Over the years, I’ve been teaching kids about a simple but powerful concept: the Ant Philosophy. I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy.
Here is the first part: Ants never quit. That’s a good philosophy. If they’re headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they’ll look for another way. They’ll climb over. They’ll climb under. They’ll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy-to never quit looking for a way to get where you’re supposed to go.
Second, ants think winter all summer. That’s an important perspective. You can’t be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants gather their winter food in the middle of summer.
Desert Sage
An ancient story says, “Don’t build your house on the sand in the summer.” Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to think ahead. In the summer, you’ve got to think storm. You’ve got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.
The third part of the Ant Philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, “This won’t last long; we’ll soon be out of here.” And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they’ll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can’t wait to get out.
And here’s the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the “all-you-possibly-can” philosophy.
Wow, what a great philosophy to have-the ant philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.
Listen to Jim Rohn’s presentation of the Ant Philosophy recorded live. Though delivered in 1999, The Weekend Seminar is still as relevant today as ever! Jim Rohn shares the ideas, strategies and proven principles that helped him achieve mega-success in both business and in life for more than 40 years. This complete two-day seminar includes 12 powerful CDs! Click here for more details.Also available as an MP3 download!
In august of 2007 I was broke, jobless, income-less, scared to death of ending up homeless, bad physical health etc.. In august of 2007 I signed up for the Team Beachbody Coach opportunity. Almost all of my friends who have signed up with me waited 2 or 3 years to sign up with me in my Team Beachbody Business. Some of them will sign up 4 years later, 5, and so on… None of them signed up with me my first 8 or 9 months of business. Most coaches will quit before they give this a chance to work. Not me. The majority will and the majority are broke and out of shape year after year because they are not in it to win it.
My friends who sign up with me see me achieve so much just based on what I’ve shared in facebook the past couple years. Sometimes a friend will call me up just to ask me if I’m still doing that Beachbody “thing” and how it’s going for me. Once I tell them I’m still in it YEARS later and business is booming in the year of the official recession my income increased over 700% despite the economy some of them sign up. There are other variables involved differing from person to person but largely they were waiting to see if I was in it to win it or not! Can you imagine if I told them I quit? I would STINK to high heaven and every ex coach who has a dream experiences it.
Big moral here..
Coaches who get in for a lil while to “try it out” and then quit if they don’t experience enough success quickly enough literally rob themselves of the respect of their friends and miss BIG opportunity to build a big business as time rolls on. Quitting stinks I’m glad I didn’t quit my first couple years when I was virtually a failure or I would have missed my freedom. I will never have to worry about money, the economy, time, and all those problems everyone else experiences stemming from time, money, and personal freedom constraints. I lifted myself out of poverty and achieved this. There was no special deal. I paid the price for a couple years. Those couple years were going to pass by anyway so was it worth it? YES!!!!!! Most people do not think so and that’s why most people are broke, out of shape, and falling short of the promises they made to themselves and to their families.
Most people in my shoes would have quit the first two months let alone the first two years of little to nothing to show for. I honestly and humbly have to pat myself on the back here. I hope all of you take a moment to pat yourselves on the back to when life rewards you for doing something most people will not do 🙂 And then share it with us and the rest of your support team who nurtures you to grow so we can pat you on the back to! If you don’t have friends who nurture you to grow then you definitely need new friends Immediately!
If you’re actively building a dream remember the moral of this story especially if you haven’t made your way over the initial business “hump” yet….. Your friends, family, new friends you make along the way, all who do not make the commitment to come with you yet are just testing you…. Waiting to see if you’re in it to win it or not. No one wants to follow a loser so stay in it to win it! Do NOT put yourself in a position to where they are ready but you’ve already quit. I’ve been told horror stories of ex Team Beachbody coaches who literally threw up once they realized what they threw away by quitting.
Does being significant in other peoples lives turn you on? Does finding success by being significant fuel your passions?? In my Team Beachbody Business it is not possible to be successful unless you have significance in other peoples lives. If that speaks to your heart write / call me I want you in my business. Take pride in the fact that you find success in this business by becoming significant in other peoples lives. It’s a wonderful concept get involved in this business, embrace it, and share it with everyone 🙂
This is why I read and I tell everyone they should to! This is why I’m relentless in my own pursuit of enlightenment, knowledge, and being of service to others. This is why I tell EVERYONE they should be relentless in these things to! We’d all be MUCH happier, healthier, more fulfilled human beings.
My relentless search for enlightenment through reading lead me to this gem by Lindsay Matway. Lindsay has a story of BIG triumphs over ENORMOUS challenges and set backs in her life. Naturally when I learned of her story I wanted to find out what the heck she is doing to achieve so much starting at a place so challenging and scary! This is a woman who was $400,000 in debt and climbing still, her new baby was born pre mature with no health insurance, she owned a house that had depreciated by $100,000 since the time she purchased and was starting to fall apart, faced with bankruptcy proceedings, not happy with her physical shape, struggling intensely in every way possible etc… She’s turned all that around, shes THRIVING, and shes still setting bigger goals and achieving them!! She’s a true inspiration to give people permission to let their own lights shine no matter how tough things are.
A short but SWEET read by Lindsay Matway now that I’ve edified the heck out of her enjoy:
“The pursuit of HAPPINESS is ALWAYS linked to being of SERVICE to others! Ask yourself, “How can I be of service?” instead of “How can I find happiness” and I promise you happiness with FIND YOU! Spend your life experiencing the beauty of GIVING BACK and your cup will ALWAYS runneth over! Give yourself the gift of GREAT HEALTH with the added bonus of a BOMBSHELL BODY! We know not what we are capable of until we PUSH past our comfort zones and force down the mental blocks that hold so many of us back in life! We are ALL capable of losing weight and being physically, mentally, and spiritually fit. YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL! It is my hope that through sharing my own journey, I might somehow be able to assist you in breaking down that first imaginary wall that is holding you back at this moment in your life! Live inspired and you will give others permission to let their light shine too!” – Lindsay Matway
A wonderful article for anyone to read for some really good clean pure inspiration to feel good about themselves and rejuvenate their youth! Only a 2 minute read but a potent one better than a cup of regular coffee 😉
There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?
Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at her. She is full of awesome.
You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.
An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life…He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil—he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego. The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”They thought about it for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?” The Elder simply replied, “The one you feed.”
There are countless real life parallels you can draw from this story. What a wise story!! Everyone should know this story and think about it. Let it stimulate the mind and then let it fuel some daily action for you to take more control over your own life!
The parallel that I thought of right away is the battle of sickness vs health going on in our bodies. This battle is on going 24/7 and will never stop until life stops. Our body innately wants us to be healthy in this push shove war fare. We sabotage our own self interest every time we eat badly. The body asks for a banana and we send it a coca cola or a fast food “value” meal or both! When you do that you are feeding the “evil wolf” and that evil wolf WILL get stronger and stronger until it gets YOU! Sickness and disease in our bodies sits there, contained, quietly waiting for health to get weak. As soon as sickness and disease sees a vulnerability in health because of how poorly we feed our bodies then sickness and disease moves in and starts to gain power in our bodies! Case in point: we eat more poorly than ever before in our history and we are more disease riddled than ever before in our history. The only way to win this struggle is to get involved, cooperate with the positive things going on inside our bodies and see if we can’t help out in this push shove match. This battle has been going on in our bodies since we were created and it’s going to continue! We’ve got to fight this battle our entire life which is exactly why if your not doing something you can sustain for the rest of your then it doesn’t matter how you’re helping your own self interest. You can’t just sit on the sidelines, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. That’s a terrible philosophy to have! You’ve gotta get off the sidelines and in the game! See where you can cooperate with the positive and see if you can’t help out in this struggle. There is no other way! If someone tries to tell you there is another way just take this magic pill and you’ll be fine then you’ve gotta have some backbone and say no! You’re wrong! This is fundamental stuff and fundamentals are old! It’s existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist so long as there is life on earth. Magic pills don’t exist you’ve gotta reject that whole idea and not be suckered into it!
Eat good, drink your Shakeology, stimulate your mind and body, do these things every day and you can keep sickness and disease controlled and contained into a very small corner. It’s either cooperate with the positive things going on in your body or live your life in anguish. There is no other way!
This is one of the best blogs I’ve ever read. It’s a very quick easy read I recommend anyone to read it who’s just interested in becoming a better version of themselves. It’s honest tough love.
I got a note from a coach who did the amazing; she lost 50lbs! But she is not in shape to do X2 because she has another 100lbs to lose… so what’s the next move? Looks like she is thinking of quitting the business.
Am I talking to myself on these phone calls?
This business is not about P90X or P90X2. This is not about who can get skinny. This is not about being ripped. I am not ripped. Should I quit?
This business is about helping people achieve their goals to lead healthy fulfilling lives. That’s it.
You can inspire people from a wheelchair. You can inspire people by showing them how you plan your eating so you are healthier. You can inspire people simply by your refusal to quit.
Or you can feel the resistance, and give up. You can let the rope slip out of your hands and slide back into the darkness that is your fear, owning past mediocrity as if it was your present, and let your own inner demons run the show, demons that you’ve picked up over a lifetime of other people telling you that you aren’t good enough.
For once in your life, shut that crap out. Put your effort at getting past it, not quitting! When will you see that nothing is holding you back, but YOU and your willingness to work for it?!
Even if you say to yourself “I know it’s my fault, I should have tried harder”, that doesn’t change things for you. You don’t have to resign to “I should have tried harder” and feel righteous that you copped to a weakness. Screw that… Just. Try. Harder.
Step one to trying harder: Don’t quit. Ever.
Baseless insecurity wants to run our lives. But don’t you dare let it run yours. I need you. I need you to see past the ego, past the ideal body, past the competitions and promotions. I need you to see the amazing work we are doing at motivating people to get healthy. Every. Single. Coach. Counts. Top coach? Cool concept and great show at Summit, but not more important than any other coach who is willing to try to help one more person engage in a healthier lifestyle.
I need you to not quit. And guess what? YOU need you to not quit.
So really, come on now, lighten up for a second, get some perspective, and suck it up. Be tougher than you used to be. Recommit right now. Right now is when you define yourself. Right now is when you can show yourself who is the boss.
Strength is not required when things are easy, strength is required when things are challenging. Now is when we need your strength. Show yourself that you are stronger than you thought. (And you know who you are)
Beautiful Mountainous Desert outside of Las Vegas, NV
There are individuals in my Team Passion as well as myself who are having enormous success in designing the life of our dreams through our individual Team Beachbody Businesses.
Those of us building a business, making money, helping people get healthy, are completing assignments consistently and paying a price of RESOLVE UNTIL becoming successful. Most people with the stated goal of building a business to meet a need in their lives are not building a business instead they’re disappearing, not completing assignments, lacking consistency, lacking RESOLVE, they’re not communicating regularly with their support, they’re not making any money, and not helping anyone change their lives including their own.
This does not mean they’re bad people or unlikeable in any way. I happen to like most people very much. It just means that they don’t understand how lucrative they are yet. If they really knew how lucrative they are in ANY economy I know they’d consistently commit themselves to fail over and over again UNTIL they are successful. To “fall off” even if it’s just temporary to me means they have No Clue what they’re robbing themselves of, yet.
If you personally fall into that LARGER category of business owners (or non business owners) not building a business then get in direct touch with your support IMMEDIATELY and ask for some assignments. Then be consistent. RESOLVE you will do it until you are successful without falling off the wagon and taking breaks etc… Falling short of that you most certainly will not build a business that will set you free to design the life of your dreams.
Growth is reserved for those who have a basic comprehension of opportunity to get EVERYTHING you’ve ever wanted and then a commitment to RESOLVE to pay the price of Change until you are Successful. Everyone else gets a dead business or dreams that die with you that ONLY YOU can give Life to. Both sides of that fence are being demonstrated and VALIDATED in our own team passion group that I founded and in life in general in and outside of a business.
I hope this turns on a light bulb for you in your mind so that everything can change beginning with a change in your mind.
Let’s ALL GROW TOGETHER INSTEAD OF JUST SOME OF US! Join the individuals who are already building BIG businesses 🙂
If you’d like some information about My Team Passion to see if it would be a good fit for you in meeting a need that you have please get in touch with me as soon as possible.
Who said you need money to make money?? This is the ultimate myth buster if you’re completely broke prepare to be liberated to make a fortune. If you have a heart beat and some conscious thought then you have enough resources to make money. If you’re reading this then you have a big ole surplus of resources you need to make money. It does not matter if you have not a single dollar to your name with zero income the fact you’re reading this is proof positive that you have much more than just a heart beat and some conscious thought. What more do you need to start developing yourself from where you’re honestly at to start making money??
If you’re going to start a legal business the old adage is probably true no matter what you need money to make money. But who says you have to start with a business to make money? Think outside the box! Begin to take massive different action to developing yourself Immediately! You’re broke you should not be putting this off another single day! Procrastination is the cornerstone of ALL poverty! Your life depends on YOU doing something Different that’s more in line with the things that YOU want so stop killing yourself and take massive immediate action today!
If you have not a dollar to your name then let something else be a stepping stone to getting the money you need to make a financial investment or to start your own business. And starting your own business that earns you a passive income that grows and grows over time is THEE single most smartest thing you can do even if you can’t do it YET have your eye on that ball.
MAKE MONEY WITHOUT MONEY HERE IT IS…
Gotta bike? Rent it out! Do you have a talent or a skill people would pay money for? Go to any big city in America and you will see street performers of many kinds from musicians to card tricks to puppet shows! Can you perform manual labor? Offer to do housework for money! These are just a few ways to make money without having any money.
When I was broke I put myself out there to do any kind of yard work or house work for only $10 an hour. I also have a talent I developed for playing guitar so I tought guitar lessons for $35 per hour sessions. Between those two things I made enough to scrape by and buy my own business which later earned me a big ole fortune. My financial starting point was $zero. I didn’t respond to my $zero income by giving up while citing the old adage of needing money to make money. My starting point was my starting point, I respected it, and I actually got started then followed through with it. It doesn’t matter where you’re starting point is. It might influence HOW or WHERE you get started but in terms of getting started it doesn’t matter if you’re starting point is $million, $100, $1, or $zero where you end up is not determined by where you start. Where you end up is determined by if you actually get started or not and then if you see it through or not, period!
Don’t have a dollar, a skill, a service or a product that anyone would spend money on? Then your starting point is personal development. EVERYONE no matter how great they are should always engage in daily personal growth and development until the heart stops beating and body turns cold. But if you have not a single thing to offer that anyone would pay money for then your only starting point is personal growth and development. You must simply become more valuable to the marketplace via personal growth and development. How do you make more money or ANY money in the market place? You become more valuble to the market place! The more valuable you become to the market place the more money you make!
What’s the difference between someone who makes $5 an hour and $500 an hour? One is a lot more valuable than the other to the market place. So the key is to learn how to work harder on yourself than you do on your job because that’s how you become more valuable. The late great Jim Rohn taught me that in an audio CD. I use Jim Rohns material more than anyone else to become more valuable as I work harder on myself than I do my job. And I’m living proof positive right here validating it’s the honest to god truth. And anyone can do it the information is free to build your value in the market place so you can make more money. Not all of the information is free. If you have not a dollar to your name can you get a library card at your local library? YES!!! How much is a library card at your local library?? It’s FREE! How EASY is FREE? It’s EASY!
“It Doesn’t get Any Easier than Free!!” – Jim Rohn
The wealth of the world is at your local library. You can learn how to change anything you want without spending a dollar to get that information all you have to do is go get it. But 97% of the population can’t be bothered with it. They find it easier to complain about their job, the economy, politics, and whatever else is going on in their lives that they are not very happy with. It’s the 3% who’ve walked away from the 97% and lead drastically different life styles. Both patterns of human behavior VERY starkly validating each respective life style. Jim Rohn gave me very good advice when he said to walk away from the 97%. I amended that to RUN AS FAST AS I CAN Away from the 97%. I didn’t want to be like them philosophically. Many of them are very nice likable people but in terms of the marketplace they are not very valuable and I don’t want to be broke or be complacent with “just getting by”. I’m not down with that so I RAN AS FAST AS I COULD Away from the 97% philosophically. Since then I’ve upgraded and am buying books to discover even more of lifes treasures. But remember this friends it all started at my respective starting place which for me happened to be $zero.
All of us are born with massive potential in our abilities and our talents. With a big enough dream that out weighs our biggest fears we can do whatever it takes to develop our abilities and our talents to move closer toward our massive potential and get everything we’ve ever wanted.
Let me give you an example of the kind of people I find inspiring.
I witness lots of people hit HARD by the economy just as all of you witness I’m sure. The particular lady I witnessed in this example I’ve seen before in a few others but it’s very rare and I’m so inspired by them there are no words. She said it’s not the fault of the economy that her income shrunk. She blames herself for not owning her income. She decided to OWN IT finally. I believe her success in owning her own income and her own life has just been assured. Time just has to roll out the deal and then she WILL declare financial independence! What a breath of fresh air!! She walked away from most people blaming the economy for their hardships. Shes on the path to setting herself FREE. The belief of “it’s the economy” is 100% self inflicted popular head trash. If you don’t want to be like them you must walk, or in my case, RUN away as FAST as you can!
Most people disagree and find it easier to give away there power to whatever it is they are blaming for there life not turning out the way they wanted it to. I’ve found the ones fighting against ownership over their own income, their own destiny, and their own life lead a drastically different, broke, lifestyle. No judgement here just a stark observation.
Now I know what some of you are thinking… “oh Tom I’m just too old to start building my own value, I’m not old enough, I don’t have the motivation, it’s not what my parents taught me, I have a boil on my butt etc..” At least you and I can finally agree your problem is not the economy but an inside job in your own mind. But guess what? The solution is also an inside job in your own mind 😉 Never forget that.
My aim with this is to turn on light bulbs and inspire people to feel empowered and to ultimately take Massive Different ACTION Immediately. I’m hoping you’ve had enough validation by now that procrastination is the cornerstone of all poverty including your own poverty. Waiting to act til you have more money, more time, more this or that is the formula for a dead life til the day you join the physically dead. I hope you decide it’s easier to climb than it is to regret not climbing. I hope you make a decision in your own favor and then I hope you RESOLVE to commit to fail over and over again until you are successful.
Begin designing the life of your dreams and begin TODAY even if your starting point financially is $zero income like mine was. I promise you you’ll never take the second step closer toward your own dreams if you don’t take the first step.
What is the I COMMIT TO STAY FIT THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS CHALLENGE?
This challenge is designed to help us through that difficult time of year… the Holidays! This is a FREE Challenge I will never ask you for a fee in this Challenge. Email Me to enter Today to give yourself enough time to get all your ducks in a row by the October 3rd start date.
Many people complain of gaining weight during this time of year due to all of the yummy foods available in combination with the shortening of the days. I hope that, with the help of this challenge, we can help each other survive this “dreaded” time of year. I spent an enormous amount of time and energy designing this 90 day Challenge which will include education, workout opportunities, fitness tips, nutrition tips, recipes, expert trainer tips, accountability, prizes, and more!
When does it start? October3rd When does it end? December 31st
Email Me to enter with the subject line of, “I Commit to my Fitness Through the Holidays”.
The best most successful Home Fitness Program since the beginning of man, P90X, finally has a sequel! I just pre ordered my copy yesterday you can pre order yours as early as September 6th from My Website. If you’d like to secure your copy of P90X2 before September 6th REACH ME so I can help you make that happen.
If you’ve followed my story you know I did a round of the original P90X four years ago and went from scrawny to brawny with it in only 90 days. I completely changed my body, my physical and mental health, my self confidence, everything. That 90 days completely revolutionized the quality of my life through fitness. That’s why I recommend it to people because if you drastically improve your fitness you’re going to drastically improve all other areas of your life it’s like a domino affect over everything. Self confidence gos up, it emotes from you and resonates with everyone you come into contact with, and it actually begins to attract success to you that you couldn’t ever seem to get before no matter how hard you tried. Success is EASY now!
Opportunities come knocking! There is a saying, “Success is something you attract by the person you become”. When you’re in great physical and mental shape, when you have high self esteem and you have high self confidence you begin to attract opportunities that other less confident people just don’t get.
