Family Dynamics

by carmie0817, posted in Gratitude

Writing about family is somewhat unfamiliar territory for me, and it’s important to acknowledge that what I’m about to discuss doesn’t apply universally; there are numerous exceptions.

When it comes to our families or even discussing family matters, we find ourselves at our most vulnerable. Some people readily embrace the topic and share stories about their families, while others seek to change the subject as quickly as possible if family is brought up in conversation.

Within families, there are siblings who are best friends, practically inseparable, and parents whose relationships with their children are akin to cherished friendships. Conversely, there are those who have gone years, even decades, without speaking to one another.

In my experience, and for many people I know, we often find ourselves somewhere in the middle. This middle ground can be characterized by sentiments like “we’re family, not friends” or “we’ll do anything for each other but don’t communicate frequently between family events and holidays.”

Here’s my perspective on the matter: except for our intimate relationships, we are at our most vulnerable when it comes to our family. The pain we feel when we hurt or are hurt by a family member can be deeper than any other. Conversely, we often want to share our good news or achievements with our family before anyone else.

Families love one another unconditionally, but navigating familial love can be tricky because we are all individuals with our own beliefs and communication styles. Sometimes, we don’t recognize or understand how our family members are expressing their love for us, and we might feel misunderstood. It’s crucial to recognize that respect and love can be conveyed and defined differently by each family member.

I believe there are three key elements to fostering great, effective, and healthy relationships with family members:

  1. Set and Establish Boundaries: Clearly define what you’re willing to tolerate and what you stand for. Boundaries are vital not just in family relationships but in all aspects of life.
  2. Put Your Ego Aside: We often operate from our ego rather than our higher self. If you find yourself being overly sensitive, try to understand where others are coming from and put yourself in their shoes. Also, reevaluate whether your boundaries have been effectively established.
  3. Never Question Anyone’s Intent: Questioning a family member’s intent or telling them what their intent should be can strain or even destroy a relationship. Have you ever had someone question your intent?

I know this might not be the most optimistic perspective, but if we want to share our lives with our family, it’s essential to come from a place of love and contribution. Accept the differences and imperfections, and trade expectations for appreciation. Remember, these are the people who have your back, just as you have theirs. Family is your tribe.

I welcome feedback and any additional suggestions in the comments. Have a fantastic Saturday! Much love.

Valuing Others

by carmie0817, posted in Gratitude

I’ve been pondering a fundamental aspect of leading a life filled with fulfillment and meaning, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you all. In the hustle and bustle of our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to get caught up in our own world, especially in a bustling metropolitan environment like the one we live in. But amidst this urban chaos, there’s something truly transformative that we can all practice: valuing others when we’re in their presence.

Think about it – a simple gesture, such as making eye contact and letting someone know that we see them, can create ripples of positivity that extend far beyond that fleeting moment. Imagine the impact of acknowledging someone’s existence in a world where people often rush past each other without a second glance. We have the power to alter someone’s day for the better, just by showing a little consideration.

Admittedly, maintaining this sense of optimism in a bustling city can be challenging. Yet, it’s precisely in such environments that our actions can shine even brighter. Taking a moment to genuinely connect with another human being amidst the chaos can remind us of the inherent goodness that resides within us all. It’s these small acts that define our character and set us apart from the overwhelming rush of daily life.

And here’s the beautiful part: while we’re busy extending kindness to others, we’re also nurturing our own sense of self-worth. Every time we pause to value someone else, we’re reaffirming our capacity for empathy and compassion. This, in turn, fosters a sense of gratitude within us. It’s like a positive feedback loop – the more we give, the more we receive in terms of personal growth and emotional fulfillment.

So, let’s continue to prioritize these simple actions in our lives. Let’s make it a habit to make eye contact, smile, and acknowledge the existence of those around us. By doing so, we’re not only enriching their lives but also enriching our own. It’s a cycle of positivity that benefits everyone involved.

I’ve personally found that these small moments of connection have made a significant impact on my outlook on life. They’ve reminded me of the value of human connection and the immense power that we hold in shaping each other’s experiences.

Let’s all strive to cultivate meaningful connections, one gesture at a time. Together, we can create a ripple effect of positivity that transforms not just our lives, but the world we live in.

With gratitude and a renewed sense of purpose, Jamie Sierra

2023 Wimbledon: How Carlos was able to defeat the greatest player of all time

by carmie0817, posted in Gratitude

“This is probably going to be the best moment of my life.  Playing a final here in Wimbledon is something I dreamed about when I started playing tennis.”

Carlos before the final match.

***Amazing Accomplishment***

I know I am a little late on this. Tennis has a new champion in the men’s game. The men’s champions have been dominated by three men for almost 20 years now by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. 🎾🎾

I am not saying that Djokovic is done nor even Nadal. Novak is still the Michael Jordan and Tom Brady of men’s tennis. However, we now know the future or men’s tennis is in good hands. Of course, Alcaraz needs to remain healthy and hungry. In addition, he will need rivalries which is already developing. 🏆

Novak refuses to lose. No question, he is hungry for titles and can seem invincible at times. Novak is never going to lose a match. Someone needs to win and not be afraid to lose and of course have that incredible belief.

Carlos Alcaraz was the man to do it, at least last Sunday he was. How did he do it. Yes, he is an incredible talent with tremendous shotmaking ability.

Yet, Carlos won because he has:

1. The ability to learn from his mistakes on the fly

2. Naturally he has the belief system

3. Lastly and most importantly, he embraced the process and detached himself from the outcome of the match.

These are certainly principles we apply in our daily lives such as our health, fitness, relationships, emotional, spiritual as well as our vocation. 💜

Last Sunday’s win might not happen had Carlos lost the Roland Garros semifinals to Novak and cramped up. This is what I mean he learned his lesson so fast. Carlos mindset going into the Roland Garros match was being too nervous and focused on the result.

Carlos did the complete opposite last Sunday. As emphasized by his quote below, Carlos decided to enjoy the moment no matter what happens, stay present, and completely detach himself from winning or losing the match.

That joy was completely evidenced throughout the match. Even, Novak looked stunned at times. 😳

Congratulations Again Carlos!!!! 🎉🎉🎊🎊🙌🙌

Work From Home Ritual

by carmie0817, posted in Blogs


In this blog, what I really want to talk about is working from home, what my rituals are as far as working remotely, and some tips that I can definitely share with you as far as how you can be productive and how you can stay focused working from home.

I have actually have had a working-from-home environment for about five years now. I do have an office as well that I do go to on a regular basis. Of course with COVID-19 and as far as social distancing, many of us right now, practically all of us are right now, are not in our office. We are working remotely, and this is a brand new thing for us. I mean, some of us, even though it’s been about a month, it’s still a tough adjustment to have working from home and as far as going to an office. So I wanted to share with you guys is just a couple tips as far as what I have done to make myself productive and make sure that I stay focused and obviously that I have a complete and full work day working remotely in this particular area. If you guys are excited about hearing this, please give me a thumbs up. I’d greatly appreciate it.

1. Create a routine. What do I mean by that? You need to have a certain time where you’re working, because you are actually on the job and you have to act like you’re in the office. So create your own routine as far as working is concerned. What do I mean by that? Number one, don’t do laundry and work at the same time. Don’t try to iron your clothes and work at the same time. Don’t try to watch your favorite television program at 11:00 and try to work from home. It does not work that way at all.

One of the great benefits, of course, is when you do pick your routine, you actually can have a lot of flexibility as far as when to work, and that’s a great thing. Some of us are night owls, some of us probably would prefer to maybe take the morning off, maybe work from 12 noon to 8:00 PM at night, or even later, from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Either way, whatever works for you and what’s going to make you more productive? For me personally, I’m actually more of a morning person. I actually usually I get up at five and get my run in, which is what I’ve been doing instead of heading to the gym, and then and by 6:30 or 7:00, I’m on my laptop and I’m actually working. I’ll stay usually probably between 7:00 and 5:00, 5:30, that’s pretty much what I’ll do. Then after 5:30 I’ll have my time where I can relax and just chill out with Carmen or something along those lines. You definitely have to have a structure and a routine put in place.

2. Another way to be productive is get a designated workplace to work. I am right now sitting at sort of like an office in our house. It’s one of the bedrooms that we don’t use. We don’t have a bed in here. I have a desk, I have my laptop, I have my monitor set up in here. Also, I have a little couch, a little loveseat couch that I could just sit down. Sometimes I’ll sit on it if I’m taking a conference call and I don’t need to get on the computer. I’ll do that once in a while, but other than that, I don’t use that too much, too often. I am right here. I am not in my bed and I’m not on the couch. Those are places that I do not work at.

This place, as far as this designated area, I rarely ever spend time here when I’m actually at home. Usually when I’m at home, obviously I’m sleeping, I’m doing laundry down in the laundry room, or the kitchen, eating, or I’m in the family room watching television or doing stuff like that or entertaining. This area right here, this is my solitude and where I work and where I get my things done. It’s sort of like reporting to the office as far as I’m concerned. Yeah, so definitely like I said, definitely have a designated area.

One other thing I will say, if you don’t have the capacity to have a room like this, kitchen is not too bad. I sometimes will work off my kitchen table. I’m able to distinguish between eating there and being able to put my laptop there and get some work done there and sometimes I like to do that. One of the things I would highly encourage, if you’re a little bit compulsive like me and look over and you see dishes in the sink and you and it’s driving you nuts that they’re there or in the drainer or whatever, clean that up, get that done. Get that complete and cleaned up before you start your work day, so that’ll keep you more productive at least, sitting in the kitchen. Like I said, do not sit on the couch and do not sit in your bedroom. Those are the two places I highly recommend that you definitely don’t sit and do that.

3. Dress, is to dress appropriately. As far as me, I’m comfortable in a T-shirt, in a pair of jeans. I’m okay, I can still be productive. For me, as long as I’m in this gear or something more, then I’m fine. I certainly do not wear my pajamas to do my work. I don’t roll out of bed, just come rolling down here and try to get work done. Some people actually have to go as far as putting on a suit in order to work effectively at home, and that’s okay. It gives you that mindset that I’m here, I’m productive, when I’m productive, I’m wearing this. That’s okay and that’s not a bad routine. For me, I’m okay. I can deal with T-shirt and jeans and work, but if you’re one of those people that can’t, then I’d certainly recommend that you dress up normally. Take a shower in the morning or in the evening before and get going. Get dressed up and start your day doing that way. Whatever suits your style and everything like that.

4. Take breaks. What do I mean by that? Usually, after 25 minutes or so, your focus starts to wane. Somebody can stay really completely at a peak level, peak productive level, and it’s usually sustainable for 25 minutes. What I’d recommend, after every 25 minutes, if you can, if you have the capacity to do this, is take a quick five-minute break. That just means stand up, stretching, taking some deep diaphragm breathing, or just doing some mini squats, or whatever can get your body moving. Definitely take that quick break, take that quick five-minute break to yourself and try to stretch out a little bit. Maybe grab something quick to eat or something like that.

Then of course, you have your lunch and you have your maybe extended breaks too. Those are not bad to take as well, especially if you cannot get away after 25 minutes if you have to take a call for an hour or if you have to work something and you need a complete hour or two to focus on one thing, definitely take a longer extended break of course. Like said, take your lunch. Definitely eat food that is obviously going to be nourishing and that’s going to give you the energy to get you through the day, just like you would in a normal work circumstances like that.

Definitely, like I said, I hope things are going well for all of you guys as far as professionally is concerned, that you still are remaining productive, and that obviously personally, even more important, that your health is great and your family and friends are doing well during this complete difficult time. I know things are really, really hard out there. Every time I turn on the news it’s just continued bad news. Of course, whether it’s going on with a COVID-19 and lockdowns in major cities like New York and Boston is continually to get hard now, so definitely, please, please, please, obviously practice social distancing and be smart about it, and please take care of your health and take care of your family.

 

Gratitude and Meaning!

by carmie0817, posted in Gratitude

I wanted to write this blog just quickly here and just talk about gratitude. And talk about, obviously, as you guys know from my past videos, that I talk about this subject over and over again, because I truly believe in order to have true fulfillment in our lives is to have a practice of gratitude. And that is actually living with gratitude, and having gratitude just be such a main focal point in our lives, including my life as well. And God forbid, I’m not perfect by any means. I definitely get off track. I get frustrated. I get angry, and I get sad in a negative way sometimes. So obviously I’m here to say that I’m not perfect, but at the same time, obviously I know that in order to have that life, in order to have that fulfilled life of joy and understanding the roller coaster of life, the ups and downs, we have to have a practice of gratitude.

Because gratitude is one of the most powerful, powerful rituals, one of the most powerful practices, daily habits that you could truly bring in your life every day. And it is so easy to acquire once you kind of have an understanding of what gratitude is and what gratitude truly means from the inside of your heart and your soul and your mind. And truly, if you feel it inside and then it comes out, and then it truly filters out in every way, every direction, everybody you interact with in life, everything that you do in your life, whether it’s even you in your job or basically in your other habits in your life, whether you spend time with your friends, spend time with your wife or husband or whatever, significant other, that gratitude is just very contagious.

It’s something that creates so much joy in every area of our lives. And it truly is a magical, magical thing if we can just harness it in ourself and we can anchor it into ourselves, to be grateful for pretty much every area of our lives. And everything in our lives that we have, we come across, and understanding that life is always happening for us and not to us, because basically our lives come down to meaning and the meaning that we truly give our lives. It’s not the event in our lives that shape us. It’s the meaning we give to the event that truly shapes us. Whether we decide to become victims of it or whether we decide to take that and take our lives to the next level and get to the other side of what we truly want and we truly desire in our lives.

And I shoot this now during a time where there’s nothing but fear in our society right now. Fear not only here in the United States, but fear in the world right now due to the Coronavirus epidemic and how it’s just truly effected our lives in every area. I’m talking about big events being canceled, workplaces shutting down, schools closing, and basically markets collapsing all over the world. It’s a scary time and it not only affects our economy, it affects our wellbeing. And actually my wife has very close relatives in China right now, and right now they cannot leave their houses. I mean they are stuck inside their houses until the end of April.

So it is a pretty scary thing. But it’s also understanding that things like this are always going to happen in our lives, and so it’s easy to kind of fall into that trap and get hooked on what the media is telling us and to create a certain amount of fear in our lives on an everyday basis. And to walk around with that fear and that anxiety that I’m going to get hit with this epidemic or whatever. I’m going to get hit with the Coronavirus. I’m going to get compiled exposed to it. And you know, I’m going to change my life. I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to be as forthcoming as I am. I’m going to have to be more cautious. I’m going to have to be a little bit more fearful.

And that’s something, I highly discourage from, is truly living with that sense of fear, because I think just like anything else, a farmer has to prepare their fields for rain. The farmer has to prepare their fields for sun, just like we have to prepare ourselves for anything that comes through for us, whether it’s a recession, whether it’s something like this, the Coronavirus. Yes, protect ourselves, no question about it. Get masks, get hand sanitizers, make sure you wash your hands. Of course. That truly is, you need to prepare for things.

Yeah, there is something happening, but we can’t see it worse than it is. And that’s the problem I think many of us are doing. We’re kind of influenced by the media quite a bit, because like I said, the media is a business. It’s not here just to inform us. It’s here to shock us as well. And it’s here to make sure we live in fear and to click on that link, turn that channel so we can watch them. There’s so many media outlets competing against each other. And unfortunately what’s happening is we’re creating a situation, making it worse than it is instead of makes seen as it is.

And then the next thing we need to do, and it’s definitely not make it worse than it is, we need to see it better than it is. And we need to see the opportunities that can arise of this. What is the meaning? What is the true meaning that’s happening here and how can we make it better? What can we do? What can I do to help? What can we do to help this situation along? How can we make things better? We can grow from this and create such an empower meaning for everyone, and make this world a better place.

And that’s truly what I’m focusing on and truly understanding what really is happening so that I can help to make it better and I can be the solution to the problems. And I think that’s really truly what the true meaning is in this situation.

In everything in our lives, we have control of the meaning and we have control what it means to us, and truly brings us back to a state of gratitude. Because regardless, this is one thing that’s going on. There’s so many great things, other great things that are going on in this world that we don’t know about, such as babies being born, people falling love with each other. New friendships of being made right now and new connections of being made right now. Somebody’s coming up with a great business idea or a great entrepreneurial idea that’s going to add value to all of us. It’s going to help all of us. And those are the things that are happening right now. And these are things that truly, I’m focusing on and I truly know it’s happening. And it’s getting us to the next level of our lives, and it’s helping us grow.

And that’s how I truly feel, and I’m so grateful that I’ve got a practice of gratitude. It happened about nine years ago and I really haven’t looked back. I truly haven’t. Yeah, there’ve been mistakes, there’ve been downtimes, but truly to live your life completely, totally blessed and totally grateful is something I truly believe everyone should have this practice. And truly create it, write it down, create a journal on it. But truly keep it in your heart, keep it your soul, keep it in your mind throughout the day and you’ll find that people are going to react differently to you in a positive way, of course. And that things are going to become much easier for you to be able to handle, to be able to manage. And you’re going to feel so much more motivated to fulfill your dreams and make your life happen.

So I truly, truly hope this message resonates with all of you and I look forward to you guys talking to you in the next video. Thank you for watching. Bye bye.

 

Learning And Growing During COVID – 19 (Coronavirus)

by carmie0817, posted in Blogs


In this blog, I want to talk to you guys about learning and growing during the COVID-19 Coronavirus period.

I’m here on a Wednesday morning here in the greater Boston area and it’s just been quite a journey so far, pretty much since mid-January when the Coronavirus did start to hit the United States. I know this is a global situation, global crisis that we’re all in, and I know initially obviously the Coronavirus, it started out east. I actually have my wife who’s actually from China, she definitely had a lot of concerns, a lot of worries that happened in there when the Coronavirus did initially hit in China in Wuhan. Obviously, pretty much the whole country, many major provinces had been on lockdown, and now they’re finally starting to recover.

And of course, here in the western part of the world we’re looking at situations where New York City has very seriously contemplated having a lockdown. I have a sister in New York City. Even in Boston right now there’s definitely a lot of processes in place. Non-essential businesses right now are not open. Many, many people are not in their offices right now. For me, it’s been business as usual, but the good luxury that I have is that I do not have to travel right now and so I definitely have a lot more time between my business. And as far as not having to travel out and everything is done at home, so my commute time has been cut drastically.

But first of all before I begin, I just want to send my heart and my prayers and also to you guys and your families and your friends, anybody who is close to you. I know this is a very, very serious time and a very, very serious crisis that we’re in. And of course, global markets has been affected, of course the US markets, the stock markets, the interest rates by the Fed. It’s just right now we’re looking right now at bear markets, we’re definitely turning into most likely a recession.

So we’re in situations where there’s obviously a lot of people who are losing their jobs right now, but also the other thing too, there’s great opportunity to be had as well. And basically to me, what I’ve been doing on a personal level is just definitely taking this time and really reflecting. For most of us, I think this time is actually is a timeout for us, is a timeout to breathe. It’s a timeout to stop and really take track of our journeys and our goals and our missions and what we want to accomplish and everything in life.

For me, I just definitely have taken this time to learn and develop myself, and that’s where the opportunity has been coming in, and the fact that I can take this period of time and learn new skills and grow from that. Because by learning these new skills, I acquire these new skills, I can teach these new skills to all of you. I can teach these new skills to friends and family, and to me that is extremely rewarding, but also it makes me more valuable as well. It makes me more valuable in the marketplace. It makes me more valuable to you guys as far as adding more value and for you guys to continue to grow and for all of you guys to meet your goals and everything like that.

I actually just got finished with a speed reading course from Jim Kwik called Kwik Reading, and it took me a little bit, I got through it okay. It was a great course and I’m very happy that I was able to go from beginning to end on the course, so I’m very excited about that. The greatest reward I got from it was my progress. I went from initially reading 180 words-per-minute, finishing up reading 391 words-per-minute, so that is pretty much more than a 100% increase in my reading speed. So there to me, that was incredibly rewarding.

But not only did I learn how to read faster, but also it’s a great comprehension course. It teaches you how to read certain types of books and certain types of text or whatever. Either it’s a fictional book, a nonfiction book, a book that contains a lot of digital and a lot of data with graphs and everything like that. It just was pretty much an outstanding course, and I’m very grateful that I definitely took the time to do the course, I invested the money to do the course. I got a good deal on the course, as well.

I’m very grateful for having the opportunity to take the time I needed to learn this skill of speed reading, because most of us as far as reading is concerned, we learned to read when we’re in kindergarten and first and second grade, and that’s where the learning stopped. Yeah, we continue to read and obviously able to comprehend, and it got us through high school, got us through universities, got certain degrees, but basically the skill of teaching reading really stopped when we were in elementary school. So that was a great thing that I was able to acquire, and I definitely highly recommend for all of you. And this is not an endorsement for Jim Kwik, although I highly recommend the course, but it just goes to show us the opportunities that we have in front of us now, now that we have a little bit more time on our hands, for most of us I should say. I know not all of us, but it is a great opportunity for all of us to grow.

Now what I plan on doing is I have a copyright course that I’m going to take, so I’m going to write copy. I’m really excited about that, as well. And obviously to have that skill will actually enable me to write my own copy much better, but maybe even assist others as far as writing copy is concerned, so I’m really excited about to learn this new skill. And obviously I can use it for Amazon, because I do have a couple of books out there, including The Big Four, so I’m really excited about that.

So I guess the question for me to you is if you’re in the same situation as I am, which most people are the majority, what are you doing as far as taking the time? What are the opportunities for you in order to grow and during this crisis period of time? Because remember, crisis is a word in China, it means danger and opportunity. Obviously we have great opportunities in front of us. Yeah, there is danger going on. People are getting sick, people are dying, and people are catching this virus very quickly and very rapidly, especially if we’re not being careful and especially if we’re not being prepared.

But also it does present us an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to learn a new language, an opportunity for us to learn how to play the guitar or learn how to play the drums or learn how to do a certain dance or whatever. Definitely a lot of artistic opportunities here, but also a lot of opportunities to learn a new skillset, as well. There’s some great online courses that are out there for any of us to take, or even go back and maybe finish our degrees now. Look into taking an MBA course online or something like that.

Jamie Sierra:
So to me it’s been a tough situation, because everything seems the last couple of weeks has been coming across as externally has been nothing but bad. You turn on the news, it’s been nothing but bad. A lot of press conferences with the President, with governors, with city mayors, and it just seems like there’s never good news that’s circulating around and you’re hearing about a lot of people catching the Coronavirus disease, and athletes, celebrities, even Prince Charles actually just got infected with COVID-19, so it is tough. There’s so much going on, there’s so much adversity in our society right now.

Another thing I would just highly recommend besides taking this opportunity to learn and grow is a couple things. Enhance your morning rituals. It’s a great time to … I know we can’t go to the gym and workout in the gym, but you can definitely go outside, do a walk. You can definitely start if you work on the treadmill or the elliptical, it’s a great time to go outside and just put on that extra gear and go for a run as well. So there’s definitely a lot of great opportunities for us in front of us and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the most part, especially outside of working. Work is still taking a great deal of my time, so I’m fortunate for that, but also it is a great time to buckle up and learn and acquire new skills in whatever you want to accomplish, it’s right in front of you.

So I definitely wanted to share this with you. And yeah, as far as walking and running, I actually started running again this past week, and it’s been a struggle. It’s been hard, but I’m glad I’m doing it, and I’ve been doing it slowly. I haven’t been doing it every day, but I have done it consistent enough where I can put myself in a growing position and continue to progress and who knows where this will lead me. I mean maybe I will continue to exercise more outdoors, or maybe I’ll start going back to the gym when the gym reopens.

But I definitely wanted to share my perspective with you guys as far as the COVID-19. I wish all of you guys to be safe during this time. I wish all the best for you and your families, and from there, grow. Continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to take this time as an opportunity for yourself and for others, and make sure that you continue to add value to yourself and to others in this world and this society. So thank you again for watching and wish you guys all the best, and I look forward to talking to you guys in the next video.

 

What We Can Learn From Kobe Bryant and Apply It!

by carmie0817, posted in Life Plan

Here are four principles that we can learn from Kobe Bryant on the basketball court and off the basketball court that we can apply in our lives and be the best versions of ourselves and create an extraordinary life.

  1. Outwork everyone:  Kobe knew that for him to be the best version of himself and the best basketball player, he need to outwork everyone.  He knew his teammates and his competition’s training regimen.  Kobe knew that getting up at 4am everyday to train is what he needed to do to achieve his goals to win championships.  If he found out that someone else was getting up at 4am, he would wake up at 2am to get to work.
  2. Failure and losing is a gift:  Most fear failure and losing.  Kobe believes that losing creates opportunities.  It creates opportunities for growth and getting to the next level.  Kobe believed though we needed to become true with ourselves and face the failures.  That means watching film of games that he lost against a specific team to see where him and his team went wrong, the mistakes, and what he can improve upon for next time.
  3. Be a long term thinker: Kobe was very smart at a very young age that greatness is going to take time and patience.  He knew that he had to focus on one thing at a time to master before going to the next phase.  At 10 years old, he was not nearly as good as anyone in his age group.  He got zero points in a game.  Thus, he decided that he was going to work on his game.  At first, he worked on his outside shot.  He was able to hit open jump shots, but needed to learn to hit one being heavily guarded and he did that as well.  And then he worked on his defense, rebounding, passing, until he mastered all the fundamentals.  By the time, he was in High School, he was an All American who went right into the NBA.
  4. Find your passion and do what you love:  Kobe enjoyed the work and process.  Kobe stated if he had to remind himself why he needed to wake up early and work hard, then he needed to find a new profession.

 

Learning From Kobe And The Mamba Mentality!

by carmie0817, posted in Goals, Gratitude

“Success is the ability to use your passion to help someone else discover their passion.”  – Kobe Bean Bryant
“Obsessiveness is having the attention to detail for the action you are performing at the time you’re performing it.” Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant is (not was) a hero for many people around the world.  Kobe is an icon and one of the greatest basketball players of all time.   It is still shocking and devastating that he is no longer here with us as well as his daughter Gigi and seven other victims.
In his short time here though, Kobe left us a legacy.  He left us a legacy of greatness, love, joy, desire, and passion.  As I always say, greatness leaves clues, and we can learn from Kobe’s greatness and apply it to every area of our lives.  Kobe, himself, got involved in self development.  He began speaking about his philosophy of the mamba mentality.   The mamba mentality was not applied to just basketball.  It was applied to life for Kobe.  Kobe was in the process of his next chapter of greatness in his life.  He created a short film and won an Academy Award.  How many former athletes go on to make a picture alone, never mind winning an Academy Award.  Kobe also developed children’s books revolving around the mamba mentality.
The mamba mentality philosophy is simply “trying to be the best version of yourself”.  It is trying to become better everyday in all areas of our lives.   The mamba mentality consists of five pillars.  Instead of going into detail myself of the five pillars , I will attach a TedX video from Shanghai, China that Kobe did detailing the five pillars of the mamba mentality.
Here are the five pillars of the Mamba Mentality:
1. Be Passionate
2. Be Obsessive
3. Be Relentless
4. Be Resilient
5. Be Fearless

Having A Mission Statement!!

by carmie0817, posted in Gratitude

Today I want to talk about the power of a mission statement.   For those that do not know what a mission statement is, it is a sentence or phrase that defines your life and who you are.  It is what your life is about, why you are, and your identity.

Creating a mission statement is very powerful and very simple.  It is a phrase or sentence which of course is your purpose in life.   Here are some guidelines to creating a mission statement as well as my own personal mission statement.

Your mission statement must have the following:

  • Be stated in the positive
  • Have “Be” and “Do” statements
  • Include yourself and others
  • Experience and live it everyday
  • Be brief (only a sentence or phrase long)
  • Eliminate Universals
  • Use emotion “charged” words.
  • Gives you goosebumps, energy, and joy.

My mission statement is:  I Jamie Sierra see, hear, feel, and know that the purpose of my life is to serve God by being joyful, outrageous, passionate, and love and inspire others to fulfill their dreams.

 

Reasons Come First!

by carmie0817, posted in Goals

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I have learned from great mentors like Jim Rohn or Tony Robbins that the biggest difference in people is hunger.  Why one is getting what they want in life and another doesn’t get what they want is the former is hungry and the latter is not.  In addition, the latter doesn’t want it bad enough.

So why is the first person hungry or hungrier.  Does she/he have higher standards?  The answer is yes, but it goes beyond that.  The answer is that the hungry person has a bigger “Why”  and many more compelling reasons than the person not getting the desired results.

I heard a story from success life coach Ed Mylett talk about how his doctor diagnosed some heart issues with Ed.  Ed naturally was petrified of the diagnosis.  However, the doctor was caring enough and open enough to tell Ed that he needed to change his lifestyle and added leverage on Ed as well.  Ed has a daughter that he naturally loves dearly.  The doctor asked Ed, “do you want to be here to walk your daughter down the aisle on her wedding day?”.  Ed of course answered, “yes”.  The doctor told him that if Ed kept up with his lifestyle that some other man will be giving away his daughter on her wedding.  The doctor also told Ed, “if you do what I say and follow this, you will be around to give your daughter away”.  Ed has been following his doctors recommendation by having a great health and fitness routine.  Every time Ed does not feel like getting up to work out, he thinks of his daughter.  As a result, Ed gets up and works out everyday.  That is one of Ed’s many whys.

We as a result need to create that same leverage ourselves.  High standards come from compelling reasons.

Take the time and define your purpose and define why you want to accomplish your goals.  Write it down and keep it everywhere you go.