There’s a huge and powerful difference between positive thinking and taking positive action. My mentor and teacher pointed out the distinction with the following notion: some people will sit in their room, creating positive images and affirmations about wanting a new car. However, they never leave their room. If you sit in your room and create all those positive images about the new car, about the only way it can show up is to come crashing through the walls.
If you want the positive improvement, or in this case the new car, you may have to do a whole heck of a lot more than sit around and think positive thoughts about it showing up. As my mentor would say, you may have to get up off your duff and do something about it. You know, like get actively involved.
The self-empowerment game is one of those “get actively involved games.” However, while there are any number of things I might be able to do to improve my lot in life, many will require cooperation or support from others.
So, how do you generate the kind of cooperation or support that may be necessary to bring about meaningful change in your own set of circumstances?
Read the rest of the article in the Huffington Post and get empowered!
Read this article about the art of influence, featuring our own Jonny Imerman.
Today I met with Dr. Howard Kaufman, who 3 months ago moved from Columbia Presbyterian Cancer Center in NY and became the new Director of the Cancer Center at Rush U. Cancer Center – WHAT a GOOD GUY!!!! Dr. Kaufman is much younger than I imagined, and I was very impressed as he showed me blueprints of his vision of the cancer center. His vision is to make the cancer center much more cohesive – first by moving all the parts of the cancer center to the 10th floor.
I’m 33 years old and I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in my lung and liver almost 2 years ago (my liver had 14 tumors.) I’ve undergone numerous surgeries and different kinds of treatments and have currently received chemo (3 days in a row every 21 days) for the last 9 months. I was always an active person. After I was diagnosed I tried to continue running and lifting weights as much as possible. For quite a while I was able to keep doing it through the treatments, but than about a year ago I couldn’t continue. I normally weighed about 185-195lbs and within a few months I had gotten down to 153lbs and had trouble walking even 4 city blocks. Than right before I started chemo I got so tired of sitting around that I thought “I don’t care how bad of shape I’m in, how badly I feel or how hard it is, I’m going to get up everyday and lift weights or run!” It was very difficult at the beginning knowing how much I used to weigh, how strong I used to be and how far I used to run but I did it! Everyday I either lifted weights or ran! Now, after enduring 9 months of chemo and counting I’ve still continued doing it and I feel great! I eat extremely healthy, lift weights or run everyday, have almost zero side effects from the chemo and I’m not even taking any medication (even for nausea!) Best of all, I started doing the strength training workouts that I used to do in college with a couple of my friends that played football for Arizona State University and I’m now back up to 191lbs at approximately 8% bodyfat and my strength has gone through the roof! I’m still undergoing chemo AND still manage to workout everyday! Even on the 3 days that I actually get chemo, I leave my doctors office and go straight to the gym and run! I’m still fighting cancer but everyday I get a little stronger and I run a little farther. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m gonna beat this, its just a question of when!
I stay positive by simply going outside. Over the course of my life I have realized that if I can just convince myself to put down my work, life, tv, book or car and force myself to wander into the outdoors I will be completely present and the worries of everyday life seem to fade. I attribute so much of this to the fact that nature doesn’t care about my troubles, my work or my challenges. She treats me the same as everyone and everything else that comes along. There is something very rewarding about that. Because of this I have spent the better part of my life fishing, hiking, camping, kayaking, skiing, hunting or just simply sitting outside. When I’m there, I’m present and when I’m present, troubles are not.