#AndyAndrews #ChangeTheWorld #OnePersonCanChangeTheWorld
t’s hard to determine what thing, words etc. will motivate someone.
The words, “By your hand, the world will be fed, or live, or be free” motivated lots of well-known folks in Andy Andrews’ book, “The Lost Choice: A Legend of Personal Discovery.”
The book relates a story of pieces of a relic that travels through history and winds up in the hands of a young couple in Colorado.
The translated inscription offered motivation to various historical figures.
The point: you can make choices that can change the world.
That’s a particularly appropriate message for folks today.
We tend to let circumstances dictate our choices. Certainly, circumstances can affect some choices, but only we can dictate our choices.
It’s perhaps best to illustrate it this way: a lost job is a circumstance, usually beyond one’s control. Blaming people or institutions for our circumstance is not the best choice to expend our energy. Looking for a different way to earn money would be a much better choice.
Getting a different job may not “change the world,” but it could change YOUR world for the moment.
So the new job you got, if you were so fortunate, doesn’t pay as well as the one you lost. You could choose to blame the changing world, and long for the good old days that will never come back. That would not be the best choice.
Or, you could look for something completely different from what you are doing – or did – and really change your world, and perhaps many others’ worlds as well. That would be a better choice.
Where does one find such a world-changing vehicle? Actually, there are many such vehicles out there, for those willing to look for them. To check out one of the best, message me.
Andrews’ book illustrates in great detail how the actions of one person can change the world. Many of the individuals he features became well-known for their feats. Some were not so well-known, but no less extraordinary.
The young couple’s choice to research the origins of the relic they’d found in their yard, rather than, say, use it as a paper weight and forget about it, or, worse, throw it away as insignificant, was world-changing for them.
We can change the world in big ways, or little ways. We can start a business that ultimately employs hundreds, or even thousands, or we can pick up litter we see on the street and discard it properly.
So, pondering the choices you make, or have made, what choices would you make in the future to change the world. How would you help others more? If, indeed, you believe that what goes around comes around, you’ll believe that the more you concentrate on helping others, regardless of your circumstances, the more likely you will ultimately be rewarded handsomely.
We don’t always know when such rewards will come for us, so we bask in the reward of knowing that what we did made someone else’s life better, even for a moment.
So, make good choices. Don’t let circumstances force bad choices. And, be on the lookout for the person already in your life, or who will come into your life, that will present you with a world-changing choice.
Peter
Tag Archives: Andy Andrews
WHY LITTLE THINGS MATTER
#TheLittleThings #SweatTheSmallStuff #LuckIsAMyth
The little decisions we make every day can make a difference in how our lives turn out.
Are you going to buy that cup of coffee, lunch etc., instead of making your own?
Are you going to engage in “retail therapy,” because something just happened to you?
Do you end a week not knowing where the money you had in your pocket went?
Andy Andrews tells us in his book, “The Little Things,” that we should sweat the small stuff.
And he concludes the book by saying that luck is a myth.
“Luck is undetectable because it is nonexistent,” he writes. “Luck is something wished for as the dice are rolling and blamed as soon as they stop,” he writes.
“You are strong, smart and capable. You will choose wisely because you have already chosen to open your mind, soul and spirit to the vital little things and their promise of ever-bigger things to come,” he writes.
Most people believe that circumstances – luck, as it were – dictate what a person’s life will be like. Perhaps it’s a job you got, or didn’t get, or lost. Perhaps you’ve been told that you are only going to go so far in life, and if you get there, you’ve have been the best you could have been.
Perhaps you believe that the rich are rich because they are lucky, and the poor are poor because they are unlucky. Certainly, circumstances can play a role in those cases, but they are not the whole picture.
Circumstances are usually things you cannot control. But you can always control how you respond to them.
Let’s take the little things mentioned above. Making and bringing coffee, or lunch, with you to work can save you a couple bucks a day. What if you put that money away in a relatively safe investment and paid no attention to it for, say, 20 years?
How much do you think you would have? What if you did the same for your lunch? What if you did that most every day, but treated yourself, say, once a week?
What if you could manage your instinct to shop for something you don’t need, to make yourself feel better. What if you could pick an amount you would have spent, and put that money away in a safe investment? How much do you think you would have in 20 years?
Attitude plays a key role in whether you become prosperous, or not. It almost doesn’t matter how much you earn in your job. If you can learn to live below your means, and saved your leftover money, you could be amazed at the prosperity you would have created.
Perhaps your job really pays very little. Perhaps you feel the need to augment that income. There are many ways you may not be aware of in which you could do that, a few hours a week, part-time outside of your regular job, that could put a good bit of extra money in your pocket. To check out one of the best, message me.
So, you don’t have to rely on luck to change your life. You can change EVERYTHING by changing how you think, and what you think about.
Don’t listen to those who tell you there is only so far you can go. If you look for it, your life could change tomorrow. The sky could be the limit.
Peter
DO SOMETHING; THERE IS MUCH IN YOUR LIFE YOU CAN CONTROL
#DoSomething #IgnoranceInAction #KnowledgeAtRest
Ignorance in action is better than knowledge at rest.
That’s the conclusion reached in the book ,”The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity”, by Andy Andrews.
Andrews takes a group of historical figures and other successful people places them in a room to help figure out what the world, and individuals, need to do to improve the human condition.
After several tries and great guesses at the one thing that would be most beneficial, they finally came to the conclusion that one must do something, even if he or she doesn’t know what to do.
Careful thought is certainly not discouraged. Neither is constant learning. But thoughts and knowledge only take one so far. Not putting what one knows and thinks into action renders thoughts and knowledge moot.
Certainly, many people have been hit hard by circumstances, either as individuals or groups. Often, when they reflect upon what has happened to them, they tend to look for something, or someone, to blame for their plight.
When they do that, they either fail to see, or fear to take, the action THEY can take to eventually improve their lives.
Fear and blame waste energy that could be used to take an action that will make a difference in one’s life.
Sometimes, though, one might not know about something that they could do to change their lives. There are many such vehicles out there that may be able to do what’s needed, that not everyone may know about. If you’d like to hear about one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Sometimes, fear, or skepticism may prevent someone from checking out something that could be the game-changer they are looking for. Also, for some, if they get the opportunity to check it out, they hesitate to act out of fear, self-doubt etc.
Remember the point of Andrews’ book: do something, even if you are not sure what to do.
Remember, too, that one has nothing to lose by looking. That means, don’t assume you are not going to like something before you check it out.
We’ve all met people who say they don’t like certain foods, but have never tasted them.
Have you ever started a new job, in a new location, and are not sure you are going to cut it the first few weeks? Perhaps the routine is new. Perhaps you have to learn new skills. Perhaps something seems difficult at first, but will get easier with time.
If you have to work, you have to give it your best shot. Time can tame the untenable. Time can often turn drudgery into simplicity. It can help you learn to do things better, faster and easier. Every new situation deserves a little time.
So, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have 100 percent certainty about where you are going and what you are doing. It doesn’t matter that things seem difficult now. Don’t let the unknown keep you from taking action YOU can take to better your life.
Just when it seems the world has gone to hell in a hand basket, perhaps making hand baskets will change your life.
Peter
BEST IT CAN POSSIBLY BE
#perfectmoments
We all strive for perfect moments, though perfection, among humans, is impossible.
In his book, “The Perfect Moment,” Andy Andrews realizes that perfection is impossible. So he defines “perfect” moments as the best that can possibly be.
We all love different things, but Andrews’ book points out that perfect moments are when good things come together. He tells the story of playing catch with his son, using a football. His son “goes long,” Andrews throws the ball, his son grabs it over his shoulder, falls down along the beach and yells, “touchdown.”
Andrews was on the beach playing with his son. The sun was out. It wasn’t too hot, nor too cold. The weather was, well, perfect. In that moment, everything came together for Andrews and his son.
What do you consider “perfect” moments? Perhaps it’s a nice day on the golf course, when you score a hole-in-one – with a witness, of course. If you’re an athlete, it may be when you, personally, have won a championship game with a winning score.
If you’re in sales, it may be when you’ve finally gotten a big contract from a prospective client that had never let you see him – until now. You’d done your due diligence, and your persistence paid off!
We have perfect moments at work, at home and in life. Perhaps perfection came when you met the person with whom you would spend the rest of your life. And, you knew it, or at least felt it, at the time.
The message in Andrews’ book is that perfect moments are created by you. Sure, they can just “happen,” but the person who creates perfect moments will see more of them.
He points out that part of perfect moments is having nothing urgent that you needed to attend to, but were ignoring. With many of us, that’s easier said than done. So the message then becomes to get your mandatory tasks done so you can have time to create perfect moments.
Free time scarce? Money even scarcer? For a potential solution to both of those problems, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You might be able to eventually have enough time to create perfect moments, along with enough money to enjoy and appreciate them.
Here’s another thing about perfect moments. You have to realize them, when you encounter them. The golfer who scores a hole-in-one will probably realize his immediately. But those beautiful days at the beach spending time with your family could be taken for granted.
So, you must realize the moments as well as enjoy them. When we realize them, we are grateful for every one of them. We may have to adjust our attitudes toward gratitude, but grateful people generally find success – and more perfect moments.
We must be a little careful not to live in every moment. Some moments are stressful, and far from perfect. Some moments are burdensome, yet we bear burdens to free us to create more perfect moments.
We are blessed to be free to create perfect moments. We understand absolute perfection is not humanly possible. But as we go through life as we know it, we realize more and more those moments that are the best that can possibly be.
Peter
UNCERTAINTY: THE NEW NORMAL
Most of us just want to fit in.
We value community, rules, an education, a good job, a life box.
But what if we think outside the life box?
John J. Murphy did just that. The author of “Half Full: Your Perception Becomes Your Reality,” was born on Friday the 13th. His last name is synonymous with the law of things going wrong. He’s had many life-threatening mishaps, gave up a good job and got divorced. Yet, all of these things have made him look at life as “the only time that matters is right now.”
We were all taught to plan for the future. Make sacrifices now and reap the rewards later. That is great advice that has helped many people. But Murphy teaches us that life is filled with unexpected turns and unplanned moments. As he says, we must learn to let go, and let flow.
Murphy doesn’t advocate doing nothing and letting life happen. One cannot go through life with no purpose, no action and no ambition. But he recommends not getting attached to your situation to the point of being miserable, or unable to respond to an excellent opportunity that you may not have expected.
Murphy had a great job that he hated. He was willing to give up that job, take another that paid less, but that he enjoyed more. Today, he’s a well-regarded teacher, consultant and author. His divorce hit him like a ton of bricks at first. But as soon as he gained perspective, he and his ex-wife became, and are still today, great friends.
His message may boil down to being open for the unexpected. Your parents, teachers, bosses and preachers may have given you solid grounding throughout your life. But only you can know what’s right for you. Sometimes, you may not know what’s right, but you definitely know what’s wrong.
Are you not where you want to be financially? Do you have a job that pays you well, yet is killing you? Are you ready to find your way, but may not know in which direction your way is?
If you are open and ambitious, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It could not only give you potential financial security, it may take the work stress away and could show you the direction of your way.
So don’t give in to life. Give yourself life. If you view your glass as half-empty, as Murphy puts it, you have to wonder whether what’s in the glass is worth having anyway.
It’s easy to need something, and not know what that something is. To find it, you have to keep looking. You have to go through a lot of what you don’t want, to find what you do want. Sometimes, what your elders and mentors thought was good for you, may not be.
Author and speaker Andy Andrews also talks a lot about perspective. When he was homeless, living under a beach pier and eating sardines, his mentor, Jones, taught him that he was enjoying seafood with an ocean view.
We hear a lot about clouds and silver linings. When bad things happen, good people always, eventually, see the positive. If they don’t see the positive right away, they know it will make itself evident. God may close a door and leave a window cracked. We may not see the cracked window right away. But we have confidence to keep looking.
Peter
IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS
Did you ever come across some information that you didn’t really want to know?
Did you ever wish so badly that something were true, that you actually believed that it was? When someone challenged you on its validity, did you ever say that THEY were lying to you?
Charles Simic, in an article titled “The Age of Ignorance,” in The New York Review, posted online March 20, 2014, said the political polarization in the United States has caused some parties to profess untruths as truths, to try to create an ignorant electorate.
Author Andy Andrews, in his book “How to Kill 11 Million People,” tells how Adolf Hitler killed that many Jews simply by lying to them.
It’s not uncommon for politicians, regardless of party or ideology, to lie. When the politicians start campaigning, one is hard pressed to know whether what they are saying is true. We are left to figure out the truth on our own.
We, as ordinary people, tell lies occasionally to suit our circumstances. When a lady asks you whether she looks fat in a particular dress, truth is not really what she is looking for. If you dare tell it, you do so at your peril.
No one would condemn you for “lying” in that circumstance. Other circumstances cry only for the truth. If you are selling something — and we all sell something at some time in our lives — we must tell the truth. Those who do not eventually get burned.
The saying goes that the truth will set you free. Why don’t many people in power believe that? Perhaps they don’t want people to be “free.” They perhaps want them held in the bondage of ignorance, as Simic asserts.
People of different faiths believe the “truth” of their faith. Yet, faith is defined as believing something is true, even if it is not proved. Science is defined as suspecting something to be true, then seeking to prove whether your hypothesis is correct.
So what should we, who seek the truth, do? Let’s get a few things set first.
Faith is good. We all need faith in something or someone. Our faith can often lead us to truth, even when we are not looking for it.
Science and education is good. Some of what we learn may contradict something our faith told us was true. Yet we as intelligent human beings can reconcile any differences. We can have strong faith AND still learn new things. Mostly, our faith should tell us to believe as we wish, and still interact with those who may not share our beliefs.
In short, we should always want to eeek and tell the truth. We should engage with others who seek and tell the truth. In some cases, we should humor those who kindly don’t seek the truth, and look with great skepticism on those who attempt to “create” truth from wishful thinking.
Power is not necessarily truth. We should seek truth over power, not power over truth. Facts may not lie, but if you try to make facts debatable, you may lack a solid conscience.
Simic and Andrews illustrate how lying can really hurt a society or a group of people. We as individuals must always know the truth. We must mix our core beliefs with that truth, and use that mixture to help others, and make ourselves the best people we can be. We will always encounter untruths. But we must always be strong enough to know what we know, and learn what we don’t know. That’s how good people are created and maintained.
Peter
P.S. For a dose of truth that may set you free, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau
ECONOMY WILL COME BACK IF WE ARE OPTIMISTIC
Most leadership experts and motivational speakers and authors talk about the power of thought.
We become what we think, the adage goes.
As Frank Daniels III, community conversations editor for the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville put it, 10 years ago, we lived in fear. We had to sleep with an eye open because we had no confidence things would get better. That kind of thinking, Daniels wrote in a Dec. 8, 2013, column, is the most debilitating factor in our economy.
Income gaps between rich and poor are growing. People who want work can’t find it. Some who are working are not earning enough to support themselves or their families.
Technology and other progress helps companies do more with less. But those who lose their jobs because of technological advances pay the price.
All these things are circumstances – many of which we can’t control. But we can control how we react to them.
Though things in one’s past may have been really good, the past is gone. We have to believe that the future is going to better. Author and speaker Andy Andrews, in “The Noticer Returns,” says that perspective is everything. We have to be actively grateful for the good things in our lives. Gratitude begets optimism.
Too many people are walking around with anger, frustration and pessimism. They believe the world and their lives will get worse, not better. Andrews would call this a period of confusion. Things are changing, and we don’t know what’s coming next. We have a choice: we can look at this confusion as opportunity, or we can fear the confusion and try to stay out of it.
Staying out of the “confusion” leads not just to malaise about the world, it will likely seal one’s dismal future. If you are optimistic during this confusion, you will take the action you need to make your life better.
Our thoughts lead to actions. Optimism, followed by action, produces a good life. It may not happen overnight. Our “confusion” can last for years. But we have to see this “confusion” as something we can work through.
The question for each of us, of course, is how does one work through the “confusion.” If you are out of work, your chances of finding another job that pays you what you made before, or better, are slim. It’s not your fault, but you probably will have to think about operating with a lower salary, or do something else to enhance your income.
There are lots of vehicles out there to enhance one’s income without a traditional job, or while working a traditional job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Consider it a test: if you check out other sources of income, and walk away from them because you are “confused” about them, stop. Perhaps what you are looking at is not “confusing” at all. You may just need to tell yourself, “Wow! I know I can do this.”
So think long, hard and optimistically about your future. Instead of waiting for the next shoe to drop, build a dream board. Instead of believing the world will get worse before it gets better, reflect on the good parts of your life NOW. It will help you see the future in a better light.
We can’t go back to the way things were. But we can go ahead to bigger and better things amid our current “confusion.”
Peter
P.S.: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
CHOOSE TO BE CONFIDENT
Confidence is a choice.
Sure, results can encourage confidence and failings can discourage it, but whether or not you are confident in any situation is entirely in your hands.
Gregg Steinberg, author of “Full Throttle” and professor of human performance at Austin Peay State University, used golfer Jason Dufner as his example of choosing to be confident. His choice led Dufner to victory in the PGA Championship in August 2013. Steinberg’s column appeared in the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville Sept. 1, 2013.
Not everyone finds the choice to be confident easy. Many go into job interviews, tests, and other stressful situations in which one’s performance is evaluated without confidence. Not all of those situations will turn out the way one wants, but if one is confident, failure won’t matter. Next time, or the time after that etc., you will succeed.
People like to be around confident people. As we discussed last week, Andy Andrews, in his book, “The Noticer,” described success as having people WANT to be around you. Confidence will help you persuade people to want to be around you.
Confidence is a shield against the word, “No.” If you don’t fear “No,” you know you are confident. When you don’t fear “No,” you can collect as many of them as are out there and just toss them aside. You have to collect “No’s” to find the “Yeses.”
Are you choosing to be confident yet? If not, Steinberg suggests that you have a planned statement you can say to yourself, or someone else, to inspire your confidence. “I choose to be confident,” is one that Steinberg suggests. Or, “I will not fear No,” “I will win,” are a couple of others.
Steinberg also suggests that you recall a time when you were very confident before delving into your currents stressful situation. Perhaps you were confident you would win when you played on a first-place athletic team. Steinberg suggests that as you think of a time in which you were very confident, write down why you felt that way and carry it with you. As you feel your confidence sliding, take a look at that.
The idea of writing things down is almost universal advice. After all, it’s not money that we all want, it’s success. You encourage success by writing down the things you would do when you are successful – either for yourself or for someone else. Confidence encourages us to help others that need us, and that attitude will encourage our own success.
It’s best not to confuse confidence with arrogance. The choice to be confident is helpful. The choice to be arrogant is not. Confident people are humble. Arrogant people are egotistical. Confident people give to others. Arrogant people take from others.
Remember that situations can inspire confidence, but cannot create it. We must create it ourselves. When we create it ourselves, we display confidence in any situation, and circumstances will be meaningless.
If you have created your own confidence, and are looking for a vehicle in which to apply it, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Check out how people have overcome circumstances to never fear the word, “No,” for they know something many others do not know.
So be confident, be accountable and create a world that until now, you’ve only dreamed of. Write down today what that world would look like, and carry it with you. It will help keep you on your confident path.
Peter
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
“The best is yet to come and babe, won’t it be fine.” (from the song by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, recorded by Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett).
Jones — just Jones, no Mr. – is an old man who thrives on helping people see that the future is always bright – no matter one’s current circumstance.
Jones is the lead character in Andy Andrews’ book, “The Noticer,” which professional golfer Nancy Lopez called the greatest book she’s ever read.
Jones has a gift for noticing things, he says. He also has a gift for showing up in people’s lives to give them perspective on a problem – at the exact time they need it.
He is spiritual, yet practical. But mostly, he is ALWAYS optimistic that everyone will have a great future, no matter his age, or current troubles.
We probably all have a Jones character in our lives. It might be a friend, family member coworker, colleague or someone we’d just met. We may not even be able to identify that person off the top of our heads – but he or she is there. All we have to do is listen to him, and follow his advice.
We’ve all heard the saying that when God closes a door, he opens a window. We just have to recognize where the window is and go through it.
The last five years or so have been difficult for lots of people. There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth about what caused it, who’s to blame and what magic bullet is going to make things right again.
We are starting to see things get better, but too many people are still down. They may feel it to be the worst time in their lives. But as Andrews’ character points out, what seems to be the worst time in your life may lead you to the best time of your life. The secret to success, according to Jones: have people want to be around you.
Not a “people” person? Become one. No one has to undergo a radical personality change, but just try to see yourself from others’ perspective. What would THEY change about you, if they could, as Jones puts it.
Don’t know a lot of people? Start with the ones you do know. Make sure THEY want to be around you. Depending on how well you know them, you might ask them what they would change about you, if they could. Once you get the people you know to want to be around you, then you can work on those you don’t yet know. Believe it or not, it takes some effort to have people want to be around you.
Got people around you who are always negative, always saying, “Woe is me?” You might have to change the people around you, to paraphrase a popular adage, if the people already around you won’t change.
Be fun, but be good. Do the right thing, even when no one is looking. You see, good people don’t have to act, or put on a show. They are good to the core, naturally.
You don’t have to be a social butterfly. But be a good inviter. Invite people to coffee, lunch, dinner or whatever.
As you do this, you might, if you don’t have something already, have something to show them when you invite them. It needs to be something of which they can choose to partake – or not. Good inviters take no for an answer. If you don’t have something to show, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You might find the best thing you’ve never heard of. And, you might want to show it to the world.
You also may find your Jones – or at least some perspective on your life that you’d not seen yet. Regardless, just know, as Jones says in Andrews’ book, that the past is not what you should focus on. The present may not be pleasant, but, no matter your age, the best is yet to come.
Peter
SHIFTING PARENTING GOALS
You’ve heard the stories. A kid grows up in a great family with wonderful parents, then, for some unexplainable reason, gets into trouble.
Perhaps it happened because his parents had a somewhat misguided goal: to raise a good kid.
Andy Andrews, author and storyteller, talked about this when he spoke to the Team National convention in Orlando in July 2013.
He says that parents should not have the goal to raise good kids. Instead, their goal should be to raise kids that will become great adults.
What’s the difference? Look at it this way: a parent tells the story of how their child went wrong when he grew up, and they say they did everything right. But did they?
Some parents believe that if they can keep their kids isolated into their own world for as long as possible, they will have values so embossed into their being that they will never want to stray into the world of drugs, alcohol, crime etc.
Some parents want to influence kids to the point of having a say in whom they marry.
But sometimes, restricting kids can create pent-up demand to explore the outside world. They may want to meet people who are not like them. They will want to see places they were never allowed to see, or do things they were never allowed to do.
Some parents don’t want their children asking questions. They’d prefer to give them only information they “need to know,” and on their terms.
No parent can stop curiosity. No parent can stop the natural feelings children may have for others as they grow older. No parent can keep a child in a bubble for life.
What one hopes for as a parent is that the child grows to make good choices. Sometimes, that might mean exposing them to people who’ve made bad choices while they are young.
In the movie “The Jazz Singer,” Neil Diamond’s character grows up in a very conservative Jewish household. His father tells him that he has to know where he came from to know where he is going.
Instead of being a cantor in a synagogue, Diamond’s character grows up to be a singer who performs pop music in front of huge audiences – like Diamond in real life.
Being a successful performer is not what his father wanted for Diamond’s character. He wanted him to use his talents as a servant to the synagogue. Eventually, the father came to embrace the son for who he is.
Children will become who they are, no matter the circumstances in which they grow up. A parent’s goal is to see their child become a great adult – one who helps others, who has humility, integrity and generosity.
If you raise a child like that, you are a successful parent. The child may get there via a path you did not design for them, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the result on the other end.
Raising good children is fine, but it doesn’t stop there. Watching them make life choices can be painful to you, but you have to love them for who they are. If they get in trouble, help them. If they pursue a life path of which you don’t approve, just look at the result. If they have excellent personal qualities as adults, you did a great job as a parent.
If you have grown to adulthood and are looking to make good choices, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It could be the biggest life-changing choice you could ever make. No matter what you do in life, choose wisely and make your parents – eventually – proud.
Peter