Today I heard the saying “Trying is lying!”
It made me reflect back to earlier this year when I was lying in my hospital bed with two broken legs, a broken hip and a broken pelvis, injuries I had sustained in a motorcycle accident. After the surgeons had put my body back together, I was moved to a rehabilitation hospital, where I spent the next 4 months learning how to walk again. This was an amazing facility designed to assist patients (many worse off than me), in adjusting to their new limitations. The goal was to assist us in finding strategies that were designed to help us continue to live a life worth living, despite these challenges.
Since I had sustained extensive orthopedic injuries, I required intensive physiotherapy.
Each morning, patients were expected to get dressed and wear their street clothes to physiotherapy, even though most of them would spend the remainder of their day in bed. It was part of the psychology to help us realize that we were not “sick:” but learning how to function again and look after ourselves.
The first time I went to physio, my physiotherapist Derek, asked me to move my leg. Now if you know me, (or are coached by me) you will know that a common theme I espouse is that of “I can’t}”. “I can’t” and its cousin “I give up!” are two phrases that are not allowed in my vocabulary, and if I have any influence over you, it’s not allowed in yours’ either…smile!.
I looked down at my leg and counted myself lucky as I looked around the room at the other patients. They all seemed to be using a mixture of medieval looking contraptions that contorted their bodies in a way that I was sure was designed to increase pain and agony. I just had to move my leg.
I told my leg to move in the direction that Derek had just asked but it stayed put. “Wait a minute”, I said to myself and I tried again, but it just wouldn’t move. I tried concentrating harder, and even spoke the words aloud, but it still wouldn’t change position. Frustrated now, I glared at this appendage that was betraying me, and found myself alternating between cajoling and cussing- all internal conversations of course. No amount of asking was making my leg budge! Derek my physiotherapist came by and with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face said “come on Frankie, MOVE IT!” “You can do it!” Visibly upset now with tears of anger and discouragement streaming down my face, I cried out, “I’m trying”, CAN’T YOU SEE THAT? “Well actually no, I can’t” he said gently, “because I don’t see your leg moving.”
It was then that I had an epiphany, Trying is not good enough. Trying is actually NOT Doing! It is still “I can’t” or “I won’t”. Another realization came to me as well, and that was I had a commitment, but it wasn’t to what I thought.
I was committed to NOT moving my leg. For whatever reason, perhaps it was fear of pain, or maybe of finding out that I may never be able to move it, I just didn’t want to do it. I am sure the “why” of it matter doesn’t matter as much as asking the Powerful Question, “So what are you going to do about it?”
When I came to terms with that revelation, I knew I had a decision to make right then and there. Either I could continue to pretend to “try” and not move my leg, or I could be a Doer.
We have already established that I am not a quitter, I don’t believe in I can’t and I knew I hadn’t survived the night of my accident to fail in my recovery, so there was only one option left, and that was to DO!!
But what about that commitment, what was I to do with that?
That commitment was NOT serving me. I knew that, because I WANTED to walk again and making my leg to move, was the first step to that goal. So I took a deep breath, told myself one more time “you can do it” and looked down at my leg and said “move damn it”.
Well son of a gun, didn’t it just move a couple of inches! I was ecstatic!
Now to be honest, it didn’t move far, but it did move. This was enough to prove to me it could be done.
Not only did I know that my leg was going to work again, I also knew what a powerful being lived inside me! This is not only true of me, but it is also true of you!
Each of us has the power to overcome the things we are committed to whether it be fear of flying or poor body image. No matter how long you have been living you’re your commitment, you can change the terms anytime you want.
I invite you to look inside at some of the commitments that have not been serving you, and see if you are ready to change your perspective on any of them.
Now that you understand the difference between trying and doing, literally in the blink of an eye, you will be able to recognize your commitments and know how to change them. Just imagine the freedom of being able to DO anything you want.
The next time you hear yourself say I am trying, remember, to tell yourself you are lying!
If you want to stay committed to something then commit to being the best you can be! Thomas Merton said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
An exercise to bring this point home is to sit in a chair and drop a pencil on the floor. Now then I want you to TRY to pick the pencil up. Did you pick the pencil up? You Did? Well then put it back because you weren’t trying. Try again. Now I want you to TRY to pick the pencil up. Did you pick it up? NO? Then you weren’t trying. You see you can either be committed to picking the pencil up and do, or be committed to leaving the pencil on the floor and not do, but you can’t TRY to pick the pencil up!
Frankie Picasso, CPC LMT , is an Executive Business and Vision Coach and a Motivational Speaker, who loves to help people find their passion, path and purpose in Life. She has worked with both public and private sector organizations in the area of organizational wellness, alternative dispute resolution, sales and marketing, customer service and quality planning.The name of her company is Conversation with My Shoes and to find out more about her coaching, her speaking engagements , and her community involvement, please visit her website at http://www.conversationwithmyshoes.com
Getting involved in the extreme sport of KiteSurfing might be more costly than you think, when in all actuality it’s relatively inexpensive to get started. Depending on what type of Kite, board and lines you purchase the bottom line will always be to buy the safest products possible at the lowest price.
Two popular manufacturers are Wipika and Kiteski.
The Kiteski system uses a rigid framed-kite, which is launched by hand, and the surfer uses a control bar that lets out slack to inflate the kite higher as the surfer gets further away from the shore. Once the kite deflates and hits the water, the control bar has a reel attached to bring the kite in for quick re-launch with minimal downtime.
The Wipika system uses an inflatable kite that floats out on the water first and is launched without reeling it in, even though they both have a control bar and reel-in function.
The kites are made up of several parts:
The Kite (Leading Edge)
2 Bridle Lines
2 Flying Lines
1 Control Bar
You will also need:
A Wet Suit
Life Jacket or Buoyancy Jacket
Helmet
Water Shoe
Safety Release
Board Leash
There are 3 different types of beginner KiteSurfing kites that you can choose from:
Inflatable Kites
Single Skin Framed Kites
Ram Air Foil Kites
All of these kites can be re-launched from the water. There are many other manufactures of KiteSurfing equipment on the market to choose from. Including: Wipika, Naish, Sea Jump, Seasmik, KiteSki, C-Quad, Banshee, Concept Air and fOne.
Usually a setup can run in cost from $1500 to about $3,000 depending on the accessories. The board can range from $499 to $1,200 and the kite from $499 to $1,500. You can also purchase either or both of them used at a substantially lower amount.
People have been known to convert old surfboards into KiteSurfing boards. There are numerous websites and literature on how to save money and get involved in this sport without spending a lot on equipment.
Other costs factored into KiteSurfing are lessons, which normally start out at about $60 - $90 per hour. Most classes can range from 2 - 4 hours depending on what depth or level you are trying to accomplish.
The final expense to be tallied is travel. Most of the locations where there is enough open space and free beach are not located in highly populated areas around the world.
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.kitesurfingnow.com
Visit his kitesite for the latest on kitesurfing equipment, kiteboarding lessons, places to surf and much more!
In part 1, I said that a theme-based website is a site based
on a single theme or concept. Every page of the site
concentrates on a single topic that is related to the theme.
Each page delivers great content on it’s topic. We know
this type of site scores with the search engines because
it adds value to their search results. It also scores with
visitors who are finding the valuable information they were
looking for. And it scores for the merchants you represent
because it will deliver ready to buy visitors to their
sites. And, of course, you score with big commission checks.
I’m ready to build a theme-based site. What do I do first?
Choose a theme, of course! For some, this may be very
easy. But, some of us might not have the slightest idea
what we could offer that would be of value to others.
Let’s brainstorm a bit. Are you an expert in your field
with lots of information to share? Do you have a hobby
that you’re passionate about? A favorite subject you love
to read about? Work experience from a current or previous
job? Think about your strengths. What do others come to
you for? Do you, or could you, offer a service? Ask your
friends and relatives. Others may see something that is
not so obvious to you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking
your theme must be something “big” and “important”.
Believe me, many more people are looking for information on
“fly fishing” than “rocket science”!
Once you have an idea (or two!) for a theme it’s time to
think about related topics. Remember, your site is going
to consist of pages that offer content, each on a specific
topic that is related to your theme. Back to the example
of my “Italian cooking” theme. Possible topics included
“Italian chefs”, “Italian specialty foods”, “Italian
cooking methods”, Italian cookware”, etc. I want as many
related topics as I can find. I want to build a
substantial site, offering my visitors what they are
looking for, lots of valuable content. And lets not forget
the search engines. I want to be sure their spiders are
finding lots of related keywords so that I’m ranked high in
their search results.
Now, I can come up with some topics off the top of my
head. But I’ve only thought of a few, and how do I know if
these are topics that people will actually search for on
the Net? Luckily there are ways to discover both new ideas
for topics AND if people are going to find you by searching
for them. What I’m going to do is use a “keyword research”
tool. These can be found at some of the engines like
Overture or 7Search. Some pay-per-click advertising
providers also have a keyword search tool, like Brainfox
and Google’s Adwords. If I use SiteBuildIt! to build
my site, I have the Manager which does all the keyword
searching and brainstorming for me, as well as showing
profitability for each keyword. (You can see screenshots of
the Manager in action by downloading the free SBI! Make Your
SitePresell.. http://freetrial.sitesell.com/assist3.html ).
A keyword search should give me lots of ideas for related
topics for my theme. OK, it threw up some weird,
totally unrelated stuff, too, but I’ll just ignore that.
What I want are keywords that suggest a topic that I can
write (or find) valuable content about. For example, my
search on “Italian cooking” brought up “lowfat cooking”.
Hmm, hadn’t thought of that, but a lot of Italian recipes
are low in fat, so perhaps I’ll write a page on this topic.
This is called a keyword-focused page, and once I have 10
or 20 of these, I know that anyone searching for these and
related keywords is going to find my site.
Great, I’ve got a site based on a theme that I know about
and/or interests me. (If we’re talking Italian cooking,
we’re talking PASSION!) I’ve packed it with valuable
content on topics closely related to my theme. My visitors
are going to love it, as are the search engines. But,
well….. what about me?
Oh, did I forget? I do love Italian cooking, but I’m
building this theme-based website to earn income. So, at
least some of my pages will offer valuable content that
is also designed to presell. Presell what? Any product,
program or service that I represent as an affiliate. Of
course, the product, program or service needs to “fit” with
the content and the theme of my site. My “Italian cooking”
site will include a page on “lowfat Italian cooking”.
Within my valuable content, I will recommend a favorite
cookbook on lowfat Italian cooking and provide an in-text
link to a bookseller who will then sell that book to my
visitor. Content on Italian wine will link to a merchant
where my visitor can mail-order Italian wines. Etc, etc.
How do I find the products, programs and services I want
to represent? That is the topic of Part 3 of this series.
Trouble coming up with a theme? Maybe I can help.
mailto:yourhelpline@mail.com
About the Author
Julie Georg is a consultant to individuals and small
businesses interested in establishing a web presence.
Step-by-step directions for building a theme-based site can
be found in the excellent, free Affiliate Masters course.
Blank email mailto:tamsassist3@sitesell.net