Every step you take, every move you make is creating you. The food you eat, the air you breathe, the things you read, the actions you take are all playing a role in determining what you’ll be like tomorrow or ten years from now.
What are your influences? That’s what we talked about in Helping and Listening Skills this week. We came up with a great list and I liked it so much I took a picture of it.
I asked the students to tell me about the things that influence them. What do they value? Why do they do what they do; love what they love? This is the list they came up with:
Parents
Environment
-Friends
-Neighborhood
-Peers
-Religion
Culture
Schools
Food/Nutrition
Media
Mental Illness
Life Experience
-Observation
Socio-Economic Status ($$$)
Books
Music
Relationships
Friendships
Family
-Uncles
-Aunts
-Brothers
-Sisters
-etc.
Role Model
-Coach
-Minister
-Teacher
Law
Government
Health
Medication/Drugs
Language
Sleep
Fashion
Freedom
Travel
Pets
Sex
Arts
-Pictures
-Painting
-Dance
Entertainment
Perception
The point I want to make in this class is that you cannot know any of these things about yourself or anyone else unless you first learn how to listen.
A great Master Mind group is one that’s committed to honoring and respecting each other and that includes listening unconditionally and without judgment. It is honoring a person to trust that they know what’s best for their own life.
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When you think about it, every musical act you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin’ things happen in your life.
Do you have a creative project you want to complete? Do you want to find a purpose for your life?
If so, I invite you to come over to my brand new page called Start a Master Mind Group.com. I’m offering 4 freebies to get you started so you can get a sense of what the Master Mind is all about.
Every small step you take contributes to where you end up next. I took a ride on the Metro to Los Angeles on Saturday and did my first Pecha Kucha presentation at the L.A. Beyond Cars exhibit Downtown. But that is not the beginning or the end of the story.
Pecha Kucha is a 20×20 presentation style that originated in Japan as a way for architects to share project ideas efficiently. Basically you have 20 images that stay on the projector for 20 seconds each and your presentation is centered around these images.
I found out about Pecha Kucha in the Toastmasters magazine. I was intrigued by the idea so I went to the Pecha Kucha website. That intrigued me further. I decided I must do a Pecha Kucha so I contacted the representatives from Los Angeles and Orange County and expressed my interest in presenting at an upcoming event.
Mind you, I had never done a Pecha Kucha and the only experience I had of it was seeing a video on the internet. But my Toastmasters involvement has helped build my confidence to the point that I was able to take the plunge and trust that I could do it.
Nevertheless, I was nervous. Sure, I can now present comfortably to my fellow Agape Toastmasters and the students at Long Beach City College but I had never presented in Los Angeles and I had never presented a Pecha Kucha and I had no idea who would be in attendance, I only knew that there would probably be some architects and urban planners.
For example, James Rojas is the RailLA station design workshop co-chair and he was there. He’s the artist who developed a system of urban play with models. His work brings big smiles to children’s faces in urban neighborhoods when he shows up with his portable play shop. You can see his city made of Legos and hair curlers if you watch the video on YouTube.
I’m proud to say I showed up in Los Angeles and did my presentation. Though I will admit, I almost wanted to bail on it. In fact, I e-mailed the coordinator of the event just two days prior and told him I wasn’t sure if my images were going to work and I didn’t have time to fix them all. He assured me my images were probably fine and even offered to check them out for me.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I would have stuck to my guns if it hadn’t been for the fact that I told all my Master Mind partners and everyone at Agape Toastmasters that I was going to do this. I couldn’t bear the thought of showing up to see Ty and the Savvy Soul Sisters on Monday night only to tell them I cancelled my Pecha Kucha. It’s true, my ego couldn’t take a blow like that right now. So, I garnered my husband’s moral support and we got on the train together and took the ride to Los Angeles and my first Pecha Kucha.
Not only did I get my husband’s moral support, but I also got him to document the events of the journey on my FlipVideo camera. So, above is a little video montage of the adventure. You’ll see our trip on the Metro from Long Beach to Los Angeles, a little bit of the L.A. Beyond Cars exhibit and a portion of my Pecha Kucha, which included highlights from Long Beach Funk Fest and some of my fun times as a skater and Fresh Meat member of the L.A. Derby Dolls. Once I got my skate legs back (thanks to the Derby Dolls), I was able to be more adventurous about skating in my own neighborhood and at public events such as the Doo Dah Parade and the Long Beach Pride Parade.
In the beginning of the video you’ll see me driving in my car to the Beyond Cars exhibition but I was only in my car long enough to get to the Metro station in Long Beach where I would park my car and get on the train to Los Angeles. I enjoyed the trip, I hope you enjoy the video.
Hong Joo Kim, a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Furthermore he is a has taught, lectured and critiqued at Harvard University, University of California at Irvine, University of Colorado at Denver, and Cal State San Luis Obispo.
Ron Milam works to transform Los Angeles into a sustainable city by facilitating effective meetings and raising needed funds for nonprofit organizations. Milam launched the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, growing the organization from an idea into a 1,000 member organization. Ron served on the Boards of Sustainable South Bronx and the Alliance for Biking and Walking, and currently serves as an LA Urban Ranger. He talked about the growing bike movement in LA and how it will help fuel an “LA Beyond Cars”, especially if its integrated into investments made into high speed and local rail transportation.
James Rojas, an urban planner who devotes a lot of his time to translating the impenetrable maps and language of land use planning into a activities that are visual, tactile, and playful — the language of how we actually experience the world. His goal is to create environments that elicit ordinary people’s ideas and solutions to urban problems.
Noemi Selisker, an official resident of New Zealand where she’s managed to change life paths, reduce her carbon footprint all by house sitting in other people’s home. It all started as a fluke but has now become a way of life.
Sheri Zampelli – (That’s me) College instructor at Long Beach City College, member of Agape Toastmasters, former therapist providing in-home counseling for foster youth living in Los Angeles County, coordinator for Choices, an after-school program for at-risk girls. Author of From Sabotage to Success and Donate Your Weight. I believe cooperative and community-oriented solutions are necessary when trying to effectively improve service to a diverse city like Los Angeles.
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When you think about it, every creative group you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin’ things happen in your life.
Do you have a creative project you want to complete? Do you want to find a purpose for your life?
If so, I invite you to come over to my brand new page called Start a Master Mind Group.com. I’m offering 4 freebies to get you started so you can get a sense of what the Master Mind is all about.
Today I submitted my audition video at Oprah.com. It was approximately 10 days ago that I learned she was having an open casting call and accepting video submissions from people who want their own T.V. Talk Show. The mental and emotional journey I’ve been on has been awe-inspiring and “worth the trip.”
I am so touched by some of the comments my students made about my classes on this video. They inspired me to want to spread my work to a larger audience (even though in some ways, this is scary). I can’t do it without your help. Please go to my Oprah.com page and vote for me today. Thank you.
I’ve just “cracked open” a digital galley of Louise Hay’s newest book Experience Your Good Now and I’m already getting inspired. Here’s a quote from the introduction:
“There is no time like the present for you to take control of your thoughts.”
- Louise Hay, Experience Your Good Now
I couldn’t agree more with what Louise Hay has written.
Find out about her book and CD plus become eligible to win a trip to the Caribbean by clicking on the banner below:
I will be Tweeting some of my favorite quotes from the book as I read. Follow me on Twitter and you won’t miss a thing.
The Law of Attraction is about more than just “thinking positive” or “focusing on what you want”. In order to get the full impact of the Law of Attraction, your emotional state or “vibrational tone” must be one of Joy, Appreciation, Love or Peace.
You can change your vibrational tone by focusing on thoughts, memories or stories that help you feel good. Perhaps watching this video will help.
If you want more, there is a great little video on Christopher Westra’s page at icreatereality.com While you’re there, I highly recommend that you sign up for his mailing list so you can get continual reminders and resources that will help you to create the life you want.
P.S. Speaking of creating the life you want, have you downloaded your Free Create the Life You Want hypnosis MP3? If not, you can get it here.
First there was a Flip Video camera, given to someone like me who loves gadgets, has an idea a minute and some time off for the holidays. Second there is the resulting video. In less than two minutes I will list seven things that Galvanize My Mind. When you galvanize your mind it becomes fun and easy to create new habits. Here’s my list for the past week:
1. Strolling the streets of Bluff Park with my iPod
2. Going to the farmer’s market
3. Snuggling with my cat
4. Working out on the bluff with Your Next Victory
5. Visualizing my ideal 2010 and beyond
6. Reading good Tweets
7. Watching Hello Ross on YouTube
This and more captured in my “not quite 2 minute” video. If you can’t see the video here, watch it on You Tube.
You’ll see me doing push-ups at the beach with a pink wig on and you’ll meet Fenix, my persian tabby cat. One of my favorite clips is “Boys on Bikes.” I was out strolling the sidewalks of Bluff Park in Long Beach with my Flip Video in hand and a group of about 10 young men on skateboards and bicycles rode by, it was pretty exciting. Some of us screamed in joy. Including me. It’s on video.
My yellow lab is a champ at creating habits. You know why? She pays really good attention and she has a great memory.
When she was a puppy, I used to give her a treat when she could yawn on command. Don’t ask me why, it’s just she was so cute and so smart it seemed like a fun game.
Well, I haven’t given her a treat for yawning for at least a year but still, she continues to do it.
When it comes to creating habits, humans aren’t much different than my yellow lab.
Sometimes a key event that happened in childhood triggers a response in the current day. This can happen even if you live in a new neighborhood, live with different people or work in a different state. You will feel and experience it as if it was 35 years ago.
Let me give you an example. Cindy got slapped across the face every time she was bold or brave or ‘out-of-control’. She was constantly told to “settle down.” On the other hand, she was praised, loved, adored and admired for taking care of other people. Which behaviors do you think Cindy will engage in as a result of this early training?
Chances are she will try to be ‘in control’, meek and shy and will only feel okay about herself when she is helping others. Cindy will do this even if it is self-destructive, because as a child she was paying close attention and the learning took place in a highly significant relationship. Also, since there was trauma associated with this experience, a part of her (even if it’s subconscious) never forgot.
Luckily, you can create new habits at anytime. Once you understand that the past can never be changed, you can use your energy to create a new tomorrow. That’s what my free MP3 download, Create The Life You Want is all about. It was a CD like this one that really helped me to begin turning my life around and I cherish it to this day.
To get your free download, simply enter your name and e-mail address below. If you can’t see the subscription box, go to http://icreatehabits.com to sign up.
When you think about it, every musical act you know of is using the Master Mind principle whether they realize it or not. They are joining together as a team with a combined vision. You can use the same principle and make some truly rockin’ things happen in your life.
I practiced with using audio clips in the video. I sampled 
