False Motivation, Ghosts And After School Detention

In 1998 I finished an advanced degree program (post-masters) in Educational Leadership. This is the degree that is required in the State of Connecticut to be a school administrator. I had it in my head that I would like to be a high school principal, maybe even more.

I worked hard and sacrificed lots of family time for four years, taking one or two courses at a time.

I don’t regret getting the degree…it’s helped me in numerous ways, in being a better guidance director, in being a better speaker, trainer and businessman…in being a better all-around person.

But I looked at the responsibilities a principal had and asked myself if it was really worth the raise in pay after all the extra hours.

I did some calculations and found that by the hour, a teacher actually makes more than an administrator!

And I also asked myself if it was worth going through the politics that school leadership folks have to put up with…I’m not the best game player in the world.

But most importantly, I looked at the reasons I wanted to become a school administrator in the first place.

(This is where it gets deeeeeeeeeeeep.)

I’ll spare you all the details of the self-analysis, but truth be told, what it really came down to is this…

I wanted to be able to go back to a future high school reunion and answer the question “so what do you do now?”

with this answer…

“I am a high school principal!” (big grin with a sparkle of light beaming off my teeth)

And who would I be making that statement to? People I didn’t feel I measured up to in high school?

The girl who wouldn’t go to the prom with me?

A younger version of myself?

Talk about after school detention…I had been detaining myself for 17 years!

I’m not proud of thinking like that, but once I figured out…for real…what my motivation was in that particular instance, it made it very easy to disengage from that desire.

At the moment of clarity, I chose reality over chasing ghosts.

And the other truth is, around that time, Diane and I started building our first home business organization. It changed my whole focus in life in ways for which I will be eternally grateful.

NOW…

Let’s talk about you!

Who is detaining you?

Why are you giving them permission to dictate your lifestyle and your dreams?

Whose approval are you seeking?

What ghosts are YOU chasing?

Guess what? Those ghosts you’re chasing aren’t any better than you are.

They were insecure, flawed people who put their pants on one leg at a time.

And if they were kind, generous people who didn’t use you to validate themselves, then they want you to move on with your life.

And if they were rotten miserable S.O.B.’s, why should their opinion influence your life?

You have the permission of the ghosts to move on.

Besides, their are people in your current life who need you.

You don’t need love from the ghosts. They’re dead.

Look around as you conduct your daily life.

That person passing you on the highway (the one who isn’t giving you the finger) just might be a spritual brother or sister.

Or a future brother or sister.

So be kind…you never know who might be family!

Live in the now.

March 26, 2012 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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Mystery Of Manifestation Explained

Manifestation. A couple of years ago it was a popular and very trendy expression. Still is for many people in the Law of Attraction subgroup.

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Cool. But what does it really mean?
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Pretty simple. Manifestation is making something happen.

It’s taking something from your imagination…your desires and well, manifesting it into reality.

Sounds hippy dippy to some. Sounds like baloney to others.

To me it’s a process.

And that’s why I manifest.

I’ve manifested great physical and emotional health, loving relationships with amazing people, financial abundance, and the skill of being happy with my current circumstances most of the time.

Mind you, I haven’t manifested everything I want – yet. If I did I’d be insanely rich, and likely dead. I plan to make stuff happen right up to the point I stop breathing. It’s too much fun to do otherwise.

Like I said, manifestation is a process. Not that hard, actually. You imagine it, ask for it be happy with the direction you’re moving in, then keep your eyes and other senses open for people, resources and other circumstances that draw you closer to it.

The farther you are from the skills, behaviors, and (the big ones) thoughts and feelings that line up with what you want to manifest, the longer it takes for you to get there.

And there’s usually that shift you have to undertake for the biggies…a change in how you see the world and yourself.

But those are all “whens”, not “ifs.”

For someone who speaks the language of manifesting, it’s a done deal. Enough time and paying your dues in studying always yields the manifestation.

And like I said, when your time is up, you move on. What a ride!

So for most of us it’s not learning how to get the things we want that holds us back.

It’s learning how to learn how.

Big difference.

Once you get it, it’s all yours.

Your Partner in Prosperity,
Larry

HOW TO RECEIVE. I could have also called in “How To Manifest.” Check it out!

March 20, 2012 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Written somewhere in the neighborhood of 2002, when my girl really was a girl! See yourself in it?

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Yesterday, the Rockies (Jill’s team) beat the stuffing out of the Florida Marlins, 12 – 6.

And I know exactly why we won.

Coming from our embarrassing 11-2 loss, Jillian and I got there nice and early so we could take some batting practice. At the last game our scorekeeper Steve pointed out how we struck out a whopping 14 times in six innings! Six of those 14 were called third strikes!

We went down without a fight!

So obviously a key for us was hitting the ball, or at least not being afraid to swing.

I remembered my own ball playing days… how I self-corrected my swing with one simple move.

If you’re a baseball fan, you know how complicated people try to make hitting. Adjust your hips that way, point your front foot toward the sun, click your heels together three times, etc.

The one simple move that caused me to start hitting line drives instead of weak ground balls was the following…

Keep your eyes on the ball while you swing the bat.

Sounds obvious right?

But the truth is, people try to swing as hard as they can, and when they do, they tend to pull their head off the ball.

Makes for a harder swing, but an inaccurate one. A hard choppy swing in the wrong place will cause the a miss, a ground ball, or a weak little pop up.

I remember swinging with all my strength and hitting frail, useless little infield flies.

Then I remember making my adjustment and finding the gaps between the outfielders.

Run Larry, Run!!

So I transferred this memory to the Rockies who showed up enough before game time to take batting practice. Six girls were made to keep their heads on the ball all the way through the swing.

They sprayed line drives all over the place!

So what do you think happened at game time? Beside that beautiful final score, the Rockies struck out a total of six times in five innings. Only ONE player struck out looking (who wasn’t at batting practice.) Even the outs were fun!!!

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Now, let’s talk about YOU!!!!

When you’re doing important stuff, are you flailing away wildly, only connecting on a little piece of what you need to do because your head isn’t in the right place?

Or are you not swinging, waiting passively for someone to tell you that you can walk, even if you’ve only advanced because of someone else’s mistakes?

Or is your energy FOCUSED and CONCENTRATED on the target, with your head in the right place, so that when you make your move, you create an IMPACT that causes a chain reaction of success?

Step up to the plate and take your best swing!

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It’s Spring time Baby!

People are in production mode.

They’re selling. They’re buying.

They’re raising their energy.

And they’re looking for people to do the same.

Get the bat off your shoulder!

March 18, 2012 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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A Burning Law Of Attraction Question…

So here’s what I posted recently on my Facebook wall…

“Thoughts Become Things.” …WRONG

Thoughts become possibilities.

Without the fuel of self-worth, commitment and persistence they become FANTASIES.

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With that fuel, Thoughts Become REALITY.

Makes sense, right?

So here was a good follow up question…

What if you don’t KNOW what actions to take? Any action I take in this does NOT seem to work. I’m just hoping these seeds will grow at some stage.

And the answer, which by the way is completely correct…

Great question! From experience, once you decide what you would like and make a commitment to it, the path actions that help you get there reveal themselves. Then the “work” doesn’t feel like work, it feels like fun!

And of course, being a proud self-promoter, I threw in a plug for my book…

Suggestion: take a look at HOW TO RECEIVE. We just finished a class on this very topic. The book might help you.

It really does work that way!

Or if you like, you can grind it out and sputter your way toward mediocrity.

I know which way I’m going. :)

March 13, 2012 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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I Never Got My Treehouse

When I was a little guy, my father told me next weekend he and I were going to go to the backyard and build ourselves a treehouse.

I was excited. My very own treehouse!

The weekend came around and he got busy. Fear not…we would get to it next weekend.

And then that weekend came around, and it didn’t happen.

And the next…and so on…until I stopped asking.

Now before we go too far, this is not a story about how bad my father was. In fact, he was a great father. Still is, to his middle aged “boy.”

It’s not really a story about my father at all. It’s a story about me. And probably you too.

We know how this works, because we all do it in one form or another. We start out with the best of intentions. We make a commitment to someone, or ourselves. That thing will get done.

And then life rearranges our priorities a bit. We put it off for a few days, or next week, or next month.

And we do it again.

Pretty soon it’s off our radar screen. Other stuff commands our attention.

And down the road we remember, “Hey, I never got my treehouse!”

Now when we think about that we have a few choices…

1. Be mad at the S.O.B. who didn’t deliver on his promise. Use that as an excuse for all the things you didn’t do, the chances you didn’t take, the feelings you never got to feel.

2. Resign yourself to the fact that you’re just not important enough to be remembered. There’s definitely something wrong with you that your father (who fed you, sheltered you, loved, you, coached your baseball teams, showed you what it means to be a man, etc.) didn’t deliver on that one thing. Run with that lack of self-worth based on that one thing that didn’t go the way you wanted it to.

3. Realize you are a human being with an unlimited capacity for drawing resources to you. You don’t have to be a victim of hurts – real or imagined – from your past. You can use each of them as learning experiences and leave a space of love and laughter where there was humiliation and hurt.

How would that manifest here?

* You can get a book on treehouse building, and take a trip to your local lumberyard. (Bonus points if you do it with your child.)

* You can call your dad (if he’s still available) and invite him over to finish the job you never started.

* You can go to a funky restaurant where they serve your meal in a specially built treehouse, or hut on the water, if that’s more your thing.

* You can decide the craftsmanship or architecture of an expertly constructed medical procedure, sales proposal, service call or anything else you got good at is more valuable than building a plywood monstrosity in your backyard. I chose the art of helping people build lives into works of art, decided it was more fun to build the written and spoken word than a treehouse.

Long story short: Being a victim of your past is always a choice, no matter how rough it was. You can always make a new choice with the awareness you have right now.

March 8, 2012 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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