We all know the nursery rhyme Row Row Row your boat gently down the stream, but how many of us realize that this a suitable motto to live our lives. Look at how hectic and busy our lives have become. Our children our so stacked with activities that they don't have time to be a child.
We spend our days in a blur from one activity to the next. We are living at warp speed. Is it any wonder we can feel disconnected. Where do we find time for each other, our families, friends, colleagues, and ourselves. Maybe we should focus more on quality and less on quantity. Stop eating with both hands!
Slow down, unplug. You don't row a boat in a frenzied mad dash but with a smooth rhythmic stroke. Just think how much better we would all feel if we just slowed down. My friend Dave always reminded me that the race does not always go to the swiftest but to those that keep on moving. Life is a journey to be enjoyed, or a joyful experience
Relax. Smile. Let's allow more time for joy and happiness to find you. And let's remember to row row row our boats gently down the stream. Merrily, Merrily life is but a dream.
All the Best,
Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
tkaufmanncoaching.com
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Great American Angst
Turn on the TV or radio and you can hear the fear through the airwaves. the headlines read America is finished, half of the population is in poverty. The land of plenty is covered by a big rain cloud these days. The people I talk to can't help but tell me how America's better days are behind it, how bad the economy is, and we are being passed by the likes of China, India, and other booming countries. What we forget is that China and India are countries and cultures that are thousands of years old with many cycles of boom and bust.
Many people that have built successful businesses and families, the backbone of the country, are genuinely concerned and fearful for their futures. One thing we have to continually remind ourselves to do is to ignore or unplug from the negativity. We don't have to ignore it but we don't have to wallow in it either. Many of us and our liveliehoods are being displaced. Our careers, businesses, and lifestyles may be obsolete. Time for new direction, a change, a new Adventure!
Great ideas, inventions, and innovations are happening everyday around us regardless of the political and economic climate, it's just that these folks are too focused on delivering their dreams that they don't let anything get in the way of pursuing their passion. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook are all companies that were planted and bloomed in various economies. The key is that the founders were too busy making their dream a reality to get distracted by naysayers.
That's what we need to do. Focus on your dreams whether it's opening a restaurant, going to college, being a dentist, finding your soulmate, having a child, a new business, getting healthy. Whatever!
Life is short, time is fleeting. Unplug from the doom and gloom. Time to get busy.
Our Dreams wait for no one.
All the Best,
Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
tkaufmanncoaching.com
Many people that have built successful businesses and families, the backbone of the country, are genuinely concerned and fearful for their futures. One thing we have to continually remind ourselves to do is to ignore or unplug from the negativity. We don't have to ignore it but we don't have to wallow in it either. Many of us and our liveliehoods are being displaced. Our careers, businesses, and lifestyles may be obsolete. Time for new direction, a change, a new Adventure!
Great ideas, inventions, and innovations are happening everyday around us regardless of the political and economic climate, it's just that these folks are too focused on delivering their dreams that they don't let anything get in the way of pursuing their passion. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook are all companies that were planted and bloomed in various economies. The key is that the founders were too busy making their dream a reality to get distracted by naysayers.
That's what we need to do. Focus on your dreams whether it's opening a restaurant, going to college, being a dentist, finding your soulmate, having a child, a new business, getting healthy. Whatever!
Life is short, time is fleeting. Unplug from the doom and gloom. Time to get busy.
Our Dreams wait for no one.
All the Best,
Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
tkaufmanncoaching.com
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas Time - A Mother's Love
This time of year always has me reflecting back on our childhood Christmas celebrations. My three brothers and I would be so excited with what Santa was going to bring. The tree was decorated, the Christmas music with Johnny Mathias wafting through the house, and the fresh smell of pine created the perfect atmosphere.
I think of the gifts we received the latest electric racing car set, a new basketball, or a favorite team sweat shirt and that was all great, but the best was celebrating and sharing the holidays with Mom and the brothers. I think of all the gifts Santa brings our kids and wow they seem to get more in one year than we received in a lifetime but I'm not sure it's better.
Santa was a miracle worker! Despite limited resources, he always found a way to make Christmas special and I'm grateful for the greatest gift of all
A Mother's Love
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
All the Best,
Coach K
I think of the gifts we received the latest electric racing car set, a new basketball, or a favorite team sweat shirt and that was all great, but the best was celebrating and sharing the holidays with Mom and the brothers. I think of all the gifts Santa brings our kids and wow they seem to get more in one year than we received in a lifetime but I'm not sure it's better.
Santa was a miracle worker! Despite limited resources, he always found a way to make Christmas special and I'm grateful for the greatest gift of all
A Mother's Love
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
All the Best,
Coach K
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Free Cheese
Welfare to Wealth
Helen grew up like any other young girl with dreams of being a princess, marrying prince charming, and living in a nice house with a white picket fence. But somewhere on the way to Oz her prince turned into a frog and hopped away, leaving her at the tender age of 25 with four boys under the age of 9 to fend for themselves.
Her dreams shattered, her bubble burst, she did what she could to provide for her boys and make a good life for them. Her sole purpose in life became the survival of her and the boys. She begged and pleaded for money, food, and to make sure her boys were educated. Out of necessity, the young princess became a street fighter. She was an Irish Catholic from working class roots, and has an abiding faith in God. She would do whatever it takes.
Helen did something many of us will not do when life beats us down and crushes our dreams. Yes, she cried with a broken heart but she got back up and fought. She was determined to raise her boys as best she could. She made a simple but powerful choice and that choice was to STAND and DELIVER to do what was right, to sacrifice her life and dreams to take care of her boys. She didn't say poor me and pout. She fought tooth and nail and she battled with her boys to try and keep them in line. Dealing with her four boys on a daily basis was an emotional and physical drain, but she had a spirit that would not be broken. She was determined to survive.
Helen never had two nickels and she would send her boys to stand in line for free cheese and powdered milk, but she was a woman of great accomplishment, of tremendous achievement, and the most successful person I know. When it seemed that everyone else turned their back on Mom, she knew that her faith and God would be there for her no matter what.
All the Best,
Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
coachkaufmann.com
Helen grew up like any other young girl with dreams of being a princess, marrying prince charming, and living in a nice house with a white picket fence. But somewhere on the way to Oz her prince turned into a frog and hopped away, leaving her at the tender age of 25 with four boys under the age of 9 to fend for themselves.
Her dreams shattered, her bubble burst, she did what she could to provide for her boys and make a good life for them. Her sole purpose in life became the survival of her and the boys. She begged and pleaded for money, food, and to make sure her boys were educated. Out of necessity, the young princess became a street fighter. She was an Irish Catholic from working class roots, and has an abiding faith in God. She would do whatever it takes.
Helen did something many of us will not do when life beats us down and crushes our dreams. Yes, she cried with a broken heart but she got back up and fought. She was determined to raise her boys as best she could. She made a simple but powerful choice and that choice was to STAND and DELIVER to do what was right, to sacrifice her life and dreams to take care of her boys. She didn't say poor me and pout. She fought tooth and nail and she battled with her boys to try and keep them in line. Dealing with her four boys on a daily basis was an emotional and physical drain, but she had a spirit that would not be broken. She was determined to survive.
Helen never had two nickels and she would send her boys to stand in line for free cheese and powdered milk, but she was a woman of great accomplishment, of tremendous achievement, and the most successful person I know. When it seemed that everyone else turned their back on Mom, she knew that her faith and God would be there for her no matter what.
All the Best,
Tom Kaufmann
Coach K
coachkaufmann.com
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