Author: martyjreep

Speaker, Coach, Author

BelieveDo (ch 21) – How to Handle Distractions

Posted on by martyjreep in Motivational

…adapted from Believe. Do. And Follow Through!

Chapter 21

Handling distractions when you’re trying to focus on a goal or when you’re making a positive change in your life can be a challenge, especially if you are easily sidetracked.

Self-Inventory
We’ve found that the best approach to handling distractions is to face them head-on – by doing what we call “self-inventory.”  Self-inventory starts with assessing the situation and follows with asking yourself a series of questions.

Identify the Distraction
The first thing to do is honestly identify the distraction:  Is it a thing?  A hobby?  A television show?  A person?  The Internet?  A bad habit?  An addiction?  Gossip?

Place a Value
Next, place a value on the distraction and the effect it is having on you or your situation.  Is it important to you?
If so, how important?  How much is the distraction worth (time-wise, financially, emotionally, etc)?

3 Big Questions
Then, ask yourself three big questions:

1. “Can this distraction help me reach my goal faster?”

2. “Will this distraction keep me from reaching my goal within the milestones I set when I planned my goals?”

…and the biggest question…
3. “Will this distraction ultimately keep me from reaching my goal?”

The answers you discover will reveal a lot.  When you answer all your questions, you should a have a pretty good idea of what to do about the distraction.

Types
There are all types of distractions: things, people, worries, good intentions, regrets, anger, or even the pursuit of perfection.  Two of the biggest ones can be material things and family issues.

Material Things
You can have fun with some really cool stuff in life, but when you use them to hide behind, you’re no longer pursuing your goals – you’re wasting time.  Unless the gadgets and doodads you’re messing with are directly helping you achieve your goals, they’re distractions and time-stealers.

Somebody once said that the more stuff you have, the more time and money it takes to maintain it.  Some people even try to fill voids in their lives with material things, instead of developing healthy relationships.

Family Issues
Family issues can be a distraction.  We’re not saying you need to ignore your family to reach your goals – far from it!  But you have to find a balance and decide how your family situation is going to impact you in reaching your goals.

This is a very tough topic to address, but so many people hide behind family obligations as a reason for not reaching their goals.  To reach your goals or make positive changes in your life, you have to find a balance that addresses your family needs and concerns, while pursuing goals that they will also benefit from.
Distractions are always going to come and go.  The key is how you handle them.  Are you going to let them turn into excuses?  Will you be honest with your self-inventory and deal with the distractions appropriately?

As a Test
Distractions can also be used in a positive manner to test your plans for achieving your goals.  People may simply be trying to see how serious you are about reaching your goals.  If you bragged about goals in the past but did little to achieve them, then your spouse, kids, friends, or co-workers may be trying to see if you really are going to “rock the world” this time.  Inside, they truly do want you to succeed, because every time you do, you raise the level of life around you.

Lastly, no plan ever makes it through without getting modified in some way.  That’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to reaching goals and making positive changes in your life.  So, what to do?  Let it be modified; be flexible; and keep going!

Face distractions head-on!

BelieveDo (ch 20) – Live Out Your Purpose in Life

Posted on by martyjreep in Motivational

…adapted from Believe. Do. And Follow Through!

Chapter 20

There’s an excitement in the air when you start living the life that you were meant to live.  People around you will sense it, and hopefully it will inspire them to realize that their lives count, too.

But even if some of them don’t, you still have the obligation to the universe and to humanity to fulfill your purpose in life and to achieve your full potential.

Once you see that, you can’t walk away.  You have to live out that purpose, no matter what.  Oh, you can try to walk away from it, but it’ll tear you up inside.

If you try to run away from the words that go through your head every day, it will be hell on earth.  But, when you submit to the greater purposes in your life, then all will be well.

It may seem that some things aren’t working out the way you want them to.  If that’s the case, it’s usually because you don’t see the things that are happening “behind the scenes.”

Take gardeners, for example: when they plant seeds, they typically put them in rows or in some part of their yard, on purpose.  Then at the appointed time, the seeds break forth into song and pop up out of the ground as beautiful flowers or vegetables. However, a few of the seeds don’t come up.  It’s as if they disappear from the face of the earth, but in reality, they don’t.  Birds eat some of them; a few get choked out by weeds; and others get put in bad soil, by mistake, and die.

Although you might be in bad soil right now, you are not a mistake. You were not born by accident.  You are here for a reason.  When you realize that wonderful truth, you will begin to do amazing things.  You are valuable, important, and incredible.  Allow God to work in your life, and He will show you how to unleash the greatness that He put inside you when He knit you together.

When we waltz into the days of life that allow us to easily do what we are meant to do, we are operating in the God-given talents and abilities that we are strongest in.  No matter what the world says, when we are where we are supposed to be, there is no denying that we are definitely driven by the right forces.

Time will show that determination pays off.  It gets stronger with time, allowing us to see deeper into the realms of life – moments ticking away on the clock and counting for something greater than ourselves.

Here are some questions to keep in mind, as you progress in your successes:

•    What is your life’s work?
•    What are you dedicated to?
•    What are you committed to?
•    What are you willing to do, no matter what?
•    What are you not willing to do, no matter what?
•    What are you most excited about during the day?
•    Being here?
•    Going there?
•    Working in this realm?
•    Standing where no one will see you?
•    Standing in the spotlight?
•    What are your immovable core values and beliefs?

How you answer each of those will determine where you invest your life’s energy.

Live out your purpose!

Electric Fences and Your Tongue (poetry)

Posted on by martyjreep in Poetry

Some things go together
And some things don’t:

Creamed corn and tennis shoes?
Applesauce and mayonnaise?
Chocolate pudding and lima beans?
Rabbit fur and axle grease?
Turtles and tire tracks?
Piano keys and my friend?
Leather and thumb tacks?
Green beans and light bulbs?
Brains and my cousin?
Splinters and teeth?
Cow manure and bare feet?
Chuck and up?
Sandpaper and bottoms?
Tartar sauce and jelly?
Root beer and refried beans?
Lemonade and sauerkraut?
Greasy hair and a hot date?
Electric fences and your tongue?
Marshmallows and microwave ovens?

Like I said,
Some things go together,
And some things don’t.

— — — — — — — — —
Published online at
www.MartyReep.com
www.scribd.com/mjreep

BelieveDo (ch 19) – Living Through Expectations

Posted on by martyjreep in Motivational

…adapted from Believe. Do. And Follow Through!

Chapter 19

So often we get so caught up in living up to expectations that others set for us.  We get so accustomed to this type of living that we eventually lose touch with reality.  This is “living the BIG lie” – not being in touch with yourself and being dishonest to your own beliefs.

There are people reading these words, right now, that have lost their grasp on reality and just need to look within to break this vicious cycle.

A WARNING to those who break the cycle:
…You might find yourself alone drinking a cup of coffee, instead of with the normal morning gathering of fans…

The best part about this, though, is you get the opportunity to regain yourself.  Everyone – at some point – feels like they’ve lost touch with reality.  This isn’t hard to do, because we all want to be accepted by our peers or to obtain some certain social status.

“One of my personal challenges in living through expectations was trying to live up to the standards my parents set for my sister and me.  Getting a college education was not optional.  I felt this was something I had to achieve, just to exist in this world we live in.  That was a lot of pressure I carried around with me, because I had no idea what I wanted to do in this giant world that we are all supposed to go out into and just start living in.  I think early on I lacked discipline and dedication to committing to selecting a career or pursuing a degree in a certain discipline.

Now, I look back and I realize I made a choice to live up to those expectations.  Not once did I ask why getting a college education was so important in my parents’ eyes.  The examples they set for me seemed very normal, and I thought that they were the same expectations everybody else my age was living with.”    – Isaiah

Are you living up to expectations set by some outside force? Have you lost touch with your own personal reality?  Stop – and take time to evaluate how you are truly living.  Stop letting others determine what your expectations in life should be.  Get in touch with your own reality.

Live through the expectations,
and keep on living!

Booger Pie (poetry)

Posted on by martyjreep in Poetry

Booger pie
Wouldn’t be so bad
If it weren’t so salty.

A sprinkle of this,
A dash of that,
And all of it goes together.

Serve it warm
Or serve it cold
Still neither one is better

Maybe sugar
Is the trick
To balancing out the flavor.

Or could it be
That boogers are meant
For eating from your fingers?

Which would you pick?

…P.S. – My son says “crunchy ones” are better.

— — — — — — — —
Published online at
www.MartyReep.com
www.scribd.com/mjreep

Death Hordes Upon the Town (poetry)

Posted on by martyjreep in Poetry

Into the ways of evil walk
The men from all abroad
They sample fare from here and there
With none so fair as all.

And with the wispy wind does blow
A lifeless cast of death
They beat upon the chests their own
And cringe no more, beset

They’ve come to maim, to cut, to kill
And wreck all goodness here
The hordes have set upon the town
To end all lifeblood dear.

From North, from West, from East, from South,
The deadly droves are brought
To do the bidding of the one
Who sends against the sought.

The day of peril has come on
It seems to know no end
But we shall see by morning’s light
If life will come again.

— — — — — — — — —
Published online at
www.MartyReep.com
www.scribd.com/mjreep

A Glance Across the Room (poetry)

Posted on by martyjreep in Poetry

1.
A glance, a smile
Across the room
Coffee shop fades away

Into the mind
A story goes
And brightens up her day

She had been lost
No hope could see
No lover’s arms surround

In a moment
All could change
A love twinge may be found.

2.
Now in the room
Sits perfect chance
To start with hope anew

To find with luck
His smile as well
If only could be true

She looks but sees
He has removed
Himself from place across

Her heart now falls
In broken mess
Upon the floor in loss

3.
Dreams are dashed
She will return
To evenings all alone

Sit and wonder
What comes next
To anguish and bemoan

She starts to leave
And looks outside
At day now without care

Then some words
Do greet her ears
“I did not want to stare”

4.
She turns and sees
To her delight
Her hoped-for standing near

“I thought you’d gone”
Is her reply
It leaves her mouth so dear

His grins release
His love inside
“You had me with your smile.”

Now, years have pass’d
But love still flows
“I do” well past the aisle.

— — — — — — — — —
Published online at
www.MartyReep.com
www.scribd.com/mjreep

BelieveDo (ch 18) – Enjoy What You Do

Posted on by martyjreep in Motivational

…adapted from Believe. Do. And Follow Through!

Chapter 18

In the midst of working towards your goals and achieving your dreams, it’s important to enjoy what you do.  Because, if you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point of even doing it, really?  Sure, we all want to get things done and check them off our lists, but if we approach work from the attitude of rote action, we’re no good to anyone.  Life is too short to simply go through it on “autopilot.”

Besides, there are already plenty of people who do jobs and work at things that they don’t enjoy.  So, break the mold!  Do something you enjoy, and enjoy what you do!

“One morning at ‘first breakfast’ (before going to milk the cows), my dad allowed me to see into his life a little more.  We were talking about careers, work, etc.

Midway through starting to take a sip of coffee, he set his cup down on the table and semi-stared off into space.  Then, he looked at me and said, ‘Do something you like, and you won’t wake up every day feeling like you’re running into a brick wall, head first, for forty years.’

Ironically, when I’ve run that idea by different people, I’ve gotten lots of different responses:

•    ‘If I did what I love to do, I’d be broke.’

•    ‘If you do what you love to do, then it’ll become work, and you won’t love it, anymore…’

•    ‘Hobbies are for what you love to do.  Work is called ‘work,’ because that’s what it is.’

•    ‘If I did my hobby as work, then what would I have to look forward to on the weekends?’

…and finally…

•    ‘Absolutely!  I’ve done what I love to do for thirty years – and still love it!’

For a while, I thought that if I could match up people I asked with occupations that they didn’t like, then I would figure out a magic formula.  It finally dawned on me that it still goes back to individuals and their personal likes and dislikes – how they were made – and what they were created to do.  I started looking for the gleam in people’s eyes or the lack thereof.

Years later, I came across the book, Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow.  As I flipped through the pages, my dad’s comment to me at ‘o’dark-thirty,’ years before, came running back to the front of my mind, ‘Do something you like, and you won’t wake up every day feeling like you’re running into a brick wall, head first, for forty years.’”   -Marty

Enjoy what you do!

Would Be Sweet (poetry)

Posted on by martyjreep in Poetry

Grey clouds sit
On demons’ wings
And fight
with my mind nigh

They cause in all
The wakeless dream
And fight
with thoughts aside

If rustle roused
And caused to me
Dearest
Heart to beat

The end would not
Sit by and wait
Dearest
Would be sweet

But, alas
‘Tis not the way
Of all
For me to taste

But love still waits
Withholds and tight
Of all
Will give no haste

Is peppered here
Within my mind
The dulled
And muted clang

Of rounded reach
To nothing touch
The dulled
Bell hardly rang

— — — — — — — — —
Published online at
www.MartyReep.com
www.scribd.com/mjreep

BelieveDo (ch17) – Your Life Counts!

Posted on by martyjreep in Motivational

…adapted from Believe. Do. And Follow Through!

Chapter 17

Why do I keep encouraging you to BELIEVE in yourself, to BELIEVE in others, and to DO positive things?

…Because your life counts.  You count!  So many times, people act as if what they do doesn’t matter, but it does!  It really does.

When you wake up in the morning, the day is fresh, you’re renewed, and you have a new start of making everything happen that you want.  Ultimately, the only deadline that you have is the one of your life ending.  Otherwise, every other deadline that you face is self-imposed or someone else-imposed.  When you realize that, then you’ll have a whole new perspective about what you do and how you do it.

You’ve probably heard people ask the proverbial question, “If you knew that you could not fail, what would you attempt?”

If they truly believe in the concept behind that question then they ought to ask, “If you knew that you could not fail, what would you complete?”

You may think, “That’s just semantics…the difference of only one word…attempt vs. complete.”  True, and the difference of one word is just like the difference of one degree when it comes to boiling water.  Water at 211° Fahrenheit, you have really hot water, but at 212°F, you can move ships around the world!

When it really comes down to it, the only difference is one degree, one word, one idea – but it makes all the difference in the world.

When time seems to stop for you on a daily basis (time doesn’t really stop…it’s a mental thing…), what do you do with those moments?  Do you maximize them?  Do you enjoy them? Do you even realize that they’re occurring?

Most of the time, people don’t even realize that it’s happening.  Most just joyfully or blindly go traipsing through the day without realizing that the universe has opened itself up to them and is giving them a glimpse of what could be possible.

So, the next time that the world stops for you for a moment, take that opportunity to “get off the merry-go-round” and reflect on what it is that you’re supposed to realize.

There’s a special moment in each of your days that pretty well determines what the rest of the day is going to be like.  When you see that there’s greatness in the midst of that moment, you’ll start maximizing those opportunities when they briefly appear.

Stop letting them get away!  Grab onto them!  They were meant for you!

Your life counts!