Congratulations and Greetings on this 21st of July.

THOUGHT of THE DAY: CLEAR OR MURKY

Is your day, your week, your month, your year, your mission and purpose, Clear or Murky? Are your goals, Clear or Murky? Not that you have to be super pinpointed toward every little thing that happens, but do you have a relative plan for the day, the week, the month and year and eventually what it is you wish to evolve into.
I think this is a big step for people to understand if it is clear, what are the next things that I need to do, to move me forward in a direction toward your dreams and endeavors. ( sound like Thoreau)
Is it Murky? I'm not sure what I want to do is usually the answer. That is fine, but the thought alone helps you try and unite yourself and start moving you in a direction. A couple of weeks ago we talked about Direction and traction. You need direction, then traction. Many people want to start going somewhere, but they don't know the destination.

When you no longer care if things are clear or murky, your in a frozen spot.

Clear or Murky, Where are you? (Sorry to hit you with a provactive question on Monday morning, but this is a great day to start getting more clear on what we want and start cleaning either the glasses, the windshield or our outlook, to pull things into focus.

When Coaching in College Athletics, we asked these kids every Sunday to go over their weekly and monthly goals. Just to keep them pointed in the right direction.
Have a great day. TOT

Congratulations and Greetings:)

Thought of the Day: IN THE SILENCE ( 12 letters)

In the Silence: What does this mean? Sometimes people crave peace and tranquility, but once they are there, in relatively silence, it drives them crazy.
Other times people get in to the silence for they are alone and going through hard times. The enlightened ones I guess can hang in the silence. However for that party, The Silence can be a rough patch.
Yet remember that all growth , goes through growing pains. In the silence is where you have a chance at Clarity. Clarity leads to direction and strength.

Embrace those moments of silence, for you are closer to your answers, then you think.
The two songs today: talk about being in the silence.
Great old song by INXS: Send a Message: starts out IN THE SILENCE, i think of you.
Josh Groban, You Raise me Up. " and I am still and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit awhile with me.

Two questions for you getting back to Josh.
Who do you raise up?
Who's shoulders do you sit on, that make you stronger?
The first requires a brief smile
The latter a thank you. Have a great day and a phenomenal weekend. TOT

Congratulations and Greetings on this beautiful July 17:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Be A Visionary:

What does that mean?
Be a visionary means you have the courage to see something that really isn't there yet. Creativity is the greatest gift we were given. It allows us to see things, try and merge disciplines and create, grand things. This doesn't mean that your spirit will not be tried and tested. It WILL. However, your faith and belief, will grow stronger, especially if you have aligned yourself with others who may not see your vision, but they experience your LIGHT!!!!!

Goal Setting, Goal Planning and Goal Achieving, the main focus behind the Creative Planner ALLIED EFFORT, is about visualization. Have a vision to create something. Have a vision to then Build it( this requires steps and planning). Have a vision to turn it into reality and lead it. Have a vision as how you are to sustain something over time. Not only does this require vision, it requires confidence and belief. By doing small things daily, you develop more confidence, which fortifies your belief, which eventually leads you to faith. If you had the faith up front, the task would be easier, however, all people are different, but what is the same is that we all can
"BE A VISIONARY": TOT

Am I Connected?

Congratulations and welcome back on this beautiful July 16th!

Thought of the Day: AM I CONNECTED?

What does that mean? Let's start out as an individual. Are you connected? Do you and your goals line up! Do you physically, mentally( work), spiritually ( family, personal, emotional) work as one. Are you one united being? Or are you a function of much disjointed efforts?

The task behind Allied Effort, is to get you functioning as one. Congruently!!!!Try and establish this as a habit. This will be your foundation.

As you go and tackle the rest of your day, are you functioning as one within your team? That means at work, with your family, with your softball or any other team. Do you guys function as one, or are you in a dysfunctional relationship.

The Book Allied Effort, tries to steer you from a point perhaps of dysfunction, to functionable, regardless of your situation. How do you do that, by taking the time to figure out, how can I add value to this situation, have a plan and take small steps daily, acting on it. You will not get over the level of peace you will derive, from planning it out ahead of time and working your plan. Todays quote is from John Wooden. It reflects that notion.

When you work your plan, you are less distracted from the other noise, ie media, gossip etc...
Go get em.

Seeing Eye Dog

Congratulations and Greetings. I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day July 15th.

Thought of the day: Seeing Eye Dog!!! ( 12 Letters)

I finished a phenomenal book last night by Jim Nantz titled "Always by My Side". It's a phenomenal story of Jim's career and the guiding light behind it, his dad. However his dad and family fight the horrible disease of Alzheimer's and how brutal this disease can be on all the parties involved. In essence Jim's dad can physically see, but not the world that he shared with Jim and his family.
Jim talks a great deal about his relationship with the Great Ken Venturi, his on the air golf partner, who supports greatly the " Guiding eyes for the blind". These people receive dogs to help them overcome their disability.
The notion when we can't see, someone else will help us find the way. How symbolic is that of life? We all need our version of a " seeing eye dog" at times. Jim was making a reference, that his father and the values that he taught would forever serve him. Like Ken, those loyal seeing eye dogs, forever serve their master. Take a small time today and thank your God for your many blessings. It's easy to get swept away and forget. TOT

Bright Future

Welcome Back. Hope you enjoyed a great weekend. Greetings on this Beautiful July 14th morning.
Thought of the Day: Bright Future

What does this entail? Most of us feel something pretty wild has to happen for this to occur. Bright future, I need to hit the lottery! Bright future, I need to do xyz. Bright future, my boss, wife, husband, need to see me for who I am. ( they just don't get it). We look for some external event to occur. Yet to guarantee a bright future, we need to set our habits and make them great ones. We are creature of habits. When we start taking the time to figure out what we want. What we are willing to do to get there. List it out and create a plan. Then act on the plan.

The problem is that we are all perfectionists. If we don't do something well immediately, we bail on it. We have very little time for activities that don' t show immediate, tangible results.
However, Bright Future, reminds you to start taking care of the little things. Create solid habits. Even if you have bad ones, start minimizing them. If you have ok habits, figure out a way to get better. Bright future requires you to go internally and start planting little seeds.

Todays Song of the Day, is by the King. Elvis Presley. Blue Suede Shoes was to make you feel good about who you are. We all need a pair of Blue Suede Shoes. Sing and dance like the king, life is meant to be enjoyed. Enjoy it by creating your " Bright Future". TOT

A Firm Resolve

Greetings colleagues, on this beautiful July 11:

Thought of the Day: A Firm Resolve

I received an excellent letter from a friend who mentioned a Finnish philosophy calles SISU. Its a spirit, not just a word. A belief, a conviction based on one's internal fortitude. The two quotes today also resemble the same message. The crude English definition for SISU is , strength of will, determination, perseverance, acting rationally in the face of adversity.
Pick up the papers today and you see the same story line, Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac in trouble. Secretary Paulson coming out and stating just the opposite of what people are praying for. Referring back to Dante's Inferno" now is the time for our leaders to step up. In times of great moral crisis, the cowards maintain their neutrality."

Our goal is to be like the Vikings of old. Endure, get stronger, don't sit idle but figure out a way to make not only your plight better, but those around you. That requires you to act proactively and rationally, in the face of adversity. Confront the facts, disregard the opinions, make this day and tomorrow, better than yesterday. Have a great weekend. TOT

Dream on....

A note about why Dream on.

In the lyrics,

Sometimes you have to lose to know how to win

Becoming a Pro

Greetings friends, welcome to this beautiful July 10:

Thought of the Day: BECOMING A PRO

As I reiterate, much of ALLIED EFFORT is about adding great value so that you can become part of a great team. When you attempt to add great value, you must go internal. If you want to become professional in your business, personal, spiritual, physical, athletic pursuits etc... develop professional habits. Two points.
I've attended some high school basketball events over the last two days, where some of the best players from all over the United States are showcasing their skills in front of college coaches. They all want to be pros.
Little do they know, what they need to do is develop professional habits in addition to their God Given Skill. Those two worlds need to mesh and evolve in order for them to fullfill their dreams. As they keep evolving, the greater importance on them developing not only physically, but mentally and spiritually( emotionally) as well. Yet that too is an attitude, that is started by Conscientious Thought. Disciplined thoughts, create disciplined actions, that results in disciplined people. Disciplined people are usually professional.
2nd Point. For all you people in the business world. How necessary is it for you to have a positive outlook amongst all the change and loss that has been stirred up over the past year and a half? 95 of all the people right now are caught up in the reality and not trying to figure out. Loss paper profit, loss of job etc... Everyone is complaining and reiterating how dire it is. The ones that perceive this as an opportunity, to reach out to their clients, reinforce that we are appreciate your business when things were going well and the market was over 14,000. We appreciate your business when times are tough and we are going to not only whether this storm, but provide you the best services to help our clients benefit but also prosper moving forward.
Takes guts for no one wants to make that call for they could have a harsh response at the other end of the telephone. However over time, that client will appreciate you not running and hiding and you establish trust. So when this temporary cycle ends, they will be more loyal to you and you showed your professionalism, when times were tough. Its easy when things are good. This is an opportunity to stand up and stand out. Go Get Em.

Bend Your Legs!

Greetings on this beautiful and sweltering July 9th, in the Northeast.

Thought of the Day: BEND YOUR LEGS!

An old axiom we used to say in Coaching is that the more tired and fatigued you became, you had to bend deeper. Your legs were your power base and often when tired, that extra amount of energy that was required, you had to dig deeper and bend your legs. In sport, when you get tired is traditionally when you lift up. When you rise, you lose your speed, quickness and power. Similar in boxing, when you get tired, your drop your hands and your legs get wobbly, you are in trouble.
Vince Lombardi used to say, "fatigue makes cowards of us all."

When you find yourself on the ropes or trying to close that deal, remember those words, bend a bit deeper to summon up one more ounce of energy and go for it.

I bring this up for this weekend I was playing baseball with my son and when he was batting I told him to bend his legs. He told me, he didn't like to do that because it was harder.
From the Mouth of Babes
A six year old understands that message, but true greatness lies just around the corner when you get that little bit extra momentum, when your tired to push through the temporary pain. Bend Your Legs is a metaphor to tap back into your power base so you can be successful.

Have a great day!

Greetings on this great day of July 8th.


Thought of the day: In The Present

In The Present means you live this moment and all the moments TODAY. It's easy to get swept in the demise of the credit crunch, the mortgage meltdowns, worries about inflation, unemployment numbers, the weakness of the dollar etc... the news media has everyone worried about everything and what usually reverses such negative momentum is when people stop worrying about the past and focus on how we can impact the present.
Much of ALLIED EFFORT is to two part
1) how important it is to set goals that are based on who you are and what your purpose is in life. Write it down. Long hand.
It serves as a barometer for you. The three areas I stress is Body, Mind and Spirit.
2) ALLIED EFFORT, is that we are going to do it together. When we try to get too smart, too sophisticated, we isolate ourselves and reject the powerful, positive force that collective energy and momentum have to offer. The old saying there is strength in numbers.

In the present helps you focus on what you can do this day. This week, This month. That's it. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't do.

Have a great day. TOT

Greeting on this beautiful day of July 7

Core Training:

Welcome back. I hope you had a phenomenal Fourth of July Weekend. Todays thought is about Core Training. It's become a popular topic of late. In physical activity, Core Training has to do with your midsection and working on your center. This happens to be your Power Base. All strength comes from your center and works its way out. The Core Training I'm talking about has to do, not only with the physical but the Mental and Spiritual aspects as well. Core training wants you to focus on the whole, not seperate body parts. Much of what we are trying to get to with the notion of ALLIED EFFORT is to make you become one strong person, in body, mind and spirit. Core training is working on those three areas, that will offer balance and strength. I mentioned last week about the importance of Direction and traction. It stems from your core. Where are we, where are we trying to go, what do we want to do, etc... ?This is where you see those books on the right by Ayn Rand for she was attempting for people to have an individual philosophy. A core set of beliefs. This gave a person, some direction and enabled Traction to start. Core training. Look inward, the outward will improve. Have a great day.

A Personal GPS

Greetings on this Beautiful, July 1!

A Personal GPS.

Overcoming Fear.

Most people don't want to admit that we have levels of fear that creep up and prevent us from doing some of the things we wish to do, but we do. That could arise in the conscious or subconscious level.

However in order to overcome this fear, we must First recognize the problem.

Second, we must not give it additional power. In the Words of Aretha Frankin ( and the Beatles) LET IT BE!!!

Third, lets try to examine the situation and see it from a different stand point, this will take out some of the sting.

Fourth, now lets make a decision, to give it our best effort to try and carry on. Just like the song from Styx, try to carry on and shoot for stars and Sail Away.

Fifth, in honor of the Black Eyed Peas, Where's the Love, love has got to over ride your fear. Perfect love casteth out fear. When you love something you go for it. You have to love,that which you seek to overcome.

Sixth, from Swing out Sister ( a band from the 80's) Break Out, no worries, just try it.

Seventh, this sounds great but it's all fluff. Wrong, find something that will motivate you to step up and overcome your fear. If you have children, play Harry Chapin's Cats in the Cradle, to give you some added motivation. So when you want to bail, this will be a friendly reminder.
For what we are all trying to do, especially if we are fans of GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, is to follow Bono's advice and try to carve out our own " Where the Streets Have No Name"

Go for it, tear down the walls that hold you inside, feel the sunlight on your face and know, that you never get there alone.

A lot for today, but I wanted to share with you some musical thoughts to move you forward.
The last thought from Mariah Carey, " if you believe whats in your soul, just hold on tight and don't let go, you can make it happen."

YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!