Weirdforgood Hangout – 13 – NewsFlash! The TRUTH about the Network News!

We’re choosing the food of our mind each minute of each day. Is the network news, a healthy diet that keeps you informed about the world? Or just junk fast food, that destroys your systems slowly, as the intense flavors cover up the damage being done? Find out here, on our weekly workshop show!

Find out the REAL TRUTH about watching the Evening News. We’ll discuss the effects of our choices of media stimuli. Can we ever get sad enough, or worried enough, to take away the sadness or worriedness of someone else? Nope.

The blog post we’re covering is:
http://weirdforgood.com/2013/04/news-flash.html

Dig Deep again with us this week, in one of the most enlightening and real conversations on the web, here at our weirdforgood world!

With Aaron Nichols & Michael Wright

You can read more about me, Aaron Nichols on my about page

or Michael Wright’s website — http://www.fatherofone.com

Enjoy!

News Flash!

What’s up with the news? No, really, tell me, because I don’t know. I don’t watch it, rarely read it, and couldn’t tell you much about what’s going on in the world.

Is that a bad thing?

I do know some of the big things. The big ones, like the bombing of the Boston Marathon on Patriots Day, is something that you didn’t have to watch the news to find out about. It was in the public consciousness pretty quickly after it happened. Someone at work mentioned it, then facebook statuses sent prayers east to the race. I saw some video clips online, later that day… So the big stuff does find it’s way to us. Whether we watch the news or not. And still… I don’t.

It was several years ago, in the summer, when I was mowing and listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer (on my old party-machine iPod), that he talked about the news. He showed me that my mind is like my body, and whatever I put into it, it becomes, and whatever my mind becomes, my life becomes… Just like my body. I never was a big news watcher, and that sealed it for me. I leave that to others, and when something really big comes along, I always find out, or I don’t. It seems to work for me.

Now, last night, I waited in a long line at the Sprint Center in KC, among thousands of people ready to hear a speaker. I was excited to be there too. I was lucky to be among my church family, and we were going to see Dr. David Jeremiah. As I became part of the wave of people entering this huge event center, I had to wonder. How has this man, attracted so many followers to show up? I don’t know him well, and I am here.

What is it, that has us all here together? Is it him? Is he that dynamic of a person, that 8,000 people, just want to hear him talk? It can’t be. He’s on the radio every day. Is the music going to be so awesome, that we all showed up for that? Not really. It’s good, but hey, so is YouTube, for finding songs to worship to. Okay, it must be the camaraderie of being among believers and sharing the evening together… hmmm, kinda, but that didn’t get me to invest my whole evening. I have a great church family to worship with weekly.

It came to me in a flash. The News! It’s the News, that we came for. The Good News.

It wasn’t about Dr. J, it wasn’t just the music and the high production of the event. It’s the Good News, that we all showed up to hear. We always want the Good News!

So why did I give up the Network News, years ago? It ain’t Good. Period.

Sure they’ll give you a 2 minute feature at the end of some feel-good story, but it’s so minor, that I won’t sit through the whole fear-mongering mega-drama for those two little minutes.

I could be a more informed citizen of the world. I could be more compassionate to the struggles of people in other countries. It’s true. I am compassionate, and concerned about what is going on right here too. From my perspective of debt-freedom, purpose-driven and radically unconventional lifestyle, I am concerned about all the ‘normality’ around me. Normal Sucks, in my book. That’s the News that I fear we don’t want to really hear.

Anyway. We will show up for the News. Good News especially. When I invest in a coaching agreement with someone who I want to work with, I want to hear the Good News. The Good News, that YES, I can do this. YES, it IS possible. YES, someone else, like me, has done this before, and now I can do it to, with their help. That is GOOD NEWS!

Next weekend, I’ll be in Denver, Colorado. I am attending a workshop called Writing from Your Soul. It’s hosted by Hay House. One of the speakers is Dr. Wayne Dyer 🙂 Wow. I am really excited about this trip! Meeting him is something I’ve had on my bucket-list for a looong time. This checks off, a couple major things for me. It begins a journey to produce a book, or books, or e-books, or children’s books, or some kind of writing that I have been waiting around to begin working on. This workshop is the starter’s pistol blasting into the air. And I will learn, from one of my all-time favorite mentors, a PBS legend, Dr. Dyer.

I’m going to hear the News. I’m eager and ready and willing, to use this news to make a new decision in my life. I want transformation, not just information. Now I wonder, if just making the commitment to show up, is half of the Good News. Knowing that if I make this a priority, if I engage, then I have started. I want to know that I can do it. This is a clue, that Yes, I can. It is available for for anyone, and that includes me.  Thank God.

Last night as my good friend and mentor, Steve, jogged out of the Sprint Center, to retrieve the car. I saw a sign across the street. With thousands of believers pouring out of the doors, and walking around, but not into the bars and nightclubs, I had a thought… Finally, tonight, we brought the Real Power and Light to this district. We are the Good News. It wasn’t the songs, or the books, or even the sermon we heard. It was the body of Christ, in all it’s forms, gathering together, and living a moment out loud.

I don’t miss the Network Evening News a bit. Too bad if you think me immature. I don’t miss seeing the Good News, any chance I can get though.

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols

 

Bringing Down the House… Literally.

Or Else!

I remember clearly sitting at Poncho’s in Ottawa, Kansas, having a lunch with Mother, when she was describing a highly charged emotional topic. We’d talked about the details of her plans and how things had better start moving forward, and how this issue was really important to her! In fact, it ended with the quote “Or Else!”

Honestly, I thought, I this was just a little overboard, and possibly kooky, since we were talking about her kitchen remodeling project… and being a guy who doesn’t particularly, care about the subtle difference between a speckled-beige or spotted-taupe colored floor tile… I said, “Or Else What?!”

I could see in this moment that my dear Mother’s world was focused intensely on this project. She had put tons of thought into what she wanted the outcome to look like. She’s had it, with 25 years looking at the same kitchen and she wanted to see something else. Something New. Something updated and fresh. A Change!

Just because I view her kitchen as a fully functioning, and nicer than mine, space that has made meals and memories for a loooong time, it’s not good enough for her anymore. Even though, to me, it’s a great kitchen in a great house, that I would be perfectly happy with, she’s not willing to not try to make it better. Even though, to me, it may be unnecessary, there is something inside all of us, that drives us to improve our worlds.

Well… I can respect that!

I can even show you, here in this blog, how I too, have had that burning, intense desire to make something change in my life… ‘OR ELSE!’

Mom’s doing a kitchen remodel. I’m doing a life remodel: Same things.

We can be in a perfectly good place, that is functioning accordingly, and has served us well for a long time… in our lives. Doesn’t mean we don’t want to see improvements. We can have what other people think, they would like to have. Doesn’t mean we won’t want to see what else we can achieve. We can be sincerely grateful for our old lives, that brought us to this point, be truly thankful, and yet demolish them, and move forward into the new.

That’s the thing about a remodel. It ain’t pretty.

You gotta tear things apart. You gotta make a mess. You gotta break and bust and destroy the things that were faithful and useful and served you well, for so many years. You have to make it all look worse, before you get to make it look better.

Funny isn’t it. Mother’s kitchen has actually looked worse through the course of the makeover, than when she started. We’ve had family gatherings standing on plywood floors. We used a sheet of plywood instead of a countertop to serve Christmas dinner. There were decisions to discuss halfway through the project that seemed to be foundational to the whole thing working out. She had started before every detail was buttoned-up, how dare her! Even now, with the new cabinets installed, the updated sink and dishwasher and countertops and flooring and lighting and other stuff that I don’t even know about; she’s missing the new tile backsplash. It’s just the ripped up sheetrock and bits of construction adhesive, that held those old ones in place so long. It doesn’t look good… yet.

Why are we willing to make something ugly, in pursuit of something prettier. If it’s the look, we’re after, that is a little confusing, right? Wouldn’t it be better to not change anything, and at least keep it looking decent, than to tear it up, spend time, energy and money, to make it look crappy? Then finally rebuild the whole thing?

I don’t know why exactly, but it is in our innate nature. We are human beings and YES, this little example of a kitchen makeover is a perfect model of the Heroes Journey. We all have something inside us, that drives us to improve. We are willing to sacrifice, and pay a price and make things look ugly, before we can overcome and return, looking and feeling better than ever. I have been on a major personal life remodeling project since right around 3 years ago. It was 3 years ago that I sat here in this same house, and agonized over the thoughts of leaving my job of 10 years at Hasty Awards. It was fine, there was nothing in particular, wrong with it. It had served me well for that whole time… yet something was just eating me alive inside… and I felt like I had to leave… Or ELSE!

After the initial rush and well wishes all around, I hit the road, and drove the western states of our America. I camped on mountains, and by the Pacific. I blogged, and shared. I cried and laughed and missed people, and became a hobo. The life remodeling project began with big applause all around… Until, it got ugly.

Yes, just like all Heroes Journey’s the changes lead to destruction, and battles and loss. The death of me. The dark night of the soul. The old ways becoming obsolete as I moved forward and chose new ways of being.

You caught me. There is still lots undone. You can criticize me. My projects are unfinished. My tiles are missing. There is raw plywood, with splinters and stains, where a nice laminate spread out before. I am rickety and temporary and slapped together and exposed. Not everything is cleaned up. I still have decisions to make. I started before I had it all figured out,  how dare me. You get to point your finger, and be right, I’m a mess. I will not rebuke that statement. But I am in a process. There is an end goal in mind. I have good help. I am working.

That I will FIGHT you on.

No One, Fights Harder Than Me. No One, Get’s Uglier, than Me. No One, Not No One, is in more awareness of the status of this project, and the work to be done, Than Me.

I got proof aplenty. I didn’t remodel my kitchen. I tore the whole damn thing to the ground. I ripped the foundation out. I dug deeper than that. I got down to bed-rock.

I will go deeper than you will go… any day, any time, guaranteed. I am proving that right now. I hear your criticism. It’s dust in my storm. I destroy and I rebuild, and it is hard. All of it is hard. All of it, has a purpose. I used to live in a straw house, with layer upon layer of the same ol stucco and paint, that was loose and flaky. It was a sham. I was too.

During the teardown, it fell quickly. The cornerstones of this new life are here now. A relationship with God: Paramount. A divinely appointed Marriage, of Commitment and Togetherness and Communication: Structural Integrity. A Sobriety, a discipline, a daily discipline, stability to maintain. There is a whirlwind of activity at all times. It sometimes involves throwing out more of the junk in my way. Releasing more of the old, that I thought was already gone. This week, it was the approval others. What will it be next week? I don’t know, but I do care.

We all are tigers who’ve been raised among sheep. We all are more powerful, than our environment shows us to be. There is something inside of you, that awakens, when I sear this screen with a scorching hot sentence. It’s the tiger, the hero, the warrior, in you.

You’ve had the thoughts, that things are okay, they’re fine, but you’re not going to take it anymore, without trying something NEW, a reinvention of your world… “Or Else!”

It is Holy Week. It is Easter. It is time to look at the Peace of Christ. What Peace? On Good Friday, the day of crucifixion, do you think there was peace in the mind of our Lord and Savior? I doubt it. There was pain and suffering and an actual demolition of body and of a frail human mind. But he shows us the utmost, the almighty, the ultimate: Resurrection. His soul, was sent to liberate us. To remodel an old system. To bring a new covenant to our world. Our world today, in our hearts. In our souls, in eternity.

It’s ugly. It’s painful. It’s the ultimate of all Hero’s Journeys. He came for You. He destroyed his life, for yours. You get the shiny new version. You don’t have to die on a cross, he did.

This is how God made us. To see beyond the ugly, to see beyond the pain and suffering, to know in our hearts that it is better to tear down the good, in order to build the great. It is not pretty… have I made that point clear yet? It is, in the end, worth every tear.

Is the makeover, the point of it all? Is the nice new countertop, and slick new sink, the purpose of this journey? It doesn’t seem to be. The knowing that we’ve begun down the road toward better, the pitfalls and the development of new skills and new muscles is satisfying enough. To see that the project is not yet done, but that we Are working on it… That is enough. To know that we didn’t give up, before we even tried. That is the point. Being on the journey is the enough. The final destination, the showroom, only gives us pause for a moment to recognize our hard work, and to share it with the world. Then it’s back into the fray. Back into a new journey, in a new game, to play hard again.

I’ve heard a criticism this week, through the grapevine. I invite you to share this post, let everyone read it. Including my critics… Make sure they read the quote below from Theodore Roosevelt… AND, please, if you’ve ever considered me a friend, or family, or someone that has meant anything in your life. Watch this movie, Finding Joe. It explains alot, about what drives me, and what drives You, to create something amazing in your own life, right now. Be your own hero. We need You to… “Or Else!”

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

.Theodore Roosevelt

“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Want to Jump in on the next REAL discussion about a Remodel of our Life!

You’re invited to join the next weirdforgood hangout, and engage in our online workshop – you’ll need a free Google+ account, 45minutes to work with us, at 5:30 CST. You need a device with a camera & headset/microphone. If you can Skype, you can do this, (it’s actually really easy  ) Then email me at aaron@truenorthffc.com – before Tuesday – I’ll send you the hangout invite through Google+ when we start.

Check out all of my video workshop Hangouts here, to get a feel for it. Join us if you dare!

Weirdforgood Hangout – 8 – Fishy Out of Water & CONTEXT is King!

Our floppy fishy story, leads us deep into a discussion about the ‘CONTEXT’ of the world we live in. Did you know that the CONTEXT you perceive the world to be, is actually a construction of your mind that can be remodeled at any time, by YOU?

Dig Deep again with us this week, in one of the most enlightening and real conversations on the web, here at our weirdforgood world!

With Aaron Nichols & Michael Wright

You’ll want to have a notepad handy again this week!

You can read more about me, Aaron Nichols on my about page. (sorry that my video feed is choppy!)

or Michael Wright’s website — http://www.fatherofone.com

Enjoy!

To be part of next week’s Hangout — Email Me at aaron@truenorthffc.com, each week I send out an invitation email with the details on how to get setup. (It’s pretty easy) then join us at 5:30 CST with 45 minutes to get in depth and have a fun — REAL discussion!

Weirdforgood Hangout – 7 – The Big Bad Wolf of Self Judgement

The Two Wolves Story begins a fantastic discussion about self judgement in our Hangout this week. It is an empowering feeling to recognize that we are in control of whether we ‘feed’ and give life to our negative thoughts and beliefs, or our positive and life enhancing thoughts… OR, how we can take anything that comes at us, and find the message, and be the change that we want to see in the world.

With Aaron Nichols & Michael Wright

You’ll want to have a notepad handy again this week!

You can read more about me, Aaron Nichols on my about page. (sorry that my video feed is choppy!)

or Michael Wright’s website — http://www.fatherofone.com

Enjoy!

To be part of next week’s Hangout — Email Me at aaron@truenorthffc.com, each week I send out an invitation email with the details on how to get setup. (It’s pretty easy) then join us at 5:30 CST with 45 minutes to get in depth and have a fun — REAL discussion!

Weirdforgood Hangout – 5 – Hiding Monsters Under the Bed

A GREAT Hangout with TONS of killer ideas and discussion. Join in with your comments below, or connect with us online next week, and be live in the Hangout with us.

Our launching point is Hiding Monsters Under the Bed from last week’s blog.

With Aaron Nichols, Melissa Ford & Michael Wright

We Cover life issues like:

  • Why our thoughts can be so powerfully scary – like Monsters under the bed
  • Our negativity can only live in the dark, so let’s bring it up to the light and test it out
  • How an experience can shape our thoughts profoundly, even when silly and false
  • How Caring, doesn’t have to mean Hitting the Panic Button
  • How seriously do I want to take this Crappy Thought?

You’ll want to have a notepad handy this week!

Another great discussion that we invite you to check out!

You can read more about me, Aaron Nichols on my about page

or Melissa Ford’s website – http://www.empoweredparentingsolutions.com

or Micheal Wright’s Blog – http://www.fatherofone.com

Enjoy!

To be part of next week’s Hangout – Email Me at aaron@truenorthffc.com, each week I send out an invitation email with the details on how to get setup. (It’s pretty easy) then join us at 5:30 CST with 45 minutes to get in depth and have a fun – REAL discussion!

Out of Order and Backwards

Happy Thursday and welcome back to Ready for Better. Thanks for being here!

“I Owe, I Owe, So Off to Work I Go!”

Anyone relate to this quote?? I’ve put together some of my roadtrip pictures to help illustrate our Out of Order and Backwards way that most of us are using to handle our finances… I have lived this way for many years, so please know I am speaking first hand!

Ahh, Oregon, Beautiful Trees and Driving…

Oh the doowdeR’s – How majestic!

The odaroloC and hatU border, one of my favorite stops 🙂

Facing South down the coast… Wait a min, shouldn’t the Ocean be on my right??

Okay, Okay, these photos have been mirrored and are all out of order!

Like the pictures above, we sometimes like the overall colors of our financial situation. It is nice and even pretty because it is ours and we created it, even in it’s backward-ness.
When we choose to buy-now and pay-later, or purchase on credit, we have flipped backwards the natural order.
Have you ever heard this? “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 – Really think about that SLAVE word.
When we head off to work in the morning, what are we usually doing… Earning an income to pay for our basic needs of course, but those are only part of that reason. What about consumer debt in the form of credit card bills, student loans, car loans, or maybe a HELOC (Like I once used to buy a 4-wheeler!!)? These all represent moments where we were backwards in our purchasing process.
Working because we owe a lender their monthly payment for something we bought weeks, months or years ago is exhausting. There is no way to get ahead in this system.
The thunderstorm of commercials and marketing we have dumped on us every day, convince us we are smart to choose the backward system of credit. Zero percent interest, 90 days same as cash, and double airline miles are all efforts to seduce you by companies who know how to really make money. Who is getting the best deal when we choose to buy now and pay later?? They do of course, they understand the “Borrower is Slave to the Lender”…
If we first work, then save, then purchase an item, we have returned to the natural order. At that point we are slave to no one and can choose to live our days as we would most like to. Planning forward with savings and then truly owning the stuff in our life, opens up the doors to financial peace and a wealthy future.
Are you Ready for a Better life than debt has brought you so far? Does this message stir any emotion? If so, that is good, because it means that there is hope for you to find freedom and release the chains of consumer debt.
You are special. You work too hard to not be getting ahead. You are worth it! It requires sacrifice to climb out of debt, and when we sacrifice, we are blessed with fantastic results!“Debt gives you the ability to look like you’re winning, when you’re not.” – Dave Ramsey

Sincerely,
Aaron Nichols

True North Financial Fitness Coaching
785-218-6134
Free 30 Minute Financial Analysis – No Obligation – Completely Confidential

Your Vision

Good Morning, I hope your week has been Fantastic!! Here is the latest Blog update and one that I will expand and build on in future posts. This subject has impacted all areas of my life, including finances. Let’s talk about Vision…

I have been a “rider” for most of my life. As a kid I had a bicycle like most. Then four-wheelers and motorcycles were a big part of my recreation as a teen and adult. I’ve also enjoyed many miles of adult bicycling as well. I’ve never been the smoothest rider, the craziest, or the most confident. I enjoyed it and thought I was okay, but actually had tons of room to improve!

A few years ago, I was reading a web article on bicycling and found a sentence that changed the way I looked at the world from that point forward.

Okay, so the sentence (that I read) that changed everything about the way I ride and live, goes something like this… “The bike goes where you look!”

Simple Right?? I immediately tested the theory and found out it is So True! The bike does go where you look. Put your eye on a spot in the road, focus there, and the bike ends up tracking exactly on top of that spot. No extra thinking or steering is required.

Let’s go further… If the Bike is us, and the Road is life, and Time is the engine pushing us forward… Do we understand that We are going where We are Looking??

Most of the time, if a curve is ahead, and we see a patch of gravel, or a huge pothole, (A Big Problem!) then our eyes stick on it, and we drive right to it!! The whole time thinking, “I hope I don’t hit that, I hope I don’t hit that!”

As it relates to our finances, are we looking to the place in the road we want to be? Or do we focus on the patches of gravel (bills piling up) and potholes (a mountain of debt). Worse yet, are we turned around and looking behind us at our previous money mistakes and opportunities we’ve past? Where do you think we’re headed in that situation?

We must begin to change our focus and where our vision is pointed. If we put our eyes on a new future, look beyond the debt, see ourselves as wisely controlling our finances, then us and our bike will begin to point that way. Can you see yourself in a Life After Debt? Can you see the money you would be able to spend, save and give if you had no credit card bills, student loans, medical bills, car payments or even a house payment? I like that vision, and live that vision. I know you can accomplish that too!

The exhilleration and feeling of flight you are able to enjoy when Debt-Free is worth the effort to get there. Use your mind and your vision to imagine that life for you and your family. You do deserve to rid yourself of the potholes that debt cause in your life. The road does not have to be as bumpy in your future financial world.

If you are Ready for a Better Road, together we can make a plan to fill those holes of consumer-debt. If you’re Ready for a Better Bike we’ll install cushy shock-absorbers called emergency funds to soften the ride. Then I’ll bring out the atlas, to show you the places you can reach, if you take the investing route to get there. You’ll have one saddle-bag stuffed full of cash for your future fun purposes and purchases. The other one will be over-flowing so you can stop along the way to help fellow travelers with your abundance.

Thanks for reading today’s post. I hope you’ll ask yourself, “What is My Vision?” and I hope it is a good one 🙂

“One thing I do is forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” Philippians 3:13

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols

True North Financial Fitness Coaching
785-218-6134
Free 30 Minute Consultation – No Obligation – Completely Confidential

* Special Thanks to Sterling for a sweet Saturday Ride, and to sweet Liz for taking the pics!