2022: A Year of Action

Here we are again. We have a whole new year in front of us and many of us are making plans, renewing commitments, and generally trying to figure out what we want to accomplish this year. I know I have more than a few things that I’m ready to get to work on!

Regardless of what any of us plan to do, there is one thing we all have in common. We MUST take action, real solid action, for any plan, goal, or dream to become reality.

That first step, the one that shows true action and commitment, is more important than any other step you take because it will be the impetus and motivation for every step afterwards. But don’t fool yourself about what a first step is.

Reading a book, looking stuff up on the internet, or asking your friends’ opinions may feel like first steps, but they are really just part of the planning, and planning is not what actually makes things happen. The first real step occurs when you invest something valuable or take a real risk with your money, time, or ego.

For example:

• Throwing out all the junk food in your house is a true first step to a better diet.
• Paying a lawyer to draw up your business organization papers shows a real commitment to starting on your entrepreneurial path.
• Joining a writer’s group that requires you to write 10 pages a week makes you accountable and shows yourself and other how serious you are about writing that novel.

So, what is that first important, substantial, and invested step you need to take to get your plans rolling? If you’re not sure, take the time to write out what your first steps are. Then ask yourself which of those steps require so kind of personal, time, or financial investment. The ones that do are your first real steps, the ones that will get you truly get you on your way. So, make those your priority.

If you feel like you might still need a little push to take those first substantial steps, or you need some additional inspiration, try reading my book again, How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. If you haven’t read it, then definitely get a copy and read it. Then get to work.

Let’s see what wonderful things we can make happen in 2022 by taking action now!

Mindful Aging

Wow, the end of 2021 is already here, just a few more days. Time is such an interesting thing and I find it fascinating that the passage of time seems to change its speed depending on your age and/or things you have planned in your life. When most of us were young, anxious to be old enough to get our driver’s license, time seemed to be moving so very, very slowly. I remember counting down the days until I could get mine. But things do change, especially when you get older.

At my age now, just a little more than 3 months until I hit 78, the years seem to speed up. I can remember, easily, the new year’s celebration I was at last year at my good tennis friend Al Ficker’s house in Kauai. It’s like it was just a couple of months ago. Wow, this year just flew by in a flash.

I am re-reading the great book by Jo Ann Jenkins called Disrupt Aging. I’ve written and talked about her book in previous posts. There are so many good and smart things she says about “really owning your age” and being proud of whatever that age number is. I loved her quote about a woman who said, “No one’s going to deprive me of my age.”

Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org, and author of The Big Shift wrote, “In Disrupt Aging, Jenkins offers the generational call to action we’ve been waiting for—to break free from outmoded ideas about age, to embrace the rich possibilities present in the decades opening up beyond fifty, and to join a growing movement of individuals determined to live lives infused with purpose. Beautifully written, full of humor and inspiration, and powerfully argued, this book offers the definitive map for making the most of the longevity revolution, as individuals and as a nation.”

Jo Ann has so many good thoughts and ideas for our lives as we age, such as:

• The best life includes contributing to the well-being of others.
• Try new things and take chances…don’t live in fear of aging.
• Focus on health, wealth and self. 
• This is a time to shift from “mindless aging” to mindful living.

If you are retired now, take a hard look at your life and determine your thoughts about aging. How can you age more mindfully? And if you are not retired yet, then it’s a good time to start making plans for what you are going to do when retired. Yes, write it down, make lists, set priorities and write down your future schedule. You’ll be glad you did when you finally retire.

And when you do retire, as well as right now, be sure to strive for always living in the right now moment!

The Responsibility of Knowledge

Here is a very simple thing to think about for our lives as we head into a new year. 2022 is going to be a good one for you, especially anticipate having the best for you, your family, and your friends and then work hard to make it that way.

I just read a great little piece by Carlos Castaneda about what it means to be “a man of knowledge”. I wanted to share it with you, my readers. I did change it a bit to make it a “person” of knowledge as I this applies to all humans, not just men.

A [person] of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what [they] will think when [they have] finished acting… [They] know that [their] life will be over altogether too soon… [they] know, because [they] see that nothing is more important than anything else… Thus a person of knowledge endeavors, and sweats, and puffs, and if one looks at [them, they are] just like any other ordinary [person], except that the folly of life is under control. Nothing being more important than anything else, a [person] of knowledge chooses any act, and acts it out as if it matters to [them. Their] controlled folly makes [them] say that what [they do] matters and makes [them] act as if it did, and yet [they know] that it doesn’t; so when [this person] fulfills [their] acts [they] retreat in peace, and whether [their] acts were good or bad, or worked or didn’t, is in no way any part of [their] concern.

So, what are you doing, or will you be doing, with the knowledge you have? I think that would be a great focus for the new year. Let’s look at our lives and consider the things that we know but aren’t acting on and make it a goal to act on all this great knowledge we have.

Turn Knowledge to Action

In this chaotic world we live in, it’s good to remind ourselves about the importance of keeping our inner chatter positive rather than negative. I’ve talked a lot in the past about our inner voice and how it can really affect our attitude and our success in life, so this is not a new subject for my longtime readers, and maybe not even for some new readers. The question is, however, if you’ve heard about this before, what have you actually done about it? Have you tried to improve your inner voice’s attitude?

As I’ve said before, knowing something is not useful until you actually do something with the knowledge. Years ago, I really got into programming my brain with lots of positive thoughts and affirmations, but then I had this period of 10 or maybe even 20 years where I didn’t do that because I was doing pretty good. It’s not that I didn’t believe in positive self-talk anymore, and I didn’t lose that knowledge, but I did fall out of practice with it, and that made all the difference.

For example, you can’t say you’re a great tennis player no matter how well you know the sport, unless you’re actually out there practicing and playing! Years ago, when I was playing in one of the Huntsman Senior tennis tournaments, I lost in the final round because I had sabotaged myself with lots of negative self-talk. That’s when I really started to think seriously about how much I let my thoughts turn pessimistic, causing me to worry and piling on self-induced stress. I knew it was not helpful. I even knew how to combat it. I had just stopped putting my knowledge into practice.

The great news is that once you get the hang of monitoring your inner voice and you practice enough positive self-talk, you can use that positive reinforcement to change and improve just about any part of your life including losing weight, overcoming addiction, and making more money. When you do, you can stop worrying about the many things that add unnecessary stress to your life and actually live! Try it and I promise you that it will work, especially if you keep practicing.

So, here’s how you put this knowledge to work for you. First, start observing what that inner chatter is saying and, secondly, feed yourself lots of positive thoughts and affirmations, especially when you observe your self-talk going the wrong way. It’s not hard, it just takes turning your knowledge into action and practicing!

Stimulating Passion

Most every human being loves their passion. There are so many ways to go after and build such passions. Some of these come easily and automatically, such as when we were young and everything was new. Those new things made our passions rise. That first day of school, seeing old friends and new, could be a quick and huge hit on the passion button.

In my book How to Ignite Your Passion for Living, I make the point that, from my experience, passion can start to fade a bit as we age. But, thankfully, passion can be manufactured. All you need to do is put something together in an unusual, better, or at least new-to-you way.

One of the keys to manufacturing passion is to set difficult objectives and work towards them. I clearly remember when I was 27 years old, and I set a goal to make a net worth for myself of $1 MILLION by the time I hit age 30. What a huge turn on that was for me. It raised my passion level big time. I was one year late in hitting that goal, but having that huge and exciting goal really kept me and my passion going.

From about age 25, your brain produces less and less dopamine and serotonin, the hormones that help you feel good and fan the flames of passion. Although a child’s body is awash in these hormones, we need to work on stimulating our system to produce more of these hormones as we age. We can do this by eating the right foods, exercising, and, most importantly, setting the right goals that keep us going after them.

Renewing your passions can really show you what you and your brain can do. It can give you a ton of energy as well as raising the quality of your personal and business life.

One of my biggest passions is travelling. I’m talking about everything from huge international travel, like going around the world on my honeymoon, to just driving through a neighborhood that I’ve never visited. I’ve been to 94 countries and still feel my passion rising just planning a trip to a new place, even if it’s a small country or an old neighborhood.

Passion for living comes and goes. Our big challenge then is to figure out what our passion is, what turns our lights on and gets us excited. When we figure that out, we can do it more and more. And it’s always a good idea to write down our passions and the goals that keep them going so it will stick in your brain, pushing you to do it and to keep doing it.

The Stories They Leave

I met Richard Harvey when we played on the championship basketball team while attending high school in Turkey. We became fast friends back then. However, we went our own ways after moving back to the states. Years later, Richard saw me on TV driving a Mercedes. This was after I had written my book How to Wake up the Financial Genius Inside You. Richard looked me up and called. I was shocked because I’d been looking for Richard for 20 years!

It was odd that we had been out of touch for so long. Richard and I had been inseparable back in high school. However, there were some problems, primarily prejudice. Richard was never allowed inside my house because my dad was Mormon.

Years later, I got to see him again, in person, at my wedding reception. It was a difficult time for Richard. His youngest son, Kyle, had cancer and Richard was in the hospital every day with him. It almost kept him from coming to the reception, but he managed to make it. When he got there, my dad started walking towards him. Richard thought he might be coming over to ask him to leave. Instead, he thanked Richard for coming. Then my dad, having heard about Richard’s son, said he would put Kyle’s name in the Mormon temple where Mormons all over the world will pray for him.

Later, when Richard was back at the hospital with his son, there was a huge commotion in the playroom. A man was passing out teddy bears to the kids. However, when the man saw Richard’s son Kyle, he walked up to him, hugged him, and just held him. Richard learned that the man was the famous singer, Donnie Osmond.

It had only been 3 days since Richard had been told that Mormons were praying for his son when he saw the most famous Mormon embrace him. For Richard, this was a confirmation that Kyle would beat cancer, and he did. A year later, Donnie came back and called Kyle to check on him. Richard didn’t know how the singer got their number, but the two men talked, and Richard told Donnie about how the Mormons were helping him and his son. Donnie was very moved.

It was just about a year ago that Richard passed away. With the recent death of my brother, my friend’s memory has come to the forefront of my mind, and I was reminded of this story. They were similar as well, my brother and Richard. Passionate and determined, they lived life to the fullest and never gave up. I am missing them both, but I still have the memories and all our great stories.

That Natural High

I’ve written about my kid brother Scott a lot in the previous few posts. I was with him the last day of his 75 years, but, wow, were those 75 years packed with adventure, excitement and quite a bit of risk! Danger and risk can certainly bring on a big rush, increasing the heart rate and pumping adrenaline into your system. Some people really love that kind of excitement. My brother Scott was one of those people. He loved that adrenaline rush, and he went about his life looking for more of it.

Scott loved being a cop and enjoyed working the shifts that had the most risk and excitement. He loved going after the bad guy, especially the worst of the bad, like Cameron David Bishop who was on the FBI’s most wanted list. Scott and his partner were brave enough, and aware enough, to bust this big-time crook. Yes, it was a high-risk job, and it was very fortunate that neither Scott nor his partner were injured, but these two brave guys brought the bad guy to justice and enjoyed it.

I’m not a person who likes to take the kind of risks that could cost me my life or where I could end up in the hospital. I guess it’s probably a good thing that some people, like my brother, are out there saving us from the bad guys and the terrible things they do. Of course, I do take some risk when it comes to buying certain properties, but I’ve always done a lot of calculations that showed me the financial risk was not great compared to the possible profit and financial gains.

As I mentioned in the last post, Scott wrote a book not long before he died. His book is entitled Cop Living On the Edge and Scott certainly did that. You can tell in his words that he absolutely loved the excitement, risks, and rewards that came with catching criminals. Bringing in the bad guys was very satisfying, as well as being so very helpful to his community, family, and friends.

It may seem odd that anyone would seek out situations that cause fear, but our brains are pretty complex and amazing. If we are faced with a scary situation, our brains can quickly generate the raw energy we need to deal with it. Fear can stimulate the release of endorphins which act on the opiate receptors in our brain, reducing pain and boosting pleasure, giving us a natural high.

However, taking a big, scary risk is not the only way to raise our energy level or get a natural high. Here’s a short list of other things you can do to boost your energy and mood:

1. Positive thinking

2. Being around great people

3. Being very grateful

4. Reading the right books

5. Living in the now

6. Decluttering the mind

7. Getting outside for a walk

8. Having fun

9. Meditation

10. Trying new things

Go ahead and make your own specific list of things that raise your energy and mood. It’ll give you something to turn to next time you crave a natural high.

Your Book, Your Life

In my previous two posts, I wrote about my great younger brother Scott who died a couple weeks ago and how devastating it was to me and his kids and grandkids. However, he did something recently that has helped me and others a ton. He wrote a book about his life as a cop, and it was published just a few days before his unexpected death.

Now I’m reading his book, Cop Living On The Edge. It has lifted me so much since his death. It’s very well written and tells of his many dangerous and exciting experiences as a cop living in Denver, Colorado. It brought him back to life for me. That’s the power of books. They can really lift your spirts and your mind.

And this, my friends, is a very good reason for people to write a book. It doesn’t matter whether you can find a publisher that will print and distribute it because you can do that yourself. You can even print just a few copies.

Why would anyone want to do that? Because you could be helping your family, your kids, your grandkids, and, yes, even your great-great-great-grandkids. The book will be there long after you’ve passed on to whatever comes next! (I sure hope there is a “next”!) All those humans can benefit from your words and life experiences. And those that didn’t know you when you were alive can be inspired by your life and your legacy. The book can teach others through the things you’ve learned and experienced, showing them what motivated and pushed you to bigger and better things in this life.

Don’t think you can’t write your own book just because you never thought of yourself as a writer. You simply take it small and easy at first. Just write a little at a time and I think you’ll be surprised with what you come up with.

Personally, I started by writing in a small diary. Back then, I never saw myself as a writer and certainly not a writer that would sell 2 million copies of my first book and write 8 more books since then. I then changed to writing in a journal and, from time to time, I would go back and reread what I had written and make improvements and changes to make it better. I would strongly suggest you do the same. I think you will be surprised and pleased with what you come up with in the long run.

Just think of how your family and friends will be lifted to a higher level and love you even more long after you have checked out of this world because of your book. It doesn’t have to be a how-to or motivational book, just the story of your life, what you have learned that helped you enjoy and lift your life to higher levels, and insight into the things you loved that made you very happy and satisfied!

I challenge you to start on your own book. Take that first step today. I’m pretty sure you’ll be very glad you did!

Reliving Memories

After posting last week’s blog about my younger brother Scott’s sudden death, with a picture of him and me, I began looking through old pictures of my past days and years, reminiscing about my life, all that I’ve experienced, and all the great people that I’ve known and loved.

Wow, that reminiscing hit me hard. Pictures can bring back so many memories. They help us relive our past lives and what we’ve gone through, both the good and the bad! It was such a big shock to lose my little brother and then relive our past times, the good times and some of the painful times, too. And now I can hardly go an hour without thinking about Scotty boy.

It started me thinking about how great it is that simple things like pictures can stir up such wonderful memories and help us relive past experiences. For this week’s post, I’ve attached some of the many pictures of my past life. I know they won’t mean a lot to you, but you can see all the many experiences and people I’ve had in my life.

I hope you will take time to go back and revisit some of your old pictures and relive some of your life, especially the good parts! It’s so interesting that our modern times, with our phones and other easy to carry digital devices, has allowed us to take a lot more pictures but then, we don’t take the time to get them printed out and place them around the house and hang them on the walls where we can pass by and take a quick look at those great memories. On the other hand, we can review those pictures when waiting for appointments, sitting at a stoplight, or flying on an airplane. So, I guess it’s a trade-off.

Here are some of the pictures of my past wonderful memories.

A Sad Reminder

What in the world is going on? Right after I posted two blogs about health, I got slammed in my face with a health issue in my family. My kid brother Scott’s family called me to say that Scott is not doing well at all, he’s gone into a coma several times, and I had better come and see him real soon. I told my wife Kimberly that we should go the next day, but she said, “No, let’s go now,” even though it’s a 200 mile drive up to Idaho Falls where he lives. I didn’t argue with her. We jumped into the car and headed north and to see him and give him moral support. 

When I got there, it was so, so frustrating to both us and him as we attempted to talk. He was conscious by then, but he couldn’t get any words out. He would look at us and with a bit of a smile, a blink of his eye and a nod of his head, he would try to answer our questions and communicate with us, his kids, and the grandkids that gathered around his bed.

The next morning, back at our home, the phone rang with the tragic news that Scott had checked out of this life at 7:30 that morning.

He’s the third brother that I’ve lost in addition to my 16-year-old daughter’s tragic death years ago. Wow, that hurt big time. It reminded me of that old saying, “Nobody gets out of here alive.” That’s too darn bad and so tragic, but it’s unfortunately the truth. I’ve preached for years that we all must do some future thinking, planning, and, of course, goal setting. But after we do that, if we want to have the best life possible, we must push ourselves to live in the now, in the “right now moment”. The same thinking should be applied when we start thinking about (or over-thinking) our past mistakes and sad moments in time.

I’m certainly pushing my brain to think back about all the good times with my brother Scott, an ex-policeman who enjoyed all his exciting experiences and lived in the moment, even in his near-death experiences. Wow, I had a ton of great times with my little brother, Scotty boy. One of his dreams was to be on an airplane when it was being hijacked so he could save the day. He had a medical issue that caused him to pass out, even one time on a flight halfway to Kauai. Amazingly, the airline turned the plane around and flew all the way back to Los Angeles where everything turned out okay. I just found out before he died that he wrote a book called Cop Living on the Edge. I got a copy and, wow, it’s pretty good for a non-writer.

In closing, let me give you, the reader, and myself some advice — be in charge of your brain and direct its thinking paths to good places and moments, especially towards the Right Now Moment! It’s the most important moment we have.

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