Amazing Mood Boosters! Part 1

"Happiness is your dentist telling you it won't hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill." -Johnny Carson.



How often to you hear people say, "I'm in a crappy mood today." Maybe you know that person a little too intimately?  I believe we can do things that will get us OUT of these bad moods faster, and keep us in the good mood zone longer.

I recently made a list of all the things I can do at any given moment to make myself feel good. No, I'm not talking about drugs, alcohol, or dangerous addictive substances-I'm talking about little things that don't cost anything and that can instantly lift my mood. This was a very empowering exercise and one that I highly recommend to everyone.

Since there are so many, I wanted to just share 5 with you today, and I hope that you will be able to take these and use them the next time your good mood goes out the window.

1. Gratitude Journaling

Writing in a gratitude journal is perhaps one of the quickest and most powerful ways to feel incredible. We all tend to throw ourselves a pity party at times, and often for no good reason.

Just this morning, I was flying on a short 2 hour connection flight and sitting in the window seat. The man next to me was quite overweight and as a result I felt squished and uncomfortable. I noticed that I was spiraling into a bad mood quick, but I caught myself. Gratitude pulled me out. I thought, " You know, even though I am a little cramped, flying sure beats walking, and it even beats driving! Plus, I get to look out the window and see this beautiful world. On top of that, I'm healthy"...and so on and so forth. Gratitude can pull us out of the most slippery downward dives.

2. Music

Apple's original slogan for the ipod was, "A thousand songs in your pocket." I'm all in! Most of us have easy access to great music of our choice now whether it is thru our iphones, ipods, or by listening to Pandora. Music can be one of the fastest ways to lift us up. I have multiple genre's on my ipod, and it's powerful to be able to turn on how you want to feel. Have several "happy songs" that you can quickly go to. I have many, but recently was reminded that Reggae music brings my mood up!

3. Exercise

My 5 year old daughter loves to skip. In fact, she always wants me to skip with her in public places! Some months ago, after getting over looking cool in public, I began to skip with her. Have you ever tried to NOT smile while skipping? It's impossible!

The best part about it is that the endorphins released are another incredible boost to your mood. Now, I'm not suggesting that you have to skip in public, (although you should try it sometime)but I am suggesting that you can do little short exercises throughout your day to give yourself a natural endorphin rush.
I once had a colleague that was trying to get off of his Red Bull addiction. He brought in a mini-trampoline to his cubicle and would stand up and jump on it every time he felt tired. The endorphin release was powerful enough to keep him from reaching for a Red Bull, and he got off of them.

4. Laugh

Laughter is not only an instant way to bond with people, but it's one of the keys to a long life! I recently read a study that had been done on laughter. It measured how many times a 3 year old laughed during the day, and how many times adults laugh. The results were staggering.
The 3 year old: 300+
The Adult: 15
What can you do to laugh more? One suggestion I have is to simply just do it. Yeah, really...when you are alone, or with loved ones, just start laughing. It might be fake at first, but then you will start to laugh at the fact that you are trying to laugh. Eventually others around you will start to laugh. NOTICE HOW GOOD IT FEELS. It doesn't cost anything, and you can do it anytime.

5. Positive Phrases
 
Your mind will believe what you tell it. In school, I used to tell myself that I was terrible at math. My mother would then reinforce it by saying, "Math has never been any of your kids strength." Well, now I have a daughter who just finished 2nd grade and was doing math. My wife is very smart. At the beginning of the year, my daughter really did naturally struggle with math. While reading came easy, math came hard. But my wife began to tell my daughter, " You're awesome at math! I can't believe how good you are!" She did this all year, and you might be able to guess what happened.

My daughter became not only one of the best in her class at math, but actually really began to enjoy it. It was an amazing lesson to me of the power of what we not only hear, but what we tell ourselves.
Pick something that you don't feel you are very proficient at. Come on, we all have those things that  we say, " I suck at this." Try shifting that to, " I freakin' rock at this!" You might not believe it at first, but keep doing it. Your brain doesn't know the difference, and eventually you will freakin' rock at it.

Go out and have some fun with these 5 mood boosters! Laugh, talk better to yourself, and rock out on your ipod.

The Power Of Consistency

 This past weekend I undertook one of the greatest physical challenges of my life up to this point. The task: Race my mountain bike for 12 hours straight. While to some of my fellow seasoned mountain bike racer friends this may not sound like that big of a deal, (since there are some crazy people who race for 24 hours straight!) this was the longest amount of time I had ever ridden my bike!

 The race was in the little town of Salmon, Idaho, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The approach to this race was very different than a shorter 2 hour mountain bike race. I had to have the correct nutrition, correct position on the bicycle, the right clothing, and most importantly, I had to stay consistent.

 Why Consistency Wins Long Term

 Do you know people who are sometimes reliable and sometimes they disappear? Or, do you know people who work really hard and then crash and burn out? I admit, I've been guilty of both of these myself. However, we can develop the power of consistency, and when we do our lives will begin to leap forward in a fashion that we never thought possible. Here are a few suggestions that I would offer you to begin to become more consistent in any area of your life.

 1. Know What The Heck You Want

 You must have a clearly defined outcome. Be exact in this! For me recently, the goal was just to FINISH the 12 hour solo race. I visualized the sense of personal accomplishment I would have after finishing such an endeavor. Whether it's a business project, the way you want to develop a relationship, or if you want to do your first triathlon, you need to get very specific and clear about what you want your outcome to be.

 2. Take Small Steps

 To be consistent, you must be able to take a series of many, many smaller steps. For my 12 hour race, I needed to train about 12.5 hours per week. That sounded like a lot to tackle in one shot, but then you break that down even further. Some days, on my longer rides of 4 hours, I would have to break them up. I would do 2 hours in the morning, and 2 hours in the evening due to scheduling issues. For you, be sure that you do steps that are important and applicable to your outcome, but that are very doable. For example, if your goal is to read 30 minutes a day, and you haven't read a book in 2 years, start by just reading 1 page a day. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment, and you will then develop the habit to be able to eventually build up to 30 minutes a day.

 3. Take Breaks If You Must, But Keep Going

 I knew going into the race, that 12 hours was a long freaking time to race full throttle. You can't do it. At the end of each 8 mile lap, I would stop for a few minutes. I'd grab some more food, lube my chain, tell my wife (she was my support crew) how I was feeling, and get more fluids to drink. Every 3rd lap, I would actually sit down, take my shoes off, and take 5-10 minutes to eat a small meal. These rests allowed me to continue with adequate fuel, and they gave me something to look forward to during the long day.

 Consistency is all about continuing on with whatever you are doing. The people who burn out are the people who don't take the small breaks necessary to allow them to continue on with greater strength. Stick to what you need to do day in and day out. There is a saying in ultra endurance mountain bike racing that says, " A slow lap is better than NO lap." This is true with anything in your life. Slow down if you must, but don't quit.

 So how did the race turn out? While my expectations were just to finish, I ended up taking 3rd place and getting on the podium. It was interesting to note that I rode most of the day in 5th place. The guys in front of me at one point were nearly a full lap ahead! However, they didn't stop and take the smaller breaks like I did. In the end, I had a burst of energy and the 1st and 2nd place guys in front of me only beat me by 3 minutes. I share this with you not to say that I am such an amazing world class athlete, but that consistency pays off. Write down the categories of your life today that you want to improve your consistency in, and make the changes necessary. I wish you a consistent journey my friend.

Live In The Present!

As I write this I'm currently flying home from Little Rock, Arkansas from a business trip. Travel to me is exciting. I really didn't have any expectations about Little Rock. I knew that Bill Clinton is from there, but that was about all I knew. I truly met some of the warmest people that I've ever met, and surprisingly ate some of the best vegetarian cuisine I've ever had! Life is a gift.

 The present is precious.
 Are we truly appreciative of the moment we are living in now? Do we realize that if we expect something different, then it is up to us to change our circumstances? We cannot play victim roles and expect to also be the "star" in our film called Life. I want to share a story that I read today that deeply touched me and reminded me of just how precious the present moment really is.

 The Story of Peter by Robin Sharma:

 Peter was a child who could never live in the moment. He could never present his gifts to the world; he was always in a rush to get through life. He’d be in class and he’d want to be on summer vacation. He’d be on summer vacation and he’d want to be on Christmas holidays. One day this little boy was walking in the woods and he came across a patch of grass. He laid down and fell asleep. Suddenly, he was roused by the sound of his name. “Peter. Peter. Peter.”

He opened up his eyes and could not believe what he saw. In front of him was an ancient woman with snow white hair. In her hands she held a ball. In the center of the ball was a hole out of which dangled a long piece of thread. She looked at him and she said, “Peter this is the thread of your life.” “What?” She said, “This is the thread of your life. And if you pull on it days will go by in minutes and if you pull it a little more weeks will go by in days.”

 “Do you want it?” she asked. Peter said, “Absolutely. I’ll be able to fly through the boring parts of life.” The next day he was sitting in class, not enjoying the moment or experiencing the gifts of the day. Then he remembered the ball, so he pulled it out and tugged on the thread. Tug, tug, tug. The next thing he knows he’s on summer vacation. He said, “This is fantastic!” He pulled out the ball again. Tug, tug, tug. The next thing he knew he was a teenager. He said, “Well, being a teenager is great but now I think I need a girlfriend.” So he grabbed the ball and pulled on the thread again and found himself with a pretty young girlfriend named Elise.

 He said, “This is great but I don’t want to be a teenager anymore. I want to be an adult now.” The next thing he knows he’s married to Elise and the couple has two wonderful children. Then he noticed that his once jet black hair was slowly turning gray. His once vibrant and vital mother was growing old and frail. Perturbed, he pulled out the ball and tugged on the string again. The next thing he knew he was an 85-year-old man. As for his wife Elise, she had passed away years earlier and the children were grown up and leading lives of their own. For the first time in his life, he became very sad. He realized that he had not used his time and had not experienced life fully. In his sadness he walked out to the woods that he had loved as a child and found that patch of grass and he laid down to take a rest. All of the sudden he heard his name being called, “Peter, Peter, Peter.”
 When he opened his eyes he couldn’t believe what he saw. It was the old woman with snow white hair and she looked at him and said, “Peter, how have you enjoyed this gift I gave you so many years ago? Have you lived life fully? Have you been your best?”

 He looked at her and said, “At first I loved this gift. I could fly through life quickly. I was always on the move. But now I realize that I didn’t live life. I didn’t watch the sunrises. I didn’t make great friendships. I didn’t give my potential to the world. I didn’t make a difference. It was all a waste.”

 The old woman looked at him and said, “Peter, you’re a very ungrateful man but I’m going to give you a second chance to live your life over again.”

 Confused, Peter went back to sleep. Then, he heard his name being called again. But this time he couldn’t believe what he saw. It wasn’t the 100-year-old woman. It was his mother. And she was young and vital and laughing.

 She shook him awake and said, “Peter, you silly little boy. You’ve slept in again. It’s time to go to school.” Peter realized that it was all just a dream. He stared at his mother. Looked out the window at the day and went off to school grateful for every moment.

 We only get this one Earthly experience. I hope that today we can find 3 things that we grateful for in this present moment. If we need to slow down to recognize those things, let us slow down. Let us stop to see the flowers, the sunsets, and hug the ones we love. As always, I'd love to hear about your experiences and look forward to your comments.

3 Stupid Things I Did Recently And How You Can Avoid Them

I've been thinking a lot lately about personal transparency. A wise person I respect deeply once said, "If you look at all the people who are sitting in church and who seem to appear perfect, just know that half of them have problems crazier than you can imagine." So with that said, I'd like to talk about 3 mistakes that I've recently made (among many others) because the way we learn is from making mistakes. This short article isn't meant to be a personal confession, but rather to share what I've learned from a few of my mistakes.


 1. The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth I recently didn't tell the whole truth out of fear. Have you ever told a half truth? In our society lying is completely OK in most cases. When I used to sell cars, people would tell me all kinds of crazy stories as to why they weren't coming back in to buy a car at our dealership. Thus the old saying, " Buyers are liars." Even little white lies I've realized are not okay. I have made this mistake too many times I'm ashamed to admit. But I have to be honest enough to admit. That is where you start to improve. One way that I have been improving this area is to work on one category at a time. For example, start by being 100% honest with your business dealings. Then move onto 100% honesty in your relationships.  

2. Trying To Do Too Much And Getting Sick As A Result Last week I got sick. It was weird. I wasn't throwing up or coughing, but I was exhausted. I was congested and I literally had 50% of my normal energy. This was all a result of trying to do too much, and not giving my body the amount of sleep, rest, and recharging that it deserved. Are you trying to do too much or run too hard? It will catch up to you. Listen to your body. It will tell you if it's tired, stressed out, or just needs a break.

 Push yourself, but allow yourself to recover.

 3. Mental Combat At events I am often referred to as a mindset expert, however I have to admit that I even struggle with this sometimes. This week I was having feelings of self doubt, worthiness as a human being, and was fighting doubts about my near future due to some personal challenges right now in my life. Have you even experienced this mental combat? Chances are you have. The solution for me is to have 2 or 3 real friends around me that I can call and get a boost from. These are friends that can help me to take a step back, remember my true potential before God, and get back on path and on purpose. Often in mental combat we have to surrender. Not to our mental enemy, but to God who can lift us out and remember our true value and potential.

 Learn From Your Mistakes Celebrate all wins, celebrate your mistakes. Know that you only progress in learning. This week was a tough one for me, but I know there is sunshine after each rainstorm. I hope to hear about your personal triumphs over your mistakes. Email me at brockscannon@gmail.com

How To Build Rapport Quickly

Even in a high tech, fast moving world, our businesses are still built upon relationships and trust. Our ability to build rapport quickly is an essential skill to building valuable relationships. One of my original mentors in business was a master at building rapport. He would typically double the sales volume of everyone else. His key to success?

He became very, very good at getting people to like him very quickly.

Once they liked him, he could move forward in helping them own his product.

I've discovered that there are many ways to get someone to like you, but here are my Top 3.

1. Compliment People

Find something about a person that you can sincerely compliment. Whether it is the ring they are wearing, to a unique clothing article, find something that you can sincerely say something nice about. As a skinny 9th grader, I had given up team sports and began racing mountain bikes competitively. I remember one day that a cute girl told me I had the strongest legs she had ever seen. It built my confidence as a struggling 9th grader and helped me continue to take pride in cycling as my sport of choice. The bottom line is that people are starved for compliments. Give them, and you can change people's day.

2. Laugh With People

The people who you laugh with often are very commonly the people who you are closest to. I sat at dinner the other night with a friend from England. He told me that one of the deepest bonds between him and his wife is that they can always laugh together. While marriage is never easy, this was something that connected them. This is not just true of intimate relationships, but with people you meet. Find something to crack up about, and you'll almost always bond instantly. Laughter takes us back to who we really are in spirit. It feels good, and it connects us at the core.

3. Smile

A genuine smile is an instant connection. As I sit in an airport while writing this, I am looking around noticing that most people are frowning, not smiling. If you can bring out a smile in someone, you can instantly connect. What is the best way to get someone to smile? Do it first.

I encourage you to put these to work today. Building rapport quickly will set you apart from all the other boring and dull characters in the world. You'll do better in your relationships, which translates into your business. If you have a great experience, I'd love to hear about it. brockscannon@gmail.com

Be Inspired! 5 Channels Of Inspiration You Can Open Today

It's 7:15 a.m. in the beautiful desert country of Southern Utah as I open my laptop. I look out my window and watch the sun light a blaze of orange and color on the sandstone rock formations that are behind my home. It's quiet and I'm ready to engage in meditation, study, and learning for the day. I've had to carve out this time each day early, or for me it won't happen. It's one of my favorite moments of my entire day, and it can be for you to.

How Do We Get Inspired?

Inspiration is very different from motivation. In fact, it's almost the opposite. The root of the word "inspire" come from, "In-Spirit". It is when we are In-Spirit that we truly find the peace and the answers we are looking for. It is when we are In-Spirit that things just seem to flow. Have you ever experienced that feeling of "flow"? You'll be working on something and then later you look back and you think, "That was remarkable that I just did that."

If we only could realize that what was just completed was not us. It was simply us being connected to our Creator. It was us getting In-Spirit. Many of the greats of history such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Michelangelo have recorded similar experiences after creating masterpieces. They realized that it wasn't them.

I offer you 5 channels that you can open today to begin to be more inspired. You may have additional channels that open the inspiration for you, but here are my top five.

1. Being Quiet

It is only when I am quiet that I truly receive inspiration. Imagine that you are at a party with a friend. There is loud music blasting, and hundreds of people talking. Your friend is trying to talk to you about something very important, but you can barely hear. Chances are, this is not going to be a very effective conversation! It is the same for us when we are going through our day. God desires to talk to us, but we are often so busy or things are so loud that we simply can't receive that inspiration. I find that getting up an extra half hour early makes all the difference. You might also try turning off the music in your car if you are driving alone on a commute and make this your quiet time.

2. Listen To Beautiful Music

I love all kinds of music. On my i-pod you will find just about everything because there are music types for all different occasions. But there are specific types of quiet music that usually can strike a chord of emotion within us and allow inspiration to flow easier. As I write this, I'm listening to the Spa Station on Pandora. Most of the music is beautiful instrumental music that allows me to find inspiration as I write. Find what works for you.

3. Be In Nature

Being in nature is something that always inspires me, but even in nature, I have to choose to listen. Often when I ride my mountain bike, I listen to music, especially if I am performing a difficult workout. There are times however, that the landscape is so stunning that I feel that I need to unplug and just listen. It can be one of the most healing and inspiring experiences that you can give yourself. I am very fortunate to have thousands of acres of beautiful desert wilderness right out my back door, but I have found that in almost every major city I've traveled to, there is always a place in nature that can be a retreat. Find your retreat, and listen.

4. Read

There are books that inspire and books that numb your mind. I have nothing against novels, but personally I like to read at least a few pages a day of something non-fiction that can teach me something, or introduce a new idea to me. When I am In-Spirit, I know if the idea is something that can be of service to me or someone else, I will recognize it. Listen while you read, and take notes. I always have something by me that I can take notes on while I read. It does go slower, but I get so much more out of my experience.

5. Seek It

Inspiration only comes when we seek it. I know enough to know that I don't know anything by myself. I need divine guidance. Every human being can feel and experience the connection being In-Spirit as long as they open that channel. It brings a feeling of peace and returning back to who we really are. Remember that we are Human-BEINGS and not Human-DOINGS.

I sincerely hope that you will take action today and open at least one channel of inspiration to flow into your life. I'd like to hear about your experience. brockscannon@gmail.com

Namaste'.

Are Your Goals BIG Enough? A Quick Test To Find Out

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."--Michelangelo

Often we get stuck in a rut and go day in and day out without really pushing ourselves to the highest level of our human potential. I've been guilty of this plenty of times. We do just enough to get by, have a little fun, and hope that our life will improve! This is not a great strategy for success!

So how do you "juice" up your life so that you jump out of bed in the morning?!

You raise your goals just enough to scare you.



1. Get Your Excitement Going

As a competitive mountain bike racer, I was recently unable to get into a race that I was in a lottery for due to high demand. As a result, for several weeks I just kind of rode my bike unmotivated. This week I found a new race that would provide a tremendous challenge for this coming August. I pulled out my credit card and signed up without thinking too hard about it so that I wouldn't back out. This 100 mile mountain bike race through the Teton Mountains will provide tremendous preparation, and also an amazing sense of fulfillment once it's completed this August.

You need goals that will give you more of an adrenaline rush. It doesn't have to be just a physical goal, you can do this with any category. When setting a goal, ask yourself; "Does this goal make me a little bit uncomfortable but get me excited!?" If you can honestly answer yes, then you have created a great goal.

2. Will This Improve My Discipline?

By setting this goal, will your discipline improve? That may seem like a strange thing to ask yourself, but you want any goal to make you a better person at the end of the day.

The joy is in the journey.

With my goal to complete the upcoming 100 mile mountain bike race, I now have a disciplined plan in place to train smart and thus be in better physical shape as a by product. This daily physical training will give me a sense of pride in knowing that I am doing what I promised myself I would do.

3. Will It Get Me Out Of Bed?

People who struggle to get out of bed in the morning are not just tired, they're lacking a greater purpose and motivation in life.



One trick you can use when the force of laying back down on your pillow seems greater than your goal is to quickly visualize how you will feel once you have achieved your goal. I call this "fast-forwarding" in your mind. In the case of my goal, I visualize what it will feel like to cross the finish line after doing one of the most difficult adventures of my life. I imagine embracing my family and knowing that I gave it my absolute all. I imagine the sense of accomplishment and inner peace that I will have in knowing that if I can do something this hard on my bike, I can overcome yet other difficult things in life.

Visualize what life will look like when you achieve your goal.

Now it's time to get started. I challenge you to set one goal today that makes you truly uncomfortable, yet that gets you excited. This can be in your relationships, your business, your spiritual life or anything else you can think of. I'd love to hear how this process goes for you. You can email me your story at brockscannon@gmail.com.