I have been doing retreats for several years, and no two retreats are the same, because the people in the retreats are different people who all want different things.

We look at things in your life that hold you back, like your risk meter, and what kind of crossroads you find yourself in. We ask what decisions do you want to make to change and explore your future?

People say, “I want to do this, but I can’t because of that.”

People get out of life about as much as they are willing to put in. If you think you do or don’t deserve something, what does that mean? It means that you are not convinced that you deserve the life that you want.

What are the values that you hold dear and are not willing to let go of, and why do you do or not do certain things?

People come to my retreats to get better at life and to explore new and different things that they could be doing, for personal and business reasons.

A decade ago, at the end of the retreats I used to have people break boards- you know, like in karate. The purpose of that was to share with them that they could do something that they thought they couldn’t. We don’t do that any more, but many of the people who did it had a breakthrough in their lives. They did something they thought that they couldn’t. They discovered instead that they could.

That is just an example of what you can do in your life if you think differently.

The most important thing about leaving a retreat is that you believe that there is more to life than what you think you have now: That your opportunity is only limited by you.

This is not a positive mental attitude thing; you can have a positive mental attitude and still not make effective and lasting change. It is about going outside of your comfort zone, pushing forward to make changes that you would like to make. It is about living a life that is fulfilling to you, and discovering values that make a difference in how you will live.

It is about telling yourself that you can. And being willing to change your mind to take risk in your life. I was leafing through a book by Dottie Watters that I read some time ago, and I was struck by what she says: start slow and build up steam in a speaking career. I don’t think successful people do that; they are either in or out. Just sticking your toe in the water, or plunging in. It has been my experience the most successful people are either in or out. They take a leap of faith or not. I am not talking about religious, or other kinds of faith, but rather the faith you have in yourself.

If you don’t have faith in yourself, who does?

I have found that a lot of people talk a good game, but when it comes time to put it on all red or black, they just want to use one chip, and maybe the rest later. So they lose one chip at a time and never give themselves the chance to be what they really want to be.

Is this a little harsh? Yes, but what is life all about for you? The slow Chinese water torture, or getting something done that creates adventure and the excitement of life.

We look to see what kind of courage you have for your life to be meaningful for you. Is this for everyone? No. Is it safe? No. Is it going to be easy for you to change years of hardwiring in your makeup? No. This takes real work and constant effort.

Friedrich Nietzsche, that wild man of philosophy, thought the human race should be destined to become great through the Overman. That means some of us don’t deserve to advance in life.

What kind of thought is that?

Do you think you are on Earth just to get by? Are you here to simply exist and be? Or are you afraid of losing your job, and then what do you do? Are you so afraid of life that at some point you will give up and just exist, feeling that you can’t do more with life than just live it?

I believe that you are put on this earth to do and be something great. Life is an adventure for you to live. We have the opportunity to discover truths for ourselves as to what is good for us. We have the opportunity to develop ourselves over our life to discover potentials for our life, and the ability to gain education for growth of knowledge, skills and competence over our minds and bodies.

Our philosophy is about why and how we live. And our success is unlimited in accomplishing things that give us self-esteem and happiness.

Our lives are a powerful energy that we can control, yet how many of us do control the energy that we have for living life? Does someone or something control your life?

What do we do at retreats is shake the very foundation upon which you live your life, and say, “OK, what is next for you?”

As a baby boomer my goal is not to retire, not to sit around and let life happen to me. I need to explore and discover, to create and build the life that I have been given. Anything less is not living life to the fullest potential, and that would be a waste.

What about you? Are you ready to explore with me? How about your future and how you can make it happen for you?

What do you have to lose, whether you spend time with me or someone else? Wouldn’t it be good to explore what you want and can do with this most precious thing called your life for now and the future?

In today’s world, it seems that quite a few people are looking for something that will make their lives complete. Perhaps at no time in the world have so many decided that the unexamined life, as Socrates mentioned, is so important as it is today.

We want fulfilling careers and home lives; we want good relationships with everyone around us that we care for. We want our heads and bodies in the game of life.

We want to overcome any blocks that we have in life, and achieve more. We want personal development and growth in our lives. We don’t want to go home and feel like we have not accomplished anything worthwhile.

And we are spending a lot of time and money doing it. I pulled up over 7,800,000 “life coaches” on the Internet! Wow! And all seem to charge at least $500.00 a month or more for 4 weekly telephone calls a month that last 30 minutes or so. Some of the coaches charge thousands of dollars a month. Wow again.

When I say that there has never been a time like this when we want more out of our lives, I don’t think I am kidding. And this is great! Maybe as a society and world we are changing for the better inwardly, and we know we want more from life.

Perhaps there has been a revolution in how we want to live our lives. And this is good.

Perhaps with inner peace we can find outer peace and create more harmony in the world.

I know this is a far flung idea, with suicide bombers, war, and despots all roaming the globe, but it gives me hope that people want to be productive and useful, and not the other way around.

I think people are searching for peace in themselves, and by searching for peace in themselves, they seek peace for others around the world.

I read an invocation to a large crowd this week from the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tse that goes like this:

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

If we start with ourselves and work our way up there is the possibility of peace in the world, and everyone could be a life coach.

Do you have the authority? The authority to do what? What is authority and customer satisfaction?

From the most new person, who is holding their first job in your organization, to the most senior executive in your organization, do they have the authority to fix the customer’s complaint and move the customer back to enjoying the product or service again?

You would think that the most senior executive would have the authority to fix something at any moment without delay, but this can put an executive on the spot.

What if they make a wrong decision that costs the company a lot of money and loses shareholder value- do they get fired?

How about the new recruit, what if they make a mistake and get fired.

These are extreme examples of course, and don't happen very often. But they do happen, and we have to prepare ourselves, not only for our own cause and career, but also the company’s. What is the culture and what are people likely to do?

One of the most famous examples is Tylenol. In the fall of 1982 on Chicago’s west side seven people died and authorities had determined that all seven had ingested an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule.

Panic is not the word, for two firemen discovered the why people were dying: from cyanide laced in the Tylenol capsules.

The cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules were found to contain 65 milligrams of cyanide, 10,000 times more poison than necessary to kill someone, according to doctors at Northwest Community Hospital in the area of the Chicago poisonings.

The tampering could not have taken place at the factory, investigators would later find, but happened in the Chicago area after the product had been delivered to stores.

So what do you do? Tylenol had almost 31 million bottles on the shelves in America, with a retail value of over 100 million dollars in 1982 dollars. This didn't include the millions of bottles already in consumers' homes. This could be a deathblow for Johnson and Johnson.

Most companies up to now would try to distance themselves from any wrongdoing. For example, the Perrier company at the time learned that benzene was found in some of their bottles. It was called just a local problem, and they did not hold themselves to be accountable. Later benzene was found in bottles around the world.

Johnson and Johnson could have said, we didn’t do anything wrong. It is only in Chicago, everyone else keep those pills popping.

They recalled all of the Tylenol in stores, and people could send back their bottles for tablets, a move that would cost millions more. Johnson and Johnson did not make their quarterly earnings, to say the least.

What would you have done? What are you doing now to ensure the right thing would be done?

One thing that the executives of Johnson and Johnson pointed out was that the company leader Robert Wood Johnson wrote a credo in the 40’s that explained how the company should act, and executives used this credo to make their decisions.

All you have to believe is in yourself. How many of us don't from time to time? I know that even as Mr. Positive I have my moments. And when one of those moments comes along I share with myself that I am good, and consciously think about how I want to live my life now, and that today will be a day for something great, not something else.

So when that moment of doubt and self-concern dips into your mind, replace it with the positive and what you are going to do today to make it different.

Thanks,

Step

PS: Check out the recent Weekly Challenges as an introduction or to recharge your batteries.

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