BetterPhotoJim

Saturday bonus: Just for fun...

If you could have only one superpower - flight or invisibility - which would you choose, and why?

Take my fun poll here: 

http://twtpoll.com/n3qfra

So, who do YOU view as a master?

Yesterday I had a real treat. I got to interview one of my favorite masters of photography, Art Wolfe. Art's inspired many people through his 60+ books, "Travels to the Edge" TV show, numerous seminars, workshops and art exhibits. He's the real thing and, best of all, he's a nice guy.

I interviewed Art as part of an ongoing series where I ask masters about their vision, mindset, values, etc. - their "inner game." I'll let you know when the video is edited. I too can't wait - the interview is going to be amazing, insightful, and awesome.

In the meantime, here's my question to you: who do YOU look up to as a total master?

They need not be a photographer. He or she can be a master of marketing, business success, productivity, parenting, health/fitness, search engine optimization, blogging, travel writing... you name it! The masters I want to interview need only:

• To be confident, competent, on top of their game
• Happy, inspired, engaged, in the "flow" (masters are not sad or depressed by my definition)
• Productive - actively creating and getting great results on a daily or weekly basis

Don't worry about accessibility. I'll work on that. If you want to list Oprah or James Cameron, list 'em. There's always a way and, if it's right to interview a famous, hard-to-reach master, I'll find a way, no matter how long it takes.

And list as many as you can think of.

1. Click the Comment link below, 
2. list the masters you admire (and optionally add what you admire about them)
3. Click the "Post" link
4. Fill in the anti-spam code and click again to submit. 

I really want to hear from you. Please list at least one right now.

So, who do YOU view as a master?

Need Motivation? Watch My New Favorite YouTube Video

This one makes me smile (especially the Muppets and Will Farrell parts) and feel moved to action / ready to fight (especially with the brief appearance of Keira Knightley in "Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End" and Viggo/Aragorn in "Return of the King"):

Thanks for Vishen and his team at MindValley / FinerMinds for bringing this to my attention. It's now my favorite video (yes, even better than the Evolution of Dance) and to Matt Belinkie of OverthinkingIt.com for cutting it together.

This one is going into my favorites - for viewing whenever I need to get pumped up and into action.

I Give You Confidence or Second Guessing... Therefore Choose Confidence

There is a passage in the Bible (in Deuteronomy) that goes something like this:

God says, "I give you life and death, blessing and cursing... therefore choose life."

This passage has always been attractive to me because of it's embedded truth-beyond-logic.

If you think about it, there is no real logic to this passage. God gives the choice ("You can gave A or B...") and then says "Therefore choose A" without providing reasons for choosing option A.

In one of his early books ("Pulling Your Own Strings" I think), Wayne Dyer first brought the illogical nature of the passage to my attention when I was a teenager, long before I fully dove into the Bible and started my lifelong quest for truth, searching the scriptures.

Now, Jonathan Wells, in his blog "7 Vital Building Blocks of Confidence", has reminded me of this passage. In his article, he points out that confidence is self-perpetuating. When you choose confidence, it increases the odds of success, and this success leads to more confidence. If you choose to not feel confident, success is less likely, and this lack of success will probably cause you to feel even less confident.

It's a spiral either way. In one case, you're going up; in the other case, you're going down deeper into the pit.

What does this have to do with the Life/Death choice? There IS a connection... wait for it... 

It's simply that happiness begets more happiness. Confidence begets more confidence and success. Choosing to embrace life and vitality begets more life. "To those who have, more is given; to those who have not, even what they have is taken away." When we embrace the good and focus on gratitude and success and life and confidence (our blessings), we are blessed with more of those blessings.

Jonathan goes on to offer 7 ways to choose and develop confidence. My favorites are #6 and #7, where he talks about adopting the identity of a confident person. He advises you to "Learn to view yourself as a successful person and attach feelings of approval to your positive experiences." (Check out Jonathan's great blogs on confidence at Advanced Life Skills... it's high quality, uplifting content).

And this is exactly the kind of thing I teach in my Creative Confidence seminar.

If you want to once-and-for-all choose confidence, and start spiraling up instead of down, I recommend that you pick a city and sign up for my 3-day workshop, before all the seats are taken. This is going to be an amazing weekend, and I'm limiting it to 20, so each and every person can experience many major breakthroughs.

Learn more about the upcoming 3-day seminars at:

Creative Confidence: Say Goodbye to Second Guessing 

And remember... choose life and blessing and confidence and success. It's so much more fun than the other choice.

You Are Complete... Right Here, Right Now... Doing Good?

You are perfect, whole and complete.

I am perfect, whole, and complete.

As I walk on the treadmill, listening to Jason Mraz ("I'm Yours"), tears of joy are streaming down my face. I don't mind admitting it to you.

I am a man and I cry. Hear me roar.

"I don't wipe my tears away. I'm not ashamed of them. I wear them proudly like small wet salty badges of emotional truth."

(See Harold Ramis' version of "Bedazzled" if you are unfamiliar with that reference... or if you just want to laugh your ___ off tonight.)

I am overflowing with joy with the recognition that I am complete right now. I am not and never will be perfect someday. I will not be anything someday. Someday is the lie. I get it now.

• "I'm working on it"
• "I'm getting better"
• "I'm almost clear"
• "I'm almost there"
• "I'm be fine when I just get a little more money"
• "I just gotta figure out how to XYZ"
• "I just need to lose 5 lbs... then I'll be beautiful"
• "I can't wait until retirement... then I can leave this sucky job and do what I really want to do"
• ""Next year I should have enough to be able to give back, to contribute... in a BIG way!"

ALL LIES.

LIES.

Don't believe the lie or that devil, the liar voice within.

And you are perfect and complete today.

You are PERFECT, right now.

Do good. Today. Do the thing you really want to do.. the thing you know you need to do, in order to be happy right here, right now.

I am clear, here and now, doing good.

(P.S. If you're wondering how I am writing while walking on the treadmill, I jimmy-rigged my treadmill with an extra shelf I found in the garage.)