.

3.  Accept the fact that some ventures do not work out; our pursuits must have a greater vision than focusing on a single venture or goal.

4.  Remain creative, curious, and passionate about living your life to its greatest potential; you are capable of far more than you and others realize or perhaps understand; if you are not enjoying or feel a drive for what you are doing, it may be time to reassess.

5. Surround yourself with like minded individuals; find mentors and organizations where you can learn and grow; remember to chose your associates carefully as success does lead to success.

6. Rest.  Provide time to recharge your batteries and take care of yourself.

Here’s to living lives that are up to our greatest potential – lives filled with meaningful relationships, self expression, and love; why chose anything less?

With Love and Respect,

Gary