Gratitude Journal
I wrote in my Gratitude Journal today.
Thank you God,
for allowing me the clarity to move my life forward,
for keeping my thoughts positive,
for inspiring me to action,
for going the distance.
Today I took a big step in realizing my dream,
my dream to help others achieve their greatness.
My dream of becoming a ‘Career Mentor’ and ‘Life Coach’ has started to take shape.
Bill
I hope to see you ‘on the road to greatness.’
Join me on my journey.
Millionaire or Reallionaire
I started this blog with the intention of journeying toward the path of greatness, not seeking so much to becoming a man of success, but rather a man of value.
Becoming a man of value may not make you a millionaire, but it can produce something more. It can produce a reallionaire.
REALLIONAIRE
”Someone who has discovered that there is more to money than having money.
A person who understands that success is not just being rich in your pocket; you have to be rich on the inside too.” Farrah Gray
Anyone who wants more out of life and the rewards that follow will build their success on three pillars,
- honesty
- ambition
- hard work.
Become ’someone great.’
Journey ‘the road less traveled.’
I hope to see you, ‘on the road to greatness.’
A Journey of 1,000,000 Miles
I’m on a journey to fulfilling a dream, a dream that I have struggled with for quite some time.
I’m on a mission to further defining myself, and helping you do the same!
Why am I here? What is the deeper purpose of my existence? I’m on a journey to finding myself.
Finding myself ?
Bill, What are you talking about?
Let me explain.
Maybe a brief account of my life will help you see my inner struggle.
I was born in the Eastern-Part of the USA, the oldest of eight. I went to grade school and high school, as most all the youth of my day.
Up to this point I had done what my parents and society had asked. I liked school and managed to achieve better than average grades.
Upon graduation, my father encouraged me to enter the University. I, however, had no idea what I wanted to pursue. I had no inclination as to my future career upon completion. I, nevertheless, gathered up my confidence and apprehensively enrolled in a 4 years Arts & Science Program.
I clearly remember my affirmation. ” I would honor my father’s request.” “I decided I would enroll as a Pre-Med Student, the hardest curriculum in the Program, and if I made through the first year without failing grades, I would continue.”
Pretty dumb reason for continuing my education, if I do say so myself.
Well, as it turned out, I learned something the first year, not so much the material of the subjects I studied, but, several life lessons:
1. No one could tell me I couldn’t succeed! I studied my _ss off. I had a hard time with Chemisrty, Zoology and only managed a 2.3 on a 4.0 scale….but I passed!
2. I really learned how to concentrate, not like high school. The half hour review was replaced by four to five hours of study and research. At the University Level, I was far from the sharpest crayon in the box. I really needed to apply myself to keep up.
3. I learned to manage my time. I attended all the basketball and football games and had a good time, but I always gave study-time a priority. If I failed, it wasn’t because I didn’t try.
While I am thinking about it, let me share a story with you.
It occurred during my first year at the University.
I remember, 3 credit hours of my 18 hour schedule was a class entitled, Introduction to Psychology.
Most of the Pre-Med Students complained about it. It had no apparent value to them, on the road to their profession. Well, like I said, I really didn’t intend on becoming a doctor.
The University I attended was a Private University, and was fairly small in comparison to a State University. The Psychology Class of which I partook was comprised of 40 or 50 students.
Anyway, there was a young man named Doug, who sat directly adjacent to me. He was clearly bound for success. He had an IQ far superior to 95% of then Freshman Class. In a word, he was, brilliant. He scored high in all of his classes, Summa Cum Laude, I believe it was called.
Anyway, I remember him gloating everytime the test papers were passed back to us. He never scored below a 90%.
As I said, he sat right next to me.
The guy was very likeable and we developed somewhat of a friendship,
at least in Psychology Class.
What I am about to share was one of the proudest moments of my College Career.
The Professor was in the habit of scheduling a weekly review test on Fridays.
The material for that week was very challenging and required not only memorization but understanding a lot of theory.
He had received his paper back before me that day.
I can still see the the score on his papers, 88%. Not bad, infact quite good, considering the content of the material that was covered.
I was all smiles!
I had recieved my score now.
He must have seen my expression, for I couldn’t contain feelings.
The look on his face was priceless.
I had scored a 100%.
He almost ripped the paper out of my hands to study my answers.
How could I, a 2.3 student, beat him on a test like this!
On that day, I was the best!
I had proved to myself that I could outperform even ‘the best of the best’, but only in my area of expertise.
On that day, or shortly thereafter, I decided to switch my Major. I would manage to graduate with a 3.5 grade point average, Majoring in Psychology.
Now what ???
It was time to find a JOB.
I had worked every summer to help my parents to pay for my education. I worked on an auto assembly line during two summers, and as a custodial groundskeeper for the other two.
What was I prepared to do now?
With college degree in hand, I realized my beginning venture into the job market was not all that promising. It was kind of depressing.
What was a college graduate, with a bachelors degree in psychology, supposed to do.
My father was an accountant. He seemed to know exactly what his goals were.
Without further study, a myriad of psychology classes and fifty cents could maybe get you a soft drink.
I took a job at a department store for a lesser hourly pay than my summer jobs had yielded.
It was more or less,in my mind, a temporary position, until someone recognized my true value and offered me thousands of dollars for my services.
Yea right.
I didn’t know it, but I was entering the next level of my education, at the School of Hard Knocks.
Nothing would come easily to me.
I did meet a young lady that year. To make a long story short, we worked together, fell in love, and were married shortly thereafter.
She is still the love of my life,
after 30 odd years and 4 children, we are still together.
Getting back to my story,
the story of my journey,
the story of my life purpose,
I guess I always relied a lot on others to set my direction.
I have always been employed by someone, never the one that owned the company.
I have traveled a difficult, but rewarding road.
After leaving the department store life, still kind of drifting along, I accepted a position as a restaurant manager trainee. This was mainly due to the higher pay incentive. It was quite foreign to me, but the ability to train, organize and work under pressure came somewhat quickly to me.
I worked for a small company, as the general manager of a quick sevice restaurant, for 5 years.
Again, with growing family obligations, I accepted a management position with a larger restaurant chain, with more benefits and a higher pay.
Six more years as a general manager, I finally earned the position of Area Manager, with the responsibility of supervising a handful of restaurants. This was a tough position, hiring, training and assuring all of the stores were being operated efficiently, achieving their maximum P&L Potential.
After 3 years of intense pressures of staff problems, management problems and upper management demands, I decided to change direction a little.
I stepped down to the general manager position and began looking for something a little more calm.
For some time I struggled. Did I make a mistake? Should I have kept pushing myself to maintain my middle management position?
A year later, I came accross a newspaper ad. The owner of a new concept restaurant franchise was looking for a Training Director.
Interesting.
I had trained several management people. I was good at it. I was the man they were looking for!
Well, as it turned out, I am still with this, now quite larger company. I have been the Training Director, Franchise Supervisor, and a Regional Director of Operations.
I have, as you might say, “done it all.”
Recently, however, I have been looking to advance myself further. Something inside me is telling me there is more that I can share with my fellow man.
I have finally decided my journey lies in an entrepreneurial design.
I have been an employee all of my career. It is now my time to stand in front of the crowd and further define myself.
It is time to take the skills that I have developed and go beyond what was once ‘my boundary’, into something new and more challenging.
My new direction is:
helping others find value in their lives,
helping them develop their true potential,
helping them find their purpose in life,
helping them define themselves.
I would like to help YOU answer the questions:
Who are you?
Why are you here?
Where are you going?
How will you know you have gotten there?
When I get there,
I will have reached ‘my dream.’
“I am not here for everyone, but for someone.”
I hope to meet you someday, “On the Road to Greatness.”
I am in the process of starting a Mentoring Program, a Coaching Program.
I am at your service.
Please let me know if you are the kind of person who may benefit
from a Life Coach.
P.S.
A Hint,
If you got to the bottom of this long-winded post….You probably are!
E-Mail me, for more details.
Thank you,
Bill
Bill Baumgartner
Hamilton, Ohio USA
Bill@gathergreatness.com
www.gathergreatness.com
Where entrepreneurs gather
I’m buiding a place where like-minded individuals might choose to gather,
a place to grow,
a place to share
a place to learn.
It will be highly sought after, frequently visited and always remembered.
A place to gather value:
Value in your personal life,
Value in your business life, and adding
Value into the lives of those around you.
Are you tired of living a life of mediocrity? Do you have more inside you ? Would you like to be someone Great!
Is your answer yes……………..or really yes?
For me the answer is really……………………………YES!
Do you feel you are an *average guy* or *average girl* ??? Maybe somebody told you this, or an IQ Test-Score from the past embedded this idea in your subconscious mind. Whatever the source, it’s time to reconsider the validity, as well as the consequence of your belief.
If you continually reinforce the idea that you are *average* …. how does this help you to advance your life?
-
Would you like to become *better than average*?
-
What would that look like for you ?
-
Could you put forth just 1 % more effort to becoming a *better than average person*?
-
What about becoming GREAT!
I challenge you to take just one small step this week, to becoming *A Better You*.
Don’t sit around and gather dust………. Gather Greatness !
Join ***The Newsletter for Entrepreneurs***
………………………………….Go to *Where Entrepreneurs Gather*
…………………………………………………………..for a more indepth evaluation of *how to*
How to increase your value.
Go to……………………….. www.gathergreatness.com
I invite you to go there NOW, now…………………. while you are thinking about it !!!
That’s www.gathergreatness.com
Hope to see you there.
Bill
*On the Road to Greatness*
Failure = Learning
Define failure as learning.
When a toddler falls down, do we say, “Man, he really messed up!”
or, more likely,
“Wonderful, he’s learning to walk!” However, when you fall down—blow the sales pitch, get passed over for the promotion, lose your job—often you feel as though you’ve failed.
Worse yet, you may define yourself as a failure.
It is better to view failure as a temporary and necessary step on the way to where you want to be. Just like falling down is a predictable and inevitable process for a toddler learning to walk, so, too, are the occasional failures that occur along the way to success in whatever you attempt.
In fact, it’s hard to improve if you don’t fail, because lack of success delineates clearly where opportunities for improvement lie.
So, when you do fall down, don’t label yourself a failure. Instead, recover quickly from temporary disappointments by asking
- “What can I learn from this?
- What worked and what didn’t?
- How can I do it better next time?”
Then, follow the toddler’s example: Get up with a smile on your face and try again, knowing you are better for the experience.
This excerpt if from a longer article, you can read on my previous post, ”There’s a Fortune in Failure.” by Dr,Gary Bradt.
Not Reality.Actuality.
Not Reality.Actuality.
This is the new catch-phrase I keep seeing on the Television.
There is definitely a surge in interest, in wanting to view the here-and-now. People are fascinated by the forensic, the unspeakable, the inner workings of the human mind.
What makes people, ………well,…….. people.
We are no longer satisfied with how something works, but the actuality of…………. the smallest fragment of motivation lying beyond each action.
The human being and the mind that controls him, is unique, but also very much alike to every other person.
We all are Human.
What we must keep in mind, is……………………….
It is up to each individual to guide their emotions and channel their actions.
As Benjamin Franklin taught: We must develop a set of Values.
Without a Value-System in place, individuals follow their instincts rather than their intelligence.
They don’t stop to consider, the way we live affects not only our existence, but changes the lives and destinies of all those we come in contact.
Also, our decisions not only affect the here-and-now, but have the power to affect several generations to follow.
We may be living in Reality but we are affected by the Actuality.
This may be contrued as meare ramblings of my mind, or ………………………………?
Consider these thoughts:
-
Be careful what you wish for………………..
-
………………..it starts with one small step.
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We can only reap what we soe, so……………………………..
Man was not born in a vaccuum. We are all in this together. What we do affects our future and the future of all those to come.
So, for the sake of all men,
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Gather your Talents,
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Gather your Treasures,
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Gather your Greatness
Not Reality.Actuality.
Then, Become someone Great!!!
I hope to meet you *on the road to greatness*
Bill
My All-Time Favorite Quote
On President’s Day, I am again reminded of my all-time favorite quote.
From one of the Great Presidents,
John F Kennedy,
the words resound in my head,
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
What a bold statement!
What a man of character and value!
He was a man of action…………. and acted with the best interest of the people he served.
I have recently changed some of his words, to suite my own goals.
”Ask not how you can benefit from your customers, but how they can benefit from you.” Are you truely providing
value to them?
I have always been more gratified by “turning the table,” looking at the world though other peoples’ eyes.
-
What do they want?
-
How are they feeling?
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How can I help them?
Will they be able to call me…….. a person of value?…….and someday a friend?
I will only achieve my Greatness……….by helping others to achieve theirs.
So I challenge myself and I challenge you,
to live by this motto,
“Ask not what others can do to serve you, and your needs…………… but what you can do to serve others, and help them achieve their dreams.”
Gather Greatness!
If you would like more greatness in your life, visit my website and sign-up with myself and like-minded people to be part of a **Greatness Newsletter.**
Bill
Act Now !
Act Now!
Sometimes it takes some discomfort in our life, before we realize that it’s time to act.
I have a story from my younger days, much younger days, that may lead you to think.
I was 10 years old and beginning my 5’Th grade in elementary school. Up to this point, my educational journey was fairly relaxed. I showed up for school everyday and put forth a minimal amount of effort to learn the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic.
Things were about to change, and change in a big way! She was only about 5 foot tall, dressed in a black robe, a black veil, and a white facial garb. A little stocky and with her sharp nose she kind of resembled a penguin. Sister Philip Marie, she wrote on the blackboard. She was my new homeroom teacher, specializing in American History.
There was a big problem.
I couldn’t remember dates and had no desire to learn history.
I knew I was in for trouble.
If teachers singled out a student to make an example of…it was me! I couldn’t seem to do anything to please her. It couldn’t be my fault. She just didn’t like me. How did she always find out when I hadn’t completed my homework? In consequence, I spent several afternoons after school pounding the chalk out of the blackboard erasers and doing mundane cleaning tasks.
A couple of months into the school year, we all received our quarterly report cards. Two F’s surrounded by a swarm of D’s.
My parents were not impressed, and my life, as I had envisioned it, was about to take a drastic nosedive.
How it got back to me, I can’t remember, but if I didn’t buckle down and start getting better grades, I was looking at a repeat performance with my favorite teacher.
If that wasn’t bad enough, my brother Bob, a year my younger, by default, would now be in the 5’Th grade with me. Ugh… As I was the oldest of 8, I couldn’t bear the embarrassment of this happening. I was expected to be the role model for my younger siblings.
Looking back, I have to thank Sister for holding me accountable. It was either do or die! She cut me no slack, but I learned a ton of important lessons that year.
I got myself organized, developed my power of concentration and started taking responsibility for my actions. Until I changed, until I started to do the things necessary to succeed, I would not receive what I wanted.
For the first time in my life I clearly understood the concept of being result driven.
This was my first actual lesson in the real world.
I am also pleased to report that one of the sweetest sentences I have ever read, was shared with me that year, “Promoted to the sixth grade.”
Act Now !
Gather Greatness !!
Become someone Great !!! www.gathergreatness.com
The road less traveled
I have found myself traveling the same road for quite some time. I have gotten comfortable doing the same things, day after day, without too much thought. Even if the consequences were somewhat painful, I chose comfort over change. Maybe comfort is the wrong word; it may be familiarity. Most people don’t like change and continue to stay with something they are familiar with, versus trying to improve.
I realize the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, but should this stop us from even dreaming of becoming something more?
I believe the road less traveled will sometimes lead you in the right direction.
- Are you tired of being just average?
- Have you forgotten you goals and desires?
- Are you making a difference in your life or someone elses?
- Isn’t it time to make a change?
- Don’t you have more greatness within you?
The answer to all these questions for me is YES!
If you feel that you are ready to make a change, follow me on the journey of a lifetime.
I am in the initial stage of creating a newsletter for like-minded people. Join me at www.gathergreatness.com
