Being your very best- Swimming to Wealth and Greatness

Via LivingBueno.com

This post is not about swimming.

 Photo Credit- Dennis Wong

By- Rick A. Griffith

Scottsdale, AZ 24 hour Fitness. December 27th, 2010 11:15 AM

So peaceful, so gracious. Her arms rhythmically reaching out in front of her and then down below the waters surface, barely making a sound. Her body fluttered softly from side to side as she seemed to pass through the water effortlessly. To her, it was a time to let go, be mindless. Focus on nothing else but gliding east to west through lane number 4 in a near meditative state. In that moment she was free.

I am in this pool as well. This isn't a metaphor, I was really in the damn pool. Brazen with the motivation of a new challenge. I committed to myself that I would become a good swimmer.

It's not that I couldn't swim. Growing up my grandparents had a pool in their back yard. Of course me being the rebellious bastard that I am, I chose to spend my time in the pool playing WWF (Now WWE) with my brother, which usually consisted of us nearly drowning each other until we got yelled at from Grandma.

This being the case I could survive in the water, but that's about it. No real technique involved.

And here I was watching this 120 Lb soaking wet (Pun) woman pierce through the water.

I can do this.

Here goes nothing...

Within a few strokes I could tell some refinement would be necessary. By the end of my first lap I could tell that I had intruded on this poor womans' escape of reality. Huffing and puffing, loudly splashing and swallowing copious amounts of chlorinated water, I was the big annoying fish in her small pond. I hope the wake I created that night didn't make it too bumpy for her.

Oh well she got a dose of what open water swimming is like right?

Who doesn't like a wave pool anyway?

Seven days later I found myself alone in the same pool. The stage was similar this evening, peaceful and solitary. Only this time, the big fish glided with ease, breathing rhythmically. One arm in front of the other reaching down and out, cutting forward, rocking fluidly from side to side. East to West 25 laps with minimal breaks. Three sessions of self instruction and focus had reaped the reward of 40 minutes of mind clearing meditation. I could swim!

Why do you care right?

Like I said this isn't about swimming, it is about learning. Moving forward, advancing ones life.

The goal is great, the process is even better. I choose to live my life in a state of constant movement. It is my perogetive to make sure that movement is forward in all aspects of my life.

But aren't swimming lessons for 8 year olds?

Yes and no. Remember it isn't about swimming.

Why not be the best you can be at everything?

Why not face your weaknesses and improve them?

As Martin Luther King Jr. stated

"Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively"

Every three months I will be selecting a new task for myself, a new challenge to embark on. This time it was swimming, which I will continue to improve at until March. All I know is that as little of a change as swimming 3 times a week is in the grand scheme of things, it has brought exponentially, much more joy to my life. Constant improvement and accomplishment feeds into all areas of your life and makes you a better person.

Maybe the maintenance guy smirks at the 250 Lb guy climbing into the pool and failing miserably, who the hell cares? He can watch my swan-like gracefulness in 2 months and wonder what the hell happened.

I don't intend to be a competitive swimmer. I have nor the build or the energy to accomplish such a feat. However I damn sure will be better tomorrow than I am today, and that goes for all areas of life.

To succeed in business and relationships, to reach goals and realize your dreams, focus on what you can control. My mind, my body, my spirit have changed.

Improvement spills over into all aspects of life.

Success breeds confidence. Accomplishments yield positivity of the mind.

Move forward every day, one arm in front of the other, mind centered, reaching for greatness.

Posted via email from Rick A Griffith's posterous

Untitled

The real art thief in Europe, isn't Danny Ocean

Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 01:59AM

Oceans 12, I have to say is my favorite movie of all time. The follow up to the box office hit Oceans 11, boasts an intriguing plot that sets a competition between master thieves in amazing picturesque areas of Europe. I watched it again the other night and got to thinking if something like this we’re really possible.
 By the way I really want this house

  After digging a bit deeper, I was fascinated to find out that this wasn’t just something dreamt up in Hollywood. Through the miracle that is Wikipedia I gathered the following information on Master Art Thief Stephane Breitwieser.
Source- (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephane_Breitwieser)
 François Toulour ain't got nothin on this guy
Stéphane Breitwieser (born 1971) is a French art thief who admitted to stealing 239 artworks and other exhibits, worth an estimated US$1.4 billion (£960m), from 172 museums while travelling around Europe and working as a waiter, an average of one theft every 15 days.^[1] The Guardian called him "arguably the world's most consistent art thief."^[2]
That is pretty crazy, 1.4 Billion dollars of art and never attempted to sell any of it. Oh and…

  In November 2001, he was finally caught after stealing a bugle dating from 1584, one of only three like it in the world and with an estimated value of £45,000, from the Richard Wagner Museum in Lucerne, Switzerland.^[5] A security guard spotted Breitwieser before he escaped. However, he returned to the museum two days later. That day, a journalist, Erich Eisner, was walking his dog on the museum grounds when he noticed a man who seemed out of place in a nice overcoat, surveying the museum. Aware of the recent theft, Eisner alerted the main guard, who happened to be the same guard who had seen Breitwieser at the heist and alerted the authorities, who arrested Breitwieser.^[2][4] Lucerne police awarded Eisner's dog a lifetime supply of food in appreciation.^[4] Breitwieser spent two years in prison in Switzerland before being extradited to France. However, it took Swiss authorities 19 days to acquire the international search warrant necessary to search Breitwieser's mother's house.^[2][4] They found nothing, and Breitwiser did not confess until a few months later, giving authorities a detailed account of the works he had stolen.

  Oh ok well he finally got caught, I guess it wasn’t worth it right?

  On January 7, 2005 he was sentenced to three years by a court in Strasbourg but only served 26 months.
 
Wait, so 239 thefts of high worth items, the equivalent of stealing $1.4 billion and 26 months in prison. I’m thinking the risk reward might be worth it for a thief.

  Lets think about this…
What if he had just successfully stolen one painting for instance,
The most valuable work of art he stole was Sybille, Princess of Cleves by Lucas Cranach the Elder from a castle in Baden-Baden in 1995. Its estimated value at auction would be £5-£5.6 million.^[3] He cut it from its frame at a Sotheby's auction where it was to be sold.^[4]
 
If he had just stolen this one and sold it, we’ll assume a conservative black market value of 25%, he’d still be sitting pretty with $1.25 million Euro.
 So just looking at the risk reward model and throwing morals aside, 1.25 million Euro or 26 months in jail doesn’t seem like too bad of a trade off. Especially considering that I hear they get dental care in jail and free rent, two things I currently pay for.
 I’m not saying I should stop what I’m doing to go steal things believe me, but I was very surprised to see that these types of things really do happen and aren’t just the result of creative thinkers in Hollywood.

 1.4 Billion dollars (said it like Dr. Evil) hmmm, it might be worth the risk of finding new male companionship in prison. J

The again maybe not...

Posted via email from Rick A Griffith's posterous

Interview with Author Maya Frost

Just a quick update, I recently interviewed author of "The New Global Student", Maya Frost. We covered a variety of topics from Travel and Living Abroad to how she did this on a budget with four daughters. Really good stuff, check it out here... Interview with Maya

Posted via web from Rick A Griffith's posterous

Freedom comes at a price, pay up.

I was thinking this morning about entrepreneurs and how they enjoy a sense of purpose and freedom that most 9-5ers' never will. Like most things that are worth having in this life, this freedom comes with a price, a toll that needs to be paid before you can get on the bridge to your passion. This toll gate doesn't take quarters or dollars, well maybe some dollars, but the main cost is your time, all of your will and every bit of passion and perseverance that is in your spirit.

This expression I'm using is many times used to describe our military service or our tax dollars spent on wars. I won't get into the tax dollars spent, but I can say as an entrepreneur, I am not going to compare myself to an American soldier. What they do, the pains they endure and the long lasting effects on the life of the things they have seen are something I can't even imagine. I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for all men and women who serve our country and protect our freedoms.

This idea has to be the same however in the mind of the entrepreneur. You have to wage your own personal war on your boredom, on your life, to build momentum forward for what you are trying to do or it will never come to be. You don't need to step on a battlefield and risk your life, no you just have to sacrifice your time in the battlefield that is business. You don't have to duck bullets and shrapnel, you have to make phone calls, set up meetings and network constantly. No sleeping in a barrack wondering if you might get bombed and die in your sleep. Just sacrificing watching Flavor of Love so you can stop wasting your life and build a foundation for something that you love.

We make things way too complicated and I am guilty of this as well. JUST GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING! It isn't easy but it sure as shit isn't as hard was being a soldier. If you are an entrepreneur you are a rare breed in this country, you have a rare make up. You are stronger than you will ever know so just go out and kill it. Work 15 hours a day, do what you have to do, stay ethical and win.

It's 3:30 am and I'm writing this blog this morning because I'm doing what I love. I love writing and interacting with people. I love showing young confused people like I was, that there is something out there for them in this treacherous economy. My goal is to inspire you and I hope something I've said here today can touch one person, can get one person off there ass and get them to stop hating what they do and start doing what they love. That's all I got for you today, God Bless.

(This blog post was also posted at www.LivingBueno.com, Check there for great new content updated daily)

Posted via email from Rick A Griffith's posterous