Fear of Death is Fear of Regrets

My biggest fear is death. Apparently a lot of others are just like me. Public speaking is the #1 fear of Americans with death being a close #2. That means more people would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy. But death really isn't my biggest fear, its actually the 5 minutes before you die, assuming I'm going to die of old age in a nursing home somewhere. That 5 minutes before I die will be my time to face all my regrets. That's what scares me. Those regrets. At that time before my death I won;t care what people think about me, what people are saying about me behind my back, I won't be worrying about small dumb shit that doesn't matter, but I will be thinking about about all the times I did. How I let others effect me negatively. How I missed out on amazing crazy opportunities because I was worried I would look silly in the eyes of others. How I stayed at a job I hated because I was worried about truly finding something I loved and took a chance and went for it. My worry is that I will spend my entire life worrying but the last 5 minutes sad because I worried. That last 5 minutes scares me to death, literally.  I want my last 5 minutes to be thinking about the amazing things I did, the loving people in my life, and having no regrets.

That Mother F*cking Restart Button

The feeling can be wonderful. Everything is going good. Exercising on a regular schedule. Eating the right things. Going to bed at a good time. Then it happens. The bottom falls out. One lazy day turns into two, then five. A week goes by and now a month later exercise has gone to the back of the mind. Eating crap food. Sleep schedule starts going to hell. You've gone completely off track and the self madness starts to set in. Is it all worth it? 

Nope. Time to hit the restart button. 

We sometimes have a hard time imagining the end result. Which is life. Living longer and living healthier. It is easier to just living in the moment instead of planning for the future. But this isn't a saving account. This is life. Is there a huge difference between living to 55-60 and living to 85-90? You bet your sweet ass there is. That's 25-35 years. 25-35 years of laughing, movies, watching our younger family members grow up, and a lot more. 

I needed to hit that restart button again and I did. I've made a huge goal this time. I've vowed to run 100 miles. 2-3 miles a day for how ever long it will take me. No other focus right now except that goal. I need to prove something to myself. Pushing that restart button is not going to be embarrassing. 

Living to at least 85-90 is the long term goal. 

One thing is very clear, hitting the restart button is a lot better life choice than hitting the "power off" button.  

I must #LiveALittle

The #LiveALittle Mission Statement | Living for those who cannot

I've been thinking a lot lately. I love the #LiveALittle Project but want to see it go to the next level. What that level is I don't know. I've been advised to write a business plan & mission, vision, values statement for the project. Making The #LiveALittle Project a registered nonprofit would require those anyway. I've been stuck on the Mission statement. What exactly is the mission of The #LiveALittle Project? There’s a few of the things I have said in the last year that The #LiveALittle Project stood for but this has been the main statement:
“Encourage people to live a little bit more every single day.”
What exactly does that mean? We are all different when it comes to living a little bit more every day. Fitness, health, losing weight, more activity, have been the issues that most of the members of the project have focused on but there are so many more issues project members getting detoured with to further their “live a little” life. Dead end jobs, terrible relationships, estranged family, substance abuse problems, and the big three: lack of self-esteem, self worth, and self-love.
Then it hit me.

In high school I met a very beautiful, funny, caring, protective, loving amazing girl named Michelle. I fell in love with Michelle within minutes of meeting her. We spent hours upon hours together. She was a true friend. We weren’t romantically involved; we loved each other in the purest form, complete respect. Over time our lives drifted apart but we stayed in touch because of modern social media sites like MySpace and Facebook. The last time I saw Michelle was when I went to visit her in

Phoenix nearly 4 years ago. She was still beautiful after all those years. Now a wife and a mom our lives had changed very much but that visit we were swept back to 1992 and giggled like high school teenagers gossiping about everyone we went to school with. About 2 years ago I received an email from Michelle telling me that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer but for me not to worry because she was going to fight it and she was going to beat it.

Six months later my beautiful Michelle died.

A lot of you may have some kind of similar story about someone you love or know being diagnosed with a terminal disease. Have you noticed the amazing thing they do after they are diagnosed? They change. They wake up from the haze that all of us seem to be in. Suddenly trees look different and are more noticeable. Smells smell different and amazing. Wind isn’t just wind, it tickles and fills your spirit. Self-love starts to prevail, self-esteem become clearer, and self worth becomes one of the most important things right next to the love of others. The definition of life for someone with a terminal disease takes on a whole new meaning and I believe that meaning is what we all are striving for. Why must we wait until we are told that our death is very near before we truly start to live a little? Why can’t we do it now? We are all dying but we ignore that. What’s the first thing most smokers diagnosed with lung cancer do when their doctors tell them that their disease is fatal? They stop smoking, because they truly find that self-love to continue to do whatever necessary to possibly continue their life even if it is a tiny chance. It took me 20 years to quit smoking. Even when I learned of Michelle’s disease, and even her death, one would think I would have stopped but I didn’t.
This is where I believe the mission statement of The #LiveALittle Project needs to come from. It’s not solely about fitness, eating right, loving your work, and trying new things, loving new people and those already in our lives. It is about LIVING.

The #LiveALittle Project’s Mission Statement:
“To encourage others to live life as though they would not see next year”

From this moment on I dedicate my #LiveALittle life to my beautiful Michelle and her spirit, and I live my #LiveALittle life for myself and those who love me.

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who Hustle.

If you're in the automotive retail industry you know who Grant Cardone is. Grant Cardone is a motivating, in your face, "Don't be a little bitch", coaching, social media posting, branding superstar that has positively touched many.  I don't sell cars but as my pal Sean Stapleton says, "Everyone is in sales. Doesn't matter if your desking deals or sweeping the service department floor, you're in sales." Professionally I'm digital marketer in the auto industry that provides services to dealerships and Grant has greatly influenced me. The dude is good at personal branding. Grant hosted a NatGeo television show called The Turn Around King, he's put on hundreds of training seminars, video blogs, and has wrote a few books over time. One of those books really grabbed my attention. "The 10X Rule." Amazon describes the book as:

"While most people operate with only three degrees of action-no action, retreat, or normal action-if you're after big goals, you don't want to settle for the ordinary. To reach the next level, you must understand the coveted 4th degree of action. This 4th degree, also know as the 10 X Rule, is that level of action that guarantees companies and individuals realize their goals and dreams."

With my new found #LiveALittle lifestyle this book seemed right up my alley.  It was time to make more action, stop settling for ordinary, and truly start to realize my hopes and dreams.
My commute to work is around 30 minutes so I purchased the audio book. With no idea what to really expect I started listening the day I downloaded it. Grant started out pretty strong, would get distracted a few times but listening to Grant's side bar commentary was well worth it. Hearing Grant get excited and pumped up about his own words made me a true believer that he owned every word coming out of his mouth. He didn't just preach it he lived it everyday. He brought back the true positive meaning of the word "Hustler".  Not a nickel and dime punk that did anything to make a buck but a true work your f*cking ass off-hit the grind stone running-self made hustler. I wanted to be a hustler. Listening to Grant's words even made me believe he wanted me to kick ass.   A few other things really stood out to me too and were "aha" moments.

Average is a failing formula.
I never thought about this concept. Studies show that the majority of Americans strive for average. Strive for average. Repeat that one more time. They strive for average. They don't believe they are average so they are working on just becoming average. I thought I was average, heck I thought I was above average but I wasn't. I was one of those striving for average. Many might disagree with this whole striving for average statement but I bought into it. I still do. Living a #LiveAlittle life may not be living below average, average, or above average but it does put things in perspective. I don't want to make a medium income, have a average relationship, average vacations, learn normal things, etc. By living a little bit more every single day is my way of staying above average.

It is your moral duty, obligation, and responsibility to your family, your company, and your future self to achieve success.
Wow. After setting back and making excuses about why I couldn't achieve my goals this really hit hard. I mean I've hit goals but I usually did them half ass or changed them multiple times to fit my slacking nature . This truly called out the person I had been before discovering a #LiveALittle journey.

Become Omnipresent. 
In other words "be everywhere". No excuses for being bored. Be everywhere. Always be moving either physically or mentally. Keep your mind, your body, or your hustle always in check and in demand. This one may not fit everyone but it fit me in a few different ways. For one, I'm a digital marketer in the automotive industry, a very competitive industry with outstanding digital marketing solutions and consultants, and I need for people to not only know me but trust the advice I give. Personal branding is all about marketing. If I can't market myself how can I expect you to believe I can market your business? Personal branding isn't the only thing I need branded, I also wanted to market the #LiveALittle Project too along with the inspirational stories from all of the members. The #LiveALittle Project is an amazing motivational and inspirational group I think the entire world needs to know about. Success for myself and the #LiveALittle Project was not just going to find me I had to fight for it and become omnipresent.

Grant Cardone's words from The 10X Rule may not be what you need but it was exactly what I needed at the time and even now. Promises I made to myself and what I challenged members of The #LiveALittle Project to were directly influenced by The 10X Rule. Out of dozens of promises to be made to one's self in the #LiveALittle lifestyle 5 really stood out and seemed the most important. If you promise to keep reading my blog, go back and read a couple you may have missed then I promise to break down the 5 #LiveALittle Promises in my next post. Before I started writing this post I noticed "My #LiveALittle Project" blog hit 1000 views. Thank you. Thank you for reading my story.

You rock.