September 9th - #252 Synergy Saturday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Purposefully Connect With People Who Challenge Me To Be Better

It’s not just about finding likeminded people to hang out with, it’s about finding people who challenge you to be your best. Who call you out when you’re wrong, who remind you what a beautiful life looks and feels like, who live their code of ethics and values, who believe in you, who believe in themselves, who encourage you, who are willing to help you, who care about you, and who aren’t just willing to get by but to see more of themselves and the world around them.

When you surround yourself with amazing individuals who resonate at a higher frequency…you will naturally start to bond with their energy. And thus, you will automatically be pulled into becoming better with them. But just hoping the right people come into your life won’t do, you have to purposefully say to the universe what you want, you have to have eyes wide open to see the people around you that you would like to associate with, and you have to look in your current circle and see if you need to start cutting ties with people who drag you down.

It's not about getting rid of people, but it’s more about getting yourself aligned with the best people for you. You have one go around on this earth…whether reincarnation is real...I’m not certain of…we won’t know until the end… so live as if this was your only life, live as if this was your only chance to make a difference, live as if you wanted to make your life amazing.

You’re the only one in control of whether you make your life amazing or you make your life mundane. It’s not just about who you surround yourself with, but it’s what you surround yourself with. Do you elevate your thoughts to the highest ones you can, do you understand that your words are magic and you can either curse the world with them or you can bless the world with them, and do you hang in the company that will challenge you to live your best life possible?

Find people who believe in you, find people who challenge you, and find people who make you feel alive…and begin sharing that energy with the world around you. When you share your best self, the world can’t do anything back but smile in return…and a smiling world is a place I want to live in…and I hope you do too.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Who is someone that elevates your game in your life already and how can you find more ways to be around them? Or who is someone you want in your life to help elevate your game, and I challenge you to find a way to have them be a more regular part of your life. If it’s a friend or coworker ask them for coffee to get to know them better and treat them when you get there. If it’s a mentor you want, find a way you can be of value to them and say I’d love to learn more from you but I would love to bring more value in your life than just take…and tell them how you could help them out or ask if there is anything you could do to help make their life better.  I think it’s a great characteristic to come into any relationship seeing what you can offer first rather than just trying to take first. So see who you’d like to be around more, and find a way to connect with them today.

I Purposefully Connect With People Who Challenge Me To Be Better

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

September 8th- #251 Fantastic Friday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Challenge Myself, and So Every Failure is Actually a Lesson

When we ask more of ourselves we fail…and failure is a great thing because we have now learned another lesson on limits and coordination…so we can keep adjusting and getting stronger through a continual commitment to learn and better ourselves because of the failures…it’s a tool to measure growth not defeat.

Think of some of the hardest times in your life a few years ago. Think about the struggles you went through and how difficult it was at the time. Now, I want you to turn that thought on its head by asking yourself what you learned from going through that time. What those failures made painful enough for you to want to change, and think about the reasons why you become more resilient and stronger because of those tough times.

I know in a lot of my podcasts I talk about embracing the struggle, and it sounds like I want you to go through pain as I am some sort of sadist who gets pleasure from the world’s pain… actually I only enjoy people’s pain in the gym. I’m like a vampire that way…the more I make you sore, and the more I make you scream for mercy and no more reps…the more I laugh my maniacal laughter and tell you to do 10 more anyways.

But all joking aside, it’s not that I love the struggle, but it’s that I see the struggle for what it is…the struggle is the forging of your physical self, it is the forging of your mental self, it is the forging of your spirit to elevate your consciousness to the place you are meant to dwell in. Especially for those of us living in 1st world countries with lush living styles. We’ve gotten accustomed to the good life…and that life… can make us soft and struggle in the wrong ways through life.

A student of mine and I were talking about the words we use in our everyday language…and we talked about what emotions she wanted to feel this year. One of her emotions was comfortability, and that word right there brings up a red flag for me… because comfortability breeds complacency and laziness.  But I told her my thoughts on the matter, and asked her why she said the word comfortable for a core emotion she wanted to experience this year…and she told me that her definition of it was from the time back in the day of pioneers. She said that word was utilized back then as people who had a comfortable life had an awesome life. Meaning they didn’t die from getting eaten by a bear crossing the plains to find their new home, they didn’t die from some horrible sickness, and that they were able to be comfortable amidst all the hardships of life.

So for her, that word meant something different than I saw it. But it’s good we had that conversation so I could help her define exactly the emotions she wanted to experience in the coming year to help her become who she wanted to be.

I want to remind you to look for the challenges, to put yourself through challenges, and to ask yourself to be challenged every day. It might be hard in the beginning but the more comfortable you get in challenging yourself daily, then the more right it will feel in your everyday life.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What challenges have you been avoiding due to fear or due to it being a harder way that what you wanted? What’s a goal for your life that you’ve avoided because you knew you would have to take a hard road? Think about what would happen if you made the commitment towards that harder road to achieve the goals that have been previously elusive to you. Now people may think they have to do the hard things all at once and go through immense pain immediately, but actually you might need to break it up a bit. You can’t do it all in one day, and that’s why we fail…we under analyze the time and commitment it takes as we want to avoid the discomfort as much as possible…but what if you were to look not at getting through the pain quickly as possible, but into breaking the discomfort down into more manageable daily goals…to make you more likely to continue with your commitment?  So write down what you’re avoiding because of the harder path, and then write down a plan on how you can make it more manageable to take continual action on it daily?

I Challenge Myself, and So Every Failure is Actually a Lesson

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

September 7th- #250 Thoughtful Thursday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

My Cup Is Overflowing

I don’t like to say that I’m a pessimist, optimist, or realist. They come from the theories of saying that, “my cup is either half full, half empty,” or that “I see it for what it is.” I  however, like to see the truth of life… that my cup is overflowing. I have more than I’ll ever need when I open my eyes. It’s not that I won’t ask for more, but I will see what’s already within me and in front of me to utilize for a better gain. When I’m more aware of the gifts already in my possession there’s no reason to be upset or frustrated because there is no lack, and I’m exactly where I need to be…I have all the resources I need…I just need to start using my personal tools better.

The reason we struggle in life is because we are not awake. The struggle comes from thinking there’s something missing…and what’s missing is not the opportunity but more from the idea that we don’t have the tools within us to succeed in life. Life is not a lottery where things just appear, things happen by the higher thinking we strive to have, or elevating our actions into giving more rather than just showing up, and utilizing the things already in our life to make the best of what we have to create something even better than before.  And I think that’s the key term there to remembering that your cup is overflowing…it’s not just about making things work…but it’s more about creating better things from what’s already in your life.

We don’t have to wait for something to present itself, we can begin the work to create something better with what we have. So, while our gifts or talents may not look as good as someone else’s at the moment…it’s just because they have manufactured themselves into something better through practice, struggle, and believing in something more. That’s why creative people are so resourceful, they see what is behind the thing, they see deeper and make beauty out of things people saw as useless or as garbage. But in everything that we have access to, there’s a lesson, there’s something more that can come from it, and it can be transformed if we decide to look deeper and see it’s true meaning and beauty.

Your cup is overflowing, it’s not half empty or half full…it’s overflowing with all the amazing beauty and gifts ready to be utilized by you…to better your life…and to create the life you desire.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What personal tools in your life have you forgotten about or aren’t utilizing to help you to be where you want to be? Sometimes the hardest obstacles can be overcome when we remember the small things we’ve forgotten about that have helped us before. Think of it like this, we reach a goal and then we go back to old behaviors doing things like our previous self would, and then wonder why we can’t sustain a goal we’ve reached. Think about people who go on a workout regimen and diet, and once they reach their goal they go back to what they were doing as if they didn’t have to workout or eat better anymore. Or think about investing, we get tired of that money missing in our life to be utilized for more things. But it’s not that you stop putting money away in investments once you have done it for awhile, it’s that you find ways to better utilize the money you have minus the investments you have committed to making on a monthly basis. So again, what tools are you not utilizing in your life that could help you reach your goals better. Instead of going out and buying that better thing, look within yourself and ask is there a better way to do what I want with what I have already?

My Cup Is Overflowing

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

September 6th- # 249 Wisdom Wednesday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Multiply My Efforts

I’m not a financial or math whiz, but the law of compounding is a way to make more things work smarter for you. We all know that the more money we invest over time then the more return we get, but we think that only applies to money in our lives. Think about if you were to open your own business. In the beginning you are the only worker and you put in all the time you have. There are only so many hours in a day, and there’s only so much you can do as one person, but if you bring in a second person, or a third person you are increasing your output. 

You aren’t just adding anymore, you’re actually multiplying your efforts. And when you learn to work smarter and not harder you find ways to multiply your efforts, you find ways to make things work for you rather than you working for them.  Robert Kiyosaki wrote a best-selling book called Rich Dad Poor Dad…where he had a father and stepfather and they gave him different advice… he meant no disrespect for either father it was just the set of values that they held.

His poor dad talked about going to college, working hard, finding security in a job, saving money, and living below your means. Where his rich dad talked about building businesses and investing to make money and people work for you.  In his book, he talks about something called a cash flow quadrant. So, think of 4 boxes the top left box is for employees—where you trade your time for money, the bottom left box is labeled self-employed—and that’s for people who own their own thing but are the only one doing the work. Now the right upper box is for big businesses where you have people work for you. And the bottom right box is for investors where you invest your money over time and have your money work hard for you.

The interesting thing that Robert said was if you look at the left two quadrants of employees and self-employed…they focus on one word in making their lives better—SECURITY.

Now in the right two boxes are big business and investors, and they focus on one word and that word is—FREEDOM.

Now I don’t want to make this whole podcast on money, but I want to illustrate the difference in thinking of those who have figured out better ways to multiply their efforts.  The question I want to ask of you is how can you multiply your efforts not just in money, but in the systems of your life.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called the Outliers…which is a book that looks at statistical anomalies or things that are not of the norm. Meaning you might see the average population making a certain amount of money or you look at Bill Gates or Steve Jobs and say what’s different about them and why are they that outlier… or statistical anomaly in the human population? It’s a great book where he looks at the stats of things such as why there is a higher density of players in the NHL who are born in the first 3 months of the year. He even talks about why Asians are better at math…and it’s not because they are born with some inherent DNA math quality that most people don’t have.

But in this book, he talks about the 10,000-hour principle. Where you have to put in 10,000 hours to master your subject…and this is where the compounding of your efforts come in. The more you practice, the faster and better you become at your output.  But I think there’s something more that needs to be looked at then just putting in your time…because you can put in 10,000 hours towards something but you could put in a crappy effort towards those 10,000 hours.

But if you put in perfect, or deliberate, practice… if you put in not just showing up but finetuning your craft the best way possible those 10,000 hours become something more. And you actually begin to not just do something at face value, but you begin to multiply your efforts. For me multiplying my efforts comes in four forms…how I think, how I speak, how I act, and who I hang around.

What you think about is what you become, what you speak about is where you allow your thoughts to build into stronger firmer foundations, how you act is in direct correlation of what you think say and then follow through doing, and who you hang around with will reinforce the things you are thinking, saying, and doing. That’s why they say choose your 5 closest friends wisely because you are more likely to be what they are.

In the end your thoughts will be the starting point, as you’ll be solidifying those thoughts with spoken words, then you solidify those thoughts even more with actions, then you solidify them even more with the people you allow to influence you daily…which turns your thoughts into something more…they become beliefs.

So, when you focus on those things with deliberate intention…To only focus on the highest thoughts, speak the best stories about yourself and where you would like to be, act upon those great thoughts and words, and hang with people who challenge you to rise above your level of comfortability…then you are multiplying your efforts…you are compounding the work you’re doing to yield a greater return…and thus to make your life a much better one.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Sometimes our beliefs can be quite ridiculous and they become a truth that keeps us from being who we want to be or from going where we want to go in life. Look at something you dream about…maybe it’s making a certain amount of money, having a job you love, being in a thriving and loving relationship that energizes you, or learning things and becoming more than you ever thought you could…look at one thing that you want and then look at the immediately belief that is underlying all of that.  Look at what you say in your mind of why you can’t have it, or why you won’t have it for a long time.  Take a look at the beliefs that you‘ve built around certain goals you want… that have kept you from reaching it.  I know for me money is one of my blocks. I feel guilty if I make too much, so either I blow it all or I don’t allow myself to make as much as I should from the belief that if you have too much money you are greedy, or you’re taking from people who need it more, or people don’t like rich people…but that belief isn’t conducive to what I want to do…the more money I have, then the more freedom I can have, and the more things I can do with that money…whether it be travel to places I want to explore, give more freely to causes and organizations that I support and value, or help people by hiring them into my organization and being able to pay them more as I help them to their goals as well.  So, look at a belief that is keeping you from being where you want to be and ask yourself is this belief really true, most beliefs about not being able to have something we want usually aren’t true, and then ask yourself what is a better story or belief to begin telling…and then begin telling it over and over again. Begin thinking it as much as you can, begin speaking it as much as you can, begin taking more actions towards it as much as you can, and find people who have that belief you want already and hang out with them more so they can influence and elevate your efforts.

Oh and I put a link in my notes at the end of the script to a whiteboard book review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell in youtube. It’s a fun video

I Multiply My Efforts

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

September 5th- #248 Tag Me Tuesday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I’m Favored To Win

I’m not the underdog… I am the tiger that roams my land. I am the beast that knows its potential and makes it happen. 

I was having a discussion with someone the other day about why we love the underdog… and it’s because we see ourselves as the underdog. We see ourselves as people who haven’t made it yet, we see ourselves as people who haven’t gotten our chance and if only we could get it then we might just take down that top competitor.

And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that view, but I think it’s a flawed view. It’s a view that we need a chance to be handed to us for us to be able to topple other people. People love to hate the continual winners because they see those teams or people as the Goliaths who have squashed their chances.  But it’s not that the little guy didn’t get his chance or will only get one chance…it’s that a person must be willing to take chance after chance every day. They don’t wait for opportunity to present itself, they make opportunities happen by taking action. They are willing to make mistakes and get back up when they fall, and they are willing to perfect themselves in the process.

And maybe that’s why we don’t confront our Goliaths…we’ve believed in the story that to take down that massive obstacle in our way that it would only take on little stone throw to topple it…when in fact the real truth is it will take stone after stone, mountain after mountain, and day after day if not year after year of stone throwing to take down what we truly want.

We look at the continual winners as taking advantage of the system or cheating, and we feel it’s unfair that they are always on top…but those people decided to work on the craft of becoming the best they could be. They spent hundreds and thousands of hours in mastering themselves and their crafts. But we tell the story that they are lucky, that it came natural to them…when we didn’t see the real work ethic they put in. We didn’t see their failures, we only saw them at the top of their game after all those invisible failures they endured day after day…and so we wish for them to fall because they were born talented and got lucky in the gene pool to have what they have. And we buy into this idea that fairness should happen on the universal scale…but fairness only happens when we put in the work to balance out the scales.

When you root for the underdog you’re secretly rooting for yourself…and you’re secretly calling yourself the underdog.  And I’m not saying you can’t want the less favored team to win…but it’s more a statement on how you see yourself. What if you weren’t… to love the underdog and hate the favored team…and what if you were to see yourself… as the favored team. As I like to say in my intro what if you were to see the best version of yourself and let the present moment catch up with your future self?  How different would your life be if you didn’t associate yourself as the underdog, but saw yourself as the champion, the conqueror of your obstacles and problems, and the angel you needed in your life?

You are greater than you give yourself credit for. So, love the underdog and the champion just as much because it’s about loving everyone…for when we see both parties as equal for the win, then we have broken the barrier of why we may not reach our goals…we have ridded ourselves of our underdog mentality. You are not the underdog… you are the beast that shreds whatever problem or obstacle that tries to stop you. You are favored to win…but you have to be willing to put in the hundreds of thousands of hours and little efforts of finetuning your life and actions to make yourself the person you truly want to be. You are meant to succeed not fail, you are meant to be healthy not unhealthy, and you are meant to be rich in every area of your life not live in poor, unfortunate, deprived, or underprivileged ways… You are meant to conquer your life.  So, let’s stop rooting for the underdog secretly because we see ourselves as the underdog… let’s root for everyone and let’s put in the time and effort to become what we were born to be…amazing.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Take a look at how you might define yourself as the underdog in areas of your life…and ask yourself how can I not only see myself differently here but what actions, thoughts, and words must I use to become the champion I wish to be? Write down those thoughts, words, and actions that will help you to begin changing and put them somewhere where you will be able to see it every day to remind you to do what champions do…continually practice becoming the best version of what they can be.

I’m Favored To Win

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

September 4th - #247 Mindful Monday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

Solutions Come to Me Easily

If we’re honest with ourselves we want the fastest answer towards something rather than the best answer.  A question I like to ask myself is a simple but complex question: are you being open to all possibilities, or are you pigeon holing yourself into one way—usually the most convenient way for you? A mentor of mine called this where finality trumps truth.

So, take a moment… and really take moment to ask yourself these questions either in your mind or out loud.  Am I open to finding a way, am I open to creativity, and am I open to searching for answers and not just complaining if it doesn’t present itself right away? 

Did you do it? Noooo???!!! ok let me ask these questions again and I want you to really ask them in your mind and answer them this time.

Am I opening to finding a way, am I open to creativity, and am I open to searching for answers and not just complaining if it doesn’t present itself right away? 

What I’ve come to know is: that successful people complain less, they don’t look at an obstacle or a problem as something that’s out of their control, or there to make life harder for them. They only know one way…and that’s finding THE way.  And as my main man Robert Frost said, “the best way out is through.”

Complaining is the lazy persons way of saying they’re unsatisfied…but will do nothing about their discomfort. And so, when you complain you are wasting energy by making the complaint more real than the solution. You’re putting more effort into complaining than actions and solutions. I know crappy things will happen and life won’t go your way, but when you focus more on the problems with complaints, then you take your eyes away from finding the solutions.

The most successful people don’t have issues or problems, not because they don’t have anything bad happen to them…but they see the world differently. They decide to be happy for no reason, they decide to see a bigger picture of life, they look at things as opportunities instead of obstacles, and they know that the hardest things in life are usually the most rewarding when you decide to forge through them no matter the cost.

So are you wasting energy complaining, talking about how it’s not fair, seeing the problems and stopping there, or are you open to seeking all possibilities, are you willing to find the good in the bad, and are you willing to push yourself through hell because on the other side… is heaven?

I get it, life will throw you curve ball after curve ball…but it’s not because life is trying to break you, but rather life is trying to strengthen you so you can enjoy the finer parts of what it has in store for you. Don’t just settle for the easy, go through the hard so you make your solutions come to you easier. Be willing to step up to life and ask it to give you its hardest punches, and say I may not know how to handle them right away…but I’m willing to dance with you to find the best me possible. Life isn’t trying to knock you out, life is working to awaken you through the strength of struggle and the beauty through it all.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
How many times a day do you complain? Take a notebook and make a tally or etch for every time you complain today. And at the end of the day count all the times you complain. Now don’t get upset if you see you complained a bunch…and if you didn’t complain much… either you didn’t realize it…or you might secretly be the Dali Lama…

September 3rd- #246 Smiling Sunday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Consult My Values In Every Decision I Make

It’s easy to live in auto pilot doing what we’ve always done. If it’s not broke don’t fix it, but what if you don’t know it’s broke. How can you know what you don’t know, if you never step back to see if what you’re doing is really getting you somewhere?

When you live your life week to week…working for the weekend… or working to get paycheck to paycheck so you can spend it on fun things to get away…I want to ask you what that says about your life? I’m not judging, but I’m questioning if we’re focusing on the short term rather than seeing the bigger picture.  That we’re not meant to escape our live, but to love our lives no matter the place we’re in.

There’s a quote I have used in many of my public talks from Martin Luther King Jr., where he says, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

This quote has nothing to do with our particular profession, it has more to do with what you do with your profession. For some of the greatest people I’ve come to know were janitors, and they were they happiest and kindest people because they embodied what Martin Luther King Jr. said…they lived a beautiful life and brought an immense focus on doing their best in whatever they were doing at the moment and wherever they were.

We wait for the spot light to come so we can shine. We tell ourselves that once my opportunity comes …then, I’ll be ready and give my all. But if you aren’t doing the work before the spot light, then you’ll never be ready. Because you weren’t preparing, you were only talking a good game. And there are some of us who think we are above the greatest factor for success…and that factor is hard work.  Because one way or another, if you didn’t prepare…you will be found out sooner or later.

Over the past year, I decided to list my values and work to make them present in my every day awareness. I have written my 5 values down, and I have them posted in front of my computer screen to look at each morning. I not only use them to remind myself of who I want to be, but I also work to keep them constantly upon my mind so I can consult my values on every decision I make.  And when I do this my life not only goes better but I’m aligned with becoming the person I want to be.  And the greatest reward I seek is not money or only experiences…but the knowledge that I stayed true to who I wanted to be in my every decision and action.

So no matter what our position is in life whether it be a stay at home mother or father, someone who is currently unemployed, a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, the president of something, or a street sweeper….let us consult our values upon every decision and paint our lives like Michelangelo painted, let us make the sound of our life music as beautiful as what Beethoven would have composed, let us write a beautiful life story as Shakespeare would have…let us live so that all the angels above look down and say there is a person who lived so closely to their values…that they made this world shine.

Today I challenge you to shine and get to know your values so intimately that it would feel strange to ever turn away from them.  Today I challenge you to live your values within your every breath…not waiting for the spot light…but knowing, that YOU are the spot light.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Have you ever thought about what your life values are? Have you ever tried to write them down?  Brainstorm all the values you think you live your life by, and the values you want to live your life by. Now this is a little shameless promotion but my upcoming book will discuss on how to find your values and create a value map to help you utilize in your life.  But for now, start thinking about what your values are, what values you want to have in your life, write them all down…and then ask yourself how can I not only know my values but live them every day?

I Consult My Values In Every Decision I Make

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

September 2nd- #245 Synergy Saturday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I Choose My Direction & Follow Through

Sometimes the hardest decision we’ll ever make is the decision to choose a certain direction and put our full commitment towards that choice. Anyone can make a half choice and move a little bit, but not put in their full self due to fear of failure. And thus what they are really saying to themselves is, “if I don’t try, or if I put in little effort and I fail then I won’t FEEL like a failure because I didn’t commit to something I am unsure of… I just tried it.”

But we have failed when we make a choice and we don’t fully commit to it. We’ve already set ourselves up for failure by not putting in the maximum amount of effort and belief towards the direction we choose. We live in a world where we’re riddled with options and choices and so it can be hard to choose… much less commit towards something…so we must not let the distractions of the world or others deflect us from what we want for our lives.

We have been told we can have anything we want, but don’t set your hopes up too high. We’ve been conditioned to live in this comfortable world where you will be taken care of no matter what as long as you put in minimal effort. If you go to your job you learn what you HAVE to do and you put in just that amount of effort so you don’t get noticed in a negative manner, in your relationships you learn what you need to do to win someone over and then get bored or overwhelmed and go back to your standard operating mode before you had those people, or you have a tragedy in your life and we decide to change because it’s painful being where you are…and after a few months you go back to being the old person because you changed from the uncomfortability of the situation rather than the want to never go back to that place of pain again.

We have been conditioned to give just enough to get by, to fit in and not stand out because that makes people uncomfortable, or to silence our true wants and needs because other people have tried before us and failed…and so we are told you can’t have that thing you desire because all the people before you have failed and so they will tell us a story to keep others down so they can feel better about their failures.

Now I won’t tell you that you can have whatever you want. Only you can do that. But I will tell you that if you want something bad enough and you are willing to choose a direction, follow through, and be willing to fail at the highest level…not a level of just sticking your toe in and trying…then you will already be succeeding. The reason being is, for all the mistakes that happened from me putting in my full effort…I learned from those mistakes…and they made me better. They helped me to course correct and  figure out better ways to my goals, and sometimes they even helped me to better goals than I had set for myself.  When you choose a direction that aligns with your values of who you are at your core, and you follow through…you won’t get what you want every time…you will always get something better…through the mistakes…and through your wins.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
What have you been dipping your toe in for a goal or priority that is high on your list? Ask yourself why you’re avoiding it? Is it fear of failure, fear of uncomfortability because it will be a hard effort to obtain it, or is it the dilemma of having to choose this priority over something else that is comfortable in your life already?  Once you figure out why you are avoiding it, ask yourself what you can do today to start working towards it… that is, if you’re committed to making it yours?  What can you do to jump full in and commit… instead of just dipping your toe in or only day dreaming and never taking action. The things we regret in life are not the things we did, but the things we didn’t do. So ask yourself, “If I was at my 90 year old birthday party…would I be upset that I never put in the effort… to make it a reality in my life?”

I Choose My Direction & Follow Through

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

September 1st- #244 Fantastic Friday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

I don’t get easily offended. I Determine Who I am

We have become a world where we are afraid to say what we think because someone might get offended by our opinions. That we might upset the majority, or that we might upset the minorty of people.  We all have different experiences growing up and sometimes we will not see eye to eye, and there’s been an effort to silence the opinions of people who don’t agree with us.

And it started out with good intentions, it was about creating equality for people who didn’t have it, but there’s been an increasing anger that has become more evident in certain movements. And freedom of speech has been used to shame people. Where one group will state that this is not right, but if you don’t believe how I do in every way then you’re a bigot, you’re the enemy, or you’re an evil person.

A client of mine goes to Alaska for business a lot and he was talking with someone he worked with and asked what the proper term used for the culture of people up there… was it Eskimo or Inuit? She said in Alaska they prefer Eskimo, but find the term Inuit offensive…now in Canada they prefer to be called Inuit and don’t like being called Eskimo.

Now I know ethnicities can be a hot topic, but sometimes we get upset at well meaning individuals who don’t know any better. And so we get angry at them for not knowing our story…but when we get angry instead of informing or even having an open mind…then a conversation never happens and people stay uneducated…and maybe we can be too sensitive about what people will say to us. In a previous podcast I stated that I don’t associate so much with my heritage because I claim to be human. I don’t divide myself from people but I look at our commanalities instead of our differences.

I think about the college commencement speech circuit. And how there’s so much tension about who should come based upon their beliefs. But on a commencement speech not everyone is bringing their political beliefs…they’re talking about going out into the world and making a difference whatever your beliefs are.

And there are certain people who decide they don’t want to hear what people have to say. Such as the Notre Dame students who walked out on Vice President Mike Pence’s commencement speech before he even gave it. I mean how do you even know what he was going to say, except for the fact you wanted to make a stand you don’t support him because of his political affiliation. I mean you talk about equality, but you aren’t even willing to hear a person out?

Or the students who protested Condoleezza Rice coming to Rutgers to speak…and I quote from CNN.com “because of her signing documents to give the CIA authority to conduct their torture tactics for gathering information from detainees.” Now I don’t know the whole story…and I’m not suggesting torture is okay…but what I am saying is people don’t have all the facts, they have made up their mind about this person, and this person must be evil, they must be the enemy…so I’m going to protest and boycott them coming because they obviously have nothing to say that could benefit me.

And thus no dialogue is given except for the one to shut people up that we don’t agree with. Stand up for what you believe in, but what if we were to hear people out, to understand them before we make up our mind. We live in this televised world where we think we know people and their motives. And so we judge them saying “I know ALL of this person. I know that they are on the other side of the political spectrum so they must be idiots, ill informed, or the enemy because no one in their right mind would think the way they think.”

Condoleeza Rice backed out of speaking at Rutgers as she said it’s about the graduates and she didn’t want this great day for them to be detracted by the negative press that was happening because of her doing the speech.  Now if someone was attacking me, I’m not sure if I could have been that gracious, but do hope to have that type of class that she expressed after being attacked for past actions. I don’t know what her speech would have been, and now no one else will know because they decided it was better to shut someone up than to hear what they have to say.

We all make mistakes, we all have certain agendas that we believe in, and just because someone has another plan or agenda than you…it doesn’t make them wrong. But when we want to shut the door on people speaking their minds…then we create a place that is fake and false as we only say what won’t offend someone.

Words are powerful, but only because we give them power. No one can ever hurt you with words unless you decide to be hurt, offended, or any other negative emotion you can associate to what’s said.  I hope that you don’t shut people down for their ideas and their beliefs. I hope you hear them out, and I hope they hear you out, and I hope you have a conversation to come to a better understanding of each other. Because I don’t think we’re all that different when looking on a grander scale…we want what’s best for the world or our country…we just may have different ideas on how to go about making that happen.

I find it sad how the media will crucify people. How they will find them guilty before any trial…and destroying another person’s character is a harsh thing. I’ve been on TV and I felt the pressure of having to say everything perfect and not make mistakes, and so I wasn’t my authentic self because I was too nervous to make a mistake. And we expect people to be perfect, never realizing that we would make mistakes just like them. So have a heart, be kinder in your judgement of others, and know that people are doing the best they can…even when you don’t agree with them.

So be kinder with your judgements on them and your words towards them, and also know that the judgements against you won’t hurt you. There will always be a critic, there will always be someone trying to tear you down so they can feel better about themselves…just don’t become like them. Be a brighter light in this world. Be above the tactics of group think and crucifying people because they don’t necessarily agree with you. We believe in free speech…just make sure you don’t become the one who says I believe in free speech just as long as it doesn’t disagree with me.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Be willing to look at another person and try to see it from their side of the story. If you’re a hard core democrat read some of the republican posts with an open mind, don’t have your mind made up already. See if you can see it from another point of view besides your own. If you’re a republican have a conversation with a democrat to understand them, don’t go in with your agenda, just listen to them and hear what their hopes, beliefs, and ideas are. I think if work to understand people before trying to conform people we create a better connection.  I recently had a conversation with someone trying to convert me to believe what they believe. I’m not saying they are wrong, and I’m not saying I am right…but I have a different idea of things, and I am willing to look at ALL avenues before deciding on one. We come from a place of knowing only one point of view and thus we can never really know what’s out there. So today, see how you can understand someone else before trying to convert them.  Like Stephen Covey said in his book 7 Attributes of Highly Effective people… seek first to understand before trying to be understood.

I Don’t Get Easily Offended. I Determine Who I am

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

August 31st- #243 Thoughtful Thursday The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast

Humans are my family

When people ask me my heritage, I usually say human. And they aren’t amused by my seemingly act of truth. If they press me, I’ll admit I’m German and Irish, but I don’t claim a heritage. I don’t focus so much on my heritage, not because it isn’t important but because we all come from the same family. I think traditions are great, and they should be practiced and observed…but what if were to focus less on where we came from and focused more on where we are and where we’re going.

Now I know some will say when we forget our history we are doomed to repeat it. History is important, and it’s good to know the great things and horrendous things that have happened in our past as humans…but when we are focusing on what makes us unique through our religions, through our ethnicities, through our financial incomes…or whatever factor you are using to judge your exterior self to other people’s exterior conditions…then we are dividing ourselves.

A great mind by the name of J. Krishnamurti said:

“When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.”

So I ask the question…are we truly trying to understand people, are we trying to understand the human conditions…not just the conditions of our heritages or what have you. If you feel free to march for your cause, march…but I ask the question of how can we connect better with the human culture more… instead of dividing ourselves from the things that make us different.

How different would the world be if we worked to treat strangers like family? And no I’m not talking about treating them like we treat our family on Christmas… annoyed and argumentative as we drink ourselves into a stupor trying to survive the holiday debacle with our sanity still intact.  What if you were to find ways to bond more and connect with your biggest heritage… being human and being of the same spirit. You are greater than a family blood, you are a human blood, and the greatest family bond is kindness to one another, and you don’t have to have the same family blood to share a great kindness with others.

Today’s Personal Commitment:
Look at someone from a different culture, race, gender or any difference…and when you see them visualize your head on their body. See yourself as them. I did this a few years ago when I was putting gas in my car, and I looked at all the people walking into the convenience store or pumping gas…and I put my head on theirs as I watched them walking around. It was so strange, I felt a peace and an ease in my soul as I saw I was one with them. They weren’t different than me. I saw we are all one…and it made me feel a deeper love and bond with people.  So put your head on someone else today…and no don’t be creepy serial killer about it, you know what I mean…and see yourself as them and know you are all connected…see how it makes you feel and comment on this podcast to let me know what you experienced.

Humans are my family

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