Giving begins everything.

Dale Carnegie once said "you are always getting what you are giving"

- Give what you want to get.

This is a challenging concept to live by. We have been brought up in a competitive society that says it's "dog eat dog out there," "survival of the fittest," "compete or die," "take what you want" or "get the business before someone else does." All of these old sayings are based on the idea that there is "not enough to go around" and yet is that really our experience? It wasn't all that long ago that the whole world's population was less than that of China's today and yet we continue to feed more and more people. In the sixties, I remember (I'm dating myself here) when the newspapers had stories weekly fretting about "how were the baby boomers going to find jobs? Where were they all going to come from?" and yet today over 95% of the US population is employed. (and that does not count those with two jobs or those who work under the table). The Universe is abundant. The sooner that we realize that there is plenty of everything, the sooner we are able to give without worrying how it will return. Giving what you want to get is about more than money. Money is certainly a big factor in most people's lives. You could experiment with giving what you want to get without using money to prove this Universal Law for yourself and in the process "Wake up" to one factor that is blocking your success, joy and happiness.

Whatever you want to get in life, give it first. Start with the end in mind. Think about anything you would like to get. You could start with your spouse or significant other for example. Let's say you wanted to feel understood then you would start by giving your spouse more understanding. Let's say you wanted "to be heard" at work, you would listen more, giving your undivided attention to all those around you at work. Let's say you wanted more friends, you would become more of a friend to others. Let's say you wanted more money, you would start giving more money. By giving more of all of the above, you would be changing and things change when you change. You could prove this concept to yourself in a short time without giving more money and then you could experiment with money in the same way. Give more, get more. Give without expecting a return, especially from who or where you give it. Just know that "what goes around, comes around" (remember that old saying?). Cause and Effect. What kind of harvest can someone who plants the seed of a "taker" expect in the long term? What would the eulogy of a "taker" sound like? Now that is truly starting with the end in mind.

If you died tonight, what would your eulogy sound like? Giver or taker? Which one sounds more powerful?

Giving what you want to get is more powerful because you cannot give what you do not have. Giving something has the power of faith behind it. You give something because you believe you have plenty to spare and share. The Universe assumes that you have plenty and this faith assures that you will get more. How do you feel when you give? People share in my seminars that when they give they feel great. Why is that? It is because that is how we are hard wired. Deep down we know the power of giving. Over time we are taught by a "lack mentality" that surrounds us that we have to "hang onto what we have worked hard for." Really now, do you know anyone who died and took it with them? How did hanging onto it help them? Everything in this world expands with giving. If we all started to hang on to everything we had tomorrow, what would the world look like? In a very short period of time, we would see super contraction. Imagine everyone holding on to everything that came their way, no giving. See how absurd? Get the picture? Relax, have some fun, loosen your grip, give what you want to get.

Unless, that is, you do not want more of anything.

Earthlings or Universal Travelers?

Which one are you? It's pretty easy to answer "earthling". Earthlings have bills to pay, a business to run, or a job and a boss to report to...illness, loss, tragedy...etc, etc, etc. There are few miracles in the life of an earthling. Earthlings sin and wish judgement and damnation for sinners. Earthlings have the perfect religion that will get them into heaven.



A Universal Traveler knows life is infinite. There are no limits to what one can experience and achieve. Challenges are required. Tragedy, a lesson. Everything is a miracle in a Universe, no burden only gifts. Sin a myth...what happens on Earth stays on Earth.(Cause and Effect)...Universal Travelers know the Universal energy does not judge... there is no right or wrong, no up or down, no night, no day...everything just is.

How do I know you ask?

This is what I experienced on 11/18/2002, as I nearly died that day.

The day I went from Earthling to Universal Traveler.

Remember, we are hurtling through space at 65,000 miles per hour, on a garden planet in the midst of a void, a vacuum. Isn't that a miracle?


Gratefully yours, Steve

Making others wrong so we can be right.

People who lack inner belief in themselves spend much of their time talking about what they have accomplished...pointing it out over and over and also spend an inordinate amount of time pointing out the mistakes or flaws in others.

In order to cover up their own inadequacies, they must make others appear "less than"...or make them wrong. Their own deep insecurities are the cause of this behavior.

People with confidence and certainty about themselves have no need to make others wrong.

The next time you hear someone talk inordinately about their past achievements or drag others down, have some compassion for them, as they have a deep seated feeling of being inadequate.

Confident people can easily praise and acknowledge others and have little time for gossip or self aggrandizement.

The only person we can control in this life is our selves. Spend time working on yourself and make others right, not wrong and remember...if you have to "pump" yourself up in front of others, it is telling others that you have a "deflated" sense of self.

Hopefully, they will have some compassion for you.

Waking up in life is not religious.

Being awake in life is not religious. Most of us are asleep. I alternate between being awake and being asleep. Living an awakened life means that one reaches the state of witnessing one's self, witnessing one's reactions......what could be called "default patterns". Without being awake enough to witness where we falter, how could we even expect to change? In a Cause and Effect Universe, change is required to create a new future and most of us are asleep to the what it takes to wake up in life. It takes a force of will to wake up.

The Master is within and Life is the teacher......life will work to wake you up, repeating what you resist. Waking up is taking responsibility for what shows up in your life. The Universe will mirror back where we need to grow, with a sense of humor too. People and situations that bug us are parts of us......the exact things that upset us, the people that upset us are the places to start looking........whatever we would accuse another of......we have it somewhere or we need to grow by addressing it.......wake up and grow............Imagine not knowing?

Asleep and a power-less victim or awake and a power-full creator......which sounds better?

It is a Universal Law......no religion required.

Gratefully yours, Steve

Rules for Living in a Universe

I think that there is one simple rule for living in a Universe. Honor your highest self, in every moment. Period.

Humans actually require no laws. No Congress, no police. The Universe is Cause and Effect. Any person who lives not honoring their highest self is creating that effect in their life. Their highest possibilities are not returned to them. What you give out you get back.....like throwing a boomerang.....would you put sharp blades on a boomerang and throw it out? Unlikely and yet constantly we do with our thoughts, words and actions.

How many times have I done that? Thousands......

If I am living to honor my highest self, I would see the Divine in all, in every thing. What if I saluted the Divine in you and in every one I met? What if my thoughts were all about helping you and not about what I could be getting? What if, in every moment, I left everyone and everything a little better than I found them? What would that return to me in a Cause and Effect Universe?

If I was a boat, what is the wake that I am leaving behind? Do I even notice?

What if I thought about that wake behind me before I acted or reacted? What if I learned to be proactive in every moment, honoring my highest self?

What if I gave up judging others? What if I let every one else determine their own Cause and Effect and concentrated solely on my own? What if we all did that?

What kind of world would this be?

What if we lived like this were the only moment we had? What if we lived knowing that we could never be destroyed or harmed no matter what it looked like? What if we lived without fear of loss, or without any fears?

Somewhere, deep down, I believe that since we live in an Infinite Universe, among Infinite Universe's......that energy itself is Infinite, and that since we are energy, we are Infinite. The idea of loss is a mirage. Honoring our highest self, means living without fear of any loss. We do not lose our lives, we gain the Infinite. I was here one second and gone the next and I had no loss of my "Consciousness".....my non local self remained.....without my body, I was not gone.

We are here to learn. The Master is within and Life is the teacher.

Honoring my highest self means that I give up any idea of loss and fear and speak my truth. I stop before reacting as often as I am awake enough to catch my reaction tendencies and then make the choice that I feel deep within me. You know the one......I know you know.

Honor your highest self in any moment and see what unfolds.

Living in a Universe is truly a miracle.

Gratefully yours,

Steve

What is life calling you to do?

I often think about my calling. Am I honoring what I was put on this earth for? Am I truly using my gifts or just doing what it takes to get by? Is a paycheck most important? I think back to my childhood where I spent 15 years or more thinking I was going to be a priest. I thought that was my calling. Since then I have been in sales, hiding out, getting a paycheck. It's been good training for my true calling. Motivating people to go for their dreams. Motivating people to push through the doubt. To keep going no matter what.

All my years in the business world, in sales or management, have been the perfect training, preparing me to help others. Waking people up to a life of possibility meant that I would have to go through and face all the challenges that those I coach will go through. I have faced death,disappointment, loss, health challenges, business failures, relationship failures, taken risks that worked and didn't, along with the disapproval of others. Who better to coach others?

Following a calling isn't always right there at age two or five like Tiger Woods. No one would call me the child prodigy of coaching. What is life asking you to do? What is your journey preparing you for? Your calling could be ready for you at five or fifty five. The journey could be the key for you. Either way, relax into life, surrender. Accept the moment, each moment. Pay attention to the little things that people come to you for. Your gifts are there. Put a smile on your face. Know that nothing is out of order in a Universe and nothing is out of order in your life. There is no perfect recipe for a life of joy that you can buy. There is only your recipe and it's perfect. It's waiting for you to accept it and surrender. That's when magical doors will open. Life is only waiting for you to accept the now, with a smile, a laugh, a sense of humor about yourself. After all, you are perfect.

Maybe your calling is just that. Acceptance of yourself and your journey just as it is. Perhaps then, what you do to make a living won't make a difference.

Be happy, your perfect.

What Makes A Great Leader?

What Makes a Great Leader

An Invisible one.

To me a great leader creates an environment where everyone feels that they are part of the process and responsible for it.

The best leaders that I have observed in my working life demonstrated their greatest skills when the left the organization or were promoted. The best leaders left behind many skilled, trained people who were capable of taking over for her or him. They left behind a bevy of others who took leadership posts within their department or company. Their top assistants were tapped to lead. Turnover among a great leaders assistants was low or non existent.

The best leaders let the assistants take credit for the wins and for the losses the best leaders stand up and take the blame. They create an atmosphere of responsibility by taking responsibility. The weak leaders push off the responsibility for negative events to others and take all the credit for the positive events.

The great leaders create space for all those around them to shine, leaving the spotlight for others, as they know their true skill lies in building up those around them, not dividing or degrading them.

Can you share the credit? Can you take the blame? Or better yet, can you take all the blame and give all the credit to others?

When things go awry would you or do you stand up and say "I am responsible for this and here is what I would do better next time or this is what I learned....."

To create a culture of people who take responsibility for their jobs requires a leader who takes responsibility.

Where there is finger pointing and blame.....guess where it started?

The old Japanese adage is "when you point the finger of blame, there are three fingers pointing back at you......

What is your experience of great leaders?