Brent Bryson

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and set on the table in front of him. He then produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.  When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is the jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”  Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucked of gravel.  Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.  Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”

By this time the class was on to him.  ”Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is the jar full?” “No!” the class shouted.  Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began t0 pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.  Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in!” “No,” the speaker replied, “That’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is:  If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.  What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Your children….Your loved ones….Your education….Your dreams… A worthy cause….Teaching or mentoring others…Doing things that you love….Time for yourself….Your health….Your significant other.”

“Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all.  If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel,the sand) then you’ll fill your life with little things to worry about that doesn’t really matter, and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).  So, tonight or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life?  Then, put those in your jar first.”

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting
‘What a ride’.” -Unknown-

I have always been one to push myself. 18 holes are not enough. Most warm days I find a way to play 36 and smack around 3 or 4 hundred balls.

In the winter I practice yoga, ski, lift weights and find a way to slip in 72 or so holes a week. I’ll read a book or two, Oh and when I’m bored I’ll throw some work in as well. Why sit around? There will be lots of time for rest when I stop inhaling and exhaling.

Here’s my 2 cents on staying young…

• Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about that, isn’t that why we pay them?

• Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

• Keep learning! Learn more about computers, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”, and the devil’s family name is Alzheimer’s.

• Enjoy the simple things.

• Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

• The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. 

• Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

• Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. Practice Yoga! You will just last longer!

• Don’t take guilt trips… Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

• Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. And if you don’t send this to at least 8 people – who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions. ’How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. ’How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life! You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling… What’s wrong?

What’s changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away.

Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. But! Wait!! ! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, and REACH 50 and make it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into! your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

Tags: aging, healthy, keep learning, laugh, live life, young

Don’t Follow The Follower

Processionary caterpillars travel in long, undulating lines, one creature behind the other. Jean Hanri Fabre, the French entomologist, once lead a group of these caterpillars onto the rim of a large flowerpot so that the leader of the procession found himself nose to tail with the last caterpillar in the procession, forming a circle without end or beginning.

Through sheer force of habit and, of course, instinct, the ring of caterpillars circled the flowerpot for seven days and seven nights, until they died from exhaustion and starvation. An ample supply of food was close at hand and plainly visible, but it was outside the range of the circle, so the caterpillars continued along the beaten path.

People often behave in a similar way. Habit patterns and ways of thinking become deeply established, and it seems easier and more comforting to follow them than to cope with change, even when that change may represent freedom, achievement, and success.

If someone shouts, “Fire!” it is automatic to blindly follow the crowd, and many thousands have needlessly died because of it. How many stop to ask themselves: Is this really the best way out of here?

So many people “miss the boat” because it’s easier and more comforting to follow – to follow without questioning the qualifications of the people just ahead – than to do some independent thinking and checking.

A hard thing for most people to fully understand is that people in such numbers can be so wrong, like the caterpillars going around and around the edge of the flowerpot, with life and food just a short distance away. If most people are living that way, it must be right, they think. But a little checking will reveal that throughout all recorded history the majority of mankind has an unbroken record of being wrong about most things, especially important things. For a time we thought the earth was flat and later we thought the sun, stars, and planets traveled around the Earth. Both ideas are now considered ridiculous, but at the time they were believed and defended by the vast majority of followers. In the hindsight of history we must have looked like those caterpillars blindly following the follower out of habit rather than stepping out of line to look for the truth.

It’s difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of people ever really get the word about life, about living abundantly and successfully. Success in the important departments of life seldom comes naturally, no more naturally than success at anything – a musical instrument, sports, fly-fishing, tennis, golf, business, marriage, parenthood.

But for some reason most people wait passively for success to come to them – like the caterpillars going around in circles, waiting for sustenance, following nose to tail – living as other people are living in the unspoken, tacit assumption that other people know how to live successfully.

It’s a good idea to step out of the line every once in a while and look around to see if the line is going where we want it to go. If it is not, it might be time for a new leader and a new direction.

For those who have tried repeatedly to break a habit of some kind, only to repeatedly fail, Mary Pickford said, “Falling is not failing, unless you fail to get up.” Most people who finally win the battle over a habit they have wanted to change have done so only after repeated failures. And it’s the same with most things.

The breaking of a long-time habit does seem like the end of the road at the time – the complete cessation of enjoyment. Suddenly dropping the habit so fills our minds with the desire for the old habitual way that, for a while, it seems there will no longer be any peace, any sort of enjoyment. But that’s not true. New habits form in a surprisingly short time, and a whole new world opens up to us.

So, if you’ve been trying to start in a new direction, you might do well to remember the advice of Mary Pickford: breaking an old habit isn’t the end of the road; it’s just a bend in the road. And falling isn’t failing, unless you don’t get up.

Earl Nightingale

From: The essence of success

With the economy plummeting at a records pace, I know how this salesman feels. I know a better way! Custer, a successful soldier has found himself in un-chartered territory and way out numbered. Under conditions he was used to fighting he would have been able to accept a victory. So in this cartoon it looks as though instead of taking time to listen to an alternative he just wants to continue the only way he knows how, by charging forward to his death.

Over the past few months I have felt like this salesman on several occasions. Our company is setting and breaking sales record after sales record, and making millionaire distributors at the pace of one every 9 days. Thousands of people are just saying “NO” to the recession. Even though you may have been successful in business and everyday life over the years, the times are changing. To keep up with this new economy it is time for a paradigm shift in your career plans. Have an open mind and you might just do more than survive.

Top 10 Reasons I Practice Yoga:

10. Yoga classes are mostly women, guys are out numbered 7 to 1!
Oh come on, I know you were thinking it too.

9. It seems the coolest people in the world practice yoga.
With yoga leading to harmony in our relationships it brings out our best qualities, which make it much easier to power through a 6 am practice.

8. Yoga improves Concentration and Mental Clarity
Hone the mind and intellect through yoga.
You can say I have become one with the force, like a Jedi Knight.

7. Yoga benefits my Mental Health too
Peace of mind! Mind has become an ever-elusive goal in today’s fast-paced world. This is where my stellar golf game comes from (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

6. Yoga is the ultimate tool for Self Improvement
A wise yogi used to tell his students, “You don’t have a problem. You are the problem!” Yoga teaches us that we are each responsible for everything that happens to us, and it gives us the training to improve all of our life situations…
I’m just trying to keep that part from my wife.

5. Energy, Vitality and Longevity are all benefits of yoga
Yoga not only improves health, but it improves quality of life and lifespan too! Gain vigor and vitality through yoga. It’s kind of like Viagra for the soul.

4. Yoga remedies many diseases and health problems
Studies have shown that yoga helps to reduce blood pressure and hearth disease. It has proven beneficial for those suffering from diabetes, arthritis, digestive problems, asthma and more… Unfortunately, it won’t make the hair on my head grow.

3. Improved Breathing is an important benefit of yoga
Proper breathing is the cornerstone of good health.
But I still prefer to cruise the courses in my cart.

2. You can’t beat yoga for Stress Relief
Yoga is one of the best practices for calming the nerves and reducing anxiety. It’s my little happy place. Think Happy Gilmore!

1. Yoga Health Benefits are vast indeed
Yoga helps normalize blood pressure.
It relieves muscle tension and improves flexibility.|
It strengthens muscles and tones the nervous system
Yoga benefits spinal health
Yoga provides great conditioning for weight loss
… And the list goes on.
Basically it gives me the energy and vitality to enjoy the good things in life, including keep up with my girls on the slopes!

Pictured left: The great Amy Williams of “It’s Yoga” Provo Utah.

Amy has taught over 6000 yoga classes. It’s so awesome to have a yogi like Amy Williams and her team of high quality Instructors in such a small town of Provo, Utah. If you are ever in the area be sure to drop by “It’s Yoga“, you will love it.
Pictured right: My class hard at work. Never mind that gallon jug of water, it’s not mine!

Tags: Baddha Hasta Sirsasana A, Jedi Knight, Yoga, yoga class

I have a friend that I nick named the Hobbit. I have learned a lot
about life style from my good friend the Hobbit. He is truly free,
free from what other people think and do.  He has taught me to be
audacious, keen, and to truly live everyday as though it were my last.
The hobbit is just a solid and trustworthy guy.

With financial freedom and copious amounts of free time over the last
few years, he and I have played thousands of rounds of golf.  It has
been a blast. Times like these are truly something I hold sacred.

Here is a very rare picture of this mystical creature in his natural
habitat while at the Entrada Country Club in St. George, Utah. I’m
sure the Hobbit has moved on by now.

My home in Entrada

The Hobbit at Entrada Country club

Tags: Entrada Country Club, hobbit, inspiration

YOU MUST ACT TO OVER COME FEAR.
One of the greatest surprises you’ll experience is when you discover that you can do what you were afraid you couldn’t do. Your obstacles will melt away, if instead of cowering before them, you make up your mind to walk boldly through them. Do the things you fear, and fear will disappear. Confront your fears, list them, get to know them and only then will you be able to put them aside and move ahead. When you face the things that scare you, you open the door to freedom.

The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.

Tags: fear

“Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519, Scientist, Inventor, Artist

Tags: da vinci, Favorite Quotes, quote

We got big time snow at Deer Valley this season. I took the family to the Red Stag Lodge for the Holidays. Becca and I went out to cut some new tracks back during Christmas break and I couldn’t believe our luck, we got 40″ of fresh snow in one night! So of course we had to get out there and make our mark. There’s nothing like having the time to just get out and enjoy the day with family. Utah really does have the “Greatest snow on Earth.”

Time well spent

Here is the MasterCard moment with my beautiful daughter Becca, at Red Stag Lodge (Ski Lodge, Millions of dollars. New Ski Equipment, Thousands of dollars. One Day pass at Deer Valley, Hundreds of dollars. A day of Skiing with Becca, Priceless).

Red Stag Lodge @ Deer Valley Resort

Tags: becca and I, Deer Valley, highlights of 2008, Red Stag Lodge

Dinner with Beth and Friends

Headed over to Anaheim for the weekend to kick off NuSkin’s new AgeLoc™ product. It just so happens that I have family in the area so it was great to get to mix a little business with pleasure and get to see my daughter and nephew. Saturday night Beth and Brian invited me out with some of their friends from Disneyland (yes it’s true I did have dinner with Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Buzz Light Year) It was really great to get out and see my daughter and just hang out. Not to mention finally getting to kick off one of the most exciting products to address aging at its source (of which NuSkin has the worldwide exclusive).

Hangin' out in Cali!

Tags: AgeLoc, Beth, Nuskin