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.

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.

Bruce and Marge at the Edge Newsletter - What's In a Name?

We've changed our coaching newsletter name to Bruce and Marge at the Edge. As we continue to find the best way to present our ideas and to share resources, tools, and strategies for personal and business development, some decisions are tough to make and others are easy - this one was a slam dunk.

If you don't already get our  weekly newletter, we invite you to subscribe by clicking this link. When you go there not only will you sign up for  Bruce and Marge at the Edge but you'll also be sent a link to download Marge's recent book 31 Days to Create Abundance Through Giving as a gift.

Previously our coaching newsletter was titled Passions Lead to Profit, which remains the major theme of many of our coaching programs and services. That name will continue to appear in some places while we move around the web and our various blogs, web sites, and social media sites to change it to Bruce and Marge at the Edge.

Why does a name matter so much? Why not stick with one name? Originally we called the newsletter Bruce Brown at the Edge but changed in favor of our major program theme. Now we've switched back to the people and included both Marge and I, which feels very right to both of us.

While the e-newsletter name has changed, a couple of times now, who we are hasn't  changed and our respective purposes and passions remain the same. We, as individuals, as a couple, and as a company are driven to help other people live extraordinary lives. We focus on both personal and business development coaching because we know that the most successful and happiest people never stop learning and growing in their own development as well as developing their business.

So please join us At the Edge.

We weren't out of control - just crazy in love

This is the earliest photo I have of Marge and I. This must have been a month or so after we met because I sold the bike to pay for her engagement ring.

That bike was the one we had our first date on, a blind date in late April 1970. We were engaged 13 days later and married on August 29th, 1970.

Fun with Marge and Bruce by the Pool

Marge and I had a lot of fun shooting videos today by the pool. We were making short clips for our upcoming Bruce and Marge Live! teleseminar series.

We're really pumped about our August teleseminar series and while we only have 96 slots open with our current conference call system, we easily can add more if needed.

While we were making the videos each of us appeared in the background of the other's shot. It wasn't planned that way, but it turned out to be pretty funny - for us anyway.






For more info on our August Teleseminar Series, please go to:
Bruce and Marge Live!

Grayson Park Business After Hours for the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce

It's been a few weeks (a month really) since the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce had a Business After Hours, so yesterday, despite heavy local rain and traffic-bedeviled bridges from Wilmington, NC, we had a successful event hosted by Grayson Park, a Steven Fine Homes community in Leland, NC.

When we arrived the appetizers were laid out and we dug in, awaiting the heavier stuff that was stuck in traffic (for two hours!).

NBCC board member and publisher of NBM and SBM magazines Justin Williams.



Our host was Grayson Park's Dennis Nipini (left), here talking with Connie Reeves and Mr. and Ms. Roy Lettiri.



Linda Cheers, Account Exec with The Brunswick Beacon with Shelton Herb Farm's Margaret Shelton.



Facing the camera are Cape Fear Merchant Services James Shoemaker and Frank Williams of Pioneer Strategies - both are NBCC board members.



NBCC board member Ken Schiess of HDVest with NBCC stalwarts Scott and Connie Reeves of Azalea Plaza.



NBCC Executive Director Dana Fisher with her fiance, Charlie Rivenbark - Charlie's with Maus, Marwick, Matthews commercial REALTORs and a member of the Wilmington City Council.



James Bozeman on the left with Mike Leggett, NBCC board member and photographer and writer for The Local News Review.



Charlie Rivenbark talking with rained upon NBCC board member Franklin Rouse of State Farm Insurance.



Karen Chevrotee of Wilmington South Realty.



NBCC Ambassador Dave Seaton of Pestco with Chad Gilliam from SeaWatch.



Helping themselves at the buffet table are Sweet Nectar Florist's Jerry Rivenbark and Steven Kennedy. This company is  a generous support to the NBCC and the North Brunswick Community - thanks, guys.



Marge Brown of Quantum Results Coaching (yay, Marge!) with Gina Schiess.



So I had to get these guys to smile for the camera. Joe Gaughan (left), an account exec with WECT6 television and Michael Triggiano, General Manager of the Mailbox Express in Leland, and I were having (what I thought anyway was) an hilarious discussion. And  then when I pulled out the camera, they posed.

So naturally I hollered something inane and got them to smile. A whole lot better, don't you think? (Thanks guys, you're both good sports about this.)

One last photo before Marge and I left of Dennis Nipini with Nancy Hall Associate Publisher Jeff Harvell, talking with Linda and Bob Baer.



Thanks to Craig Stevens of Stevens Fine Homes for hosting this event which was successful and a lot of fun despite the heavy rains and traffic.