Just One Guy (can start a movement)...

This is from the Sasquatch Music Festival 2009…    This guy was all alone in his own little world, while many made fun of him (secretly jealous, mind you) and laughed as he entertained everyone without a care in the world.

Next thing you know… The Tipping Point, which appeared to me to be guy number 3.  Guy number 3 was definitely the catalyst, and when guys 4 and 5 joined… it was on!  People not only wanted to join, they ran to join.

This lone, crazy guy started a dance party all on his own at the top of a hill at the Sasquatch Music festival, as far away from the music and main crowd as you could be….

What can you do?      What can you start?

In order to understand just how far from the stage this guy was, and how small this one guy was on the outskirts of a sea of people… see a longer version here showing the bigger picture…

Elegant Themes (Wordpress) Review...

I decided to review Elegant Themes Wordpress Themes because I use them so much and recommend them all the time to friends, coaching clients, and other folks interested in keeping a blog or building a website for business or fun.  I’ll just tell you now, that this Elegant Themes Review will be telling you how these Wordpress Themes are fantastic.    I just don’t see any negatives in joining Elegant Themes.

The best thing about joining the Elegant Themes Wordpress Theme “club” is that you get access to an ever growing and improved set of themes.  Nick actually improves all of his themes all the time.  If you downloaded a them in the past, but notice that one of the new themes has a feature or capability that you think you want… no fear, Nick will almost certainly bring that feature to the older themes with an update in the very near future.  I know, I know… this sounds like he might have paid me to write this review of Elegant Themes…  He didn’t, I’m just a huge fan.

Another thing I really like is the fact that that these themes can be used for blogs (of course), but they can also be used for regular websites, or professional business websites.   Many of them come with option of not looking too bloggy, if that’s even a word .   I’m always looking for Wordpress Themes that don’t look too much like a blog, but instead can be used for professional business websites. 

There are so many options for the use of these themes that its crazy… I used them in many different niche websites that I build or manage.   And, of course, if I need to customize these themes, no problem.  They are built so nicely that some customization can now take place in the actual admin area of the theme itself…  Elegant Themes have built in what they call the “epanel”… which is basically just a boatload of options built into the Wordpress Admin area for the theme options.  The page, post, front page, and widget options are numerous and helpful!

Lastly, once you become a member… you get access to the forum.  Each Elegant Theme has its own board and where you can discuss or showcase or get support for each Wordpress Theme.  I have even asked for help customizing, and Elegant Themes will actually just upload a new version of the code for me… This wasn’t expected, or asked for… they just did it.  That is awesome!  Now, they aren’t going to customize the crap out of your sites for you and you should’nt expect this either… but I can say that they do go above and beyond… big time!

Well, I can honestly say that I hope you end up joining the club… because I know you’ll be satisfied… it will surely be the best 20 bucks you have spent on Wordpress in a long time! 

Best of luck!  I hope this review of Elegant Themes and their Wordpress Themes has been helpful!    Once you join, let me know what you think… leave a comment.

Make it a great day!
Shane

Creativity & Collaboration (and fun)...

Its amazing to me what we as humans can do when we put our heads together.  I know this is just a simple, silly little video lip synching… but I believe it is these moments (especially when you can put yourself on the internet for all to see) that really make memories.  I find it motivating and inspiring when regular people work together (without even being paid for it), even if it is just for entertainment and fun.

Enjoy…

Free Graphics Tools & Generators...

Great tool for finding color schemes for sites and graphics:

http://www.colorblender.com/

Add reflections to any image with this tool:

http://www.reflectionmaker.com/

Create tab buttons:

http://www.tabsgenerator.com/

Generate striped backgrounds for your site for with this free online generator:

http://www.stripegenerator.com/

Create pixel buttons:

http://www.pixelbutton.com/eng

Lorem Ipsum generator (generates random text you can use in website templates or during testing):

http://www.lipsum.com/

Build simple web buttons with this button generator:

http://www.buttonator.com/ 

Create shiney Web 2.o Style buttons with this :

http://www.mycoolbutton.com/

Another free online glass button generator:

http://www.netdenizen.com/buttonmill/glassy.php

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our...

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. ~Michael Landon

I just love this quote. Its easy to take it all for granted sometimes… we get stuck in our rut… wake up, take shower, get kids to school, go to work, come home, homework, bedtime… repeat.

I challenge you to sit down by yourself for 15 minutes today and think about the things you always wanted to do… the things you were going to do… the things that you would have, should have, could have done, “if only”.

Make a list of these things, pick something, and do it. Learn a language, play guitar, start a band, forgive someone that wronged you, get in shape, start a business…. I’m sure your list is fairly long.

Do this for yourself! You deserve it!

I would love to hear what you have decided to do now. Please leave a comment and let me know.

Your Life Is An Occasion… Rise To It!...

Your Life Is An Occasion… Rise To It!
~Mr. Magorium

If you haven’t seen Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium… you should. Its a good movie. I loved this line as soon as I heard it. I rewound the DVD to write it down.

Treat yourself, and your life, with respect. Take yourself seriously. Give yourself the time and attention you deserve. You aren’t here forever… make your time here memorable, not only for you, but for those lives around you that you might touch should you aspire to be all that you know deep down you want to be.

If you think you're too small to have an impa...

If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
~Anita Roddick

We all have the potential to inspire, motiviate, change lives, feed the hungry, break down walls, do the impossible… We all have the power to have a huge impact on those around us, whether that be on a local level or worldwide. Never think you are too small, or too insignificant… you aren’t!

Go out today and think about this quote… find opportunities to make a difference… help an elderly person across the street, deliver flowers to a hospital, just smile at a child…. do something!

I think you will find this most rewarding. Try to do something to make a difference every day. Start with one positive action each day… soon you’ll be addicted and it will be a very worthwhile, lifelong habbit.

Principle #4: Believe It's Possible...

This one is a fairly short chapter, however it is the basis for much of what we want to achieve in our lives. Believing it is possible seems to be one of the most difficult things for people to do. Every day, all day, I hear people talking of all the things they can’t do. Unfortunately, I rarely hear people talk of all the things that they can do.

Napoleon Hill said, “You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and belief, the mind can achieve.” I’ve always liked that quote. Even if you don’t believe that the mind can achieve anything, this is still the place to start. Although I do believe it is true that the mind can achieve anything, it seems to me that there is something even more basic in the Principal. If you don’t believe it, you will never try… and if you never try it, you’ll never achieve it. So even if the mind isn’t the factor in this case believing you can is.

So, no matter what you’re trying to achieve these days, I suggest you begin believing in yourself and those around you. For many people, this seems to be a large stumbling block… I hope it’s not yours. Believe in yourself. It is possible. Get started today and take action as soon as possible.

Principle #3: Decide What You Want...

I really like this chapter. I believe it is absolutely true that you must decide what you want if you are to get it. You must know where you are going if you are to get there. It’s pretty easy to understand really, if you don’t know where you are headed, how do you know which road to take?

In fact, I think the vehicle is much less important to worry about than the destination. You first choose the destination and then evaluate the different options available. Its the same thing as when you decide to go to Colorado on Vacation… You first choose Creede, Colorado (notice how exact this is), and then you decided how you will get there… Will you drive? Maybe you will fly, or maybe you will fly to Colorado Springs and then drive the rest of the way… No matter what, when it comes to your life… you should decide where you are going FIRST.

Jack talks about making an “I WANT” List. This was a pretty fun exercise. You are supposed to list 30 things that you want to have and 30 things you want to do, before you die. The list helps you define what is really important to you. It starts pretty simple like, “I really want a new Mercedes”… but it gets deeper and deeper into “you” by the end of this process.

There are several exercises in this chapter to help you better define what you really want… but for me, it all starts with this next thing Jack talked about:

“Is worrying about making a living stopping you?”
This was my problem for a long time… I kept looking at things that I liked to do, looking for my “passion”, and trying to figure out how to make a living with it… and I always got stuck on this, thinking “how in the world can I really become a millionaire if I do ‘X’?” But as Jack put it: Tiger Woods loves playing golf, Ellen DeGeneres loves to make people laugh. Oprah Winfrey makes a living hanging out talking with people…. Again, choose your destination first, then lets worry about the potential vehicles. I work on this with my coaching clients all the time (which by the way, I now have a couple of openings for new clients if you are interested, just email me if you are interested), and it is something I personally love to do. I have so much fun doing this, and my clients have been surprised by the amount of opportunities that actually await them when we start talking about this.

I hope you are reading along… Please join in the conversation. I am getting quite a few emails from people on every post so far, but not many comments on the blog post… Please feel free to post a comment so everyone can benefit from the comments.

Make it a great day!

Principle #2: Be Clear Why You're Here...

This chapter of The Success Principles is all about finding your purpose, the reason why you were put on this planet. From my experience, there are three types of people concerning this matter:

1. The first group of people are those that don’t care… they never even think about it. They feel they aren’t even worthy of a “purpose”. As if a purpose in life is reserved for those that are successful, rich, celebrities, etc… Well, at least they have part of that right… the successful people do know their purpose, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a purpose. Jack says he believes everyone is here for a purpose, and I tend to agree with him… completely.

2. The second group are those that struggle day in and day out to figure out their life’s purpose. They know its out there, they want to utilize it, but they just cannot figure it out. This chapter does a good job in trying to help you find your purpose. There are a couple of exercises meant to help you find your purpose, and I believe they are pretty good at doing so. However, I will say right now that I think this is one of the most difficult things in life to do. It feels so permanent, so restrictive sometimes to name your purpose… I guess this is because you know it is such an important aspect of your life, or it is supposed to be anyway… and that if you know your purpose, you should, you must pursue it with all you do. Boy its tough… but more about that later.

3. The third group is comprised of those that know their purpose. Like Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, etc, etc… These people are truly successful. They know their purpose, and they have organized their entire life around that purpose. That is true success. But you know, those are just the names we know… There are people everywhere that know their purpose, they live full lives, they touch people every day. But that doesn’t mean they have banks full of money. That really isn’t really the point; to have money… but you know what, it doesn’t hurt does it!

For those interested, the first draft of my Purpose Statement, sure to be revised later to some extent, is:
“My purpose is to motivate & Inspire others to build and grow their own business so that they may obtain true financial freedom.”

Until next time…

Make it a great day!