What are You Transmitting?

 I was recently reading an article by a doctor that was repackaging information and making it seem like his own. If you know me, you probably already know I am not a fan of textbook teachers with no "real world" experience. It is like taking a class on how to start your own business and the teacher is teaching you out of a book. Most times they have never actually started a business. Let me tell you I have started three businesses and there is not a textbook out there that I could have followed. I have read many published books on startup businesses. Yes they have given me some helpful direction, but they did not spell out the knowledge that, in hindsight, would have been most important.

I like the blunt truth, whether the results are positive or negative. "Hey, this is what I did and this is the outcome I achieved." Despite the outcome, the honesty will always help move me in the direction of achieving my Vision.  To me, sharing your experience, rather than your book-learned understanding, means you now have something vital to transmit.

You cannot transmit something you do not have. It reminds me of many people who give us advice that we should improve our lives - but they are not doing it themselves. Next time you choose to transmit knowledge and advice to a friend, coworker or family member, ask yourself whether your transmission will provide value. If it is not based on your experience, perhaps the "advice" shouldn't be shared.

Living in the information age has enabled us not to think and "just Google it."  My experience has taught me that if  I sit and ask the right questions in a quiet place, I can usually get a lot more than Google can provide. Of course if you are looking how to boil and egg, by all means consult Google. But if you want to live a life of purpose, look inside.

Let Your Freedom Ring

Celebrating Independence Day has made me think a lot about the importance of mental freedom. Your freewill is your freedom of thought. You control how you view and approach yourself and the world around you. I have been facing physical and mental obstacles my whole life. Once I embraced my mental freedom and made new choices about how to think and act, I was able to find a lot of the happiness that eluded me for so long. I'd like to share some of the key things I like to remind myself, particularly when faced with new struggles or challenges, so I can hold onto my mental independence:

• Believing in yourself is a choice.
• The past is the past and should remain there.
• Your level of self confidence is no one else's fault or responsibility.
• Beliefs are  very powerful - If you think you can or can’t, you’re right.
• "I can’t" is the most powerful source of negation tool in your body. It disempowers you.
• We are all smart enough to do what we want to do.
• Always act as if the seemingly impossible is possible.
• Negative beliefs are lies in disguise.
• We have 80 to 100,000 thoughts per day. 85% of them involve the past. 80% of them are negative.  If you give negative thoughts any power, they will take control over you. You control your percentages.
• Make a decision and follow through with action.
• Believing in yourself is more important than knowledge.  The application of knowledge is power.
• We shouldn’t worry about what other people think of us.  People are far more concerned about themselves than they are about you.  An evil, corroding and crippling fear is to do anything in life and worry about what people are thinking of you.  People have stopped themselves from doing so much in life because they are too afraid of what other people will think about them.  In reality, people are thinking about their own lives.
• We are all equal.

At Vision Dynamics, our goal is to encourage people to embrace their freedom and introduce them to tools to read and live independently again. But the real tool lies in your thoughts and whether you choose freedom. Happy July, everyone!

Have You Hit the Wall Lately?

 

What wall? That wall of life. The frustrating one you seem to bang into at the most inconvenient times.  The Health Wall, the Physical Wall, the Relationship Wall, the Mental Block wall etc….

What happens when you hit the wall?

1. Do you stay down and instantly dip into a spiral of negative self-talk? "I am not smart enough, they are all better than me, I never should have tried this, why do I always fail?"
2. Do you just sit there and wait for someone to come knock down this wall for you? Or graciously turn around and revert to your old way of living?

 

3. Do you get a bulldozer, a rope, round up some friends to help and you blast that thing down so you can head towards your destiny/goal/desire?

 

We see this scenario in at least 80% of the people who visit our store. Their walls have been unknowingly  built for them by their eye doctors, their family, their friends and, mostly,  by their own "I can’t do this" attitude. Each of the above laying a few bricks at a time until, all of a sudden, they are confronted with a towering and seemingly impassable wall. But with our help, they discover they can smash down those walls to regain their independence and, ultimately, engage life again.

Lately I have been hitting my own wall in the exercise department. I have been very spotty with getting it done. But I have also found myself easily creating excuses for why I don’t have time each particular day.
As my good friend brought to my attention yesterday, the best time to work out is first thing in the morning. I know this, but……

We all know it is extremely important to exercise at least 3 times per week and maintain a healthy diet. Do we do it? Only you can answer that. If we did, Dr. Phil or Dr. OZ might not have jobs on TV……

So what wall are you facing? And what are you going to do about it?
You have three choices. Which one will you pick.

Doom and Gloom

 

It still amazes me that, for the most part, the only thing the news reports is what is wrong in the world. They love to focus on the shortcomings of our society such as economic downturns, violence, political corruption and more.  If you get a chance to ask someone behind the scenes, they will tell you that negativity is what sells, that these are the stories the public wants to hear.

Wow, I am certainly glad I don’t hang around those people all day! Years ago I made a conscious decision to stop watching the news, reading the paper, or paying attention to anyone whose job it is to tell us how bad things are. Occasionally, for fun, I'll tune in to see what is new. Absolutely nothing.

In my opinion, the saddest part is that so many people buy into the constant negativity. As we know from the store, people spend so much of their time nowadays with the 24 hour news channels on in the background, with its negativity constantly invading their subconscious. Sure, in my 47 years on this Earth, times have  been shown to go up and down. But last time I checked, people are blessed with the freewill to choose their attitude and happiness, and if they are not happy with something in their lives, they can choose to do something about it.

Over the past four months I have been traveling quite a bit. I have been to California, Ohio, Atlanta, Baltimore and Florida just to name a few. I do not get the sense of "Doom and Gloom" from the visually impaired community that I am meeting. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I am finding a great diversity of people from different backgrounds, connecting with other people suffering from vision impairment. Despite differences in geography or economic status, they are all looking for solution to better serve themselves, their patients, their clients, their students etc.

As the season changes and more pleasant days are upon us, be inspired to take charge and get back into the driver seat of life. "They" -  whoever "they" are - can't do it for you. "It" - whatever "it" is - will not fix itself. Take a look outside now that spring is here and observe how nature all around us takes charge and does what is does best, no matter what the news has to say…

Sowing Our Own Seeds

Spring is finally upon us! Soon we will hear the familiar chirping of the returning birds and those bulbs we planted before the frost will start to peek through, giving us the sign of regeneration and new life. While you begin to tend to your yard and garden this month, repairing it from the winter damage, don't forget to prepare yourself for spring as well!

It's time to do a little self-gardening. It's time to plant your own seeds of change so that you can grow a beautiful healthy mind and soul. The steps on the packet are pretty simple:

1. Plant your seed - a thought, a decision, a goal or a dream. What seed do you want to sow? How big do you hope it will grow?
2. Feed your garden with plenty of water and healthy plant food. This is crucial for proper physical and emotional development of your seedling.
3. Pull the weeds - anything that can suffocate, overgrow or hinder the development of your seed. Negative thoughts, supportive people and unhealthy environments will all stunt the seed's growth.
4. Give your seed plenty of sunlight - get outside and surround yourself with love, light and laughter.

Follow these steps daily, and I can almost guarantee your seed will mature and bloom more beautifully than you ever expected! Humans are very much like the gardens we tend to. We can plant a seed within ourselves, but if we don't take daily nurturing action to promote healthy growth, we will never reap the rewards. By taking daily action, your goal, dream or vision will materialize into fruitful success. Here at Vision Dynamics, we try to be gardeners of personal growth whenever possible. We see people come into the store every day who have been given incorrect or limited information about their eye condition. While glasses may be unable to help anymore, there is so much more available. We can help plant the seed of change and hope, but it still needs to be nurtured and tended to in order to develop.

If you have the willingness, there is always a way. So what will you plant this month?