Life's Patterns

LIFE'S PATTERNS

They are all around us.

Wow, that kind of sounds like the trailer to some new horror flick, doesn't it?

But it's not and I'm talking about "Life's Patterns" and the fact that these patterns are around us each and every day.

Think about it and see how many different types of these patterns you can come up with before I start to mention some in this blog. (Note: If you already listened to the podcast - NO FAIR!)

Obviously, from the picture above, the changing of the seasons is one of those patterns that we see take place year after year. (And, by the way, I forgot to mention this, most obvious one, on the podcast).

Yes, I understand that in some parts of the country and the world the seasons don't vary much, if even at all. However, whether the weather conditions around you change much or not does not have any impact on the fact that the seasons come and go year after year.

Think about this life pattern - when you are a baby you rely on others to take care of all of your basic needs such as food and cleanliness. We slowly work our way towards independence in these areas and then, if we live long enough, we slowly revert back to the beginning stages of relying on others to provide all of our basic needs.

Sad, but true. One of the patterns of life that many face.

You can even see these patterns in the commodities and in the stock market. Those that pay close attention to these things can look at charts that show these patterns over a period of time and this will help them make wiser choices.

And then there are these patterns in our own everyday lives...the good days and the bad days. The days when everything seems to be going in our favor and also those days that it seems as if everything is working against us.

There are the times that you are happy with the job of your dreams and then there are the times that you have been "let go" and find it hard to connect with a new job. There are the times that you stand before a group of friends and a minister across from that "person of your dreams" with promises of "forever love" and then there are the times that this union comes to a crashing end.

Wow.

Friend, I'm calling these "patterns of life" because they are all A PART OF LIFE!

So, how are you doing with these patterns in YOUR life today? Are you in an "up" cycle or a "down" cycle?

What are you doing to change the situation if you find yourself in a "down" cycle and what are you doing to PREPARE yourself for that "down" cycle if you currently find yourself in an "up" cycle.

Patterns, remember?

Tomorrow I will make another analogy that I think you will be able to relate to in a very powerful way. Be sure to join me then and also to share this with others.

Until next time...

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

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

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