a Party

Stepping outside of the expected response can lead to really wonderful things. If you knew that people believe only what we tell them about ourselves , You would be more care about what we tell them.

The way you act does have a profound on whether people take you seriously or not or if you are successful in some other way.

Most people are just reactive when they are in a group. If everybody is being reactive then you have a lot of small talk and nothing of consequence takes place. But if you take the lead and talk about what is important people will gravitate to you like a moth to light. People are starving for substance in everyday speech. People have a deep need to have importance in their lives and talking about important things is the first step to doing important things.

Nobody on earth is no big deal. We are all huge deals and need to expect great things from each other. Wouldn't you love to go to a party and talk about tremendous things instead of small talk.

We do not have time for small talk.

Then it would never be just a party but a fantastic opportunity to exchange wonderful ideas.

Proactivity

Without knowing it many people are not living life. Life is living them. It is so easy to have this happen when you are not even aware of when you are doing it.

It makes you feel helpless and a victim and depressed when you are being lived.

It is like a chess game. If you never think about what your next move will be the other player will checkmate you in a matter of a couple of moves.

Life is movement. It always goes on. It never stays the same. We get older and older and people constantly change . Our environment constantly changes and breathes in and out. That is the great thing about living. There is always something new to do. We are constantly needing to be creative to survive .

Once you embrace that fact you can enjoy it but it is our human nature that makes us want things to be the same and comfortable

That is why being proactive is so important.

Embrace new changes. It does no good to complain about them. Complaining(even to yourself) is being reactive and helpless.

All the things you know

I think we would be surprised to realize all the things we know already. We learn millions upon millions of pieces of information each year that connect to the other pieces we already have. Most people do not trust that they know as much as they do.

One way to find out how much you really know is to make a list of 100 things you are skilled at. If you just start the list one thing will lead to the next and before you know it your list will make you feel like you can do anything. We don't usually put much importance on what we know. What you don't value you wont use.

We depend on others to tell us what we are good at and others only see a tiny fraction of what we can do. Only a fraction, so how can they make any kind of judgement.

On the other hand if a lot of people who know you pretty well seem to be encouraging you in one direction or another then you must have a huge amount of talent in that area because even outsiders can see it.

They are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

money and the new year

Everyone I know has the idea that with more money, you can do more things. This is not always true. Sometimes having more money means having more stuff to take care of and worry about. The less you have the more free you are to change and move in a new direction. This is also true for artists that are unknown. You have the most freedom when nobody expects anything from you. You can reinvent yourself over and over till you get what you want and there will be nothing to stop you.

Once you start selling paintings or any artwork then you will have to desire to do it again and again and you will not want to deviate from what gave you the money in the first place. So In away you become a slave to success.

If you get some kind of windfall of money, you will start buying lots of stuff then the stuff will own you.

This is the other side of the good life.

For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.

The best time in your life is not getting what you want, its trying to get it. That is the most fun and the most free.

brainstorming

The beauty of brainstorming is that you get to say and write things down that are so absurd and wild and it is all good. Most of our lives we are trying to do something right, but brainstorms are like mind doodling . You just say and write down whatever pops into your head. What is really great is to do it in a group. If someone else says something it might spark another thing in you.

Even the most wacky can have something useable in it. All great ideas start with fragments of ideas. Nobody gets the whole thing at once. those pieces are important so you should write them down and look at them over and over. When I paint I like to look at the same magazines over and over for new fragments. I also look at old paintings and try and see what it was that gave it a special quality that made it sell.

Your clients can tell you something about what to look for if you can identify why they actually bought a painting.

What common thing do they all have.

Nels Borg

Trying new things are scary. You dont know what will happen. I like Seth Godins idea of doing the thing that makes you nervous.

What makes you nervous and scared is what you should do. You are nervous because you will have a lot of pain if you don't succeed.

You have the most to lose and that is why you are nervous. The ironic thing is staying put is no less painful. doing nothing is doing something. It is killing time that you could be doing something you are afraid of doing. doing. Nothing is the worst thing you can do. Not changing is like being a sitting duck for somebody to pick you off.

Its better to try, try, try and do what you love than postpone trying till you have an easier time of it. You will NEVER have a better time than now, because now is all you really have.

I know a man who lost his job that he had for 20 years in lumber at 50 went back to school to be an xray tech and bought a fixer house at the same time. He was just going to tough it out. Then he had a heart attack and that set him back a bit with the surgery and recovery.

Now he has a job he loves and a house he totally redid and he is good to go in the body department. He is happy too. Really happy.

Nels Borg did all that and lived to tell us about it.

If you think about being scared think of Nels. At least you don't have a heart attack and if you do get one then still do it.

getting rid of something

Cleaning out things in your life that just sit there and are never used is like losing weight. You dont know how good it feels till you get rid of it. Things that people have given you over your life seem very hard to send on to a new place. Old habits are hard to give up as well as old ways of thinking.

It is a always easier to not grow than to grow.

Growing needs space and pain and support to happen.

I just got back from a four day juice fast at Soap Lake with my friend. I could not have done it without her doing it too. Company makes pain and will power all the easier.

It is also easier to have courage if you are not alone,

Sometimes it takes courage to throw old things out because we think something bad will happen. We think what if the person who gave this to me comes over someday and it is not here and you will be embarrassed.

This is actually extremely funny because people usually forget what they gave you and if they do remember giving someone something they should feel worse if you were keeping it just to please them.

If somebody does care about it then they need to learn to give with no strings attached. You are helping them learn that .

Get rid of anything that is not bringing you to a better place.