Happy Thanksgiving!

As we are getting ready to celebrate a special Holiday this week, I decided to write a blog in recognition of Thanksgiving. As I started this blog post, I reviewed past entries in my Thanksgiving Journal, a practice I started several years ago each Thanksgiving Day. So, this blog is a combination of thoughts from this year and previous years.

As I looked back I realized; I am always thankful for: Dana, my wife, my children: Chris, Adam and Elle; family, friends and our team members, leaders, businesses and my health.

But, today I am most Thankful for the love my God provides me every day. God gives me gifts and talents he expects me to share with others. He gave me the gift of business acumen, to use as a vehicle for improving the financial and leadership development of others, enabling them to provide a living for their families. God has given me a motivational spirit, helping others find their passion and gifts in life.

As I reflect on these blessings, I ask God to remind me daily that all my gifts and talents come from him. The true reflection of a person comes not from what he is, but what he becomes every day.

This Thanksgiving, my blessing for each of you is to be thankful for your gifts and talents.

A special quote about Gratitude:

“The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have,
the more things you will have to express gratitude for.”
- Zig Ziglar

Enjoy this special Thanksgiving weekend!

Gary Wilbers

EXCELLENCE

As I write my blog post today, I have discovered not only do we need to have discipline to accomplish our goals; we also need to create EXCELLENCE in our lives. This word will give us the energy needed as we progress toward achieving what we want. As I look at this word today I am going to break the word down and give you some points on how you can make EXCELLENCE a daily thought to create energy for yourself.

Excellence- Excellence is what we do every day to make it the best day by giving 110% effort.
Xtra- What xtra can we do to make someone’s day better. (Sometimes you have to use incorrect spelling to make this work for the writer, so please excuse my misspelling of the word)
Care- Care for your people
Excited- Show you’re excited about life and have passion for what you are doing.
Love- Love your people.
Like- Like change and embrace change it is part of the life cycle.
Engage- Engage in your life and others lives to make the world a better place.
Never-Never give up. Persistence is the key. Pick yourself and others up every day.
Cooperate- Cooperate with others. There is no I in team. Show your team that cooperation creates a win-win for everyone.
Expect- Expect to make a difference in your life but also others you come in contact with. Remember to live your life with this thought? If I died today, what would others say my greatest contribution was to the lives I touched? Make your legacy daily! Why not start today?

How does your life show EXCELLENCE?

WOW! I had a great response for what my punishment should be for not blogging as I had promised. I appreciate the comments. I have decided I will combine multiple suggestions and for the month of December you will see a weekly blog post. Below I have included some great feedback by Jim Bohannon on Self-Discipline. Thanks Jim for your information. I love the quote by Vince Lombardi. For Jim’s submission he will earn a $25 gift certificate to Madison’s Café. Thanks for sharing!

Have a GREAT day!
Gary Wilbers

Jim’s feedback:
Don't put yourself down for being undisciplined.
Think about why you want to discipline yourself.
Create an action plan form.
Action
Time to Begin
Possible Problems
Strategies to overcome The Problems
Progress Report
Implement the plan.
Review the plan.

Don't give up.

Hope this helps, if not I learned some things about self-discipline, so thank you for that opportunity. Have a great day.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

- Vince Lombardi

Do you have discipline?

As I write to you today, I want to explore the word Discipline. Discipline defined as a noun states: the practice of training people to obey rules or code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

Wow! That really hits home, because I promised on October 4th to write this blog twice a month. As you can see, it has been a month since my first edition. I admit; I have not had the discipline to take the time to write my next blog post. I failed to follow my own rules or code of behavior. I will ask each of you to respond on what my punishment should be to correct the disobedience. Please send me an e-mail on what I should do to correct this behavior. The behavior I choose will win a prize that will be announced on the next blog post.

Now, on to the subject;

The word discipline can be used in both a negative and positive situation. Our lord had the discipline in his life in teaching his disciples to follow the right paths. It is through his teachings that we see he wants us to be disciplined in our lives, also. To me, discipline makes the difference between a person who is successful or who fails. Let's look at an example in my life. In the area of health, when I became disciplined in exercise and my eating habits, I lost 75 pounds because of my diet and exercise. Discipline can influence better decisions and choices every day. It is not easy to be disciplined, though.

What areas in your life do you want to make changes in 2012? My belief is if you set goals and discipline yourself to adhere to those goals, you will accomplish them.

Discipline is the key to success or failure, because it is the driver of our lives. Discipline takes our conscious to our subconscious mind.

I ask that I have the discipline to continue writing this blog twice a month. I think I just committed -- I guess you will see if I have the discipline to achieve this.

Make it a great day.
Gary Wilbers

Welcome to the First Edition

As I made myself a commitment this year to start a blog, I asked myself the question, what should I share with my readers? After thinking about this for months! (Really, I was procrastinating) I decided to share with you some thoughts and insights that have helped me over the years to become the person I am working on becoming. I believe life is a journey where we learn and grow from each day to make the next day better. As we progress through life, the more we learn who we want to become the more we become who we want to be.

My goal is not to tell you how you do it, but instead give you some tips on ways you can make changes in your life. We create all things twice. We first have to mentally create in our minds, the belief we can achieve it! This is our mental power or our subconscious saying, yes, I can accomplish it. The second part is the physical creation where we start creating a habit to accomplish the goal. This is where your conscious mind puts into action your thoughts and beliefs.

Let me give you an example. Late last year, I started thinking about running a half marathon. I will tell you this was a big stretch for me because I had never been a big runner. I made a commitment to myself when writing my goals for 2011 that I would run a half marathon. My subconscious went to work when I put pen to paper and committed to the goal. I became even more committed on December 31, 2010, when five other friends committed to running the Nashville half marathon on April 30, 2011. I don't want you to understimate the power of writing your goals down on paper. This is one of the secrets to reaching goals you set for yourself. After researching what training program I would follow and committing again, by registering for the race, I now had to start on the conscious mind (physical creation) and start training. This is where your mind has to overcome all negative thoughts that come into your head.

This is where you have to visualize how you will feel when you accomplish the goal. This is where I visualized myself crossing the finish line. As I worked on my training program, that was my daily thought.

On April 30 I finished a half marathon in one hour, 55 minutes and 51 seconds. My goal was to complete the half marathon in less than two hours. As you can see from the picture below, the finish line was my reward.

Take the time right now to write a goal you want to achieve for yourself. Remember:

"You can achieve anything you want in life if you first believe you can accomplish it."

Have a Great Day!
Gary

Final Thoughts on National Games

As we get back home and into our regular routine of life, it seems something has changed after last week's experience at National Games? What is it? I think the IT is ME! I have changed because I have been blessed with an experience that showed all that is good with LIFE! The good included 155 athletes, unified partners and coaches from Team Missouri that came together to create MO MAGIC! A little over a year ago we met in Mexico, MO to form this team. No one would have imagined it would become a group of people who not only showed sportmanship, athleticism and HEART! Our Fan shirts read: It takes a little MO HEART! Honesty-Enthusiasm-Accountability-Respect-Teamwork to be a CHAMPION! Their is multiple examples like Flag football playing 9 games in 4 days and winning them all. The volleyball team playing Iowa 3 times and missing the gold medal by one point! The basketball team down by 9 points with less than 3 minutes with a running clock and getting a last second shot that missed to tie the game. The tennis team playing on the hottest day of the week and taking home gold medals. The Powerlifting team taking home 6 gold medals by two very strong men! Swimming, Bocce, Track and Field etc doing the best they could by giving all they had to find success.

I can't forget my golf teammates: Shirlene, Peggy, Richard, Ken, Andy, Mike, Carolyn, Jason, Coach Steve, Coach Debbie and my partner Keith. I got the privilege to know each of these fine people better and I am proud to call them my friends. As we had early morning wake up calls, to dining in the cafeteria, riding the non air conditioned bus to the golf course, playing cards (of course the game we played was card golf) to playing golf with them. Each of these individuals have talents that made the week so enjoyable! I want each of them to know you help make my first experience at the National games the BEST! Thanks teammates!

As I closed this version of my blog I will be continuing my blog on a weekly basis on subjects that I want to talk about. If you are interested in getting this weekly blog please sign up to receive my posts on a weekly basis. To my teammates of MO MAGIC I want each of you to know you are truly CHAMPIONS!

Have a GREAT day!

Gary

Closing Ceremonies & Happy Anniversary

Happy 16th Anniversary to my special bride today! 16 years ago we started our journey of life together. Dana is my spouse, partner and friend and I could not have ask for a better lady to share my life with. Thanks Dana for always allowing me to follow my passion!

So, that brings me to the subject of tonights blog: Passion... We all strive to excel in things that we have passion for. If your job gives you passion for what you do, your work becomes part of you. You never have to worry about wanting to do the job because it doesn't feel like a job. If you are passionate about a cause or charity it becomes your passion to help fullfill the mission of the organization. As I have witnessed my first National Games I can attest Special Olympics has countless coaches, volunteers, staff members and parents that have passion for the Special Olympics movement. Forty two years ago, July 20, 1968 for the very first time Special Olympics athletes from the U.S. and Canada gathered at Soldier field in Chicago. The movement was started by one lady who had the passion: Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Team Missouri is honoring Mrs. Shriver passion by having her initials on the back of each of our shirts. Mrs. Shriver passed away in 2009.

As we witnessed Closing ceremonies we saw a movement of youth that met this week in Omaha, NE with a National Youth Activation Summit. The NYAS is taking the challenge using sports to promote social justice through discussion, callaboration and action. As seen from the audience and excitement from these young people their passion will change their friends, schools, communities. The closing ceremonies was a Rally format to activate the athletes, fans, coaches and volunteers to keep the flame of hope burning!

I am celebrating 19 years supporting Special Olympics Missouri this year. As I sit here writing this blog tonight I wonder what made me decide that my passion is in supporting the Special Olympics? I would have to admit at first it was purely accidental. I remember my first state games I attended in Ft. Leonard Wood and that changed me from being a observer to feeling part of the movement. As the years passed I stayed involved volunteering at games and donating funds. Last year I was asked to serve on the State Board. I told them I would serve since my other board committments had expired. As I look back, I don't think their is one thing that created my passion for Special Olympics but I do believe that the athletes passion to compete is the starting point that makes me so thrilled to be involved. I witnessed this first hand this week. Each athlete wanted to perform to the best of their ability and to show their skill at whatever sport they were competing in. The lesson we can all learn is follow your passion and you will enjoy the journey! Remember life is a journey not a destination!

I would like to thank my golf team for the thrill of a lifetime getting to know each one of them. I wish them each success as they leave these games in Lincoln, Nebraska. I plan on giving a full recap Saturday evening on the experience.

Have a GREAT day!

Gary

Do you know what FAD stands for?

Day 6 of our journey was very relaxing & intense as golf finished up yesterday. This was the first day we did not have to wake up early. Our athletes all had a free day so it was a day to spend being a FAN! Keith, Debbie, Richard and myself went over to the Powerlifting venue to watch MO MAGIC athlete Robb. Robb is a very quiet but very strong man! He lifted 300 lbs on the bench press. On the dead lift he lifted 400 plus pounds. He tried for 480lbs on his last lift and just missed making it successful. This was a fun event to view and watch as a specatator. Robb brought home 3 gold medals on the day!

After lunch we went to the basketball venue to watch MO MAGIC in competition. This game went back and forth till MO MAGIC pulled out a victory. The one noticeable thing at the games is the intensity of the competition, it is what you would expect from any athletic sporting event. The basketball venue was electric during this close game win. We also had athletes attend track and field events. Tennis had a great day on the courts with lots of gold medals wins! Bocce had athletes that took home medals today also.

What does FAD stand for? Well, I wanted to hook you on this concept by one of the athletes on our floor named Michael. Michael last night came into the bathroom area telling me I have FAD! I had never heard so I asked what is FAD? He proceeded to tell me that it stands for:

Fun Activity Disorder. He said if you are here at the National Games not having fun, you have a problem! I could not have said it better!

We ended the day watching Flag Football play a nail biter and win at 6:30pm. The MO MAGIC team then played for the Gold medal at 8:30pm. The challenge with this game was at the same time I was watching flag football my son Adam was playing for the Championship of the 9U River League game against California. Every adult coach, volunteer, Unified Partner gives up not only their time to give the opportunity for these athletes to compete but often they give up spending a moment of time in events in their family lives. As the game became intense on the football field my wife was texting me updates on Adam's game. I really felt my nerves when Adam started pitching in the 4th inning. The football game started out 20 to 6 MO MAGIC but the other team made it exciting in last 5 minutes to make it 26 to 20. At the same time Adam's game went into extra innings with California tying the score in the bottom of the sixth. Do you realize how hard it is to recieve a text every time something happens in a game that you are not at? As the football game came to a close I received a text that Adam's team won the Championship in 8 innings with the final score of 9 to 6! Congrats to SIRCAL team I am proud of each and every one of you! As the clock ticked down MO MAGIC won won their game with the final of 26 to 20! As I was saying earlier alot of people give what they have to make the experience for the athletes to be something they remember for the rest of thier lives!

I will give you some additional insight in tomorrow's blog on closing ceremonies and what I learned from attending my first National games!

Have a GREAT day!

Gary