Cantaloupe... The forbidden fruit

I just ate a half a cantaloupe, so wonderful. The seasons are changing and the end of the first quarter of 2012 is here. What did the first quarter do for your new years goals and resolutions?! Or I should rephrase, what did you do for your new years goals or resolutions in this first quarter?

I pondered my query over a bowl of chipotle chicken stew in which I prepared from scratch last night, well... It's funny how when you look at your goals and what you wrote down and all the things you were going to change, you some how end up losing steam and ending up in limbo unsure of whether or not to complete the goals and changes, and some of it is rightfully valid and some you have to factor that you have grown and those things you set out to do, may no longer be in alignment with where you want to be now. As for me...

Well, I entered into some legal stuff, that rocked my world, it's emotional and tests my mettle, I am grateful for the experience, I expanded into 2 other international markets and another venture with acquisitions and I decided to come out of retirement from multilevel marketing and go into a furious push to make some new friends, retire some old friends from their employment and get my income to about $25,000 a week. It can be done in 2012, I know that and the conditions are right. It just requires a great deal of work, so now I am open to helping 6 people make about $2500 a week. That's step one... I haven't emotionally been in this space in a while. I am excited about it and I understand the work ahead of me. Anything in life worth having is worth working or fighting for. As I see it, we are all going to put a good 40 hours a week into something, whether that's fatherhood, fitness, nutrition and wakeboarding (My current 40 hours) Or business or a job... What will your results be!? So that was a huge mental shift for me.

I am emotionally preparing for the worst... This is the part I dreaded for 3 years. I am going to do my best to call everyone I have ever known in my entire life and see if they are at a place in their life to make a good solid 2-3 year push at whatever their dream is, I understand that only maybe 2 out of 10 will actually be in a place where they are even open to looking into it, and even fewer are actually serious enough about their dream or situation to do something about it. So that means I will be calling a great deal of people to find the 6 that want it bad enough to do something for it. Lucky for me I know that I have the way that they can get their dream. I live mine every day.

oooohhhh! 5 years ago I read a book called "Secrets of the millionaire mind." The lady that did my eyebrows gave it to me, that booked changed my relationship with money, I doubled my income that next year, from a whopping $12,000 a year to $28,000. The whole book pitched the seminar, I went a year later to that seminar "The Millionaire Mind Intensive," and that fiscal year earned just over $60,000. They have one here in Salt Lake City April 19-21st! Tickets are $795.00 a person, it's worth it... But I met the CEO of that company through some friends and I now can get anyone in for free! It's so cool! So if you want to go, preregister through this link and you will probably make more money as a result... It worked for me. https://mmi.infusionsoft.com/go/14/mmi26070/

So my age old mantra (which I stole from my trusty friend Payton Parnegg) "NEVER take advice from someone you wouldn't trade places with." Everyone has unsolicited advice to give, I look at where they are as to if I would heed their council, you have unhealthy people giving advice on health, or poor people giving you advice on money, or people that settle in relationships giving you advice on relationships, this life is a journey and everything is a giant work in progress. We are all learning day by day but for the love of Cole Staley please never take advice from someone you wouldn't trade places with!

So much has happened in 3 months, my sister got married, I threw an LDS bachelor party, I went through the temple, overcame my fear of the back flip, learned all the wakeboard tricks that used to scare me, learned to cook 18 dishes and 2 new styles of cuisine, I got more fit, changed clothes sizes, hair style and footwear, pointy shoes are so 2011, time for something new, overcame fear of singing, took the birthday thing far beyond where it used to be, potty trained a puppy and became a loving dog owner, went snowboarding a few times this year, got new beds in the house and dialed the house perfect, fixed an inoperable truck, figured out what car I will buy next, traveled a bit, Helped Halli through her first crush and valentines day, took a trip with Halli, rode horses, shot guns, got into a custody thing with my ex, tweaked eating healthier and cut out popcorn, ice cream and candy bars, (now just need to eliminate cheese, tortilla chips and chocolate milk) I gave in to the twilight series, I visited friends, made new friends, made more money than I ever have in my life while not having a working vehicle, started up a new company, got a calling in church, witnessed a few baptisms of friends, reactivation of others, many epic bro downs, gym sessions and rapping sessions, fell in love 30-40 times, saw growth in so many people around me and grew a lot myself in the process. I got over the whole sense of urgency with getting married, I know who I am and what I am looking for so much more now than I ever have and I am grateful for that and I am in no hurry to move on to the next phase, I am good right where I am at.

Each person I date, meet or attract helps me define a little better what I am looking for in a partner, each girl helps me to be more open, more vulnerable and more communicative, every date gets me a little more prepared for my wife. They say that you attract what you are, so for me each girl is like a mirror and shows me where I am at, how much I have grown and who I am becoming, each girl gives me the opportunity to be the most genuine and vulnerable me, to communicate and express the really me just that much better, to bask in my insecurities and short comings, they all help me be more in touch with me and what I am looking for and where I am going and it's a wonderful phase to be in. I feel like I sculpt my soul every time I let someone in. Why would anyone want to rush that phase of life?! The longer we utilize this phase for what it is intended for and treat the people we date with respect we will end up in a much healthier relationship, every break up allows us a second chance, every good date, every bad date, every set up, this is such a wonderful place to be. I hope that I can become the man that my future wife doesn't want to live without and that every guy that she dates, treats her with respect. Dating is cool :)

On another note... Can you guess the car in the picture?! That's my dream car, but it's more of a goal car. I will buy it when I earn it. Guess what it is! I'll give you a clue, they only made that model in 2007-2008 and it has a 4.4L Supercharged V8 engine in it. :)

Switching gears here...

I believe God communicates with us through experiences first and foremost, then through people, then through words.. Your emotions have an incredible amount to do with how that communication is given and received. ie: "The spirit," "higher self," "intuition" "gut feeling" "subconscious," "Holy ghost," "Your conscience." Call it what you will, the way you feel is like the language which God communicates, it always knows. Your thoughts are like the devil, they doubt, cause fear, second guess, create a ton of negative emotions that make more negative thoughts and create the lousiest cycle.

I learned one thing from all the experiences, and the people this quarter.

You should always feel good emotions... IF you ever feel any bad ones... You are not exercising your faith in the fact that there is a bigger thing here at work and you have no trust in that.  I am such a prideful person sometimes and I constantly learn the same thing over and over and over... I am nothing without my God. EVERY time I do life on my own, I dig myself a hole, ruin something, mess things up, end up feeling empty, unfulfilled, lonely, sad, depressed, down, uncomfortable, lost, like something is missing and then I am faced with forcing a smile and fronting like I am happy, which sometimes I do. But it's no fun being drained all the time and feeling negative emotions. I end up turning to God again and again with the same attitude... Broken, feeling down and alone and the same realization... I am nothing without God. I think my mother said it best, "We try our best and maybe we only are capable of 20% But when we submit our will to God he gives us the other 80%."  So many times I take credit for that 80% or think I am awesome or I have good luck or something and the pride kicks in and then I end up back down again. But the first quarter has taught me this...

Life with God = :)

Life without God = :(

I am nothing without God, that's wild to admit and sure this blog might be preachy but that is the way that I feel and I have had to learn this lesson OVER AND OVER AND OVER again, it's not fun.

For me it is so easy to fall into the trap of not praying or giving God credit or focusing on that, pride is my greatest enemy and I battle it in every moment I breathe. The gauge for me personally to know if I am off track is when I start to feel any form of negative emotion, that is me being prideful and not demonstrating faith in God. It's kind of a cool place to be.

I was talking to a guy tonight that wasn't religious, doesn't believe in God, or any kind of religion. He believes in the law of attraction and positive thinking and karma and he's a good guy, he lives like this and it's amazing to see how richly blessed he is in his life. That's what it's all about! This guy is carefree and KNOWS that no matter what happens, he's going to love every minute of it because it is perfect for him and there is no sense in being down or feeling bad because he has faith that everything happens for a reason and it's not his job to know the reason. It is coming to love the journey and find the joy in it. I love it :)

There are 3 Quarters left in this year...

What will you do?!