Three days of motorcycling was almost enough. Almost. I’ve been riding the California coast this week, solo. I took off at 11am a few days ago from Ventura County and rode north along coastal highway 1 all the way to the Monterey Peninsula. Big Sur was beautiful as always, as were the rolling golden hills and stunning ocean views of the entire trip. I rode Skyline Highway and stopped at Alice’s Restaurant to do my official duty as a motorcyclist. (You cannot ride in this area without stopping at Alice’s at least once.)

My FJR1300 in front of Alice's Restaurant

The purpose of this trip was what I’ve come to call “Emotional Self-Management.” When I discovered that our emotions operate on a completely separate track from our body and our intellect, it occured to me that there must be some way to affect our emotions. Many people try to reason their way out of their feelings. “Just get over it.” Righhht. “Let it go.” (Like that’s possible!) “Don’t think about it.” (Another brilliant suggestion.) But surely there is a way to access and influence our emotions.

Years ago I read Dr. George Weinberg’s book “Self Creation”, Avon Books 1976. His “Self Creation Principle” was, “Every time you act, you strengthen the thinking behind that act.” In other words, you can behave as if something was so and your action will strengthen your feelings and thoughts about it. For example; when you are afraid, if you act as if you were not afraid then you will often reduce your fears. It doesn’t always work but it is a good strategy for taking immediate action when your feelings are getting in your way.

Well, here is my situation. In July of 2010 I lost my 90 year old Mother and my wife Paula lost her 84 year old Mother. Two in one month, a very powerful blow. I spent two weeks in Arkansas attending to Mom, meeting with doctors, sorting through her apartment full of belongings, visiting family and friends, and attending funerals. On top of this I also delivered speeches in South America and Nebraska, and spent a week in meetings in Canada. All in just over 30 days time! If ever I needed some emotional recovery this was it. Stress-control experts tell us that the most devastating blow we experience is death in our immediate family. I figure the combined “stress points” I earned in July had to total enough to really matter.

So, among other things, I made time to exercise, took the aforementioned motorcycle trip, spent time writing and recording a song for Mom, took private time to attend to Mom’s burial and conducted a special family memorial with our immediate family. I did not attend the National Speakers Association convention, for the first time in 34 years! As past national president I’m still very much connected with NSA. Missing the events was a major decision for me. Normally I’d have made a special side trip in order to be there for part of the convention.

Now, I may not be out of the woods for stressful impacts yet, but at least I’m proactively managing my stress load. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Here are some Emotional Self-Management suggestions for you: (based upon years of research and decades of personal experience)

• Notice More. Pay attention to the stress factors in your life. Notice your own emotions. Pay attention to how you feel as well as to what you think and do. Keep a daily log if that helps. Become more self-aware. By the way, everything counts in this assessment. Notice your physical ailments, weight fluctuations, digestive difficulties, momentary outbursts, interpersonal conflicts, mood swings, and the types of problems you encounter.
• Analyse What You Noticed.  Back off and take a look at the whole picture. Pretend that you are a doctor or counsellor who is advising this person (you). What patterns do you see? Look at 30 days or more. Consider every item to be a factor. Note the obvious. Don’t judge, just be sure that you don’t miss anything. What do you see?
• Don’t worry about what you cannot control. Control only what you can. If you see a piano falling from the sky don’t try to stop the piano, just be sure you get out of its way. So, start noticing what you can control.
• Control Your Sleep Patterns. You can control how much sleep you get. 8 hours is enough normally, you may need a bit more, but resist the temptation to stay in bed and over sleep.
• Don’t use alcohol or drugs as a crutch. They don’t heal your emotions, they simply mask them and save the pain for later. Emotional healing has its own time schedule and you cannot control it.
• Control Your Alone Time. Make time for yourself to be alone and quiet with your feelings. Find a peaceful spot, take along some nurturing music. Just let yourself feel what you feel.
• Control Your Contact Time. Make sure you intentionally spend time with people who nourish you. Get around friends and associates who help you feel good. Avoid those who simply encourage you to complain, whine and deny. Have a good mixture of optimistic, cheerful contacts with others.
• Feel What You Feel. If you are grieving then grieve. Don’t try to suck it up and “be strong.” That is simply denial and all it does is postpone the grieving till later. But do your grieving in private or with a very close loved one. If you are angry, be angry but don’t act on your anger. Let it happen and let it pass. If you feel helpless, don’t run for help at first. See if it passes soon. If so then it was just a stage in the healing process. Emotions are the ways in which our souls breathe. Let them happen but don’t indulge them for long.
• Control Your Nutrition & Exercise. You are a physical creature and the nutrients you take in will decide how efficiently your body can function. Be especially careful not to overdo “comfort food” to salve your feelings. Junk will poison your system and make your feelings even worse later on. Also, go for walks, workout at the gym, increase the amount of physical movement in your day. Take the stairs, park farther from the building, do what it takes to get your body to be active so that it can help to heal you.
• Pray. Talk to God. Practice your faith. There is a bigger purpose to life than just your goals. Let go and let God heal you.
• Serve. Get outside of yourself and serve others. Do special favors, work on a service project, pick up trash, be especially nice to others, even those you don’t know. You’ll heal more quickly and pass through the emotional processes more efficiently when you let go of your concerns about yourself.

And here are some bonus tips from my own list of favorites.

Take a long motorcycle or bike ride. Don’t compete, don’t watch the clock, and don’t have a destination appointment, just flow. Ride free and savor the world around you.

Go on a mountain hike. Exert yourself and savor the natural beauty around you. Go boating but focus on the floating and the water, not just on the operation of the boat.

Sit by a stream and play or sing music. I take my guitar outdoors and just sing to the ducks at the lake some times.

Do not watch TV or listen to talk radio! Disengage your judgmental mind and let yourself heal emotionally when needed.

We are Spirits who inhabit Bodies and experience Emotions while Thinking. Each of these is a noble and valuable part of who you are. Honor and respect them. Take care of your mind, body, feeling and soul.

Santa Barbara, California

On May 18th, 2010 I will be speaking on Relationship Selling- Turning Contacts into Assets, from 6:45 pm to 9pm.
The event is being held by Catalyst and the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care.  These are the wonderful folks who cared for Max Martinez, the father of my daughter-in-law Sonya.

Jim Cathcart: Relationship Selling – Turning Contacts Into Assets

SPEAKER:
Jim Cathcart is the original bestselling author of “Relationship Selling,” and “The Acorn Principle.”  He is the founder of Cathcart Institute, Inc., The 101 Leaders Institute, and The Professional Speaking Institute. Cathcart is an advisor to the Schools of Business at both Pepperdine and California Lutheran Universities, and was inducted into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame. With over 31 years of professional speaking around the world, Cathcart is one of the best known and most award-winning motivational speakers in the business. He has delivered more than 2,700 presentations to audiences around the globe! In 2007 he was listed as one of The Top 100 Minds on Personal Development by Leadership Excellence magazine. Today Cathcart is listed in the professional Speaker Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the prestigious Golden Gavel Award, has been the president of the National Speakers Association and received the Cavett Award for a lifetime of service. He has authored 14 books and scores of recorded programs, and is an executive coach to numerous high-achievers.

BENEFITTING NON-PROFIT:
The net proceeds from this event’s ticket sales benefit Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, whose mission is to “provide high quality, comprehensive home health, hospice and related services necessary to promote the health of residents, including those unable to pay.”

TUESDAY, May 18:
5:30pm VIP Reception (must RSVP online to attend reception)
6:45pm Seating for Speaker, no late admittance
University Club of Santa Barbara, 1332 Santa Barbara Street
$10 with RSVP online, $15 at the door

OK, somebody had better stop me or I’ll end up with an entirely new career path.

Just joking, I still love speaking and helping people grow, and I’m finding more and more opportunities to play music as well. A few days ago I was in San Diego for a series of speeches and I added a one-hour “concert” where I played and sang classic Rock n Roll with the 500 attendees. And I just confirmed a repeat “gig” for Tuesday, May 4th, at Bogie’s Night Club at the Westlake Village Inn. I’ll be playing from 5:00pm to 7pm (just like I did 40 years ago when Paula and I were still dating!)
Here is the video evidence of last Tuesday’s show, April 27th where Paula joined me to sing and Dave Heroux joined me on guitar.

On April 8th I hosted the Sherwood Unplugged open-mike concert at my country club. We had ten people who got up and sang or played while 61 attendees joyfully listened and sang along. I’ll post an assortment of photos below so you can share the experience.

Guitar Center – Hollywood, under the leadership of general manager, Jason Vanderpal, loaned us 18 guitars for the night worth a total of over $100,000! Some were for us to play while others were just for the “Guitar Petting Zoo” where people could examine them in anticipation of buying one.

The music and the spontaneous harmonies made for a very fun evening. Thanks to all who attended. If you ever have an event where I can add some fun energy through music, please let me know. I’m now offering it as an add-on for any of my speaking engagements. This past two years I’ve had the opportunity to perform for and with folks in: New York City (Marriott Times Square), Phoenix (twice), San Diego (twice), Thousand Oaks, Macau China, Dallas, and Little Rock.

I’ve heard for years that we should “follow our bliss.” Never knew for sure what that meant but clearly it was similar to, “If it feels good…do it!” (The mantra of the flower child generation.) Being of that same Baby Boomer age group I certainly identify with the sentiment. But it doesn’t seem to be a good formula for generating income and paying your bills. Until you examine it further.

One of the imprinting moments for me was in 1978 when I saw Kenny Rogers on The Donahue Show (the Oprah of his day). Kenny was at the top of the charts with hit records, Tonight Show appearances and his own variety shows on TV. He had just published a new book titled “Making It With Music“.  That day Phil Donahue interviewed him about how to build a musical career and he interspersed musical performances with his interview. I told my wife Paula, “That is what I want to do!” Meaning, that I wanted to do speeches and seminars as I had been doing since 1976 but I wanted to sing and play guitar too.

A bit of background; when we got married in 1970 I was playing guitar and singing in clubs full time. I guess I was a “lounge lizard” because I played popular, folk, rock and country music at half a dozen venues around my home town, Little Rock, Arkansas. At that time my dream was to move to Nashville, get a day job to pay the bills, take music and voice lessons in the afternoons and then perform at night anywhere I could until I made my big break.

That plan didn’t even get off the ground before a new opportunity opened up. I joined the Jaycees (The Junior Chamber of Commerce) and became immensely active as a volunteer, chapter leader and committee member. Within two years I had won statewide awards for my works and was hired by the national headquarters to be in charge of Leadership Training for the 356,000 members in the USA. My music took a back seat as my world opened up and I was having a great time as a speaker, trainer and author.

But the desire to sing and perform still lingered. I played at parties and for my family but not much else…for almost thirty years!!! I could still play and did a passable job on the songs that I knew but, Man!, to take an entire generation off from performing is just begging for a “wish I had” later on. I’ve never been one to spend energy on what I “coulda, woulda, shoulda” done. So, let’s fast forward to the current era.

A few years ago our friends John & Len Dwight announced that they were hosting a “Hot August Night” party and asked if I’d bring my guitar. That’s all it took to let my genie out of the bottle again. I started practicing the Neil Diamond song that contains that lyric; Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show. As I played that song it led me to others and so I kept my guitar on a stand near my desk for convenience. The ease of access caused me to play more often and today, a few years later, I find myself playing every day. I’ve not only recaptured the joy of playing but I’ve also gotten MUCH better at guitar.

I’ve even found ways to tastefully include a song or two in some of my speeches and seminars. Some clients have asked me to do a complete performance of singalong Rock n Roll for their attendees. And boy is it fun! I’m having the time of my life. I recently performed in Macau, China at the Venetian Resort for a convention where I was the keynote speaker. Last year I performed in Phoenix, Dallas, San Diego and New York City. On Thursday of this week I’m hosting an event called “Sherwood Unplugged” at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. It is an open mike acoustic guitar event complete with dinner, bars and lots of guitars. Guitar Center, Hollywood is providing a display of high-end guitars for a “Guitar Petting Zoo” and some rental guitars for us to play onstage. This four hour event will be the closest to a regular concert that I’ve done in years.

But is it profitable?

That’s the real question, if I follow my bliss and continue to pursue performing, can I make enough money at it to justify the time and energy required? The answer is Yes. One recent speech booking with a Nashville-based client mistakenly added an hour to my scheduled presentation and published the schedule with the error in it. As we talked about what to do with that extra hour I suggested we do a Jam Session with me on guitar and everyone singing along on their favorite tunes. The client jumped at the suggestion and now I’ll be performing as part of my paid engagement. It is more fun for me, more fun for the audience and I’m finding a number of ways to use the guitar to enhance some of my speeches.

So, what is your bliss? What gives you great joy but hasn’t yet shown you how to make money at it? Now might be a good time to start adding it to your life in little ways. Let the opportunities evolve as you pursue your happiness. We never know what the path will look like until we begin to travel it. If you could be doing more of one specific thing, what would that be? Do it now!

If you’d like to hear one of my songs, go to iTunes and look up “Riding Free” by Jim Cathcart.

Music>Rock>Jim Cathcart (it was #7 on the list when I last looked it up. Scroll down to find it)

You can also purchase it (for $1) from my Online Store here at Cathcart.com.

Remember the Kinks’ tune from the sixties, “Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon”? That’s what I was doing on January 10th. I know it’s not fair to all of God’s FROZEN people to rub it in, but the day was just so perfect that I had to blog about it. Maybe you can get some vicarious warmth by reading this. (Note: The photos are intentionally oversized so that you can get a feel for the images.)

I joined my friends, The Heartbreak Hiking Fools, for a 30 person sunrise hike up Bulldog Trail in Malibu Lakes. Chilly at first but glorious by the end.

Didn’t set a personal best but still had a vigorous workout for the 6 mile round trip to the mountain top. Then we had our traditional post-hike coffee & bagels in Westlake Village. Truly a great way to start the day. All the exercise dues were paid in full, so I could relax and enjoy the day.

After my shower I got on my Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycle and rode about 40 miles of Mulholland Highway and Malibu’s coast. Check out the surfers in the photo (they are the little dots on the ocean behind my bike.)

Then I got home and learned that my interviews with Meet The Giants had been published and were now available both free and as part of a subscription in their website. Here’s the link to check them out and sign up for their free interview recordings. (And a screen shot of their listings)

Meet The Giants

So, all in all, I’d have to say that I’m living a charmed life. God has blessed me in so many ways and I’m grateful, but I also want these blessings for you. You were born for a purpose and you have the ability to make this a better world. Please do all you can to share your gifts and to guide others in sharing theirs.

Thank you for your friendship.

In the Spirit of Growth,

Jim Cathcart

Sonya, Jim Jr., Jim Sr., Paula, Jason, Santa & Amber

by Jim Cathcart

Our family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

No matter what faith you embrace, this is a special time of year. Our family is Christian so the most appropriate greeting we can offer you is Merry Christmas. We sincerely hope that this Season of Holy Days is filled with happiness and peace for you and your family.

Here’s an idea to enhance the Holidays: Don’t keep score of anything (except sports of course.)

One of the great sources of frustration and tension is missed expectations. You wanted one outcome and got another. Far too often family members, employers, coworkers and friends silently “keep score” in their head and measure whether others are doing what they expected and hoped they would do. This leads to resentment and hard feelings.

Resolve that this year you will not keep score on anyone, not even yourself. Just savor the Season, enjoy the time with those you care about, take their greeting cards and messages to heart, appreciate their gifts and understand their errors or oversights. Decide today that you will be immune to hurt feelings this year.

Look for ways to personally be an enhancer of everyone else’s experience. Offer all the genuine compliments you can, sincerely thank people for all that they do, take time to fix problems yourself instead of just pointing them out to others. Start a wave of giving actions that go out to everyone you know and don’t know.  A compliment that is felt but not expressed is useless, let your compliments out for the world to see.

Be a force for good.

Thank you for all that you do to make this world a better place.

NEXT!!!!! The Amazing Giovanni Livera will be our featured seminar leader Tomorrow December 3, 2009 at the Westlake Village Inn. You don’t want to miss this one!

Learn to:

• Find solutions where others see only limitations

• Show your team that Anything is Possible

• Make hard work into Fun

• Generate Optimism despite the challenges

• Get other people on your side

And have one of the best times you’ve ever had while learning lots! Single attendance is $199 and enrollment in the full series of 7 events is just $795. Enroll now!

Sign up for this Prosperity Seminar Series, 7 seminars per year for only $795. (Single Seminar fee is just $199 and may be applied to full enrollment within 30 days if desired.)

The Next 101 Prosperity Series Seminar Is:

Thursday, December 3 – 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

For More Information Contact:

Jim Cathcart
805 777 3477
info@101Leaders.com

Check our website: http://www.101Leaders.com

We are delighted to be of service to you and your business.

“Abundance vs Scarcity Mentality”

iLearningGlobal is pleased to present Jim Cathcart as the featured faculty member on this Saturday’s Millionaire Mentor Session!

With over 32 years of professional speaking around the world, Jim Cathcart is one of the best known and most award-winning motivational speakers in the business.

After hearing Earl Nightingale on the radio one day in 1972, Jim was inspired to change his life. While working as a government clerk in the Urban Renewal Agency, he determined to learn psychology and master the process of self-improvement. Through years of fanatical dedication to this new quest he learned new skills, became a certified trainer for a variety of programs, read stacks of books, attended countless seminars and volunteered thousands of hours to civic organizations. In this process he moved from clerk, to manager, to leader, to trainer, to author and professional speaker.

Today, he is listed in the professional Speaker Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the prestigious Golden Gavel Award (along with Earl Nightingale, Art Linkletter, Zig Ziglar and many others), has been the president of the National Speakers Association and received the Cavett Award for a lifetime of service. He has authored 14 books and scores of recorded programs.

Please join us on Saturday to hear Jim speak on “Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentality”. This will be a spectacular educational session you won’t want to miss! We look forward to having you on the call.

Details:

When: Saturday, October 17, 9am PST

Dial in: 646-519-5830

Access code: 7244

Jim Cathcart Full Bio

He has delivered more than 2,700 presentations to audiences in every state of the US, most provinces of Canada and countries from Scotland to Singapore. Two of his most recent international engagements were for thousands of business leaders in Bogota’, Colombia and Caracas, Venezuela!

A researcher and philosopher at heart, Jim is also a down to earth regular guy. He has worked in warehouses, driven trucks, sold donuts door to door, been a bank teller, played guitar in night clubs and beer pubs, and sold motorcycles.

Someone recently said, “Jim Cathcart is what ‘Fonzie’ would have been if he’d gone to business school.”

Jim was an insurance agent for many years, an Army officer and a bill collector who, while in his twenties, had to repossess log trucks in the mountains of northern Arkansas. From this varied background he decided in 1972 to become an authority on the subject of motivation and through decades of dedication and hard work, made it happen.

After hearing Earl Nightingale on the radio one day in 1972, Jim was inspired to change his life. While working as a government clerk in the Urban Renewal Agency he determined to learn psychology and master the process of self-improvement. Through years of fanatical dedication to this new quest he learned new skills, became a certified trainer for a variety of programs, read stacks of books, attended countless seminars and volunteered thousands of hours to civic organizations. In this process he moved from clerk, to manager, to leader, to trainer, to author and professional speaker.

Today he is listed in the professional Speaker Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the prestigious Golden Gavel Award (along with Earl Nightingale, Art Linkletter, Zig Ziglar and many others), has been the president of the National Speakers Association and received the Cavett Award for a lifetime of service. He has authored 14 books and scores of recorded programs.

In 2007 he was listed as one of The Top 100 Minds on Personal Development by Leadership Excellence magazine. The San Diego chapter of the National Speakers Association renamed their member of the year award “The Jim Cathcart Service Award” and the Greater Los Angeles chapter gave Jim the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. In 2008 he was inducted as one of the “Legends of the Speaking Profession.”

Jim Cathcart is an active motivational speaker and prolific author plus an executive coach to numerous high-achievers. In his personal time he plays Rock n Roll guitar, rides his motorcycle on the twistiest roads he can find and runs the trails of the mountains near his home at least twice each week. He’s a proud parent and grandparent and an active civic leader.

He serves on the board of advisors to the School of Business at both Pepperdine University and California Lutheran University. His messages can be seen on iLearningGlobal.tv and on TSTN.com.

Please join us on this call and tell others about it. Spread the word so that we can get more people to embrace an Abundance Mindset and get away from the Scarcity Thinking that takes away opportunity. Send the link to this email to those who would benefit from hearing it.

For those who want to keep this learning alive, please join us for the “Breakthrough to Prosperity” Seminar Series seven times a year here in the “101 Corridor”.

Ground Zero in New York City

In the afternoon of 9-11-2001, while still reeling from the shocking tragedies of that morning, I wrote the message posted below. Today, 9-11-2009, we have a different set of challenges and fears but once again, I assert that we must come together in a spirit of unison to address, remove and solve the problems plaguing us.

Today’s challenges include a large number of our own political leaders who appear to be driving our country off a cliff. They are rapidly passing legislation and implementing policies and systems far beyond their elected authority to do so. And when they leave office with a comfy pension we and our children will be required to pay their debts.

We need leaders whom we will hold accountable for real solutions, not just symbolic strategies with no proven ability to produce good results. We need to elect new leaders, demand more responsibility and integrity from those who serve us, and revive the spirit of self-reliance and Americanism. We need people whose personal and professional track records are worthy of admiration. People about whom we can say to our children, “Be like them.”

We must forget race, color, religion, gender, age or political party as we look at each other. We must also consider all of our hyphenated self descriptions (“xyz-american”) to be obsolete, permanently. Those that keep race alive as an issue must be ignored and discouraged. When the audience walks away the speakers stop ranting.

We are either American or we are not. E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many…ONE. When we become Americans the other identities are no longer important. It is our Americanism we must honor, grow and protect.

On this day when so many died at the hands of the enemies of Freedom, I urge you to honor their sacrifices and distinguish their legacies by returning the dignity and pride of being an American. Do this by behaving responsibly, speaking up against corruption and injustice and keeping this country free from government oppression and foreign agression.