September 21, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Directionality

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.” –Carl Rogers

In the littlest and seemingly most inconsequential ways, we make choices every moment of every day which, added together, go a particular direction.

Do we face a new technology and choose to entertain a story of how we “don’t do new technology well” or approach it like a fascinated 18yr old?

Do we see a homeless person and choose a thought pattern of sadness or simply send out a silent blessing?

Do we come upon a personal or financial growth choice and go the fear-based, play-safe route or the the expansive, risky-business route?

The late Alvin Toffler, great futurist and author of Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift said “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”

What little nexus points can you find in your day to be conscious of the direction you’re choosing?

Got directionality?

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor” –Oliver Wendell Holmes

September 14, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Your Yoda

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“If you light a lamp for someone it will also brighten your own path.” –Buddhist Proverb

The quintessential mentor of all time might have been Yoda, the slight, dyslexic-speaking, unpretentious yet undeniably powerful guru from Star Wars.

Luke Skywalker and others never felt “wrong” around him…but his manner and simple words allowed them to perceive themselves and situations differently.

To enable our growth, we need supportive environments around career and life. It’s important to have, within those environments, those who, on the one hand, don’t buy into our stories about ourselves while, on the other hand, give us a graspable vision for ourselves beyond what we see.

Tough love methods are wonderful — and necessary at times — but graceful, quiet, yet pointed support can help the medicine go down even sweeter.

The problem is that, once we’ve been at our career, our business, our life for so long, we don’t think to reach out for help on that which is beyond us because “we should know by now” or some other fear of not looking good.

Yet, if we take on that we have not yet done what we came here to do in life, there is always the next level to get to.

Got your Yoda?

“There is no lack of knowledge out there…just a shortage of asking for help.” –Mark Carter

September 7, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Stabilizers & FREE EBOOK

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“The world is beautiful outside when there is stability inside.” –Anonymous

We often want things to move fast. The business we’re building, the reach we’re extending, the relationship we’re developing, the role we’re growing into: it’s exciting when things “take off.”

Yet, airplanes have elevators and rudders and rockets have fins to ensure that the speed is contained and focused.

Having our own stabilizers in place and functioning decreases the potential for going off course and ensures that the speed is most capitalized upon.

Regular walks in nature, a fitness regime, dedicated hobby time, regular check-ins with committed listeners can all serve as stabilizers…and yet many get dropped when things get busy.

When asked how much he meditated each day, Gandhi answered two hours. When then asked how much he meditated when things were going crazy around him, he answered four hours.

If things are going astral, what fin can you put in to balance the atmospheric pressure…even if you think there’s no time?

If things aren’t going astral, how can you design fins now for when they do?

Got stabilizers?

“A stable mind is like the hub of a wheel. The world may spin around you, but the mind is steady.” –B.K.S. Iyengar

August 31, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…MomenTums (& FREE EBOOK)

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.” –Victor Kiam

Hopefully, in the unfoldment of a project or new initiative, there is a phase where things really start popping, happening fast, and there is lots to manage and stay on top of.

We aspire and dream of the new-venture train gaining momentum once it has slowly and laboriously picked up speed out of the station.

And it can be then that the stomach doesn’t feel the same way, there’s an ever-present edge of discomfort…perhaps occuring as a constant feeling of heartburn, upset stomach or indigestion.

That’s a good sign.

I walked around for a few months with what felt like a bowling ball in my gut when starting my first business.

Many will avoid the discomfort…and yet for those who are willing to choose it over the medicine cabinet, the pace of growth can be profound.

Into what area of conviction or dream creation can you choose to upset your stomach today?

Got momenTums?

“If you have the guts to keep making mistakes, your wisdom and intelligence leap forward with huge momentum.” –Holly Near

August 24, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Deed Seeds (& FREE EBOOK)

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“To be doing good deeds is man’s most glorious task.” –Sophocles

Beyond the parochial lessons we learned in childhood about doing good deeds — still valid, and yet perhaps needing more umpfh as an adult — we can consider what we are seeding in our deeding.

How we go into a meeting, a negotiation, a sales call, a group project, or our very day can be shaped by the little and perhaps inconsequential tidbits of blessings we put out just before.

Letting someone climb into traffic in front of us, picking up trash as we walk down the sidewalk, leaving a voicemail for someone saying we’re thinking about them, paying for the customer behind us in the fast food lane, give away an ebook (below)…all of these have the potential for feeling good, generous and overall better about ourselves and, perhaps, more worthy to receive our own good.

We’ve heard these acts carry even more power when done with nobody watching.

Where can you plant deed seeds in your experience of life being good for yourself and others today?

Got deed seeds?

“Thinking good thoughts is not enough, doing good deeds is not enough, seeing others follow your good examples is enough.” –Douglas Horton

August 17, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Playing Dirty

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –Michael Jordan

We all want to come out of the starting gate a winner: whether it be in a new job, business venture, promising relationship, potential add-on skill, etc.

That’s the very reason we don’t take action.

We want to look pretty when, to learn and grow, it requires glaring ugliness.

Waiting until the i’s are dotted, the t’s are crossed, and we’ve diminished all chances of not “looking good” results in empty playing fields…and everyone sitting in the stands.

Playing — even and especially when we aren’t “prepared” — means we are IN the game.

A certain amount of apprenticeship to an idea or plan is respectable. Most, however, use that apprenticeship as an evidentiary stage to prove their incapability.

Too much consideration kills countless ideas and splendid plans.

Where can you drop the cleanliness and jump into the mud of a game today?

Got playing dirty?

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day.” –Bob Feller

August 10, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Generation Gap

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Who you are and how you act in the present is given by the future into which you are living.” –Werner Erhard

Ever accomplish a goal (or not) and have a big blank space in front of you?

Sometimes there’s even a post-featal downturn in mood, when the juice of the previous activity drive has ceased surging without replacement.

It’s then when our best ingenuity is called for: actually creating what comes next.

To generate and invent a future to live into — and then to be empowered (vs. diminished) by the gap that shows up — is the ultimate creativity.

It’s the games people play that create life and living.

Where can you intentionally generate an empowering gap to live into today?

Got generation gap?

“It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.” –Kristin Armstrong

August 3, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Big Game Help

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” –Lena Horne

There is much said in our American culture about the self-made man or woman, the iron self-will and resolve that has individuals pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and a lot of ego-oriented “respect” offered to those who, alone, can handle things.

Granted, being able to find the resources, the will and the way within can be of great, wholistic and long-term value.

Yet, there’s also a lot said about the power of helping others in their success. Zig Ziglar’s famous quote “You can have everything you want in life if you will just help enough other people get what they want” is an inspiring redirect toward focus upon others.

But search for quotes on “getting help” and you find that 98% are about offering help to others and only the tiny remainder about getting help yourself.

It seems the receiving side of the coin is simply not as respected or valued. We prize offering help, but where’s the equal pride in seeking or obtaining it?

Consider this: if you don’t need help, right now and right where you are, you simply aren’t playing a big enough game.

Got big game help?

“Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.” –Ziad K. Abdelnour

July 27, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Happy Resolve

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” –Abraham Lincoln

Stuff happens. It will keep happening. There’s nothing we can do to stop stuff.

How we are with others — but most importantly, with ourselves — in the midst of stuff either brings more stuff or re-qualifies stuff.

Anything, ANYTHING AT ALL can either be a blessing or a curse. It’s just how hard we’re willing to work toward the blessing end of the spectrum.

When all evidence is to the contrary is when real musculature is formed.

Got happy resolve?

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” –Helen Keller

July 20, 2016, TGIW: Unhumping Hump Day…Funcertainty

By Darrell Gurney | Blog

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.” –Voltaire

The mature human psyche rarely voluntarily jumps into the game of uncertainty.

As we get older, we can become ever more attached to the knowing of what’s coming next, the assurance of our needs being met, the certainty of the path before us.

A layoff, business downturn, or even the inner need to make a significant change in one’s work, relationships, life, etc., can bring about fear of the unknown.

Yet, in that quest for knowing everything ahead of time, we may miss interesting opportunities and sidepaths along the way.

Think about it: when we go on vacation, though we may plan certain activities, do we want to know everything we’re going to experience beforehand?

There’s no fun, surprise or adventure possible when we already know.

Though it goes against the default closing of the mind and human spirit, taking on uncertainty with an attitude of fun can be a game worth playing.

What totally uncertain aspect of your life could you bring into a game of fun and exploration?

Got funcertainty?

“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” –Margaret Drabble