Tag: Word

The True Meaning of the Word Freedom

Freedom is a very powerful word. Webster’s dictionary defines freedom in many different ways, but this is the one that really stuck out to me. Freedom is the state of being free – liberated from slavery, restraint or the power of another. When I read this definition, the Bible verse Acts 12:7 ran through my mind– And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. Can you imagine the delight in Peter’s heart as those chains released his hands and he was no longer in captivity?

You too have the opportunity to escape captivity and live in freedom for the rest of your life. Can you imagine actually being free financially, spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically? For most people that seems completely unrealistic, but I’m here to tell you it can be your reality. Remember, inside the word impossible is possible. It is possible for you to have freedom in every area of your life!

In the United States, we observe Independence Day on the fourth of July. There are fireworks exploding in the air across America in celebration of our freedom, which was made possible by the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When that document was signed, it was “declared” that America was free. Let me ask you a question. When will you declare your independence? When will you declare your freedom? Before you can achieve it, you must believe it so say it out loud now… I DECLARE THAT I AM FREE IN EVERY AREA OF MY LIFE! THE SHACKLES ARE GONE! I AM FREE!

After you declare that you are free, you need to understand exactly what freedom is to you. If you don’t know what it is, then how are you going to achieve it? What is freedom to you? I’m going to break down each letter of the word F-R-E-E-D-O-M, and I want you to visualize what it really means to you.

The first letter in the word freedom is ‘F’, which stands for focus. Are you focused on being free in every area of your life? If not, then you need to shift your focus and become focused on your freedom. Most people don’t become truly free in their lives, because they are comfortable or simply aren’t courageous enough to stretch themselves beyond their current life boundaries. Take advantage of getting uncomfortable and stretching yourself, because to be free you have to do things differently than most people.

Just imagine standing inside of an average size circle every single day. Your current job, friends, habits and overall way of life are also in the circle. Can you feel it getting tight? Don’t you have the urge to step outside the circle? Now, imagine extending your foot, stepping outside of the circle and feeling an ultimate sense of relief. You have room to move and make decisions that you couldn’t make inside that circle. Sadly, you will never get to leave that circle because it’s the limit that you’ve placed on your life unless you make the decision get focused on your freedom and stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Whatever you focus on everyday will determine whether or not you achieve freedom in your life. One of the main objectives that you should focus on is taking advantage of every single minute in your day. If you are scheduled and plan your day, then you are forging forward towards freedom. On the other hand, if you lay in bed at night, reflect back on your day and have no idea what you did all day long, then you are allowing time to take advantage of you. I often hear people say, “I have no idea where the time went.” It’s one of those moments when I have to bite my tongue, because I want to tell that person that they are wasting their time instead of investing it.

Time is our biggest form of currency so we must spend it wisely. If you focus on freedom and invest your time wisely, then you are one day closer to being free instead of remaining entrapped. While working with one of my coaching students, I asked her to show me her planner. I wanted to know where she was investing her time, because she was stuck in a rut. Surprisingly, she had every single minute of her day scheduled. This woman knew where she was every minute of the day and led an extremely busy lifestyle. However, I looked closer at the actual activity and saw the issue. I explained to her that just because she was active didn’t mean that she was productive. She filled her day with meaningless tasks that created activity instead of accomplishment. Just because your calendar is full doesn’t mean that you are investing your time wisely. I encourage you to sit down and take a good look at where you’re spending your time and how some of those insignificant, waste of time activities are pushing you further away from your freedom.

Another determining factor in whether or not you become free is what you actually look at on a daily basis. I love to take photos with other champions at events and have built a Why wall in my office in South Florida. This wall is filled with not only pictures but also letters, art, cards and many more positive, inspirational things that I have received from people all over the world. In my home office or as I prefer to call it my “construction zone”, I have pictures of my own dreams and goals. I focus on these things every day as I sit in my construction zone and build my business. No matter the obstacle that I encounter, I’m constantly reminded of my Why in life, because I see it in front of me.

What are you looking at? If your answer to that question is “nothing”, then that’s exactly what you are doing to achieve freedom in your life…NOTHING. In my favorite book, The Bible, it states that a man without a vision will perish. Another way of saying it is that a person without focus in pursuit of his dream will fail. I cringe when see someone reading those garbage books and magazines that highlight all the gloom and doom in the world. Can you really expect to achieve freedom in your life if you are focusing your mind and eyes on that trash? I challenge you to throw out the garbage and start reading positive, inspirational material. You can also take it a step further and hang some pictures of your dreams and goals in your construction zone. You won’t believe how quickly your results will skyrocket when your focus is shifted!

If you’re saying, “That sounds easy. All I have to do is organize my planner and hang a few pictures then I will be focused on achieving freedom in my life.” YOU ARE WRONG! It’s not a one step process. It’s daily focus in every area of your life. When I say that you have to be focused, I don’t mean that you just simply think about freedom sometime during the day. You need to be focused like a sniper with a laser pointed at his target…laser-focused! If you let anything or anyone distract you, then your target (freedom) will no longer be in sight.

How to Excel As a Single Word Triathlete

The word should convey your purpose in the sport. Clarify for others what triathloning represents for you. You might use the word to guide you in race decisions. It should represent the significance of the sport in your life. It might even propel you to achieve results you dreamed about last season.

Look at the list below. Select one word that resonates the best with you as a triathlete. You want to strip away any pre-conceived complexity of the sport to allow you to focus on less to achieve more with your talents.

  • Active
  • “Clipped-in”
  • Complete
  • Confident
  • Controlled
  • Decisive
  • Defined
  • Developing
  • Driven
  • Engaged
  • Enlightened
  • Evolving
  • Fast
  • Focused
  • Get-er-done!
  • Hyper
  • Innovative
  • Positive
  • Quick
  • Streamlined
  • Uber
  • Under-construction
  • Work-In-progress

Less is more. Most non-triathletes think there are three elements of a triathlon: swim, bike, and run. Most triathletes will claim you also include transitions and nutrition. The sport in most simplistic terms include these five parts of training, plus two-parts racing: getting started and Get Er Done!

Get focused. Stay focused. Excel at what do you really, really well. Describe what you do in terms that all others can understand. Performing to your maximum triathlete level is easier than others think. Even easier than earning Ironman status and sporting an MDot tattoo. But you don’t need to tell them that type of insider information.

The initial barrier to getting it done is mental. The secondary barrier is motivational, to work through all the training to cross the finish line. Follow these seven steps to be a Git Er Done triathlete on race day:

  1. Choose doing, dreaming is for spectators.
  2. Connect with your supportive significant other to ensure sustainability in a relationship and in workouts.
  3. Choose your personal commitment for action: wishing, wanting, and dreaming idles action.
  4. Establish a workout routine. Get into your rhythm of consistency to eliminate another decision of when to workout.
  5. Team up with a workout buddy. Either in person or virtual partner. Hold each other accountable to finish each day’s objectives.
  6. Do workouts in a bubble. Turn off, tune in, and workout.
  7. Fear Failure. Be proud of your successes.

My wife Chris chose to race in her first triathlon without any background of swimming, biking, or running in a competitive setting. She trained with me to build a strong bond, honor her self-commitment, and achieve unified fulfillment.

Chris exited the water in 2nd place for the women’s division.

A research study at Indiana University confirmed exercising proved much easier when mates workout alongside each other. Spouses training together proved more supportive to each other. Researchers in the study tracked married couples who started an exercise program. Half of the group comprised of both couples who exercised and half with only one spouse on a workout program. Over the course of a year, 43% of the individual spouses dropped the exercise program.

In contrast, 94% of the exercising couples continued working out together.

One binding factor included excuses to bail out were kept in check. Half of the quitters stated family responsibilities and lack of support from the other spouse resulted in their dropout decisions.

In our relationship Chris emphasized the fun because life is hard enough without adding competitive stress as an ingredient of success.

Take your first step into race action. Time waits for no one. You shouldn’t either.

What other word do you use to describe yourself as a triathlete?

10 Ways for Unknown Musicians to Get the Word Out

When Clear Channel controls the radio and the monopoly newspaper doesn’t like you, how do you win over new audiences?

The good news: there are many, many ways. Here are ten of my favorites.

1. Approach a local college or alternative radio station or community access cable TV station with a programming idea, like a live songwriter showcase. Other musicians will want to be a part of your show, and you’ll build an audience for your own music–and theirs.

2. Write CD or concert reviews for a local alternative (or mainstream) paper.

3. Give copies of your CD away to public radio and TV stations for their fund drive premiums.

4. Organize, publicize, and perform at charity events for your favorite causes.

5. Lead songwriting or performing workshops in the schools (these are usually paying gigs, and all the parents hear your name). Invite some of the kids to perform with you; they’re sure to bring a bunch of relatives along who will pay for their tickets and maybe buy a CD.

6. Announce your gigs in every community calendar. Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, community web sites, cable TV stations–they all run event listings. Type out one paragraph that includes a tag line about what you do, such as “Sandy Songwriter, River City’s ‘Homegrown Bono,’ will perform labor songs and love ballads at The Trombone Shop, 444 4th Street in Downtown River City, Wednesday, January 15, 7 p.m.” If admission is free or there’s a charity connection, say so. Include contact phone number and e-mail.

7. Find Internet discussion groups related to your cause. Whether it’s immigration, voting reform, peace, safe energy, the right to choose…there will be discussion groups online. Post responses and include a “sig”–a short on-line business card. Use different sigs for different purposes. Here’s one of mine (in a real e-mail, it would be single-spaced):

8. Set up a simple low-cost website. Include a couple of sound clips, pictures of you performing, a place for people to sign up for your fan newsletter, a link to your favorite musicians, and, of course, your tour schedule and gig availability.

9. Get exposure on other people’s websites. Write CD reviews, endorse their music with a blurb, submit articles on the local music scene…and always include your contact information and a statement that encourages people to visit your site.

10. Use the letters columns. Call in to talk shows. Post messages to Web forums…in short, use every feedback tool you have to spread the word.

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