Thanks to a recommendation by Jimmy Burgess, I picked up a copy of Grant Cardone’s The 10X Rule, The Only Difference Between Success and Failure, and it will be the book I am reading this week.
Tag Archives: success
You’re just one person away from true success
I want to tell you a secret. I was thinking about how you are more than enough and thought about writing about that, but then I realized what really needed to be said tonight.
You are just one person away from success.
The secret is that the one person is you. Yes, you. Yes, the person reading this.
The secret is that you have to be uniquely you. Today, I ate a sweet corn cookie. I didn’t know they even existed, but the amazing folks behind the Poor Porker introduced me to this amazing baked item. Like this crazy cookie, you are uniquely awesome. It is time to let your true self be free.
Your unique customers are very excited that they are about to meet you, the real you.
Be yourself. Be amazingly successful!
– Catalyst John
Resistance is real…
You have got to be kidding me!
For twelve long years, I have struggled with being overweight. I struggle daily with the fact that I am fat and I am physically weak. I have always used the excuse that I’m an intellectual or some other garbage to excuse myself for not being a man’s man. I’m not a man’s man and I’m definitely don’t have a “man” card in my wallet. I have no interest in a “man cave” unless it comes with a Kindle.
Unfortunately, I have lied to myself a lot. I don’t care if I ever become a man’s man or if my weight is approved by that weird BMI scale; however, I do care about the man that my heart and soul desires to be.
There is an analogy of the sheep dog. It is the protector of it’s herd and even though it appears to be as cuddly as a teddy bear, it will risk its life to protect every single sheep it is responsible for from every wolf attack. It will stand firm and will never retreat.
I had no clue why I signed up for the Law Enforcement Academy back in 1999, but I now realize part of it was that sheep dog mentality. They do not seek violence, but the do live to protect those that they love. I believe that is the warriors heart. He or she does not do this for any reason other than an intense desire to serve those in their community.
And that is why I must no longer live this comfortable lifestyle even though my warrior career is over, my heart desires the strength and discipline that goes with physical fitness.
On Saturday, I turned 38. I’m neither old nor young…I’m just a guy that has lived on this planet for 38 years. Over the weekend, I reflected on the choices I made and the places I have reached. I was reminded that there is a warrior’s heart beating in my chest. It is weak and it is atrophied, but it is there nonetheless.
Therefore I committed to changing how I view my health. I enjoyed some delicious birthday cake and then set down to truly commit to a change.
This morning, I woke up to start a new journey: I’m going to lose about 70 pounds over the next twelve months in addition to a whole lot of jogging, pushups, and pullups. My favorite commitment is attending a zombie run at the Guardian Center in Perry, GA in October.
On Sunday, my friend Moss gave a sermon about how there is a price to pay when you commit to something. We sometimes forget that our commitment will cause us pain and sacrifice. Our choices are easy, but the cost of our choices is a completely different story. My commitment to achieve this was so easy from the comfort of my house.
This morning was day one of my commitment. March 23th and everything changes. I woke up at sunrise and began my day reading a book on my Kindle. Then I got up and grabbed the running clothes I laid out last night. As I began to tie my shoes, I felt the first drop of rain.
You have got to be kidding me!
Remember that at the beginning of this blog. I haven’t even tied my shoes and my commitment is being tested. I have to dash back into the house and grab a Ziplock to protect my phone and my Couch to 5k voice prompts.
I do not even make it a block before I’m completely soaked. I am wet and cold and I still am in my warm up walk for the C25K program.
I did make it through the walk/jog intervals and made it home a wet mess. I was present in the moment and committed to the workout. I simply chose success.
The successful don’t do what is enjoyable; instead, they do what is required.
My choice to lose 70 pounds in one year means nothing. However, my how I chose my respond to those activities that are required of me to lose that 70 pounds is priceless.
May your year be ten times as amazing as the one I’m planning on making mine!
Catalyst John
The 7 Steps to Creating a Roadmap to Success
I was honored to have the opportunity to be a guest on the Conscious Millionaire Podcast with my friend JV Crum III. As a thank you for taking time to listen to the interview, I have recorded my 7 Steps to Creating a Roadmap to Success to help you have the most amazing year ever.
The 7 Steps to Creating a Roadmap to Success!
Step 1: Find your purpose.
Step 2: Determine your destination (the end result).
Step 3: Define success (your mission objective).
Step 4: Reverse engineer the tasks to accomplish your definition of success.
Step 5: Schedule each task (target).
Step 6: Take the first step and create momentum.
Step 7: Stay focused on the mission by reading your definition of success and your next tasks / objectives daily.
Click the play button to hear an audio recording as I explain how to accomplish each of these seven steps.
– Catalyst John
What does your morning look like?
I’m wearing a polo and a pair of cargo pants. My heartbeat is accelerated as I step off the bus and look at the building in front of me. A huge Department of Homeland Security seal is right beside the entrance. I’m so excited to be able to train with the DHS and walk into the classroom to find my assigned seat.
On my assigned desk is my name plate, my work materials, a hat, a badge holder with that DHS seal, a set of pens and highlighters, and a notepad (everything I need and some stuff I want). Everything is prepared for me. We sit down and get to work…
The training I have experienced with the DHS is like no other and it has always stuck with me. I want to suggest that you be as intentional with your day as the DHS was with my (and everyone else’s) desk that morning. They set me up for success.
Click to Tweet: “How can you set yourself up for success every morning?” @catalystjohn
Before you end your day today, clear of your work space and set it up for the specific actions and results you want to achieve tomorrow.
John
The Greatest Success Strategies with Jon Gordon
Jon Gordon, Best Selling Author & Keynote Speaker
@jongordon11 jongordon.com
Jon joins us to talk about his new book The Carpenter, A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All. We discuss how to become more successful loving what you are doing, focusing on the customer to grow your business, and what is your caring trademark (plus a lot more).
Find the show notes at http://catalystjohn.com/59
Click this link to send a Thank You Tweet to Jon!
Guest Bio:
Jon Gordon’s best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA, MLB coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of numerous books including The Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, Soup,The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, and The Carpenter. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Atlanta Falcons, LA Clippers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Campbell Soup, Wells Fargo, Northwestern Mutual, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, West Point Academy and more.
Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.
When he’s not running through airports or speaking, you can find him playing tennis or lacrosse with his wife and two teenage children.
Connect with Jon on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Want to monetize your dream,
take your business to the next level,
or just launch your business?
If so, visit http://catalystjohn.com/hundred
Also, a huge THANK YOU for listening to today’s show!
Thanks to RonaldJenkees.com for the awesome music!
Motivate | Equip | Lead | Entrepreneurs | Catalyst John
Episode 52: Heather Thorkelson & What Is Possible
Episode #52 : Heather Thorkelson & What Is Possible
Today, Heather Thorkelson joins us to talk about what is possible and how you can live in freedom! We start of with her incredible story of traveling the world and building a life around who you really are. She talks about her Republic of Freedom and how every decision needs to be based on the one thing that truly brings you happiness. Pay attention to what you do like, but also pay attention to what you don’t like and move away from that.
Don’t tell yourself a story that you can’t do something. Just show up fully in your life, take some risks, and make some changes.
We also talk about living and working without a “plan b” and / or “security.”
Finding your Republic of Freedom…
Write out a list of the simple things (even child like innocent state of mind) that give you great and simple pleasure and make you at peace. Then look at what it would like like if I could partake in this every single day. Who do I need to be? What do I need to let go of?
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
“Let’s re-write the rules and make it so.” – Heather Thorkelson
Find the How To Be Happy Blog Post here: http://heatherthorkelson.com/2014/07/how-to-be-happy/
Guest Bio: Heather is a Business Strategist and Founder of the Republic of Freedom. She embraces life and created a business that allows her to live as she dreams. Find her website and how she helps amazing people build remarkable livelihoods at http://heatherthorkelson.com/
Did you know that Heather has been to every continent in the world and been to Antarctica 9 times!
Don’t forget to tweet to @RepOfFreedom and tell her that you heard her on this show! Also, check out her Instagram and Google plus accounts.
Want to change your future? If so, visit http://catalystjohn.com/connect/
Also, a huge THANK YOU for listening today’s show!
Check out our newest podcasts at:
http://catalystjohn.com/iTunes
http://catalystjohn.com/Stitcher
http://catalystjohn.com/Podcast
Thanks to RonaldJenkees.com for the creating our awesome music!
Motivate | Equip | Lead | Entrepreneurs | Catalyst John
Podcast Launch
Launching like an entrepreneur on fire, Catalyst John is doing 30 back to back episode’s as part of Jon Acuff’s 30 Days of Hustle experiment. On January 1st, Acuff asked what is the one thing that you are going to do for the next thirty days? He answered “30 podcasts.” Imagine getting a private behind the scenes tour (raw and unedited) of what Catalyst John is doing to grow his coaching business in 2014. Welcome to the Catalyst John Show.
Day 1 of the 30 Day Hustle!
Links:
Quotes:
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord . They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
How can you lose when you shot a bulls eye?
One of the stories I find myself telling the most is the story of Olympian Matt Emmons. In 2004, he was getting ready to take the gold for one of the air rifle events. He aimed his rifle and fired his final shot…bulls eye. Unfortunately, his shot was a “cross-fire” which means that he hit the wrong target. In one fraction of a second he what everyone believed was his gold medal.
The reason I tell this story is to remind us all that sometimes “success” appears to be a bulls eye when it isn’t. I believe that success is actually one of the Achilles heels of the entrepreneur. Let me explain…
If you own your own business, then you most likely have achieved success in various areas of your life. The problem is that we are taught to seek success, but rarely taught to make sure that we are aiming for the right target. Just like Emmons, we will get a score of zero (0) and lose our chance of winning the gold when we have a cross-fire.
The goal for the entrepreneur is not to just win, but to win at what we do best. Good is not good enough when you want to live like one of the top 5% of the truly successful. This means saying no to the good so you can say yes to the great. This also means that we have to be strategic with the goals that we want to pursue. It is not good enough to have a set of goals. Instead, you must have a set of goals that will keep you aimed at the right target and allow you to hit the right bulls eye.
– Catalyst John, small business expert and coach
The Survivor Tree
Survivor Tree at 9/11 Memorial
This is a story that I really want to share with you. Last week, I heard the story of the “survivor tree”.
The callery pear tree became known as the Survivor Tree after sustaining extensive damage, but living through the September 11, 2001, terror attacks at the World Trade Center. In October 2001, the tree with lifeless limbs, snapped roots and blackened trunk was discovered and freed from the piles of smoldering rubble in the plaza of the World Trade Center. The tree was originally planted in the 1970s in the vicinity of buildings four and five in the WTC complex near Church Street. The damaged tree measured eight-feet tall when it arrived in November 2001 at the Parks Department’s Arthur Ross Nursery in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. It was nursed back to health and today has grown to a height of about 30 feet.
– 9/11 Memorial Staff
https://www.911memorial.org/blog/survivor-tree-withstood-911-attacks-returns-wtc-grow-memorial-plaza-update-x3
This tree has lived through a terrorist attack, has been blown over and uprooted after it was replanted, and then later survived the flooding of Hurricane Sandy. Today it stands approximately 30 feet tall even though it was found charred and broken. If you are living in “entrepreneurland”, you know about facing challenges. The question is are you prepared to survive anything that is thrown at you like the “survivor tree”?
Personally, I don’t think it matters what resources we have at our fingertips. The only thing that matters is if we have a will to continue. Are you willing to dig in and fight for your dream? The one thing that no one can ever take away from you is your will to continue. You will always have the choice to move forward or to stop.
I had the incredible opportunity to participate in a SWAT team tryout. Even though there is a level of physical fitness required, the real test is how strong are you mentally. Here is the most important advice I was given: “Do not stop!”
Once each challenge starts you do not stop until you have completed it. You move from challenge to challenge pushing forward. Are you willing to push through the resistance and keep moving no matter what? When your body is screaming in pain and your breathing is labored will you continue? Those who say yes and never stop are the ones who get invited to join the team.
The same goes for you the entrepreneur. Are you willing to dig in and face the challenges head on? Will you live with a belief that will carry you through the resistance? Will you be keep on surviving no matter what like the tree?
If you say yes and you never stop, you will be invited to the team of the successful.
– Catalyst John, Small Business Expert & Coach
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