Learn the Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Archives for Inspirational




Jan

11

How to Believe in Your Dreams - 3 Steps

January 11, 2010 | 16 Comments


Belief is a powerful word - the state of knowing and feeling certain that something special is coming your way. Through my own personal experience I’ve found that creating that state of certainty - to believe in your dreams - has 3 steps.

Here are 3 steps to believe in your dreams:

Step #1. Love What You Do

Recently I was watching Steve Jobs present his commencement speech to the Standford College graduates.  Steve is one of the co-founders of Apple computers.  Although Jobs is not a college graduate himself he had an important message to help anyone create belief in their dreams.

Steve said that many people try to connect the dots looking forward so that they can see what their life will look like in the future.  He said that’s the wrong approach because connecting the dots only happens when you’re looking backward.  It’s only after something happens in your life that you realize how it got you to where you are.

He gives the example of when he got fired from Apple.  He spent 10 years of his life building this multi-billion dollar company.  And when he got fired at the age of 30 it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him because a few months later he met his wife.

Jobs says that you can’t connect the dots moving forward.  You can only have faith and believe in your dreams.  Jobs says that the only thing that kept him going all those years when he faced adversity was the fact that he absolutely loved what he was doing.  The lesson?

Do what you love and love what you do.  To believe in your dreams, make sure to find what you absolutely love to do and the go out and do it.

Step #2. Always Think On Paper

I was at a seminar in Universal City last year and saw some amazing speakers and presenters.  One of them was the rich dad from Robert Kiyosaki’s popular book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  He said something that I’ll never forget,

“Always think on paper.” ~ Keith Cunningham

That means taking a pen/pencil and writing out what you want.  Then taking that initial draft and rewriting and refining it until it feels right to you.  Creating a state of certainty starts when you know what you want.

Have you ever been to a restaurant when the server suddenly came by to take your order?  And because you were unsure of what you wanted, you fumbled a bit?

It’s exactly the same with your dreams.  If you’re unsure of what you want, you start to fumble and doubt yourself.   That doubt is a dream killer. Click here to read more…

Dec

28

Top 10 Video Blogs for 2009

December 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment


I thought I’d share some of the more popular video blogs I put together in 2009.   It’s been just over a year since I introduced video to my blog.  Although awkward at first, I started to get more comfortable with the format because I felt like I could be myself.

I thought this list might provide some added inspiration and motivation to help you kick off the new year.

Here are the Top 10 Video Blogs for 2009:

#10   How to Change Your Thoughts, Fast!

Changing your thoughts (especially the nagging ones) is not as difficult as it sounds. You can do it very quickly when you have the right tools. It’s just a matter of having a willingness to learn something new so that you can change your thoughts.

In this video I’ll show you exactly how to change your thoughts fast using the swish pattern.

#9   The No.1 Strategy to Make You Feel Better

This strategy works for me every time and it will work for you too - to make you feel better; and here’s the best part. It’s so simple. You can do it at home, at work, with friends or family - with anyone at all. You could do it with a total stranger!

#8    How to Make Bigger and More Inspiring Pictures

The video is less than two minutes long and it will help you make bigger and more inspiring pictures.

Click here to read more…

Apr

15

3 Fun and Inspirational Videos on Youtube

April 15, 2009 | 1 Comment


You gotta laugh sometime, right?

These are three of the funniest and most inspirational videos I’ve come across on Youtube.  They’ll make you laugh, they’ll entertain you and you’ll have fun watching them.

Abraham: Case of Cognitive Dissonance - Esther & Jerry Hicks

Is being spiritual sound like too much work?  Check out this video.

The T-Mobile Dance

This one is too much fun to pass up.

Web 2.0 Expo NY: Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library)

Gary is hilarious.  You can tell that he loves what he’s doing for a living.  Gary shares some tips on how he went from nobody to celebrity in 17 months.  He’s got a bit of a potty-mouth, but he’s still funny.

Click here to read more…

Dec

4

Are You Willing to Change?

December 4, 2008 | 2 Comments


Change: To give a completely different form or appearance to; to transform.

In the past year, I’ve seen some dramatic changes. I’ve started consulting part-time, I’ve started a new blog and I’ve begun life coaching. You see, I’m a big believer that if I want things to change around me, then I have to change first. I’m at the cause of my results. If I change then my world will change too.

In the past 12 months I’ve seen some drastic changes occur in my life. I’ve created new ways to speak, think and act. I’ve created new habits, new skills and made new friends. I’ve even found a new career.

Reflecting back over the past 5 years, I’ve realized some even greater changes. I proposed and married Trisha, started new relationships with my new mom, dad, and brother. I’ve transformed the relationship with my dad and the people in my family.

I’m not the only one unique to change. You are also evolving and changing. And your changing because you are energy. You’re a continuous wave of transforming energy.

The movement of energy throughout the world is dynamic and changing all the time. Energy and change are never static. If there is one constant in the world it is change.

When a young child is growing you can easily see and identify with their physical changes. You can see their feet and hands get larger, their muscles grow and their body structure change.

Physical Change

Click here to read more…

Oct

13

Life is Short

October 13, 2008 | 2 Comments


Joe Zanatta was my grandfather. He past away on Tuesday, September 30th and was 84 years old. When he was 27 he left Italy to come to Canada and start a new life. The word “Nonno” means grandfather in Italian. My Nonno has left me with some great memories.

Memories of Nonno

You might remember him for his good looks, his charm, his hands-on approach to life and how he carefully tendered his garden to get those tomatoes just right. You might remember him for his bad driving, his little pick-up truck or that 40 proof vino that made your head spin. You might remember him for his spotless driveway or the way his lawn was always trimmed perfectly.

You might remember him for all these things. You might remember him for the way he used to say hi and how he always had a smile on his face. It was as if his face was saying, “It’s so nice to see you.”

You might remember the way he greeted you and the tender way he would hold your hand. My Nonno was always so gentle and loving.

You might remember Nonno for the little things he used to say. Like when we used to ask him if he would like a drink of water and he’d say, “Water? It’s too wet. It gets the pipes rusty.”

I’ve got to be honest with you; it’s rare these days to meet someone like my Nonno. He was someone who had such a spark and enthusiasm for life; someone who always had a smile on his face and the right words to make you laugh. He had such a great attitude. He was one of a kind and I’ll miss him.

I’m going to remember the Nonno who always had the patience to listen; and the wisdom to give great advice.

Life is a Game You Play

Click here to read more…

Sep

5

Love the Climb

September 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment


I started cycling at the local GoodLife Fitness gym last year. If you’ve ever done stationary cycling you know how grueling it can be. It’s a deep pain and extremely exhausting. That little bike can dish out quite a punch. It’s a fantastic workout if you can get through the whole class.

It’s been over a year now. I’ve been cycling once per week to get into better shape for hockey and it’s worked

When I first started cycling I used to hate climbing. Climbing is when you crank up your gear shift (resistance) on the bike. You crank it so you literally have to jump out of your seat to hammer down those pedals. If you don’t, you’ll come to a complete stop.

It takes every ounce of energy and effort to keep moving forward. It tests your limits, it tests your will and it tests your mind. Walking down a set of steps after this work out is not an option.

I almost fell off the bike once when climbing. It was my fourth week cycling and we were running a climbing circuit. The circuit went like this: Stand up and climb for 5 seconds, down and sit for 10 seconds, up for 5 and down for 10, and so on and so forth. As I was going up and down on one of those cycles I almost spun out of control. I lost my footing and I almost lost the bike too!

Yesterday I was climbing again. When the music started and we were about to start, I got excited!

- All I could see was this massive mountain in front of me.

As I was pedaling all I could think about was every challenge that has ever come my way. I was thinking about every obstacle that has ever been in my path. I was thinking about every time I’ve ever gotten knocked down and how I got back up.

Click here to read more…

May

24

Just Start

May 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment


For my entire life I’ve always wondered how people were able to figure out what it is they love to do and how they just knew to do it. For a very long time I wasn’t sure what I wanted and it drove me nuts.

A coworker of mine ran into a similar problem. He was struggling to advance his career and was caught between two options. One option was to become a Professional Engineer and the other was to complete his classification as a First Class Engineer. Both positions had lucrative earning potential.  And both positions would provide the lifestyle he wanted, but he still wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t clear on which way to go.

Decide on Something

When he spoke with me he said, “Steve, I think I want to become licensed as a Professional Engineer but I’m not sure. What do you think I should do?” I said, “Well, maybe I can help you by sharing this story.”

In November I enrolled myself in a program called the Self Expression and Leadership Program at Landmark Education. As part of the program I made a commitment to participate in a community project for the course. I wasn’t sure what project to pick, I was stuck.

Motivational speaking always intrigued me, but I hadn’t spoken in front of a group before. Seeing that I already had experience working with high school kids as a math tutor, I decided to speak at a local high school.

Something Opens Up

The program came to an end and I wasn’t able to complete my project. Along the way I did meet some amazing people and one of them was Lori-Ann Jakel. Lori-Ann asked me to create and submit an article to Confidence Bound Magazine. I did write that article and it was published in January of 2007.

Click here to read more…

Mar

28

Are Questions the Answer?

March 28, 2007 | 2 Comments


I remember one evening I was talking with a friend of mine. We were talking about a client that I was tutoring in math. My friend had mentioned that Jake, my client, didn’t like tutoring and that he had lost his interest in math. Although this wasn’t uncommon for kids his age, it bothered me.  I became motivated to think of different ways that I could empower Jake; to help him achieve his goals.

After some time I became frustrated.  I wasn’t able to come up with any great solutions, but my intuition was telling me a different story.  I needed to have a different type of conversation with Jake.

Ask Questions

At the beginning of our session, I asked Jake some questions. Firstly I said, “What are you passionate about and what do you want for you life?” I could tell by the look on his face that he took this question a little off guard by the way he was squinting back at me. It’s not every day that a teenager comes home from school and his parents ask him, “What do you want with your life?”

As Jake was processing the question, he kept looking back at me.  He has this blank stare on his face.  It was as if his face was saying ‘What are you talking about weirdo?’

I just went with it.  My gut was telling me this was the right thing to do. I waited, patiently.  After an eternity of silence, he finally said, “My band”. I said, “Ok.  What is one of the things you would like to achieve with your band?” To which he replied, “I’d like to create a song that my band could play”. I said, “Great! What other things would you like to do?” This seemed to trigger his thinking process and we put down a list of goals:

Jake’s Goals

Click here to read more…

Mar

22

It’s Lonely At The Top

March 22, 2007 | 9 Comments


I recently went to a self improvement workshop in Los Angeles, California, which was one of the most insightful and enlightening experiences that I’ve ever had.

On the very first day I was partnered with a 50 year old woman named Diana. Our challenge was to team up and climb a 60-foot tall rope ladder, working as a pair. We were connected at the hip with a four-foot long rope and each fitted with a body harness to catch us if we fell during the climb.

At first glance I thought that I would be able to make the climb on my own, seeing that I’m pretty active and physically fit. When I realized that I would be teamed up with Diana, the voice in my head started to buzz with disempowering thoughts: ‘How the hell are we going to do this?’ and ‘I hope Diana doesn’t have a heart attack!’

Well, seeing that the whole point here was for us to learn something about our own limitations as people, I made a choice to turn things around and take on this challenge head on. I began to ask myself more supportive questions like: ‘How can I motivate and inspire Diana? What are our strengths as a team?’ Before starting our climb, I looked Diana in the eye and I said: ‘I believe in you, just give me your 100%’.

In the beginning, things went pretty well and we eventually reached the first rung on the ladder. Then it started to get tougher. I was up on the second rung and Diana was still on the first rung and our connecting rope was stretched to full length. I heard someone yell to me from down below, ‘You’ve got to go down and help her up!’ That was the first time I realized that even though I knew I could do the climb on my own, it wasn’t just about me. We had to do it together. It was about both of us making it to the top as a team.

I climbed back down and bent down on my knees to support Diana and using all my strength, pushed her up to the second rung. The whole time we were doing this, we were swinging back and forth with a 40-foot drop below us. As soon as Diana got settled above I screamed up to her in support of this massive accomplishment. We were making the impossible possible.

Diana and I continued this way up the rope ladder until we reached the top and we gave each other a big hug - we were both exhausted but hugely delighted. After we got back down to the ground, Diana said to me: ‘I didn’t think we were going to make it to the top.’ I thought to myself, I didn’t think we would either.

Click here to read more…