Your Life The Symphony


 

Please view the above video, it provides a necessary context for this post.  You may not be a fan of Peter Cetera or Chicago, but hopefully you can appreciate what goes into the making of art and craft.

I love this song and have for many years.  The version in the video clip captures an artist who owns the work.  Unmistakable, how Mr. Cetera delivers something he birthed in 1976.  I imagine he had some say in how the song would be arranged and performed.  I imagine he had some say in who would perform the work of art as well.  You have a lot of power when a gift is in your hands.

After I found this clip, and listened to it a number of times, I couldn't help but see the similarities in the form of a life living and lived.  It gave me urgency around living out my Epic Life.  It made me stand back in awe of what the gift of life means…what it implies for all of us.  Do you know that your life is unfolding before your very eyes?  Do you understand that this is happening whether you choose to participate or not?

I want my life to be as beautiful and brilliant (like the sun) as the sound of a symphony.  Every instrument coming together to be somehting that could never be accomplished alone.  To be a voice that, if even faint, would be missed inside of something so beautiful.

I want the above for you as well.  My mission, my movement is to help you craft an Epic Life.

What I Do For Health And Fitness

The following is a typical day in my life relating to my health and fitness:

  • Running, strength training and Yoga (this group rotates depending on the day and goes for an hour)
  • Green tea (cold), oatmeal and coffee
  • Soy/Protein shake with fruit
  • Omelet w/tablespoon of cheese and salsa, soy and flax tortilla chips, flavored water
  • Yogurt wi/walnuts, granola, fruit (berries)
  • Deep breathes (easy to forget)
  • Green tea (cold), almonds
  • Lean meat, spinach and/or salad, some type of complex carb, 1-2 glasses of red wine
  • Dark chocolate
  • Apple

OK, now that I've given you what a day in my health and fitness life looks like, I thought I would give you a list of my weaknesses.  I am human after all.

  • Chocolate (all varieties and applications)
  • Sugar Cookies
  • Apple Crisp
  • Regular tortilla chips
  • Egg Nog
  • Pizza

I do indulge from time-to-time, but the first list is my "everyday habit." 

So why do I bother?  I've been given this gift of life and I want to take care of it.  I also have enough years of totally disregarding my health to know it's important to not take anything for granted.

 

 

A Few Of My Favorite iPhone Apps

I've been an iPhone user for almost a year.  I currently using the iPhone 4.  The device has made a positive impact on my work and personal life.

The following is a list of the apps I like most:

  1. YouVersion – My Bible app of choice.  Very functional and user-focused.
  2. TweetDeck – Great for my updates on Twitter and Facebook.  Everything is right before your eyes.
  3. Facebook – Allows me to stay connected to my Facebook account wherever I am.
  4. Milebug – Great app for keeping track of all of those business miles.
  5. Gist – A tool that consolidates news from the people I follow on various social networks.
  6. CNBC – All the financial news and information I need.  Bloomberg is good too.
  7. Entrepreneur – The app from Entrepreneur Magazine.  Great to have access to interesting articles when I'm not in front of my notebook computer.
  8. Cor.Kz – This app keeps track of the wines I love and has a great database for search needs.
  9. Nutrition Menu – An app for keeping track of what I eat and the nutritional value.
  10. Nke+ GPS – A great tool for my running.  Keeps me informed on my time, distance and the routes I take.
  11. iFitness – An app that has helped my fitness plan in spades.  A very interactive app.
  12. ESPN ScoreCenter – This app lets me stay updated on the scores and stats of the teams I follow.
  13. Pandora – A good app that has help me find music that I had forgotten.

I'm sure I could list more, but these are the ones that stand out.  By the way, the phone calling is much improved over the 3Gs version.

 

Yesterday’s Post

Just so you know, yesterday's post was a "re-post" from early 2008.  I forgot to note that.

It's important to look back and get a glimpse of your thinking at a certain point in time…only way to connect the dots.

Viva La Vida and Power


  

This video is from a song by Coldplay.  Maybe you've heard it before.  But have you had the chance to read the lyrics?  Take a look:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

One thought occurred to me this morning (very early); what if power is best understood once its been lost.  Maybe when you're powerless you gain the sweet awareness of what it all meant.  Sounds like the writer of Viva La Vida understood this.

In our time humilty is something we say we admire, but rarely do we want to actually, authenically, live it out.  There's still a bit of mental stigma with the whole idea.  Not many messages out there about letting someone or something else go first.  Sadly, we often crave to be number one and in-turn crave power.

What if power is a wild beast that can only be handled by people who understand its ferrious nature and all the dangers accordingly?  What if power is subtle and can sneak up on you after you've stop paying attention?

Here are some points to consider around power:

  1. Don't be fooled by all the treasure power can bring.  It can go as fast as it came.
  2. More organizations should require all managers to take a class/workshop on power.  I conduct these, so I am ready.
  3. Power can be a great tool to help.
  4. Power in the hands of arrogant and reckless people creates chaos.
  5. Learn humility.

 

A Book About Acting Up In The Workplace

I found a book that you should check-out.  Acting Up Brings Everyone Down is a book by Nick McCormick of Be Good Ventures.  The book is a short read, but is packed with wit, irony and useful workplace tips.

When I began reviewing the book, I couldn't help but think back to my days in the corporate world.  The irony was inescapable.  Nick does a good job at finding situations and anecdotes that breed a sense of relating.  I especially like the 3rd chapter, Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.  Sincere lying is an art form in some corporate halls.

The tips are also not to be overlooked.  Nick gives the reader no-nonsense help without resorting to worn out motivational techniques.  It's the stuff we no we should do, and shouldn't do.

Maybe Acting Up Brings Everyone Down will help us get back to some basics.

 

Aspiring To What’s Not Really There

Very easy these days to want success, fame and fortune.  I mean who wouldn't want that?  When the economy is not performing like we want or we're knocking on the door of landing a prized client, it kind of justifies our pursuit.  An understandable discontent to be sure.

But it's an illusion.  Think of it like a golden carrot that's always one step out of our reach.  And just like a drug, we keep coming back for more.  We always find an excuse for what we know deep down is true. 

In my experience what we aspire to should be Real and within our reach.  That implies that we can aspire to the wrong things.  And the wrong things create a question of trustworthiness.

Can you be trusted with the vision given to you?  Can you be trusted with the aspiration that comes along with?

The following are some tough questions to ask as you consider:

  1. Are you involved in things bigger than yourself?
  2. Can you be content even when nothing seems to break your way?
  3. Do you have a desire to find your limits?
  4. If you died today, what and how big would the void be?
  5. Do you have to "take" in-order to win?
  6. What charms you?
  7. Is there anyone besides God who knows all of your secrets?
  8. If you have attained some level of success, fame and fortune, could you walk away from it?
  9. If everyone you knew, and loved, recommended you give up, could you continue the journey anyway?
  10. Have you rejected comfort?

What’s Around The Corner

NYC-Taxi-Jason-Smith-1897 

No one really knows what's around the corner-in any respect.  It frustrates us, confounds us and can generally paralyze us if we're not careful.  It's a battle and riddle we all do a dance with.

My core answer has been found in my relationship with God.  Seems fitting since he knows what's around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't always a pretty picture.  I still have things in my life that I question why he didn't warn about what was awaiting me.  Over time life has met up with a lesson that when first experienced seemed straight from hell.  Funny how that can work.  He knows that even the crushing blow can produce something beautiful.

But what about the stuff we mostly control?  Our career choices, our health choices, our relationship choices.  A wise man once told me that 90% of my life would be determined by the choices I'd make.  That's staggering when you think about it.

So maybe we need to focus on making good choices.  Maybe that has some impact on what's around the corner.

My Way Of Life-Everyday

The following is a quote that describes my pursuits-every day:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."Theodore Roosevelt