Jamie Fellrath

On Letting the Ripple Effect Take You Where You Need To Go

2011-09-02T14:22:00.001-04:00

Always pay attention to what's going on around you, because you don't know where it's going to take you.

A couple weeks ago, my sister and her little boy were in town, so they, my brother and his son, and my wife and two kids and I went to our local award-winning science museum, COSI. Obviously, the goal was just to go and enjoy each other's company and let the kids all have some fun together.

Well, mission accomplished. COSI was its usual fun, interesting place. The kids all had a ball.

But that's not what this story is about. Here's what it is about: Steampunk.

That's right, if you're a sci-fi fan you may have heard about this genre/subculture. Steampunk is all about "history as it never was," and revolves around the sort of science fiction that Jules Verne and the like wrote about - sort of an industrial-revolution-timeframe look at what might have been had we developed steam-powered technology more than gas, diesel, electricity, etc. That's a vast oversimplification and I apologize to anyone who thinks I'm slighting it in the least, because I'm not. I think steampunk is super-cool.

But like any genre, there is a subset of folks who REALLY get into it and go as far as to dress up differently to reflect their love of the genre and the like. And that's who we ran into at COSI that day, a group of Steampunks who were there to see the museum, particularly the Adventure exhibit that COSI is currently hosting (which is also really cool, check it out if you can!).

I chatted with a couple of them briefly, because they looked good (I've always liked the Victorian adventurer genre as well as the science fiction of the era) and they seemed like interesting folks. And that was probably going to be that.

Except that the last time I had an inkling for some Steampunk and was reading a couple of books within the genre, I also downloaded some music to my iPod from a Steampunk band called Abney Park. And those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I've been re-listening to that stuff a lot for the past few days, they're a really good, musically interesting band.

At that time, as I'm known to do, I wasn't really listening to the lyrics of the music. For whatever reason, I personally have a hard time understanding what vocalists are singing unless the lyrics are sitting open right in front of me so I can read along.

But for whatever reason, I'd taken the time back when I first bought Abney Park's existing albums at the time to find the lyrics to the songs and copy them into the songs' info on iTunes (yeah, you can do that. Feel free to ask me how if you don't know already.).

And so, sitting on the bus the other day, I was listening to their song "Letters Between a Little Boy and Himself as an Adult," and I happened to catch the lyrics as I was going to fiddle with something on my iPod. Here's the song:

And here are the lyrics:

Robert as boy:
Dear Mr. Brown,
One day I’ll be you and
Although I’m only eight now,
You need to hear my rules
Never stop playing
Never stop dreaming and
And be careful not to
Turn into what I’d hate

Robert as adult:
Dear little boy,
I’m doing my best up here but
It’s a thankless job and
Nobody feels the same
You work long hours
Watch your credit rating
Pay your taxes and
Prepare to die

Jody Ellen:
I have tried to keep my soul
I lost the fight to keep a hold
Now I am not awake
Now I’m not awake

Robert as boy:
Hey Mr. Brown,
That can't be what life is like!
I’ve watched some movies,
And I've, I’ve read some books
Life should be exciting
And sometimes scary but
What you’re describing doesn't
Seem worth the time

Robert as adult:
Hey little boy,
I think you were always right
I’ve dropped that worthless life and
I’m moving on
Life should be adventure
I’m stealing back my soul
I’ve lost too many years now
I’m awake

Robert and Jody Ellen:
You were right
I nearly lost my soul
I will fight to steal back my soul
Now I am awake
Now I’m awake

So that's the mindset I'm in today, all because of seeing some folks wearing brass goggles and pith helmets at COSI. A simple glimpsing of some interesting people at a museum has influenced my mindset and got me looking at my goals and projects in a very different way. But think of all the ripples that it took to get me to that point.

I took an interest in a genre of science fiction several years ago.
I downloaded some music.
I started trying to change my mindset and consciousness because of following personal improvement mentors like J.B. Glossinger and Paul Kyriazi.
My sister decided to take a trip to Columbus.
The weather changed and instead of going swimming we all went to COSI.
Those Steampunks decided to come to COSI on that day.

I could go on for a while with this. But the ripple effect like that sort of works in two ways. The actions we take have influence on other people...and the actions other people take have influence on us. A few years ago, I might have just chosen to look at those kids in the goofy outfits at COSI and dismissed them. Instead, I see them as leading me to a clearer understanding of myself and what I want to do with life, and most importantly why I want to do it.

Never, ever, ignore anything.

Americans and Social Media - WE LOVE IT!

2011-08-12T14:16:00.000-04:00

Mashable did a really interesting post about Americans and their use of social media that I thought I'd share. They looked at how people use it, where they use it, what they talk about, and the sheer numbers of people who are using it.

It seems to reveal some very interesting things about America - more in a "you sort of knew it but never had anyone tell you straight out" way than in a "whoa, I didn't know that" way.

Americans like to talk about television shows and let people know what they're watching.
Around half of Americans are on a social network of some kind.
Americans, on average, are playing social networking games for 15 minutes per day, or around two weeks per year.
Americans overwhelmingly like to use social media to make product recommendations.
Americans also like following favorite brands and companies online.
An average 9% of Americans' social media "friends" are college buddies and 22% are from high school.
Americans are obsessed with celebrities.

And plenty more. If you're a modern marketer of any kind, especially an internet marketer, this is all valuable information that could be used in your business.

How would you leverage information like this to make your business more productive and successful?

On Adding Value to the World

2011-02-11T10:12:00.000-05:00

I got this in a chain email today... but I REALLY like it. I wanted to share it with you because I think it says a lot.

Let's remember that adding value to the world doesn't mean you have to make some sort of global impact: you can add value on a local or even personal level, and you've created value!

Charles Schulz Philosophy
(This is marvelous!! There are two sets of question
Scroll slowly and read carefully to receive and enjoy full effect.)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

Just read the e-mail straight through, and you'll get the point.

Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

These are no second-rate achievers.

They are the best in their fields.

But the applause dies..

Awards tarnish..

Achievements are forgotten.

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.

They simply are the ones who care the most

Pass this on to those people who have either made a difference in your life, or whom you keep close in your heart, like I did.

'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It?s already tomorrow in Australia !'

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

On Never Breathing a Sigh of Relief

2010-10-12T09:52:00.003-04:00

Without even thinking about it, I did something that one of my favorite gurus suggested I never do, and that's "breathe a sigh of relief."

This past weekend was a very busy one for me - all good stuff, but busy. Saturday morning, my wife and I took our kids to the Ohio Renaissance Festival and had a great time. Saturday afternoon, I went to help set up for the Sunday morning Walk Now for Autism Speaks event. Sunday was the event, and then Sunday afternoon I was a speaker on bike commuting at the 10/10/10 Work Party at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. It was all great stuff and I got to share a lot of wonderful experiences with people all weekend.

Then Sunday night, before going to bed, I posted this on my Facebook page.

Wow...survived the weekend. Ohio Renaissance Festival, setting up and participating in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks, and speaking on Bike Commuting at the great 10/10/10 event in Reynoldsburg. I'm whooped, but I feel accomplished. Now to start a new week of accomplishments. Who will I help this week?

My intention was entirely to celebrate that I'd gotten so much done and been able to have so many great experiences over the weekend. But the way it came out was as if I was exhausted and totally relieved I'd gotten it all done. And I was tired, no doubt about that. But I was only physically tired, not mentally or emotionally tired.

Paul Kyriazi advises in his Live the James Bond Lifestyle seminar to "never breathe a sigh of relief." When you get through a stressful situation and come to the other side, the worst thing you can do is have an attitude of "Boy, I'm glad that's over with." The message that you send to your always-listening subconscious mind is that the challenge you just got through was something to be avoided because of the stress it caused you. And though you may have come through it all with flying colors, and actually grown a bit by overcoming the challenge, you then sabotage that success by giving the message that such things are to be avoided.

So let's look at what I said. Though I didn't walk into the house on Sunday afternoon, flop onto the couch, and have an attitude of "Boy, glad that's over with;" I may as well have when I summed up my weekend on Sunday night with a "Wow...survived the weekend." I survived? What kind of an attitude is that? Even though I later said "I feel accomplished," I've already set a negative tone with my initial statement. J.B. Glossinger says that "words limit meanings." Even though you may have meant something positively, the words you choose can change the tone and the experience.

My attitude could have been "Boy, what a great weekend - I achieved so much!" or "Man, I can't believe all the people I was able to help this weekend!" But instead, my thought was of survival. Sure, you can say that's a perfectly rational response to finishing a busy weekend. But rational isn't what I want to be going for here. I'm going for achievement, success, and growth.

So consider this blog post a literary equivalent of me snapping a rubber band on my wrist to snap myself out of such thoughts. I did a lot of good this past weekend and I'm proud of it. I'd do it again in a second. And I enjoyed myself doing it all.

On Realizing Your Progress

2010-09-24T08:34:00.004-04:00

India - Chennai - Inspirational wall slogans 01
Originally uploaded by mckaysavage

I was listening to the Morning Coach podcast this morning as I always do, and the topic of the day was Freedom and Lifestyle. One of the points that JB made today was that a good way to get the freedom and lifestyle you want was to always be working on something and learning on the side while you do your day job. Another great source of how to do this is Gary Vaynerchuk's book Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. Both speak to living your passion and learning and experiencing everything you can about it on the side so that at some point you're ready to break away and do what you love.

I've been doing just this thing for a while, as many of you may know, with an internet marketing business I've become part of. And I've been doing my reading and experimenting with different ideas as I go along, just like anything else. But it wasn't till today that I realized that I really WAS doing it with as much passion as I wanted.

I've always been a person who has had a hard time focusing on one thing. Almost everything interests me - I love learning about new things and have actually had to convince myself to dislike certain things so that I didn't spend too much time on it (to the detriment of things that really matter). You should see my Google Reader page - I follow something like 250 blogs on my reader. No, I don't read every post by every writer every day, naturally, I skim through and look for the stuff that interests me and is relevant to what I'm doing. But it's tough for me to take any of them off because I always find something that makes me think "I'd like to try that."

So it was a big moment for me today when I realized that I was doing what JB was talking about. I'd found a passion, and I'd figured out a way to earn money from it. And though my expertise with it is still in the development phase, it's off and running and I spend much of my free time with that very topic. A big change over the days when I couldn't keep my mind on one thing for more than a week or two at best.

Don't be afraid to pat yourself on the back a bit when you realize you're making progress with your goals. But also don't let that self-congratulations stop you from continuing to pursue it! Don't be that salesman who makes his quota in the middle of the month and doesn't do anything more for the rest of the month. Be the guy who goes after his goals with gusto ALL the time!

On Having More Hope For My Autistic Son Than Ever Before

2010-09-07T11:28:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend, the University of Notre Dame (my alma mater) was playing Purdue in the first football game of the year. I was enjoying the game, watching with my son, and then this advertisement for the University came on.

Autism // Fighting For // University of Notre Dame

I was moved nearly to tears to know that my alma mater was working to help Duncan with his challenges in life. Thank you, Dr. Joshua Diehl, and all your staff for the work you're doing.

On Losing A Voice For Hope Where It's Truly Needed

2010-08-06T15:11:00.002-04:00

To continue a discussion I started on Facebook about the cancellation of Breakthrough With Tony Robbins:

This saddens me. Breakthrough with Tony Robbins is a great show. It's about Tony Robbins helping people help themselves, which is what people really need to see. I mean, I like shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as much as the next sap, but those shows are still about giving stuff away, period. Tony's show helps people solve their own problems and in the process gives advice on how to do it for yourself.

And it can't get an audience.

Why do you think that is? Is it because some people see Robbins as a huckster who made money on infomercials, even though his products work and are proven to do so? Or is it because people don't want to be told that they can fix their own problems? Or is it some other reason?

Discuss. Please. I'm really curious about this.

On Making Journaling Easy with OhLife

2010-07-30T08:42:00.002-04:00

One of the best ways to help yourself to progress with personal development type goals is to keep a journal. Keeping a daily record of things you learned, discovered, encountered, things that affected you in some way, and even the people you met is a wonderful tool for marking your progress as you move down the road of life. It allows you to see the big changes over time as you make little changes in your daily routine, and to realize that you are indeed making progress.

That being said: I'm a HORRIBLE journaler.

The basic problem is that I forget to do it. I haven't made it a positive habit in my life yet, and for whatever reason, it's just not something that I've found a good method to make myself do it.

That is, until now. Introducing OhLife. OhLife is a journaling website. It's totally private, no one else can read your journal unless you give them your password. And here's the best part: it sends you an email every day at 8:00 pm (adjusted for your time zone), and all you have to do to enter in your journal for that day is reply to the email.

Couldn't be simpler, could it? You can opt out of the daily emails if you want, and that's pretty much the only setting you need to worry about on the page. And as you start getting more content in your journal, OhLife will send you snippets of your old journal entries as well - occasional reminders that you ARE making progress in your goals and what you were feeling about things at any point in time.

I'm setting up my Gmail account to text me when I get that email each day, so that I remember to get to my email and do it. And of course, since I'm not ever without my iPod Touch, I can always write an email, even if I'm on the go.

What a great application for personal development. I can see this being one heck of a valuable tool!

On Staying Positive - Even Under Duress

2010-07-27T08:32:00.001-04:00

Last night, I didn't get a lot of sleep. My nearly three-year-old daughter seems to have an inability to go to sleep by herself if she wakes up in the middle of the night, and she comes in to our room to either hop in bed with us or have one of us come back to her room to lay down with her. So last night it was my turn, and I didn't have a very good night's sleep because of it.

As a result, I was slow waking up this morning, and with it not being a workout morning I slept in about an extra half hour instead of getting up and getting my day underway properly. Bad news. And the practical upshot of this is that I'm feeling more cranky than normal (I'm usually not that cranky, period).

During my bike ride, then, which was going along very pleasantly with some beautiful cool weather and not too much of a negative breeze slowing me down, I came across two ladies riding ahead of me. As I caught up to them and was getting ready to pass them, we hit a stop light. I pulled back into the right lane behind them and stopped. They, on the other hand, ran the red light. And then, while I sat fuming at that and waiting for the red light to change to green again, another cyclist (this one a hard-core roadie) flew past me through the intersection and ALSO ran the red light.

If you've ever read my blog Bike Commuting in Columbus, you know about my disdain for cyclists who don't follow the rules of the road. I'm a League of American Bicyclists cycling instructor and it galls me greatly to see people make cyclists look bad. We have a hard enough time with traffic as it is, without antagonizing drivers and making them remember all those "scofflaw cyclists" and think we all act like that - especially when it comes time for pro-bicycle changes at the ballot box.

So I yelled at them. It was my typical "red lights apply to cyclists too, you're making us all look bad!" rant at them. I was able to keep from adding a "jackass" onto the end of it.

But what did I really accomplish there? Sure, it allowed me to vent some frustrations via yelling. But that's it. It didn't make things any better for cyclists, and it didn't make those folks listen any more. In fact, it's probably quite the contrary: my yelling probably made them think I'm some old fuddy-duddy who's trying to keep them from having their fun.

So instead of waking up positive, and starting my day of making the lives of people around me better, I made it worse. And what's more, I feel pretty rotten about it, too. It's tainted my day, it's tainted the day of those folks ahead of me, and it's tainted the day of anyone who heard me yelling.

That's why it's so important to stay positive about things and concentrate on adding value to the world, especially in the morning as the day is starting. Every night we sleep, even when we sleep poorly, is a reboot. We get to start our lives all over again with a clean slate and begin to achieve our goals anew. We get to reset our minds to focus on productivity, good habits and positive actions, and the steps we must take to achieve what we want.

And to color your morning with screaming at someone? That's hardly the most productive or positive way to go about anything.

On Creating Public Accountability

2010-07-16T15:12:00.000-04:00

There's no doubt that goals are important. They give us focus and purpose as we move through life, and give us something to strive for.

But just as important is having a reason to complete those goals. Without a big enough "why," our goals are useless to us. There's no reason to get them done if we don't have a really good and powerful reason to want them to get done. And the reason can be "good" or "bad."

One of the reasons I want to develop some residual income, for example, is so that I can help get my family some freedom to do things like travel. Both my parents and my wife's live in the western US, now (Arizona and Washington) and we'd love to be able to get out and visit them. I love to travel anyway, as does my wife, so this is a big goal for me. A big "why."

Another goal I have is to get into outstanding shape. And there's not any other reason for that than I want to look good and feel healthy. Honestly, that's a harder "why" to get attached to - especially when there's ice cream involved (one of my weaknesses) or I want to get some extra sleep after being awakened by one of our kids in the middle of the night (which happens probably twice a week at least).

So it's at times like this that I like to give myself another big "why" and create some accountability for myself. And the way I'm doing that is by using social media and all of my friends.

I'm currently using two iPod Touch apps for my workouts: One Hundred Pushups and Two Hundred Squats. They present two workout regimens designed to help you attain the ability to do 100 consecutive pushups and 200 consecutive squats (they're not just clever names, folks). And the apps give you the regimens for each workout, rest timers, logs, the whole nine yards.

And the other thing they give you is the ability to automatically post your workout results to Twitter and Facebook. So all my friends know exactly what I've taken on with this. In other words... I'm opening myself up to peer pressure.

And this is a good thing. It's forced me to take some accountability for my fitness by letting everyone know my goal and how I'm doing with it. Public accountability is a fun and effective way to complete a goal.

Now, not every goal is well served by public accountability. There are some goals that are more personal, and should be kept under wraps. Steve Martin had a character in a movie that refused to talk about his goals to other people, with the standpoint of "I don't like talking about my goals... it sort of takes the place of achieving them." If people congratulate you just for taking a goal on, then you may feel too much satisfaction just from that.

And with this standpoint, you have to know what kind of person you are. Do you thrive from peer-pressure related goals? Or do they make you expend energy that might otherwise be better used actually achieving the goal at hand?

Only you can know the answer to these questions. And in such a case, be honest with yourself. If you aren't getting results from a goal by keeping it to yourself, maybe a little publicity isn't the worst idea.

But don't be afraid to let people know what you're working on, goal-wise. Good friends will encourage and perhaps even give you a bit of an ass-kicking when you need it. And the "pressure" you put on yourself to look good in these cases can be just the impetus you need to put in that effort to get your goals done.

On the Power of a Compliment

2010-07-14T09:56:00.000-04:00

No matter what business we're in, there's a point where we're all in "sales."

And that doesn't necessarily mean that we're trying to actively coerce people into buying something they don't want, but rather we're trying to get our point across and let our opinion be known in a way that people will act upon our words.

If we're looking for a job, we're selling our personalities and skills. If we have a job, we're offering opinions on the best ways to do things based on our experience. And even in our lives, we're offering opinions about things we've enjoyed or found useful to our friends and family. It's just the way we live in a world where we don't have some sort of hive-mind allowing us to just act - we have to influence others or we don't really exist in the world.

And for people whose self-confidence is low about giving opinions, this can be a real challenge in being an effective person in the workplace, home, or just in their lives in general.

So I'd like to share what someone did for me recently in this regard. For whatever reason, I am one of those people who frequently has trouble giving an opinion on some things. It's a self-esteem issue and it's something I'm working on in my life, but the problem is valuing my own opinion enough to give it to other people.

I was posting a Randy Gage blog entry on Facebook. As these things do, the comments in the discussion turned to something else. The person with whom I was discussing things told me that I was very passionate about what I was discussing and that he thought I had an ability to bring people along with me because of that passion. And I thanked him, agreeing that passion had that power.

Then, my fifth grade schoolteacher, Sue Kennedy, commented the following:

You know, Jamie, you were a very effective communicator as a boy. It was not so much passion as budding charisma back then :)

I can't tell you just how much that compliment has meant to me recently.

When I start to doubt myself in giving opinions about things, all I have to do is think about the opinion of a person I admire greatly about who I was when I was ten years old, and realize that I'm still that person. It's changed the way I think about myself and let me realize other points in my life where I've shown the traits she saw in me back then. All that has built up to give me more confidence and self esteem, and made me a more effective person.

So never doubt the power of a compliment. It's a great way to spread positive energy to the people you care about.

And let me send my own compliment to Sue: it's amazing the power that an effective and beloved teacher can have on a boy/man, even 30 years after I sat in her classroom. Thank you!

On Showing Gratitude via Twitter

2010-06-25T08:28:00.000-04:00

If you're a Twitter user, you're probably aware of a tradition/practice that takes place on Fridays which are called "Follow Fridays." By marking your tweet with a hashtag of "#FF" or "#FollowFriday", you then let the world know of a person that you're referring to as a good person to follow on Twitter for some reason.

Now to be fair, I think a lot of people are using Twitter's Follow Friday tradition poorly. They simply send out four or five tweets full of names of people who've started following them recently, with no reason why or what they offer. And that's done two things to me: one, it makes me ignore those tweets because they're almost incomprehensible; and two, it annoys me to the point where I've stopped following a few people because they do it constantly.

I like to do my Follow Friday tweets with something a little different in mind: I do it to show gratitude. Showing gratitude is one of the very basics of personal development, as it helps to create a mindset of accepting the value that other people are putting into your life. And being able to accept value is key to increasing the value and energy flowing into your life so you can then show it to other people as well.

So here's the tweet I gave out for Follow Friday today:

#FF @PrimalToad is my pick for today: he's a great, enthusiastic blogger and adherent to the #Primal Blueprint. Follow him AND his blog!

Real simple - I let people know of the value he's given to me and thanked him for it by sharing that with everyone else.

I'll probably do a couple more today as well, always letting everyone know of the value that a Tweep can give to the potential followers! It's a nice custom if used properly and judiciously, and it'll create gratitude and positive energy that will keep on spreading.

On Small Steps Adding Up

2010-06-23T13:21:00.000-04:00

I recently read Darren Hardy's new book The Compound Effect. This is a book that I wish I could give to EVERYONE I know, it's that powerful. And it clarified for me a number of things I knew, but didn't necessarily realize that I knew.

The book is about how to create a number of small, positive habits and actions that will add up over time to make a big impact, but one that will probably not be seen immediately. In America, we tend to look for the BIG change, the next BIG thing. We want to do something all at once and have a huge impact. And we also perceive that things happen that way.

But they don't. It just SEEMS that way.

I've been on a diet plan called the Primal Blueprint for almost two years now. It's a low-carb, "caveman" type diet (and I highly recommend it) with some other fitness and lifestyle points attached to it. But for a long time it seemed like nothing was happening with it. I'd been riding my bike to work for a long time (since 2006) and had maintained a fairly solid fitness level, but I still had a lot of stomach flab and not much tone.

But I maintained the pressure. I cut the bad stuff out of my diet, a little bit at a time. I added nutritious food, a little bit at a time. I exercised as the Primal Blueprint plan suggested. And one day, a few months ago, I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to begin my morning regimen. And I looked in the mirror. Whoa.

I could see abs. It wasn't a six-pack, but there were love handles. There was definition in my midsection. You could clearly see the crease between my shoulder muscles and my triceps. And my pectorals were looking good.

That's the Compound Effect. Small changes, enacted daily, and persisted over time led to a big change for the better.

Some success gurus have their own terms for it. Morning Coach.com's JB Glossinger calls it "1% improvement per day." Paul Kyriazi of the James Bond Lifestyle Seminar doesn't give it a name, but rather makes it a part of his whole system. And others call it other things.

But what I really like about the Compound Effect is that it'll fit into whatever system you're already using as well, because it's all about creating and persisting great habits and eliminating bad ones. And there's no system that doesn't recognize the power of constantly improving one's self. Each step builds on itself and leads into the next. It starts momentum working in your favor and keeps you moving forward.

Like I said, I wish I could buy this book for everyone I know. It's that good. Take advantage of this great book - it's short, reads quickly, and is drilled down to the bare bones of what you need to do and why.

The Compound Effect: get it now! You'll be glad you did.

On the Shutting Off the Energy Conduit

2010-06-11T10:21:00.001-04:00

A Randy Gage retweet this morning got me thinking about how we deal with setbacks in our lives. Here's the Tweet:

RT @markshaw: Totally agree: When things go wrong look in the mirror, not out of the window thanks @jasoncobine

Let's look at how we deal with the setbacks in our lives. It's very easy, and even a little comforting to some people, to be able to look at a setback and find other people to blame. And it may be that other people took a role in helping that setback happen to you. No matter how hard we try to be conduits for positive energy and bring good things to everyone around us, there are some people whose defenses simply can't be overcome with what is good.

Finding fault with other people around us affects our prosperity momentum in a number of ways that I'm going to call the Energy Conduit. Let's go through what your mind feels when you blame someone else.

1. First, we get angry and seethe with rage for a bit. Getting angry damages your control over your emotional energy, which is a major part of the personality (along with mind and body energy). The energy that you've been generating for increasing your prosperity is funneled toward someone who doesn't deserve it. The Energy Conduit starts here as your positive energy is being sucked out of you. Your heart's beating a million miles a minute, isn't it? And maybe your face is getting red. Think of those as indications that your energy is pouring out of you.

2. Second, we calm down a bit, and start going over in our mind how we've been wronged Perhaps we brood a bit. The Energy Conduit increases as the energy continues to flow out of us. It's like we've created a conduit straight into that person who's wronged you and the energy continues to flow to them. Even if we're outwardly calm and looking at the situation in a way that feels rational, we've still got that negative connection to the person and situation and we're still focusing energy in a negative manner. Think of how being angry wears you out once you've calmed - there's the loss of energy.

3. Third, we try to go on about our day. But the thought of that and their actions against us just keep popping back into our minds. That conduit is still there. The energy's not flowing as quickly as it was, but every once in a while it gurgles out and continues to power that other person. Think of people who know how to "push your buttons." They get something out of doing that, or they wouldn't be doing it to you. That something is your energy flowing into them.

So what's the answer? The answer is, as the tweet above says, to look in the mirror instead of out the window. Instead of blaming the other person and concentrating on how they've wronged you, look into the mirror and think of what actions you can take to fix the situation. The blame isn't on the other person, in fact there is no blame. You created the energy conduit. There's just a situation that needs to be fixed for your prosperity energy to continue to build.

Our minds suck emotions and information into our subconscious constantly, and we need to be on our guard not to let the negative things in - those negative thoughts are what create that conduit.

I like to think visually, so what I try to do is imagine that my anger is a hose that travels between me and that other person. Now imagine that the hose is spraying out of control and you're losing water rapidly. You could run around like a crazy man and try to turn off the hose from the source, but that's going to take too long and the hose is sitting right in front of you. What's the easiest way to stop a hose? The same thing that every child learns when they're playing with their friends in a sprinkler: grab that hose and bend it in half. The flow stops. As you watch the flow suddenly cease from pouring out the other end of the hose, you simultaneously end the flow of energy from you to the other end of that hose.

Now that your energy is safe, you have time to sit back and think about the situation without emotion. And in examining it, don't even think about the people who caused it. Instead, the question to ask is "What can I do to improve this situation?" You're not giving energy away with that because there's no mention of anyone or anything but you. There's no judgement about whether the situation is good or bad, it simply is. Looking to improve the situation means you're learning from it and how you can make changes to avoid it in the future.

And every time you start to feel that energy flowing back out of you, reach down, pick up that hose, and bend it. And if it amuses you to do so, think of how that other person is going to look a the hose questioningly as the flow suddenly stops coming out of it. And then, when they least expect it, and when you are ready to do so, you can release that hose so that your positive energy catches them unaware and you can take control of your situation all over again.

On the Use of Relics

2010-06-09T11:39:00.002-04:00

I've been sort of smacked in the face with the use of relics in the past few days. Now this isn't a reference to any specific religious relics - I'm not being flogged with St. Sebastian's bones or anything like that. No, the relics I'm referring to are those that remind me of the promises I've made to myself. J.B. Glossinger talked about relics a bit today in his Morning Coach podcast on the "Depth of Creativity." He described them as a way to touch your spirituality or ground your spirituality in yourself, and they can be religious reminders or otherwise - whatever serves you best.

I have a few relics that I keep with me daily. One is a Livestrong bracelet. Yeah, that yellow one that Lance Armstrong wears. I initially started wearing it because I thought (and still think, for that matter) that Lance is an ultra-stud and wanted to support him in his quest for the Tour de France title(s). But as I've moved through life, the quote "Live Strong" means more and more to me. The purpose of my relic has gone from sheer idol worship to acceptance of mindset of living with strength, being strong mentally and physically, and remembering to take care of myself and my family.

A second relic I wear regularly (until recently when its strap broke) was my Autism Speaks bracelet. It's a reminder that I have a son who has challenges in his life, and it's my job as a father not only to help him overcome those challenges but to help him see the strengths that those challenges give him.

Interestingly, now that it's broken and the amulet portion of it is sitting on my dresser at home awaiting a new strap, I think about it even more. As a relic, it's become so much a part of my life that I am uncomfortable not having it on my wrist.

The third relic I use is a money clip - a suggestion from Paul Kyriazi of the Live the James Bond Lifestyle seminar and website. My clip even has three small circles on it that make me recall the beginning of a Bond movie, where Bond's being tracked by a sniper before turning and firing. It's a reminder that money flows through my life like the energy it is, and that I need to expend that energy in a positive manner, in ways that are beneficial to me and my goals. It's also a reminder that where I spend my money is where I'm putting my energy, so that it's important for me to spend money only on the things I deem worthy of my energy.

I see these relics as reminders of the important things in my life, and have placed importance on them to bind me to my goals and my ambitions, and also to remind me of the mindset of success that I'm working hard to adopt. It's not always easy to make such changes in one's mindset, and anything we can do to keep those thoughts at the forefront of our consciousness will also help to push those thoughts and positive energy into our subconscious - where the real change needs to take place.

What relics do you use in your life to remind you of your goals, mindset changes, and the like?

On How You Treat The Waitress

2010-06-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite and most regularly-read websites is Elephant Journal. It's ostensibly a yoga and Buddhist website, but they really break into a lot of topics such as the environment, pop culture, general health issues, and more. And it's part of the more that I'm writing about today, as a follow up to their article: "Walking Your Talk: How Do You Treat The Waitress?"

A few years ago, when my family and I were vacationing in Tampa, we had dinner with some friends who met us at the hotel we were occupying at the time. Now we'd been at this hotel for the better part of a week at this point and had gotten to know some of the staff there a little bit. They'd always given us great service and been cheerful about everything they did, and we showed them our appreciation via tips and general friendliness. In other words, we'd created a nice relationship with the folks working there.

We sat down with our friends in the lounge/restaurant area that night to have dinner and were chatting with each other. We'd been sitting for a few minutes when the server who'd been so great to us all week came up to ask if we were ready to order. And one of our friends sort of sarcastically looked up and said "oh, well, yeah, that'd be good!" and then glanced around at his wife as if to say "hey, look what a stud I am. I showed her who's boss."

Our relationship with the server sort of went downhill from that point. Not that she gave us bad service, but her attitude toward us changed a bit since we were associated with that person who'd been so rude to her. I noticed in the future that that friend tends to treat servers in restaurants that way a lot. Maybe he thinks it's a sign of being better than other people or something, I don't know.

But I think the way you treat everyone around you says a lot about you. Paul Kyriazi says in his Live the James Bond Lifestyle seminar that good tipping brings dividends tenfold - you'll get better service, businesses and their employees will remember you positively, and you'll send some positive energy out into the world which will be returned to you.

I think the same goes with common courtesy. Lou Holtz says in his book Winning Every Day that there are three things that everyone needs to do to be successful:

Do your best.
Do what's right.
Treat everyone as you want to be treated.

If we don't treat others well, treating them as we wish to be treated, that's the same as not treating ourselves well. And if we don't respect ourselves, how can we see ourselves as worthy of the goals that we have for ourselves? How can we see ourselves as "worth it?"

Trying to boost yourself at the expense of others is a loser's game. It's only showing your insecurity with yourself. Treat others as you'd like to be treated and you're showing just how much you value yourself, and you're showing the universe that you're giving of yourself. In this way, the universe knows that you're deserving of great things.

On the Effects of Repetition

2010-06-02T08:19:00.001-04:00

While riding down High Street this morning, I passed the Greek Orthodox Church south of the Short North, and noticed a small sign on one of the exterior spotlights (the ones that light up the church from the outside). The sign read "Please clean up after your pets." My mind began to wander a bit as I went from "man, people need to take responsibility for their pets" to "but what about pee? I bet that light would corrode from being peed on over and over by dogs."

Yeah, kind of gross, I know.

But it led me to thinking about an article I read in Success Magazine a couple weeks ago (the one with Steve Jobs on the cover). The article was a preview to a new book by the magazine's publisher, Darren Hardy, and was called "The Compound Effect." Hardy pointed out in the article that success isn't made up of doing hundreds of things once, but rather doing a few small things hundreds of times.

Simple, isn't it? Let's look at this a bit.

I'll be those dogs' owners didn't think twice about letting their dog pee on that light. And one or two dogs peeing on it wouldn't hurt it much at all. But after a year or two, if the church didn't take care of the light and clean it up occasionally, that light's going to corrode. I saw it happen to an air conditioner in a neighbor's back yard - they let their dogs pee on it till it was eaten through. No kidding.

(Okay, I'll stop talking about pee now.)

Almost everything that happens to us in life is the result of small steps done over and over. And that's both good and bad. It's like a snowball. It starts out as a tiny little speck of frozen water, a single snowflake. It lands on another snowflake and for whatever physical reason, they start to roll. They pick up more snowflakes, and more, and more, till there's an avalanche rolling down a mountain!

Another example: if I ride to work one day, that's not going to do much for me at all. Sure, a little exercise never hurt anyone, but one day of exercise is going to be undone really quickly by not getting exercise on all the other days. But doing it over and over, day after day, that's going to have a big effect on me (and it has).

And Henry Thoreau pointed this same thing out in Walden:

"I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the Highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!"

Just a few days of walking wore a path.

The interesting thing is that as thinking, intelligent creatures, we can use this to our advantage or our disadvantage. Habits are created by doing the same things over and over until they're part of our routine. It's said that it takes 21 days to make something a habit - that you need to do the same thing for 21 days straight before it's part of your consciousness.

But the opposite of that is what I've heard MorningCoach.com founder JB Glossinger call "making the first exception." You're working along, trying to build a good habit in your life. You've gone a few days without watching TV before going to bed, we'll say. But someone tells you that your favorite actor is guest starring on a TV show that night. So you say to yourself, "one day isn't going to hurt me. Let's watch." And it's absolutely true - one day isn't going to hurt your sleep too much.

But what's happening on the inside? What you've just told yourself is that your efforts to create a habit and use the snowball effect to your advantage aren't as important as watching a TV show once. So the next time, your subconscious is going to feel less resistance as you decide "oh, let's catch part of Monday Night Football before heading up to bed." And you end up watching the whole game, keeping you up a couple hours past when you wanted to go to bed. You're tired the next day and you're not effective at going after your goals.

So take some time to figure out how best to use the snowball effect on yourself. It's a powerful tool or a powerful enemy, however you wish to implement it in your life. Grab that power for yourself.

On Sleep

2010-06-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

In a case of clear clairvoyance on the part of MorningCoach.com's owner and podcaster J.B. Glossinger, today's podcast was about sleep.

I say this because I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, and it's affecting my day even beyond simply being tired. I was up late watching a movie I'd wanted to see for a long time and was just released in the US. But the long weekend combined with some sketchy sleep during said weekend combined with simply not getting enough last night has made today pretty lethargic in a lot of ways.

I'm not motivated at all. I'm feeling sort of queasy. I didn't do much personal evolution work today other than listen to the podcast. I'm having trouble getting my mind around my job today. I'm uttering the phrase "oh, whatever" way too much. And I'm letting too many negative thoughts enter my head without trying to flush them out.

Sure, we're not always going to get enough sleep. But to go down the list of ways that we can improve our sleep, I did the opposite for many of them. First, I was watching TV. TV is a stimulant, and watching it gets our brains fired up too much and it takes time to calm them down.

Second, I didn't read some fiction, to slow things down in my head. I had some issues rolling around in there and they didn't go away to let me sleep.

Third, I was snacking (and poorly, I might add) while watching the movie. My stomach was processing crap food and keeping me up (and making the sleep I did get be pretty ineffectual)>

Obviously, one day isn't going to kill me. But it's also not doing anything to get me closer to achieving my goals in life. It's causing me to have to work even harder to make a 1% improvement today (as I try to do every day). It's basically making today wasted time. In fact, up until this post I hadn't gotten much done at all. This is my effort to exorcise some of that blase attitude and get back on the horse for the rest of the day.

But what I really need? A good night's sleep - with all the proper precautions and measures taken to ensure that it is a good night.

On Struggle and Life

2010-05-24T10:05:00.000-04:00

Today's Morning Coach podcast was a very good one, with an introduction to the topic of "Struggle." Everyone has struggles in life, but it's important not to judge the struggles as problems and instead to see them as opportunities.

We can sit and moan and complain that our lives are filled with too much struggle and change. We might get past those struggles with some work, and then sit back, exhale sharply, and say "whoa, glad that's over." And we might even get a small sense of satisfaction out of having beaten that struggle.

Or...we can look at that struggle as what it is: an opportunity. Every struggle in life can be used to learn and grow.

Having money problems? Learn better money management, or find new ways to make money. Or both.

Having health problems? Research your problem above and beyond what the doctor tells you - you might find different ways to regain your health to even better levels than before you were sick. You may even discover that you have a knack for that sort of treatment and be on your way to a new career or source of income helping people with what you've learned.

Work treating you poorly? This might be the message that the universe is sending you telling you to look for something else - new employer or new career! Boredom is a form of pain, and pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. So make the change and get rid of that pain.

Every change in our lives can be made into a life improvement, we just need to figure out how. And to welcome change into our lives makes that transition easier and more productive - really, truly welcoming change is a key to the constant improvement that we need to make every day of our lives.

So take some time today to create the belief that change is good. Look forward to change. When life throws a struggle into your path, examine that struggle and say "How can I turn this into a positive and use my new knowledge to help others like me?"

On Creating A Motivational Environment

2010-05-17T08:40:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, my family and I went up to Cleveland to watch our friend Sam Felsenfeld run the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Sam is running 60 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness for Train4Autism via his charity Operation Jack (named after his own Autistic son). My wife was going to run the 1/2 marathon in Cleveland, but an injury put her on the sidelines, so we went up to experience it and support Sam.

One of the things that many self-improvement experts talk about in regards to creating motivation and putting yourself at a higher vibrational level is to put yourself among those types of people. And you could not do better at this than to hang out at a marathon and cheer on the runners as they complete this awesome event.

Now this is not to make less of running shorter races at all. As you may recall, I ran a 5K a couple weeks ago to gauge my fitness level and I enjoyed it a lot. But there's something about the people who have put in the time and work to get to the point where they're running a marathon that is just a step or two beyond that sort of thing. I got up one morning and ran a good 5K with just my normal level of fitness, but with a marathon you have to train specifically for that event.

And the training is not easy. You're out pounding the pavement and working on your strategy for the race every time. You're thinking about diet and hydration and making sure you time things right so that you don't have to go the bathroom in the middle of the race as much as possible, and that you don't lose all your energy partway through. You're paying attention to how specific footwear affects your stride and how you feel during the race. And you're carefully monitoring your diet to keep your energy levels high and weight low.

So when you're among a group of people who has been living that plan for so long (it takes weeks and even months to get ready for your first marathon) you're among people who are infectiously focused, motivated, and excited about what they are doing. And it rubs off, believe me. As I said a couple weeks ago, I'm not a runner - but being among all those people who were achieving and living their dream of finishing a marathon made me want to go after it myself.

I think that's part of the draw of these things, too. Getting yourself among a bunch of people who have moved themselves to a higher vibrational level, and one to which you've moved yourself, is refreshing. It's work sometimes to keep your enthusiasm up. Even as just a regular bike commuter, I hear all sorts of people who say "Oh, I could never do that" or "that just sounds like a lot of work." Well, yes it is, but the results are so worth the effort. And to do a marathon, you must hear the same things from people who ask you what you're up to a lot. It's hard keeping up the motivation sometimes with people around you who just don't "get it."

So being among the folks who are with you means you can relax a bit, and get out and do what you want to achieve. And for those who aren't among that crowd currently - it can't help but bring you up to it.

The next time a marathon is in your area, just go and absorb. And see if you don't feel the sensation of being swept along in a sea of motivation and high energy!

On Beating The Propaganda

2010-05-14T09:20:00.002-04:00

As I get older, I'm finding that I have increasingly less tolerance for the marketers of the world, the folks who want us to poison ourselves or take care of ourselves wrongly under the guise of health. And it's all just to make a quick buck.

Now don't get me wrong: I don't believe there's anything wrong with money, but what's really more important is providing value to the world. If you provide value to the world, the world will provide value to you in return. And that's not saying that you'll get rich, that's saying you'll have a life that is happy and rewarding. The rewards may be financial, or spiritual, or they may be a number of things. But they all supply energy to us - whether it's financial energy, emotional energy, what have you.

But the modern world increasingly has little to do with treating ourselves well. We're told that we're treating ourselves well if we buy a new car, or get that new pair of running shoes, or to eat all our grains, and more. But what's really happening here?

Cars have made us lazy and sick. They've cut us off from society at large and allowed us to incubate in little cocoons with a huge lack of social input. I've been talking about this on my Bike Commuting in Columbus blog for over three years now, so I'll let you visit that blog for some input on that. But we're continually told that cars are something our society needs. "What's good for GM is good for the country," we were frequently told - now we're finding out that this isn't the case at all.

Running shoes have been shown to be useless. Or actually, they're worse than useless, they're injuring us and making us worse runners. I encourage you to read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall if you haven't - and he also has a great blog. And also, check out the many reports on the benefits of barefoot running that are appearing all over the news.

Grains may be the worst of these - they're almost directly responsible for the obesity epidemic we're seeing in the developed world today. The government recommendation for carbohydrate intake is about twice what is healthy for us, and all those extra calories are going straight into body fat, creating insulin-related inflammation, and creating a rise in degenerative diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes; and are also increasingly linked to ADHD, Autism, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. I encourage you to check out Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (...And Didn't) by Nora Gedgaudas and The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy by Mark Sisson if you want to know more on this.

So how do I try to overcome these challenges to my mindset and my health? Simple: I don't own a car, for one. I ride my bike or take the bus to work. And I've located my home in a place that is easily accessible to both easily navigable bike routes and the bus routes that get me to where I need to go. Am I 100% car free? Well, no, that's not as easy in our city, unfortunately - it was laid out for car traffic. But we're changing that.

When I run, I try to run in the flattest shoes possible. No padding, and no shoes if I can help it. It makes me run as our bodies were designed - not landing on the heel like our modern shoes encourage us to do. It seems crazy, but running that way actually puts MORE stress on our feet, not less. Vibram FiveFingers make these, and Nike makes their Nike Free models that are similar (without looking as odd).

And I try not to eat grains, or anything that contains grains (or too many carbohydrates for that matter). This is the hardest one - our society is surrounded by high-carbohydrate and grain-based foods. And we're told how all-American it is to support our farmers (not that I disagree with that, by the way, I just wish they were planting something a little healthier). But I try to avoid shopping in the aisles at grocery stores, and stick to the walls - where all the produce, eggs, meats, and fish are. Even some dairy isn't bad for us on occasion. I'm also fortunate in that I live two doors away from a local organic market and can get good healthy food whenever I need. And I get all the carbs I need from veggies and fruit, and my body has slowly modified itself to get more energy out of animal fats (as our ancestors did).

And I drink Body Balance, which is a whole-food sea vegetable/aloe vera-based drink that has done wonders for my health and physical performance in filling in the cracks where modern food lets us down (mostly in nutrient value due to over-tilled soil).

And most important, I don't watch that much TV. I don't open myself up to the advertising and subliminal messages that ads send to our brains. I listen to positive and productive messages almost every day and fill my head with affirming ideas. Morning Coach, Success Magazine, and a whole host of other personal development folks let me do that.

So I've thrown a lot of stuff at you today. Some of it may help you, some may not. But what I really hope I've done is open your mind to the idea that what we're being told, even by people who may think they're trying to help us, isn't always good. Don't be afraid of alternative voices, and don't be afraid to experiment a bit. I tried lots of different stuff before I settled on the lifestyle I have now, and I'm still studying and modifying to make it really work for me and make my life better. Keep learning, keep applying new knowledge, and don't be afraid of what's out there.

On Finding New Results from Old Exercises

2010-05-13T08:13:00.001-04:00

I've been working with the Men's Health Ultimate Iron-Free Circuit Series workout recently. Basically, it's seven different bodyweight exercises done without rest, alternating between an upper- and lower-body exercise, then rest a minute, and do the whole thing again. You start with two sets. . And, I've been getting good results from it.

I added a third set of it today and the results I'm feeling are really good. Definitely feeling it more in my shoulders, from the extra sets of close-grip and t-pushups. But I also felt it from an exercise that I didn't think I was getting much out of, but was doing because it was part of the routine. It's called the inverted hamstring.

I figured it was getting me some good balance work and that was about it. But today, I really concentrated on doing it slowly and keeping my balance all the way through it. It's still not as exhausting as some of the exercises, like the aforementioned t-pushups, but today I'm feeling it much more in my upper hamstrings, where they meet my glutes.

And that's one of the things I love about exercise - just a small change and some more concentration on form can make all the difference and let you know how your body is working for you. Our bodies are a sum of all the parts, not just a bunch of big muscles that we can isolate to look huge. And true functional fitness comes from the big movements that use lots of muscles, not things like wrist curls and bench presses and the like - but from exercises that challenge the whole body and force it to support its own weight.

And it goes further than that - body and mind are one unit, so a strong body can mean a strong mind. But you have to work both properly and conscientiously to strengthen them.

On Obtaining More Prosperity

2010-05-11T10:11:00.002-04:00

MorningCoach.com is doing a series this week on prosperity. Here's founder J.B. Glossinger's introduction to the week.

The thing that struck me about this is that we need to take care of ourselves before we can even hope to expect that the universe is going to take care of us. If we don't take care of ourselves, how can we hope to add any value to our lives? If we don't value ourselves enough to get off the couch, get some exercise, eat healthy food, and make sure our health is in order, then we're basically telling ourselves that we're not worth any other improvements. And that's counterproductive to creating the passion to improve other aspects of our lives.

One of the things about setting goals that I'm learning is that they don't mean anything without passion to achieve them, and that passion comes from what's called "having a big enough WHY." To say it another way, you need to have a big reason to want positive change in your life to give you that burning desire to see your goals through.

For me, my burning passion is to be able to give more time to my family, to be able to give the time to my children that they need in order to be the happiest and most prosperous individuals that they can be, and to give the time to my wife that will make her able to carry out her dreams as well.

And the way I'm going to achieve this is by getting my own business going. Life Force, the company I'm working with, specializes in health and wellness products like Body Balance, TruBoost, and more. By using their products, I've made myself healthier and will continue to make myself healthier through their use. And by working with their business plan, I'm creating residual income, income that will continue to come to me long after I've done the work to show people their products and this great opportunity. That's where the freedom comes into play. (If you're interested in knowing more about these products or this opportunity, let me know either via email or by checking out my business site).

But it's not simply about having the right business idea, by a long shot. I'm taking care of myself via regular exercise (bike commuting most days and regular strength workouts), better nutrition (less carbs, more veggies and fruits), and proper supplementation (the aforementioned Body Balance). And that extra attention to me and my health just makes me feel better about myself and increases my burning desire to achieve those other goals. And it's telling the world that I know I'm worth my life's improvements.

On Belief and Taking Action

2010-05-06T07:56:00.001-04:00

Morning Coach has been doing a series this week on Belief. For those of you who aren't familiar with Morning Coach, JB Glossinger is the creator of the Personal Evolution system in which he helps you to improve your life a little bit each day via regular podcasts and workbooks to help you manifest the life you desire. I've been listening for a long time now... a year and a half or so! And I love getting that positive boost of energy each morning as I ride to work.

But as I said, this week's topic has been belief, and the power of belief. Belief that we can achieve the things we want is key to getting them. I think that's a pretty simple concept: if you don't believe you can achieve something, well, then, you're right. But you can make yourself believe them and not limit yourself by your beliefs.

But today, the specific belief-related topic was Action. JB pointed out that many people believe you can manifest your dreams simply by having great enough belief. But, and I agree with him here, he believes that creating great belief means nothing if you don't take action on those things. I've been a believer that I can achieve great things my whole life - but where I've fallen down on many occasions is taking action.

My motto, that I got from Matt Furey, is "Beginning is Half-Done." Just making a start on your belief-driven goals is a fantastic way to start. How many times do you find that if you just get off the couch and do some pushups that you find yourself doing your whole workout, even though you are really tired? How many times have you just bitten the bullet and made that uncomfortable phone call, and gotten that nagging issue out of the way? Taking action on your beliefs creates results.

And by taking action often, you build your "action muscles" up to a point where you feel restless if you're NOT taking action. You feel great when you start on a project and want those feelings to continue. One challenge I frequently have when working out, for example, is giving myself enough rest between workouts. I feel so great doing them that I have a hard time letting my body have time to recover!

So pick an item in your life - one that's been nagging at you for a while, and take that first action on it today. See where it takes you, and most important see how you feel after you're done doing it. I bet you'll feel great, accomplished, relieved, and most importantly energized to take more actions.

On Surprising Myself with a Great Run

2010-05-03T08:40:00.002-04:00

I'm not a runner.

Seriously, for the most part I really don't care for pounding the pavement on a regular basis. I don't really like sports that I have to worry about proper hydration and nutrition schedules during the race, or whether I need to replace my shoes because I've run 500 miles in them, or anything like that. I enjoy trail-type running at times but don't really live in an area where it's a regular option. So for the most part, I really don't do it very much. I ran cross country the fall of my freshman year in high school and screwed up my knees, which negatively affected my swimming season that following winter (and swimming was my primary sport in high school). I never ran it again after that.

So running and I have a live and let live relationship. I recognize that some people do really well with it, and are able to turn their lives around with it. For a great example, go and read a bit about Operation Jack. And my wife is turning into a really fine runner and improving her health greatly. And I do appreciate the pureness of just running with nothing tied to it but your own legs and wind.

But for the most part, it's not my cup of tea.

However, every once in a while, I get the bug to go out and gauge my fitness with a run. Nothing heavy, just a 5K or so. And so I stepped out Saturday morning to run the Columbus Commit to be Fit 5K (which was run in combination with the Capital City Half Marathon that morning). I had no expectations, and my only goal was to finish around what I got last year when I ran this thing, which was a 24:49.

My preparation? Well, as I said, I don't run, but I practice clean, active living. I work out two-three times a week with a pretty high-intensity bodyweight exercise program. I bike to work most of the time (though I didn't do it much over the winter this year), and when I don't I take the bus so I'm getting some walking in daily as well. I do a set of sprints on a somewhat regular basis. I don't own a car for my personal use so I walk or bike most places. I try to stay away from eating grains and I eat a lot of meats and veggies (organic or free-range when I can get them), nuts and seeds, and some fruits. And for the past month I've been drinking 8 oz. of Life Force Body Balance daily.

Body Balance is a sea vegetable/aloe vera drink that is chock full of nutrients in a whole food form - meaning that they're about as close to the original source as they can be without being actual kelp/dulse/nori/etc. It's an energizing drink that I have grown to love.

And that was all I had to eat or drink the morning of the run - my 8 oz. of Body Balance. Well, and some water, naturally, but mostly I'd hydrated the previous day so I didn't take in too much that morning. I drink a lot of water anyway. I rode my bike down from Clintonville, where I live in Columbus, to the Arena District, where the run began - about 4.5 miles. I took it nice and easy to warm up my muscles a bit but not tire them out.

My pre-race stretching consisted of some ankle rotations, knee rotations, and then a couple of sun salutations that I learned when I was into Ashtanga Yoga. I followed that up with a back/neck bridge which really stretched out my core and quads. Felt great. Then I went through some groin and leg stretching that I'd picked up in Tae Kwon Do in college - splits and the like (and no, I can't do a full split, but I did some of the training stretches for it). I just wanted to stretch out the whole body and not concern myself with any one part too much.

Last year, when I ran this run, it was a cooler day, and while standing in the corral waiting for the race to begin, I tightened up without really realizing it. It made for a very painful race and I really didn't enjoy it at all. This time, I kept loose in the corral much more - partially because of the better weather (about 65 degrees and just a little bit humid with occasional sprinkles) and partially because of the better stretching. We were in the corral for about 25 minutes (as they were exhorting us to get lined up for organization's sake). I took my place in the 8:00 milers section (as that's the pace I ran last year) and kept loose.

Finally, at 8:00, we were given the start. I turned on my iPod to the "African Rundown" music from Casino Royale (if you've seen the movie, this is the music they played during the parkour scene in Madagascar) and I was off. I started off slowly and built my way up. I didn't want to start too fast and tighten up, so I loosely let myself get up to a pace where I felt good. I looked around a bit for some of the folks I'd seen standing near me in the corral to help pace me, found a couple, and set my pace.

After the one mile mark, where the half-marathon broke off from the 5K, we had a bit of a downhill as the course went downhill from near the State Capitol building to the river, and I let my stride open up a bit to take advantage of the slope (a tactic I remembered from my one year of cross country in high school). I was feeling good. In fact, I was feeling darned good. I started to pass a lot of people, which was always the way I personally preferred to run when I was younger - start slower and pass folks as you pick up speed. It was just a motivational thing that made me run faster.

We headed down a ramp near the river to the Scioto River walk and headed around to North Bank Park. I was feeling REALLY good at this point. Sure, I had some run soreness from simply not being a runner and being used to the pounding, but it wasn't the cramping soreness I had last year. This was expected. I continued to pick up speed.

Then, as we came back uphill past North Bank Park and were suddenly approaching Spring Street again, running into the corrals where we'd started the race, I began to get worried - was I going too fast? This couldn't be the end already!? I sort of hesitantly rounded the corner onto Spring Street as we headed toward what was, indeed, the finish line, and I strained my eyes a bit to see the clock. It looked like it said 28:00 something. I moaned a bit, and picked up my pace.

Suddenly I realized - that was not an 8. It was a zero.

I turned on my sprint even harder and ended up crossing the line at 20:15. With the chip timing and my delayed start based on my location in the corral, I figured I had to be just under 20 minutes - which had been my goal time last year when I'd actually done some training for the race. I was pretty ecstatic and a bit flabbergasted!

Later in the day, I checked out the race website to see if the official results were up and they were - I'd finished at 19:02 and with a 6:09 mile pace. I'd placed 77th overall in a field of 1868, and was fifth in the men's 40-44 age group. It was far and away the best finish I'd ever had in a road race of any size, and I've run a few in my day (more when I was younger). It was near my best time when I was running regularly in high school as a freshman.

So I had a great race. And I'm trying to figure out what the difference was between last year and this. And aside from the weather, which was cooler last year but not so much that it should mean a six-minute time difference, the only thing I can come up with was my nutrition - it's been MUCH better this year and especially since I've been drinking Body Balance to get all those nutrients that we miss with our diluted food supply in the US nowadays. That could explain the lack of cramping, too - as cramping can be from bad nutrition and lack of things like potassium.

So I'm sold on Body Balance. It's helped me a lot with a regular healthy lifestyle And I think it can help you, too, no matter who you are. If you're interested, let me know.

Residual Income: What is it, and how can you earn it?

2010-04-28T22:11:00.000-04:00

I've been talking a lot lately on Twitter, Facebook, and other places about Residual Income. But what is Residual Income? Is it real?

Residual Income, simply put, is money that you earn whether you work or not. This sounds way too good to be true, doesn't it? Well.... it's not. In fact, there's an industry you're probably very familiar with that pays residual income regularly: the entertainment industry.

Every time someone sees a movie, whether on video or in the theater, people who were involved with the movie get a cut of whatever was paid for the privilege of seeing that movie. Every time a song gets played on the radio, the band gets paid a little bit. Sometimes these are called royalties, sometimes they're called residuals. But they're all basically the same thing: Residual Income. It's income that actors and moviemakers earn on an ongoing basis for work done once.

So how can you earn Residual Income? There are quite a few ways - one is with Network Marketing. By participating in an upstanding Network Marketing program and doing work once for a company you can earn Residual Income for a long time going forward. It's not a free ride - there is work involved. But it's work that will reward you for a long time after you've done it.

If you're interested in learning more about the Residual Income program I'm working on, visit my website for Club 100K and leave your name and contact info. Your information will not be used by anyone other than me, and you'll be introduced to a great new way to earn a living or make some extra money.

Autism and Nutrition - My Experiences

2010-04-26T12:32:00.002-04:00

One of the very important parts of my life is Autism. Not for me, specifically, but for my son, Duncan.

Duncan is five and was diagnosed with autism in late 2008 after a series of tests and evaluations we underwent with him. My wife, Jennifer, and I knew something was up with him because he wasn't developing at the same rate as other kids his age.

It wasn't that he was slow, he was faster in a lot of stuff but slower in others. His memory was fantastic - he startled his daycare teachers by knowing all the planets, in order, when they were working on a solar system mural for their classroom. And he learned his numbers and letters (and even shapes and animals) really early.

But he had a lot of trouble with what we thought was hyperactivity, repetitive behavior, and inattention, and that was what led us to seek the help of the ECRN+. Early Childhood Resource Network is an organization of the Central Ohio YMCA that helps families as they look for answers with their children. ECRN+ did some initial screening with Duncan and that led them to believe that he was autistic, and that further, more thorough evaluation was required. Columbus City Schools does that sort of thing for free, and after a couple more evaluations it was offiicial: Duncan was autistic.

He's sort of fortunate - he's a high-functioning autistic. He can talk and communicate with people. And he doesn't shut out the outside world completely like some autistics do. He basically needs behavioral and speech therapy, as well as some help with small muscle group therapy, to teach him to do the things that most of us take for granted. He'll always struggle a bit with social situations and have to observe them intellectually instead of emotionally - for instance, you and I might see a crying child and think "oh, that poor kid," and run to help, but Duncan will look at them and have to logically work out that "the child is crying, therefore they are sad. I'm supposed to go see if they're okay."

The causes of autism are thought to be varied, but the consensus is that some people are simply at higher risk of it due to genetics, though there are still many who think that mercury is a major cause of it (whether mercury in vaccines is the cause is still up for discussion, despite what many agencies claim).

But recently, as I became more interested in the Primal Blueprint lifestyle and started reading more about nutrition and our evolutionary heritage, I became aware that there may be more to the condition than I thought. There are many who think that poor diet, partially from our grain-rich and animal fat-starved diet (which we aren't evolutionarily equipped to handle) and partially from the lack of nutrients in our modern food supply are combining to make our children less able to handle the challenges that the world throws at them, and autism is an immune response to help our kids overcome these issues internally - with the side effects that are now well-known.

Nutritionists like Nora Gedgaudas have addressed the dangers of our modern diet on our children even going back in utero and their possible contribution to autism. And many nutritionists also talk about sea vegetables as a fine source of nutrients to help fight against autism. The Body Ecology Diet is a great example of this need to treat our bodies better nutritionally to help ward off many conditions such as ADD/ADHD, Autism, and multiple sclerosis.

Body Balance from Life Force is made from sea vegetables, and these are a nutrition source that is full of vitamins and minerals for healthy living across the board. But it may be particularly important for such conditions as those mentioned above. They help provide vital nutrition that is otherwise lacking, and also help clear toxins away. And Body Balance, as a liquid, makes those nutrients more easily absorbed than they would be from a vitamin capsule - as well as being a whole food source, which nutritionists call the best way to get our necessary vitamins.

To start helping your own health, contact me at jfellrath@gmail.com to get started with Body Balance today!

And for great advice and information about Autism and Parenting, follow my wife Jennifer's articles at Examiner.com.

Sea Vegetables: the Answer to a Depleted Food Supply?

2010-04-19T14:32:00.000-04:00

There's been a lot of interesting discussion in the health and nutrition media the past couple of years about how the nutritional value of our food supply has been deteriorating due to the massive amount of demand on our soil.

Multiple crops per year in a field, a lack of "fallow" time on a field to allow it to replenish some of those nutrients that went into the previous crop, and the preponderance of Genetically Modified Organisms in our food crops has led to a food supply that is less nutritious than we've ever had.

Even if you're eating what are traditionally the "right foods" - vegetables, fruits, fish, meats, and nuts - the nutritional value of those foods is considerably less than that which sustained us for most of our history. And it's only getting worse.

So how do we combat this? One of the big suggestions is via the use of sea vegetables as food. Do a search on the internet for sea vegetables and you'll find a lot of great information. They're clean, packed full of nutrients, and replenish quickly in an environment that is full of minerals. You've probably had them yourself if you've ever eaten sushi.

My favorite way to take in sea vegetables is via Body Balance, a daily drink from Life Force International. 2-8 oz. per day (depending on how much you want to take) can turn your health around and give you more vitamins than you may have ever had. And Body Balance also gives you Aloe Vera, which is an amazing source of minerals and nutrients in itself. It's an easy way to start the day and get some nutrients that help make our bodies feel great.

How does it taste? It's great! It's sort of like a combination of black cherry and apple cider - it's got a little bit of sharpness to its flavor and you know you're taking in something good for you.

If you're interested in Body Balance let me know at jfellrath@gmail.com and we'll get you started with some!

Upcoming Goals

2010-04-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

One big goal of mine is to compete in and complete all the obstacles at the Spartan Race in Boston, on August 28, 2010.

The Spartan Race is described on their webpage as follows:

The Spartan Race is for athletes and people who are tired of the tedium of the usual races and workouts and yearn to recapture the spirit of an adventurous age. This international race is set up to test not only the strength and stamina but the cunning and creativity of each athlete’s warrior essence. Participants will confront obstacles ranging from extreme to absurd that gain their inspiration from sources as varied as Spartan training, Navy SEAL training, American Gladiators, Eco-Challenge and Ironman.

If you win a Spartan Race, you're invited to the "Death Race" in Pittsfield, VT, in October - where there's a longer version of this sort of race.

As I said, my goal is simply to complete all the obstacles and not come in last in my heat. My challenge, then, is to get my body to the point where it can do just that. My cardio is pretty good from my frequent cycling to and from my job. So most of my workouts outside of that are for muscular endurance and strength - so I can do all the climbing, etc. that will be required.

My workouts now consist of a lot of bodyweight exercise and always includes pull-ups. I've always been more interested in functional fitness than in looks-fitness, and programs like Combat Conditioning appeal to me. The key thing is to make progress with pull-ups, I think - that'll build lots of upper body strength and endurance.

So one goal this week is to do a pull-ups test while totally rested, to see how many I can do. I think I'll be able to manage four but I need to set a benchmark to start.

Welcome to Fellrath.com

2010-04-01T07:48:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my page. My goal here is to share a bit about me, what I do, what my passions are, and where I'm going with my goals and plans. I invite you to contact me via one the links on my many websites if you have questions on any of these things. I would love to help you get healthier and wealthier and live a life that you want to live!

I am creating residual income with Club 100K. I invite you to join my network today and see what Club 100K can do for you to help you create income of $100,000 per year or even per month!

I've also set up a Google Wave chat for anyone interested in discussing strategies and asking questions about Club 100K or Life Force. Let me know if you need a Google Wave invitation, and I hope to see you there!

I've been bike commuting as my main form of transportation since November of 2006, and writing my blog Bike Commuting in Columbus since February of 2006. I'm a Cycling Instructor with the League of American Bicyclists as well. Look out for my class announcements on Facebook and on Bike Commuting in Columbus!

Another hat I wear in the bicycle writing community is that of the Alternative Transportation Examiner for Examiner.com. If you're not familiar with Examiner, I suggest you take the time to check it out. There are dozens of talented and diverse writers working for Examiner and we get paid based on page views (as well as some other factors). If you'd like to write for Examiner, contact me and I can help you find a topic (or you can check out the topics list here).

My son Duncan has Autism. A lot of my personal life is now used to promote causes that research that condition, make the lives of those with autism and their families easier and better, and to bring joy to autistic kids like Duncan. To that end, I'm a supporter of Autism Speaks, a charity that focuses on autism awareness and research. I also support Train4Autism, which is a group that works to raise money for autism through athletic events. And I'm helping another parent of an autistic child, Sam Felsenfeld, as he raises money through his charity Operation Jack. Sam's running 60 marathons in 2010 to raise money and awareness, and the least I can do is help him do it!