Are You Making a Difference?
I have only begun writing a little while ago. My main purpose was to help people move to the next level in life. I especially want to help people move past the mental barriers that they have.
Every once in a while, I wonder, am I really making a difference.
Today, I received one of the greatest things a blogger can receive. A difference maker affirmation.
Here is the meat of it:
“Hi Rob, I just wanted to thank you for your barrier to success series. I have a few things to work on. One in particular, I wasn’t paying much attention to. Now, I realize if I change this one thing, it will be the greatest gift I give myself and everyone around me. It’s the one thing I want more than anything. Now I know how to get it. Thank you so much!!”
Shona Witch Doctor (Zimbabwe)
Somebody call a witch doctor, my head needs to be shrunk!!!
Any writer who writes for any period of time would want to have feed back whether it is good or bad. When it is good, you just feel that much better.
Now, I can say that I have affected someone in a positive way.
Endeavor during your time on this planet to positively affect those around you. It may take longer than you think or hope, but stay with it and you will.
I have to admit this came from someone that I didn’t think I was getting through to. It brought a tear. I am such a wimp.
Rob Wheeler
How to Present Bad News - Why Parents Drink
I just got a mid-term report card from my son. I don’t know if you ever had to share bad news with someone. Here is a wonderful way!!!
Why Parents Drink
A father passing by his son’s bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to “Dad.
With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.
Dear Dad:
Bad Report Card
It is with great regret and sorrow that I’m writing you.
I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, and tattoos, and tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it’s not only the passion..Dad, she’s pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy.. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children.
Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana Doesn’t really hurt anyone. We’ll be growing it for ourselves and Trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and Ecstasy. In the meantime we will
pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it.
Don’t worry Dad. I’m 15 and I know how to take care of Myself. Someday I’m sure that we will back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.
Love, Your Son
John
P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I am over at Tommy’s house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that’s in my center desk drawer.
Love You.
WOW!!!
Its all in your presentation…
Be creative when you share your next set of news good or bad.
Rob Wheeler
Results Based Performance - Income Sample Performance
Are you consistent in your effort?
Many people think the key to success is a consistent results based performance. If we take a sample performance from a key period of time and duplicate those results over a long period of time we can forecast long term success or failure as long as there is consistent performance.
The problem with forecasting these results resides with consistency. Consistency can only be measured in large numbers.
OK, why are we going down this path?
If you want to be successful in your endeavors, you have to work on your consistent effort. Today, consistent work and effort will always win. Big time effort and then no effort will leave you wondering why the average Joe’s that have the consistent effort are passing you up. The reason is that consistent effort over time will match big effort up front every time.
Endeavor to maintain consistency in your efforts so that you can take advantage of math. The numbers will work in your favour if you consistently work on them.
Would you rather have 1,000,000 dollars or 1 penny doubled every day for 31 days? Look at what a little consistent effort can provide you.
- Day 1 = 1 cent
- Day 2 = 2 cents
- Day 3 = 4 cents
- Day 4 = 8 cents
- Day 5 = 16 cents
- Day 6 = 32 cents
- Day 7 = 64 cents
- Day 8 = $1.28
- Day 9 = $2.56
- Day 10 = $5.12
- Day 11 = $10.24
- Day 12 = $20.48
- Day 13 = $40.96
- Day 14 = $81.92
-
Stack of C-Notes
Day 15 = $163.84
- Day 16 = $327.68
- Day 17 = $655.36
- Day 18 = $1,310.72
- Day 19 = $2,621.44
- Day 20 = $5,242.88
- Day 21 = $10,485.76
- Day 22 = $20,971.52
- Day 23 = $41,943.04
- Day 24 = $83,886.08
- Day 25 = $167,772.16
- Day 26 = $335,544.32
- Day 27 = $671,088.64
- Day 28 = $1,342,177.28
- Day 29 = $2,684,354.56
- Day 30 = $5,368,709.12
- Day 31 = $10,737,418.24
Wow! Just doubling each day created massive change over time. Use this example to propel you to new heights in your business and personal life.
I would take the penny doubled every time.
Build your consistent effort and take advantage of your discipline to create a life full of the things you and your family really want.
Rob Wheeler
Strategic Decision Making - How is Your Decision Quality?
As a father you hope you children have good strategic decision making skills. The decision quality they have throughout their life is developed during the teenage years as they stretch their wings and begin to challenge authority. As a parent you struggle with what to do when your children cross the line.
What do you do as an adult? How do you measure decisions and how they affect you as a person, for your career, in your relationship and ultimately your own life.
Well there are ways to ensure that the decisions you make stay congruent with who and what you are and who and what you want to become. You have to remain congruent to your life’s values, goals and relationships to ensure that you to NOT enter into a state of CHAOS as a result of your decisions.
Each of us has created chaos at some point in our life as a result of our decisions. Think of how that made you feel. Did you find yourself with just a psychological issue, or did that decision ultimately manifest itself in physiological symptoms? Most of us when we are experiencing chaos will eventually fall into physiological symptoms if we fail to address the problems that initially caused the chaos. It can be as simple as bouncing a check or as complex as hiding a personal problem. Our problems or challenges can create long term distress if we fail to address them.
Well, how do you address the problems prior to them becoming a problem. How do you stay out of a state of chaos? There are a number of things that you can do as a lifestyle to ensure that you remain congruent.
- Make sure your decisions agree with your core values.
- Make sure your decisions agree with your goals.
- Make sure your decisions agree with you company’s goals.
- Make sure your decisions agree with your personal philosophy.
The critical thing about your decisions is that you will be measured directly by the quality of those decisions on a daily basis.
Your career, family and relationships will be affected by your daily decision quality. Take the time to ensure that they are congruent with who you are. Become good at strategic decision making.
Rob Wheeler.
Barriers to Success - Positive Mental Attitude - (BTS Part 9)
In the modern world fences are going up all over the place to keep people out. The southern border will soon have a fence on it to keep people out. This barrier is a two way barrier though. Many times we build fences to keep those who we love safe or “in”. This video shows how it might feel to be kept in.
Many times in our life we create “fences” to keep other people out. Sometimes we create those barriers without knowing. Does your attitude make people NOT want to “come in”?
How we show-up to other people can be read and can be devastating to our career. Many times without us knowing the affect we are having on other people. A negative attitude or even an over cautious attitude can show others we don’t have what it takes to reach new and higher levels in our lives and careers.
We can change the way we show-up by beginning a program of positive actions.
A great way to start is with our actions toward others. This will begin to help us with our reactions toward others, especially in stressful situations. Here are some great tools:
- Begin with a compliment. Everyone loves to be noticed. Start there.
- Approach every situation with a glass half full attitude.
- Commit to being the positive person in your circle.
- Remove as many NEGATIVE people from your sphere of influence.
- Begin every day with a personal affirmation that ROCKS.
As you grow more confident in this technique you will find that you attract a completely different type of individual. Make an effort to work on this daily and you will see results begin to pour into your life.
You only have control of you. Make it the best you, you can.
I am POSITIVE you can do it.
Rob Wheeler
Eternal Optimist
Free Tool for Improving Link Building Strategies
Have you ever wondered exactly where your links were coming from? I know I have. Well, there is a wonderful tool for checking your links.
You can check how many internal and external links you have and the exact site they are coming from.
Yahoo has a neat tool for doing this right at your disposal.
This tool will allow you to analyze your site and determine which link building strategies work the best for you. It is always a good thing to be able to measure what works and what doesn’t. With this tool you can figure out just what works for your site.
Free Movie Making for YouTube
Making movies online can be a fun and easy thing to do. However, it can be very intimidating. I found a wonderful video on YouTube on how to do it quickly and effectively.
Check it out and learn how you too can easily make an educational video or a cool message easily.
Now you can broadcast yourself to millions.
Have fun.
Rob Wheeler
Flippin’ Kids!!! - Do We Work as Hard as They PLAY?
I am sure that I am going to get some grief for this title when you read this. However, I know that you will see the value.
I was listening to my son John talk about his “kick flips”. A kick flip is a pretty cool trick where a skateboarder jumps up and flips his or her board a full flip and lands back on it. It really takes some talent and John is getting better. As a responsible Dad I have included a look at John and some of his talent.
I remember spending hours upon hours shooting hoops outside regarless of the weather. I was shooting whether it was raining, snowing or perfectly sunny. I worked hard to be the best shot I could. I got pretty good. It was necessary in Kentucky where I grew up. I remember sweating in the winter as well as the summer from shooting. I remember coming home with hands that were pink with black outlines from the dirt being rubbed off my hand but accumulating on the outer rim. I remember being sore from so many layups. I think you get the picture.
My question to you is; Have you ever worked as hard as you played as a youngster? What is so hard about putting that same passion, desire and work into what it is you do today?
Your challenge is to implement the passion and work into your career and life and watch the results pour in.
Rob Wheeler
Barriers to Success - The 7 Keys to Life Balance - Are You a Work-A-Holic? (BTS Part 8)
A castle that is reinforced can be a formidable barrier. But, with the right tools any barrier can be overcome. In the Lord of the Rings, the battle for Minas Tirith was vicious and the barrier was compromised with the right tools and the superior battle force.
Life is a balancing act any way you look at it. Finding the right mix between work, play, family, friends is a critical key to happiness. It comes with balance.
Balance is a functions of Goals, Value Set, 7 Areas of Life Measurement and the proper discipline to assure that you follow your own advice.
Here are the 7 Keys to Life Balance.
#1. Define what matters to you.
#2. Minimize unnecessary activities and relationships.
#3. Protect your time and relationships.
#4. Learn to ask for assistance when necessary.
#5. Practice delegation of non-critical tasks.
#6. Schedule fun and relationship building.
#7. Learn to relax and let go.
There is an article at ezinearticles.com that goes into much more detail on each of the 7 Keys. You can find itat ezinearticles.com by searching…
Life Balance - The 7 Keys to Creating True Life Balance
The most important thing you can do is to define who and what you are. That can best be done by defining your values. Click on the link below to start that process.
It will help you define who you are and what you want. From there you can walk through the 7 Keys with ease.
Rob Wheeler
Barriers to Success - Lack of Passion - Do You Feel Like Your Life Lacks Meaning? (BTS Part 7)
There are barriers that are seen and unseen. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most beautiful barriers that exists today. However, if you don’t know its there, you don’t ever get to see its beauty. Its the oldest living object on the planet and well worth the trip down under to view.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 1600 Miles and is comprised of over 900 islands. It is the worlds largest structure comprised of living organisms. If you dive, there is NO better diving in the world, period.
Take a look at this short video that shows just a minimal view of this great expanse.
Today we will be looking at why many have a lack of passion in their life. Why can they not be excited about going to work? What do they lack in understanding that forces them to just live day to day? Is this something that can be fixed?
First, lets take a look at passion:
Passion drives the soul to action and it is the one thing that can not be stopped. Those who live with passion find themselves far and away beyond where their peers and competition are in the race for success. Think back to the first time you were truly in “love” with someone. Nothing, NOTHING got in the way of that relationship. You would move heaven and earth to be with that special someone. You focused on it day and night. You found unique ways to be together and cherished that “connection”.
What was it that drove you during that time? Many would argue that it derives from sex or some animalistic desire. The truth is we all want that connection, that energy and electricity that we feel during that romance and dating period. However, we lack the knowledge of how to bring that same passion to our lives on a daily basis.
You can create that same drive and electricity in your life. Here are some helpful ways:
#1. What would you be doing in life if you were a multi-billionaire? Think about that for a while. If money were absolutely no issue in your life, what would you be doing? Write that down!
#2. When you have free time and no commitments, what do you do with your time? Write that down.
#3. Are those two the same thing, or can they be combined?
#4. Is there a way for you to make a living NOW from the things you have written down.
#5. Can you start part time initially and then ramp it up down the road? Jim Rohn says, “Work full time on your job, work part time on your FORTUNE!” I love that quote.
To get passion back in your life you have to be doing things that interest you and turn-you-on. Start to define who and what you are and your passions by asking yourself these few critical questions.
Good luck and great passsion to you…
Rob Wheeler
Achmed The Dead Terrorist is Offensive…Right!
In today’s world you need to be politically correct. While that is true most of the time, the energy spent on “protecting” is far from productive.
Fox News has a story about a comedic routine by Jeff Dunham. Jeff is a ventrililoquist who is generally hilarious. He does include some profanity in his routine. But, in general he is super funny. He has created a character named Achmed the Dead Terrorist. With this character he is lampooning the extremist views within Islam. The funny part is that Achmed is NOT even a muslim.
Anyway, the point is this. If we have enough time to be complaining about a comic somewhere over 10,000 miles away from where we are (the complainer is in South Africa), we have too much time on our hands and it is time to get to work. Our productivity has suffered from being too sensitive.
Here is the link to the story.
What productivity has been lost by this person, the news, Jeff Dunham and more. Actually, Jeff will be using Mr. Khan in one of his next bits I am sure.
I approve of comedy and in the interest of lightening your day, and in hopes that you will purchase Jeff’s Videos at Walmart. Here’s Achmed:
Good on you Jeff!!!
Rob Wheeler.
WAKE-UP!!! Its Time To Think For Yourselves
Do you find yourself agreeing with everything you hear or read or are you the kind that disagrees with everything initially until you’ve had time to think about it.
Each source you listen to has a profound affect on your subconscious mind. It is important to filter
Brain Cut Away
what you let into your head. We are taught from a young age to watch what leaves our mouths and who we hang around, but not the underlying reasons for those good lessons.
Your subconscious mind determines largely what your conscious mind lets in. Therefore, it is extremely important that you fill it with quality material.
Do you ever question your Pastor/Bishop/Spiritual Leader, or do you take what he or she says verbatim? I challenge you to do your own research and think for yourself.
I am not saying that there isn’t great information and wisdom out there. What I am saying is that there is enough BAD information to warrant corroboration and personal research on important items for yourselves.
So, how do you think for yourselves?
#1. Build a list of your values
#2. Refine that list
#3. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should believe, period.
These steps will allow you to begin to think for yourself. With a media group either focus left or right depending on where you acquire your news, it has never been more important than it is now to define yourself and think for yourself.
We are not little robots destined to repeat whatever is fed to us. We are individuals. With over 5,000 persuasive messages bombarding us each, our independence and critical need to think has never been higher.
Break out of the sad model of accepting as truth everything you here.
Rob Wheeler
Barriers to Success - How to Define Success - (BTS Part 6)
What if there were a barrier you couldn’t see at all? Would that barrier scare you? Watch this short video:
A jet screams through the sound barrier. How do you even “REALLY” define barriers you cannot see? How can something you cannot see affect you?
The barriers we deal with on a daily basis can be daunting. Today we will talk about a barrier that is unseen. These unseen barriers carry the most sinister consequences if not navigated properly.
Many people only want to succeed in one area of their life. Others want to succeed in every area of their life. Still others define success monetarily, while even more define success in the materials (toys) they have gathered. Many women define success solely in their children and everything surrounding them and their success. While this is noble, they are not giving themselves credit for the many other things that they do and can do.
How you define success can be as different as the sands of the earth. How YOU define success makes all the difference in the world.
Do you define success in relationships and religion or do you define success in emotional stability and finances? You are going to define success according to you. No one else can do this drill for you. You must decide what your definition is and how to achieve it.
There are seven key areas to measure success:
Spiritual
Social
Mental
Emotional
Physical
Financial
Material
Jet crashes through the sound barrier
In each area you need to define what you consider “success”. Once you have defined that you can begin to align yourself with your values and goals so that they meet and makes sense. As you do this, remember the sound barrier and what you cannot see, CAN affect you in significant ways.
When you talk about spiritual many people believe that it is a religious definition. While that is true for many, it may not be true for you.
To properly define your success you must first have set your values. You can use the resource box below to find how to set your values. Once you have defined your values, now you can work on your personal definition of success.
These are NOT goals. They are definitions of success. Goals will be far beyond this category.
Take each of the categories above and write down what you believe is your definition of success is in each category.
Rob Wheeler
Barriers to Success - Is There Chaos in Your Life? - (BTS Part 5)
The Berlin Wall
During the cold war a reminder of the separation of Germany was the Berlin Wall. This barrier existed during one of the most notorious periods of Chaos in the life of Germany. It was a constant reminder of the unwanted presence of a difference country who invaded the country, lives and culture of an entire people. Talk about a barrier!!!
If my blog allowed sub-titles the sub-title for this one would be: Aligning Your Life by Defining Your Values
In many instances a person will wonder, “Why am I conflicted inside?” I am working on my goals and following my dreams?
We often wonder why such events occur in our lives. For those who have never thought about it, it can present a troubling aura around daily living. This feeling of conflict or dissonance is called “Chaos”.
Chaos stems from our core value set not being clearly defined and our actions being incongruent with our underlying “value set”. That lack of congruency while real, does not manifest itself clearly to us as a result of our value sets not being defined. Moreover, we struggle with it on a daily basis as a result of not even knowing that the problem exists.
Defining values can be more fundamental to our happiness than we ever imagined. It can help us to understand ourselves, our relationships our spirituality and our moral standards. This definition can help alleviate the daily worries and anxiety that we experience.
Many people write down their goals. This is a good thing. However, if your goals conflict with your underlying value set, then you have the same problem all over again. Value sets must be determined PRIOR to goals being set or CHAOS will ensue.
So, how do we define values? I have often wondered how to gather the resources together to aid in this. Well, the internet has obliged. In the resource box below is a link to a page I have set up specifically for helping you define your values. There are three aids that I think will help tremendously; Value Sheet, Personal Affirmation and List of Values. With these three and the explanation below, you should be able to define your core value set and align it to a personal affirmation.
With these tools you can begin to truly align your value sets with your goals and remove the chaos that this misalignment may have caused in your life. WARNING: This drill may produce significantly different results than you were expecting. It did for me.
So, here’s how we do it!
#1. Take the master list of values and circle every value that you really think aligns to you. Be generous and circle who you really are.
#2. Go back and place a rectangle around the twenty or less that describe who you most want to be.
#3. From that twenty, take a highlighter and highlight the 12 that are critical to you.
#4. Number them from one to twelve.
#5. Write the top ten on your Value Sheet.
This drill will help you define and decide how you want to live. Not in the specifics, but in the underlying values you want yourself to live by and others to see.
Compare your results to your goals. Do they match? If they do not, this may be why you have experienced that chaos in your life. Not to worry, we can realign them very easily. Goals change with life experience and knowledge. You may have a different set of knowledge now and you can put that knowledge to use using the tools provided here.
Remember, each day you have a chance to start with a blank slate. You can choose to be better, more confident, more aligned and happy or you can choose to remain static.
Rob Wheeler
How Do You Embed Video in a Blog or Page?
Video has become very popular on the web and a necessity for any serious business. As a result, we need to understand some basic things about it.
#1. You don’t have to create the video to embed it.
#2. You can embed any video from most of the video services (we will use YouTube)
#3. Search for the subject you want and go for it.
I have often been asked, “Rob, how do you embed video in a blog post?”
Wanna know?
Its actually pretty simple. The steps are below:
#1. Find the video you wish to embed on youtube.
#2. Copy the embed code from the video provider.
#3. Paste it in the HTML where you want it to exist.
#4. Save the page.
#5. Go have fun.
Easy enough huh? But, since we are doing a thing about video. How about the World’s Shortest Video on Embedding?
Here it is:
There you go!
Have fun…
Rob.
