Was at a Men’s Retreat last weekend. Boy what a great weekend. I had been running so hard going into the weekend and by the time I got there I felt like I was limping. It was a much needed time off. When I was there it occurred to me how tightly I was wound up.

It hit me when I got there and could not settle down. I felt very fidgety at first and then felt a sense of peace slowly sweeping over me like a gentle comforting breeze on a cool night. After I felt a sense of sanity and calmness return to me, I enjoyed having nothing to do.

There was no cell phone. No internet. No email. No nothing.

Just me, the wild and a bunch of men hungry to deepen their relationships with God. It’s good to get off to Retreats and unplug. Also, I enjoy reconnecting with God and seeing the struggles that other men face and the strength of men and dependence on others and God to get them through the challenges and storms of life.

I wish life was just full of happy-happy joy-joy. I get so many emails from guru’s that promise instant health, wealth and happiness. While I would love to buy into that, I have rarely (never) met anyone who has had that all the time.

While we all have our struggles, I do believe in having a joyful spirit and a powerful and positive outlook and attitude.

A funny example of that was a couple of nights ago when we were making a birthday cake for my 2 year old daughter Reese. We had a great plan in place. We were going to bake the cake, cut it into the shape of a bunny, frost it and eat it. Timing was critical as the goal was to have cake in kids mouths by 7:30pm to allow time for the sugar to burn off and get the kids into bed at a reasonable time.

So how did it turn out? …

Here’s a picture of the cake:

Pretty funny eh?!!!

And not only that but it was ready to eat by 9 pm!!

I know you are guessing it took so long because of all the precision cutting and intricate detail in putting it together. But that was not the case. Neither was it that Ace of Cakes was knocking down our door to put this on their next show.

Here’s what happened… when the cake went into the oven, my wife accidently turned the oven off. So it took 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake the cake. Then when we were cooling it, someone pounded on the cake pan causing one of the cakes to disintegrate. I was getting really mad at this point because I JUST WANTED THE CAKE TO BE PERFECT!!!! AUGHHHH!!!!!!!

And that’s kind of how this year has turned out for many business owners.

They started off with great plans and then something happened. Or lots of stuff happened. And rather than having a beautifully baked cake that would make the neighbours jealous, well, they wound up with the bunny cake.

Maybe that happened to you. If it did, take heart, you are not alone.

So what do you do about it?

Laugh. (………..or maybe yell first, then laugh!!)

After you do this, next step is to get out a fresh pen and paper and start writing your goals to finish the quarter off this year and start planning for next year. Yes, I have started planning out 2010 and I hope you have started to.

And if you are not where you want to be and if you want to take back control of you life, here’s what to do…

Take out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. You always think more clearly on paper.

Now write down all the things you will no longer tolerate in your life. Write them down now…

For example I will no longer tolerate:

• living below my potential
• hesitating or pulling back when I should be acting boldly and courageously
• being closed minded
• settling for things and a lifestyle below what I deserve
• not taking more time off
• hesitating or acting small

Fill your own list out. Get them all out. Now is the time to dump the junk in your brain.

Go ahead, get passionate. Get pissed off.

Write all the things you are done with and put it down on paper and get rid of it once and for all.

That is the first step.

I will be back next week with what to do next.

Your homework assignment is to complete your list and review it to make sure you are sincere and serious about what you wrote down. When you write it down, you will feel a sense of power returning to you as you become clear on what you will no longer tolerate. What is no longer acceptable in your life.

Until next week…

Be great eh!!!

Chris.

P.S. Oh! By the way, my 2 year old Reesey loved the cake. She loved the bunny. Too funny eh?!! :)