Daily Reflections for Living Strong

The quickest way to change my children’s behavior is by first controlling mine. Almost every single issue I will be confronted with will come back to me learning how to […]

If you have something to say, say it. If you have a point to make, make it clearly and unambiguously. There is nothing to be gained by timidly hiding behind […]

Hi everyone! Today I found myself reflecting and reviewing my training in martial arts at 60 years old. In this video I share my 3 rules as I move forward […]

What an amazing life! One of the greatest honors for me is introducing new parents to how we empower our students (their children) with our programs at Dinoto Karate Center.

This video shares some of what I shared with them.

Hey guys! I hope you are doing great! I have a funky angle here so I hope you’ll just forgive me on that. Hope you guys are doing great today!

I just want to come up here and share something that came up in one of my meetings today with one of my coaching clients through my life mastery program. We were talking about goals and tasks. We were actually looking at their schedule – what time they get up in the morning and what they are doing – their tasks through the day. And it had us talking about goals and tasks – the things that they are doing and why they are doing them, what’s the difference and respecting the difference.

A lot of time, what I’ve uncovered for my clients was that there wasn’t a clear idea of how goals and tasks are working together, and that respecting the tasks would lead to respecting the goals. What my client would realize was that most of the tasks in their day are not bringing them closer to their goals.

I thought about this afterwards and realize, “Oh my gosh! Look at my own goals! Look at my own tasks! Were my tasks bringing me closer to my goals, and what was I doing in the course of the day?”.

First of all, let’s get on the same page of what a goal is. A goal is something you want to accomplish – a vision, hopes and dreams that you want to bring to reality. For example, there is something I want to be in an X amount of time. So let me setup the goals – let me setup the things that I want to accomplish – so that I can realize my vision. These are goals. Maybe your goal is to lose weight, or to complete a marathon. So, I have that goal, and then what I’ll do is to create things to do to reach that goal – the tasks – and then I’ll break those big tasks to smaller ones.

I remember years ago, I was in a mastermind group and in the group, our goal was to do one thousand push-ups in one day. We were blown away when our coach was telling us that! We were freaking out because we’ve never done a thousand push-ups in one day. And he said, “Good! So now let’s create a plan of action. Here’s the plan – you can do one set of a thousand push-ups, or you can do x amount of sets of x amount of push-ups that will, by the end of the day, equals to one thousand push-ups.”

We were all like “Oh! So if I can do 50 push-ups in a row, then all I need to do is 20 sets! 20 sets!” And that’s how I did it. I did 20 sets in the course of the day, 50 push ups each set, and I did my one thousand push ups in that one day. Now it was still challenging but these were tasks I was able to do in the course of the day, and I was able to reach my goal by the end of the day! So I respected my goal and I respected the tasks I needed to do to accomplish that goal.

So, this is what I want to challenge you guys today. Look at your goal is for today, and then look at your tasks that you have setup for yourselves to do today. Are those tasks in line to the goal you want to accomplish? Do those tasks respect the goal or not?

What I’ve found, with my clients, was that most of their tasks were not in line with their goals – did not respect the goal for the day. I know in my journal, at the top, it says, “My top 3 goals or priorities, that must be accomplished today.” At the other side of my journal it says “Tasks that absolutely must be done today”. These tasks are with respect to those goals. I want to challenge you today to look at your goals for the day, pick one and then look at the tasks that you’ve set up for the day. Do they bring you closer to accomplishing that goal or not,

* Look Above – Core Belief: A moral compass brings integrity to the vision. Checks your motive and makes sure you’re work / actions are for the right reasons.* Look Within – Self-awareness. You must build on your ability to be connected to your thoughts, feelings and emotions.* Look Behind – Reflect / Review. Create a connection between your past/history to your present and future.* Look Ahead – Foresight. Direction you will go. Goals you will set. Tasks you will create. Targets you will aim for.* Look Around – Strategies (concepts, principles, training, ideas). Putting “steps” to the “process” to accomplish what you intend to accomplish as you move toward your “North” . your vision. The “end” you have in mind.

I’ve given you 5 ways to look at your vision and stay true to your north. So there’s no excuse to set goals and assign tasks and stay on track to accomplishing what you want to accomplish in your life this year.

Of course, if you want my help, just send me a message or email me at [email protected] and we’ll schedule a free 1-on-1 session to get you locked in on your north.

So once again, happy new year to all of you. And remember, life mastery for life is all about embracing the fullness of your life… so embrace it and be at peace.

Until next time, have an amazing day.

No matter what happens today, at the end of the day you will still be you. You will still love all you love now, still care about all you care about now.

The world will change today in countless ways, some of them completely unexpected. Yet whatever happens, the good things that truly matter to you will continue to be just as important.

Today is your opportunity to grow stronger, more capable, more kind and loving, more purposeful. Today you can find new ways to put your highest values into positive action.

And you can do so with full confidence. Because nothing can happen today that will diminish the sincere, authentic person you are.

All sorts of unexpected incidents can quickly alter your outer circumstances. Yet none of them need to even slightly scratch your brilliant inner beauty.

Remind yourself often of that beauty, of your peace and essence that nothing can touch. Do all you do, not intimidated by the world, but peacefully driven from within to make it better.

Let’s start today by giving it meaning…The challenges of life show you how powerful and effective you can be when you must be. The positive possibilities give you satisfying and fulfilling ways to make use of your strength.The difficult times help you to more fully appreciate what you have. The good times help you to see how much joy is possible.

The disappointments bring you valuable, meaningful and useful experiences. The successes give you the confidence to reach even higher.Those who criticize you offer you priceless feedback and important new perspectives. Those who appreciate what you’ve done and what you’re doing give you the encouragement to do even more.

No matter what the ups and downs of your day may be, life moves forward. From each and every experience and outcome, there is something of value to be gained.Instead of worrying or judging or obsessing about what may or may not come, accept and appreciate what does come. Then, with a strong and grateful heart, make good and purposeful use of it all.

Until next time, be black belt strong and live life courageously!

If you have something to say, say it. If you have a point to make, make it clearly and unambiguously. There is nothing to be gained by timidly hiding behind vague insinuations. Get your opinion out in the open. Say what you mean to say, with confidence and clarity.

When you’re clear about what needs to be done, take decisive action and do it. Not halfway, not halfheartedly, but with courage and determination. See it through to completion, boldly overcoming the obstacles which will surely arise.

Failing to speak up for what you approve of, gives support to what you oppose. Failing to decide, is a decision to fail. Failing to take action, allows opportunity to slip through your fingers.

You know who you are. You know what you believe. You know what must be done, and you know how to do it. Be confident. Be bold. The opportunity is now. Get it done.

Until next time, be black belt strong and live life courageously!

The challenges of life show you how powerful and effective you can be when you must be. The positive possibilities give you satisfying and fulfilling ways to make use of your strength.

The difficult times help you to more fully appreciate what you have. The good times help you to see how much joy is possible.

The disappointments bring you valuable, meaningful and useful experiences. The successes give you the confidence to reach even higher.

Those who criticize you offer you priceless feedback and important new perspectives. Those who appreciate what you’ve done and what you’re doing give you the encouragement to do even more.

No matter what the ups and downs of your day may be, life moves forward. From each and every experience and outcome, there is something of value to be gained.

Instead of worrying or judging or obsessing about what may or may not come, accept and appreciate what does come. Then, with a strong and grateful heart, make good and purposeful use of it all.

Until next time, be black belt strong and live life courageously!