All I Needed to Know About Life in a Box of Cereal By: Christina Loveless

All I Needed to Know About Life in a Box of Cereal By: Christina Loveless

Lucky Charms. That ubiquitous box of marshmallow goodness that kids love and parents secretly want to eat themselves. A few years back they came up with a jingle, when jingles were still cool, that named out all the brightly colored marshmallow shapes within.

“Hearts, stars and horseshoes, clovers and blue moons, pots of gold and rainbows, and me red balloon!”

Maybe you didn’t remember the whole thing, but I did. I found a little nugget of God’s truth hiding behind the cute marketing campaign.

Searching for truths
Hearts- the heart is a symbol for love, of course and God is love. The heart is first because first and foremost God loves us and we must put Him first in our lives. The rest follows as it should when we do.

Stars- stars represent the goals and plans we have for our future. As the saying goes, shoot for the stars.

Horseshoes- remind us to focus on the goal, to score a ringer.

Clovers- to look for that which is hard to find. A four leaf clover is present in about a 1 in 10,000 ratio. Difficult to find, not impossible. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Blue moons- gratitude. Things may only happen once in a blue moon, so we must savor each and every moment and thank God for all the blessings in our lives

Pots of gold- abundance thinking rather than scarcity.

Rainbows- optimism. Seeing the sun after the storm.

Red balloon- rising above that which seeks to drag us down. Our world is full of things to keep us from joy, just watch the news!

Christina Loveless is a graduate of The Journey Training. Her insight of truths within simple things that are right in front of her are an amazing example of seeing more than is visible. In The Journey Training, trainees consistently become aware of truths that were once hidden – in the world, in their lives, and in others’ situations. Seeing things from difference perspectives is one of the many tools that you will take home from your Journey Training experience.

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Fixing flats – by Michele VanDusen

Fixing flats – by Michele VanDusen

At the beginning of the year, someone asked me a question – a question that seemed unnatural to me. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?”

I was thrown off guard because I naturally think in terms of how I can make someone else’s life better, easier, or less worrisome. When the question was aimed at me, I didn’t know what to say. After much consideration I finally declared what I wanted, “No pain!” That seemed like an easy answer because I was in my fifth month dealing with shoulder pain. Major pain! I was four weeks out from a surgery that was more involved than first thought and the surgery came after an intense four months of physical therapy.

My answer was meant to appease the person asking it because it was obvious that I was in a lot of physical pain. Yet my answer avoided the real source of my pain – emotional pain. A betrayal that had caused me so much pain that I chose to go numb rather than to feel it. If I felt it I’d have to deal with it, and I didn’t want to deal with it because it was going to take work – a lot of work.

Finding your way requires direction

Fixing FlatsLife is a journey, and the first step in a journey is to know your destination. My destination was “No Pain,” which may be unrealistic for many reasons I won’t go into here. So I changed it to a journey of healing, with the final destination of health.

Once you know your destination you can begin on the path to it. When there is pain blocking your path, you tend not to head that way. This was the difficulty in my case. Pain was blocking my path, preventing me from arriving at my destination. But in order for me to be free from the pain, I needed to face the pain and deal with it.

Flats require attention

Facing and dealing with the pain in my journey was going to be like driving a hundred miles, getting a flat tire along the way, and continuing to drive on the flat trying to get there. It only causes more damage and could make the car inoperable.

If I pull over but don’t change the flat, I’ll remain stuck and never reach my destination. If I pull out all of the tools needed to change the flat, but if I don’t use the tools, I sit still on the side of the road, watching everyone else getting closer to their destinations.

Fix-a-flat and get moving!

Sometimes fixing a situation in your life requires an extra hand – someone to come alongside you who has the tools and ability to help you. That is what The Journey Training did for me. It connected me with people who have the tools I need, so as I am on my way, I can fix the “flats” along the way. It is an empowering, freeing and self-strengthening opportunity that I recommend for anyone to attend. If you’re too afraid to begin, or you’ve begun and have a flat, reach out the The Journey Training and get the tools you need to help you along your way today! Your destination awaits!

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Opportunity to Dream

Opportunity to Dream

Last week I was speaking to a group of 6th grade classes at a middle school about dreams. Giving up on my dreams was a large part of how I ended up almost 500 pounds, feeling helpless and hopeless almost giving up on everything. My introduction video says at 17 seconds in, “When I was 17 years old, I was a rock star. I was lookin’ good and feelin’ good; I feel like somebody’s stolen my dream. This thing has stolen my life – and I want my life back!”

There’s so much truth in that statement. My passion has always been music. I went to my first concert at 16, saw the band on stage and the crowd, and made my decision: I was going to be a rock star.

Now, we all know that the odds of being a rock star were not in my favor. But I had an ingredient that could sure help: passion.

Opportunity Knocks

I went right home, dug a dusty guitar out of the closet, and went to work! I began learning melody lines from my favorite songs. After a few weeks, I heard some of my school mates had a band, so I went to watch them and was really impressed.

The week before I had just bought a bass guitar at a pawn shop at the advice of someone who told me, “You’re playing bass, not guitar. Guitar plays all of the strings at once, and you’re only playing 1 note at a time.” So I ran to the pawn shop and bought beat up, hollow-body bass and amplifier. The band I was watching finished rehearsal, and the bass player had to go. I asked, “How many gigs have you played?”

“None. We’ve only learned 6 songs. We want to learn Detroit Rock City by Kiss, and The Trooper by Iron Maiden, but Greg can’t play the bass lines.”

“I could play those bass lines,” I calmly declared, knowing I had barely been playing bass for a week. After convincing them of my bass playing prowess – which was completely falsified – they said, “Okay, Come back next Saturday and we’ll play those songs.” Boy did I have my work cut out for me! But I practiced until my fingers hurt until late every night, and the next Saturday I replaced Greg as the bass player in that unnamed band! I was really going to be a rock star! 3 months later we played a dance at school and became rocks stars on the high school level!

Dreams are the driver, opportunity is the road

Over the next 10 years, I played with several bands. I soon found myself on stage with Donny Osmond in front of thousands. Later, the band I was playing for actually knocked New Kids on the Block out of the number one singing group in the nation. We were on the Billboard Top 40, and had a record contract with RCA. After that opportunity didn’t pan out, a 3-man band I was in recorded an album and was ready to release it worldwide. It was bootlegged overseas, and the rug was pulled out from underneath me again. Later I found out Unleash the Dog was the #1 band in Greece in 1996, beating out Metallica and Rob Zombie – but we never even saw a cent of the profit.

At that point, another opportunity was sure to present itself, but I gave up. This is what I talked to those 6th graders about last week – not giving up on their dreams. My mantra since The Biggest Loser has been Lose Your Quit. There will always be another opportunity, so never give up.

Dreams can look different, so take the opportunities that come your way

At 39, I felt like my music career was over. My friends in that band in the 90’s (PC Quest) had gone on to do great things. Chad was the lead singer of Shiny Toy Guns, Steve was a studio musician and performer in LA, Drew was on tour with several artists, and I was left wondering what happened. Bob from Unleash the Dog was now in Arizona and was the national head of music instruction for Fender, and I could go on and on. They didn’t give up.

I only saw my dream of a rock star one way. Others kept their passion and brought it to the opportunities that came to them while I simply gave up. After going to my experiential training in 2008 and re-igniting my passion, I made it onto the cast of The Biggest Loser. The funny thing is, on that show I wrote new music. It provided me an opportunity to awaken those dreams once again – just not exactly how I thought.

I wouldn’t be a rock star, but I would be living my dream with passion! Since the show, I have spoken in 5 countries and 45 states in the US – to over a million people – and each time I close with two songs: the first I ever wrote called I can’t forget about you and Second Chance that I wrote on the show. I’m not a rock star, but I am living my dream, speaking and passing that passion of not giving up to others. And as I played Second Chance last week to those 6th graders, it was a dream fulfilled.


Where is your opportunity?

Your dreams are real, and they are possible. Those 6th graders raised their hands and told me what they wanted to be. One in the front row said, “I want to play in the NBA!” He was one of the shortest kids in the crowd, and that was a very lofty goal. I told him, “Never give up on that dream! And take the opportunities that come your way and you’ll live that dream! It might look different than you think, but it can happen. You might be a coach, or an announcer on TV for the NBA, or you very well might be the next Kevin Durant. Who knows?”

I thought about the movie The Sand Lot. Bennie made it to the big show, and Scotty Smalls made it as the LA Dodger announcer. They both realized their dreams – just in a different way.

So that vision that has been placed in your heart is true. Don’t waste an opportunity to bring the passion you have to the opportunities that present themselves. Even if it looks different that you thought, you can be a rock star!

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Courage is Not the Absence of Fear

Courage is Not the Absence of Fear

I can be extremely self-conscious about my abilities from time to time. I am considered “the crazy guy,” the out of the box thinker. I travel all over the country speaking about crazy ideas and ventures. I even mentor others on building their own road to success. You might picture me as this courageous guy with nerves of steel, right? Wrong! I still get nervous before speaking engagements, but I do them.  I recently wrote another book but what will others think of my writing?

Fear

There are stories going off in my head right now. They are very real….to me.

  • I wrote this book to brag about my knowledge
  • I am working to promote me, not my book.
  • Who am I to be giving “tips” to others?

The list goes on and on, and I know that I am not the only one that lives with doubts like this every day!! 

Courage

What am I going to do with these criticisms swirling in my head?

  • Are these thoughts really true about me?
  • Do I believe these things about myself?
  • Regardless of what other people think, is what I am doing supporting my purpose and mission?

Once you have worked through those questions you will know better how to work through criticisms that you are dealing with.

Are any of these criticisms true about myself? Courage is not the absence of fear, it is having the fear and pushing through it.  I choose to focus on my mission and push ahead.

I wrote this book to pass on that knowledge. I have been honored to co-author the book with a talented friend of mine. Bryan Smith and I are very proud of this book. Breaking Conformity is our first professional book about business. This book will help new and seasoned professionals.  I have acquired so much knowledge and have learned valuable lessons from those before me, including brilliant individuals who have mentored me. It is important to share information and pass on that great knowledge to others.

Breaking Conformity will help new emerging leaders as well as veteran ones to look at business myths that plague us. It will give the rest of the story, which will help in overcoming any hurdle quickly, making the length of time to success even quicker.

As this book prepares to launch I am filled with anxiety, nervousness and fear but also pride and excitement to share this with others. I am pushing through the fear and choosing courage. How will you push through the fear today, this week, this month? Choose courage!

 

*Breaking Conformity is available on Amazon.com on October 19th 2015. Help us to help others by purchasing our book. Help us become #1 best sellers on Amazon!

 

 

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

I Am Where I am Meant to be!                            Contributing Author: Duncan Brown

I Am Where I am Meant to be! Contributing Author: Duncan Brown

I am where I am meant to be, when I am meant to be there.

How often do we miss purpose in the moment? How often do we look toward the future and miss what is happening now? Whether it is a chance to be kind to someone, a chance to isolate yourself and reflect, or maybe a chance to meet the love of your life? So often we forget to open our eyes and see what God is showing us in the moment. Maybe because we are constantly looking back – hurting and wishing it could change – or perhaps too much toward the future, planning what we wish would happen.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking at your past; it’s behind you for a reason. And to stop looking to your future for a moment, because your whole life can change in an instant. If you’re always looking at the last or next moment, you’re missing the moment right there in front of you.

Trust the Process

Trust the process of the moment you are in, and know that God is working in your current moment to impact your future. Sometimes we try and plan way too much; and sometimes the lesson we need to learn is being given to us in the moment of life circumstances you are currently going through.

I am currently performing at Disney World, which honestly isn’t my dream job. I’m only here till January and it is a fun job, but not the biggest career option I’ve made. I personally had a very challenging year and I felt like I was supposed to take this job for a reason, even though it was not in my “plan” at all.

Often, there are great moments where I get to do some cool things, and I’ve had some fun times. I thought I would come down here, save some money, have some fun, and just enjoy myself. Although that is happening, I feel like God is working in my life a lot more through this experience than I had ever expected.

In the last couple months I’ve prayed for humility – the power to let go of the things and people I cannot control – and for opportunities to give love to others.

Although there are some days I get to dress up like a prince and be the center of attention – which I always enjoy – I had to be trained and work in what we call “Fur”, where you are anonymously playing a character that is fully covered. I felt worthless doing this, not to mention HOT! During these shifts, I felt like I wasn’t fully using my talents. I was annoyed and grumpy every time! And then one day I was “friends with Goofy” and a woman came up to me. She hugged me and started crying – a woman in her late 40’s – because of me playing a costumed Dog! She said “you have gotten me through so much, and I’ve waited my entire life to meet you!”

Talk about a perspective shift! Since that day, I’ve had more and more experiences like this, and it’s almost always happened while I was “in fur” and not too happy about it. I began to realize that the experience is God giving me an opportunity to be humble and to serve others without them knowing who I am. God doesn’t always give you exactly what you pray for; he gives you an opportunity to make a choice and do what it is you are praying for. He is handing me opportunities to be humble.

It’s not about me

Being in the entertainment industry it’s easy to become self-absorbed while also being self-critical. It’s easy to begin seeing people as products, business and fans instead of human beings. Something I really learned from going through The Journey Training was how to see value in myself and in others. Every person has a story, and I’m learning that here at Disney World even more. No matter if I’m dancing in a parade, playing a hero, or simply in fur, I get the opportunity to practice humility. And even though they don’t know it’s me, I’m making someone’s day by serving them. Serving…such an important lesson to learn.

Before I came to Florida I had a very challenging couple weeks, full of disappointment, frustration, and fear – and definitely some regret. I struggle a lot with trusting God to take care of situations. I take on the responsibility to fix others’ lives. The reality is, you can only do so much. Many things came to a head just a few weeks before leaving home, and the fear that came over me was that I wouldn’t be able to take care of it all and see the outcome.

While being away at Disney world, I have been challenged to give space to people who are not adding to my life, and to face situations that I cannot control. And if I were home, I probably wouldn’t have let go. God planned it – with me by being here!

Lately while being on my own, I’ve been able to meet some of the most amazing “Make a Wish”  kids from all over the world, seeing so many come together for a mutual love of magic and happiness. There is one thing that everyone in the world can relate to; that is being hugged, being loved, and someone taking the time to say “you are worth it.”

I’ve also learned balance and am able to love people from a distance and in different ways. I can set boundaries while still seeing everyone as equally imperfect and beautiful creatures of God.

The plan is the plan, even if it’s not mine!

This plan may not be my plan, and I’m not be getting everything I wanted, but living with humility and realizing that God has a purpose in every moment is something I will take from here and live with forever. Through this experience, I have become closer to God than ever before, and in turn, closer to the destiny He has for me.

So in your life, trust the moment. Look around you and realize that there is beauty and opportunity in this moment – right now; there is more to the greater plan than what we can see or comprehend, so dare to let go a little! Trust this moment, and know you are where you are meant to be where you are right now.

Duncan was a trainee in The Journey Training, Class 13. The insight he has received from the training has helped him see value in things he was unaware of before, allowing him to trust the process and find the value where he is right now. Each month, so many are able to find treasure in what they considered trash, allowing them to take their past and make a purpose out of it for the present and the future. If you are ready to begin your Journey, why not sign up for the next Threshold class and embark on the adventure of your life?

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training