I’m really happy to introduce you to friend Phil Dyer. He’s a speaker, writer, financial planner, strategic business coach and recovering workaholic who’s dedicated to helping lifestyle entrepreneurs transform their business to support their ideal life, create conscious wealth and have fun!  Phil shared with me his transofrmational “3 Truths” today–I liked them so much I asked him to share them with all of you.  Thanks, Phil, for your guest post.

A QUESTION TO ASK YOU ENTREPRENEURS OUT THERE…

Are you ready to create the business that truly supports your ideal life?

If you answered “YES”…like most forward-thinking, conscious-minded entrepreneurs, then I have a follow-up question…

WHY AREN’T YOU DOING IT…RIGHT NOW…TODAY?

For many of the people that I connect with that are trying to build a business that supports their ideal lifestyle, true transformation makes a better hypothetical and theoretical “holy grail” to aspire to than to take positive action to actually achieve.  It is often easier for us to buy another product, invest in another hyper-kinetic weekend seminar with hundreds of other seekers or sign-up of another series of “free” tele-classes that promise a magic bullet solution than it is to take concrete steps towards REAL and LASTING transformation.

Now don’t get me wrong…all of the above tools can be very helpful and I routinely use them myself…but I also strongly believe that many entrepreneurs use this constant activity to avoid doing the deep, soulful and very often uncomfortable inner work to effect true change.  It’s often easier for us to be doing instead of simply being…to feel good about checking of a series of tasks rather checking in with out inner compass to see if we are truly on the right path…to immerse ourselves the the relatively anonymity of a large group event than risk exposing ourselves and our foibles in a more intimate small group session.  We congratulate ourselves on all the “progress” we are making when – in truth – we are simply shrinking from who we are truly called to be and playing it safe.

AM I PUSHING ANY BUTTONS YET? I HOPE SO?

I submit to you that there are “Three Truths” to real and lasting transformation, both personally and for your business:

1. You Must Give Yourself Permission to Unplug: True transformation is – in my opinion – virtually impossible to create when you are running non-stop in the 24/7 world we live in.  You need time, space and separation from your day-to-day life and the constant demands of your business to allow the noise level to die down enough to really hear yourself think, to listen from a place that is below the surface and to open your conscious and unconscious mind to your true potential.  In my experience, 5-7 days is the minimum time frame to really accomplish this.  Shorter retreats are OK, but how much real down time do you get?  Take a 3-day retreat…you really need a day on the front end to let yourself slow down and decompress and often our brains are “powering back up” on the last day as we prepare to go back into the world…so we may only get one good day of clear thought!

2. You Can’t Do This on Your Own: I don’t care how conscious you are or how in touch you are with your inner core…you are too close to your own crap to have any real perspective.  How many times have you been wracking your brain trying to come up with a solution to some challenge or problem…only to have someone else look at it for 30 seconds and then give you a simple, elegant and straight-forward fix?  I have one of those “I could have had a V-8″ moments daily!  To empower yourself to achieve true transformation…you must engage a coach, mentor, accountability partner or mastermind buddy.  We may be great at crafting solutions for other peoples challenges…but we SUCK at doing it for ourselves.

3. Exponential Transformation is Possible with the Right Group: Napoleon Hill was a pretty smart cookie and his admonition for us to avail ourselves of the power of Mastermind Groups was spot on.  Coming together with a small group of like-minded individuals who are serious about transformation their business and their life is the fastest and most powerful way to affect real and lasting change in your own business and life.  Quantum leaps become the norm – rather than the exception – as members urge each other to greater accomplishments, hold space for each other, call B/S when needed and bring the amazing power of multiple minds together.  I am incredibly honored to be part of several amazing mastermind groups and much of the credit for my business growth over the 5 years can be directly linked to these incredible people.  For me, groups of 12-15 are ideal for retreats, while smaller groups of 3-5 are great for Masterminds that meet more frequently.

If you are feeling stuck in your business – and your life — right now and your not making progress towards the lifestyle you truly want to lead, what are you scared of?  What are you settling for?  What are you not allowing to come to the surface?

Consider connecting with these truths to help jump start your way forward!

Connect with Phil Dyer at TotalBusinessTransformation.com

Some find significance and success by living a life as a professional vagabond–moving from one organization to a larger sphere of influence in a different one.  Others, like our Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel team member Jairo Alvarez, grow where they’re planted.  Jairo joined the hotel as a part time shuttle van driver, and now, years later, he oversees all operations of the hotel’s front office and guestrooms, accommodating visitors and keeping charm alive at one of California’s most iconic hotels.

Open our eyes and we’ll find purpose, excitement, and adventure  all around us–inside and outside our companies, organizations and families.  Pursue excellence wherever you find yourself, serve those around you, and thrive.

Jario’s now as much a part of the hotel as its legendary low-key charm.  Sportmen’s Lodge was the hangout for Hollywood’s A-list in the mid-century, a place where Bogie taught his kids to fish while Bette Davis sipped martinis.  We’re spotlighting Jario in our upcoming issue of Broughton Quarterly magazine.  (Sign up for free electronic issues of BQ by signing up here.)

HISTORY WAS MADE TODAY…read on.

I’m convinced that the main ingredient in greatness is tenacity. Every entrepreneur and leader I know who has experienced enduring success has also experienced failure…yet they’ve chosen to persevere and drive on towards their dreams. Abraham Lincoln faced defeat and failure throughout his life–born into poverty, experiencing two failed businesses, suffering from a “nervous breakdown,” and loosing eight political elections before becoming one of our nation’s greatest Presidents.

Today the sports world witnessed a similar rise towards greatness in rookie Major League baseball player Daniel Nava (son of an entrepreneur friend, Don Nava, who I met a few years ago at the Time Out Conference in Monterey, CA). Cut from his college team as a freshman, Daniel became equipment manager, made the team in later years but went un-drafted, he was then cut from an independent baseball league before playing in the Minors.

Daniel persevered and was called up to the Big Leagues today to play for the Boston Red Sox! But, wait. There’s more. Now that would be a great story if it ended there, but it gets even better! Today, Daniel became only the 4th player in history to hit a GRAND SLAM in his first major league at bat…crushing the ball in the very first pitch! Now, just let that sink in for a moment.

Be inspired.  Watch this video!

Do yourself, and the world a favor: NEVER QUIT ON YOUR DREAMS! Who knows what could happen?

No Surrender, No Retreats, No Regrets! (BTW, that’s the title of one of my speeches).

It’s an honor to introduce you to my creative friend, Darrell Fusaro.   Darrell’s an accomplished painter whose works have exhibited side by side with Andy Warhol’s; an actor, who has performed his play, “The Basement,” on stages throughout Canada and the US; and who has appeared in television shows and commercials. He also cartoons weekly and is a Producer of the Emmy nominated Los Angeles news program, “Local Edition” that airs on CNN’s Headline News.  Thanks Darrell for providing this guest post via i-ITALY.org.

EVERYBODY LOVES A HERO.  Someone to look up to, whose success we admire and aspire to reach.  They inspire us by their ability to have achieved success in areas that we ourselves hope to one day.  They are living proof that our dream is attainable.  “If they can do it, so can we!”

Unfortunately, for most of my life, heroes were a bummer.  You see, I belong to a smaller group who are overwhelmed by the great accomplishments of others.  Standing in awe of their success, we become intimidated.  Surrendering to the belief that they possess a secret something we lack, we give up.  Then we wander the earth condemned to live life alternating between regret for never having tried and resentful toward those who made it.  Of course we tell ourselves it was only because…(CLICK HERE TO READ MORE).

It happened again earlier this week.  Tuesday’s coaching call with a new, crying client was the tipping point for me.  I can recall at least a half-dozen people in as many months who’ve shared with me their significant life challenges in the areas of family, faith, finance, career and health.  Each shared with me how they had been inspired by, and had evoked the principles from the book and movie phenomenon The Secret, but had yet to make any progress towards their goals.  Let me share with you the secret about The Secret.  Are you ready? Here it is…

…there is no flipping secret!  I’ve read the book.  I’ve seen the movie.  And I’ve held my tongue for way too long about this.  For that, I am sorry.

The message of The Secret is absolutely useless, UNLESS you take action to make changes in your life.  Now I’m a big believer in the power of attitude and outlook.  In fact, in many of my talks, I share my belief that a positive attitude is vital to reaching success in any venture.  But a positive attitude, thinking good thoughts, and focusing on what you want is a waste of time if you’re not willing to take action and work hard (and smart) to get there.  This simple message has been lost on most followers of The Secret that I’ve met.

Please get this point: Action is Power! If I could miraculously download all the good and useful information on the internet directly into my brain, but not take action, all that information is just useless trivia.  Too many followers of The Secret are falling short of their dreams, and missing out on the personal reward that comes with old-fashioned hard work.  Believe it or not, there’s joy that comes with the blood, sweat and toil in relentlessly striving towards, and ultimately reaching your goal.

I fear that the message of The Secret only fuels the take-the-easy-way-out, it’s-not-my-fault, it’s-not-fair, woe-is-me, victim mentality that has permeated our culture.  Too many believe that if they simply wish for good things to happen to them, then it will be so.  Truthfully, it just ain’t so.

My new coaching client was lamenting that she hated her job, was frustrated she hadn’t made progress on the business plan she hoped would allow her to leave her job, and that she had lost most of her savings (that was meant for seed capital) in a poorly managed retirement account.  As I probed her on the steps she had taken in recent months to make changes in her situation, she broke down in tears.  She said she felt like her life was out of control, that she didn’t know what to do, but that she had reread The Secret, and had been watching the film every few days, visualizing opportunity and good things coming her way.  “WHAT!?  Are your FLIPPING kidding me?”  Well, that’s what I wanted to say to her, but instead we developed some action steps to get her off the dime so she could recognize some small victories by the end off the day, and make some significant progress this month.

In the book 9 Things You Simply Must Do, author Dr. Henry Cloud explores the mystery of why some people reach their goals and live fulfilled lives while others don’t.  The basis of Principle #5 is that we can achieve what we want by taking action and “acting like an ant.”  Many of us had ant farms when we were children.  By watching its activities we recognize that at first, very little seems to be happening.  Then we witness the ants starting to move the sand, one grain at a time.  Soon we begin to see tunnels form and sand hills on the surface.  Through one step at a time, one grain at a time, entire ant cities are built.  Successful people adopt and practice the “act like an ant” principle by taking one action step at a time.

We can all benefit from this analogy. Identify your goal, break it down into manageable tasks and complete at least one of those tasks every day.  Combine this action-oriented strategy with a positive attitude and you’ll be unstoppable.  That, my friend, is the real secret.

In celebration of last night’s Superbowl game, I wanted to share with you a fun little experience I had while in Los Angeles recently at a conference with marketing guru James Malinchak.  It was dinner time the second night, and since I’d been sitting in a hotel ballroom most of the day, without access to email or voice mail I was jones-ing to get online to see if the world had passed me by, or if there had been a coup back at the Home Office in my absence .

As I was leaving the hotel restaurant toward the internet connection in my room, with my Styrofoam box of over-cooked buffet Chinese food to-go container of Beef & Broccoli, I bumped into (literally) sports legend Joe Theismann (former Super Bowl Champion & ESPN Commentator).   I recognized him immediately–the nice smile and perfect hair gave him away.  A million things ran through my head as I stood there looking DOWN at him (I know! He’s only 6 ft tall.  But his aura is much taller).  Should I introduce myself?  Will I seem like a crazed fan?  What if he’s a jerk?  Will I sound like an idiot?

Well, acting very smooth, indeed, I managed to apologize by reaching out my right hand (still holding my plastic bag full of food) and introduced myself.  I was able to flip the plastic bag to my left hand just before he grasped my right one to shake it.  For a little guy, he’s got some big, strong mitts.  And at 50+, he’s still a stud and an absolute gentleman.  We exchanged greetings and I mentioned that I was at the conference and looking forward to hearing him speak the next day.  Folks, he did not disappoint.

Joe was funny, amazingly articulate, insightful and inspiring.  Naturally, he shared some stories of his successful football and business careers, but I most enjoyed his tales of overcoming challenges (you’ve gotta watch this video of Joe vs LT) and failure.   My biggest take-away was a reminder that “you can’t live off of yesterday’s performance.”  If that’s all we’ve got, if we stop striving for greater significance, it seems we’ll find life to be rather hollow.

Stalk and pursue your greater goals.  Here’s to your success!

4 out of 5 voices in my head said “Share this in a blog post!”

It was during a phone call with one of my business coaches last Friday that I first considered sharing one of my “little” idiosyncrasies with you.   It’s a challenge I generally have under control, but seems to creep up on me from time to time.  You see, I hear little voices in my head.  No, it’s not the kind of voices you’d expect to hear on Scooby-Doo or in The Shining (watch this if you want to be freaked-out).  It has more to do with negative chatter in my head that sometimes says “Quit!  Turn back!  You’re not good enough!  Take the easier route.”  I know I’m not alone…this destructive self-talk is a challenge for most of us.  Although naysayers and past negative reinforcement may fuel it, the reality is that we’re in control of our own minds–we create the negative chatter, and we can transform it.

I was roaming around my friend Darrell Fusaro’s site at PlainPockets.com yesterday and I came upon these cartoons he created that perfectly illustrate the point.  Finding these seemed confirmation that I should mention this to you.

Shortly after I began studying martial arts I recognized that much of my internal angst and self-talk was wrapped up in replaying  the past, stressing about things in the future…and not breathing.   Note to self: I must remember to BREATHE.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it.  By the simple act of deeply breathing air in, and letting it out I’m now able to get back to the present moment (and linger there).  The chatter quickly disappears.  It’s taken some practice, but now I simply push the negative stuff aside and replace it with positive chatter and words of self-encouragement that I repeat throughout the day.

Of course, a daily dose of Cheap Trick doesn’t hurt.