When Is the Sky NOT Falling?

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It's been a couple of weeks now but the most recent example of this "craziness" was exemplified with hurricane Isaac. Most people across the U.S. experienced big hikes in gas prices because of this mentality. Prices jumped 12 cents per gallon in one location we passed all in the matter of two hours. Really? Was this necessary?

 

I made sure watched the news that night so I could see what the "reason" was behind this "sky is falling" activity and everything I heard confirmed that, indeed, it was all hysteria over things that didn't amount to much. Hurricane Isaac never reached anything above a level 1 category yet the hysteria was as if it were a level 4 storm! The refineries had shut down in some areas along the Gulf Coast during the storm and this drove the thought that there might be gas shortages. The interesting thing was that the reports also indicated that this area only provided about 22% of the U.S. gas supply.

 

Think about it... only 22% and the hysteria at the pump as almost as high as it was back on September 11,2001 when the Twin Towers were hit in a terrorist attack.

 

My point? DON'T GET CAUGHT UP IN THE HYPE!

 

News is driven by hype, hysteria, fear and drama!

 

Now here's the BIG question for you to consider...does this also describe what drives YOUR life?

 

I hope not! It's easy to get caught up in this type of drama even on a daily basis and that is why is is so important for us to surround ourselves with positive people as much as possible! Yes, I understand that this is not always possible but that is why it is even more important to do so when we can!

 

The more we can surround ourselves with POSITIVE influences the more it will help "protect" us from the hysteria, drama and fear that comes with this "sky is falling" attitude.

 

Gas prices? I still hear on an almost daily basis how different "experts" are predicting gas to be at one high price or another. You know what? I've been hearing it for a long time and it has yet to come to be - and I do mean YEARS when I say "for a long time".

 

It's your choice but, honestly, there are better ways to get in shape rather than constantly JUMPING to conclusions and RUNNING AROUND like a chicken with it's head cut off yelling, "THE SKY IS FALLING!".

 

Think about it and, as you do, be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

Your Information - YOUR Choice!

"Your Information - YOUR Choice!

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? It's YOUR choice!

No one else can control that for you. If you are an adult, there is likely not anyone telling you when you've watched enough television and that it is time to turn it off. It's up to you.

Sure, you may want to stay "informed" on what is going on in the world but, seriously, how MUCH information do your really need to stay informed about what is really important?

Do you REALLY have to know about every little thing that is going on all around the world? With the use of cell phone video cameras and other items we now have INSTANT ACCESS to happenings all around the world.

Is that really necessary? Is it really helpful?

Many of you may not remember what I'm about to discuss and some of you may find it even unbelievable. But I remember a time when there was cable channels didn't even exist and all you had were the three major networks. That's it. Three channels to choose from. And, if I remember right, at midnight they all shut down for the night.

My wife and I were discussing this just the other day about how at midnight there would be a certain design on the screen or the American flag would be shown waving in the wind as the National Anthem was played.

And then, that was it for the night.

And, I wonder, have we really improved our lives by having 100+ channels available to us (and our kids) on a 24 hour basis?

Informational overload.

It is likely more important than ever for each of us (especially as parents) to take control of the information that we allow into our households and into our minds and the minds of those that share our home with us.

If you haven't done so, be sure to read Tanya's comments on the blog a couple of days ago. She makes some very good observations that likely many of you can relate to.

So...what will you do about it?

Is it important enough to you for you to do something about it?

Stop watching t.v. all together? Some do. It might be worth a try even for a day and then two days and then a week.

See what happens.

But also stay away from the news on the radio as well as talk shows (unless they are POSITIVE!) and even try to stay off the computer as much as possible.

Try that and see how you feel and see how much more clearly you may be able to think.

REPLACE the negative with something POSITIVE! If you aren't in the habit of listening to my podcast that goes along with this blog, be sure to give it a try. You can subscribe to the iTunes feed as well as the RSS feed by clicking on the "videocast" tab on my website and then clicking either the iTunes logo or the RSS feed logo.

Just go to http://www.michaelspillman.com/

There is a lot more positive information out there - find it and use it! One that I've mentioned many times is Success.com. You can read a LOT of FREE information there. Also, look through my tabs on my site and check out the Jim Rohn link that I have available for you there. He is my favorite and has some AWESOME thoughts that have made a major impact on my life.

Hey, you don't have to do ANY of this.

But, my guess is that you wouldn't be reading this blog if you weren't on a mission to try to improve your positive mindset.

Remember, it's YOUR choice.

As always, be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

http://www.michaelspillman.com/

Your Informational Filter

"Your Informational Filter"

Take a moment and look at that picture and ask yourself this question: "Would I allow a big pile of garbage like that in my house?"

I hope that I can answer that for you with a resounding, "NO!".

Yes, there are some people that do, but I'm hoping that you are not one of them!

Of course, by looking at the picture you already know what the real point of it is especially when you combine it with what we have been talking about for the past few days.

WHAT JUNK ARE YOU ALLOWING INTO YOUR MIND?

We have been talking about the massive amounts of "news programming" available to us each and every day via the television. This doesn't even take into account what's available to us on the Internet, the radio and even our smart phones. Is there REALLY a need for this much information/news?

NO!

Here's the deal, too, when you start talking about all of this "news programming" - a lot of it (if not most of it) is not even news at all!

You've heard the phrase, "No news is good news" right? Well, let me do my own little twist on that one by saying this: "ALL NEWS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!"

I'm not even talking about the fact that we sometimes receive bad news. What I'm talking about is that everything that might be labeled as "news" in our society is not all GOOD (as in "quality") news. Really think that one over.

The main reason I brought all of this up about the news is due to the fact that I have noticed such an "overkill" on my own "local/affiliate stations" with their "news coverage" AND also due to so many people claiming that they just HAVE to keep up with the "news". Really?

Anyway, enough of that.

What about soap operas? What about sports programming? (By the way, a lot of the so-called "sports programming" is pretty much like the "news programming" when you consider the fact that some of these 24 hour cable sports channels have to fill that much time!).

What about Facebook? What about....? YOU fill in the blank there and be HONEST with yourself on these things.

How much time are you spending DUMPING garbage (useless or negative information) into your mind? Remember, G.I.G.O. (garbage in - garbage out).

Tomorrow I will conclude this series but the battle will be one that continues in your life and it is 100% up to YOU as to what you do about it - if anything at all.

Bottom line again - do NOT think that what you allow into your mind has not impact on your life and the lives of those around you.

Start using your "informational filter" and "clean up" what you are allowing into the "engine" for your whole life.

Think about and DO something about it.

Until next time...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

Information Overload

"INFORMATION OVERLOAD"

How much "information" is TOO much and what "information" is actually USEFUL information?

These are but a few of the questions that we all really need to be asking ourselves IF we are serious about controlling what we allow into our "mental mindset".

Why? Again, referring back to the old computer acrostic "G.I.G.O." = "Garbage In, Garbage Out". What you ALLOW in to your mental mindset will be what "comes out" in your thoughts and actions.

If that doesn't sober you up a little bit I'm not sure what will.

I emphasized the word, "ALLOW" two paragraphs earlier for a reason. Let's face it, we're not being FORCED as to what information goes into our heads, are we? Likely not. So, again getting honest with ourselves, we ALLOW this into our minds.

Did you go through your programming guide to see how much "news programming" is on during the course of a day on YOUR television channels? Again, I'm not even talking about the cable "news" channels that are on 24 hours a day but your "local" channels like NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox (no, not the Fox News Network).

Here's what I found when I researched my programming guide:

The local affiliates for NBC and ABC each have a total of 10 hours of "news programming" on as a combination of national and local programming. The CBS affiliate has 9.5 hours available and the local affiliate for the Fox channel only has 4 hours of local news programming. I also found that the local NBC affiliate begins this type of programming at 4:30 a.m. and continues it off and on throughout the day until 10:30 p.m. The ABC affiliate begins this type of programming at 2:30 a.m. and continues on and off until 10:30 p.m. (even though it just hit me that they do also have a national "news" program from 11:00 - 11:30 p.m. which brings them up to the same 10 hours a day as the other two that I mentioned.

I live in Arkansas which is a very small state. However, our local affiliates feel that there is some sort of need for those of us in the state to be inundated with MASSIVE amounts of local news available to us all throughout the day. Really?

Listen friend, I'm here to tell you that there is NOT enough "news" going on in this small state to justify the local NBC affiliate airing a local "news program" from 5:00 - 7:00 a.m. as well as from noon - 1:00 p.m. and then again from 5:00 - 5:30, 6:00 - 6:30, 7:00 - 7:30 and again from 10:00 - 10:30 p.m. Too, the local ABC affiliate offers similar local programming from 4:30 - 7:00 a.m., 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. - Noon, 5:00 - 5:30 p.m., 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. and 10:00 - 10:30 p.m. Let's not forget the local CBS affiliate that offers the same type of "programming" beginning at 4:30 - 7:00 a.m. and then provides more from 9:00 - 9:30 a.m., Noon - 12:30 p.m., 5:00 - 5:30 p.m., 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. and again at 10:00 - 10:30 p.m.

Whew! That makes me tired just typing all of that!

My friend, this is INFORMATION OVERLOAD and I didn't even address the national "news programs" that are on off and on all day and night. And, yes, I put the words "news programs" in quotes for a reason and I will address that in the next podcast/article.

Remember, too, that we haven't even began to mention the so-called cable "news channels" that are on 24 hours a day.

HELP!

So, friend, what are you allowing in YOUR mind? What are you allowing to make a definite IMPACT upon your life and the lives of all that you have contact with on a daily basis? Remember the "ripple effect"?

Think about it - with the television turned off for a change and we'll continue this discussion tomorrow.

Until then, be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

Your Information Diet

"YOUR INFORMATION DIET"

Simple task - tell me about your diet.

"Oh, but I'm not currently on a diet."

Sure you are. Tell me about it.

"No, see...you don't understand. I TRIED a diet but it didn't go very well so I quit."

Regardless, you are STILL on a diet. Whatever it is that you eat from day to day IS your diet! Now, when we look at it that way some of us might feel like crawling under a rock and hiding, right?

I hear people say, "I'm going to go on a diet" or "I'm going to start a diet" and, though I understand what they are trying to communicate, those words used are actually wrong.

The correct thing to say would be, "I'm going to CHANGE my diet" or "I'm going to IMPROVE my diet."

Get it?

Good!

Why is this so important? Well, first of all you can relax. We are NOT going to be talking about your nutritional diet in this series of discussions. We're going to be talking about your "mental diet" or your "information diet".

So, right off, let me ask you the same question that I asked before BUT this time in reference to your "mental or informational diet".

Tell me about your diet.

The thing is, most of us THINK we know about our "mental/informational diet" but, in reality we really have no idea.

It's time to find out!

Step one: FIND OUT WHAT IS AVAILABLE.

What do I mean by that? Simply go through your program guide (whatever or however that is available to you) and look through a 24 hour period and see how many "news programs" are on the air during that time period. However, DO NOT count your cable channels but ONLY count the "national" channels (NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX).

Seriously. Give it your best shot and see what you come up with.

I'll share mine with you during the next podcast/blog article. I thought I had a pretty good idea how saturated this type of programming was but I was still a bit shocked when I actually took the time to put it down on paper.

Do that and then come back tomorrow for the next entry on this topic and we'll see what you and I both do with what is available.

Until then...think about the old computer acrostic, "G.I.G.O" which stands for "garbage in, garbage out". It's a simple reminder that a computer is only as good as the programming. If you program "garbage" into the computer then guess what you'll get? GARBAGE!

The same is true when we think about our mindsets. Positive or negative?

Think about it.

And until next time...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

Mike's Rant on the Media

The Rant Continues...

I hope you don't mind me taking this opportunity to let off a little steam about a few things. And, yes, I'm smiling as I type that sentence!

Today I'm going to rant about the media and the impact it makes on our lives each and every day. Before I get started on today's "rant" (yeah, I'm still smiling) I want you to try to figure out how much time each day - on average - you spend listening to and/or watching some sort of "news". Could there perhaps be a need for a change in your dose of "news" each day?

As I mentioned on today's podcast, think for a moment about all of the news outlets available to us each and every day. When I talk about this, I'm not even talking about newspapers and what's available on the Internet which would multiply the sources many times over!

How many 24 hour "news" channels can you think of? There are SEVERAL available to us out there each and every day to where, regardless of the time - day or night - you can turn the television on and get the "news".

In case you are wondering why I keep putting "news" in quotation marks it is because I believe that the majority of what is passed off as news is not really news. So, I'm using the term "news" in a very loose and general way.

Now, on top of all of the 24 hour "news" channels on a national level, you also have 24 hour "sports" (yeah, I'm using that one loosely and generally as well) networks as well that tend to try to get into the area of "news" quite often. Then, along with all of that you have the entertainment "news" shows that REALLY get into the "gossip" aspect of all of this.

Are you ready to go to the "local" level now? I can only speak of the way it is in Arkansas, so you will have to apply this to your local "news" market on this part. Most of our local news channels (the main networks - NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX) have an early morning "news" program that starts somewhere around 5 or 5:30 a.m. and goes until it's time for the national morning "news" programs. These generally run until 9:00 a.m. or, in the case of one network, 10 a.m. each day. In Arkansas, on the networks who's morning national program ends at 9:00 a.m. our local channels pick up with ANOTHER segment of morning "news" which ends at around 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. THEN several of them also have a noon "news" program that last for 30 minutes - and even one of them goes for a full hour. On top of all of that, each of these also has a "news" program from 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. (followed by the national "news" from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.) and another from 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. and now a couple of these have extended this to an additional segment that goes from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. We're not done yet! They hit us again with a 10:00 p.m. "news" segment that goes for another 30 minutes! However, the local FOX network has their evening "news" begin at 9:00 p.m. and again at 10:00 p.m.

CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!

Now, this is in ARKANSAS - there is just not THAT much to talk about around here!

But the truth is this: even nationally, there just really isn't THAT much to talk about! And, so, many times these networks must CREATE their own news by talking about things that aren't really news. Many of the things you will see talked about on these programs are full of controversy that rival the "entertainment news" (gossip shows) format.

Can you say OVER-KILL?

You could literally sit in front of your television ALL DAY and watch "news" from the time you get out of bed to the time you GO to bed and then, if you want, get up in the middle of the night and catch a peek at a little more. See why I asked you to determine your "dose" that YOU get each day? Might it be a little much? Could it be that you need to "wean" yourself off of this?

So, what does this have to do with what I ranted about yesterday? EVERYTHING!

When you consider the amount of time that is dedicated to "news" (again, for the most part the use of this word is a JOKE) then they have to fill that time with SOMETHING!

And, so, when a professional golfer crashes his SUV into a fire hydrant and tree at 3:00 a.m. and 911 is called - IT'S MAJOR NEWS that is shown over and over again and talked about to the point of redundancy!

Now, let me say this - I'm not letting Tiger Woods or so many of our "celebrities" off of the hook on this, o.k.? We'll be talking more about this tomorrow and on Thursday -- but right now I'm ranting about the media! (Yup, still smiling).

Really think about it - how many times did you see the SAME clip of his SUV crashed into that tree? Over and over again all day for several days!

Let's fast forward a few months to something that happened earlier this week - Tiger's "news conference" (Really? Are you kidding me?) for him to "apologize" to a few close friends PLUS a huge television audience! Was this something that REALLY merited all of those channels to "cut in" to their programming so that they could air this live?

And, because it was relatively short - 14 minutes, was it? - some channels (the so-called SPORTS channels...yeah, I'm talking about you, ESPN) decided it was worth showing in it's entirety more than once! If I had hair long enough to do it, I'd be pulling it out about now!

Wow, have I ranted long enough yet? (Smiling!)

Here's the thing that WE (those of you taking the time to read this) must think about --- IT'S ALL MOSTLY JUNK and NEGATIVE so we need to break away from it as much as possible!

Again, with as much time to fill as these "news" programs have to fill then they MUST find as much doom and gloom as possible. And, with today's technology it is now possible for them to get more and more often from ANYWHERE around the world!

I think it was the old ABC sports show called, "ABC's Wide World of Sports" that used a phrase along the lines of, "Spanning the globe..." Here's the thing - these "news" outlets are no longer just "spanning the globe" they are now scouring the globe to dig up anything that can to try to pass it off as "news".

Really think about that and how it impacts YOUR life and YOUR attitude each and every day.

Ahhhhhhh...now, I feel better!

Hey, seriously, thanks for joining me today and I do hope I've given you something to think about that can HELP YOU in your quest to live a POWERFUL and POSITIVE life!

And, as you do so, remember...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike