I am sitting on an airplane headed to San Luis Obispo to visit my mom. It is a trip that I have not been looking forward to…………..all of us at some point make these kinds of trips for our parents.
What I love the most is the quiet time I get on the plane. I feel that I get so little time to think and reflect. You all may be thinking …………….God help us if Bart is thinking!!!!! My thinking normally gets me in trouble. This time my thinking is getting me OUT of trouble, not bad trouble…………..just out of a rut that I feel like I have been in…………… a 60 day rut!!!!
I have realized our lives don’t pass us by a day at a time, but by a series of moments that we let pass us by………….small moments that become minutes, hours become days weeks and months. I can only break the cycle by conquering the moment. This is where Glenna would say something like "THE POWER OF CHOOSING THE MOMENT”!
SO HERE ON THIS PLANE I HAVE CHOSEN THIS MOMENT. HERE IS WHAT I HAVE LEARNED.....THE JOURNEY OF REMAKABILITY IS A PROCESS, HAS ITS OWN FLOW AND ITS OWN CLOCK SPEED.
My frustration is that most processes are too long, the flow is too slow and its timing is not my timing………………does this feel the same to you for anything you have ever tried to accomplish?
I hope I am not alone in this frustration……………please tell me someone has felt the same exact thing!!!
I realized this frustration for me comes from two things…………………the lack of DELIBERATE determination and SIN of unbelief.
If we are to achieve the practice of remarkability, if we are truly going to let our lives speak, if we are going to be more, give more and share more…………..WE MUST OVERCOME THESE TWO THINGS.
One………….. "Our choice must be deliberate determination, it is not something that we, us, you, me, will automatically drift toward or in”.
This falls into three major buckets:
1. Those who have not started the remarkability journey or those who have not answered their own call to follow their heart, those who are not being true to themselves.
2. Those in the process of creating a life of remarkability.
3. And finally those who have stopped, given up, got tired and flat out quit!!
No matter which of those buckets you fall into the consequence is the same. Here is the consequence……………… "Our lives will be held in temporary suspension until we make the deliberate decision………thus life passes us by!" See ………what we resist persists!! I know this first hand.
Sometimes I think we have made the deliberate decision, but we truly haven’t. I can tell in my life as I look back…………hind sight is great…you probably can too …………..because I doubt my direction, become unsure of each step and sometimes become frozen…………not taking the next step. If we believe we have stepped on the path of our purpose why would you ever stop following it? Runners would finish the race; a farmer would finish plowing the field. They may slow down, they may walk, they may rest……………but they finish.
So today…………..I ask all of us to finish the journey, carry it through, for however long it takes.
I ask all of us to again make the DELIBERATE DECISION TO FOLLOW THE PATH OF YOUR PURPOSE!!! The result is the practice of remarkability.
NOW THE SECOND REASON……………..THE SIN OF UNBELIEF. I choose these words because it creates a guttural reaction. Let me break this apart just a little.
The word SIN………..in many circles of faith, a common definition would be …………anything that separates us, you, me, from our higher power. It creates a gap, a hole, a gorge, a Grand Canyon between us and where we want to be, do, share, give and become! The sin of unbelief in ourselves must be huge. It is the killer of dreams, it is the king of regrets, it is truly what keeps us from taking even of smallest of steps. It is what keeps us form even trying. It is what lets us think that the pain of complacency is more comfortable than the fear of trying and failing. The sin of unbelief in ourselves is betrayal to who we are and who we will become. We do it every day. We do it without even realizing it!
The second part of “Unbelief”…………. A common definition again may be………… "a lack of faith” a lack of confidence, a lack of skills, a lack of education, a lack of talent. I am not so sure that unbelief shows up as pure unbelief, but more as a family of excuses. Our unbelief is what is sitting on our chairs. In my chair SITS 188 pounds of unbelief. The next time you give an excuse about why you can’t……………..replace your excuse with the word "belief". For example………I don’t have enough belief, I don’t have a degree in belief, my family would never approve of my belief. HOW is it even fathomable to not believe in yourself?
If we suffer from the sin of unbelief……………..it is almost impossible to make a deliberate decision. So we spend our lives hanging in suspension of nothingness. Can there be anything more painful, more distressing, and more hopeless than spending our lives in nothingness?
Today………….. Make the conscious DELIBERATE DECISION to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
I DARE YOU!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Achieving the Remarkability Factor
Achieving the Remarkability Factor
The process and journey of continuing to strive for remarkability is a challenge. Pursuing excellence is tough. IT IS HARD WORK!!! There is no getting around this……..I talk a lot about doing more and sharing more……….sometimes we can get so wrapped up in doing and sharing we forget the secret. The secret is BEING more!! This is the hard part!!!! No one wants to work harder on themselves, ME INCLUDED!
Last summer in coming back from Africa I came across a saying that really speaks to me…………………..
“BE AWARE OF GOING BACK TO WHAT YOU ONCE WERE…….when God wants you to be something YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN!!!”
We all give up to easily…….. we tell ourselves, “Oh it hurts, I can’t do that, I will never reach my goal…..” The voice in your head is yelling it to you so loud, you can’t hear anything else. You must turn off that voice!!!!!! Success is on the other side of that voice. We must come back to the remarkability keys.
ACCEPT AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR GIFTS AND YOUR VISION…………… we have to keep this in front of us at all times. You must say …I was not disobedient to the vision. Keep your eyes on the goal not on the ground. If you keep your eyes on the ground all you will see is the potholes, the barricades and the obstacles. Look UP!!! Look AHEAD!!!! You will overcome those obstacles one at a time. If you get tired………………REST! Resting is not quitting. Resting is gaining strength to move forward, to try again and again!
Quitting is stopping. Quitting is listening to the voice in your head that says you can’t do this. Quitting is going back to what you were. Never ………..never go back. Effort and striving may lie ahead of you! Pain and misery lie behind you! Comfort is misery’s best friend! Success is striving‘s companion. You choose everyday between comfort and success. What did you choose today, what did you choose yesterday? What do you choose at this moment??
I choose you! I choose success for you! I choose the path of remarkability for you. I choose the life you were meant to live for you! Will you choose to walk with me? We can choose each other! Together we can do this!!!
The second thing we must do is BELIEVE! The word seems overrated. Most people say they believe…………in the most half-hearted way. I can pick out someone who only says they believe in less than five minutes, no matter what it is they are talking about. You know them too! We know it in our selves when it is half-hearted. People who truly believe …..ACT!!! They can’t help but ACT! They act because it is the natural result of true believing. The next time you’re talking to someone about anything they believe in, is there any action attached to it?
If you can’t seem to muster the strength to believe for yourself……………….then believe for the people who are depending on you. Believe for those who are waiting for your gift, YOUR voice to come to fruition. Remember belief is the hope of things not seen. Belief is not what you already are. Belief is the hope of what you will become. Belief is the certainty of becoming what you have never been. Belief is the conviction of your personal truth. Belief is action. Action is using your voice. Using your voice is taking a stand!!!
Can you see it? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU! BELIEVE….ACT LIKE ABSOLULTY NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU IF YOU BELIEVE…………………..
I choose TO BELIEVE in you! I choose to believe in success for you! I choose, believe and act the path of remarkability for you. I choose to believe in the life you were meant to live! Will you choose to walk with me? We can choose each other. Together we can take a stand, together we can change the world, and together we can move the world!
Will you?
Will you accept your gift?
Will you choose?
Will you believe?
Will you act?
I DARE YOU!
Bart Queen
Remarkability Expert
CEO, Speak America
The process and journey of continuing to strive for remarkability is a challenge. Pursuing excellence is tough. IT IS HARD WORK!!! There is no getting around this……..I talk a lot about doing more and sharing more……….sometimes we can get so wrapped up in doing and sharing we forget the secret. The secret is BEING more!! This is the hard part!!!! No one wants to work harder on themselves, ME INCLUDED!
Last summer in coming back from Africa I came across a saying that really speaks to me…………………..
“BE AWARE OF GOING BACK TO WHAT YOU ONCE WERE…….when God wants you to be something YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN!!!”
We all give up to easily…….. we tell ourselves, “Oh it hurts, I can’t do that, I will never reach my goal…..” The voice in your head is yelling it to you so loud, you can’t hear anything else. You must turn off that voice!!!!!! Success is on the other side of that voice. We must come back to the remarkability keys.
ACCEPT AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR GIFTS AND YOUR VISION…………… we have to keep this in front of us at all times. You must say …I was not disobedient to the vision. Keep your eyes on the goal not on the ground. If you keep your eyes on the ground all you will see is the potholes, the barricades and the obstacles. Look UP!!! Look AHEAD!!!! You will overcome those obstacles one at a time. If you get tired………………REST! Resting is not quitting. Resting is gaining strength to move forward, to try again and again!
Quitting is stopping. Quitting is listening to the voice in your head that says you can’t do this. Quitting is going back to what you were. Never ………..never go back. Effort and striving may lie ahead of you! Pain and misery lie behind you! Comfort is misery’s best friend! Success is striving‘s companion. You choose everyday between comfort and success. What did you choose today, what did you choose yesterday? What do you choose at this moment??
I choose you! I choose success for you! I choose the path of remarkability for you. I choose the life you were meant to live for you! Will you choose to walk with me? We can choose each other! Together we can do this!!!
The second thing we must do is BELIEVE! The word seems overrated. Most people say they believe…………in the most half-hearted way. I can pick out someone who only says they believe in less than five minutes, no matter what it is they are talking about. You know them too! We know it in our selves when it is half-hearted. People who truly believe …..ACT!!! They can’t help but ACT! They act because it is the natural result of true believing. The next time you’re talking to someone about anything they believe in, is there any action attached to it?
If you can’t seem to muster the strength to believe for yourself……………….then believe for the people who are depending on you. Believe for those who are waiting for your gift, YOUR voice to come to fruition. Remember belief is the hope of things not seen. Belief is not what you already are. Belief is the hope of what you will become. Belief is the certainty of becoming what you have never been. Belief is the conviction of your personal truth. Belief is action. Action is using your voice. Using your voice is taking a stand!!!
Can you see it? NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU! BELIEVE….ACT LIKE ABSOLULTY NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU IF YOU BELIEVE…………………..
I choose TO BELIEVE in you! I choose to believe in success for you! I choose, believe and act the path of remarkability for you. I choose to believe in the life you were meant to live! Will you choose to walk with me? We can choose each other. Together we can take a stand, together we can change the world, and together we can move the world!
Will you?
Will you accept your gift?
Will you choose?
Will you believe?
Will you act?
I DARE YOU!
Bart Queen
Remarkability Expert
CEO, Speak America
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
I Have a Dream
The day is March 10. The time in Japan is 7am. The place is a small coffee shop in the airport………………. My heart a place of reflection and heaviness.
I have just flown from Singapore to Tokyo. I have spent the last several hours reading the great speeches of the last 100 years. I am EXTREMELY MOVED by the WORDS of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I don’t think I have ever read their speeches all the way through in the past. I sat still in my airplane seat…..deaf to the noises around me.
I was deeply moved. Tears came down my cheeks. Fifty years have passed. Things have changed. The world is smaller, but somehow I feel we as a human race have not! The words of both of those men echo in my head. Every day I doubt the power of the spoken word and every day I am amazed at how it can change the course of people’s lives, HOW IT CAN CHANGE the course of history.
Does the ability to change the world truly begin to lie in our words?
My heart, soul and mind SCREAMS to me ……………..YES!
Here is where my frustration comes in……………I belong to an organization dedicated to using our voice to make a difference the world. I question once again what we are really trying to do………………..maybe our goals are not high enough, maybe we underestimate the power of what we do, maybe we doubt what a real difference we can make, maybe that IT is really not our goal! Maybe our goal of making a difference is hidden in just trying to get a booking or make a buck. I realize I cannot question anyone else in their intentions. I can only question my own. What I can do is speak from what I observe………………
If words can change lives, if words can move mountains, if words can change the destiny of cultures and worlds, if words can truly make a difference……………………………..then what are we waiting for???? Can the words of JFK and MLK spoken 50 years ago still be our goal????????????
MLK said, “I have a dream”……………. I too have a dream!
I have a dream that is rooted in the principle of giving.
I have a dream that every man and woman would find their voice.
I have a dream that every man and woman would use their voice to touch one other lives.
I have a dream that every man and woman would “let their life speak.”
I have a dream that all voices would unite in global citizenship.
I have a dream that every man and woman stand hand in hand united in the cause to leave a legacy behind that betters the lives of those WHO will follow …………………..
I have A DREAM that we set aside our speaking VOICE and we let our whole LIFE speak!
I have a dream that the words of JFK are the question we ask ourselves as speakers every day:
“ASK NOT WHAT YOUR WORLD CAN DO FOR YOU……………….ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE WORLD!”
LET THE WORD GO FORTH FROM THIS MOMENT TO THE WHOLE WORLD THAT THE TORCH OF MAKING A DIFFERNECE HAS BEEN PASSED TO A NEW GENERATION OF SPEAKERS.
Do you dare to carry the torch; do you dare to leave the old behind, do you dare to be remarkable?
I DARE YOU…………………………………..
I have just flown from Singapore to Tokyo. I have spent the last several hours reading the great speeches of the last 100 years. I am EXTREMELY MOVED by the WORDS of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I don’t think I have ever read their speeches all the way through in the past. I sat still in my airplane seat…..deaf to the noises around me.
I was deeply moved. Tears came down my cheeks. Fifty years have passed. Things have changed. The world is smaller, but somehow I feel we as a human race have not! The words of both of those men echo in my head. Every day I doubt the power of the spoken word and every day I am amazed at how it can change the course of people’s lives, HOW IT CAN CHANGE the course of history.
Does the ability to change the world truly begin to lie in our words?
My heart, soul and mind SCREAMS to me ……………..YES!
Here is where my frustration comes in……………I belong to an organization dedicated to using our voice to make a difference the world. I question once again what we are really trying to do………………..maybe our goals are not high enough, maybe we underestimate the power of what we do, maybe we doubt what a real difference we can make, maybe that IT is really not our goal! Maybe our goal of making a difference is hidden in just trying to get a booking or make a buck. I realize I cannot question anyone else in their intentions. I can only question my own. What I can do is speak from what I observe………………
If words can change lives, if words can move mountains, if words can change the destiny of cultures and worlds, if words can truly make a difference……………………………..then what are we waiting for???? Can the words of JFK and MLK spoken 50 years ago still be our goal????????????
MLK said, “I have a dream”……………. I too have a dream!
I have a dream that is rooted in the principle of giving.
I have a dream that every man and woman would find their voice.
I have a dream that every man and woman would use their voice to touch one other lives.
I have a dream that every man and woman would “let their life speak.”
I have a dream that all voices would unite in global citizenship.
I have a dream that every man and woman stand hand in hand united in the cause to leave a legacy behind that betters the lives of those WHO will follow …………………..
I have A DREAM that we set aside our speaking VOICE and we let our whole LIFE speak!
I have a dream that the words of JFK are the question we ask ourselves as speakers every day:
“ASK NOT WHAT YOUR WORLD CAN DO FOR YOU……………….ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE WORLD!”
LET THE WORD GO FORTH FROM THIS MOMENT TO THE WHOLE WORLD THAT THE TORCH OF MAKING A DIFFERNECE HAS BEEN PASSED TO A NEW GENERATION OF SPEAKERS.
Do you dare to carry the torch; do you dare to leave the old behind, do you dare to be remarkable?
I DARE YOU…………………………………..
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Set Aside the Things That So Easily Entangle Us
SET ASIDE THE THINGS THATSO EASILY ENTANGLE US
So do you ever feel like you are an arm’s length from your dreams? Do you ever feel like it is so close you could reach out and touch it? Do you ever think… “If I could just ……………….something…………. and it would be mine”?
Today I feel like I am within arm’s reach of my dreams……..they are at my finger tips, yet I can’t grasp them fully…….
I have come to understand and believe that there is typically one thing that holds us back.
Most of the time we don’t want to deal with it.
Most of the time we resist it
Most of the time we have grown comfortable in our pain.
Most of the time we have accepted that it will not change.
We struggle that changing it is too difficult.
In order for us to live our FULL lives, in order for us to be TRULY successful, in order for us to BE that difference……………we must overcome that one thing. We must set aside the things that so easily entangle us!
There lies our personal journey. There lies our journey through the desert………………there lies the process we must go through to reach the REMARKABILITY FACTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I truly think it doesn’t matter what your “IT” is……………………what matters to you and I is how do I overcome? How do I loosen the grip? How do I get untangled? I think everyone knows what that is……………. very rarely are we not aware of our personal challenges. We know……..we just don’t act!
The key to unlock my chains is DISCIPLINE. For me the question is then what do I have to do to stay disciplined? If I stay disciplined, I stay focused. If I stay focused the journey across the desert is easier.
If I look back over the last 50 years and truly evaluate my life my issues have been with control. What lacked was the discipline to be controlled……….
Being an “all-or-nothing-guy” has its challenges…………I don’t do the middle-of-the-road very well!
Narrow down what holds you back! What are your anchors that hold you down? TV, electronics, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, denial, fear of something, relationships?
The first step is knowing what it is. Now you can take it on!
Bart Queen
~Remarkability Expert
So do you ever feel like you are an arm’s length from your dreams? Do you ever feel like it is so close you could reach out and touch it? Do you ever think… “If I could just ……………….something…………. and it would be mine”?
Today I feel like I am within arm’s reach of my dreams……..they are at my finger tips, yet I can’t grasp them fully…….
I have come to understand and believe that there is typically one thing that holds us back.
Most of the time we don’t want to deal with it.
Most of the time we resist it
Most of the time we have grown comfortable in our pain.
Most of the time we have accepted that it will not change.
We struggle that changing it is too difficult.
In order for us to live our FULL lives, in order for us to be TRULY successful, in order for us to BE that difference……………we must overcome that one thing. We must set aside the things that so easily entangle us!
There lies our personal journey. There lies our journey through the desert………………there lies the process we must go through to reach the REMARKABILITY FACTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I truly think it doesn’t matter what your “IT” is……………………what matters to you and I is how do I overcome? How do I loosen the grip? How do I get untangled? I think everyone knows what that is……………. very rarely are we not aware of our personal challenges. We know……..we just don’t act!
The key to unlock my chains is DISCIPLINE. For me the question is then what do I have to do to stay disciplined? If I stay disciplined, I stay focused. If I stay focused the journey across the desert is easier.
If I look back over the last 50 years and truly evaluate my life my issues have been with control. What lacked was the discipline to be controlled……….
Being an “all-or-nothing-guy” has its challenges…………I don’t do the middle-of-the-road very well!
Narrow down what holds you back! What are your anchors that hold you down? TV, electronics, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, denial, fear of something, relationships?
The first step is knowing what it is. Now you can take it on!
Bart Queen
~Remarkability Expert
Thursday, January 29, 2009
REMARKABILITY LIES IN THE HEART OF US ALL..............................
Two days ago I sat with a young lady who had been a part of a one day program I led on communication. It has been almost a year since we have seen each other. As a result of the training she found her confidence and power! She found her voice! She was a teacher in the school system. She left her position. She believed she could reach more young people. She believed she could make a bigger difference. She found her place to stand...............now she is moving the world. She is now creating all kinds of programs to help young people reach their full potential.
I should not be shocked at this..................I have seen it a 1000 times. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear these stories, yet each time it is a miracle of personal development and innovation! People are yearning for more...............most people think they yearn to GET MORE.................I believe they yearn to GIVE MORE..............to be a part of something bigger than themselves.................to feel like they can make a difference, to feel like they as a human being have value. She inspires me to BE more! She inspires me to do more!
President Obama said it well," We are the change we have been waiting for."
You are the change!
The world waits for your life voice, your gift!
The world yearns and waits for you to be remarkable!
DO YOU DARE TO BE REMAKABLE?
I DARE YOU!
The Bartman
Two days ago I sat with a young lady who had been a part of a one day program I led on communication. It has been almost a year since we have seen each other. As a result of the training she found her confidence and power! She found her voice! She was a teacher in the school system. She left her position. She believed she could reach more young people. She believed she could make a bigger difference. She found her place to stand...............now she is moving the world. She is now creating all kinds of programs to help young people reach their full potential.
I should not be shocked at this..................I have seen it a 1000 times. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear these stories, yet each time it is a miracle of personal development and innovation! People are yearning for more...............most people think they yearn to GET MORE.................I believe they yearn to GIVE MORE..............to be a part of something bigger than themselves.................to feel like they can make a difference, to feel like they as a human being have value. She inspires me to BE more! She inspires me to do more!
President Obama said it well," We are the change we have been waiting for."
You are the change!
The world waits for your life voice, your gift!
The world yearns and waits for you to be remarkable!
DO YOU DARE TO BE REMAKABLE?
I DARE YOU!
The Bartman
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Remarkability!
Remarkable!!
What if we took the time to think about being “remarkable”? Forcing ourselves to look at what we are and imagining what we could be. Not waiting for change, but being the catalyst for change. The philosophy of REMARKABILITY has been ours since day one. Remarkable is believing you are! Remarkability is knowing you are the difference!
Remarkable is action.
Remarkable is doing what others believe is impossible.
Remarkable is sharing your life’s gifts.
Remarkable is letting your life speak!
Remarkable is finding your personal place to stand.
Remarkable is taking that stand.
Remarkable is moving the world.
Letting your life speak is remarkable! You are remarkable!
REMARKABILITY is doing it over and over again!
Do you dare to be remarkable?!
I dare you!
~ Barton J. Queen
Remarkability Expert
What if we took the time to think about being “remarkable”? Forcing ourselves to look at what we are and imagining what we could be. Not waiting for change, but being the catalyst for change. The philosophy of REMARKABILITY has been ours since day one. Remarkable is believing you are! Remarkability is knowing you are the difference!
Remarkable is action.
Remarkable is doing what others believe is impossible.
Remarkable is sharing your life’s gifts.
Remarkable is letting your life speak!
Remarkable is finding your personal place to stand.
Remarkable is taking that stand.
Remarkable is moving the world.
Letting your life speak is remarkable! You are remarkable!
REMARKABILITY is doing it over and over again!
Do you dare to be remarkable?!
I dare you!
~ Barton J. Queen
Remarkability Expert
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