“You must constantly ask yourself these questions:
Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading?
What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking?
And most important, what do they have me becoming?
Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?

- Jim Rohn

These are some powerful questions. I thought might want to see my answers

Who am I around? What are they doing to me?
Recently I had the opportunity to work with someone I have not worked with in a very long time. It was quite a revelation to sit in the same room and interact with this person again. You see I had almost completely forgotten how negative this person is.

This individual isn’t bad, evil, or stupid – just negative. It was an amazing thing to witness. You could almost see the aura of negativity that surrounded this person. Anyone who stayed within about eight feet of this individual for any length of time appeared to be influenced. A normally outgoing and upbeat gentleman sat beside this person and quickly became quiet, reserved and at some points almost sullen.

This reminded me why I started distancing myself from this individual years ago! Over the last few years, I have deliberately distanced myself from quite a few people because of the negative effect they have on me and my attitude. It didn’t take long to realize that time alone was better than time spent with people who are ‘unmotivating’ and depressing. I will admit that I have sacrificed a couple of friendships by avoiding these people. However, overall, I am a much happier and positive person as a result.

What have they got me reading?
I have a friend to simply devours a dozen different magazines and periodicals relating to the IT industry. If you want to have an intelligent conversation with him, you had better have done your homework! I have another friend who reads Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. A good friend of mine recently challenged me to keep up with him on reading all the books on the New York Times best seller list.

What have they got me saying?
In less than 24 hours I have had a couple of conversation about the power of simple, basic questions. I’ve learned some new questions to ask when faced with problems. Even better, I’ve learned a couple of questions to ask to help avoiding problems!

Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking?
Physically, I’m not going to many different places. Virtually, I’m going to all kinds of new and interesting places. As a result, I’m learning about Philo Farnsworth and wikis. (If you want to know, you’ll have to do your own homework!) As a result of all of this new information, I find myself thinking more about what is going on around me and the direction things are heading.

What do they have me becoming?

I think I’m becoming better at many things as a result of all of the information that is coming in. I’m reading a lot. I’m asking a lot of questions – which is a prerequisite for learning anything new. I’m learning about myself, other people, and my surroundings. I’m learning new ways to approach my work and to work more effectively and efficiently.

Is that okay?
Yes!

I dare you to honestly answer these questions.

"You don’t get paid by the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to an hour."
- Jim Rohn

How many times do we claim to want to get paid more money for our jobs? Yet, how many of us really work hard enough to earn the amount of money we receive? I know there are many people who claim to work very hard. However, even these people often fall short of earning the amount of money they are paid. You might even be thinking this couldn’t possibly apply to you – but you’re wrong! If you honestly look at yourself and are willing to admit it, very few of us measure up very often.

When I first read this, I thought about work. We all know people who simply aren’t paid what they are worth. We also know the people who really should be paying their employer instead of getting paid! But the more I think about this quote, the more I realize it applies to more than just work.

I really think this applies to our entire lives. For example, what if we apply this concept to relationships? Our relationships can’t be measured simply by the amount of time we spend in them. They are really measured by the value they bring to our lives.

Think about it, which relationships are the most important to you? How much time have you “wasted” with these people? If you really enjoy being with someone, be with them. Don’t just occupy space next to them; be with them!

Which would add more “value” to your relationship; watching a movie or having a long conversation while taking a walk? I’m perfectly willing to admit there are times when all I have the energy for is to sit and watch a movie! But for all the other times, any activity that involves lots of conversation, interaction, and laughter adds much more value to my relationships than just occupying space next to someone while watching a movie.

For what its worth, stop measuring your life by the hour, but by the value you give to others, or the value others give to you.

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

As far as I am concerned ordinary is pretty much the same thing as being normal – and normal isn’t all its cracked up to be! Consider, in Nazi Germany it was considered “normal” to hate Jews. This was considered “normal” because that is what “ordinary” people were doing.

Lately I’ve come to realize that normal is the opposite of many things. For example, the “normal” American household has an average of over $8,000 in credit card debt alone! So being normal (ordinary) means you are in debt! The average American will consume somewhere between ten and twenty pounds of sugar this year from carbonated beverages (Coke, Pepsi, etc) alone! Being ordinary (normal) means you aren’t really drinking in a healthy way. I’ll bet those same people aren’t eating healthy either! So being ordinary means you are probably overweight, fat, or well on your way to being that way because of what you are putting into your body.

As for me, I have decided that normal is not only boring, its wrong. At the risk of forcing my personal beliefs on you, let me say that I don’t really think God put any of us on this earth just so we could be normal, ordinary, or (even worse) “just like everybody else.” Sorry, I don’t buy into that. I like being considered unusual. I like being around people who are a little unusual. They certainly are a lot more fun! I could easily entertain you for hours with stories of my friends who are anything but ordinary.

Being around these people stimulates my own sense of uniqueness (if there is such a word). When I was in college I learned about how sometimes you have to “think outside the box.” I always thought that was stupid. Then I went into the working world and had opportunity after opportunity to attend seminars and meetings where I could be taught and encouraged to “think outside the box.” I’m proud to say I’ve never attended any of them.

I noticed my dad never really thought “inside the box.” I was talking to him about this a while back and asked him why that was. I loved his reply, “I never had time to build the box.”

To me thinking “inside the box” is just a very subtle and polite way of saying, “I’ve been so brainwashed by society that I can’t even think like an individual any longer.” The problem with most, if not all, brainwashing is that when brains get washed they tend to shrink!

I have a new hobby now and that is observing ordinary, normal people. Its fascinating, frustrating, and occasionally depressing. But for me its mostly very motivating almost to the point of being inspiring. Allow me to share with you some of what I have learned about ordinary or normal people:

• They get their financial advice from people who have the same or more financial problems than they do.
• They get diet advice from people who have tried all the fad diets and are still overweight.
• They get relationship advice from people who can’t talk to their kids without screaming at them and/or have failed or failing marriages.
• They get medical “advice” from people who are out-of-shape, smoke, and drink too much.

I guess compared to the ordinary person I do some pretty unusual things. Some times it is a bit risky. But it is almost always a lot of fun!

For what its worth, don’t allow yourself to be stuck with the ordinary. Go out today and march to the beat of your own drummer and risk the unusual!

“I found it easier to get rich than to make excuses.”

I don’t know who wrote this, but they are obviously the exception to the rule. Most of the people I have ever met are quite satisfied to make excuses. Personally, I have heard dozens of excuses throughout my life.

I bet you were expecting that number to be higher, weren’t you? Well the brutal truth is that there are a couple of really, really good excuses that people just can’t seem to get enough of. I’m not even going to bother to list them because I’m sure you already know most of them. To be perfectly honest, I have some pretty first-hand knowledge of some of those excuses myself.

But all of this makes me wonder why is it so easy to make excuses. I suspect it is because everywhere we go there are people making excuses. Our entire lives we hear people making excuses. We grow up hearing them and ultimately we begin to believe them and finally accept these excuses as fact. How different would the world be if we all found it easier to get rich than to make excuses?

For what its worth, how much different (or better) would your life be if you found anything easier than making excuses?