TriVita

The ultimate challenge is using our talents to achieve what we are purposed to offer mankind. It is the one definite life purpose each of us can truly focus on for the rest of our lives. Are you? Perhaps the oxymoron of that thought is definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement!

Napoleon Hill wrote that the starting point of all achievement is a definiteness of purpose; you should have one high, outstanding goal and always keep it before you. Have clearly defined plans for achieving it. Determine and fix your mind exactly on what you desire! In my words, it is to submit one’s self to God’s purpose for your life and focus clearly on fulfilling it.

For me, the ultimate expression of my life purpose is to develop a movement of people who are seekers of physical, emotional and spiritual wellness, and who share their wellness experiences with others while being reciprocated in money and what money cannot buy. It is the vision behind the launch of TriVita. The desire, passion and vision were birthed when I experienced incredible wellness after a debilitating health crisis. I truly had a life transformation!
Those of you who follow my blogs know I seldom talk much about what TriVita has to offer, but instead attempt to reveal the principles and insights that lead to fulfilling life purpose. It is in the fulfillment of life purpose that the quality of life we desire is truly found.

But today I do want to make an announcement for the Wellness Entrepreneurs in TriVita. Be watching for the WE POWER SYSTEM!! This is the greatest system and tool we have ever developed. It will be unveiled at Galaxy of Stars in July 2013!

In my book, I write about systems as being one of the essentials of wealth. Today huge amounts of wealth (not just financial) are being created in technology in the systematic way of sharing and retrieving information. Twitter and Facebook are just two examples of how many companies and lives are being enriched with systems. If you have a system, it can empower and enhance scope and speed of service. If you are truly interested in creating significant success for your purpose in life, find a system that will support it.

If you are interested in a systematic way of enhancing your wellness business, make plans to attend Galaxy of Stars! Hope to see you there.

Michael

Being a person who loves the outdoors, I know there are times when I could be confronted by a bear or mountain lion. In grizzly bear terrain, crossing paths with a momma bear and cubs is certainly a very fearful experience. Not often will you ever see a mountain lion but when it appears at close range the heart pounds. In either case the most natural thing to do is to run from the fearful experience; however, being an avid outdoorsman, I know that is not the wise thing to do.

My wife, Susan, loves to hike at the ranch. On several occasions she has crossed paths with a bear. One time she came around the bend in a small road and straight in front of her was her fear: a bear not intimidated by her presence. The bear stood up on its hind legs, agitated at her presence. Her outdoors training kept her from turning and running from her fear. Later, back at the ranch she shared this with me while still wide-eyed from the encounter!

Obviously the point I am trying to make is this: Are you running away from your fears, whatever they may be? Is it the fear of rejection that prevents you from sharing a great opportunity with someone? The fear of the phone in making a follow-up call? The fear of public speaking? Most would say yes. The comedian Jerry Seinfeld once joked that most people would rather be in the coffin than give the eulogy.

Probably another fear that many have is the fear of failure. In fact, this may be even more commonplace than the fear of public speaking. If you fear failing, is that fear causing you to run from the most worthwhile thing you could do to create abundance and advance quality of life for you and others?

Fear is a powerful force. It can neutralize our greatest strengths and it can compound our greatest weaknesses. It can rob us of great opportunities and worthwhile causes and dreams. It can hold us in its anxious grip at the time of critical decisions. It is so powerful it can bring us to our knees, or it can simply hold us captive as if bound in chains – unable to move in any direction.

One of the greatest examples of fear is in sports. In golf we call it choked or as we age, the yips. It simply is the incapacity to follow through in making a shot under pressure – even in a friendly match with a 3-foot putt to win and no money on the line! The great sport heroes who we all love will deliver the most amazing performances while under pressure, such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in golf. They face their fears and know they have practiced that shot or have hit similar shots so many times they are able to visualize making the shots while under pressure.

This month in the Valley of the Sun it is pro baseball spring training time, when professionals come to do what they have been doing since they were kids: throwing, catching, hitting and sliding into bases. Why does a pro do the fundamentals so frequently? So they can do the same thing under pressure, with peak performance.

The greatest gift you can give yourself is to not run from your fear but rather face it and take the appropriate action. It is our natural tendency to fear anything that looms large in our lives. But the more we practice confronting our fear, the more capable we are of taking the appropriate actions to achieve a better life experience.

While being calm and contemplative, take some time to list your fears as well as appropriate actions you can take to confront and overcome them. Your life is for living and for optimizing the purpose for which you are here on earth. And that purpose will always be centered around enhancing the lives of others as well as your own!!

Michael

Do your appetites, habits and yes, addictions, support your life dreams and purpose? It is an intriguing thought if we get really real with ourselves.

Susan and I went to Hawaii last month, which we have been doing for the last 43 consecutive years. We were at a fabulous resort which we truly love with an affluent clientele of interesting people. It has a little general store that is representative of an old Hawaiian building with wood floors and wood plank walls. It is not overly big but is jammed with everything from beach towels to eggs from a local farm. Well, this properly attired, middle-aged woman went to the counter right in front of me to purchase a dozen eggs. The clerk asked her if she wanted a receipt. The woman emphatically said, “Yes, of course, my husband is a CPA and he goes over every receipt. You would be surprised how many mistakes he finds.” I smiled and the clerk smiled, appreciating her sincerity.

She then proceeded to the door but suddenly stopped and said, “I had better open up this carton and count the eggs to make sure that all twelve are there and to make sure there isn’t a broken one.” Now that just blew me away. In my 67 years (and yes, I admit I don’t regularly do the shopping for our groceries but I have purchased many cartons of eggs), I have never thought about opening the carton to see if I had been cheated an egg. But what I found so intriguing is the practice and habitual thinking of this woman; obviously, she and her husband have a life goal of never being cheated.

But it did make me stop and think: Do my habitual actions, appetites and even addictions align with the goals and purpose for my life? The more I thought about it and reflected on so many other people I know, the intriguing thought became worthy of a blog. So many people want to be successful in life. They want to earn a bigger income, they want recognition for their efforts and success – but they think they can go into their closet where no one sees them and indulge in appetites, habits and addictions that really sabotage their goals rather than support them. As I tell our TriVita leadership, your private life can really never be separated from your professional life. We are not chameleons but we are always reflecting who we are inside.

So here are a series of questions that might help you get a better idea of what really drives you and if your goals and purpose align:

• What do you dream about when you are alone?
• What do you talk about when in public?
• What are you happy about?
• What are you sad about?
• What do you want in life… and how badly do you want it?
• WHY do you want it?

You may want to take the time to write out an answer to each one of these along with a description of your appetites, habits and addictions. You may be cringing a little, but if you are honest with yourself in answering the questions, you will gain insight as to what you really want in life – and if you are aligning your everyday actions to reach those goals.

Now some may struggle defining their appetites, habits and addictions. Some may find the word ‘addictions’ to be offensive but it really is a word to describe what we just cannot do without, such as cravings, needs and compulsions that make us feel functional. I have one that is less intense than what it has been in the past, but I am addicted to exercise. If I do not have it regularly in my life, I feel lousy, grumpy, and get down on myself. I am addicted to exercise. Fortunately, that addiction supports my wellness purpose in life! I have another addiction that is not supportive; I am addicted to spending as much time out of bed in a 24-hour day as possible. I fight that feeling and I embrace sleep as my friend, but I am not addicted to sleep. I acknowledge sleep as my friend to rejuvenate me but if it were possible to go 24 hours a day and not have physical consequence, I would never sleep. Life is to be experienced and the more experiences the better. Yes, I know and discovered that sleep is one the essentials of wellness!!

So here is my conclusion: If we can recognize and embrace our goals and purpose in life, be honest about aligning our appetites, habits and addictions with them, we have the wonderful opportunity of living out those goals and fulfilling our life purpose. But if we do not align those appetites, habits and addictions with what we desire in life, the chances of fulfilling those wishes are greatly diminished.

Pursue your dreams, goals and life purpose with passion and intention!

Michael

Stay tune for Michael’s blog on this topic to be posted March 4, 2013

Starting off the new year with a written list of goals and the plans to achieve them will get you out front of 97% of all people.  Only 3% of people take the time to write down their goals. Which group do you think achieves more in their lives?  This reminds me of a humorous quote I heard: “Life is like a dog sled race – if you are not the lead dog the scenery never changes.”  I keep this quote by my big relaxing chair where I ponder life and my purpose.  It not only inspires me, but I think it is one of the funniest quotes I have ever heard.  Stop and think about it: The lead dog gets the full view of not only what is right out front but also the entire horizon, with all its possibilities.  Any other dog in the pack simply looks at the rear-end of another dog and follows where it goes.  I don’t know about you, but lead dog looks far more appealing to me!

I have named 2013 “The Year of Possibilities.”  They are endless for the possibility thinker!  Some people seem to think the only option for us all is to run off the fiscal cliff together.  I did not plan on participating in the Great Recession and do not intend to follow the pack off the cliff.  It does not mean we don’t have to contend with the consequences of poor political leadership choices, but setting individual goals and writing our plans for achieving them will certainly give each of us the opportunity to run as the lead dog in the pack.

For those of you who have heard the “yellow pad” story of how TriVita was launched, you know how powerful written goals are.  Written goals are etched in destiny to be fulfilled.  It costs nothing but time; it is free except for the cost of a yellow pad and a pen.  But you will be amazed by the power of the written word.  In every single religious circle I have ever been exposed to around the world, there is something considered sacred about the written word.  While I am in no way intending to be sacrilegious, there is something sacred about the written form of goals and the plans to achieve them.

Here is what Brian Tracey writes in his blog about goal setting:  “If you follow my work, you probably know the success I’ve experienced by helping millions of people to set and achieve goals. The one thing I have discovered in over 30 years of researching success patterns is that a person of average intelligence who has the ability to set clear goals and has the discipline to maintain a goal-achieving mindset is 90% more likely to succeed than a genius without a plan.”

Start off 2013 ahead of the pack with your first 30-day written goals and achievement plan.  The sooner you do this, the closer you are to the success you desire for the new year and for your life purpose.

May you experience a lead dog life in 2013!!

Michael