Opinions

News
No new updates for this week.

Instead of sharing a quote and my thoughts this week, I've decided to share a story from Paulo Coelho.

Story
In a kingdom of Arabia lived a queen called Layla. Her wisdom illuminated the land like the sun, her beauty blinded men, and her wealth was greater than any of her subjects.

One morning, her chief advisor asked to see her, and said:
"Great queen Layla! You are the wisest, most beautiful and wealthiest women in the world. But I have heard unpleasant things; some people laugh at or complain about your decisions. Why, in spite of all you have done for your subjects, are they still not content?"

The queen laughed and replied:

"Loyal advisor, you know how much I have done for my kingdom. Seven regions are under my control, and all of them have enjoyed peace and prosperity. In all the towns, the decisions of my court are just and inspired.

"I can do almost everything I wish. I can order the frontiers to be closed, the gates of the palace to be locked, the treasury coffers sealed indefinitely.

"But there is one thing I cannot do: make the people shut their mouths. It matters not what false things people say; the important thing is to continue to do that which I consider to be true."

Opinions

News
No new updates for this week.

Quote
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”
-Plato

Thoughts
Did you ever meet someone and you knew that you should just keep quiet and listen to what they have to say? Personally I have more than a few times so far in my life. However, I think sometimes people get so concerned with stating their own opinion that they never actually listen to what the other person is saying.

It's interesting that almost everyone has an opinion about everything regardless if they have even the slightest knowledge of the subject matter. People will spout off their opinions at anyone that is willing to listen. People give relationship advice, even though they've been in a string of bad relationships. Perhaps they would be better suited to tell you what you shouldn't do. People give health/workout related advice even though they haven't maintained a workout program for any decent amount of time.

The one that I find most interesting of all is business advice. Someone decides they are going to start a business and all of a sudden everyone around you is an expert. Most will give you a list of reasons why your business will fail and yet most of the time these people have never run their own business. Even the so called experts aren't always right. I'll share two stories with you. One from 2008 and one from one of my recent meetings.

In 2008, while I was still a defense contractor, I was in Tokyo for a few months doing some analysis work. One night I was out at a bar with a coworker of mine and this group of older business women walked in. The oldest one of the group sat down next to me and it turns out she was American. Now I had no idea what this woman did for a living but it appeared she was well known in Tokyo. Anyway, we get to talking and she asked me what I planned on doing over the next five years. I mentioned that I was gong to start a business and eventually a health club. She proceeded to tell me why that will never work (and she knew a vast amount of information related to the health club industry in Korea). So she gives me her business card and it turns out that she was the Asia-Pacific President of a huge international market research company. So she was a recognized expert in her field. And she asked me if that changed my mind. I said no it doesn't. She told me I was a fool and it would be the worst decision I ever made. Anyway, I eventually told her when I become successful I would come back and defecate on her desk. At that point she smiled. She shook my hand and said "Congrats, you will be successful as long as you maintain that attitude.". She then explained that market research can explain almost everything, but one thing that is hard to take into account is passion. She said with enough passion and persistence that anything is possible. With that her and her entourage left.

Now flash forward to 2011. I was in a meeting with the director of a market research company. He proceeds to tell me for almost 30 minutes why this business approach I am taking will never work in Korea. He then tells me to stop wasting my time and give up. He is an expert in his field and he was very adamant in his argument. Did I follow his advice? Of course not. Shortly after this meeting I sold two coaching/training packages to two companies. The funny thing is one of them is one of their rivals. It is another market research company that is ranked higher than them. I now have eight other proposals out. I would say that half of them are looking very good.

What is the point of all this? If you want to make a decision, consult yourself first. Do you really want whatever it is that you are trying to make a decision about? Who knows you better than you? If you decide to seek advice make sure you seek a worthy source. After all, asking someone who is always in debt for financial advice is probably not the best idea.

Have an amazing week.

A Painful Lesson

Happy New Year, and I hope it is off to a great start.

I wanted to share a story with all of you that I believe shows how oftentimes we have to go through some difficult circumstances in pursuit of our goal.

A few days ago I was working out in the gym. When I started the workout I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was. Something just felt off. I chose to ignore the feeling and continue on with my workout.
I almost always finish my back workout with deadlifts, however I kept getting this feeling that I shouldn't do them.
Once again I ignored the feeling. This turned out to be a very painful mistake.

During my final set of deadlifts, I pulled the bar up to my knees when I suddenly felt and heard a pop from my lower back. I dropped the bar and fell back. Interestingly enough, I pulled my lower back muscle last December during my final set of deadlifts. This time it was also a pulled lower back muscle (and possibly a herniated disc).

As I was laying there wondering what went wrong a trainer came up to me. He asked me if I was okay, and after that proceeded to lecture me on why I shouldn't lift heavy, why I shouldn't work out too hard. Eventually I managed to get up, and go home, although I wore a weight belt for the rest of the day. The pain was fairly intense the first night and the next morning but, now I am feeling much better.

What are the lessons from this story?

1. Trust your intuition. I should have listened to my intuition, and not done the deadlifts. While in pursuit of any goal your intuition will guide you to what is right, and what is wrong.
2. Everyone has opinions. The trainer's lecture will not stop me from attaining my deadlifting goals. As you pursue your goals people will tell you that you can't do it or that you shouldn't do it. Only you can decide what you can and can not do.
3. Persistence. As I said last December I pulled my lower back muscle. I was chasing after a deadlift goal of 495lbs. About three months after that injury I hit my 495lb deadlift goal. I will come back from this injury stronger than ever. We all encounter obstacles and set backs on the way to achieving our goals. I look at them as tests, testing our desire. How bad do we really want whatever it is that we are going after? Do not let those obstacles and set backs stop you from achieving your dream.

Until next time....

Fear

What keeps holding us back from doing what we truly want to do, what keeps preventing us from what we truly want to become? Well besides the fact that we don't believe in ourselves it is also fear. The two main fears we face are fear of failure and fear of criticism.

So often, we don't go after what we want because we don't actually believe we are capable of attaining it. Instead of even trying we just give up, "What's the use?" we usually say to ourselves.
Another thing we love to do, is go around and get everyone's opinions about things that we want to be, do or have. The funny thing is usually the person you are talking to has no experience regarding the advice you are seeking.

I want you to really sit down and think about "What do I want to do?", "What do I want to be?", "What do I want to have?". I mean really give those questions some thought and write down your answers. When you are finished don't go running around asking everyone their opinions, instead start off in the direction of your dreams.

Until next time......