|
***
Sam's Archived Newsletter's
∞
|
Get More Out of Life with The Intrigue Institute
|
|
|
|
In This
Issue:
|
June/July
2011
|
|
|
"At the
moment
of
truth,
there
are
either
reasons
or
results.”
–
Aviation
pioneer
Chuck
Yeager
Many of
you know
I’m
training
for a
mini-triathlon
in
August
to
celebrate
a
significant
birthday.
As part
of the
prep, I
finished
the 1
mile Jim
McDonnell
Swim in
Lake
Audubon.
Thoroughly
enjoyed
diving
into the
lake on
a sunny
Memorial
Weekend
day
(water
temp a
perfect
77
degrees)
with a
few
hundred
others
to
kick-start
summer.
My time?
Well,
suffice
it to
say I
stayed
true to
my
motto,
“I may
not be
fast,
but I
finish.”
The bike
training?
Now
that’s a
different
story.
I’ve not
been
putting
in my
miles.
There
are lots
of
reasons.
I’ve
been on
the road
almost
constantly
with
speaking
engagements
the last
few
months,
(Europe,
CA,
Chicago,
CO,
Texas,
Boston,
etc.)
but the
truth
is, that
bike
seat is
downright
uncomfortable
. . .
Then
Matt,
documentarian
and
President
of
MattNova
Productions
(who
along
with
Lydia, a
20-something
recently
sworn-in
lawyer
who also
lives in
the
house
and
helps
with the
biz)
said,
“Why
don’t
you buy
one of
those
super-comfy
bike
seats?”
Duh.
Who knew
such a
small
change
could
make
such a
big
difference?
Who knew
a simple
$40
purchase
could
turn
reasons
into
results?
I look
forward
to
putting
my bike
miles in
now.
Nice
metaphor,
eh?
Where
could a
new
“bike
seat”
help you
make a
small
change
that
turns
reasons
into
results?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Instead
of
seeking
new
landscapes,
develop
new
eyes."
Marcel
Proust
My
friend
Mary
Loverde,
(some of
you know
her as a
4-time
Oprah
guest
and
author
of I
Used to
Have a
Handle
On Life
But It
Broke),
came to
visit
this
month to
help put
my house
“right”
and to
give it
a
flowing
energetic
order
that
makes me
happy
just to
be here.
With the
help of
Nicolette
Vajtay
(a
genius
Feng
Shui
expert
and
Director
of
Inspired
Living
Feng
Shui
and
Mary’s
hours of
hard
work,
painting,
scrubbing,
hanging
drapes
and
adding
sublime
decorating
touches,
they
transformed
my house
into a
“think
of
beauty.”
Metaphorical
lessons
abounded.
One of
my
favorites
was when
we were
working
on my
master
bedroom.
Mary
looked
at the
wall of
windows
overlooking
the lake
and
asked,
“Have
you ever
thought
about
hanging
some
curtains
to
soften
the
view?”
I said,
“Why?
You
can’t
improve
on
Mother
Nature.”
Mary
said,
“Hmmm .
.” in
that
Socratic
way she
has of
“holding
presence”
so
people
release
resistance
and are
open to
new ways
of
looking
at
things.
“Want to
experiment
with
something?
We could
always
take
them
back.”
A few
hours
later
after a
trip to
Bed,
Bath and
Beyond,
she had
draped
exquisite
sheers
around
the
windows
that
enhanced
the view
rather
than
obscured
it.
It was a
perfect
example
of the
answer
being
“both”
instead
of
"either-or"
and the
enduring
wisdom
of
Marcel
Proust's
advice.
Now,
every
time I
walk
into
that
room I
catch my
breath
because
what I
thought
was
perfect
is even
better.
Do you
see a
recurring
theme in
this
newsletter?
What do
you know
for sure
that is
no
longer
true?
What do
you
think is
perfect
. . .
but
could be
even
better?
And if
you want
a
miraculous
transformation
of your
own,
Mary
still
has a
couple
spaces
left in
her
Hawaii
Retreat
I
heartily
recommend
it. Mary
is
absolutely
brilliant
in
facilitating
insights
that
elevate
all
areas of
your
life. My
time
with
Mary has
given me
a
running
start on
the rest
of my
life and
the
revelations
from her
have
impacted
every
aspect
of my
life -
financial,
emotional,
physical
and
professional.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"No one
wants to
go out
mid-sentence."
- Johnny
Depp
George
Clooney
was
deeply
impacted
several
years
ago by
the
death of
a
beloved
uncle.
“Uncle
George
was
sitting
in bed
toward
the end.
He
looked
at me
and
said,
‘What a
waste.’
‘To this
day, I
don’t
know if
he was
talking
about
the
smoking
that
destroyed
his
lungs or
if he
was
talking
about
his life
in
general,
that he
felt he
hadn’t
become
the man
he
wanted
to be. .
. but I
came to
the
conclusion
I was
not
going to
wake up
at 65
and say,
‘What a
waste.’
I was
going to
grab as
much out
of this
life as
I
could.”
Are you
grabbing
as much
out of
life as
you can?
It’s
easy to
fall
into
routines
and the
years
slide by
while we
operate
on
autopilot.
In fact,
we tend
to stay
in a
self-imposed
status
quo
unless
we have
a SEE
(Significant
Emotional
Event).
Unfortunately,
most
SEEs are
traumatic.
We get
down-sized,
divorced
or our
house
gets
destroyed
in a
hurricane.
These
dire
situations
disrupt
our
ordinary
autopilot
existence
and
force us
to
re-evaluate
how
we’re
spending
our
days.
The
resulting
assessment
(“This
is not
the life
I want”)
is the
incentive
we need
to make
a
radical
change
because
we
realize
we’re
leading
a life
that’s
leading
to
regrets.
Are you
acting
as if
you have
all the
time in
the
world?
What if
you
don’t?
What
would
you do
differently
if you
knew you
only had
a short
time to
live?
I don’t
think
it’s
morbid
or
melodramatic
to
consider
our
mortality.
Keeping
the
fragility
of life
top-of-mind
inspires
us to
enjoy,
appreciate
and take
advantage
of each
precious
day. It
brings
us
face-to-face
with the
perils
of
assuming
we’ll
have the
freedom
to focus
on what
really
matters
when
we’re
ready to
– when
we
retire,
when
we’re
not
quite so
busy or
when we
have
more
money.
As Joan
Baez
said,
“We
don’t
get to
choose
how
we’re
going to
die or
when. We
only get
to
choose
how
we’re
going to
live
now.”
Want
good
news?
You
don’t
have to
have a
painful
SEE to
trigger
the
wake-up
call
that
compels
you to
create a
life
more in
alignment
with
your
priorities.
You can
have a
pretend
SEE.
Take a
few
minutes
to
complete
the
following
“Are You
Grabbing
As Much
Out of
Life as
You
Can?”
exercise.
Answering
these
questions
can
uncover
epiphanies
about
what you
rather
be doing
. . .
without
the
drama
and
trauma
of an
unwelcome,
real-life
SEE.
1. Get a
piece of
blank
paper
and a
pen.
Draw a
box and
divide
it into
four
quadrants.
2.
Number
the
boxes.
Top left
(1)
Bottom
left (2
). Top
right
(3).
Bottom
right
(4).
3. Put
the
words
“Doing”
to the
left of
box 1.
4. Put
the
words
“Not
Doing“
to the
left of
box 2.
5. Put
the
words
“Want
To” on
top of
box 1.
6. Put
the
words
“Don’t
Want To”
on top
of box
3.
7. Have
you ever
played
word-association
games in
which
someone
asks a
question
and
you’re
supposed
to say
the
first
thing
that
comes to
mind?
That’s
what
you’re
going to
do when
I ask
the
following
questions.
Please
don’t
second-guess
your
responses.
Your
first
thought
is
usually
your
most
honest
thought.
The goal
here
isn’t to
be
politically
correct.
The goal
is to
determine
if
you’re
spending
your
time in
harmony
with
your
heart
priorities.
No one
needs to
see this
but you.
So,
write
down
whatever
pops
into
your
mind
even if
it’s not
appropriate,
pretty
or
polite.
8.
Square
1:
What are
you
doing in
your
life
that you
want to?
For
example,
are you
learning
a new
language?
Dating
someone
you
like?
Gardening
or
spending
time a
hobby?
Volunteering
for a
favorite
philanthropy?
Coaching
your
son’s
soccer
team?
Doing
work you
love
that
matters?
In other
words,
what are
you
doing
that’s
satisfying?
9.
Square 2
:
What are
you not
doing in
your
life
that you
want to?
Are you
not
exercising?
Not
traveling?
Not
singing
or
dancing?
Not
spending
quality
time
with
your
elderly
parents?
Not
writing
a book,
starting
your own
business
or going
back to
school
to get
your
degree?
Not
meeting
new
people?
In other
words,
what do
you wish
you were
doing
that
you’re
not?
10.
Square
3:
What are
you
doing in
your
life
that you
don’t
want to?
Are you
commuting
two
hours
every
day?
Over-eating?
Fighting
with
your
spouse?
Smoking?
Frittering
away
your
time
watching
TV?
Working
in a
dead-end
job or
for a
boss who
doesn’t
appreciate
your
contributions?
Skipping
church
or
meditation
because
you’re
too
busy? In
other
words,
what is
happening
in your
life you
wish
wasn’t?
11.
Square
4:
“What
are you
not
doing in
your
life you
don’t
want
to?”
Yes,
this is
a double
negative.
It’s an
important
question,
though,
because
it
identifies
things
you
rather
not do
and
you’re
successfully
keeping
them out
of your
life.
Perhaps
you
don’t
want to
do drugs
and
you’re
not
doing
that.
Maybe
you’re
not
battling
with an
in-law.
Maybe
you
don’t
want to
live in
a
crime-ridden
city or
don’t
want to
work 60
hours a
week in
an
exhausting,
soul-sapping
bureaucratic
job with
lots of
red
tape. .
. and
you’re
not.
12. Now,
take a
few
extra
minutes
to go
back and
fill in
additional
responses.
Initial
responses
can be
enlightening,
however
secondary
ones
often
dredge
up
something
that’s
been
buried
so long
you
don’t
even let
yourself
think
about it
anymore.
13.
Finished?
Look at
the
answers
in
Squares
1 and 4.
That’s .
. .
(click
on this
link for
the rest
of this
article
. . .)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Those
times
you feel
stuck,
stagnant
or like
you're
slipping
backward;
you may
actually
be
backing
up to
get a
running
start."
- ???
The
person
who said
this is
a
strong,
spirited
thought
leader .
. . kind
of a
peaceful
warrior.
Everyone
who
submits
the
correct
answer
will be
entered
into our
drawing
and the
winner
will get
his/her
choice
of any 2
of our
CD’s and
mp3's –
including
Win
Buy-In,
SerenDestiny
and
Tongue
Fu!®.
Do you
like the
current
quotes
(you
have to
be
alive
to be
included)
we
feature
in our
monthly
ezine?
Well,
we've
got
hundreds
more
just
like
these.
In fact,
as of
next
week,
we'll be
sending
an
Intriguing
Quote-A-Gram
every
Monday
morning
- a
perfect
way to
start
your
week
with a
recent
insight
from one
of
today's
top
celebrities,
athletes
or
thought
leaders.
Why
current?
We love
Martin
Luther
King,
JFK and
Winston
Churchill
as much
as the
next
person.
But as
soon as
you
share
one of
their
well-known
quotes
("I have
a dream
. . . ")
people
tune out
because
they've
heard it
before.
It's not
that
profound
quotes
from the
above
icons
aren't
true
-
they're
just not
new.
If you
want to
capture
and keep
attention
in
today's
ADD
attention
span
world,
you've
got to
introduce
new
insights
that
delight
people
with
their
fresh
wit and
wisdom.
Each
Intriguing
Quote-a-Gram
will
have a
beautiful
image to
appeal
to your
visual
senses
and a
recent
observation
(50
words or
less)
about
life,
love,
work or
relationships
that
will
appeal
to your
verbal
senses.
We
promise
. . . no
selling.
Just an
evocative
image
and
insight
to get
your
eyebrows
up and
add
interest
to your
written
and
spoken
communication.
Tell
your
friends
so they
too can
enjoy
this
weekly
treat.
They can
subscribe
by
contacting
us at
info@SamHorn.com
and
putting
"Current
Quote-a-Gram"
in the
subject
heading.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“We are
better
than we
think
and not
yet what
we want
to be."
- poet
(and VA
Tech
professor)
Nikki
Giovanni
Have you
ever
watched
the
Olympics,
NBA
Finals,
World
Series
or Super
Bowl and
marveled
at the
ability
of those
world-class
athletes?
Have you
ever
experienced
the
gifts of
a
creative
genius,
bestselling
author
or
ground-breaking
musician
and
wondered
how they
became
masters
in their
field?
You
don’t
have to
wonder
anymore.
David
Glover,
Director
of the
Elite
Project,
has
studied
and
interviewed
exceptional
performers
in a
variety
of
different
industries
to
determine
the
qualities
that
have
helped
them
become
“best in
their
class"
and
"much
better
than
before.”
In this
fascinating
one-hour
teleseminar,
David
will be
sharing
his
best-of-the-best
insights
from
these
extraordinary
individuals
and how
YOU can
use them
to
optimize
your
life and
chosen
priority.
David is
a
walking-talking
example
of
someone
who has
achieved
at the
highest
levels.
He’s an
Eagle
Scout,
US Naval
Academy
grad,
cancer
survivor,
coach of
elite
athletes,
finisher
of more
than 100
triathlons
including
28
(yes-that’s
28)
Ironman-length
triathlons,
author
of
Full
Time &
Sub-Nine.
And
that’s
just a
few of
his
credentials.
More @
www.DavidGlover.net
If you’d
like to
expedite
excellence
and live
more
richly
and
without
regrets
–
whether
that’s
to
compete
at a
higher
level in
sports,
become a
better
leader
or
parent,
or
complete
a dream
goal –
join us
at 8 pm
ET on
June 23.
We so
believe
in
David’s
work
that
we’re
making
the live
tele-seminar
free to
everyone
who
registers
at
Cheri@SamHorn.com
Can’t
join us
for the
live
call?
An MP3
of the
call
will be
available
for $20.
Email
Cheri@SamHorn.com
or call
1 800
SAM-3455
to order
with
your
credit
card
(and ask
about
the
special
of 3
CD’s or
MP3’s
for
$45.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
