Conduit to Greatness or mediocre existence

Thoughts for the day...

I was discussing some things with a friend of mine the other day and as the discussion unfolded there were some cool concepts that helped clarify an outlook on life for me so I thought to take a few minutes and share them with others. 

It was a little while back that a chiropractor wanted to join our company as a franchisee in spite of his struggling finances  he found a way to move forward and he sent in a check to attend our next official HealthSource training for new franchisees. 

While in attendance at this HealthSource training we realized some really large financial challenges that would likely prevent him from even operating/affording in the basic mechanics and systems we were teaching him to put in place. After the realization was made by us it was discussed by every one on our team that the best thing to do was to refund his check and not sign the contract but instead offer to help him over the next 6 months to overcome some of his challenges and create a healthier practice which might allow him to reapply and become a franchisee at a later date. 

This is something we typically do not do with anyone outside our company but since he had made it so far in the vetting process before we were made fully aware of his circumstances we agreed it would be a fair position to take with him and try to help him overcome. My friend Jim has been holding review calls on his progress to advise and examine his results and in the process his practice grew over the first few months. The other morning Jim was telling me that over the past two months it has started to recede and he was pretty bummed about it. 

During our discussion Jim told me he was meeting with him later that day to discuss the situation and I thought I would give a few ideas to Jim to help clarify. The first thing that popped in my head was that life and who we are is a lot like a conduit. A conduit is a piece of pipe or channel through which things can flow. If you look at the plumbing in your house and examine the pipes the water flows through you will find some interesting things. When the pipe is new and clean and smooth on the inside it works at its best. If you allow just a trickle of water into the one end it will easily flow through to the other end but as time passes and stuff keeps flowing some natural occurrences take place. There is a build up over time and little by little you will see sediment growing and increasing to build on the walls of the pipes. The greater the sediment and build up the smaller the channel is to allow proper flow and the more pressure we have to turn on to create a steady out put. 

This seems a little like life to me.

Our life continues with each and every passing experience and day and as time goes on we put a lot of things into our conduit and push it through. The challenge is that a lot of the "stuff" we pass through our own personal lives and channels leaves junk and sediment on the walls. Over time the junk and sediment builds up and our ability to flow through life with enjoyment seems to slow down or become harder to create what once seemed a little easier. The key in my opinion as I told Jim is a big dump of drano into this thing we call life!

How do we learn to clean out the pipes and create a healthy channel for us to allow great work, great creation, great relationships and great impact to flow through every one of us?

I am a really big believer in the proper basic blocks of each and every day and have been for quite a while now because I know it works. 

Let me give you an example.....

The foundation of every single day is Block 1 or Interval 1 depending on your choice of terminology. In this first block of the day we are choosing to either prepare for greatness or launch ourselves into mediocrity. Every morning I awake to take some time to exercise and listen to some great teachers. I know that all the things I know today is the result of what I have learned and all that want to be tomorrow is the result of what I add to what I know through continuing to learn. Many people seem to make it through school and somehow think that learning is no longer a responsibility. It just depends on what you want your life to stand for or not stand for. Each day I focus on listening to lectures from great teachers and achievers because I want t add to my knowledge base. Some days I repeat some of the audio teachings in my collection over and over again on my iPhone because the content is just so empowering. In the first block it is important to me that I find peace, knowledge and passion to make each and every day count. For these reasons it is a daily choice that I listen to many different teachers. I also choose to just be quiet for a few minutes and think or not think as the case may be to clear my mind. I also know to focus and be appreciative of all the opportunities I have and thankful for the new ones I will have that day. In this first block I am preparing myself to launch into the day with passion and purpose and therefore expecting my impact to be larger than the average human being. 

The second building block of the day is the walls or Block 2. This is what I often refer to as the "small game". Every one has "work" to do each day and "task lists" to complete but these items are only as good as the person who is choosing to do them.  The more prepared a person is to tackle the day with a solid mindset then the better the days accomplishments will naturally be. It is a firm belief I hold that if I can find gratitude for what I am doing then I will be given more opportunity. If I can also be willing to work at growing and seeking purpose and skill I will succeed at those same opportunities. The combination of these two things will create more opportunity for me to try new things and evolve to a higher level.

The third and final block of each day is Block 3 or the roof. This is the simple sharing and enjoyment of the days accomplishments with people you care for. It is a time to celebrate and be at peace with a days great work.  Relax, unwind, communicate and be open with those you love. Turn off the TV and just talk for a bit about what was really cool today. Tomorrow will bring new opportunities but each opportunity we will have is completely dependent on how we handled talents and tasks we have already been gifted with. Be responsible with the chances you have and more will be given to you. ;-)

John Maxwell often says that he lives his life by the bookends of the day which is simply two questions....

First question in the morning when I wake "Today, Who can I add value to and how will I do it?"

The last question of the day "Today, who did I add value to and how did I do it?"

The centering of these two questions is creating a cognizance or recognition of finding purpose and passion for making change in the world and that is why we were all created. Our happiness and prosperity is directly related to how we succeed at helping others around us succeed and these 3 blocks are critical to that search.

Back to my conversation with Jim about that doctor.... I told Jim that sometimes when we have outside circumstances create excitement or energy in our lives it sometimes causes us to turn up the flow of our work, energy and sometimes results. The challenge is that if the conduit that is our lives has junk from the past or bad learning on the walls it is restricting the flow of our creation. Imagine going to a Tony Robbins event and getting excited and coming back the next week to turn up the pressure and create great results. Imagine making a new goal or resolution to do the same. Imagine hearing a great teaching at a seminar or online and getting motivated temporarily. Imagine someone taking time to coach you and examine your choices to help you grow. Those are all cool things and good things but don't we want to get to a point that no matter how high the pressure is turned up or turned down we are always producing because we are focused on keeping our lives clean from junk and sediment?

Zig Ziglar said it best when he was asked one time If motivation ever wears off? and to that question he answered that it most certainly did and that is why he recommended it daily!

The same goes for learning!

Building Block number one is necessary for all of us to clean out the old and wrong ways of thinking out and that is why we should do it daily. I love listening to guys like John Maxwell, Jim Rohn, Wayne Dyer, Brian Tracy, Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra and the list of great teachers that can go on and on. I am a very regular customer of the itunes store and audible.com because I want a huge library to learn from.. 

EVERY day I want to listen and learn new ideas because block number two is the work but the effort is only as good as the worker. The talented and educated worker is built in block number one. I am often found sharing these principles with others because it is absolutely true that those who schedule time every day to be better and more successful will be. Make a schedule that allows you some time alone in the morning, time to learn in the morning, time to think in the morning and time to exercise in the morning. Your time could be 30 minutes if you plan it and for some it is as much as two hours every morning but for those who just launch into the work of each day they will usually find frustration, exhaustion and results that represent what they currently know and what they currently plan for each day.

I asked Jim what would it be like if I sent Wayne Dyer to your house for two hours every morning for one month to talk about life and think about ideas?

I asked Jim what would it be like if I sent Deepak Chopra the second month to your house for two hours every morning to talk about life and think about ideas?

I asked Jim what would it be like if I sent Jim Rohn the third month to your house for two hours every morning to talk about life and think about ideas?

Do you think you would be more powerful? 

More Motivated? 

More Inspired? 

More at peace with life? 

Able to accomplish more?

That is just like dumping drano into our conduit and cleaning the junk off the walls. All we have to do to be great is decide to be great, so take the time each day to plan a schedule that you follow towards greatness. Ideas are plentiful! Ted talks, motivation on you tube, inspirational teachers, audio books and the list goes on forever when you start looking. If you have made it through my LENGTHY post today then I know you are searching for something better so why not start today and build a personal calendar dedicated to greatness. Get up a little earlier and make greatness happen.

My final thought to share is that when you have figured out this is true by doing it in your life, please share it with others and help them stop living in their mediocrity as well. We all have natural talents and can produce with our lives but raw talent versus focused and developed talent always has a different impact on the world around us.

As Zig also once said "you can have anything you want if you can help enough other people get what they want"

Help yourself and then be passionate about helping others and results will always follow. I PROMISE.

Have a great life!