This month’s “Meet The Peeps” from my monthly Positive Pathways Newsletter is Jeff Gottlieb.  I was very fortunate to meet Jeff Gottlieb several weeks ago.  He and his wife have written several inspirational children’s books called, Spriggles.  Spriggles is actually a combination of spirit and giggles.  Now how cool is that? 
 
Jeff is an ACE-certified personal trainer, Level 1 Yoga instructor, and certified golf conditioning specialist, has been a writer for 20 years, having concentrated on film and television. He’s now turned his attention to writing the Spriggles Motivational Book Series as well as developing future Spriggles projects for film, television, and video.

Here’s my short interview with Jeff:

Bill: What type of work are you doing today?
Jeff: We are the authors and publishers of Spriggles Motivational Books for Children.  Spriggles combines “spirit” and “giggles” to motivate and educate young children to lead healthy, active, and energetic lives.
Spriggles is a part of our larger business, Expressions of Health.

Bill: How would you explain the following phrase: “What you think about you bring about?”
Jeff: We are huge advocates of the concepts of manifestation, visualization, and setting intentions as the course for what we attain in life.  As the laws of quantum physics tell us that we are nothing more than physical manifestations of assorted energy fields, it only makes sense that as we learn to control those fields with intention and visualization, we can bring about what we want to bring about.  In our lives as certified yoga, reiki, and reflexology practitioners, these concepts are vital to us as well as to our clients.

Bill: If you could go back and talk to your 18 year old self, what would you tell him?
Jeff: I would tell him, “You don’t know a fraction of what you think you do.”  At that age I knew it all and had little room for the advice of parents and others who had the benefit of experience. And I might also say, “Start your IRA NOW!”

Bill: What do you want people to remember the most about you after you have gone?
Jeff: I want to be remembered as someone who cared, who understood that he was part of a greater whole, and who finally realized that every move he made and idea he had, no matter how small or large, affected the entire world so you might as well make each move and idea a positive one.

Bill: Thank you so very much for sharing your wisdom with us today. What you are doing is simply incredible and I am very excited to help share your message.
Jeff: Thanks so much Bill!  Please let me know if there’s anything else you need.

Earlier this week I had a Daily Positive Points email that stirred up a lot of positive feedback.  See below for the full Daily Positive Points.  Thank you to everyone who sent me comments, feedback and posted on Facebook. Here was the email:

Daily Positive Points – From 4/15/10

Today’s Message

There are two basic ways we can live our lives. We can be positive or we can be negative. There is really no middle ground here. Sure, some days we will struggle and have a lousy day. However, if we have more positive thoughts than negative ones, we are living some kind of SWEET life. We also get to experience life as a miracle and will experience happiness more often.

 Today’s Quote

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

I wanted to take a moment and expand upon it just a bit. The idea came to me as I was thinking about positive and negative thinking. My believe is that people are either more positive or more negative. That is where the idea for Daily Positive Pointscame from. I believe that if we consciously try to be more positive than negative about life, chances are that we will. Certainly things happen during that day that brings up negative thinking and there really isn’t anything we can do about it. However, the key is to not stay in that negative state for very long.

The goal of my websites is to help kids, young adults and adults become more aware of negative thinking. As we travel through life we are presented choices. We can choose to be positive most of the time or we can choose to be negative most of the time. Sometimes we are not aware of how bad our negative thinking has gotten. This is where awareness comes in. When we become aware of negative thinking we can then do something about it. Hopefully we will choose to eliminate the negative thoughts or change it to something positive.

With loads of gratitude,

Bill

I was thinking about the topic, do negative thoughts have any weight to them?  My first response was, no, they couldn’t.  However, the more I thought about them, the more I started to change my mind.  We all know that negative thoughts will certainly hold us back and keep us from making choices that inspire us.  But does negative thinking actually equate into something you can see on the scales?  I am not sure that we could ever know for sure but it did get me thinking. 

Since I believe that what you focus on expands, then it could be true for your weight (or any other thing you don’t like about yourself).  If you are constantly telling yourself you are overweight, chances are that you will tend to draw that to you.   I believe that the opposite is also true as long as you follow your intuition.  If you use a positive affirmation, you will need to follow it up by a positive action.  You can’t just affirm, “I am so thin” when you know you are 30lbs overweight and immediately afterward eat something really unhealthy for you.  That approach doesn’t work because deep down you know that it is unhealthy for you.   I will say I am all for positive affirmations.  Just be sure to compliment them with positive actions.

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

During the month of March, I thought it would be cool to do a contest.  To participate, all you have to do is forward  any of my Daily Positive Points emails to friends, family, co-workers and anyone else you think would benefit from positive messages.  When you are done, send me an email to bill@positract.com with the number of the people you forwarded it to.  Your name will be entered into the drawing for each person you forwarded it to.  There will be (1) Grand Prize valued at $450!
Prize #1: Certificate for one month of life coaching ($397 value)
Prize #2: Personalized autographed copy of my book 7 Days to Inner Peace ($19.95 Value)
Prize #3: The student’s and teacher’s editions of my adolescents’ eBooks ($19.90 Value)
Prize #4: (4) super cool affirmation screensavers ($12.95 Value)
If you haven’t signed up for our Daily Positive Points emails and would like to, click here and select “Join Our List.”

With peace and gratitude,

Bill

From Daily Positive Points 02/25/10

Today’s Message: When we create goals we increase the beauty of our lives because we know the direction we want to go.  The more we plan, the more we succeed by charting our course in advance.
 
Today’s Quote: “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” Fitzhugh Dodson (Author, 1924-1993)

Sign up for the daily messages for free at idontstink.com and select “Join Our List” at the top of the page.

With peace and gratitude,

Bill

I was thinking today about my goals and how I can get myself too consumed with achieving them.  It is like I WILL NOT accept anything less than a success.  As I thought more about it, having that attitude is not so good.  To achieve goals, you have to do several things: 1) Decide what you desire, 2) Visualize the success, 3) Take decisive action to achieving it, 4) Be willing to change it, 5) Turn it over to the universe to deliver.  My problem is that I am REALLY good with numbers 1-3 and sometimes not so good with 4&5.

It dawned on me that being successful is not just about achieving my goals but also about the quality of my life.  If I achieve all my goals but am exhausted, unhappy or stressed out, then that is really not a success at all.  One positive take away from all this is that the simple awareness of this thought will help me make different choices in the future.  When things don’t seem to be working out on a particular goal, rather than working myself into a frenzy, I can look to where the goal is taking me and change it up just a bit if it feels right.  I will use my gut to determine if I need to change it while also being aware that fear could be driving that decision.  I believe that when you look at things objectively and thoroughly evaluate the options, your intuition will provide you with what you need.

I would love to here your feedback.  Post a comment here or send me a note from my website, www.idontstink.com.

With tons and tons and tons of gratitude,

Bill

From today’s Daily Positive Points:

Today’s Message:  You can change.  I can change.  And you know what?  The world is certainly going to change.  One more thing to note here is that we all have something we would like to change.   So, the real question is, “Are we ready today?”  I am!  How about you?  Click here to checkout Friday’s video.
 
Valentine’s Day eCard Gift from us: Click here to view a Valentine’s Day eCard from idontstink.com.  It requires NO login or registration to view.  Be sure to turn up the sound.  Also, feel free to share the link to the annimated eCard with anyone you know.  Happy Valentine’s Day and Thank You for following us!
 
Today’s Quote: “I’ve continued to recognize the power individuals have to change virtually anything and everything in their lives in an instant. I’ve learned that the resources we need to turn our dreams into reality are within us, merely waiting for the day when we decide to wake up and claim our birthright.”  Anthony Robbins (Author, Actor & Professional Speaker, b.1960)

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  You deserve it!

With peace and gratitude,

Bill

Today is the official launch for the brand new vision board software.  I use it every single day and have it on both my laptop and my desktop.  Check out the software when you have a minute.  It is simply incredible!  Here’s a copy of the press release:

Vision Board System (VBS) is the most powerful goal setting and motivation package on the market and is the product of six years of experience. It enables you to visualize your goals and dreams in unique and dynamic ways on your computer screen, mobile phone, iPod, iPhone, photo frame, on your office wall, personal website and so on, using your personal dream images, affirmations and even your chosen audio. VBS combines effective software with superb educational material and ongoing encouragement. Don’t waste another minute. Make this dynamic Vision Board System part of your daily goal achievement TODAY! Click here to learn more!

With tons of gratitude,

Bill

I thought it would be a good time to add some positive quotes for you to think about.  What do you think?

“Love wasn’t put in your heart to stay. Love isn’t love until you give it away.” Michael W. Smith (American Singer, b.1957)

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” Joseph Campbell (American prolific Author, Editor, Philosopher and Teacher, 1904-1987)

“”Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses” Marilyn vos Savant (American Journalist and columnist of Ask Marilyn. Billed as the person with the highest IQ (228) ever recorded. b.1946)

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” E. E. Cummings (American poet 1894-1962)

“I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.”  Clint Eastwood (Academy Award-Winning Actor, director, producer, & composer, b.1930)

Peace begins with a smile.”  Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Missionary & Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1979, 1910-1997)

“Let fear be a counselor and not a jailer” Tony Robbins (Writer, Professional Motivational Speaker, B.1960)

With peace, joy and gratitude,

Bill

When I was headed to workout this morning I had a bit of a delay crossing a major intersection.  Luckily for me, I looked at the time when I first stopped.  I waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited.  I waited some more and then even more.  I was just about to cross over and then several cars dotted by again blocking any chance to get to the other side.  I was just about to get frustrated with all this waiting but then there was an opening and I crossed the street.

I drove about a half mile down the road and started thinking about this.  I looked at the clock and that really got me thinking.  Two minutes had passed from the time I stopped until I was already across the street.  JEEEZ!  2 Minutes?  Seriously, that is not long at all.  All this got me thinking.  Why do we have to be in such a hurry all the time.  2 minutes, I still can’t believe that I was starting to get anxious in that short of a time.  Really, 2 minutes!

I am so grateful this happened to me this morning.  It was a good reminder to SLOW down and get with the flow.  Stop trying to rush through life.  I say enjoy the ride and take time to experience the beauty that is all around us.

With gratitude,

Bill