I guess this is so significant to me right now simply because I feel like for the first time in my life it’s still midnight, and dawn is quite a ways off, but I feel myself making decisions, moving in directions and pressing forward as if it was as bright as mid day.  It’s really amazing to be quite honest.  I know so many people in such dark places, and I too have recently been in that dark place, but all I have been pushing for and all I have been desirous of is simply the desire to look for the clarity.  It’s not so much that I”m after added strength or help to look for clarity as much as it is the desire to look for clarity.

I believe the majority of us are accustomed to looking for negative, and looking for the bad things in life.  I know I was and at times still am.  It was always that thought “if I could only catch a break” or “why cant life just be easy”.  Some people have a really crappy life, some people have terrible things happen to them but at the end of the day every single one of us must pass through a “dark night” and the question I ask both rhetorically to anyone reading this and also to myself is this.  Are we pushing through the darkness to speed up the dawn, or are we looking and staring right back into the middle of the night?

I dont want to pull a Dr. Phil here because I sure as hell don’t want to pretend to have my head screwed on completely straight.  However, what I do have and can share is a plethora, possibly even an abundance of experience!  No self help book in the world can prepare your heart for the pain of loosing something you love.  No shrink on the planet can get you to sleep well at night when the stress seems to literally suffocate you.  For only a small fee of $29.95 I will let you in on a little secret… I have found something that works!  No I’m not taking horse tranquilizers, or some crazy medication that puts you into a mild coma.  I’m learning how to be in the moment right now this very second, and how to literally clear my mind to everything except what I want in it.  I am talking about meditation.  Good hell, I sound like some crazy hippie doctor right now!  Look, I have major ADHD, I cant sit still or focus for very long.  If there is someone on the plant that should NOT be able to sit in the same exact position for 45 minutes, with a calm and peaceful mind its THIS GUY! Under most circumstances me sitting for that long and having to listen to something or someone results in me wanting to throw something or someone out a window.  On top of that, I’m a guy who loves to do things that could ultimately have a high degree of personal injury like MMA fighting, driving cars really, really fast, or playing with matches!

In all seriousness, I have never in my entire life found something that is so relaxing, so therapeutic and calming than sitting down and centering my mind on the exact moment I’m in.  If you have never meditated it’s sort of like this.  Think back and remember the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen in your entire life, that feeling you had of not wanting to leave and having your mind think not about the rental car, the babysitter, or the soccer practice, but just about that exact moment of beauty.  If you can remember that sunset and that calm feeling you got, imagine feeling that way for 30, or 60 or 90 minutes non stop.  Thats meditation.

I have ZERO connection to any meditation facility or group.  I don’t own a herb shop and I certainly don’t own any Birkenstocks!  I’m a city kid at heart moving a million miles an hour trying to run a business, play some golf, travel the world, and make gingerbread houses with my munchkins.  I promise every single one of you laughing and saying there is no way in hell Whalen is serious about this will find a renewed energy if they give this a shot.  Take 15 minutes today or tomorrow and give this a try.  There are simple instructions, and audio guides online that can help you.  Here is one I like that has multiple instructions.  http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-meditation.htm.

YOU WILL NOT REGRET TRYING THIS (if you try it for real).  Let me know what you think!    Cheers….

The book of life we are all writing should be titled something like the title of this post. The thing we should first establish is which of thee two we are.  Sure I know, everyone is awesome, everyone is a Warrior, everyone is the bomb.com. (Kate 2.0 said that and I cant get it out of my head!! It’s so high school..) The truth is not evryone is all of these cool things.  Some people are negative.  Some people lack vision. (most people actually) Some people even love and feed off of tearing you down as a person.  It’s sad that people are so foolish and misguided, but its the truth.

Might I suggest you use these questions to guide you through this self discovery process, and in answering the question: Are you a Warrior, or are you a Wimp?
-Have you ever started a project that failed, and you came back and tried again?
-Have you ever looked up a mountain knowing you have never climbed a mountain, yet you tried it anyways?
-Have you ever had someone tell you an idea was crazy and would not work but you gave it a shot regardless?
-Have you ever played a sport that could jeopardize your health simply for the love of the game?
-Have you ever become so passionate about something that it consumes you for a moment?
-Have you ever cried after loosing?
-Have you ever watched an athlete and you could see they loved what they were doing just by the look of intensity on their face?

If you answered YES to any or all of these questions you are a WARRIOR.

-Have you ever told someone their idea was stupid?
-Have you ever thought of a really great idea that you believe in with all your energy but never done anything with it because you are afraid to fail?
-Do you act and do things because off what others think of you, or say to you?
-Have you spoken ill of someone behind their back, and when you see that person you act like their friend?
-Have you ever been passionate about something, but when struggles arise you throw in the towel and say it was a foolish idea from the beginning?
-Do you laugh when seeing someone fail or struggle?
-Have you, or do you try to sabotage others in order for you to succeed?
-(Most Important Question!) Do you lie?

If you answered YES to any or all of these questions you are a WIMP.

This of course is the gospel according to yours truly, and I can not make you better as a person nor can I solve the wolds problems, but remember something when you read this.  Like it or not these questions have validity and these questions are ones that can quickly and clearly define who you are as a person.  Some will read this and say what the hell do you know pal? Some will read this and comment that I’m an idiot, an angel, even the most handsome man alive.  Deep down though every single person reading this will have to answer these questions on their own, when no one is looking at us or around us, and that is the point of truth we all must face.  Its late at night when you cant sleep and you are staring at the ceiling that these questions will hit you.  It’s typically through experiences involving one of these questions that we can determine a lot about a person.  Its at that moment when you decide to be a WARRIOR or a WIMP.

Talk is cheap.  Action is power.
Gossip is easy.  Honesty is liberating.
Average is the majority.  Vision is the future.

Warriors are everywhere, and being around them is exhilarating, liberating, motivating and inspiring.

Recent weeks and months have been interesting to watch what people have been posting on the Utah Warriors Facebook page and across the internet on the various magazine and news paper articles.  Talk of failure, talk of loosing, talk of all these things that should and could otherwise create a thought process that the Utah Warriors are in fact NOT a success simply because the team dropped a few games.

Over the last 2-3 years this thought and idea seems to be more and more evident around me.  People throw in the towel by looking at the setback as a destructive force which as ruined all hope of obtaining success in their total plan, or end goal.  This is really strange to me because I dont know if I have ever set a goal for a project, business, life achievement or anything for that matter and had reached that end goal exactly as I planned it without having to overcome an obstacle, take a detour, completely find another route or most of all adapt or change the plan completely.  What I have always found in almost ever single “setback/ obstacle” is knowledge that I did not have before, and a new insight how to make changes to my plan in order for it to be a more realistic and greater success.  What seems to be the norm with people around me is they jump on this bandwagon of pity and misery thinking everything is screwed up and lost, or that there is no chance to now accomplish the goal.

The most FRUSTRATING and most TERRIABLE thing people do is look at the whole project or goal as a whole as a failure.  ”There is no way after this we can get there now”.  ”There is no way we can beat this team without our main guy”.   My personal favorite is the guy who jumps up and yells “SEE!!!!  I told you that was a stupid idea! I told you he was an idiot!”  NOTHING in this life comes without some sort of test. Nothing!  Just ask all those broke ass people who won tens of millions of dollars in the lottery.

Without completely totaling a car, a car company can never find out where it’s weak spots are.  Without ever stepping into the ring, you can never fully know the feeling.  Without loosing a game you thought you would win, you  will never gain true respect for every opponent.

Next time you have your eye on the prize and something goes wrong, do these 3 things.

1. Get away from anyone with an opinion.  If you are like me, every person you know has one.  Opinions are cheap and easy to get. If your goal or plan has any real value, you dont want cheap, you want meaningful and valuable. It’s your goal, plan or idea.  You came up with it, you find a way.

2. Look at what the end goal/ project is, and work backwards.  Ask yourself, how can this setback make the next portion of the process easier and how can this trial make the final product or goal better?

3. Find a way.   CREATE A WAY.  You can not know if something does not work, unless you try to see if it does work.  You can not know if the team is ready and prepared until you match them up against someone else.  The ONLY way to find out if your goal or plan is worthy of pursuit is be creating avenues and ideas that get around, over, under or straight thru the middle of the problem.

Thomas Edison said “I have not failed once, I have found ten thousand ways that did not work”.

I know many ways that “things” don’t work.  The Utah Warriors have 3 games showing them how they dont want to play rugby.  We all should know many ways how NOT to do something.  The question is can you look at failure, setback or trial and make it a meaningful part of your success?

Cool new thing #1. Meditation.  Laugh all you want, but unless you have tried it, and I mean really given it a shot you have not clue how cool meditation is. I’m this crazy ADHD, ADD, and any other acronym you can think of for hyperactive, my brain and thoughts NEVER slowing down kind of guy.  Me sitting down for more than 5 minutes is a bloody miracle, but my old assistant (thanks Kate!) got me into it. In fact Kate’s mom walked me through a 20 minute meditation session that was unreal, and got me so hooked. Sitting still for an extended period of time seems a bit stupid, but I swear to you if you man up, check the ego at the door, and get rid of the pretense that you sit there and hum for an hour you will freak out at how amazing it is, and how GREAT YOU FEEL! I’m going to work to meditate every morning for 30 minutes, so if you see me ask me how it was!

Cool new thing #2. I’m going vegan.  I am actually laughing out loud right now after writing that! It just came to my mind and I thought it was funny, but there is not a snowballs chance that I’m giving up my steak!  However I am going to eat better.  I have eaten well in the past for fight training etc, and I always go back to eating like crap but I cant help thinking how good I felt when I was eating fish, veggies, chicken etc.  My diet now consists of Reeces Pieces, Java Chip ice cream, and anything else that has saturated fat, high fructose corn syrup or SUGAR! I’m cutting back, so GET THEE HENSE BAD FOOD!

Cool new thing #3. One book a month.  I love to read and I have put reading on the back burner.  With Facebook and… ummm… ok with just Facebook I have lost desire for reading. That damn site has me looking up things I really dont care about, dont need to know, and frankly are a waste of 20 minutes a few times a day.  Sure it’s fun.  Yes I’m mildly addicted, but the reality is I can post what I ate for breakfast in about 5 seconds then wait until the next bathroom break before I “check in” on what’s happening in the world.  I really love education and I’m excited to dive in and start reading again. In fact I’m starting with ‘Switch” by Dan & Chip Heath.  One special note on this book is the that my youngest son threw the book in the bathtub. Yes the actual book, and yes while I was in the tub.  So it’s a bid warped and wrinkled, but after a month or so it’s dried out. Yea, it was brand new when I got it.

Ok, enough new things for now.  If you see me ask me how the “new things” are going.  If I look totally stoned when you ask me that means I probably have fallen off the ‘new me project’ wagon. If that is the case you are free to kick me in the you know what and remind me to DOMINATE!

Shortest blog post ever from Sean Whalen.

His comment has seriously stuck with me (yes, I can remember things for more than 4.2 seconds).  He probably does not know that it has, but I’m finding that when I speak I’m often asking myself  ”AM I BUILDING, OR AM I DESTROYING and TEARING DOWN?”  I struggle with this because my philosophy is different in many ways from what most people understand.  READY. SHOOT. AIM. seems to be the way of life for me and to be quite honest I’ve tried so many ways to change this but I think it’s in my DNA so instead of fighting it and claiming it as weakness, I’m trying to bridle it and use READY. SHOOT. AIM. as a strength.  The down side is I realize sometimes I dont see until after the fact that I’m tearing down vs. building.  Regardless of my personality, I am in control of my actions and thoughts, no one else is.  (of course when we talk politics this all goes right out the window!)

I’ll leave you with this.  I’m a huge fan of quotes.  Not because I want to live vicariously through what others think or say, but because it stirs thought internally for me and adjusts my paradigm.  Every day of my life I’m wanting to be building, and wanting to see people grow.  Honestly, isn’t that when we feel the happiest?  Seeing my children learn and develop, seeing employees and co-workers find strength and find success makes me fiercely proud and excited and I want to build on that every day.  The flip side of the coin is just as real and just as powerful.  Those that intend to tear down, and make it their mission to do so will not stop the pursuit until they bring you in to the lonely and bitter room they are in.  The question is can you turn that “noise” off and continue to move forward building regardless of the circumstance?  I’m working on it…

“Rumor travels faster, but it don’t stay put as long as truth.”   -Will Rogers

“Never tell evil of a man, if you do not know it for certainty, and if you know it for a certainty, then ask yourself, ‘Why should I tell it?’   -Johann K. Lavater

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”   -Oscar Wilde

“Don’t stress the people from your past. There’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.”

Here is why I bring this up.  I wont knock the people on the commission because some have actually spent real time in the market building business, but when my wondering aimlessly Federal Government says HEY! we want to know why the market crashed, here is a bunch of tax payer money have a blast, that makes me mad as hell!  Think about that, our congress just says lets figure some things out, here is tons of cash now go do it, that is the same as telling a 4 year old, here is $100 go buy some candy, I want to see if it rots your teeth.  I didnt go to dental school, but I will take a stab at the answer right here for free… I bet it will!

How long did that take?  How much money did that cost?  America has turned into a SPENDING MACHINE and my question is this.  WHO IS GOING TO STOP IT, AND GIVE THE POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE?

At this point I’m so fed up with things, I have lost respect and admiration for a majority of what Washington is.  Not the mantle of President, not the fact that we have superior military, not for the men and women who work to give me more voice, but for the PARTISAN way Washington handles business.  I’m not proposing we all become hippies, smoke some joints and hold hands, what I’m proposing is what Washington, Madison, Paine, Jefferson, Franklin and the rest of the FOUNDING FATHERS in particular the God fearing, freedom loving PATRICK HENRY said:

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.

Have we forgotten this?

Have we forgotten that GOVERNMENT WORKS FOR and REPRESENTS US, and NOT AGAINST US representing themselves!!??

Have we forgotten WE elect leaders, and when leaders dont represent us, WE as free Americans can remove them from office??

REMEMBER what THOMAS JEFFERSON SAID:

God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty…. And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

I quit counting this morning at 521 “NEW COMMISSIONS” that have been set up by our government over the last few years.

THERE ARE 21,292,000 PEOPLE EMPLOYED BY OUR GOVERNMENT AS OF 2010.

That is about 1 government employee for ever 12 Americans.

ANYONE ELSE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

Yesterday I predicted that Mitt Romney would be the next President.  This next statement is not only what I could hope and pray for, but I think if I stare at it long enough the crystal ball is going to tell me that THIS IS OUR NEXT VICE PRESIDENT.

If the magic crystal ball wont tell me it’s true I’m going to break the damn thing and say it did so you will never really know, because this guy and Mitt in 2012 is A VERY SEXY PROPOSITION!

I’ll do my best not to drop this stolen crystal ball, and at some point in time I might give it back to her because stealing is not right. Plus when you have all the answers,  there is no real point in needing or having a crystal ball.  I thought by swiping it I could have a little more legitimacy in telling the future, but people look at it funny when they come into my office so I might as well just stick to what works, running my mouth. Just make sure you know that even though I might sound completely baseless at times, and sometimes a little direct/ blunt/ or offensive, at a minimum 10% of the time I’m positive I’m right 99% of the time.  The other times I’m sure I can find validation some place on the web for all my talk.   Those are GREAT odds.

Here is a little insight into the future from my freshly stolen borrowed crystal ball:

• Mitt Romney will be president in 2012. (No Mormon in DC you say? If an african American who couldn’t successfully lead a pee-wee football team can win, a brilliant Mormon business man is a no brainer). All Obama supporters and voters please put on your DUNCE cap and go sit in time out.
• More Foreclosures in 2011 than we had in 2010.  :)
• www.Proeprty23.com will be the #1 searched web site on the world wide web.  Thanks Al Gore!
• Obama will cement his place in the history books as the the President with the best jump shot, and the worst President with the LEAST DONE to help the country, or help anything for that matter.
• The word Bipartisan will be taken out of the dictionary in 2011 and the Berlin Wall will be rebuilt down the isle in Congress & Senate.
• More banks will fail in 2011, than 2009 or 2010.
• If the Government would quit giving FREE MONEY, people would get a job.  (How’s that for a stimulus/ job creation plan!)
• I will workout every day, and have abs of steel.

There is much, much more I see in this crystal ball, but I’m being told and feeling through my tarot card reading to hang back on releasing some of these future happenings, so if you want to know more or want to know if you will be rich or win the lotto, mail $39 to the address on your screen.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program…

Maybe I should just call the Democrat Representative Steve Cohen who today referred to Republicans as “Nazi’s” for repealing the ill thought out, mis-guided and absurd HEALTHCARE PLAN our commander in chief has been pushing so hard.  There are two things here that need attention so READ ON or else some republican Nazi might show up at your house..

FIRST.  Someone needs to put their arm around Steve Cohen and whisper politely in his ear that if he refers to the Republican party again as being similar to the Nazi party “propaganda” because we actually think things through and realize the HEALTHCARE BILL IS SUMB AS HELL, I’ll have to make a trip to his state of Tennessee and personally deliver a really sloppy wet willy with a side order of knuckle sandwich.  This guy is a MORON, and every single republican and democrat supporting the HEALTHCARE BILL is a MORON as well.  For those of you who dont know anything about the health care bill let me explain simply and quickly.  Imagine if you took every homeless person on the street, those people who were happy with their life and who wanted to be left alone, and you forced them to pay taxes and you forced them to accept welfare and if they DID NOT, you could literally charge them of a crime.  I know, sounds stupid huh?  Thats the healthcare bill in a nutshell.  So Mr. Steve Cohen, if I’m a Nazi because I dont want some garbage system like this, them I guess I better start working on growing a mustache.

SECOND. socialism definition: An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather thanby private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties ofsocialism. Some socialists tolerate capitalism, as long as the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy;others insist on an abolition of private enterprise.  HOLY S%@T THAT SCARES ME JUST READING IT!!!!!   But guess what?  That is EXACTLY where we are headed as a nation under the control, leadership, order, aw hell, under the whatever it is that you want to say Obama is doing in Washington.

Folks think about this. Here are two quick excerpts of the HEALTHCARE BILL outline:

INSURANCE MANDATE: (Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. Mandate takes effect in 2014.)   Guess who pays for those those low income people? Tax payers.  Guess what happens to those who dont pay, and get fined?  THEY GET THE EXACT SAME COVERAGE YOU DO FORCED ON THEM FROM THE GOVERNMENT, AND THEY DONT HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!!!!  What’s the government going to do? If you don’t pay throw you in JAIL?  Come on!  THIS BILL IS A JOKE!

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY: (As in the Senate bill, businesses are not required to offer coverage. Instead, employers are hit with a fee if the government subsidizes their workers’ coverage. The $2,000-per-employee fee would be assessed on the company’s entire work force)  Now go back and read the definition of SOCIALISM.  You think I’m some idiot Obama hating?  I’m not, I”m just SCARED AS HELL that every one of you BOZOS who fell in love with Obama and voted for him ,and say he walks on water and can do no wrong are literally being lead down a path that will ensure every single aspect of your life is CONTROLLED and GOVERNED by our federal goivernment.  If you dont like freedom to choose, if you dont like capitalism, than Obama is your guy.

I like my freedom.  I HATE the idea as a business owner I WILL BE FORCED to give everyone insurance, or BE FINED.  I HATE the idea that my tax dollars will go to paying for insurance for those who choose not to have any.  I HATE the fact that I will be lumped into a crappy system that doctors dont care about you as a patient any more, and it scares me to think that I will no longer be FREE TO CHOOSE for myself.

God help us all if we don’t get some people with balls to stand up and get Obama the hell out of Washington.