Why do we celebrate July 4th?

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country. I hope as you get ready to celebrate this special holiday you will reflect back on what makes our country so great! We are free to choose in this country. Don’t let our freedoms become a thing of the past.

In July we mark the halfway point for 2012! Last week we talked about the goals that you set out to achieve in 2012. This week I want to talk about your FREEDOM to choose what you want to accomplish. Early in my life, my teachers spoke about free will. We all have free will and when we use it to create positive habits we can accomplish whatever we set out to achieve. So, what does this have to do with freedom? Well, freedom is defined as:

The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

When we have the right to act, speak or think as we want without hindrance or restraint, then what will give us the freedom to accomplish what we want in life? I think it is in our habits and the daily actions we live by every day. As you journey through this week, check to see if your actions are aligned with your habits. I believe people who discipline themselves in their FREEDOM to act, speak and think are more apt to create what they set out to achieve.

Let’s look at an example: As many of you know Dave Ramsey speaks on financial freedom. He believes a credit card destroys our freedom from being debt free. As we see in commercials if you own a credit card it gives you all kinds of pleasures you can charge on the card like a vacation, clothes, and anything to make your life better. I know that it’s not things that make us happy, but rather the people and experiences we create. If I have a goal to become debt free, I have the freedom to make this a choice in my life. I must act, speak and think to make this goal a reality. This will take a disciplined effort but, as Dave says: "Live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else!"

I leave you with this thought. “If you want to accomplish great things, your FREEDOM, will make your daily actions your habits and you will achieve any goal you set for yourself.”

Enjoy the Journey!

Where is 2012 going?

Who made goals at the beginning of 2012? Did you write them down? Are you reviewing the progress you are making on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? Goals can be achieved when we believe and take action to achieve them. I hear all the time people say I have goals but then when you ask, are you achieving them? Most people say, NO! Why do only a small percentage of people achieve their goals?

Let’s start from the beginning on goals by defining what a goal is? Goals, defined by the Webster dictionary is: object to be reached or attained. So if you want to reach or attain a goal you must first know what the goal is. All studies on goals show a direct correlation between writing your goals down, it increases your chances of achieving them. Why do you think if you write it down and make it SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound) you are more likely to succeed? One reason is because now your brain is on the same page with what you want to accomplish. I also think writing your goal down makes it real in your own mind. Most people say they have a goal but achievers take the next step and they commit themselves to making it a reality.

The next step in goal setting is breaking down your goal into Action steps. You have heard the story on how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! In goal setting most goals are accomplished by having a method on how you will achieve the goal. I am a firm believer if you break these down into doable action steps it makes achieving the goal, happen. Let’s look at an example: I will lose 25lbs by 12/31/12. Is this goal SMART? Yes, so what would be some steps to accomplish the goal? 1. Weigh yourself and track your progress every Monday on a chart. 2. Exercise 4 times a week a minimum of 30 minutes each time. 3. Track my eating everyday on paper which will allow me to eat healthy. 4. Always take stairs instead of the elevator. 5. Find an accountability partner to exercise with. See how these small steps can make the goal of losing 25lbs become a reality.

The last step is committing to yourself that you can and will achieve the goal you have set for yourself. The old saying: “Your mind can achieve what you believe.” I am a firm believer you must put your goal in a visible place so you can review it daily. I have posted mine behind my mirror so every time I brush my teeth what do I see? Committing to yourself is a commitment that your willpower is stronger than taking the easy road. A goal will be a challenge to achieve but you must know the dedication to achieving the goal is part of the journey to make it worthwhile.

I thought a review of goals may be worthwhile for everyone knowing that we are heading to the middle of 2012! Remember if you made goals for 2012 you can still make them a reality. I am not going to wish you luck in achieving your goals; instead I am going to ask you to take ACTION on achieving your goals.

My favorite quote on achieving goals:

“Goals are like having your headlights on, because you know where you are going”

I authored this quote.

Have a GREAT day!

You are Special

As I reflect back on my time this week, spent volunteering for the Missouri Special Olympic Summer games in Columbia, Missouri it brought back a special feeling in my heart. The summer games were in an expanded format this year and started on Tuesday and will finish up today. Special Olympics always bring the heart of competition to its events and this year was no exception.

You are Special is my heading for today’s blog because I want to reflect on two individuals I was fortunate to spend time with this week at the games. My two new friends are Octavio and Tevin. These athletes participated in the Pentathlon, which consists of five events in track and field. The events are Shot Put, Running Long Jump, 100 Meter run, 400 Meter run and the High Jump. Our family was the Venue Coordinators for this event so we spent the time with these athletes during the day on Wednesday taking them to each of their events. As in past years, we were not disappointed in the competitive spirit each athlete showed. Tevin and Octavio both are athletes and love the thrill of competing. At each event they challenged each other to be the best. It never ceases to amaze me that each athlete that participates just enjoys the thrill of competition. Competition seems to be a common bond in the human spirit. As we know from previous blogs God gives us our talents and gifts and when we realize these gifts are God-given it makes us more thankful for what we have. This brings me to my title, “You are Special.” We are each SPECIAL in our way. Take some time and think right now, why are you Special? List out your uniqueness? What talents do you have? What gifts have you been given? I guarantee you if you write down the answers to these questions you will feel gratitude in your life for whom and what you are. God makes each of us Special. I hope, by you reflecting on why you are special today, you realize your blessings. I feel blessed that this week when I thought I had so many other things to do, I spent time with my two new friends that are Special Olympic athletes. Thanks Octavio and Tevin for helping me realize in my life what is special to me. (See enclosed photo of Octavio and Tevin with their respective Gold medals)

I have also enclosed a picture of my son Chris with Sarah and Beth both athletes from Columbia, Missouri as we were waiting to walk in the opening ceremonies. Please check out more information on the Special Olympics Missouri website at http://www.somo.org/ I hope you decide to join us for one of events so you can experience this SPECIAL feeling. I promise you won’t regret giving your time helping these athletes fulfill their dream of competing.

Have a GREAT day!

 

Ten Daily Actions to Live by

As we wrap up my discussions on the Ten Daily Actions to Live by I hope you have found some actions you currently live by and some that you would like to incorporate into your life. I must admit to live them daily is a challenge but I keep working on making them a habit. As I wrap up this series of blogs I thought it would be beneficial to share a poem I made using the Ten Daily Actions.

“My message makes me responsible to be a person of action. My life is about loving and helping people. I help them flourish by the amount of time I give to them. I choose to be a happy person and I will have a positive attitude toward others. I have chosen my path to follow daily and to greet each day with a forgiving spirit. I will live a great today because I am a person of faith and I know my gifts and talents come from my God.”

Please take time and share with me which Action you feel you use the most often and why? Which Action do you think is the most challenging for you and why? I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather and appreciating the gifts we are given each day.

Have a GREAT day!

Where do your talents and gifts come from?

As I reveal my final action to live by in this blog I hope you have found some worthwhile actions to make your life, the life you want it to be. We all have the capability to make our life the BEST if we choose to take ACTION. This week’s action is: “I am a person of great faith. I believe all my talents and gifts come from my God.”

I have to admit I used to have a hard time with the fact that God was the reason for my success and not ME! The main reason I had this challenge is because I believed my hard work and my abilities were the reason my success happened. This has changed over time as I have deepened my relationship with God and started searching for the purpose of my life. I have found over the years the blessings that God pours into my life, my career, my business, my finances, my family and my health, that they all come about because of my God! At this weekend’s mass our priest spoke to us about our decisions to use our talents and gifts (God-given) to become and do what we want. Thoughts that enter our mind are God speaking to us. We should listen to God to find where we can best use all of the gifts and talents he has given. Please look up Ephesians: 1:3-14 and in this passage you will read that in him we were chosen, and destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

“I am a person of Great faith. I believe all my talents and gifts come from my God.” Thank God daily for the gifts and talents he has given you. Spend time with God in prayer, mediation and scripture reading. Remind yourself daily God gives us all that we have and all that we offer.

We are five months into 2012; I hope you are reaching your goals and plans you set for yourself.

Are you living a GREAT day?

Some of you may remember my last blog was about having a forgiving spirit. Well, I have to ask my wife to forgive me because I ended my last blog with this statement: “Excuse me for cutting this blog short but I need to go forgive my spouse, AGAIN!” I was trying to be funny but in my haste of my comments I meant to say I needed to cut this blog short to ask for my forgiveness from my wife NOT that I needed to forgive her again! Of course, my wife was a true person of forgiveness because she laughed about it and knew what I was trying to say. Thank you Dana for always being so kind and understanding in every type of situation, it is one of the reasons why I wanted to spend our lives together.

The ninth action to live by is: “My best preparation to live a good tomorrow is to live a GREAT today.” As you can see each action builds on the other actions. As you create MOMENTUM it propels you to GREAT days. As we all know it is not easy to build momentum, but once you do, look out! Do you remember playing on merry-go-rounds when you were a kid? A bunch of your friends would pile on, weighing the body of the thing down and then chanted as you worked to get the platform moving. Getting started was very slow going. The first step was always the hardest—getting it to move from the standstill. You had to push and pull, grimace and groan and throw your whole body into the effort. One step, two steps, three steps—it seemed like you were getting nowhere. After a long hard effort, finally you were able to get up a little bit of speed and run alongside it. Even though you were moving and your friends were cheering louder to get the speed you really wanted, you had to keep running faster and faster, pulling behind it as you ran with all your might. Finally, you found success when you jumped on with your friends and found the joy in feeling the wind in your face and watching the world turn into a smear of colors. After a while, when the merry-go-round started to slow down, you’d hop off and run alongside for a minute to get the speed back up or you could simply give it a couple of good pushes then hop back on. Once the merry-go-round was spinning at a good clip, momentum took over, making it easy to keep going.

This is the same process we go through when we adopt change. We start with one small step or one action that creates a new habit. The process is slow but it is vital we take that action every day because that action will create a new habit, which will create the MOMENTUM we need to accomplish our goals. The secret lies in the daily actions we take every day. This is different than anything our society shows. Our society shows the glamour and glitz of all these superstars but they leave out what it takes to become a superstar. Well, I have just given you the secret. It takes daily actions that will help you create a new habit. As you create new habits the MOMENTUM will propel you forward. Once you get the momentum, nothing can stop you but yourself. What are you willing to start today to get your momentum moving forward? Remember your best preparation to live a good tomorrow is to live a GREAT today!

I encourage you to find your success and results that you are looking for and it will allow you to have the GREAT day! Live each day to the fullest! Make each day the best of your life! Remember it starts with that first step!

Gary Wilbers

Are you a forgiving person?

Can you believe the first quarter of 2012 is over? Well, this would be a great time to review the goals you set for yourself in 2012. I just did a quick review and realized I needed to change a few things if I plan on accomplishing them by the end of 2012. The eighth action that I want to talk to you about today is one of those actions that is very challenging to do every day because our pride and ego gets in the way. The action is: I will greet every day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself and others.

I call this action the attitude of GRATITUDE. Over the years I have struggled with this action. I am a very strong willed individual so forgiving is not one of my strengths. Anyone that knows me well would agree with that statement especially my wife! Through the years I have been more proactive in having a forgiving spirit. I realized during my reflection and prayer time my greatest weakness in this area is that I am not willing to forgive myself and it is the culprit that stands in my way of forgiving others. This bible verse speaks to forgiveness:

Matthew 18: 21-22

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

I think this answer by Jesus makes it clear that forgiveness is not easy for any of us. It’s not a one-time choice and then we will automatically live in a state of forgiveness. It is a daily choice that we are willing to forgive ourselves and others. Forgiveness may require a lifetime of forgiving, but it is what makes us the person God meant us to be. Being able to forgive makes us a man or woman. Too many people see this as weakness; instead it is a sign of strength if we are able to forgive ourselves and others. The most important forgiveness comes when it is settled in our heart

So how will you go forward in this second quarter of 2012 and use this action to change who you want to be? Remember the eighth action is: I will greet each day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself and others.

Holding on to grudges can allow us to ruin days, weeks, months and years. As I take action on having a forgiving spirit it makes me become the person I want to become. Excuse me for cutting this blog short but I need to go forgive my spouse, AGAIN!