Big Change

"Are we big enough to shift our hearts and minds to accept change?" - Jill Sweetman

If we go about our day, living in a protected world; do we truly live a fulfilling life?

The idea that we can protect ourselves from all that might be bad in this world is to prevent us from experiencing all of the good that exists. To step out of that 'protective bubble' requires us to accept that it might be hard.

Change has a price and many people will never attempt to find out what the cost is.

While we sit and dream of big things and have visions of a new life, change is happening all around us. The world rolls onward towards new and exciting greatness. In stepping out and accepting change, we become part of the future...our future.

To accept change, we have to be "big enough to shift our hearts and minds" to truly begin the journey.

Allow yourself the ability to be big enough and realize change can happen. It will change your life for the better. Stay inspired my friends!

Dream and Act Big

“All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.” - Brian Tracy

Ever have a big idea; one that you wanted to do or attempt?

A big idea that had you excited and ready to jump in a new direction?

Then you sat back after the initial excitement and started thinking about it. You began to size up what would be involved and took a realistic view of all that would need to be done. Others may have offered advice that dampened your enthusiasm.

As the days went by, your enthusiasm started to wane and you began to develop a negative thought process. The negative thoughts began to drown out the possibility of doing something big in your life.

All of this negativity shrunk your world back down to a small and compact little environment. You could even hear the slamming door of opportunity echo in the back of your mind.

Small thinking keeps us from accomplishing big things in life.

Our tendency is to think small.

Life is much bigger than that.

You can think big and take big steps to achieve greatness. Do not allow yourself to be limited or confined to a small world. Open yourself to the big world that is out there.

A bigger life awaits you outside.

Stay inspired my friends!

Thinking Big

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”
-Danny Kaye

Today is a simple message and that is to "THINK BIG" in life. It comes from Ben Carson's book titled Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence. I would recommend reading Ben's story to fully appreciate how his life came about.

From its poorest beginnings to the success he has attained. Ben is described as a man who transformed himself from a ghetto kid into the most celebrated pediatric neurosurgeon in the world. It is a book that I found inspiring and it held concepts that we can apply in our own lives.

THINK BIG

T - talent: if you recognize your talents, use them appropriately and choose a field that uses those talents, you will rise to the top of your field.

H - honest: if we live by the rule of honesty and accept our problems, we can go far down the road of achievement.

I - insight: if we observe and reflect and commit ourselves to giving our best, we will come out on top.

N - nice: if we are nice to others, others respond to us in the same way and we can give our best for each other.

K - knowledge: if we make every attempt to increase our knowledge in order to use it for human good, it will make a difference in us and in our world.

B - books: if we commit ourselves to reading thus increasing our knowledge, only God limits how far we can go in this world.

I - indepth knowledge: if we develop indepth knowledge, it will enable usto give our best to others and help to make a better world.

G - God: if we acknowledge our need for God, he will help us.

You may not agree or possibly agree completely with many of the things Ben Carson says. But what you can do is apply those things in your life that will make you the bigger and better person.

Grab hold of a greater life by thinking bigger. And remember you can not just "think" big, you have to also "act" big. Stay inspired my friends.

Big Idea

"Believe in something larger than yourself... get involved in the big ideas of your time." -Barbara Bush

The thought of coming up with one big idea is daunting to most people. We sit and think and think some more about one big idea. The sitting around thinking all day never accomplishes anything. All we end up doing is just thinking.

There are those of course that have a big idea every day. They rush out and each big idea fails. The problem is that those big ideas are self centered. How to make the next big dollar, millions mind you. But when you look only selfishly at the next big idea, failure will normally occur.

When you look to connect yourself with a big idea that helps others it changes the game. Even your own idea, outwardly, unselfishly, sacrificial will grow into a big idea. Your big idea will impact and change peoples lives without even realizing it is going to happen.

Where is your big idea going to go?

Dream Big

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." -Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Here we are now on day three @EMCWorld. There have been BIG announcements already and more BIG announcements to come. But the bigger thing that is on my mind are the BIG visions people will have going forward. Not just related to EMCWorld and technology, but BIG things for their lives.

To illustrate BIG in this post's picture, I was going to show a great view of the Palazzo Hotel here in Las Vegas where I am staying. From the street, it is a grand view; large, big and brightly lit. But framing that with the quote, I didn't want people viewing money as my cathedral. So I used an image of Saint Patricks Cathedral in New York City.

Neither the Palazzo Hotel or Saint Patricks Cathedral are meant as the objects of this article. The center piece is that to build something BIG and grand for your life you have to envision it first. A cathedral starts as a pile of stones and someone having a vision to create something great. A huge hotel begins as a list of dreams on napkins and memo pads.

Everything BIG starts starts as a BIG vision.

I suppose one might even make the case for the grand looking buildings in Las Vegas. But I say this from the view of people visiting Las Vegas, the EMC World convention goers and almost anyone, anywhere. If you look at success, the gold and grandness of it all, then maybe you will catch inspiration to lift your life to even greater heights.

I'm not interested in the false facade or illusions that can exist in life. I'm interested in sparking a real vision for your life in which you can do great things. So, if standing in front of a cathedral or a grand hotel can light a fire inside of you to do great things, then stand and be inspired.

There will be 10,000 people heading home soon from EMC World with lots of ideas, goals and visions for the upcoming year. A large portion of that will be centered on the BIG announcements made during this event. But I hope that each of them take home a BIG vision for their own life.

Enjoy the rest of the convention folks and dream BIG.

Going The Extra Step

Each of us goes about our day performing our daily duties, whether they be at home, work or play. It is the ability to do more then expected which can turn the ordinary into something much grander.

Take the story of a young post World War II pilot going about his duties in Europe. It was a time when Germany was split into east and west. Berlin was even split in half although it was surrounded by much of communist controlled East Germany. It was a time of mutual distrust politically and tensions could run very high.

This pilot, Col. Gail Halvorsen performed a daily job of delivering goods to West Berlin over the blockade imposed by East German officials. Yet the one thing he saw were the children. Thus was the start that would eventually become 'Operation Little Vittles.' As they flew their planes to deliver needed goods, the crews would drop with hand made parachutes, candy and sweets for the children.

Col. Halvorsen would 'wiggle the wings' of his plane and earned the nickname, "Uncle Wiggly Wings". What began as a small gesture of kindness, going beyond his normal duties, he saw a need and addressed it. One person with a single idea blossomed into what turned out to be 227,000 'candy bombings' over West Berlin.

Years later, Col. Halvorsen was met by a 60-year old man that so many years ago on a rainy day grabbed a tiny parachute which had fallen from the sky outside his school. Attached to it was a Hershey chocolate bar, never eating it and treasuring it for many years. He told Col. Halvorsen "it wasn't the candy that was important. It was that somebody cared."

Take a step further during your ordinary day and do something above and beyond the normal. You may see it blossom into something so much bigger. It will create something bigger in your life and in the lives of others.

In his book, "THINK BIG", Ben Carson talks of the same things I have written about. He writes interestingly about the need to think positively. The use of PMA or "Positive Mental Attitude"; have faith; you are what you think; I did it, so can you.

These are words that all of us have been told by so many over the years. And though we have heard them often, it doesn't make them any less true or more real. What it does mean is that we have a choice. We can either be negative about all that is around us or choose a more positive life attitude.

Ben Carson is a highly respected physician and he provides that our emotional state affects the hormones in our body. Hormones significantly influence white cells and the body's ability to fight disease. This means that we now actually have a scientific explanation for the fact that people who become very depressed do not do well in recovering from disease. The ability to lead a more positive life can help keep your physical well-being in better shape.

Maybe one could suggest that it doesn't mean we are physically better, just that we accept our physical state in better manner. For me, either way, if having a more positive attitude can keep me healthier or make make feel better about it, my existence is all that much better.

Ben Carson says, "if we allow ourselves to dwell on negatives, on hurts, on mistreatments, we will be negative thinkers. We can choose the way we think. When people object to words like "positive thinking," then you can say, "Think Big, then!"