Tag: Neil Panoisan

WHAT DID YOU PLANT TODAY?

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Last post we talked about planting seeds and how long they may take to sprout. What is a good question to begin asking yourself is “What am I planting?”. Quite often our focus depends on what is occurring in our life at the moment. If our life is going well we preoccupy ourselves with thoughts of all the good we have in our life and the good that is coming. We look forward to tomorrow and what is next. Then we hit a bump in the road. Something happens in our life to throw us off center. We then begin to focus our attention on that. We begin to see what it could all effect and how things might get even worse. One of the most difficult things to do, but one of the greatest powers I am learning to harness is living in action instead of reaction.

What do I mean by living in action instead of reaction? It is east to know and to practice things that will make our life successful when things are going well. It is easy to be happy when life is happy. You are simply reflecting your surroundings. You, in essence, are being a mirror. So what happens when life goes south? When a ‘bad’ thing happens? Often it is hard to focus, things seem upside down.

So what should we do? Begin by writing down a vision of what you want your future to look like. Write down the good you are looking forward to coming in the next year. Then daily begin to spend about 2 to 5 minutes a day just imagining what it will be like. Don’t just picture it, but feel it. Keep this and a list of things you are grateful for handy. Each and every day make a habit to look at them ideally twice a day, once when you first get up, and again right before sleep that is when the brain is most suggestive. Then, when hard times hit and you are having a hard time picturing the good in life you will not only be in practice you will have a written script to help you as well.

As always if you enjoyed this post please feel free to share this on social media as well as tell your friends about secret2anamazinglife.com. Together we can make the world a better place for all of us.

WHY AM I NOT SEEING RESULTS?

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This is a very interesting story and did a lot to keep me going. Have you ever been working at a goal, giving it your best effort day after day and feel like you’re not getting anywhere? If you have tried to achieve anything I am sure we have all had a point like this. So what can you do when this happens? How do you stay motivated? How do you keep pushing forward when all your efforts seem in vain? It is a question that haunts all of us. I have a little story that may put things into perspective. Something that will allow you to keep pushing forward, and something I have seen in my life recently.

What is this story? It is the story of a Chinese bamboo tree. What does this tree have to do with our life and achieving our goals? A good deal. Let me explain the life cycle of the Chinese bamboo tree. You take a seed and plant it in the ground. You water and fertilize it for a whole year. If you forget the seed will die and you will have to start over. If you are faithful and do so for a whole year, guess what happens? Nothing. Ok, so you stick with it. Fertilize and water it for another 52 weeks. If you stop you know the seed will die. So at the end of the second year you have…nothing. You’ve gone this far so what is another 365 days right? At the end of the third year? Not even a sprout. The fourth year is more of the same. Let’s recap, for four long years you have fertilized and watered and took care of this seed that you are starting to even doubt is still under the ground. So year 5, losing hope you continue your efforts knowing if you stop the seed will die and it will all be for nothing. Something happens in year 5, the tree not only sprouts, it grows 90 FEET IN SIX WEEKS!!

Again, that is a great story about a tree but how does it relate to our life? Everything! Our goals are much like that seed. We plant them and work on them for one year, two years maybe more. We know if we stop and give up on our goals and dreams they will die and not come true. Quite often all of our efforts may be lost and we may have to begin again. Yet, if we stick with it, if we keep working one day we will experience something like the bamboo tree and our goals will explode. We may not see everything that is happening with our efforts. They may seem like that seed deep in the earth, growth is happening but not visible to the eye.

On a personal note I can see this beginning to happen in my own life. I wrote my book. I faithfully create these blog posts daily. Nothing seemed to be happening for years. Now I was featured on a podcast due out soon, I will be appearing at and speaking at the Wisconsin author festival, a book promotion due out in about a week and meetings lined up with several people I could possibly work with to take things to the next level. I even spoke at a wedding recently! All this good fortune could not have happened without the work I had done in the years leading up to that. So if you are not seeing results and you are honestly doing the best you can, giving 120% just remember the story of the mighty bamboo tree.

If you enjoyed this post, or think it may help someone you know feel free to share it on social media, tell your friends and check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel under ‘Neil Panosian’. Also feel free to leave any comments you may have below.

THE WORD OF THE DAY IS

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Here is a word I have been accused of using way to often. In reflection there is a lot of truth to that. Even this site is called secret2anamazinglife For a while I began trying to use different words. ‘wonderful’ ‘great’ were some I chose. None really fit the bill, and before long the word ‘amazing’ was coming out of my mouth quite often.

I began to think about why this is. I know it began when trying to think of a name for this site. Amazing seemed to have the power I was looking for. So why do I use it so much? that is a good question. I realized that I view a good amount of things in my life as amazing. I also know that the words you use most often can have a great impact on your life. This is more true than many people believe. Here is a quick test. think of these 3 phrases, perhaps even say them out loud if you happen to be alone or don’t care if people think you are sane or not. First, say “I did something stupid” We have all done something stupid. Said something without thinking. Put our sweater on backwards(I did this just the other day). Ok, now the second one. Say to yourself, or out loud “I am being stupid” There have all been moments I’m sure we felt like this. You are in a bad mood and just acting difficult. Perhaps you have had too much rum and are doing several things you may regret in the morning? Doesn’t it feel different than doing something stupid? A little more intense? Ok, now the last one. Say to yourself or out loud “I am stupid”. How do you feel? hurt? sad? See there is a difference between “Doing something stupid” “feeling stupid” and “Being stupid”.

So how can we use this to improve our lives? Think of times you use the same word. A greeting perhaps? Then think of how you want your life to be. When people ask how I am doing, my answer is almost never ‘fine’ or ‘good’ it is usually ‘living the dream’ ‘legendary’ or yes, ‘amazing’. Words have emotional power. Find some you would like to include in your life and try using them.

If you enjoyed what you read here or find it to be amazing, please share and tell your friends about http://www.secret2anamazinglife.com

TURNING THE ENEMY INTO A FRIEND

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What does this African proverb mean? Let us take a look. Several times in this blog we have discussed the inner battle we fight. From doubt, to negative or defeating self talk the greatest enemy can often lie between your own two ears. So how important is it to win this battle? Let us take a look.

A friend of mine and I were discussing people, more to the point members of your own family not supporting you or what you do. It can be extremely difficult to hear things about yourself that are negative or hurtful. It can be even worse when those things are not true. Add on top of that the pain of having those statements coming from family or close friends who should be the very people on your side.

So what can we do when this happens? Here is the bad news right up front, if you live long enough and take any chances or have an opinion it is going to happen. Whether it be out of jealousy, intimidation or any other emotions the other party might be feeling people will attack you. Quite often this may be for doing the very best you can do. Again this can come from their own feelings of inadequacy. What can we do when that happens? Truly it is a painful experience. There is almost a feeling of betrayal. The first thing we must understand is that what they are saying is their opinion. Les Brown, one of my favorite speakers once said “Do not let other people’s opinions about you become your reality”. They can sight all the facts and figures they want. They can mention as many other people as they want, but it does not have to define us.

How can we make sure it does not define us? By getting right with ourselves. What do I mean by getting right with ourselves? Become the kind of person you can be proud of. Whatever you are currently doing, do it to the best of your ability. Always be kind. Be the kind of person other people want to be around. Know and accept your flaws. If you can work on them, then do so. Be the best version of yourself that you can be. When you bring greatness into the world than all of the critics can do is offer you their opinion. Know that if they are judging you on a mistake you made yesterday that you are committed to work on and correct from today forward than they are convicting an innocent person. Most importantly know the only two people who are fit to judge us are ourselves and our higher power because those are the only two people who truly know who we are.

As always I invite you to like, comment and share this post to your hearts content.

DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF

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This is one of my favorite quotes. Here is why, it is something that I used to be victim to quite often. As someone who takes great pride in his knowledge and always strives to learn new things, there is one thing I really dislike. The one thing that I try my best to avoid is looking foolish. I suppose on the surface that may not really be a bad thing. After all who wants to look foolish right? This is true to a point. My fear of looking foolish stemmed from doubting myself. What happened then?

Here is what the fear of looking foolish, and doubting myself did for me. Often times it kept me from trying something new. Everything we learn to do we go through a period where we are not yet skilled. Think of the job you work at right now. Recall your first day there, did you know everything you know now? Of course not. Even things like finding your way around, or knowing where the bathroom is. One cannot expect to start something new and know it all. Intellectually I knew this, yet emotionally that is what I did to myself. If what I was thinking of trying included a period of looking foolish before you got it right I would do one of two things. Either I would wait to try it until few or nobody was around, or worse yet I would skip trying it at all. Some of you may feel that same way.

So how does one face this fear and more importantly overcome it? Begin to look at things in two ways. One, think of all you will miss by not doing what you fear and two, think of all you will gain by doing it. It also wouldn’t hurt to consider other things in your life you might have overcome the new/learning period to become capable or even quite good at. One of my favorite examples is snorkeling. I love the tropics and love the ocean. I also happen to enjoy rum. So while on vacation I always saw snorkeling available. All my mind focused on was not knowing a thing about it from what equipment is good, to how to not drown while learning. That kept me from ever trying it. That is until one day when a nice young man by the name of captain Morgan whispered in my ear that I should give it a try. The first trip out took some getting used to, but by the end of that trip I learned how to dive under water with a snorkel, how best to swim and a million other things. Now when I go to the tropics about 8 hours of my day is spent in the ocean, a lot of that with a snorkel on. I could kick myself for all the fun I missed before all because I was afraid to try.

So think about your doubts, what are they keeping you from trying? You may discover a new passion, some new friends or a new skill you never knew you had. Now if you will excuse me I am going to put on my snorkel, get in the bathtub and dream of Jamaica.