Tag: Neil Panoisan

USE SUNDAY FOR THIS PURPOSE ☕️

There is so much going on in this picture that gives clues to living an amazing life. At first glance, it may not seem so. Let us take a dive in to discover the secrets that are in this picture. Starting with the obvious – the saying in the picture. “Use Sunday to reconnect with a place from your past.” What a great idea! My mother and I often discuss things that we did that seem like a different lifetime ago. We used to go to a great encampment they held at the local VA grounds. That no longer occurs. We talk about restaurants we used to frequent that have went out of business. Then, after a few more sips of coffee, we talk about places we just haven’t visited in a long time for various reasons.

Reconnecting with some of these places could bring back some really interesting memories. It also helps you stay grounded. Connecting your present with your past can help us be both nostalgic as well as present. Reflecting on memories of the past and noting how life has changed can be insightful. Looking around to see how the place has changed can have us living in the present. When we reflect on memories there is one thing I find interesting. At the time they were being created, we usually never know they will become memories. We are just enjoying the moment. This is a reason why it is helpful to take pictures, especially now that they can be stored digitally. I find it also helps to use as many of our senses as we can. Soak up every moment of our lives. We never know which ones will become our favorite memories.

The other item is what the saying is printed on. It is a day-by-day motivational calendar. I purchased it while visiting the mall to see my friend Nick, who manages the coffee shop there. Every day it supplies an inspirational thought for me. That is one source of positive inspiration added to my life and all I have to do is tear off that day. Considering how many negative influences come into our lives, without any effort on our part, it benefits us greatly to add as many positive ones that do the same. There are apps that send motivational messages to your phone. There are affirmations you can listen to on YouTube. There are so many influences that we can add. This leads us to the final thing we will mention in this picture.

The last thing you might not have noticed in the first picture, is the hand that is holding the calendar. That hand belongs to my lovely lady, Margie. Recently, I saw a meme about how picking the right woman makes a big difference. I would like to change ‘woman’ to ‘partner’ as this holds true across gender. Margie was kind enough to take this picture because mine had a big shadow in it. Much like adding as many positive influences in your life, the same can be said for positive people. I enjoy hanging out with my mother and going for coffee. Speaking of which, my friend Nick and I are long overdue for getting together. Even at my day job, where people can be ‘sunshine challenged’ I seek out those who do have a brighter outlook. I feel we support each other. How about your life? Adding, and spending time with, as many positive people as you can will fill your life with more joy than you can do on your own. As a bonus, the more time you spend around positive people, the less time you have for those ’emotional vampires’ that suck the life out of your soul.

In this one picture, there are 3 ideas I put into action that helps me to live an amazing life. It was a powerful reminder. How about you? Share a picture of things that bring joy into your life and help you live an amazing life. When we share, we all benefit!

REFLECTING WHILE LOOKING FORWARD 🫡

A great 2023!

End of the first week of the New Year! What a wild ride it has been. As we jump into our goals for the coming year, we are going to take a few moments to look back at how we did in 2023. Above is a map featuring all of the countries that we were viewed in within the past year. We appeared on 6 of the 7 continents and in 148 countries. That blows my mind. I still recall writing my first blog 12 years ago and wondering if anyone at all would read it. I was one person who was struggling to learn the lessons of living a rewarding and fulfilling life. Using my passion for helping others, I continued to write. We are now have over 2100 posts on this site and have been viewed by almost 200,000 people!

Being able to reach so many people in so many places is such a rewarding experience. There are so many negative news outlets, that we want to continue to serve as a beacon of hope, motivation and inspiration. 2023 was great, but we are looking to do even better in 2024. We are going to reach even more people and bring the light of hope and positivity to even more corners of the world. If you like what you read here, feel free to share this site with your friends and neighbors. Print out posts you like and hang them up in the office. Share links on your social media timeline. The more souls we can reach, the brighter we can make the world.

Secret2anamazinglife wishes to thank all of our contributors, followers and even our passing viewers. You make all of this possible and worth it. We look forward to finding new and exciting ways to serve you in the future. Do not forget to check out the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast wherever you stream your content. It is free and brings you the same great tools and strategies in audio form!

LOVE… TIMES 12! ❤️🔥

Here is a picture of the calendar that I have hanging at work. As you can see it adds a little splash of color to an otherwise dull space. There is much more to this story than meets the eye. The calendar in question was purchased for me by the love of my life. She bought it for me at a bird show at the Wisconsin State Fair. The profits went to support the animals in the show. They are presented by the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. They have an array of products for sale, the profits going to support the animals that are found at their center.

Sure, a button would have been cool, maybe a t-shirt. Why did my lady choose a calendar? Besides the fact that I have no need for another t-shirt, no matter how cool, it is a gift that keeps on giving. Each month they feature a picture of an exciting bird of prey. In addition to some quick learning, I am reminded of the amazing show we were at, the fun we had and the fact that the lady in my life loves me enough to surprise me with this calendar.

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, and the fact that you should always be thinking about great gifts that help keep the love and passion in your relationship, a calendar is a rather cool gift. They have fancy day by day ones, you can even have personal ones made! The price point is not that much, but it serves as a reminder all year long. Already have a calendar? A daily journal could be fun. Anything that can be used daily, or at least on a regular basis makes a great gift to remind someone you care. This year, I have a calendar of tropical locations that I got while shopping with my lady. We are going to take a trip to the Bahamas this year and it will serve as a great reminder of that and other fun we have had, and will have. How about you? Is there an item you have that reinforces positive thoughts and memories?

THE SECRET TO AN AMAZING LIFE 🤫

It is mid-week, time for a little uplifting thinking! How about how to have an amazing life, or at least starting with the rest of the week? You deserve it and it really isn’t that complicated. It is finding ways in which to turn all of the negative energy in our lives into something to be grateful for. That may sound like a daunting challenge, but it is really an opportunity! At the end of the day, it can be a fun game to play with ourselves. Even endeavoring to find the positive in the negative will have us feeling better and looking at life in an entirely different way.

How to do it? That is the question. How do you turn the negative in your life into something positive? There are many ways. I am going to share two of my favorite with you and I would love it if you would share some of yours with the readers of this amazing blog, including yours truly. The first way I turn the negative into the positive is by escaping the situation. This is not always possible physically. If you are stuck at your work and the boss is in a bad mood, you are stuck there. Maybe, like myself, you live where the sun rarely shines this time of year. I think it has been over a week since we had a day where the sun came out for more than just a little while.

If you are physically stuck in a bad, or negative, situation, how can you still escape. By using a strategy that I teach and remind everyone of constantly. That there is no law of physics or biology that states your mind and body have to occupy the same space and the same time. The body, so far as we know, is limited. It can only be where you find yourself. The mind, however, has no such limits. The picture above may sound humorous, but I have honestly used this method to save my sanity on more than one occasion. How powerful is this really? There have been stories of holocaust survivors using this method to make it through one of the worst situations man has ever found themselves in. If it can work in that situation, it can work for you and I. Try it for yourself. Recall a vacation you particularly enjoyed. Do so using as many senses as you can. The scent of the ocean and the tanning lotion. The feel of the warm sun on your skin. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore. The vision of beautiful turquoise water. The flavor of some delicious island food. Take yourself on a mini mental vacation. Haven’t been on a vacation in so long you can’t remember these things? Go buy a bottle of sun tan lotion, make some jerk chicken for dinner or take yourself to a tanning bed while listening to ocean waves. Whatever it takes to make it real for you.

Next is to use the power of gratitude. I know, I know. You have heard about gratitude over and over. Oprah talks about it. It is in the movie The Secret. Apparently, even the author Neale Donald Walsh is in on the subject. Do you know why all of these people are talking about gratitude and why you are hearing about it everywhere? Because it works. Your mind can only focus on one emotion at a time. If you are focusing on what you are grateful for, even for just a minute, your mind cannot be focused on whatever negative crap is going on in your life at that moment.

Another thing that gratitude allows us to do is to get our head out of our butt. Look, I get it, when things go wrong, it is so easy to get fixated on what is not working in our lives. Even if 99% of our life is amazing, we will focus on the 1% that is bringing us down. As we discussed a few posts earlier, according to the National Science Foundation, 80% of our daily thoughts are negative. Those stats are for the average person. We all know people who would fall below average in this regard. Where do you want to be when it comes to your thinking? By spending even five minutes of our day focused on what we have to be grateful for, we begin to create a habit. It is that habit that will allow us to become better than average thinkers. It will have us feeling joyous and abundant.

Use these two strategies to change the negative situations in your life and become happier and more fulfilled than 80% of the population. Using mini mental vacations and the power of gratitude, we can radically transform our life for the better. I would love to know any tools or strategies that you use to turn the negative into the positive in your life. Perhaps they will be featured in a future post.

WE DID IT!!!🍾🥂

Today we are celebrating! It is the first time in this site’s 11 year history that we have had a post every day for an entire year. It was a goal of mine to bring more inspiration and motivation to all who read this. As many of us look to create our own resolutions for the New Year, we should take a look at why and how we were successful in having a post daily for a year.

First, start where you are with what you have. Although we have been talking about having a post every day for a year, this is actually the 546 straight day we have had a post. When I decided that was my goal for the coming year, it was sometime in mid summer of last year. Why should I wait for the first of the year to start? Part of the reason I was successful was I had a strong enough ‘why’. In having a post daily, I knew the audience for this site would grow. We are now over 100,000 views in over 200 countries. I also knew I would reach and engage with more people the more content I would put out. The more people reached, the more people could get an assist in living an amazing life. The more people living amazing lives, the better our planet would be.

Were there days I struggled with posting? You bet. Being an author, speaker, DJ and full-time day job as well, time is crazy. Another one of my goals was to improve the quality and depth of my relationship with my lovely lady. That takes time and dedication. All of these things could have been legitimate reasons not to have a blog. Then, I needed to use negative motivation for my goals. What is negative motivation? I needed to consider what would happen if we did not have a post here. There may be someone who was in a dark emotional place that was looking forward to reading what we have to say here. What would happen if they came to discover there was nothing to read? Hearing all of the negativity that the world seems to bring to our attention daily, I knew that this site needed to be a balance to that. If people were not given another source for knowledge and inspiration, I was not doing my part to leave the world a better place than I found it. This is, after all, my life’s mission, or at least part of it.

In closing, this accomplishment leaves me feeling just one way…grateful. I consider it a blessing to be able to share with you everything I learn along my journey of life. I am thankful for all of the souls who join me on this journey. There is nothing but gratitude for the friends I have made and the input they have given. I look forward to hearing from more of you in the year to come. 2024 will bring you my fourth book, as well as many other surprises including new episodes of the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. In addition, we will continue to have great and valuable content here to share with you. We always welcome your feedback and look forward to living an amazing life with you in 2024.

THANKS COACH! 😊

John Wooden is one of my favorite persons that I have studied. His attention to detail and the importance he placed on character are some of the greatest lessons we can all learn. I am going to share two of them with you here, and then we are going to end by taking a hard look at the quote above.

One lesson I recall was his pregame approach. He told all of his players to check for wrinkles in their socks. His players, much like you might be doing right now, looked at him quizzically. What does worrying about a wrinkle in your sock have to do with winning basketball games? That seemingly minor inconvenience, left unattended to, would lead to irritation, and eventually a blister. This would leave the player unable to perform at their best.

In our own life, how many minor irritations do we let go until they are preventing us from performing at our best? Every morning, as I put on my socks and shoes, I am reminded of this simple lesson. To make sure even the smallest, seemingly unimportant, details are attended to. Paying attention to the small details before they become larger problems will allow our life to proceed in a far easier fashion. Can you imagine if you never changed the oil in your car until the engine started acting up? By then there would be far greater, and more expensive, problems to deal with. Think of this tomorrow as you put on your socks and shoes. As a bonus, this has saved me much pain when I have set out on hikes with my mother.

His other advice he gave his players was not to pay attention to the score board. This may not seem like something you would hear a coach say, but he had good reason. If the players saw that they were up by a lot of points, they may relax a little and get sloppy. If they saw they were down by a lot of points, they may give up and quit playing hard. Even if they saw the game was close, they may get nervous and make mistakes. Instead, coach Wooden told them to focus on playing the best they could each and every play. If they did that, when they looked up at the score at the end of the game, they would like what they saw. How about you? How much of your effort in life is influenced by the circumstance you find yourself in? If we all just focused on being the best version of ourselves that we could be each and every day, I think when we look at the scoreboard of our life, we would like what we see.

Lastly, we will talk about the quote we started this post with. “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” This really is one of the great keys to life. There will be ups and downs. It is not our circumstances that decide if we will be successful, but our mindset. Therefore, you stand a better chance at success if you work on improving your mindset over your circumstances.

IT IS HARD TO BE LED BY YOUR BUTT 🍑

Can you imagine walking everywhere leading with your butt? Just picture that for a second, walking into a room butt first. How ridiculous would that be? Some people seem to lead into every conversation talking out of this, but that is a matter for a different post. It is obvious that you would not want to lead with your butt in life. It would really make it difficult to see where you are going. It would also create several obstacles where there should be none. Think about trying to open a door butt first. This would be difficult, if not impossible. How about driving butt first? Not only very dangerous, but could be fatal. All of these, and more, would be so much easier if we would just leave the butt where it belongs – behind us.

Not recommended

Other than highlighting things that would be comical or dangerous to be done being led by your posterior, and providing some comic relief in your day, what does all of this have to do with living an amazing life? Before I answer that question, let me share that looking up “Images of a butt” to write this blog is not something you would want to do in a public space…say like Starbucks. The reason we are discussing this today is far too many of us to go through life leading with our butt. Before you stop me and say although you have seen people driving who resemble a butt, they are usually facing the right way, we are not talking about the body part.

Today we are talking about people who are led by the word, and worse the thought, ‘but’. You know the people I am talking about. The ones who say, “I could have a better job, BUT” or “I would take better care of my health BUT” They are leaving room for their excuses. I understand that in life there are plenty of obstacles. It can be easy to through out a ‘but’ here and there to excuse our lack of progress, or even sometimes lack of effort.

When it comes to any project or goal we are pursuing, if we lead with a ‘but’ we are no likely to succeed than that poor individual trying to open the door with the seat given to them by mother nature. When we begin with a ‘but’ we are highlighting our obstacles and short-circuiting our success. Yes, there will be challenges along the way. However, using them as an excuse will have us looking like the young man on the toilet in the picture above. Do not lead with your butt. Much like the physical example, doing so in word and thought will create obstacles where there was none and make every situation more difficult.

Get the ‘buts’ out of your life. If you find yourself uttering this phrase, or thinking this way, too often, realize that you cannot lead with your butt. Picture our friend trying to open the door, people facing the wrong way behind the wheel or even our toddler confused in the restroom. They all look really silly, and so will you. Do not let ‘but’ ruin your chance for success. Just like when you are walking through life, make sure the ‘buts’ stay where they belong – behind you.

AN ARMENIAN PRIEST AND AN ARMENIAN AUTHOR WALK INTO STARBUCKS…☕️🇦🇲

While the title of this post may sound like the opening to a joke, it is actually what happened to me last Friday. In this story, I, quite obviously, play the role of the author. Although Armenian in nationality, I must confess to knowing very little about this country, its culture and its wonderful people. Growing up, there was not any of this knowledge conferred onto me. Being the knowledge-hungry and curious fellow that I am, learning this knowledge became one of my many goals.

To gain more knowledge on the subject, I did what many of us would. I looked up and watched documentaries. I also read books and listened to interviews. One of the most enlightening ways to learn about a country’s culture is to attend an ethnic festival. One great thing about where I live, is that they seem to have many of those. My lovely lady Margie and I always enjoy attending ‘Armenian Fest’ which is held at St. John the Baptist Armenian Orthodox Church. Here we find ethnic Armenian music, artifacts, delicious food, and most importantly, a vibrant and giving community.

 

Enter Fr. Guregh Hambardzumyan. He is the leader of this amazing community. That is him in the photo above. I was introduced by a fellow author at the festival this past summer. Fr. Guregh seemed quite kind and we exchanged numbers. This past Friday we met at a local Starbucks for a cup of coffee. If I am filled with little knowledge when it comes to Armenian culture, I must confess to being just this side of completely ignorant when it comes to the Armenian Orthodox Church and their beliefs. Fr. Guregh not only was born and grew up in Armenia, but has lived in Israel and traveled many places. He was generous in sharing both his knowledge of the Armenian culture as well. He is a man of great faith and has a passion for sharing that faith with others.

I cannot confess my gratitude enough to Fr. Guregh for taking time out of his busy schedule to sit down and help me get a better understanding about the great people of Armenia and their faith. I walked away with not only a greater appreciation for both of them, but for the man who was sharing the knowledge with me. It can be intimidating to meet such pious people, but this was not the case. I feel it can be so beneficial to learn all you can about not only your nationality, but about as many people and their cultures and faith as you can. It is only in this manner can we hope to bring about a peaceful world.

If you wish to do your part to bring about peace, do your best to learn and understand those you share the planet with. Once again, I wish to thank Fr. Guregh for taking the time to enlighten this author on so many different topics. I am very grateful to have had the chance to meet and talk with you. If you find yourself in the city of Greenfield Wisconsin in mid to late July, definitely check out Armenian Fest at St John the Baptist Armenian Orthodox Church. You will leave with a stomach full of good food and a spirit full of great joy from the community there. If you desire, you will also leave with a greater knowledge of the country, people and faith of Armenia.

GIVE THE GIFT, BE THE GIFT 🎁

This holiday season, the best gift you can give is to be the best gift! As we talked about last post, by expressing gratitude and genuine appreciation? Who would not want to hear why people think they are an awesome part of their life? The true gifts of the holiday are the times we share and the people we spend them with. Another great idea is to share happy memories you have while you are creating new ones. Maybe start a new enjoyable holiday tradition that will bring joy to all of those attending?

These are ways in which we can bring amazing gifts while being the best gift at the party. Make this holiday the best by giving others inner joy to carry with them not only during the holiday season, but all year long! This is what holidays should be all about. If you have any suggestions for adding joy and happiness to our holiday season, or fun holiday traditions you celebrate, please share them with us in the comments. In this way, you will be adding joy to those who read this blog in over 200 countries, celebrating a wide array of holidays. Here at secret2anamazinglife, we wish you and yours a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.

ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS MORE! 🧑‍🎄

Tomorrow, a good portion of the earth’s population, as well as a good number of our readers, will be celebrating Christmas. Many will do it for religious reasons. Some, for more secular reasons. For many the holidays can be a difficult time and celebrating is the last thing they want to do. Much like anything in life, there are so many variables that it no one person feels the same about the holiday season. Today, we are going to look at a few tips that can make your holiday a lot more enjoyable. This holds true no matter what holiday you celebrate, or how and why you do so. Let us jump right in!

Just like the 14 different holidays that are celebrated this time of year, there are so many ways to celebrate them. Are you celebrating at home with your immediate family? Perhaps you are traveling to gather with a larger selection of family. Maybe you are having family travel to you. Perhaps you are college student celebrating with friends. Maybe you find yourself celebrating alone this year? Whatever the situation might be, and even if it is a different holiday you are celebrating, these tips will help you enjoy it more!

First tip, holiday stress – don’t do it. Easier said than done right? Trust me, my beautiful lady gets anxious if the toilet paper doesn’t match the napkins, or something like that. Sure, do what you can to make your guest have an enjoyable time, or to be an enjoyable guest, but don’t stress about it. What happens if the power goes out and you are unable to cook dinner? You light some candles, order a pizza and have a great funny story for the future. Just adapt and overcome. Nothing is as serious as we often view it. There was one holiday where one of my relatives walked right through someone’s screen door. They were horrified and thought they ruined the whole night. Now? We laugh about it and use it as an ice-breaker. Remember the point is to have fun, not to be perfect.

Gifts, another great source of stress. Have you ever found yourself in this situation? You don’t know what to get someone and decide on the Winnie-the-Pooh coffee mug. They didn’t know what to get you either and they decided on an engraved diamond necklace. Now you feel like a cheapskate and might have been better off buying nothing. How about the other way around? You spend the time, money and mental effort picking out the perfect gift. What do you receive from them? A stuffed poop emoji that squeaks. You are left wondering why you stressed at all and how that money could have went in your Fiji vacation fund. This is not at all what holidays should be like. It really is the thought that counts. I am guessing at some point, during some holiday, you will find yourself in one of the above situations. It happens. Shrug it off and move on. Do not stress. If someone judges you based on your gift, that is on them, not you.

Lastly, something that can both reduce stress and be the perfect gift! Maybe we should’ve started with this one? The perfect gift and something that can bring joy and reduce stress at the same time…gratitude! Expressing genuine gratitude to those around you and telling everyone what you appreciate about them can lighten the mood of any party. How great would you holiday be if several people come up and genuinely tell you why you, in their eyes, are totally awesome? Let us all give each other the gift of gratitude and encouragement this year. Follow these 3 tips and your holiday celebration will be a lot more enjoyable! If you have any holiday tips, feel free to share them in the comments below!