'Your Life Starts at the end of your Comfort Zone'... Unknown

I know what you're thinking. You may be wondering and asking what happened with my experience at the 'Unleash the Power Within' Seminar with Anthony Robbins, this past weekend? My wife Silvana and I were blessed by achieving another element from our 'Bucket List', as part of our journey of personal growth. A live event with Tony Robbins. OMG.
Talk about recession and down economy? Recession what? I invite you to think for a moment about how we all perceive things and events in our lives, even when they are not real. Where do we focus our thoughts and actions? As we were driving towards Fort Lauderdale and remembering our past experiences with many events and logistics, we asked ourselves questions like, What would this event look like? Given the challenges with the economy and registration going from $595 up to almost $3,000 per person, how many people will really show up?
As we were making our way to find a space in the multiple levels at the parking lot, running to the registration tables and barely finding a seat in the main ballroom, our eyes were amazed witnessing the spectacle of more than 4,000 people and 300+ volunteers, congregated to meet with this high energy guru of self help and human potential called Anthony Robbins. A full house from 15+ countries, multiple languages and a room packed with contagious energy and anticipation, what an experience. My mind went back in time and I remembered the early 80s, when I was attending College, single, soul-searching for my biggest dreams, building my 'blueprint' of life and looking for more successful role models to follow. In that process, I started hearing about this innovative young man, nicely dressed, filled with confidence, holding seminars, conducting power talks and inviting people to walk on fire at the end of his events. I need to confess that even though it got my attention, my mind was also telling me it all sound like a gimmick, or, just simply massive 'brain wash' for the multitudes. It was pure personal judgment, without enough evidence. After 30 years of becoming a student of personal growth and self help tools, whether you and I totally agree or not with everything he says, I have learned that Tony Robbin's success is a product of his focused daily self-discipline, strong determination and passion for helping people. I was amazed not only by his incredible high level of energy, his structured and well-organized systems, also, I was impressed by his 'down to earth' attitude and on-going genuine smile from stage. Day 1 was a 'non-stop' marathon of more than 9 hours of pure adrenaline, role playing, body movements, exercises, group dynamics with visuals, music and tons of lessons to be personally learned and applied to my life. It was stimulation at its best.  I am now going through the many pages of personal notes I took, the powerful statements that triggered my mind and my emotions. But it was when I was walking through the booths displaying the many products and tools to better our lives, that I saw a T- Shirt with a statement that made me stop and got my full attention:
" Your Life starts at the end of your Comfort Zone"
Shocking. A strong 'wake up call'. My 'eyes were opened' to reflect about past & current events in my life and since, I have been asking myself: Are you too comfortable now ? Are you actually feeling uncomfortable doing new and different things? What kind of life do YOU really want? 
Decisions shape our Destiny. I respectfully ask you: 
What decisions are you making today, to shape your destiny? 
Are your decisions provoking some uncomfortable feelings? 
The Good news: If so, You may be starting the best years of your Real Life. 'See you' soon

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Hi, my fellow business owners and leaders. Days ago, we were talking about what most people knows as 'good luck'. I am sure you have reflected on this subject and you have been working your way to your own 'good luck' for this Spring. Along those lines, I was watching a video and heard a phrase that got my attention: 'Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance", it's so true. According to some statistics, 8 out of 10 new businesses will fail during the first year. One of the factors that leads to this is the lack of planning, or, not putting together a clear and simple business plan. Successful people are great doers and implementers. Yes, they are very good at getting into action. Their actions were preceded by proper planning. Once we have decided what we want, spend quality time on the how and when we are going to get there. Consider some key steps and questions you may ask yourself when planning: What will it take from my end? How much money and time will it take? Who should I hire to take care of some tasks? Who is in my support team?
John Maxwell has said: " If you have a dream, you need a team, If you have a team, you need a dream". How many hours will I commit for every day and week? What potential obstacles may I be facing? One question that I have found very important before we approach a goal: " How would success look like?" Take the time to write down these key questions. Be positive and be driven by your enthusiasm and also avoid unrealistic optimism, consider some failure rate in your actions.  My top key topics to consider in business planning: What is your goal? Who is your market? Define the profile of your ideal client. Define your niche. Establish your daily networking and selling activities. What is your unique product? What are the economics and numbers you want to reach on a weekly basis?
Prior Planning will take you places and will increase your odds for Strong Performance.

Today is your lucky day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everybody. Since the 17th century, the Irish and people from around the world have dedicated this day to celebrate Irish heritage and traditions. Whether we are Irish or not, it's an opportunity to gather, to embrace the new season, a farewell to winter and to start enjoying the colors of Spring, sunny days, along with new fashion, clothing and trends. It's a day to meet with friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. We will see parades, crowded restaurants and Irish pubs, shamrocks all over the place and much more. There is one symbol that catches my attention during these celebrations, it's the color green. As you know, this color Green has been associated with good luck for many centuries. Even though the original festivities are linked to a 3-leaf shamrock, according to legend, when someone finds a 4-leaf shamrock, it has also found good luck. I am sure you may be already wearing something green for today, to attract your good luck on everything you do. This makes me think about a definition of luck I learned many years ago. Good luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. When someone succeeds in life, when you have achieved your goals and enjoying success, very often, people may comment," How lucky you are", or, "Wow, look at her/him, she/he is so lucky". What it is not often seen or said, it's the dedication and hard work that has happened behind the scenes. It's the many years of consistency, of passionate drive to not give up on your daily actions. I want to encourage you to keep working on your dreams, to keep helping others achieve their own goals and be ready for your next pot of luck, that is, being prepared and ready when a next Opportunity knocks on your door. Remember, there is always a priceless reward for those who are persistent. Share with me your "Good Luck" success stories as you continue your journey towards your dreams. Happy St. Patrick's & Lucky Day to you...

Aloha...

Aloha. Once again, I have had the blessing to be able to visit Hawaii with my family. During the last couple of trips, we have made some amazing friends and they have been more than accommodating, to say the least. We’ve built such friendship that we refer to each other as Ohana, family. We can feel that warmth as soon as we arrive, greeted by their ever-welcoming “Aloha”. It means more than ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. Kama'ainas, or locals, tell me that ‘Aloha’ is a way of life. It is all we need to rightfully interact with the natural world. It is the attitude of the “Aloha Spirit” or the “Way of Aloha”. This sounds like an incredible philosophy and every visit I try to embrace this as my own. Listening more, respecting diversity, multiple opinions, perspectives, and backgrounds. These should be the qualities of a leader, the qualities of an effective communicator. Look at your team, and think of how diverse, how unique, how different they are, and how powerful using these differences can be to achieving your goals. Think of how many opportunities are within your team and how you can bring more qualities and diversity to life. Let us be inclusive, embrace others and their experiences in life. Effective leaders find their own formula to live with balance, create community and reach out to others. As we start a new week I invite you to ask yourself, How am I expressing love, compassion, acceptance and care for others? Are my team meetings catered to support this philosophy? Do I care about the different personalities and styles within my Team? Successful leaders achieve more by building lasting relationships. There are thousands out there who are just waiting for a holding hand like yours. Are you incorporating the ‘Aloha Spirit’ when coaching your team? Do you want to be a stronger leader? Want to lead more people? It is proven that first we must be willing to walk alongside, before pretending to walk in front, to lead others. Let’s continue our journey saying “Aloha”, with a genuine smile, a caring hand and intense joy.

Waka, Waka, esta vez hazlo por ti!

Durante el verano pasado, el mundo entero fue testigo de lo que se considera el espectaculo deportivo mas visto y mas relevante en el planeta: La Copa Mundo de futbol, conocido como soccer en los Estados Unidos. Casi 4 billones de fanaticos siguieron a los equipos de mas de 50 paises y 5 continentes.  Los jugadores dejaron atras sus diferencias politicas y religiosas, barreras de idiomas y distancias geograficas, para jugar al futbol, mientras expresaban su pasion por representar la camiseta de su pais, tambien se divertian y ponian en practica estrategias sofisticadas que habian desarrollado durante 48 meses anteriores a este magno evento. En ese verano del 2010, millones se congregaron en Sur Africa para rendir tributo y aupar a jugadores y tecnicos de todas partes del mundo. Durante la ceremonia inaugural, la mundialmente famosa y cantante Colombiana Shakira, descargo su increible talento, energia y pasion, mientras cantaba "Waka, Waka, esta vez, por Africa". Ese video ya se ha visto mas de 309 millones de veces en You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0) mostrando un colorido show de ritmos, danza, pasion, diversidad, coreografia, con mas de 150 bailarines en accion y gritando "Waka, Waka". Hace unas semanas atras, mi buen amigo noruego Stein Ove Fenne, quien vive en Copenhagen, Dinamarca, me compartio el significado de Waka Waka, una palabra del dialecto en Camerun, Africa. Insinua poner algo en accion, determinacion para salir y ejecutar algo: Hazlo, Hazlo. Me recuerda el slogan de Nike, Simplemente Hazlo. Mientras cantaba, Shakira animaba a los jugadores a dar el todo por el todo en el campo, representando a sus naciones, trayendo lo mejor de si, haciendolo por su Patria, sus seres queridos, por si mismos y por los billones de seguidores en el mundo entero. Les comparto parte de la letra de esta cancion: "Eres soldado, escoge tus batallas, levantate y sacudete,...ponte al frente, todos te observan, esto es en serio, el show ya comenzo, no se ha terminado, hay presion, sientela, lo tienes todo, creelo. Cuando te caigas, levantate, oh, oh. Si te caes de nuevo, levantate otra vez, eh, eh. Este es tu tiempo de brillar, no esperes en la fila.... la gente tiene altas expectativas de ti. Ve y muestrales, este es tu momento, no dudes. Hoy es tu dia, lo puedo sentir . Has trazado el camino, creelo.....". Te pregunto: Reconoces el poder que hay cuando te pones en accion? Eres una persona con una actitud de Waka- Waka, sin importar las circunstancias? Te invito a que desates al guerrero que hay dentro de ti. Libra una batalla a la vez, sal a conquistar, comparte lo mejor que tienes para ofrecer y gana hoy y ahora. Si, este es el tiempo, para ti: Waka, Waka!