Change Faster

By: Ben DeGeorge

Change is the law of success.

"Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted."

The more failures someone has, the more success they will have. People who dramatically succeed in anything also fail more times than anyone else. They fail hundreds of times more than the normal person. The difference is that those who succeed get over their failures incredibly fast.

How often do you experience change in your perceptions, habits and abilities? Hopefully often, as part of your ongoing education and development.

Those who go from poverty to greatness experience astronomical positive developments in their lives. Often they had to alter their perceptions of themselves and the world, their psychological limitations, skills, habits and their fundamental beliefs.

They had to alter their fundamental beliefs? Yes, especially if those beliefs were holding them back.

Everyone has personal beliefs of inadequacy that can be altered. Everyone has detrimental habits that can be overcome. I challenge you to recognize those and overcome them as fast as possible through action.

You can become whatever you want. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you will become. You can do it immediately.

I guarantee that You will be much different next year compared to where you are today. If you decide to, you can control that inevitable change, using it to build yourself into the person that you want to be.

So what do you want to change? Perhaps your job, your speaking skills, your confidence level, your relationships, or your lifestyle.

In order to do so you just have to have no fear of the transformation. And trust me, you will not be embarrassed by anyone along the way, no one cares about your mistakes!

Do not ever be afraid to discard anything that does not feel right for you. Do not be afraid to focus on something that attracts you.

As an example; we will be making some drastic evolutions to our e-zine over the coming months, in our search for a bigger voice and stamp upon the world. This makes me pretty nervous looking at the possibilities, but it is also exciting. The downside is relatively small and we will absolutely benefit from it.

So remember, create and embrace the developments to come, and have fun!

Kevin Kinnally

I remember meeting Kevin as an awkward 5th grader touring Boy Scout Troop 332. I was overly cocky after completing Cub Scouts with the highest honors and thus was on the lookout for a stellar troop in order to pursue my goal of attaining Eagle Scout. After meeting Kevin, then scout leader of Troop 332 and hearing his eloquent words, "In this troop you have to realize, your mother is not here anymore." I was sold (and a little scared!)

He promised that if we joined his troop, we would learn a lot, have the opportunity to experience incredible adventures and grow up. After numerous memorable campouts and scout meetings with Kevin, I came away a mature individual. I only hope that every teenager has the opportunity for a mentor like him. - Ben

Company/Occupation:
-Hewlett Packard Co./ Field Services Supervisor
-Primerica Financial Services / District Leader

Date of Birth: Sept. 7, 1952

How do you define success?

I define my success as adding more to the world than I take from it. On the positive side of life's ledger there is teaching, leading, helping, fixing, giving, listening, sympathizing, learning, "being there", and loving. On the negative side...I was a teenager.

Who inspires you? Why?

As I have started developing my next career in Financial services, several of my new business associates have inspired me deeply. They have reminded me of the true value of people, shared with me their dreams of the future, supported me in my growth and have been unflinching in their loyalty. Yes, these people still exist and I would say there are great many more than one might have guessed. I look forward to spending more time with them, learning from their vision and being around their positive attitudes.

If you could pass any bit of information or idea to everyone in the world, what would it be?

A bold question! I have been fixing things my entire life: radios, cars, computers, submarine electronics, houses, etc. An open mind is the one thing that has always helped me see possibilities and solutions. The world could use a little more open-mindedness.

What do you consider your greatest personal strengths?

Empathy, generosity of my time and being able to step out of my comfort zone. Actually, I don't step out of my comfort zone as much as I sometimes jump. Picture the family pool in May; it is only cold for a couple of seconds when you jump in.

The ability to leave my comfort zone is not really my strength...the fear of regretting that I stayed there is my strength.

What do you consider your greatest personal weakness?

Thank you for only asking for one weakness: procrastination! I have examples of my ability to put off things that are truly world-class.

Where do you want to be 5, 10 and 20 years from now?

5 Years - Deep into my second career of teaching families about taking care of their financial needs.

10 Years - Start an outward bound style program for Western New York youth. (I need to find someone in the Eastern part of the state, too)

20 Years - still kickin' !!!

Final thoughts

Perhaps my favorite opportunity is when I get the chance to take Boy Scouts to summer camp or simply a weekend campout. If there are new boys with us, I would gather all the Scouts together and explain what we would be doing during our campout. Before sending the patrols off to their many tasks, I explain to everyone that we are no longer in our homes and because of that, I want everybody to look around carefully. After several seconds of curious looks and actual "looking around", I say "Okay. Now, does anybody see their Mother?" "That's right! Remember that and go take care of yourselves and your buddies!"

The looks on the new Scouts' faces is, as they say, priceless. Even those who have heard my rant on previous outings seem to enjoy the show.

Embracing Fear

By: Joseph Norman

Fear. It’s everywhere. We see it on the television when we come home from work. We hear it from media pundits in regards to our nation’s political and economic environment. For some, it leaves their guts in disarray when they contemplate how they are going to pay the bills this month. One way or another, fear pervades our lives. But, what I’m here to say today is that it doesn’t have to control you.

Fear, like the rest of your emotions, can be mastered. By that I do not mean avoided, simply harnessed for the good it has within it. You see all of the emotions we feel, good or bad, have an intention. It might be easy to assume that good feelings have positive intentions while bad feelings are meant to leave us distressed or discomforted. However, I would argue that all emotions ultimately have a positive intention.

You see, through our own fears we develop the will power to succeed. We get thrown against the wall and pressed harder and harder until we either break or start pushing back. A truth about the human spirit though, is that we never have to break. We can always, and I truly mean always, rise to the occasion.

So, I must ask, “What are you afraid of?” Write a list of five things that currently weigh on your mind and in your gut. I’m not talking about societal insecurities, but rather the highly personal fears that are ruling your daily activities. Mastering them will be a powerful stepping stone for you.

Now, how does one master their fears?

Acknowledge its presence. Often we deny the fear. The problem with denial is that it never leads to a solution. In fact, it only perpetuates the feeling in your life. As Carl Jung knowingly said, “What you resist persists.”

Embrace it. Breathe it deep into your body and really feel that it is there. Calmly, like a tranquil lake, become fully aware of the depth of the fear’s existence within you. The objective here is to clear the fog in your mind that envelopes the fear and causes your resistance.

Thank it for being there. As corny as this may sound, literally say, “Thank you,” to it. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way when it comes to understanding our own fears and insecurities.

Examine it. Ask it what its intention is for you. What does it want you to do? What is it stopping you from doing? Why might it be wrong? Why might it be right? Is why it might be right a reasonable answer or a complete farce?

Visualize beyond it. Imagine a day without that fear. If there were a miracle tonight while you sleep and dream, such that when you wake up in the morning everything about this part of your life is resolved, how would you feel? What would you see? Experience? How would you know that this miracle had taken place?

Brainstorm solutions. Now that you’ve seen, felt, and experienced a day beyond this particular fear, you have opened your mind to new possibilities. Explore them!

Rinse and repeat. Take the time to repeat this process until you feel complete control over the fear you worked on. Then, try it with the others.

Take control of your life. Become conscious of the emotions pervading your mind and body. Accept them and heed their advice!