Why It Helps to Know I Suck as a Manager and Administrator

It feels better and works better when I make the most of who I am, what I'm good at, and what I enjoy. When I try to do things I don't really dig and aren't really among my core strengths, I stumble, scrape my ego, and basically have a bad time. Even when I can actually do that "stuff that isn't really me", it doesn't come easily and it's not as effective or good for others as when I'm on my own "channel".


I recently posted the following thought:

"I soar with wings of passion when I inspire, motivate, and connect. When I try to manage others it's like breathing gravel." - Being Bruce


I was responding to some feelings, some intuitive-like sense that I needed a course correction, and even some thoughts. I was ably assisted by my wife Marge, who can "read me like a road sign".

The details don't matter a bit for this post , but the point was that I was drifting into some management and administrative tasks and found the road a little bumpy and un-fun. I was so involved that I didn't get outside myself to check myself out  (had I done so earlier, I might have realized it sooner), but Marge helped by pointing out that I just wasn't as happy as I normally am when I'm doing my thing, which is connecting with folks, sharing strong positive energy, and in some cases inspiring them to make positive change in their own lives.


For me, management and administrative tasks and roles are possible, but when I do them I'm running solely using my mind. And that causes me trouble as my mind second-guesses, seeks problems, mis-communicates, and basically performs in a substandard fashion.


When I'm connecting with people, focusing on their purpose and success, having fun by sharing enthusiasm and energy, that's when I'm most effective and when I help others (and myself) most. 


Many have said that it's important to use one's "emotional barometer" to stay on one's proper path. For me that's totally true. Roughly translated that means when something I'm doing feels bad, that means I probably shouldn't be doing it, because it's outside my true purpose. So the more quickly I recognize that and get back to feeling good about what I'm doing, the better it will be for me, and for others. 


So thanks Marge, and thanks to other valued friends and colleagues, for helping me see, once again, that managing and administering are not in my core purpose, not even close, so I can get back to what I love doing, and  live in alignment with my passions for connecting with and helping others become successful in their own lives. 

Astronomy, Coaching, and Bull Fighting

I love to learn about individual purpose and at the same time consider life and our place in the universe. It turns out astronomers do that, too. Many of the most famous astronomers have worn second hats as philosophers.

I'm not an astronomer, I'm a coach. As someone who works with individuals and helps them discover their life purpose, I find it very interesting that those who study the stars quite often shift from their telescopic consideration of the universe to an equally compelling view of the individual's place within that universe.

Consider the words of three famous astronomers:

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him discover it in himself." - Galileo , 1564-1642, Italian physicist, mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer.



"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever." - Dr. Carl Sagan, 1934-1996, American astronomer and astrophysicist.



"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." - Omar Khayyam, 1048-1131, Persian mathematician, philosopher, poet, physician, and astronomer.

Many hold and I think it's true, that all religions and cultural traditions hold that the universe is in the individual just as much as the individual is in the universe.

With that in mind, I invite you to be the astronomer of your own universe and the philosopher of your own life purpose.

Do you know your life purpose? If you do not, that is one way I help my coaching clients - finding their life purpose.

Are you very clear about your passions, about those activities or states of being that get you most excited about and energized in life? If not, that's another way I work with clients - defining and prioritizing the person's unique set of passions.

If you are aware of your purpose and clear about your passions, how well are you able to stay in alignment with them in your personal and business life? This activity is where I spend the bulk of my time working with clients.

Learning about your passions and discovering your purpose are important life tasks, and not to be taken lightly.

Once you know your purpose and passions however, even if you make choices not to pursue them, at least you will be clear about the choices you do make.

And how does bull fighting fit in with all this?



Here are the words of the most revered bull fighter in history, "Bravery is believing in yourself, and that thing nobody can teach you." - El Cordobes, 1936- , Spanish Matador.

Some Cards We've Sent Recently

We had a lot of great feedback two weeks ago when we sent images of custom cards we'd sent to friends and folks we've met recently. So we're doing it again, with another batch. 

As you know, Marge and I utilize custom printed greeting cards we create with SendOutCards as one of our primary ways to keep in touch with people.

We love to take photos of folks and put those pictures in cards that we later send as thank you's or notes of appreciation.

Here are the fronts and insides of some of the two dozen or so cards we sent in the past two weeks:

Here's the front of a card we sent to Monica Clark and Kerry Kasotsky of K&M Speed Networking:

 

Here's the inside:

 

Here's a birthday card we sent to Dana Fisher:

The inside:

 

Johnny Mercer, Director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission spoke at a meeting I attended, so I sent him this card:

Here's the inside:

Our friend Sidney Rabon of Cape Fear Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning (whose passion is cooking for crowds):

The inside:

A card I sent after meeting Rita Tatum and Amy Lowrance of the Ocean Isle branch of East Carolina Bank:

 

The inside:

A card we sent to Brandon Sneed after meeting him at his book signing at RBRBooks in Leland:

 

And last, the front of a card we sent to several friends for Halloween:

 

It's fun to use custom greeting cards for business (as well as for personal use). All you do is create them on your computer and then hit send and the company prints, stuffs, stamps, and mails them. And, to top that off, each of these cards costs only .93 (plus .44 in postage
with a real, first class stamp on the envelope).

A great deal.

If you're looking for an effective, easy, low cost, and very personal way to keep in touch with your clients, contacts, or referral sources, using cards like this can be highly cost effective.

We invite you to send a card on us, absolutely free, to see what it's like.

Just go to our web site www.FatCityCards.com and click on 'send a free card'.

If you're wondering about whether using the SendOutCards service would make sense for you, answer these 3 questions:

1. Do you send cards and gifts?
2. Do you know anyone who sends cards and gifts?
3. Would you like to make money whenever you or anyone you know sends cards and gifts?

If you answered 'yes' to the first question, it might make sense for you to be a SendOutCards customer.

If you answered 'yes' to questions 2. and 3., it might make sense for you to be a SendOutCards distributor.

All it takes to find out if either makes sense is to watch a 15 minute video, which you can see on our site www.FatCityCards.com. After you watch it you'll know if it makes sense for you.

To your joy and success,

How to Have a DaVinci Day

Today I wish you a DaVinci Day!

I'll start by saying I'm already having a fabulous day and I wish the same for you.

Earlier this morning I posted the following: "It's easy to be bursting with good intentions. Today I'll do my best to fulfill them with equally good actions." - Being Bruce

I was inspired to write that during a brief morning meditation session, which is how I find most of my sayings.

After attending to some correspondence I decided to listen to one of Brian Johnson's Philosopher's Notes from PhilosophersNotes.com. I have Brian's collection of abstracts and commentaries on 100 written works of importance in both written and recorded versions and I like to listen to one or a few each day (they're only about 20 minutes long each, so it's a convenient break).

Here's Brian:

The recording I chose today (for the second or third time I've heard this one) was Brian's Philosopher's Note on Michael Gelb's How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci. Leonardo DaVinci, of course remains the poster boy of creativity and productivity.

Actually, for a short diversion, here's his poster (actually his work, Vitruvian Man, which was a study in physical ratios and proportions for artists).

As I was listening to Brian's summary and thoughts on Michael Gelb's work, I thought of my friend Lisa Rothstein (aka @DaVinciDiva on Twitter). Lisa and her colleague Liisa Kyle are the creativity coaches behind web site The DaVinci Dilemma, Solutions for Multi-Talented People (www.DaVinciDilemma.com).

Here's Lisa with a link to her personal website (click her name) Lisa Rothstein .

And here's Liisa with a corresponding link to her personal site: Liisa Kyle, Ph.D

As I pondered the whole DaVinci concept a bit more and listened to Brian's recording, I realized that my morning post was (sorta) in a similar vein: the concept of being inspired and having great intentions AND taking action on them.

So, therefore my wish to you:

Have a DaVinci Day! Be inspired, generate strong intentions, and take action!

Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminar Call Archive - All Free

All calls recordings are unedited downloads from the original sessions. They are in MP3 format and are approximately 25MB in size each. Typically they run 50-55 minutes, although a few are a bit shorter and some a bit

Each call is generally available on the day after the live call.

Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminars Recorded Calls You CAN Do Business Video and Why You Should (original call date August 3, 2010) Passions Lead to Profit – the Formula in Action (original call date August 5, 2010) Making the Most of Live Networking Events (original call date August 10, 2010) Manifest Your Ideal Life (original call date August 12, 2010) Essential Social Media for Entrepreneurs (original call date August 17, 2010) GAR – Gratitude, Attitude, and Readiness (original call date August 19, 2010) Ask Bruce and Marge (submitted Q and A) (original call date August 24, 2010) Authentic Goal Setting (original call date August 26, 2010) Transform Your Work into Play (original call date September 7, 2010) Tips on Working with Your Spouse (original call date September 14, 2010) Business Social Media Strategy (original call date September 21, 2010) De-Mystifying Self-Hypnosis, A Tool Everyone Can Use (original call date September 28, 2010) How to Stay Aligned with Your Passions (original call date October 5, 2010)

The full set of Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminar calls is available to subscribers to Bruce and Marge at the Edge, our free, weekly business and personal development newsletter.

To subscribe to Bruce and Marge at the Edge, please fill out the form below:


Hey, did you know our previously recorded teleseminars are available free!

Kicking Butt - Personal Development Requires Change

Who ever said personal development is easy?

Sure, it can be fun to go to a weekend workshop and learn some helpful stuff about yourself and maybe pick up some useful techniques and tools to improve some aspect of your life. Personal development workshops can be so much fun that some people go just for the good feelings.

If you want to actually develop, however, that requires doing stuff and usually it means doing stuff differently than you've been doing it before.

So you know what that means... Change!

Yeah, change. Change is difficult for many people, and even scary for some.

But hey, that's why the people at the top are at the top... they're willing to do more, to sacrifice more, and if necessary, change what must be changed in order to get where they are.

I've started making a series of pretty informal videos on various components of the inner workings of personal development. These videos don't address tricks, techniques, tools, or strategies for personal development. Rather, they're about attitude and willingness and real readiness for change and growth.

I'm calling them Kick Butt videos because, yeah, they kinda kick butt. I don't think they're harsh or rude, but rather they do point out some vital aspects of personal development that I know you need if you're really going to develop, to make changes that will help you live an extraordinary life. And you want that, right?

The three videos below address separate topics:

• Playing full out.
• Losing your self-limiting beliefs.
• Getting started NOW.

If you don't incorporate all three in your personal development strategy, your chances of making significant change are pretty slim.

So here are the videos. As you'll see, each is short and the message for each one is pretty simple. But they're important and I wish you all the best in incorporating them in your life plan.

Play Full Out


Lose Your Self-Limiting Beliefs


Start NOW


So I hope you enjoyed my little videos. I'd love to hear any comments you have about them.

Also, if you think you'd like to work with a personal and business development coach who will be objective and tough with you while still holding you in the highest regard, shoot me an email at Bruce@QuantumResultsCoaching.com or call me at 910-297-8753. I'd love to talk with you about your plans for an extraordinary life of your own!

We Are Supposed to Have Fun

Yesterday afternoon Marge came running to my office and exclaimed, full of excitement, "I've got it! I've just had a breakthrough! It's about having fun!"

[So first off, I oughta mention that that type of conversation is not uncommon for us, in fact we relish it and it's a significant factor in our working and personal relationship. And actually, there's not much of a line between our working and personal lives any more as we continue to shape our lives so our work is ever more aligned with our passions. But anyway, me running in early in the morning to wake up Marge with a cup of coffee and a new idea or her running to me in the afternoon with a strong insight are regular occurrences, which tells you a bit about our relationship, our daily work habits, and our respective times of highest creativity.]

Okay, so anyway, the rest of the conversation ran something like this:

Marge: "Here's the part people sometimes don't get. Working with your passions, building or shaping your business around your passions isn't supposed to be a struggle, and it's not supposed to be all serious and focused. There's a place for work and structure and focus, but overall, it has to be fun! It's supposed to be fun!"

Me: "Yeah."

Marge: "We've been setting up workshops and coaching groups on results and business plans and marketing plans and social media and all that's great, too, but where's the fun? If people don't get that living your passions is exciting and fun, they don't really understand what it's all about! It's supposed to be fun! People want fun!"

Me: "Yes, I see that."

Marge: "Let's sleep on this and talk tomorrow about how we can work to convey the idea of having fun in life and having fun in your business or life work is a lot of fun. People like fun, people want to have fun even if they're not topline aware of it."

Bruce: "Okay, good idea, let's think about it overnight and see what we come up with."

[Skip ahead 12 hours to roughly 4AM this morning, which is MY highest creative time.]

So this morning, when I went through my morning exercises of engaging the universe via cogitation, meditation, and social media, I put up the following two inspirations from my alter-ego Being Bruce.
  
‎"Be like the kid who goes to a park and has a great time and helps others have fun, too." - Being Bruce 

"Today I'm going to take having fun and being fun very seriously." - Being Bruce

I posted those two quotations not with any end result in mind, but because they came to me, I liked them, and I wanted to share. I put them up on FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a few of the other usual suspects (I post to multiple sites simulataneously using a utility called Ping.fm, which saves beaucoup time). I also posted the first one on another forum I frequent, we.entheos.me (an international forum of folks with a philosophical leaning). 


Anyway, imagine my surprise, and delight, when I received this response within minutes of posting the first quote above on we.entheos.me from someone from New Zealand, "Yay! I get to be like a kid again!! Tonight I decided to move back to the U.S. and go back into teaching. (-: Your quote is awesome, Bruce. Thank you." - I won't mention her name to protect her anonymity.

My heart is smiling and happy. My #2 Passion in Life is "Being a significant positive change agent in the lives of as many people in the world as I can to help them live extraordinary lives." Check.


So, hmm, looks like Marge is on to something. People like to play, they like fun, and the memory of the energy and fun of being a kid playing in a park can spark and/or support people - at least one person - to make significant work/life decisions. 

Go Marge!! Woohoo!

We are supposed to have fun!

I think now I'll take HER a cup of coffee and tell her what she/we did! 


So how about you? Do you have fun in your life? How about specifically in your work life? If you don't, or if you'd like even more fun and joy in your life, consider taking The Passion Test with either Marge or me. For an increasing number of people, that's where it starts. Check out what some others have said about taking The Passion Test with us at www.BrucetheCoach.com.

Sports Performance Mental Edge Training

Last evening I gave a one hour talk on Sports Performance Mental Edge Training at the Wilmington TrySports store at the Mayfaire Town Center. I met with some folks from the TrySports Walk-Run club who are training for the Run for the Ta-Tas fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness on October 2nd.

It occurred to me that others might be interested in the techniques and tricks I spoke about with the group. The following is the summary sheet I sent to the attendees at the talk.

Sports Performance Mental Edge Training

Techniques and tips:

1.Thought stopping—Just say “No” when a negative thought or concern appears.

2. Mental Akido—When a negative thought appears, notice it, let it pass by, and don’t dwell on it—or spend ‘any’ time feeling bad about having a negative thought.

3. Focus on Your Favorite—If you’re engaged in a part of an activity you don’t like, focus instead on the feelings you have when you’re doing something you love to do.

4. Positive Imagery—See yourself as a winner and mentally practice experiencing your desired results.

5. Go to Your Safe Place—Construct a mental image of a place where you feel safe, secure, serene, relaxed, and loved. Spend time filling in the details of sights, sounds, feelings, and thoughts. Practice going there often so you ‘know’ it well.

6. Triggers—Learn more  about triggers and how you can use them to good purpose. For example, use a red dot of nail polish on a watch face. The  way you would use that as a trigger is  when you start to feel fear or negative, immediately look at the red dot and have that be the trigger to take you to the feelings of being in your safe place.

7. Breathing—Someone has said the only difference between fear and excitement is how we breathe at the time. Breathing can be a fast, easy, and inexpensive way to relax, center yourself, and focus. The way it works is to pay close attention to the triangle of your upper lip and your nose—experience your breath as you breathe in and out. Listen to it, feel it, smell it, be completely aware of your breath—with practice you can use this with great ease and power.

8. Progressive  Relaxation—Find an audio file on the Internet to use as a guide and make your own recordings of progressively contracting and relaxing various muscle groups. Make a short recording (3-5 minutes) of only major muscle groups and a longer one (10-30 minutes or as long as you can stand it) in which you get very specific. There are plenty of examples on the Internet.

9. Self-Hypnosis—A state of ‘relaxed concentration’ - use all of the above, especially #s 3-8 to help yourself relax and focus on your desired results, attitude, and experience.

Sign up for Bruce and Marge at the Edge, a free personal and business development e-newsletter and get a link for a copy of Marge Brown’s 31 Days to Personal Mastery: Create Abundance Through Giving. To subscribe, go to: www.AskMargeBrown.com.

SHIFT!?! - Here's Your Magic Wand. What Big Shift Would You Make In Your Life?

I hear a lot of talk about various shifts in the world today:

• More eco-consciousness
• More right-brain influence in business
• A shift to the Divine Feminine
• More spirituality
• More emphasis on living to purpose
• Greater sense of one world-ness

Okay, that's all good, in my estimation, and I'm grateful for any positive change.

We know that any real change in the outer world starts with our inner world. (I think we all know that, right?)

Ghandi said, and many of us quote him, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

So what big change do YOU want to make? What big shift would you make in your life?

Let's just pretend for a moment there are no limitations. No limits imposed by others and (shudder) no limits imposed by ourselves. (We all do get that all limitations are self-limitations, right?)

So I'll ask again, with a magic wand firmly in hand, "What big shift would you make in your life?"

And to play fair, here's one at the top of my list:

I want to be more bold in helping others live the extraordinary lives I know they are capable of.

So how about you?

What's your big shift?

Bruce's Six-Head Strip - Try It Yourself!

Serious stuff here, for me (and of course, being me, also a bit silly and playful). I've found that photos of myself, smiling and making eye contact with the observer, are a helpful mechanism for staying in touch with my Observer, that part of myself that knows who I am and why I'm here.

Try it, string 5 or 6 photos of yourself smiling with direct eye contact. I'd love to see what they look like and hear how it works for you.

Membership Appreciation Night at TrySports

If you through Mayfaire Town Center  in Wilmington, NC last evening you may have noticed an unusual number of physically fit, happy people. The TrySports store in Wilmington held a Membership Appreciation Night for their Triple Rewards Club members and the turnout was strong during the two-hour event.

There was no formal agenda, though free food and drink were plentiful and there were several drawings for attendees as well as healthy discounts on apparel and equipment. At the register below TrySports Marketing Manager Frances Atkins helps one of the Triple Rewards Club members.

I was there to talk about my Sports Performance Mental Edge Training workshops and coaching. Also in attendance were Michael Downey (left) and Dr. Kathleen White (in the white top) from Atlantic Spinal Rehab and Wellness Clinic.



Massage therapist and health and fitness specialist Julie Blackburn was also on hand. A steady stream of attendees got complimentary massages and consultation during the event.



The parts and maintenance shop was open for questions and assistance.

Overall it was a well-attended good time for the club members and for the TrySports staff.

If you'd like more info on Sports Performance Mental Edge Training, check out my web site at QuantumResultsCoaching.com or email me at Bruce@QuantumResultsCoaching.com.

Friday's a Day to Think Big and Stand Out

Friday is a great day to differentiate yourself and your business. If you think big and bring a lot of joy and positivity to your business on Friday, people will notice the difference. It's easier of course when you're working in alignment with your passions. Enjoy yourself and take your big positive message to your customers and everyone you meet. You'll not only be a positive force to make their days better, you'll be noticed in a positive light, and that can only be good for you and your business.

Welcome to Thursday! - Are you loving your work?

Thursday's a high productivity day, so get out there and have a wonderful day.

If, however, you find that by Thursday you're dragging most weeks, or every week, I suggest you take a look at that.

Are you really doing what you love to do? Are you working in alignment with your passions? If you're not, you won't bring full power and joy to your work and not only won't you be as successful as possible, you'll run out of steam and you won't be having the great time you could have when you are working in alignment with your passions.

Here's a blatant plug for our services:
With our Passions Lead to Profit program, we help business people discover their Passions, utilize their full personal energy and Power, and use that combination to bring the best value to and receive the most from business relationships - and ALL businesses are about People.

When you put these together, the formula looks like this:

(Power + Passions) x People = Profit

I'd love to discuss this more with you. Feel free to comment on this blog or email me at Bruce@QuantumResultsCoaching.com.

Good morning, June 2- What are Passions?

Do you know what your passions are?