Passion Party #525 - Disappointment and Patience

We want what we want

and we want it now.

We want to be our own higher power

and we want to control

the beginning, middle and end.

 

But life has other plans

and these often include disappointment.

 

In the end

the amount of happiness we realize

and really, the value of our life

is based on

how we handle disappointment,

and if we have learned patience along the way.

 

As we learn to have patience

we also learn that

disappointment, like happiness.

is a passing emotion,

a chance to refocus, review and reflect

on what went wrong and what went right.

 

Disappointment loses its power

and patience often becomes

its own reward.

Passion Party #524 - Commitment

Why am I so scared?

 

Is commitment the first step towards success, or the last step towards certain failure?

You have all these ideas and plans, dreams and hopes

But to commit to one and not the other

to the song list

to the art work

to the project

to the assistant

to the art director

to the engineer...

 

Commitment involves TRUST

You are trusting the other person to follow through as well.

Commitment is rarely a solitary action

If you commit to a large enough goal

you will need the support of others to achieve it.

No man stands alone for long.

 

Last night I started to doubt my judgement

the closer I got to commitment, the more the doubt arose.

The "what if" and "maybe" reared their heads.

Now it is time to sit quietly

listen to that inner voice that brought me this far

to the edge of commitment

listen, look and feel,

and trust the decision.

Passion Party #523 - Count Your Blessings

"Count your blessings"

 

is something that your Grandmother told you

or perhaps you heard the expression when you were young.

 

But how many times do you

actually

stop

and count your blessings?

 

How many days go by

without realizing

how rich your life really is?

 

Today

even before I made coffee

I took a moment

and counted my blessings,

 realized the richness of my life.

 

Two pages later,

in gratitude,

I am ready to start my day.

Passion Party #522 - Ask

I have to let you in on the world's most powerful and neglected secret to success and happiness:

Ask.

 This simple three letter verb requires you to take action, creates momentum and guarantees a result (not always the result you want or expect, but you always get an answer).

But the key to asking is in learning how to ask for what you want.

Here is a summary from Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's book, The Aladdin Factor:

1) Ask with a positive expectation

2) Assume you can get it

3) Ask someone who can give it to you

4) Vague requests produce vague results.  Be clear and specific in asking.

5) Ask repeatedly.  As the owner of a company that I used to work for said, "The 'yes' is easy. When someone says 'no', that is when we have to go to work."

Today is the last day of our Kickstarter campaign.  We asked, and over 200 people said "yes", and we are now on our way into the studio to record our new album.

And it would not have happened if we did not ask.

http://kck.st/1pHBqzB

Passion Party #521 - Just Lean Into It

Success often happens when you just lean into it

 when you leave yourself open to opportunities

without a contract or any expectations.

Like the snowball that continues to grow as it rolls downhill,

leaning into it creates momentum.

Momentum is that unseen energy force that brings more opportunity

more resources

more people who can help you on your path as it unfolds.

38 years ago I threw my electric piano and all my belongings into a Dodge van,

and drove to Los Angeles to be a professional musician.

I had no job, no contract

I just leaned into the dream

I did not know then that my real purpose

was to help people with my knowledge, creativity and organizational skills

to build better lives

and that leaning into my dream

would lead me to a successful banking career

8 self-released jazz albums

a published book

and a wonderful wife and family.

You lean into it

You see how it feels

 The journey will take you where you want to go - or even someplace better.

Passion Party #520 - Fail Forward

"You can never learn less; you can only learn more. The reason I know is because I have made so many mistakes."
-Buckminster Fuller

Many people fail to take action because they are afraid to fail.
But if we look at each mistake as a lesson to learn,
then the failure is really just part of the learning process.

Mistakes are just opportunities for learning something new
and if I continue to
fail forward
if I am willing to fail and learn
then success will come eventually.

Passion Party #519 - Do It Now

There is no perfect time to start.

Preparation has its place

and you have prepared enough

the lesson plan

the rough sketches

all of the skill-building and training

Now it is time to get in the game

It is time to learn by doing

If you don't do anything

for fear of doing it wrong

then you will never get it right.

Get into communication with the people you want to serve

learn from the feedback

adjust your course as you travel towards the goal

Just take the next step

do it now