New Years Resolution….. Lose one “Dead Weight” Friend

The New Year is upon us! 52 weeks ONLY really is this 8,760 hours.. WOW.. put it into hours and one year seems as it will blow by like the desert wind across the Polo Fields of Coachella Valley. Bottom line is time is a finite resource. As the Buddah said “You only think you have time”

Well its the truth. And the truth is, if you are like most people, or even maybe extraordinary people, you have one friend in your life whom adds exactly ZERO value to your existence. If this is the case, that friend is causing you lose the finite resource aforementioned….. TIME. Time is being wasted on somebody that adds nothing to your life. 

Make this year the year you get rid of time wasting habits and time wasting people. Friends that add no value to your life, that suck your time and energy from you.. Leaving you tired and drained.  Be rid of that person and use your time for something amazing. 

5 things out of 37, I feel you will regret later in life

I sit here and write from the couch of an amazing hotel lobby bar. Somewhere in Napa, nestled between vineyards and golden hills, I am writing. On the table in front of me sits a half eaten hummus plate and a beautiful crystal mug of Home made hot apple cider. I wonder if everybody else around me is taking note on how beautiful this scene is? Are they aware of the smooth jazz Christmas music that is playing, sounding as though a piano player were right behind them.

I am not sure.

I have just finished reading another bloggers post on “37 Things You will Regret When You Are Old” Many points made in the article have hit home.

I will speak of 5 things that really strike a chord in my soul.

1. Never Finishing What we Started- Habits of Punctuality, order, and diligence get us to where we want to be when we start. Find these habits, cultivate them with a strong will and thrive.. People remember 2 things about a story, The beginning and the End. That is it! So whatever you have to do to finish, do it!

2. Not Stopping enough to appreciate the moment- We have a finite amount of time on this planet. It is beautiful. Take a moment and enjoy it.

3. Staying in a Bad Relationship- If you don’t like it leave!! There are soooo many people out there to discover and explore, to stay in a relationship that makes you unhappy, well, you are simply choosing to be an unhappy person, I’m sure you will regret that when you are an old bag of dust.

4. Not Volunteering enough- Old people wish they had made a difference in the world. Leaving the world a better place than which you found it, should be on the goal sheet of everyone of us! Give more Get more!! #gogiver

5. NOT BEING GRATEFUL SOONER- Everyday I wake up and say, Thank You. Every night I go to bed saying THANK YOU!!! I practice gratitude everyday and night. There is no better therapy, NONE, than the practice of gratitude! Being grateful for what you have gives the universe, or God, whatever your thing is, no choice but to give you more to be grateful for!! So practice being grateful and reap the benefits!

Inspiration can be found anywhere, look for it every day and be happy.

I will now go back to my hot cider and my beautiful music. I will give thanks for this moment tonight before I go to bed. I am a lucky guy.

Nice to meet you!!! You have some food in your teeth.

How many times have you met somebody at a social gathering and ran into the most awkward of situations like “Food in the Teeth”? Other than running into a one-night stand within 1 week of the encounter at an event full of clients and business associates, there are very few more awkward situations.

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What do you do? What do you say? Do you stare at the teeth? Do you keep direct eye contact as to not be rude, when they finally figure out they have had food in their teeth the whole time while at this function? They will hate you and everybody else that they spoke with that did not bring attention to the defect. 

HOW TO APPROACH:       It is my firm opinion that when encountered with “Food in the Teeth” or FITT for short, your best way to handle the situation is with dead set honesty. “Oh nice to meet you, there is something in your teeth” or “Wow, heard alot about you, but never heard about all the food in your teeth, what is that salad? was it good? it looks amazing!” or better yet “Great to meet you, my wife has told me so much about your work with the homeless, are you saving that piece of food in your teeth for your next food drive?” 

All these option are 100% appropriate when running into the ever awkward FITT. So when you encounter FITT at your holiday business function or your next client appreciation dinner, be direct, be forward. The person will thank you for it profusely.

Just think! if you don’t tell them, how many meet and greets will they have to go through with FITT. 

 

 

22 SIgns you’ve been partying too hard and too much!

THIS IS just a thought. 

22 Signs You’ve Been Doing Too Much Partying

1. You find cash money in your pockets that you forgot you put there four days ago when you last wore those jeans. You feel excited when this happens, like it’s money you just earned instead of money you almost lost.

2. You have “befriended” door people so that you can cut the line at da club. If you are a man, this means you have determined just how much cash you have to slip your door comrade in order to cut the line. If you are a woman, this means you rush up to the velvet rope as soon as you arrive with your girlfriends and flutter your hands in a waving-like fashion while shouting “Derek! Derek! Hey babe! Missed you!” all fake-like. Air kissing happens.

3. You are still drunk and outside when the crazy fitness people start jogging in the morning. And this will either make you giggle wildly as you and your friend bond over how you’re the biggest badasses of all time (LiLo circa 2009 got nothin’ on us! etc.), or — if you are in the cursed state of being drunk and alone — give you a depressing case of gym FOMO.

4. You get fresh bagels on the weekends only because the place opens as you are returning to your crib. You do not toast the bagels. You eat them dry on the couch, dipped in hummus. In front of an infomercial.

5. Eighty percent of your cheese and solid carbohydrate consumption occurs between the hours of 2 and 4 a.m. It’s either pizza or a burrito, no kale in between.

6. You have a “going out coat.”

7. Your clothes come in only two tightnesses: super freakum dress tight or super “I’m so hungover and bloated-feeling don’t make me get dressssssed” loose.

8. You don’t wear eye makeup during daylight hours on the weekends because you have come to like the look of last night’s eyeshadow smudged haphazardly around the general vicinity of your eye socket. You complement your carefully considered “I don’t care” makeup with a healthy spritz of dry shampoo so you can avoid bothering with the shower before brunch.

9. You have to double check your purse pockets for illicit substances before you get on a plane. YOLO.

10. Halloween is a major holiday for you.

11. You wish your going out purse could fit a plastic water bottle.

12. Roughly 80 percent of your conversations are about what happened last night.Roughly 50 percent of those conversations are about how much you drank. The other roughly 50 percent are about the texts you wish you hadn’t sent.

13. You have told people at brunch that the best way to cure a hangover is by drinking more. You order a margarita with your eggs Norwegian to show them how it’s done.

14. You have fist pumped within the last seven days. Even if it was just “ironic.”

15. You have those cheap neon sunglasses they give away at bars scattered around your apartment. Because you never know if you should throw them out or save them for when drunk people next come over.

16. You refuse to go out unless you know you will have a table to sit or stand at that will prevent you from bumping into the surrounding riff raff. You didn’t get all dressed up to be treated like a second class nightclub table-less loser, no you did not.

17. You have told men you meet out your occupation is “astronaut” when they ask what you do for a living. Because you have answered this question enough times to know they do not really care or plan to listen to what you say and are just waiting for the DJ to drop the beat so they can proceed to fist pump wildly while humping you drunkenly in some form of alleged dancing.

18. You have recently witnessed a grown man wearing a dress shirt pouring vodka straight from a Grey Goose bottle down the throat of another grown man wearing a dress shirt. Or you are a grown man and this describes your usual state of being circa 1 a.m. every Friday night. (Again: YOLO.)

19. Because you are loathe to hide your sexy party outfit, you have a strategy for going out in the winter without a coat. You casually refer to it in conversation as your “wine blanket.”

20. You have sworn off a liquor you drank on a night when you actually really did get too drunk. You regularly remind people that you “just aren’t a gin person” or “feel weird on tequila.”

21. There is a difference to you between going out and going out out.

22. Looking at the photos on your cell phone in the morning is always an adventure.You will laugh off the worst ones by claiming they are ironic Instagrams.

THIS WAS TAKEN FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE.

Forgiving Yourself for your 20’s

It has dawned on me over the past weeks  how a person may get down on themselves for “time wasted” during their twenties. You partied too much, you slept too little, you chased too many co-eds, you just flat out wasted your time having “fun”. This can leave a bad taste in your mouth as you approach your 30’s. If this is you, then congratulate yourself of being self aware enough to realize you can not live the rest of your life that way. Secondly, if that is you, then give yourself a break, they were your twenties, you are supposed to screw around, up and down and every way between. The important part is that now you change.

Hopefully the twenties enlightened you to what you are supposed to be doing here on this earth. My personal calling is to help people make life changing decisions with ease and comfort and then take the income produced from that and help people change their lives. This is what I took my 20’s to figure out. This is what I will spend my 30’s perfecting. Then following the 30’s I will proceed to do both of those things with ease and gratitude until the day I die. I suggest you do the same.

20’s to learn 30’s to earn.

A big step in order to commit to the next stage of life is forgiving your inner child, the kid who screwed around during your twenties and really didn’t seem to show you anything but fun. But let’s take a closer look at what that inner child has provided you with.

1. A great story, and without a story nobody wants to hear what you have to say.
2. Life experience. Nobody gives a shit what a recent college grad has to say about life. You lived it! Own it!
3. Friends and connections. This is called a network, use it to live your purpose.
4. Communication Skills. Ordering drinks at a bar, hitting on co-eds, all take alot of communication skills. You are a PRO!
5. Gratitude. Be grateful that you don’t have to make those mistakes again. You’ve learned alot, now time to move forward.

Be grateful your inner child mis behaved. Hold him up to the light and say “Thank you, I love you!” “Without you I would not be who I am today, nor have the ability to succeed like I will today and tomorrow and the next” Chances are you have shunned your inner child because you feel you have wasted your time here on earth up until now, forgive him. Tell him you forgive him and that you love him. You will take charge now and grow up and make the world a more inspired place to live from now on.

You are supposed to be here. You were supposed to do what you did. You are meant to walk the path. Never lose your kid inside, but let him or her know you are here to make a difference and you will bring him joy in other ways from now on.

I live by a few mottos, one fitting into this theme well. “Forgive and fail often” I have forgiven myself for my failures and I have done this often. It is only with this action that I have any hope of growing and making this world a better place than when I first arrived here.

PlayGround of Dreams Mentorship

Today I sat through what seemingly felt like the fastest 5 hours of my life. The 5 hour orientation blew by! Playground of Dreams as I now understand it is a organization who are committed to the success of young children. Through the tool of mentorship, POD, works alongside schools with kids from all different walks of life. Whether you are the child of a celebrity or an orphan you can find a home within POD. 

One thing I love about the idea of POD is the youth which fills the ranks of the mentors and the organization as a whole. At only 1 year in existence they have an impressive track record. I am happy to be giving my very valuable time to the kids and to the growth of this super star organization. 

I’ve attached some pictures of the last fundraising event that POD hosted. Early October 2013. This event was where I found out about the program. Kids performing were the highlight. From music to comedy sketches, the acts were heart felt and amazing. Each kid getting out of the comfort zone and really living, if we could all do such things on a daily basis, imagine how improved our lives would be.

I am excited to embark upon this journey with a  amazing organization of concerned people very shortly. 

11 Principals of POD:

1. Courage
2. Trust
3. Passion
4. Integrity
5. Leadership
6. Commitment
7. Acceptance
8. Love
9. Empowerment
10. Gratitude
11. Creativity

If we could all be so lucky as to live and operate by these principals. The world, starting inside our own world, would be so much more beautiful and love filled daily. I can not speak for others, but as for myself, I will. 

 

First Time Home Buyers

It is my pleasure to work with first time home buyers. This subject comes to me after much time speaking with the Producer of HGTV’s “Home & Family” TV Show. She has been picking my brain for tips and tricks of how to make a house more valuable. This lead me to the thought, “I wonder if I express to my first time home buyers just how important taking the first step to home ownership is?” I concluded: I don’t think I do.

In the following paragraphs I will explain  the benefits of just pulling the trigger, whether it be the perfect house for you or not.

1. RENT vs BUY:  Why pay the landlord your hard earned cash? Granted you may not be able to afford Prime Location on a purchase, but in 10 years, when location ceases to matter, because you won’t be going to the bars or worried what others will think, you will have equity in something, REAL PROPERTY.

2. PRIDE of OWNERSHIP: When you own something you live in, you have an extraordinary sense of pride. The positive energy oozes out of you like you just bought a new pair of sneakers and wore them to the gym for the first time, finding out that you ran faster and lifted heavier than before, MUST HAVE BEEN THE SHOES!!!

3. APPRECIATION of an ASSET: Your house appreciates in value, granted you’re not in the middle of nowhere, but most markets will increase in value as time goes on. You’re going to sell this house one day, or maybe you’ll rent it out, but either way, appreciation is going to happen, don’t miss out.

4. THIS is YOUR FIRST HOUSE, not your last: You may get married in this house, you may not. You may have a kid in this house, you may not. That being said, don’t look for the perfect floor plan mixed with the right paint job on the house, think of this first purchase as a way to start creating wealth. Think of it as a big savings account that one day, when you do get married, when you do have kids, you can sell and buy something that fits just right. If you wait for the perfect place, chances are you will not find it. This does not have to be a long term relationship, just a way to start accumulating more wealth.

5. INTEREST PAYMENT TAX REFUND: That interest that you are paying on your loan… yeah, that $10-$20 Thousand dollars per year that goes to the interest of the loan… THE IRS REFUNDS YOU AT THE END OF THE YEAR!!! You get a nice check. So maybe your mortgage was $3000 a month for your 2 bdroom condo in Hollywood. Well after one year, you actually were only spending $1990 a month to live there. And you have built almost $30,000 worth of equity in the home, it didnt go to your landlord, that money is YOURS!

6. PEOPLE TRUST YOU MORE WHEN YOU OWN A HOME: Everything in your life will look brighter, people will love you more, the birds will chirp, the sun will shine brighter when you own a home. Try it out.

NOTE: I love first time homebuyers. I work with them often and will hold hands all the way through the process. It’s a big deal, but done right you will thank yourself in the future. Now is the time. Start looking today. You can search for homes in your area at www.findlosangeleslistings.com

Growth Through Action

“The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts – it gives you what you demand with your actions.“

So you are like I used to be, or I used to be like you (if you are like 90% of the people out there) whichever way you choose to think about it is up to you. Either way, you are  in neutral when it comes to life. You have remained in the same place for years. Blaming this or that, complaining, writhing with the pain of non-growth.

As the human species has evolved over thousands of years, you are meant to evolve as well. To evolve is to be human, to be human is to grow. Are you tired of non growth? Are you tired of the same old thing? You should be.

In the following writing I will present a few ideas on action you can take to push yourself to where you want to be. They will be short & sweet, not all will be easy, but they will set you firing in the right direction.

Actions:

1. Quit Planning– Nothing ever goes as planned as you may well know, so set your sights on what you want and look for the opportunities presented to get you there. (opportunities will present themselves if you follow the rest of the tips)

2. Change Your Environment– What you are doing now is not working for you, you are barely alive, you breath, you exist, but what are you doing? Choose 5 people you know that you want to be very similar to, make an effort everyday to see one of them, talk to them, text with them. You are exactly like the 5 people you spend the most time with. Look around you, do you hang out with losers? Guess what? You’re a loser too! ta-da. Now get to work.

3. Get Honest– Be honest with yourself first, then everybody else. You’ve been lying saying “I don’t drink too much” “I’ll work out tomorrow” “People love hanging around me” “I’ll help out with that charity next time” Don’t be a liar.

4. Get Fit– Taking care of your body will nurture your mind. In addition the health aspects of being fit, looking in the mirror at your fit naked self will instill endless amounts of confidence which will help you seize opportunities when they are presented. These taken opportunities will get  you moving forward and out of neutral.

5. Believe– Believe that you have the ability to change. Believe in love. Believe in a power which is higher than yourself. When you believe in something you are giving the universe the permission to present it to you.

Note: Following these 5 steps on a daily basis will let opportunities be presented to you. It’s your responsibility to seize the opportunities. To recognize them, then grab them, then nurture them, then move forward. Maybe in later writing I will explain how to realize when an opportunity is being presented to you, but the one tip I can give you on “How to recognize and Opportunity” is to  BE PRESENT! 

Ahhhhh, now you want to know how to be better at being Present? One tip on being present, remove anything from your life that dulls your senses and abilities. 

Climbing a windy cold mountain & how it changed a part of me

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.“
–Helen Keller 

Today I returned to LA on a plane. This plane flight concluded my latest but most definetly not last adventure, The summiting of Mount Rainier.

With new friends and old friends (8 in total) we accended Mount Rainier on Thursday Morning. After 6 Hours of hiking and 6000 feet later we spent the night at Camp Muir. We went to bed at 7:00pm due to wind chill and absolute freezing temperatures.

Wake up was at 7:00am, Breakfast at 8:00am and training was at 9:00am. Needless to say it was still cold, but the sun was out and wearing crampons and helmets is always a good time. We were feeling good about our adventure thus far. Our guides proved to be great, the guide team consisted of 3 people for our 8 climbers, one of the guides is the world record holder for fastest accent of Mount Everest (4.5 hours from base camp to summit…. I know…. crazy… I know)

After training we hiked to Ingram Flats about 1500ft vertical. We slept is small tents for the night.. This night we went to bed at 5pm… why? Because once again it was too cold and windy to be anywhere but in your tent trying to sleep. 

The schedule called for a 1am wake up and a 2am to start our final accent to the summit of Mount Rainier. No need for a wake up, when you can’t sleep. The winds were so strong I was surprised we did not get blown into the giant crevass that was only 50 feet away from our tents. We packed our packs and off we went.. Day 3 and we are embarking on the final 4000 feet at 2am.

Day 3 was the final accent day and by far the most difficult part of the journey. We crossed the glacier, went under seracs, rock fall areas, and other very dangerous things. 

After climbing the glacier from 2am-8:30am.. we summited. We stood atop Mount Rainier and shouted down to her!! As we stayed up at 14,400 feet for about 30 minutes and explored her peaks. It was at this moment, when I looked down and saw how small we were on this giant mountain, above the clouds, away from anything that could be construed as “secure” or “a sure thing”  something inside me happened. A sense of achievment? perhaps? a yearning for the next adventure? more likely. But maybe a decision was made at that moment…. a decision that will shape the future of my time here on this planet. 

Things I decided:

I will not avoid the so called danger of this world, everything we do daily has the possibility of danger. I will live everyday with an adventurous spirit, saying yes and opening up for experiences. I will seek out more adventures to share the adventure with, if they are yes people, they are my kind of people. I will start thinking “Bigger picture” more consistently, we are so small on this huge piece of the universe. And last but not least, I will trust myself more to achieve the seemingly difficult or impossible tasks of my journey every time.

If you would like to know how to climb Mount Rainier, or at least my tips on “how to” please visit my “Hard or Not” part of the writings.

Top 5 Ways to Prepare for Something Spectacular

“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation”-Robert H. Schuller

As I prepare for my adventure there is an endless amount of gear I have to purchase or rent… Glacier hiking is not for the “bargain” hunting adventurer. After countless hours spent online researching gear, and youtube videos of”How-To’s” on ice climbing, there is also the amount of money I have spent in Sports Chalet, REI, and other sporting good stores, this being said, finally I FEEL PREPARED!

Albeit shopping and research is what most of us would consider “unspectacular” it is a necessity when embarking upon a challenge with a 50% Fail Rate.

This brings me to the idea of being prepared everyday of your life for something spectacular to happen! expect it.

Top 5 Ways to be prepared for something spectacular:

1. Get to Bed Earlier TONIGHT!– (Often overlooked, but most important)
2. Get Present-  Don’t worry about tomorrow, or the past, focus on what is happening right now in front of you. What are you doing right now? focus on it, pay attention, it may be the “something spectacular” you have been looking for.
3. Be Willing to Receive- If you’re not willing to receive something then you’re not going to get it.
4. Get Physical– break a sweat. lose yourself in a run. lose yourself in yoga for an hour. Sometimes getting out of your head and into your body will present the most spectacular results.
5. Spend Time With People Who do Spectacular– We are most like the 5 people we spend the most time with. Make sure those 5 people are lifting you up, talking ideas, creating spectacular moments for themselves and others.

With a few adjustments you can add something amazing to your story everyday. What holds us back the most in most cases is fear. Fear of happiness, adventure, loss, etc.. Fear is natural, but being controlled by it is NOT.

Give up fear and create your Spectacular Life!