Here’s something you won’t hear very often, if ever. And you’ll be surprised to hear it from me.

Here it is – A Positive Mental Attitude won’t get you very far.

I know… I didn’t ever think I’d be typing those words for you to read.

There’s a myth out there that you might have encountered. It goes, “You can get whatever you want with a Positive Mental Attitude.” It’s sort of like everything that’s surrounding what you’ve heard about The Secret or the Law of Attraction. 

The reason it has become a myth is because it gets misinterpreted all the time. 

I hear it from people who are looking to level up: “I try to be positive.” 

The truth is, that’s hard during the best of times. And we’re not in the best of times. 

Wait, what? Did my Wednesdays With Wayne just become a downer?

Nope! I still wake up perky and smiling, even prior to being caffeinated!

Too often, people play with the idea of a positive mental attitude like trying on your grandparents’ trench coat when y...

I’m going to admit that I judge whiners. I don’t get triggered by much, and yet when people complain about their lives and don’t act other than to say that they know that they should do something, I get frustrated. It’s like watching a toddler, telling them what to do, and while they hold eye contact with you, they seemingly deliberately drop the cup that they’re holding onto.

What the…!

The problem is perspective. And the answer is also perspective.

So many people, and you could be one of them, sabotage their growth and potential because they say that they’re not ready. 

• I can’t apply for that job because I’m not ready.
• I can’t do coaching with you because I’m not ready.
• I haven’t started that thing that I really want to do/have/become because… I’m not ready.

That’s such bull….

Think about anything… ANYthing you’ve taken on. 

What made you “ready?” Was every aspect of your life fully in order? Did you know everything you were going to be doing as part of the p...

Who owns you?

We’re torn by the distractions of so many things that are important. There’s where overwhelm comes from. There are so many things, big and small, that need our attention. Feeling like you own your day comes from having a handle on your “to do” items.

You own them, and not the other way around. 

A lug wrench, a hair dryer, or a bread knife all show up at your door…  They’re each important in a certain circumstance and, if you’re packing for a picnic, only the bread knife is making it into your picnic basket. 

It’s not that what doesn’t go into the basket isn’t important. It’s that you’re exercising discernment for what’s important now.

The same way you could acknowledge that any tool has a place, you can look at the projects that you’re pursuing or the ones that you’ve put on your to-do list for someday. Somehow those “someday” projects continue to haunt you. I teach my high-performance DynamicLeader® clients that you can manage about three big projects at...

Hey…! Where are you going? 

No, really. Where are you going? You know that to get there, you want to pack a few things that will help you along the way. 

Essentials to pack:

1. Mindset
2. New Values

Yep… we’re working on mindset all along the way. Check out my signature mastermind retreat and my previous blog posts.

Values…? NEW Values?

Yep, because the old saying really IS true – what got you here won’t get you there. 

Think about who you were and what you really valued 20 years ago. Does the today you hold the same values as the yesterday you? Some of the core values of integrity, love, family, etc. maybe. But the other values of what you wanted back then… those would only slow you down today.

So think about who you’re becoming and where you’re heading. Actually, that’s backwards. Think about where you’re going.

Then PLAN who you’re becoming.

Plan who you’re becoming. That’s different.

What values will you need to live into as the person you want to bec...

What does it mean to really feel alive?

Are you filling your days with the things you love and live for? Feeling drawn to exploration is a prize, so are you ready to get out and explore or, do you have that nagging feeling like you “should” be doing something else… something more productive maybe?

It’s not uncommon, especially now as we focus on creating our own, personal, new normal.

There’s a conflict: 

What could I be doing? What should I be doing? 

People ask me how to balance their lives and the question of work-life balance still comes up. 

Work – Life Balance is a MYTH.

WE HAVE LIFE.

What we choose to put into that is our choice, every single day!

You can choose to fill your life with work. Or, you could choose to fill your life with not-work, whether that’s family, play, distraction, or philanthropy, you choose.

You will get more out of life when you choose something that lights you up, something you truly desire to do. What do you fill your days with?...

I’m a huge fan of the absurd. It’s all around us and it’s exhausting entertainment. 

I don’t watch people get triggered for the sake of entertainment, I simply keep my distance when the triggers happen. 

The truth about triggers, that sense of needing to say something or feeling angry because some injustice has been done, the truth is that a person’s core identity has been threatened. If you’re triggered by something, look for the Truth. Is it about you, or is it about the other person?

People in sales, in customer service, and in any social/public position face challenges and potentially having what they’re offering being taken out of context. There are those that live to be offended. That’s absurd entertainment in itself.

Think about what triggers you – being called a name? Being cheated? Being told what to do? Keep going, the list could be endless. What really triggers you?

Ultimately, the trigger is in YOU and not in the other person. They could call you a name ...

Doing your BEST. Being your BEST. Living your BEST life….

Those are such great concepts. So often I hear, “yeah, living the dream.” It’s a sad state of resolve that life isn’t that great and the person saying it is in a job they don’t love (or even like) and that they’re not really able to enjoy life at all.

Personally, I awaken perky. Annoyingly perky. I open my eyes and have gratitude, not for what the day holds, but rather for what I get to bring to the day.  Yes, I have obligations. Those are still “get to” items. Who put those things on my calendar? I did.

I’m responsible for what I put into my day.

I’m responsible for what I give to my day and for how I show up.

And because of that responsibility, I know that I need to be at my best. I’m at my best for me, for my family, and for the work I do. I’m at my best because by leveling up, I lift others around me. By lifting others, those who have been lifted will, in turn, lift. I choose to create positive ripples in th...

It’s not unusual to feel overwhelmed, especially now. 

We’ve all been through a lot. 

We pack things into each day, we push to do that bit more, and it feels like we’re never done. There’s always that bit more to do.

There will always be that bit more to do. We carry with us the weight of that which we have left undone, and it feels like we’re carrying mountains with us. 

We’re carrying the mountains.

We forgot this one truth:

The mountains were meant to be climbed, not carried.

Look at your day, what you’ve put into it, what you planned to do, what you actually did. Your calendar… is it aligned with your activities? 

Another truth:

Your activities highlight your priorities.

If you’re putting things into your day that aren’t helping you to climb the mountain, if you’re not actually doing the things that you declared were important to you, then of course it’ll feel like you’re carrying vs. climbing.

This is a gentle reminder to evaluate your day, your week, ...

We in the U.S. just celebrated the 4th of July, our nationally recognized Independence Day. It’s not the day we actually got independence, in fact the last signature on the Declaration didn’t even happen until August 2nd.  And freedom? Well, there are a lot of things to be said about that.

TODAY’S BLOG IS ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL FREEDOM

AND HOW TO STEP INTO A BIGGER LIFE

Pretty much 100% of the people I talk with and the people who become my clients feel like they are bigger than the life they’re living. If you’ve felt that way, just know you’re not alone.

I’m bigger than my current life!

That’s the ache. 

What can you do? One of the key questions I used to teach in martial arts, and it carries over to business and to your daily life is: What’s available to me now…? And now?  And now? 

Recognizing that each moment is different, your freedom – your personal freedom – is based in your understanding that no matter how difficult the situation YOU have choice. You may not ...

I’m a fourth-degree black-belt in a multi-disciplinary martial art of The Way of the Warrior, Bushido. I taught for almost thirty years, developing kids through the ranks, helping them grow into powerful beings in the world. And in some ways, I guess I’m still doing that with my clients. I bring them from feeling like they want to be bigger in the world to those who not only have power, but in turn lift others to feel more empowered.

There are certain pitfalls and dangers that are concomitant with advancing along the path of the martial arts. They are the lessons we need to look at and they become the collective push needed to keep going.  

When I was coming up through the ranks, the drive to keep going was fueled by the knowledge I was gaining. My thinking was that being a black belt would make me a super-human somehow. In some ways, it’s like looking up to the leaders of major corporations and modeling yourself after them. In the 80s, people followed Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca, ...