The Strong Within Affirmation Podcast

Wisdom Wednesdays-#333 November 29th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Live…In Appreciation

A mentor of mine, J Krsihnamurti talked about the things that we lust for: are really only these images in our minds that we’ve made so illustrious, that when we get the real thing we’re disappointed because the real thing could never compare to an imagination that has no flaws.

And so we set ourselves up for failure in working to be grateful because our mind’s focus on the fairy tale instead of being in the beauty of the moment. We set expectations of how things should be instead of how they are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t tell a better story. I had a conversation with some members at the gym about how their day was going and it went something like this.

I said: I hope you’re having a great day.
And the member replied: It’s better than the alternative.
I said: You mean the Bahamas?
He laughed…
And he said no, being on the couch and not at the gym.

And so we had a quick conversation about our places in life. And while it’s a cold day in Knoxville Tennessee, I said this is a beautiful place and there’s no other place I would rather be…because I’m here and there’s beauty here. We can look at the place we are and see all we don’t like, or we can see it as the place we’ve chosen to be. A place that we can participate in its beauty willingly…or we can grumble and see all the things wrong with it. Everything, and I mean everything will have a flaw. But we can choose to see only the flaws, or we can choose to see the beauty in it. We can choose to be in appreciation not as an act of reflection…but an act of living in the present moment and being beauty seekers towards everything we’re a part of.

And now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we can go back to being ungrateful for 364 days a year…or we can live our appreciation, we can be grateful in the moment, and we can choose to allow the wonder and excitement to become a bigger and better part of our lives. The choice is always yours…you can choose to miss the beauty…or you can choose to see it and create more of it by being the solution…not the person who’s grumbling, or the person who uses their sarcastic humor as a front to hide their displeasure with their life, or the person missing the beauty that’s always been in front of them.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Do you ever stop and think about what makes you smile? I know I forget to do that a lot. One of the reasons I give so much advice, is it’s not just for other people it’s really for me. I need to be reminded of the simple things. I need to be reminded of the important things. And I need to be reminded about truly living in appreciation all the time. So today, think about what makes you smile and appreciate it. And be aware of what is making you smile when it happens…and truly be in the moment reveling in it.

Oh, and one last thing…see how you can make as many people smile today as you can. Now go forth and be mindful, memorable, and mesmerizing :-D

I Live…In Appreciation

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Tag Me Tuesdays-# 332 November 28th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Renew My Innocence

I was recently helping my father survey his land. A water pipe had burst in the yard, and after having a plumber find and fix the underground pipe, my father decided he wanted to survey they land to replace all of the old pipe outside since it’s an older house. He determined to get all the water pipes, electric lines, and communication lines marked and mapped out on his land to be able to do this project and save some money to rent a backhoe and do the digging himself.

My father’s an engineer and has done surveying before. I don’t know much about surveying, but it’s a way to map out the land accurately…and it’ a two-man job. One person will get the viewing apparatus level and another person will hold a pole and set a marker for the viewer. I had the easy job. I had to wait around a lot for him to get the device level for each point on the property. It was unseasonably sunny and warm on this November day, so I would lay on my back in the grass, and I did some cloud gazing while I waited.

I hadn’t done that in years, and it felt amazing to do things I used to do as a child. It felt amazing going back to the simple things in life that took no money, no special skill or knowledge…as it only took time. And I felt a little sadness within me, that I had forgotten about the amazingly wonderful and simple things we do as children.

As we grow older we lose that sort of innocence we once knew. You know, that place where things were simple because all we needed to know was the golden rule of do unto others as you would want done unto you. And that life was just about living in the moment, exploring your emotions from drinking in all the beauty of the world around you. A client of mine always tells me that children who are two years of age are her favorite…and she told me it was because they’re curious about everything. And as we’ve gotten older our curiosity has faded almost to nothing.

But by helping my pops surveying, it forced me to do some sky and cloud gazing. And an extreme calm came over me, as I was whisked back to my childhood of hanging with friends in the park—swinging from whipping willow trees, enjoying nature…and just being in the moment appreciating the beauty that was around us.

I work to do meditation every day…and I find calm and order in my day because of that…but sometimes I forget to really connect to my day. I forget to connect to life, I forget to appreciate the beauty that’s around me…as I’m stuck in the adult chores of life doing what I have to, and I forget how beautiful my life is.

Being mindful will be one of the hardest life long tasks we will ever try to complete…because it’s about living in every moment. It’s about getting out of auto pilot in our day, and truly being present to what’s happening around and within us. And there probably isn’t a true mindfulness, as our bodies and minds are processing millions of things at any one given time…but I believe there are ways we can continually better our life. I believe there’s a way to renew the innocence we once knew as children. That if we stop trying to outdo people, that if we stop trying to get what is ours at any cost, and if we just loved ourselves and others like we were taught when we learned the golden rule…then maybe, just maybe there might be a sense of rebirth…as we remember our purpose isn’t about making our mark on the world…but about being a mark on the world because we decided to live…not try to leave a legacy.

And there’s nothing wrong with leaving a legacy, but by doing it we are trying to be remembered. We are taking ourselves out of the moment by doing something for the recognition…rather than just doing something because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the ego asking, “did I matter?”

I don’t hate everything the ego does as some people will say the ego is bad, as I believe it has great value within certain circumstances…like when it tells us to stick up for ourselves. But if you are doing things because the ego wants to be remembered, then we are separating ourselves from the moment of doing something important…into TRYING to do something important because we want to feel important.

Maybe there’s a balance between the ego and living. And I hope you‘re able to silence the adult illusions that have taken us away from our innocence, as you live within the moment and love yourself and other people how you should…with all your heart…appreciating the beauty that’s been given to you, just because you decided to be awake…to realize it.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Do something that you haven’t done since you were a kid. Lay on your back outside and do some cloud surfing and sky gazing. Do some skipping the next time you’re on a walk. Climb a tree to get a better view of the world. Jump in a pool with your clothes on or with none at all…just don’t be a pervert about it. Go to an amusement park to ride the rides. Find honeysuckles and drink the nectar out of them. Organize a charity car wash with your friends for your favorite non-profit organization. Make a snowperson with a carrot nose. Go lightning bug searching one night. Or one of my personal favorites…make your own homemade banana split. It doesn’t matter what you do. Do something you loved to do as a kid and renew your innocence again. Find ways to reopen your eyes to the beauty of the world, and reclaim the innocence you’ve traded in by living a life you’re really excited about.

I Renew My Innocence

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Mindful Mondays-# 331 November 27th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

Every Problem Is Solvable

Last year I set in motion a mission of completing tasks every day, and so I set out to get up at a certain time every day, walk outside every day, meditate every day, work on my book every day, and to write a poem every day and publish it. And I am on day 468 of publishing a poem, and like this podcast it can get hard to come up with a new ideas every day.

But the task that I set to, wasn’t about waiting for perfection to hit me… it was about pulling the trigger and making mistakes and learning from them. It was about gaining the confidence by doing something even when you think you can’t, and it was the effort to push through the blocks that present themselves…as we make excuses that there’s no way around them…at least not yet. So most times we tell the lie, that we have to wait until inspiration hits us.

I wrote a poem the other day. And a lot of times when I’m writing poems, I’m not sure what I’m going to write. I just sit down and let stream of consciousness happen. I write and just let words flow. I write and see if any ideas bubble up from my subconscious to my conscious. The other night I felt pressed for time and I was tired, so I set to write a short poem to just get something done. And even though it was rushed and a lot of thought wasn’t put into it, I felt that it had some great depth in the idea behind it. It was about understanding how to handle a problem…and here’s what it says: 

The rolling winds
Howl outside
As they whip across the curves
Of hindrances
No matter what size.
There’s no fear or remorse
Of what’s ahead
or what’s already happened
Because every matter
is just a simple equation
Of wrapping yourself
To the problem
To come around the other end.
CJO 11-16-17

And while I was working to just get a poem out for the day, and not work on perfection… something beautiful came out of the rush of just working to produce something. I have a friend who’s a copy writer and he does very well in the business. And so I get to see behind the scenes of the works he does. And he’ll show me some really good stuff, and I’ll be like, “wow that’s really great marketing and copywriting material.” Because secretly inside I want to be as good a writer as he is… and after he shows me the first draft…he’ll then show me a second draft that is ten times better.

He said that in the beginning, the writing that feels like nothing is coming, the effort of struggling to find your footing, and the pushing through something that feels like it isn’t connecting…is where the better ideas will come from. He said that the second draft would have never come if he didn’t put pen to page. Those transformed ideas would never have manifested if he wasn’t willing to make mistakes…and those mistakes were the breeze to the flicker of his idea. They were the process of ridding the idea of perfection, and helping his brain bind to a better solution by going through the mistakes.

And just like my poem, a problem doesn’t have to be hard. We have to take hold of it, to embrace it, and wrap ourselves around the problem. We have to learn to understand the problem by pulling it so closely to us that we know it inside and out, to fully understand that there’s a solution around the other end. For every problem that you and I have ever been in…there was a solution at the end. Maybe it wasn’t what we thought or hoped, but after time had passed…you saw why it happened the way it did.

The problem isn’t the problem. Our avoidance of the problem is. But that doesn’t have to be our truth…because there’s always an ending to a problem, there’s always an answer to a problem, and there’s always a solution on the other side…especially if we are willing to wrap ourselves around the problem to come around to the other end. There’s something wonderful to be had because of the problem…but only if you decide to see beyond the problem.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What if you looked at problems differently, and saw them not as problems but chances to work on your problem solving skills? Emotional intelligence is not reacting to something, but taking a moment to process things and think differently about an event or situation. Anger feels instant when we’re disturbed by something that is plaguing us…but that’s the reaction of a child. The frustration of someone who feels helpless. But by taking a moment to process things instead of reacting, actually helps us to problem solve better. In life, the goal isn’t about making it to the finish line as fast as possible. The goal is making each moment an amazing one…it’s about getting the highest high from the moment and truly becoming a part of it.

So today, when a problem comes up…I’m going to ask you to pause and not get frustrated right away…to take a deep breath and see how you can embrace the problem. See how you can wrap yourself so tightly to the problem and find a better way knowing there’s something better on the other side because of this problem. Maybe this might sound crazy, but what if we were to be grateful for your problems today. Because in the end, the problems you face actually become the things that made you who you are.

Every Problem Is Solvable

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Smiling Sundays - #330 November 26th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I See Joy Behind The Pain…And I Celebrate It

A good friend of mine Catina, who recently passed away from cancer told me a story awhile back. Her son had been hit by a drunk driver when he was 5 years old. And as it would be for anyone, it was a hard time for her figuring out how to continue in life. For the first month she didn’t grieve at all because I think it was her way of not making it real. I mean, how can you really deal with the loss of a child? It’s kinda unfathomable until it happens to you…and maybe it will always seem surreal.

She said it was especially hard when his birthday came around… even ten or twenty years after the incident, as everyone would call her and tell her how sorry they were for her. And she felt bad, not just because her son wasn’t there, but because she felt she had to act melancholy for them. That she had to put on a show for them or she would be seen as a bad mother or a horrible person for not acting a certain way. I mean it would be unfathomable for her to be happy again, right?

Catina and I spent a lot of time together talking about navigating the waters of life. And we talked a lot about not living for other people, but asking the person who matters most in deciding the direction of our lives…ourselves. And we get caught in feeling we have to be something or act someway for other people, and we become prisoners because of that. So my friend decided she didn’t want to live with the depression of always waiting for the tears and the calls to come in telling her how bad of a day it was. She decided to do something different.

She began celebrating his birthday. There’d be presents, there’d be a cake, there’d be laughter and joy, and there would be the gathering of loved ones enjoying the moment instead of dreading it. They would be celebrating the life that they knew, and what a good kid he was, and they had fun being in each other’s company. Now I’m not saying I want the death of any child, as we don’t know the purpose of anyone’s life…maybe that’s a personal matter for us to figure out about our own lives. But what if her son taught her ways to be happy during the hardest times; what if the loss wasn’t really about focusing on loss but in seeing what you had when you had it? And maybe it was about understanding that even when the body ceases to exist…that they’re not really gone. It’s the ultimate test of us really having to rely on our faith instead of just talk about it.

There’s more to this story as I had the blessing of interviewing her, and I’ll share it with you when I launch my interview podcast sometime. But for now, I just want to bring up the point that even in our hardest times, when things seem darkest or that we’re lost…we still can find reasons to celebrate. We can find ways to pivot from the hurt, anger, and sadness in the loss… into finding relief, joy, and appreciation in what we had to begin with. For anyone can see the loss of a life and find the grief in that, but the people who see deeper—are the ones who not only see beauty, but are able to truly experience it…all the time.

I remember going to a funeral for a friend of mine who passed away too young. And in the sermon the priest said that we can cry for what was lost and find misery in someone being taken away too early…or we can find joy in the chance that we got to know him while he was here. And that hit me hard because I wouldn’t have traded any of our moments together. I wouldn’t have given up knowing my friend Chris, just so I could avoid that pain in my life. I was glad I got to know him while I did…and I’m glad he still continues on in my life. I bring his kindness and message with me everywhere I go. So Thank you Catina and Chris for helping me to celebrate the joy behind the pain.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
This was a hard podcast I’m sure for everyone, I know it was for me…so I want to challenge you today to cherish the people in your life. To let them know how you feel about them. Because it might be too late before you give the gift of letting them know what a blessing they are to you. And maybe you don’t have to go all out right away, maybe it could be the practice of writing a cute little note to them each day to let them know you think about them. Maybe it could be about being purposeful in your time together and going for a walk at least once a week where you unplug from technology and just be with each other. Or maybe it could be hugging them purposefully every day and thanking them for being in your life.

There are so many ways to express your love, so be creative, and be consistent with it. We never know what will happen in life, and life is too short to be focusing on all the things we didn’t do right. And in the end, wouldn’t it be nicer if we consistently let people know what they meant to us? It feels good knowing we matter, so make sure to let those around you know they matter…not by your silence, but by your consistent action in reminding them.

I See Joy Behind The Pain…And I Celebrate It

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Synergy Saturdays-#329 November 25th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Share Myself, My Whole Self.

What are you afraid of? What are you really afraid of…besides great white sharks of course? Because everyone has to be afraid of those guys. I think a lot of us don’t really know our fears. We go about our lives and our actions not really understanding the root behind them.

We take jobs that pass the time, we get in relationships that fill the cracks, we do things that get us by…never really living in accordance with the powerful people we were intended to be. We let fear creep into our lives one small thought and action, or lack of action… at a time. And unaddressed fears, become our limitations. The thing we avoid becomes the thing that embodies every part of our life. And by claiming ignorance to them will only make them more in control of your life.

So how do we face our fears, how do we get to know them authentically and not let them destroy us? I think the first issue is we have the tendency to make them bigger than they are. We believe that getting up on stage and talking in front of people will be the end of our self-esteem and that we’ll be laughed off stage; we say we aren’t smart enough as him, her, or them and that you could never have the job or do the things they do; we believe that asking someone out will be the end of our world if they say no, so we keep ourselves silent; and we never tell people how much they mean to us because it might be too uncomfortable for them…at least that’s the lie we tell ourselves when the discomfort is about us.

So maybe that’s what fear really is. It’s a selfishness to keep the beautiful parts of yourself…only to yourself. Fear stops us from dreaming more, fear keeps us from doing things that we wish we could, and fear keeps us silent and immobile…but only if we let it. Only if we let it become the louder voice inside our mind. You see, there’s a conversation of two voices going on in your mind at any time. The voice of fear, and the voice of hope. Each one can have something equally important to say, but the voice of fear can be overbearing and monopolize the conversation. And the voice of fear can be the cautious voice trying to keep you safe from being hurt.

But everything that was worthwhile in my life took a commitment to going through my fear. Everything that mattered was a choice to stop procrastinating and to take action in things that felt uncomfortable at first. They say that people who have practice in the structure of Zen don’t think about things, they just do them. They decide what they want to do and don’t over think and just put movement towards that thought. As Zen is about being in the moment…not overthinking about the failures of the past, or the fears of the future what if’s…it’s just a life pattern of movement towards what you want.

So today, what if you weren’t to overthink things. What if you weren’t to get too caught up in the fear or the hope…but just to be in the moment of doing what you have set your mind to. How do you build a house? One brick, one board, one nail, and one action at a time. Let us build a life of taking action and being in Zenful movement within the moment. For a great life wasn’t built by going towards our hopes and only avoiding our fears, it was about being vulnerable in both places. It was about discovery of seeing what the moment has in store for you because you decided to live in it…not live in the thoughts of the past or wishes of the future…but to truly move without hesitation in becoming one with this moment.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
This week, what if you were to stop thinking about whether you can or you can’t? Instead of thinking if you should or shouldn’t…what if you just did what was called for the moment? What if you didn’t overthink things and you just did them? This is definitely a sticking point for me, as I like to over think about everything that could go wrong as I tell myself it’s about preparation and anticipation…which can be good…but it also keep me stagnant. It’s like the over redundancy of things. Where I like to plan to plan…and then I get caught in never taking action. And I hope that we live a life not just in our mind but that we bring it out into the world.

Remember this, that fear is a selfish action…it is the deprivation of your best self for the world. But don’t become better for me, or for anyone else…become better for you. Life lived in fears is an artificial life. And it’s what lazy people do. They hide behind their fears saying they are the only ones who feel this way…when in fact we all have similar fears, some just decided to not let their fears make choices for them.

I Share Myself, My Whole Self.

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Fantastic Fridays-#328 November 24th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Deserve What I’m Willing To Ask For

Everyone has a reason why they can’t. Everyone has a reason why they shouldn’t. Everyone has a reason why they don’t deserve something…and in the end they are right. Like Henry Ford said…whether you think you can or you can’t you’re right. And I’ve seen by the way we live it’s easier to give an excuse than it is to give a reason why we deserve something.

Jim Rohn said, “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, then you’ll find an excuse.” And usually simple quotes like this are nice in theory but harder in practice. But that’s just another excuse we are telling ourselves. Life is determined by the stories we tell. So if we tell ourselves that change is hard, or that we don’t deserve the things we desire…then we make that our truth. But if you live a life unaware of the troubles in working towards something… you then, make that your truth instead.

I walk every day. I’ve been doing it consecutively for the last 468 days. And I meet some cool people on my walks that I get to chat with. I was talking with my friend Matt when I was walking the other day. He was running and going the way, so I decided to run with him a few laps so we could chat  more.

I learned all about his life as he told me what he used to do for a living. He own a small running shoe store and also set up running events during the year. The funny thing is when we were talking about business, he had this ease about it. He talked about how easy it was. And it wasn’t like he was bragging, or that he didn’t put in hard work…but that he had no other expectation than of doing well in what he put his efforts in. And so, he went on to tell me his small shoe shop did an average of 4 million dollars in sales every year.

And that’s what floored me about him, he didn’t bat an eyelash in telling me any of this. It wasn’t about ego in trying to impress me. It was him expressing his natural beliefs that things are easy if you allow them to be. I know for me I have trouble with business and marketing because I tell myself it’s hard. I tell myself that I’m not good at it, or I tell the story of I’m not good with money. And you know what, I find ways to act that way and prove it to myself daily.

Reality is all about the stories we tell. And when we struggle or feel something is hard, it’s easier to tell a story of why we aren’t good at it or why we can’t have something. And that’s the thing we don’t see, is it takes the same amount of energy to tell a story that we can’t instead of telling a story that we can. But if we get in the habit of finding ways that we can, if we get in the habit of being more creative than just telling a story of how giving up is easier, and if we get in the habit of believing these stories…then we find a momentum and a greater power deeper within us.

Our lives will follow the energy we put out there. So if you’re continually say why you can’t, then you create a greater energy that leans towards showing you why you can’t…but if you continually keep telling why you can…then like that snowball rolling down a hill…the more times you keep telling yourself why you can…then the more powerful your momentum becomes.

Now I’m not saying you just tell a story you don’t believe and it becomes true. If you don’t believe something, it won’t matter how hard you want to make something to happen. It will be an uphill battle. So it’s not that I am telling to lie to yourself if you don’t think you can, but what I am asking of you is to believe a little more in yourself. To believe more in the power of the amazing Universe that can make anything happen. I am asking you to see more than just the physical moment of right now and how it’s not in your possession. I am asking you to see beyond, right now…and to know that with the right belief and mindset that most things are possible. It’s just whether or not you’re going to put in the right energy and time into acting in accordance with your beliefs. For anyone can say I want that, and never put in the energy to believe they can, and never put in the energy to act accordingly towards those beliefs.

So whatever you want, if you truly want it… what if you were to stop looking for excuses of why you can’t…and find more reasons why and how you can? The life you live is all about the story you tell. So what’s the story you’re telling?

Today’s Personal Commitment:
I was reading a post by a writer and poet on Instagram from a lady by the name of Laurie Frantjeskos and she created a quote that says, “We have the power to choose where we put our energy and where we plant and nurture our seeds, whether it be within darkness or light.” So let’s not make this commitment over kill today. Take a look at where you are planting your energies and thoughts, and look if they’re helping you out or hindering you. And if you don’t like what you find…find more ways to begin planting your thoughts in better light and better soil.

I’ll have a link to Laurie’s Instagram account on the notes in this podcast post on my site

www.instagram.com/lauriefrantjeskos

I Deserve What I’m Willing To Ask For

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Thoughtful Thursdays-#327 November 23rd The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Am More Than Just Thankful

I saw a funny truth on social media about the day after Thanksgiving that we call Black Friday. You see in America that’s when our Christmas frenzy happens, and they have huge sales for the season ahead. So this post said… “Black Friday: because only in America people trample each other for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have.”  And while we can pretend that we really pay attention to the beautiful things in our lives…we really are surrounded by a system that’s all about consumption rather than appreciation.

And that’s the irony about both these days in American Tradition. I mean it’s the American way to take more than you need, right? And so on Thanksgiving we spend one day trying to make up for our ungratefulness…we work to be thankful by spending it over stuffing ourselves with all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes and then laying around after we’ve over done it.

Being in the personal training industry I hear all the time about people going on diets, and how they feel horrible, or they’re such a bad person, for how they’ve gone and eaten something they shouldn’t have. And what happens is we live our lives in cognitive dissonance, meaning we are doing two opposing things at the same time and thus confusing our mind so we can’t make headway one way or the other.  And so we want to eat what we want, when we want, but we overdo it.

When you deprive yourself of the things you want, you actually create more trouble for your mind. Your mind gets upset thinking it has lost something. We can have the tendency to generalize things and use words like always or never…and so we say things like I will never have chocolate, or pizza, or alcohol ever again. And when I work with people in the gym, I work to teach them that there are no bad foods… just choices. I try to help them not take something away, but to REPLACE it with something they want more instead.

I’m not talking about a physical thing either. I’m talking about a habit or a thought that serves them better. Because I believe we should eat what we want to…but we should look at what we want behind the object. For me, food is just a source of energy. Sure, I love good tasting food as the next person, but it’s just a means of getting my body the energy it needs. In fact I don’t eat healthy all the time, but I’ve learned to listen to the whispers my body tells me…to keep me from over doing something.

You see, being so full is absolute hell for me. And so I hear those subtle signals in my body that tell me I’m coming closer to that feeling and I stop. I eat to be fulfilled not to be full. I’ve learned that the punishment wasn’t about taking food away, the punishment was in trying to over step my bounds in over appreciation of something. I know I spent all the time on food, but this applies to anything with over consumption. We feel so empty because we’re trying to fill our life with things…instead of appreciating the simpler things in life. And so I like to say find happiness before you sit down to eat, find joy before you go to the store to find it, and find love before you go seeking it through someone else.

So let us be thankful, let us be grateful, and let us be in appreciation of what we do have…but let us not be in over consumption. Great things happen not in taking more than we can handle, great things happen by figuring out the balance in it all. So I hope you spend time with your family and find yourself present, I hope you take your time in enjoying your food and not just stuffing your face as fast as possible, I hope you stop to truly find balance in this holiday moment and experience the beauty in all of it…and lastly I hope you take that feeling of appreciation into more than just one day.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What goals have you set for yourself by using deprivation as your source of motivation? And once you figure all of them out, ask yourself if you could look at what you want instead of what you want to take away. So instead of taking food away what if you looked at the feeling you want to feel by eating healthier, look at the feeling of wanting to be able to have the energy to play with your children, or look at the emotion of feeling more confident and comfortable in your skin by sticking to the habits that truly are healthy for you.

Life should be experienced, life should be enjoyed…but life is about balance. Look behind the action by asking what is it…that you want?  And instead of taking things away… what if you were to add better thoughts, habits, and actions that help you stick to the goals you truly want for your life? When you get rid of being a drill sergeant by beating yourself up for every mistake, and begin rewarding yourself for the things you truly want…your life will change…I promise you.

Oh…and one last question for your Thanksgiving holiday:
What does being thankful everyday look like to you?

I Am More Than Just Thankful

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Wisdom Wednesdays-#326 November 22nd The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Protect My Dreams

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. Alright? You got a dream, you gotta protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, they’re gonna tell you that you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.”

– Chris Gardner, from The Pursuit of Happyness

Our dreams are like children. If we don’t protect them they can’t go on living…wow did I just say that??? That was pretty harsh…maybe I could have used a less in your face analogy, but it’s too late to change it now.

If we don’t protect our dreams then they will not only go away, they will be changed into something else. They will be transformed in complacency, compliance, and disinterest in our existence. We go about our lives saying we want passion, that we want the fairy tale, that we want to live our dreams…when we aren’t committed to pursuing them with our fullest efforts.

I don’t believe in fairy tales. I believe in putting in the effort and work while aligning yourself with higher energies. I believe that we must be the people we want to be… before we become the people we want to be. We must act as if it is already in our possession to truly have it in our possession. It’s the game of practicing, so we can know how to handle it when we do have it.

You see, the brain doesn’t know the difference between real world…also known as the physical world, and the mental world…the thoughts in your head. It sees them both as the same thing, and the more you can get the images in your brain to see what you want as vividly as possible…then the more real you make it become…not just in your mind but in your life. We’ve gotten so used to being told that the physical creates our world…when it’s the other way around.

When I’m teaching a spin class (if you don’t know what that is, it’s a group cycling class in a gym)… I talk about how we do things in reverse. And it sounds something like this:

“We let our body tell us what we can or can’t do. How it says I am tired, this is too hard, or I could never. Now I’m not asking you to do the impossible and jump from point A to point B in one fell swoop, but what I am asking you is to have your brain command what you want of your body. I am asking you to believe more in yourself and have your body follow the commands of your mind. It starts from the belief and the idea that I can…which will turn into the notion of I am.  The mind directs the body not the other way around, so command your body what you expect of it right now.”

We have gotten so used to letting the real world tell us that our dreams aren’t possible. We have gotten so used to people telling us that are dreams are too hard or not worth it. And we have gotten ourselves beat down and bruised up chasing things we think we wanted. And sometimes the reason we get so beat up and beat down is because what we were chasing down weren’t really in alignment with who we are. We thought they were good for us, and we looked only at the exterior of the goal instead of looking at the deeper parts of ourselves. Maybe it looked like a good romantic partner at the time, maybe it looked like a job that could provide us what we needed at the time, or maybe stepping away from something seemed like the easiest answer at the time.

When you don’t know yourself…you can’t protect what’s most important to you. When you don’t know yourself, you’ll be chasing your tail—always trying to find where you’re supposed to be heading. When you don’t know yourself…you are wasting time…and ultimately your life. But when you take the time to get to know yourself from the deepest parts of yourself…then you are able to see what matters to you, you are able to pursue what matters to you, and you are able to live a life that is fulfilling to you. When you get to know yourself, you begin to see what your real dreams are…and then you can begin protecting things that are worth your effort.

It’s not that your dreams didn’t matter before, but maybe you were fighting an uphill battle that wasn’t that important to you…and that’s why you quit. But when you know yourself…you will never give up on the things that are your essence. You will do everything and anything to protect the dreams that are a part of you.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What dreams have you given up on that are important to you? What are the things you have stopped because the voices inside told you it would be too hard or not worth it? For me, it’s been my book writing. There are days where I feel great about it, and then there are days where I think it’s crap. It’s this cycle we go through as creators. I have talked with other authors, and they told me they went through the same process of thoughts too. I’ve seen this 6 step social media post describe the creative process we go through in our minds…and it goes something like this:

• This is awesome
• This is hard
• This is crap
• I am crap
• This might be ok
• This is awesome

So, know that you will go back and forth between these 6 steps when you are pursuing dreams or creating something worthwhile in your life. I seem to get stuck in between step 2 and 5 and cycle through them on different days. Where I say, this is hard but I like it, and then I go to saying this is crap…and if we stay stuck in the 4th phase  of saying “I am crap” that’s where we have trouble moving forward…we tell the lie that “I” …am…crap… and when we tell that lie about our worth… not the worth of the work itself…then it can be tricky to get out of. Because we are defining ourselves in ways that are untrue and will keep us perpetually stuck.

So write down dreams that are important to you, and ask yourself what’s been stopping you. Ask yourself if you have been protecting your dreams, and ask if you are protecting yourself too. You are not crap, your work isn’t crap…it’s just being refined into something better. We all start out shaky, and we get better with consistency and persistence. How can you get to know yourself at your deepest core? How can you be persistent towards the dreams that really matter to you? It usually all can be boiled down into one simple question: What is your why?

I Protect My Dreams

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Tag Me Tuesdays-# 325 November 21st The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Make My Own Luck

There’s no such thing as luck…there’s only the work we put in. And the work we put in determines the opportunities that happen. When I did what was right even without doing it for the reward…the things I was meant to find…found a way to me. Luck is an idea that we put into the world that we can sit around and wait for things to happen to us…it’s an idea that we put out into the world that we can get what is ours without putting in the time.

The work we put into the world is like shuffling feet. Have you ever shuffled your feet on the carpet and the more you did it, the bigger the static electric shock you could give to scare the heck out of your unsuspecting sibling? The common mistake is that people think it’s friction that creates the shock…but it’s actually two surfaces coming together and then being pulled apart…or in this case rubbed together…that pulls electrons from one material to the outer shell of the other material. And the static charge is released when the thing holding the excess electrons comes in contact with a good conductor…or material to transfer that energy. So basically…energy happens through transfer of one action to another.

And work doesn’t have to be physical, it can be mental, emotional, spiritual. The more you create motion in a certain area the more you create energies that help you create what some would call luck. But you and I know better, as it’s actually that likened things attract and create more likened things. So if you spread more love you will find more love. If you place more hope into the world, you will find more hope in the world. And the word “find” isn’t the exact word I want to use as it sounds like you just happened upon. So maybe it’s more that you “created” something…and so then, you saw more of it.

The problem is people aren’t patient enough…they wonder why it’s not happening yet, and they give up or get resistance and decide it’s too hard. Think about it like this…the more love you share with the world…then the more hate that will pop into your life. You will be more aware of the injustices in the world because you have decided to be awakened. But it’s not exactly that opposites attract, it’s that opposites will try to put force against what is against it. The bully will try to fight back, as he thinks he is the stronger force, but if you scare the bully…he backs down. And so the more you build up love the more that hate will try to become the wall for love. But the more love you build, the more love you constantly create…then the more energy and power you create which will transfer the force of the bully into something more productive. His aggression will be reversed.

We look at the moment right now…take a look at Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Jesus, JFK, John Lennon, Abraham Lincoln…and I’m sure we could find many more examples of people killed by hate. But the thing is, while their life was extinguished way too early…their message carried on. You couldn’t stop their message. And that’s the power of putting in your unique and directed energy…it’s more than just this moment, it’s more than just the physical instant reward, it’s more than you alone…it’s a connecting to the Universe…it’s a transformation from being asleep into being awakened. It’s the awareness that you are meant to be more and do more…not for the glory…but because it is a part of who you are. You are the message of sharing your essence with the world…not to be known…but to make everyone else know… their power.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What’s your bully, or what’s your resistance? We try to press against what fights us, and usually we get more resistance. You wouldn’t poke a snarling pitbull, you would find a better way to work with him. You wouldn’t try to train that animal with force, you would work to train him with love and reassurance. When you create a different energy you either transform the resistance into your ally, or it goes elsewhere to bother someone or something else.

Take a look at what you would like to do next year and write down those goals. Then write down what are the resistance forces against those things. And then write down how you can stop fighting them but create better focus and energy to transform them. We do enough fighting in our lives, let’s stop poking at fear, or riling it up, but let’s do something different today. If a wall was in your way, would you beat your head against it to knock it down? I hope not, it’s not very effective. I’m sure you’d find a better use of your time and energy to make it through, over, or around it by creating a different energy. Let’s stop fighting, and let’s find better ways to mesh with our resisting forces.

I Make My Own Luck

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide

Mindful Mondays-# 324 November 20th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Keep Going

I used to love watching Rocky movies. You know, the Sylvester Stallone flicks where he was a boxer. Now I know people can find them cheesy or about male machoism as it’s about beating the other guy physically in a boxing ring…but that wasn’t really why I liked those movies. I loved them for the little psychological tidbits hidden within them.

And in the movie Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone’s character was speaking with his son. His son was embarrassed that his father was going to compete against the best boxer in the world when Rocky was an older retired boxer. He thought it was only a marketing stunt to embarrass his father. His son was upset that he was always living in his father’s shadow and that he felt people would laugh at his father and include him in the ridicule. And His father listened quietly to everything his son had to say before speaking. What I always love about these movies is Rocky isn’t the smartest guy in the world, and they make sure to let you know that. When he opens his mouth you think he’s saying something silly, but he’s really saying something so simple and profound. And so Rocky went on to explain something for his son to think about…he replied back to his son:

“You ain’t gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here.” As Rocky holds up the palm of his hand

I’d hold you up to say to your mother, “This kid’s gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid’s gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.” And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilege. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”

There’s always going to be something that we can blame for our place in life. There’s always going to be some obstacle or barrier in front of us in our endeavors. And there will always be someone or something trying to tell us why we can’t…and sometimes that person is ourselves. The accident in front of you, the barrier stopping you, the jeers and hatred to your face and behind your back aren’t the stopping blocks…they are the challenging cries of the Universe asking if you are willing to be more. They are the questions that the Universe will continually ask of you…I know you said you wanted this goal, this thing, this reward…but are you truly committed to the task ahead of really obtaining it?

Cause wishing is easy…and hoping without action or belief is like trying to grab at smoke. And when things are too easy, when things are handed to us…we feel robbed. We feel gypped…because the reward was never in the getting. The reward was in the quest while you kept asking yourself…can I really do this, am I truly committed to this…and if so, am I willing to go the distance. There will be many paths to take, and usually the easiest one is most people’s first choice… but I think you’ll find a great life isn’t found in seeking the lowest ground or the easiest pathway…but the greatest life is in seeking the higher ground even when it’s harder, living in accordance with our values when everyone else is telling us it’s easier to give up or give in and conform, and the greatest life lived is when we stop to ponder what we truly want of our lives…and what we are willing to commit towards making the deeply intangible happen.

I’ve seen over the many years of my life, the greatest things I have, the greatest things that I’ve lost, and the greatest things I will be given…were in the continually pursuit of paving a way. The continual pursuit that was in alignment with my values. The continual pursuit that was in accordance with challenging myself daily, and to keep going in the direction that was not only the harder way…but a way that matters to me. Because I think we get tired in our lives and forget our “why’s.” We forget the reason we were put here and what makes us feel alive…because the world will try to beat it out of us, as the masses have decided it was easier to give in…than to continue to live for the cause and the dream they truly wanted. But we, will not give up on our dreams and personal commitment to living our highest integrity for the ease and comfort that’s promised by giving up on the harder pathway. We will keep going.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What does the path you’re on right now look like? I know for myself, I get in autopilot of showing up to work and doing what’s required…while never really thinking about it. It’s like you don’t even put choice or thought into it, you just put your head down and barrel thru. So today think about the path you’re on, think about the path you’re paving…and see if it’s in alignment with who you want to be.

What’s that quote…”for evil to triumph, all that’s needed is for good men to do nothing.” And it’s not that evil will triumph…but they say that the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions.

Today, I am going to challenge you to be awake and aware. I am going to challenge you to make choices that are in alignment with your values. I am going to challenge you to raise your head, decide your direction and keep going towards the harder path that’s in alignment with your why in life. Today I am going to challenge you to be who you’ve always been and were meant to be.

So write down a 3 step plan to help keep you awake and in alignment with that path and look at it every week for the next year.

I Keep Going

Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together,
Personal Development Life Coach-
Chris O'Hearn

Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247

Music by:
- Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide