Month: January 2018

IT IS IN YOU!!

These are seeds. Small seeds as you can see by their comparison to the dime. If someone were to give you these seeds you may not think much about them. Judging by their size you may place them in a small plot of land in your back yard.

The seeds are much like us. Not sure what possibilities for growth lay inside. If we were to place these seeds in a pristine environment, say an enclosed case, what would happen? Not much. This situation is like our life no challenge, no growth.

If you take those same seeds, bury them in the dirt, cover them with heaps of fertilizer. Which can be exactly how life feels on occasion. Only then with some rain on top of that, the seeds begin to grow.

What do these small seeds turn into? Great thing to ask! Let us take a look.

The famous redwood tree. Big enough to drive a car through! From a seed smaller than a dime. Have you ever known people like this? They start from the humblest beginnings and turn into some of the greatest people society has known.

Ask yourself, what is inside of you? What is the challenges of life preparing you for? If it helps, get yourself some redwood seeds to remind you of what great things can come from the smallest beginnings.

HOW DID YOU DO IT? WE NEED TO KNOW!

My next book will contain a new section titled “In the company of angels”. It is a collection of people who have faced a lot of challenges in life and remained positive. More important than their stories, which some of us may be able to relate too, are the ways they were able to overcome those challenges and hang on despite having every reason not to.

Here is where you the reader of this post come in. I am looking to add to that collection. If you would enjoy possibly becoming a part of my next book, I invite you to share your story with us here. Do so in the comments below. If I use your story, I will send you an autographed copy of the book when it is published. In addition you will inspire and help a lot of people who read this post.

We all go through pain and the best way to make use of it is to learn from it. The best way to make pain a gift is to use it to help others who may be going through a similar situation. In your story please include what you went through, how you were feeling and what allowed you to come out the other side with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM A BEAR

Margie and I saw the movie Paddington 2 the other night. If you are not familiar with the story of Paddington allow me to catch you up. He is a bear that lived in Peru, but found his way to London and was adopted by the Brown family.

Paddington is a lovable bear who, despite the best of intentions, often finds himself in sticky situations. Sometimes figuratively, often literally due to his love of marmalade.

Despite being very entertaining, there is often moral lessons to every Paddington story. It is one of these I would like to share with you.

Everywhere Paddington goes, he seems to make friends. That is due to his moral code installed in him by his aunt Lucy who lives in the home for retired bears in Peru. I know this all may seem a bit silly and over the top, but bear with me (every pun intended) I think we will all have a lesson we can use.

Paddington is a constant example of good manners and virtue. 2 of the lessons he got from aunt Lucy are, if you are courteous and polite the world will be right and if you look for the good in people you will find it.

Stop and think if everyone on earth took these two lessons from this lovable bear, how amazing would this planet be? Perhaps you don’t have a moral code, or even an aunt Lucy to give you one, but I’m sure Paddington wouldn’t mind if we borrowed his.

MASTER THE FUNDAMENTALS

Recently I was asked a very good question. “Neil, do you ever get angry or depressed?” Reading my material it would be easy to assume I am floating through life on a cloud, and to be honest, that is my general state of being. This is only possible because of the two decades of research and work in the self-improvement field, and even more so because of the continued work I do on improving myself.

There are days, however, that emotions get the best of me. Being an author and speaker does not make me immune to the trials life gives us all. In fact, 2017 might have been the single most trying year of my adult life. One dislocated shoulder, 3 cars, 4 funerals and 3 eulogies makes for a year you would rather not repeat.

A better question to ask is what difference all of this self-improvement work makes when life gives you a challenge. The difference it makes is that the tough times do not last as long, and generally become less intense. When you are focused on increasing the passion and joy you feel in life, you are not focused on anger and sadness.

There are days when both emotions creep up on even the best of us. Just last Saturday I woke up feeling very sad and I couldn’t even figure out why. Talk about frustrating. Here is what made the difference, fundamentals. The picture for this post is of one of my favorite philosophers, Fred Rogers. People always get a chuckle when I mention that, but he was a master of the fundamentals. Such as the title in the picture, “What do you do with the mad that you feel?” How many adults do not have a constructive way of dealing with anger? Quite a few I would say.

Having mastered the fundamentals of what works to calm you down and help you focus when you are angry, or cheer you up and change your focus when you are sad, makes a big difference. These tools can vary from person to person, but should be thought of and practiced before sadness strikes. When you are angry or depressed, you are most likely not in your most constructive and creative mindset. Having developed these tools ahead of time takes the thinking out of the situation which can be very helpful when you are in a state of high negative emotion. Like I tell people at my seminars, the time to learn to swim is on the shore, not when the boat is sinking.

Personally, I have a playlist of songs (you can also burn a CD of songs) that make me happy. I am constantly updating this list as I hear new songs and think of ones I have forgot. I also have a list of movies that make me laugh, places I enjoy going and even people I enjoy talking to. Being able to just push play and hear music to help me change my state, or grab a list of movies and pop one in and be taken away to somewhere happier for two hours without having to think about it has helped me more often than I can think of.

There are lots of other tools that make a big difference. I have a lot of them in my book, A Happy Life for Busy People and at my live seminars. The important thing to remember is that a lot of these should be set up and practiced daily to help you avoid falling into that state. When it can’t be helped, or when life just gets the better of you, then you will have tools you know work and have already practiced. You will have learned to swim on the shore.

One more thing I should mention makes a big difference, your posse. That being the people you surround yourself with on a daily basis. Make sure there are people in your life that know what makes you tick. Even if you have all of the tools, sometimes when you are in an especially dark place, or just one of those funks you can’t get out of they can help you remember what makes you happy even when you can’t. Last Saturday, I spoke with both my beautiful lady Margie, and my good friend Russ. Both of these people know me better than I know myself on occasion. They helped to remind me of what is important to me and what I should be focused on. Having a supportive network of encouraging and loving people can make the biggest difference.

UNDERWEAR AND NICKLES

Here is one of those odd conversations you have. My friend Russ and I were recently having a telephone conversation. We try to catch up with each other about once a week if we can. Russ is like the brother I never had. We share philosophy, jokes, memories and on occasion a weird topic tends to pop up. Today was one of those days.

After the usual update on each other’s lives the topic of underwear came up. Not sure who brought it up, or exactly how and why two men in their early forties found this to begin discussing new styles of underwear we came across and how comfortable the were and how well they performed while working out. We discussed the fact that they cost a little more than we are used to spending, but how we planned to slowly replace all of our underwear with these new, comfortable and costly style.

Reading this as I type it the conversation still seems a little odd. That is who are, two odd gentleman with a panache for discussing off the wall topics. Noting that, I said to Russ, if I had a nickel for every time I had a discussion like this, I would have…a nickel. We both agreed that those extra nickels would be best spent on the products we had been discussing.

A day later I began to think how a younger me would find spending so much money on something nobody else would see might seem foolish. As we grow older, our priorities  change. Suddenly buying those expensive shoes for the brand name, becomes more about buying the most comfortable and durable shoes regardless of the brand. Spending your extra nickels on underwear that keep you comfortable not only makes sense, but should be a priority. After all, you wear underwear daily, it is close to your skin and can make a big difference in the quality of your day.

Stop and think of what you are spending your nickels on. Is it to impress others? Are you focused on things that will make the biggest difference even though nobody else may notice? If you have a friend to have a crazy conversation with, be grateful, you never know where it may take you.

THE LANGUAGE OF CHAMPIONS

This is a picture of my lady, Margie, and myself. It was taken at the “Best of Milwaukee” awards put on by Shepherd Express magazine. Both of us were runner up in our categories. Even the bar we DJ at, actually all three, were nominated as well. How did we manage to accomplish all of that? By speaking the language of champions.

What on earth is that, other than some fancy catch phrase? It is a set of standards that people who excel in any field adhere to. Have you noticed that giants in different industries can often be seen together sharing ideas? Have you ever wondered what on earth can Bill Gates and Aaron Rogers talk about other than ways to spend large amounts of cash? I can’t imagine Bill gates in shoulder pads any more than I can imagine Aaron Rogers running a Microsoft board meeting.

What they do have in common is the way they approach their craft. The same way the couple above, an author and motivational speaker with a cake and floral designer, can discuss strategy. Margie has a hard time reading more than a page without falling asleep, and if I tried to design a cake it would have to be explained away as an example of what not to do. That being the case, I believe given time and desire both of us could learn to excel in each other’s field. Not to the level we are both at, because I believe there is something to be said about natural talent, but I do believe we could be successful. This is not to sound narcissistic, for anyone can learn to be this way too. We all know famous people who seem to go from the movies, to music, or perhaps the other way around. These people are not just lucky or extra talented, but know the secret language of champions. It is the language I am going to introduce you to.

This is the first secret. In the last 3 months I have been not only nominated for the award mentioned above, but have been featured in 2 publications, and the guest on a national podcast. My website now has followers in over 100 different countries. All of these milestones have been reached in the last 3 months.

That sounds like a lot of success for a short period of time. What is not mentioned is the 6 years I have been writing blog posts, the 5 years since my book was published, and the seminars I gave where at one point only 10 people showed up. Was I tempted to give up? Sure, several times, but I didn’t. I kept writing, I kept speaking and promoting. Later this year I will be flying across the country to speak to a industry convention. (More on that in a future post)

I know I will be successful because of all I went through. Champions look like champions on game day because of all the hours they put in at practice. My lady’s cakes look like masterpieces because of all the years she spent developing her craft. I swear she can do things with a spatula I never imagined.

Do things ever go wrong for her on occasion? Absolutely. I recall one day coming home from my day job while she was decorating a cake and asking her how it was coming along. She looked up from the cake, spun around and with a look that spoke of a mix of insanity and frustration began to explain to me what happens when it is too hot and humid and frosting melts as it is on the cake. Being that I am a fan of hot humid weather, I felt it would be best if I pondered this cake lesson…while working out at the gym.

What makes her a champion is she learned from that experience and has updated her freezer, checked the mix of the frosting and some other cake magic involving unicorns, fairy dust and other things I will never understand. That is what makes a champion, the work. Jim Rohn once said “You cannot pay anyone to do your pushups for you.” Champions know that and enjoy the pushups. They learn and understand everything they go through can either make them bitter or better and they choose the latter way more often than the former.

Enjoy the process. Learn and use what you are going through right now. In other words, work harder in the preseason and when the championship comes, you will be ready.

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!

After what turned out to be an extended process, I am front page in today’s business section in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Please enjoy the article, I would love to hear your feedback.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/columnists/steve-jagler/2018/01/19/steve-jagler-c-level-neil-panosian-introspection/1045220001/

IT IS IN YOUR BLOOD

Not only does this statement ring true for me, as my blood type really is B+, but deep down I believe inside of each of us is a joyful soul.

I know a few of you may be rolling your eyes thinking of somebody you know. Maybe the person at work whose cubicle could be dubbed the ‘black hole’ due to the lack of light in their demeanor. Maybe it is that friend who you swear looks forward to sharing all that is wrong in their world? Perhaps there is a gentleman you occasionally run into when you are out that takes pride in being a jerk? Maybe even that family member who… well you know your family better than I do. We all have the one family member who drives us crazy.

So how can these people have a positive person inside of them? More importantly, for the love of all that’s good, why do they choose not to let them out? I think it comes down to two reasons, ignorance and fear.

Most people, unlike yourself, do not take advantage of informative and entertaining blog such as this. They simply are unaware of how to change their life. When they do have glimpses of solutions, without knowledge of the science behind them, they can’t comprehend how and why the information may help them. This being the case, they may be quick to dismiss any chance for improvement and continue along their negative path.

Then we have fear. The Power that paralyzes more people then anything else I can think of. How can fear make you act like a jerk? When you raise your standards for yourself and your life, there is a certain amount of responsibility that goes with that. A lot of people are afraid they cannot live up to their own standards. Instead of learning, and persistent effort at improvement they lower their standards. Some may even cover up this fear with a sense of bravado. I have even heard one man brag about what a jerk he was. I just sat back thinking, “No, you are gutless.” Step up and admit your faults and begin to work on them. It is not an easy thing to be positive and compassionate. As we discussed in our post about Martin Luther king Jr on Monday. Understanding those who treat you or others harshly suffer from fear and ignorance, often both, may help you view them and there behavior with more compassion.

Being positive takes courage and hard work, but I would not wish to live my life any other way. If you come across someone who’s blood type is not “be positive” perhaps what is needed is a transfusion of kindness.

HELP ME, HELP YOU

Here’s what I love – INSPIRING AND HELPING PEOPLE!!

How do I do that? There are live events, but if you have a busy schedule, like most of us, or don’t want to travel, FEAR NOT! You can benefit from my years of wisdom without leaving your home!

HOW?

there is – http://www.secret2anamazinglife.com – where you will find over 700 articles to learn from and be inspired!

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Here is the link for my channel

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