Unthinkable

In shuffle mode my iPod found Alicia Keys' Unthinkable song, and that got me thinking.

What does it take to Think the Unthinkable? And what does it get you when you do it?

This idea continues as a follow up to my last post on Apple's Think Different ideas.

Alicia Key's Unthinkable lyrics have a great line:

"if we do the unthinkable would it make us look crazy" I think the answer is yes.  Always yes.  Always look crazy.  To do anything out of the ordinary, to experience any-thing, any-one, any-place amazing you need to look crazy.

The people in the Apple Think Different ad (the Gandhi's, Richard Branson's, Jim Henson's of the world) all looked crazy when they started.  You can't do/experience/want something that burns bright without looking crazy to the rest of the world.  But why do you care what you look like to the rest of the world anyway? The rest of the world will limit you, don't do it to yourself (see James Cameron's TED talk).

Then Alicia says the most important line ... the line that makes a difference ...

"if you ask me I'm ready"

So here's my question: "Are you ready to think the unthinkable?"

Can you really do it? Are you really ready to think differently enough that you make a difference?

What would you look like, sound like, walk like, if you were to

* Think-the-Unthinkable

* See-the-Unseeable

* Want-the-Unattainable

So here's the challenge (I'm sure you've figured it out by now): Find one thing, one person, one idea that is unthinkable, unknowable, untouchable, and think it, know it, touch them. If you take that one step this week you'll be amazed at how far your journey will take you.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it" - Goethe

Alicia says she's ready.  Are you?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Apple Think Different

The Apple Think Different ad in 1997 is all about

* Flaunting convention

It's about

* Not doing what you think society says you should

It's about

* Following your heart and not your head

It's about the only thing that matters: Making a difference that pushes your humanity forward

The people in the ad: Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, Jim Henson, Pablo Picasso, don't have time for convention, for the status quo, for society's rules.  They are busy building amazing lives.

We've all heard the refrain from Apple: "Think Different" and the world can be your oyster.

But thinking different is hard ... it's scary ... it feels lonely ...

* You have to do things that other people wouldn't do so you can make a difference: A difference for yourself.

* You have to do things that other people might judge you for so you can make a difference: A difference for yourself.

* You have to pride yourself on wanting more so you can make a difference: A difference for yourself.

So here are my questions:

* "What convention are you following that is strapping you into your current life?"

* "What one social barrier could you break and allow yourself to think differently enough to do something you'll remember the rest of your life?"

* "What are you afraid of that keeps you thinking the same as the crowd?"

So here's my challenge: Take one belief you have and shatter it.  Do one thing that society doesn't expect and think differently.  Think differently about that one person, that one exciting opportunity, that one place, and let society go.

Take my challenge this week and see if you can be like Apple and Think Different

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

(click here to see the Apple Think Different video on YouTube)

-------------------------
Here is the copy of the entire copy for

Apple Think Different

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." -

Apple Think Different

I'm not living without you

And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going

I just heard Jennifer Hudson sing "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. What an amazing song and passionate performance. And it made me wonder:

Have you ever felt so strongly that you can't live without something? Had a passion burn so hot in your core that you can't live without

• That someone?
• That someplace?
• That something?

Who, where, what do you crave? Is there some-one that makes you burn? Is there some-place that you need to go (not just a physical place)?  Is there some-thing you can't wait to do?

What can't you ... won't you ... refuse to ... live without?  Like Jennifer sings "I'm not living without you;" having an intense flame inside that you can't live without, that your life would be duller without, is a powerful draw to action. We all need more than a like, we need a want.  Not something that will define us, something that creates our character, but a beacon that pulls us towards brilliance.

So here's my question: "If you remember one thing as the years roll on, what one person, place or thing will you miss if you live without it?"

It's a tough question because maybe what you WON'T live without is the exact thing that you ARE missing.

So here's the challenge: Fixate on some-one, some-place, some-thing that is worth living with, and do whatever it takes to pull it into your life. Maybe you have to obsess about it.  Maybe you'll have to risk to experience it even for a moment. Maybe it's scary to really think you can have it. But be daring, take a chance, and get into your heart the one moment that's worth not living without.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Spellbound

Have you ever seen something so brilliant that you become hypnotized? So bright and dazzling that the rest of the room fades away? Ever been so connected to someone that you forget where you are? That the noises in the room fade to quiet and it's only you and them?

Isn't that a cool feeling. Wouldn't you love to manifest that feeling more. All the time. Are you ever the generator of that feeling?

Wouldn't you like to have more Spellbound moments in your life?

I'm talking about the moments that matter. The moments that you'll remember.  The moments that take your breath away.  This is a recurring theme in these writings ... do something amazing, we're waiting.  It's Tony Robbins talking about "designing a life instead of making a living" (I'm paraphrasing).

So here's my question: "If you wanted to, could you hold someone spellbound? If only for a moment."

and

"When was the last time you tried?"

So here's the challenge: Find someone worth mesmerizing and be so amazing that they can't take their eyes off of you, if only for a moment. You'll have to get out of YOUR head and into THEIR heart.  You'll have to manifest such electricity that you are the only thing worth paying attention to.  And this little task will generate such a spark in you that you might even capture your own attention.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

The Joy of Life

I saw a tattoo on a girl's arm the other day, and it said:

"The joy of life lives in it's passion"

And I thought "what amazing words to permanently put onto your body."  Her passion and commitment to those words, those sounds, that message, drove the point home of how important it is ... passion ... fire ... heat.

Finding The Passion is what we live for. It's what's important to everyone, even those people who focus on certainty and stability. It's what makes memories. It's what draws people closer together. We spend so much of our day stuck in the muck that when passion ignites it's breathtaking.  And that tattoo just serves to remind us what we're searching for.  In fact I believe that we are hard-wired to seek out passion. It's what we do with art, music, dance, song. We all hunt for that moment when something or someone moves you into a passionate state of mind.

It's the Anthony Robbins statement: are you busy "making a living or designing your life?"  Because designing your life is all about Finding The Passion it takes to take a step and Risk Everything (see my post on Risk) and live on the edge (see my post on The Edge).

So here are my questions:

• "What are you passionate about?"
• "Who are you passionate for?"
• "How can you ignite your passion with a fierce flame?"

If you can turn your passion on, stay driving 100 MPH, what could you accomplish?  And what is keeping your passion bottled up?  What is keeping you from pursuing a passionate life?  And what would you have to let go of; who would you have to let go of; what beliefs would you have to shatter to take a leap-of-faith and be moved to passion?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Manifest Destiny

When you think about something; want something so bad; crave for something: Does it come true?

Can you Manifest things out of thin air? Could you Manifest your Destiny if you tried?

I have close friends who are very good at thinking of things and then having them come true. They can manifest all sorts of things; both good and bad. Manifesting is really the art of truly visualizing what you want in your head, then putting yourself there in your heart, then acting (this is what Tony Robbins calls RPM). The path to manifestation is engagement, and action is the key ingredient. This comes straight from my other posts on wishing and desire.

But here's the thing: Many times we manifest what we're afraid of. Read that last part again, it's important. I learned this from a 101 year old great great grandmother. I was in Atlanta working with a doctor and one of the patients was this little old great grandmother. And she told me some of her wisdom from living 101 years. It's simple wisdom built up over a lifetime that isn't easy to do. She said: "people desperately want great things, but then they think of rotten things and make them happen. They manifest what their afraid of."

It's such a beautifully simple concept. If you're afraid of getting into a car accident you worry too much about it, hold the wheel too tight, and then BAM!!! you're in an accident. Have you ever known someone who is afraid of being broke, and then the things they do (or don't do) keep them broke? Or being afraid of losing someone special and then all they do is push people away?

It's crazy. Psychologists call it approach/avoidance behavior (as you get closer to getting what you really want you do whatever it takes to avoiding getting it). And it's human behavior. It's really our Money Minds (see my various monkey mind posts) coming to the surface, getting into your head, then stealing your heart and taking action into their own hands.

So here's my question: "What are you afraid of, and what are you doing to manifest that fear?"

* Is there some destiny that you crave but just can't seem to get there?

* Is there someone you should have in your life but can't seem to figure out how to be close?

* Is there some state (health, wealth, wisdom) where you know you should be but keep missing the off-ramp?

If your Monkey Mind settled down, you stopped being afraid (really stopped, I'll have a post on that soon I promise), and you focused on what you want instead of all the things that could go wrong ...

Couldn't you Manifest an Amazing Destiny?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Gossamer Moments

I was talking to a very close friend of mine and we were saying how amazing our lives truly are.  How special this place, this time, these people, this experience is. And how very fragile this moment truly is ... like so much gossamer, it will quickly vanish; we exist in this amazing space only for a moment and to drink it up fully and explore and enjoy the experience.

The book "How We Choose To Be Happy" is written by Rick Foster, a dear friend of mine. He talks about what people who are truly happy do. And chapter 7 talks about Appreciation and Aliveness. He says:

"Happy people actively appreciate their lives and express gratitude and thanks to the people around them. They seem to revel in each moment rather than focusing on the past or worrying about the future. They talk about being exquisitely aware of the fragility and preciousness of existence."

The other day I was in an exercise class at Equinox and I finally got out of my head just long enough to experience a flood of appreciation for my life. Sometimes that's what exercise is all about: getting into your body and out of your head. I was finally able to just "revel in each moment" and let the moments of my life wash over me. Reveling in each moment is a tough thing to do.  We've been so conditioned to focus on the past or the future that being in the moment is truly fleeting. It's what Eckhart Tolle talks about in his book "The Power of Now"; being completely present to really enjoy these gossamer moments.

So here's my question: "What are you experiencing that makes your life amazing?" "Are you reveling in the moment? Or are you taking it more for granted than you think?" "What more could you do today to really appreciate these gossamer moments?"  If you can get out of your head long enough to truly experience this gossamer moment in time, how amazing would that be.

See you on the wire.

-- Steven Cardinale

Hold On Tight

I saw this Google ad at the San Francisco airport. It said:

"Let go of old attachments"

I'm not sure how much more of a sign I need than a billboard from Google saying "stop holding on so tight to your outcome." But I figured that is enough of a clue that I should pay attention, sit up, and listen.

Why do we hold on so tight to our imagined future or our dreamy past? Why is it so hard to live in the moment. That's NOT to say not to think about and plan for the future, or remember the fond experiences of the past: It IS to say that we consistently live in the past or the future and rarely experience the amazing joy that is right now.

The Buddhist's say that living without conclusions requires courage. That living without attachments to the outcome is terribly frightening. That our monkey minds keep spinning to force us to avoid the present moment.

My language is more tactical. I say: "you can't make $1 Million" or "you can't lose 10 lbs."  It means that

The ends are not something you are in control of

Read that again, it's important to get into your gut: "The ends are not something you are in control of." ... ever .. you only get this moment to work with.

If you knew how to make the money or drop the weight, you would have already done it.  What you can do is in the present moment.  In this moment you CAN call your customers, provide amazing value and the $$$ will appear.  In this moment you CAN eat healthy and exercise and you will lose weight.

Buddhist's say our monkey minds use the dreams of the past to ensure our Ego's existence since the past requires thought and language in our minds so we craft stories to fit our needs (this is a fundamental flaw with eyewitness testimony, see The Invisible Gorilla). So we relive moments in our heads all around what we dream we did.

Buddhist's say our monkey minds use the illusions of future plans to ensure our Ego's ongoing existence since planning for a future that is probably unrealistically off target requires thought and language in our minds.

So here's my question: "How much of your mind's energy do you spend in the past or the future?  How much of today's journey are you missing by being in your head?"  I know for me, I spend the vast majority of my time looking and thinking about the top of the mountain so I never pay attention to the steps that are getting me there.  So try, just for a day, to keep yourself centered.  Pay attention to this moment.  The keys on your keyboard, the glow of the monitor, the way the chair feels on your butt.  You'll be amazed at how freeing right now can be.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Risking Everything

"Sometimes risking everything is the only choice you have"

That's a quote from the movie "The Air I Breathe".  Maybe it's true; maybe you have to take a risk to get what you truly want (see my posts on Likes and Desire) out of life.  Maybe it takes courage to be more amazing tomorrow than you are today. This post is basically an extension of my last post. It's an exploration of the courage it takes not only to take A risk, but to risk everything ... to kill who you are today to become who you need to be tomorrow (see my post about "Who Are You?") ... so you can taste a bit of something truly sweet.

"Risking everything" is a strange concept. I'm not even sure what everything is. What risking it means (does that mean I could lose it, and if I'm afraid to lose it I'm in my monkey mind, see my last post). And what am I risking everything for? I do feel in my chest the need to take big risks.  The need to find the courage to exchange the known for the unknown, the familiar for the unfamiliar, the comfortable for the uncomfortable, the commonplace for the extraordinary. Courage is to move on to dangerous paths. Life is dangerous and unpredictable. So you must have the courage to risk it all to fully live life.

So here's the question: "What one thing would you risk everything to experience?" It's got to be something that you really want (not like); something that could have a life changing impact on you; something worth risking for; something spectacular.  And why are you afraid to let go and get it?  What fear is stopping you from risking everything? What if you had to have it tomorrow, what would you do? So think about it. How alive would you feel if you could risk everything today for something amazing tomorrow?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

All Good Things Must Come To An End

I'm sure you've heard the old saying "All Good Things Must Come To An End."  I recently heard that a couple of times from friends of mine. That got me wondering: Why did they say that?

Why are we consumed by the loss of wonderful things in our lives?

I've been out of balance the past few weeks and I've been trying to regain my equilibrium. So I'm back to reading my Buddhist books (like "The Power of Now") and it hit me.  The worry of loss is all about the chatter your mind is making. According to all the Buddhist texts it's our mind's ego piece making too much noise forcing us to identify with our Monkey Mind, our internal thinker, our internal critic that tells us all the wrong things that can happen in the future and keeps our minds whirling. It's our mind's way of keeping ourselves afraid to (as James Cameron puts it in his TED talk) "understand the limits of possibility."

So how do we have the courage to stop being afraid of loss, of opportunity, of everything? How can we keep our monkey minds quiet and explore the future without being limited by our own preconceptions? I've heard that courage is going into the unknown in spite of all of your fears.  The fears are there but they don't stop you moving (see John McCain's book "Why Courage Matters"). Courage is risking the known for the unknown, the familiar for the unfamiliar, the comfortable for the uncomfortable.

James Cameron's final statement in his TED talk says "Failure is an option, but Fear is not." We will fail, all good things will end, we will be afraid, but we will also succeed in uncommon ways and experience good things that amaze us in ways we cannot even dream of.

So here's my question: "What does your mind tell you can't happen, will come to an end, will fail? What are you afraid of?" Can you just listen to that noise without being consumed by it? What courageous thing could you do to silence that sound?

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Coming Home

"I can't wait to get out of here" ... followed by ... "I can't wait to get back home."

You know that need; that push/pull draw that we have to get away from our current selves and into something exotic only to desperately miss the important parts of home. What happens when you go away? Why do we need to "get out of here?"

Maybe it's a way to remind ourselves of what's important; what we're grateful for; a way to "truly miss something only when it's gone" and then feel that rush of coming home and reconnecting. VW retired its Citi car and had a farewell tour that truly touches what it means to miss something (I've never even heard of the car and I miss it already). (I talk about missing in my "I Miss You" post). Maybe getting out of here as fast as you can is our own way to get some distance and not take things for granted (there's a cute post about realizing what we have here). And maybe what we're taking for granted is the best part of ourselves.

Maybe going away from our stuff, our current circumstances, our current rut is a way to not only get distance from the things around us, but to get some distance from ourselves; our current selves at least. As a very dear from of mine so appropriately put it "maybe you have to get lost to be found."  So maybe going away, running away, getting out of here, is more about coming home than it is about leaving this place.

So here's my question: "What are you going away from? And. What do you need to run back to?"  If you can look at this, feel this, get it in your heart maybe you can always be coming home.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

The Illusion of the Like

I was thinking about wants and likes, must-have's and nice-to-have's, things that make a difference in your life story vs. those experiences that are just so much noise.

I know they're just words: "want" and "like", but words are so much more than just letters and sounds. Language exposes our thoughts. Words lay bare our beliefs and when we're uncensored give us a glimpse into our true selves.

So "want" and "like" are more than just words. They are your beliefs of what is possible and what your willing to do to create that possibility.

Wants require effort. Wants are out of your reach. Wants require you to challenge what you are willing to do to get there. Wants require you to get up early; get on the plane; take uncomfortable risks; ask better questions; and potentially manifest a new world you never thought possible.

Like are wishes. Likes are daydreams and fantasy talk over coffee. Likes tell you where you're not willing to go. Likes are voyeuristic and let you watch through your mind's eye and suspend disbelief, for a moment. Likes let you pretend that your limitations don't exist.

Likes let you use pretty lies to pretend they are wants. Read that again. It's important. It's the illusion of the like. All you have to do to find out if you're in the illusion is to make your statement extreme (you know "I'd like to be Superman" is very different from "I WANT to be Superman" one is a kid's fantasy the other is delusional).

You've heard these all before:
- "I'd like to go back to school" vs. "I wanted to get into the best school on the planet, did the work and got in"

- "I'd like to start my own business one day, but tomorrow I have to go back to work" vs. "it was so much harder and scarier than I thought but now I'm my own boss"

and so many more.

Wants drive have's. Having is how we turn wants into reality. Like's are fantasies and only stay in our minds.

I recently lost my aunt, and just found out someone else I know is dying of cancer. That mortality is making me think even more so about what I want in my life. And I noticed I don't have time for likes. My likes are evaporating and my wants are becoming more visceral.

So here's the questions - "What do you really want?" Only want things that are worth having. Only want things that are amazing. Only want things that take your life story in a different direction and will make you smile when your mortality catches up with you. Make that list now. Kill your likes, they are illusions, and go catch your wants

See you on the wire

-- Steven Carinale

Careful What You Wish For

That's a strange statement: "Be careful what you wish for" which is usually followed by "because you may just get it."  You would think that you'd only wish for things that you want, so why be careful in the first place.  Why would we ever wish for something you don't want?

I think that statement is simply a caution to our subconscious to think through what we really want. Not what we'd like, but what we truly want.  And sometimes our biology forces us to want things that don't serve us well. And how the hell does that happen? Shouldn't our biology want good things for us?  Apparently not.

Apparently our biology is filled with our mortal thoughts and mindless Gremlins as Rick Carson talks about in the "Taming Your Gremlin" book.  So maybe it's not us wishing for things but our Gremlins wishing for things on our behalf. It's our internal psyche biology wishing for something that fulfills it's needs but doesn't serve our soul. Our Gremlins ask for things on our behalf without us knowing about it (a kind of mindless request) and this is probably what the "careful what you wish for" statement warns us about.

Wishing for something, wanting something deeply, can be an integral part of manifesting that thing into reality. Of course you have to want it without being attached to the outcome of getting it (future post on letting go of outcome shortly).

So here's my question - "What have you wanted, asked the universe for, lately, and was it a mindful wish or was it Gremlin noise?"

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Embrace the Freedom, Escape your Cell

Recently I've experienced the following from my tribe:

• I don't know what to do
• Please show me the way
• I need specific instructions
• Where am I going?

These all seem to be Spirits in transition; Spirits that are used to following someone else's agenda; Spirits that have been given the freedom they thirst for; and then Spirits that pull back from the Freedom they so desperately crave.

We're all Used To following old patterns: Used To having life served up on a platter while we sit in our own self-created cell; Used To living life the way we always have and can finally see a different way of living but are scared to embrace it.

We want the comfort of our old ways, the familiarity of our old addictions, the ease of our old patterns. In Geneen Roth's new book "Lost And Found: Unexpected Revelations About Food and Money" Geneen ponders "Why can't people have control over their addictions" while she is on her own compulsive frenzy.

It's hard to see that we're falling back into our self-created cells of past behaviors and addictions. Not just physical addictions but emotional ones as well.

I know for me I am much more comfortable living out my old patterns than pushing through to new ways of living. Embracing freedom means embracing the unknown, embracing the chance to do something on your own terms without the structure of personal or societal walls. OMG just those sentences alone are difficult to really swallow.

But a new life; a new way of thinking; a new freedom; is waiting for you just around the corner; if you can let go. Letting go means letting go of outcome; letting go of how things are "supposed to be"; letting go of preconceived notions.  What if you could? What if you could force yourself to? What would you do if you couldn't fall back into the safety of your old patterns, into the comfort of your old cell?  What if your old life was stolen from you and you were forced to create a new life?

So here's the question:

"What do you do every day that keeps you locked in your own self-described box?"
"What would it take for you to recognize the boundaries of your own box?"
"What one thing could you do to bring your personal cell walls into focus?"

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Print the Legend

Have you ever thought something was true: Believed it in your gut: Acted on what appeared to be obvious? Just to find out a short time later that you were completely wrong?

What you thought was real just ended up being your perception.  And in most cases, perception IS reality. People are biologically wired to believe ... period.  We're wired to want to accept what supports our current belief system. If we perceive that something is true and it agrees with the way we currently see the world, we will swallow that perception hook, line and sinker.  There is an interesting book entitled "Why We Believe What We Believe" that talks about this from a biological perspective.

There is a line in the movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" where the reporter says "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" that sums up our internal need for perception congruence (accepting your perceptions when they align with your beliefs, whether they are true or not).  If you believe something so strongly (the legend) make it a fact in your mind (print it).

I know I've been in conversations, had arguments, and made statements with little or no evidence but feeling completely confident in my point of view, only later to realize that My Perception had become My Reality, even though there was nothing true about it.  Have you seen people use the "perception is reality" illusion to achieve their own goals (ie. let someone else perceive something is real to move an agenda forward)?

So here is my question: "When was the last time you knew, really knew, deep down in your gut that "??? did something", or "??? is definitely this way", or "??? is the right answer", but you couldn't cite your sources?  When your opinion was more an emotional need than supported by reality.  In the heat of battle can you stop yourself, just once, this week, month, year and ask yourself to "cite your own sources"?  Can you take a moment and make sure that Perception is not Reality, but Reality is Reality?  It's tough because we'd usually rather feel right than be right.  And that's a pretty lie.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

I didn't have a choice

Have you ever heard that?  "I didn't have a choice", or "I had to do ...", or "It wasn't up to me"

It's interesting that we say these things but rarely are they true.  In fact the vast majority of the time not only do we have choice, but we are the only ones who have the choice.  It is exceedingly rare that someone else forces us to do something.  Even in the context of life-and-death decisions we have the choice (it's an interesting concept put forth by James Carse in his book "Finite and Infinite Games" that we can choose not to play the game, and in life-and-death decisions that choice may be not to live, but it's still a choice).

In fact we are little decision-making machines.  We make choices every moment of every day.  We choose what to focus on, what things mean in our lives, how to react to things.  Just think about the choices you are making in reading this.  You can read it on a mobile device, your computer, print it out, you can choose to read this entry or something else, you can choose to stop here or read to the end.  We always have choice, which means we are always empowered.

So that is the problem I have with the "I didn't have a choice" statement.  When we say that we are disempowering ourselves.  We are saying that things are out of control and out of our hands and it's not our fault.  Ah, there it is.  The truth behind the statement.  If I say "I didn't have a choice" then I don't have to take responsibility for what is happening to me, around me, because of me.

So here's the question: "what choices are you making today, right now in fact, that you think you're not choosing but in fact are completely up to you?"  Go ahead, look around, we'll wait.  Is it a work choice ("I have to do this project right now" ... not true by the way, you can talk to your boss to get reassigned, do the project later, delegate pieces of the project ...), a food choice, a physical choice (working out or not), a personal choice (doing something you've always wanted to do)?

I guess lately I've been thinking that I have so many things to do that are not my choice.  But I realized last night that statement is not where I want to be.  So I started looking at why I was choosing what I chose.  And then decided to do something different.  And OMG what a difference that makes.

It's all up to you.  All you have to do is decide.

So make a choice, see what happens, and let us know ... we're waiting

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Go ahead do something, I dare you

Lately I've been confronted by a whole group of people who think that inaction, mediocrity, and just getting by, are the best things we can aspire to.  And that confrontation is expressed in their language and so in their thoughts. Language shapes the way we think and determines what we think about (quote by Benjamin Lee Whorf). So why are so many people so afraid to do anything outstanding?

Look at that word, outstanding ... to stand out.  Have we become so afraid of failing, of what others think about us, that we're afraid to risk, to try something new, to take an action, annihilate mediocrity, and be amazing? If the masses have become this way then the few who are willing to stand out and be outstanding will truly make an astonishing difference.

In fact not only do we revere those who lead and stand out and risk (athletes, leaders, dreamers) but we need them.  We need them to help inspire everyone else to step up stand out and make a difference even if only in the smallest of ways.

I have a philosophy of being more amazing tomorrow than you are today.  In fact I use the word amazing 28 times (so far) in this blog (click here to see all of my amazing comments).  Some people laugh at that philosophy, chuckle and tell me how I can't.  Tell me how it's silly.  Those are the people who I end up leaving in the dust.

So here's my question: "What can you do today to be outstanding in some area of your life?"  Just a small area, a small step.  Think about it.  Don't just read this and not do anything.  Do something amazing.

If we don't focus on being outstanding then the pull of mediocrity will drag us back to the norm, to the standard, to the middle, to our old way of thinking, to listening to our old internal gremlins and internal retards and internal critics who all want us to "just fit in."  I'm challenging you to NOT fit in, to be outstanding, to make a difference in your own life.

So go ahead, do something, stand out from the crowd, be amazing, be outstanding, I dare you ... we're waiting.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

The Noise In My Head

I have a new favorite band and song: Florence + The Machine - Drumming Song.  Play the video and listen to this song while you read this blog.

It's a very powerful song that poured itself directly into my consciousness tonight.  A song that filled me with the thought of the noise in my head.  The idea that my head is filled with a drumming, a desire to do something amazing, a noise that refuses to be silent until I am living this passion.

The movie Inception spoke about an idea (quotes are here). An idea that will possess you. An idea that will come to change everything. An idea that like a virus is resilient, highly contagious, and with the smallest seed can grow to define you.  Seth Godin talks about this in his book "Unleashing the Ideavirus". And this is the affliction I have come to be addicted to.  So now, I do not have a choice but to materialize this. As James Cameron said in his TED talk, I am now forced to use my imagination as a force that can actually manifest a reality.

So here's the question: "Do you have a transformational hunger that won't let you rest until you bend the world to satiate it?"  If you don't, go find one.  Go out into the world and find an idea that will define you, that will change everything, that will force you into a metamorphosis.  As Socrates said at his trial for heresy "The unexamined life is not worth living."  So examine yourself, examine your life, and find a transformational hunger and satiate it.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

I Want It Sooooo Bad

Have you ever wanted something soooo bad?  I mean truly wanted something?  Wanted it so bad that you're willing to change the world to get it? Willing to risk the status quo; willing to go out of your comfort zone; willing to do whatever it takes (and I mean really willing)?

I've been hit by this concept again and again lately.  I spoke of it in my desire blog, but I was just given a jolt of desire electricity the other day by a friend. He's become a cyclist; and has gotten good at it.  And I was told that "he would move Heaven and Earth" to make his rides.

That struck me ... hard ... like a hammer blow.  He's willing to move Heaven and Earth to get what he wants ... and it's worked ... he's become what he wanted to become.

So I've got a couple of things that I really want to come into reality lately.  Just thoughts, dreams, hopes, desires right now, but I can feel myself being drawn to them. As James Cameron says in his Ted Talk "imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality."  But you can only manifest a reality if you truly want your dream: If you are willing to move Heaven and Earth.  And people who do amazing things, do move Heaven and Earth.

I wrote on my Facebook page the other day that "I'm in the mood to make some noise and do something amazing" and it is these wants that I'm talking about.




In his book "How to Get What You Really, Really, Really, Really Want," Dr. Wayne Dyer talks about how to manifest what you want.  Of course the first part is wanting it bad enough to make a change and make it happen.

When I talk about moving Heaven and Earth, I mean what belief(s) (Heaven) will you have to question, challenge, give up to make it happen: And what core behavior(s) (Earth) will you need to question, change, let go of, to get what you really, really, really want?

So here's the question: "What do you really, really, really, really want?"  "What would you move Heaven and Earth to have?"  What would you have to let go of in your head and in your heart to get it?  Maybe that cost is too high?  Maybe you've just been kidding yourself and you'd only like it, and don't want it.  Maybe you're not willing to play in the sandbox that has your dream in it.

Then again ... maybe you are willing to challenge the status quo ... your status quo ... and move Heaven and Earth to have What You Really, Really, Really, Really Want.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale

Go ahead ... be reckless

I'm going through songs I haven't heard on my iPod and I came across Alicia Keys' song "Wreckless Love".  Great sexy song about being reckless .... and that got me thinking ...

When was the last time you were reckless? The dictionary defines reckless as "heedless or careless" and the opposite as "careful" or "timid".  And when was the last time that anything spectacular, amazing, life changing, memorable, truly unique came out of being careful or timid?  Seth Godin had a blog entry entitled "Low esteem and the factory" that basically says if you want to do anything amazing, you need to have people who haven't "been brainwashed into believing that they're not capable", basically finding people who are not careful and timid but at times are willing to be a bit reckless.

Now I'm not suggesting betting the farm or risking everything on an untried, untested idea.  You need to be reckless in a way that won't have massive consequences if you're wrong ... because you're reckless idea ... reckless thought ... reckless path probably won't be that amazing win you think it will be.  But then again, there's a chance it will be.  And in fact if you're careful or timid, I can guarantee that things will be ... boring, repetitive, un-amazing.

So here's my question: "How can you be more reckless?"  What can you do today, tomorrow, soon, to take a risk, do something you would never consider doing, be just a bit more reckless than you usually are.

Tomorrow, I want you to do something reckless; something outside your comfort zone; something that you'd never consider doing; something that is not careful and timid, and see where you end up.  Do this once a week and see what happens.  Ask that reckless question, eat that reckless food, go to that reckless place, meet that reckless playmate.  And maybe you'll taste something truly spectacular if only for a moment.  After all those breathless moments (see my Swept Away post) are what life's all about.

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale