“The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that
they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and
the future less resolved than it will be” -Marcel Pagnol
Good Morning Rhino,
I'm fresh off a trip to Columbus, Ohio where we are completing renovations on
our Kildare's at Ohio State University. We have a great management team in
place and a positive, happy General Contractor driving the job. The energy is
contagious and it’s going to be a beautiful pub!
I have experienced and written about the impact of a positive attitude for years now. I'm sure
some business people that read my Rhino emails might think I'm naïve or the
"positive attitude" philosophy doesn't work for their company. Well,
this month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review proved my point. The title of
the from the editor column was "Be Happy. Be Audacious." I'm pretty
sure I have written about 50 Rhino emails and several chapters for books on
that very same subject. In fact, from the beginning I have stated the key to
being a Rhino is to “Be Positive and Be Audacious!” Rhinos are positive; they
charge at big, audacious goals, they have fun doing it, and they get back up
when they get knocked down! So thank you to the Editor in Chief of the Harvard
Business Review for backing up our Rhino Living Philosophy!
“There is o value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no
happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.” –Henry David
Thoreau
Every one of us has a tremendous amount of freedom to pursue happiness, but
many of us choose to live a life of boredom and misery. Many people choose to
daydream about a life they wish they could live rather than charging at it.
Other people choose to blame others for their unhappiness. They blame their
boss, the government, rich people, poor people, corporations, and family
members, basically anybody they can. So what can you do to increase your
happiness? What can you do to increase the happiness of the people that work
for you or work with you?
Here are some interesting results about happiness:
1. "A focused mind is a happy mind." Andrew Killingsworth from
Harvard University is conducting a research study on 15,000 people in 83
countries through Smartphones. He has found that
mind-wandering reduces happiness and productivity. He also found that wandering
to unpleasant or neutral topics is associated with sharply lower happiness. Day
dreaming about positive things doesn't increase happiness.
The Rhino Lesson: when you have a goal you are focused on and passionate about,
you are happier!
"People are happiest when they're trying to achieve goals that are
difficult but not out of reach." -Daniel Gilbert
2. Consistent, small, positive, events have a bigger impact then the occasional
big positive events. Buying the new car provides a temporary rush. Living with
someone you truly love can provided consistent happiness. Getting a raise at a
job you hate will provide about one day of happiness. Working in a career you
love, for a company you believe in will provide a daily dose of happiness. It’s
important to celebrate the small wins in your life and take care of yourself in
little ways. It will boost your happiness and attitude. It doesn't mean you
shouldn't strive for big success but you need to experience positive
experiences along the way. The big failure or the big win will make a huge
impact in the short term but in the long term you will go back to your base
level of happiness.
The Rhino Lesson: Keep charging at your big, audacious
goals, but make sure you are enjoying life along the way, love the work you do,
the people you spend time with and do the little things you enjoy.
"The only way to avoid being miserable is not to
have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not." ~George
Bernard Shaw
3. "Rich networks create rich lives." The people you surround
yourself with and the frequency of your time with them can make a dramatic
impact on your happiness. The positive people that you develop quality
relationships with will enrich your life and create more happy experiences. If
you choose to spend time with unhappy or negative people, they will diminish
the happiness in your life. Frequency matters in your social networks.
Increased frequency of small positive experiences increases your happiness more
than the intensity of those experiences. So hug your kids, give your
significant other a kiss hello and goodbye, have lunch with a friend and give
them a hug, smile at your coworkers, send a thank you note and buy somebody
flowers. It will make you happier!
The Rhino Lesson: You are the average of the ten people
you spend the most time with and the quality of those relationships matters!
“The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue
happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” ~Author unknown, commonly attributed
to Benjamin Franklin
Remember Rhino, nothing is given to you in life. You need to make it happen. It’s
like our founding fathers protected our freedoms and the "pursuit of
happiness". You’re not necessarily going to be born happy, your might not
be in the best circumstances, but every day you can pursue happiness! You can
charge at your goals, create the life you desire, and build a positive group of
friends, a positive company and a positive family. Complaining and day dreaming
about it won't help! It will make it worse. Start charging towards goals you
care about and celebrate the small things in life along the way!
“The people who get on in this world are
the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they
can't find them, make them.” -George Bernard Shaw
Hello Rhino!
I recently read an article in Esquire Magazine called, "We are not all
created equal: The truth about the American Class System." I was on a plane
about to take an eight day vacation and for the entire vacation I couldn't get
this article out my head. It was so anti-rhino that it managed to irritate me
even when I was having a great vacation.
The article basically conveyed the message that the class system has arrived in
America. That in America, like in Italy and Great Britain, there is less social
mobility. That Americans now have less ability to move from poverty to wealth than
ever before. The article continues on to say that America is a
"ghostly land of opportunity" and more than anything else, class now
determines your fate. If your daddy was rich, you’re going to stay rich.
If your daddy was poor, you’re going to stay poor. I found this article to be
of great use to those that want to make an excuse for why they are not getting
ahead, not making more money, and not living their dreams.
“You cannot expect to achieve new goals
or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.” ‘Les Brown
I re-read this
article about the failing middle class while I sat on a billion dollar cruise
ship full of 3,000 overweight middle class Americans being waited on hand and
foot by immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia working 80 hours a week, 10
months a year, to provide basic food and shelter for their families back home.
As the author of this article tells me how much harder it is to make it in
America now then a 100 years ago, I think about all of the struggles previous
generations overcame to achieve success, and I felt insulted for them all.
My grandfather was 16 and the only job he could get was a coal miner. It
was the combination of a lack of public education availability and the fact
that many employers posted signs saying "Irish Need Not Apply."
I believe he had a harder time climbing from poverty to the middle class.
I think about President Obama who came
from modest beginnings and became the first black President of the United
States. I think about these facts and wonder what was the guy was smoking when
he wrote this article telling me, "the forces of inequality are simply too
powerful."
“The pressure of
adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than
external circumstances.” -Lucius Annaeus Seneca
The entire foundation
behind Rhino Living and Do it Rhino Style is that you create your life, you own
your failures and successes, that you do more to damage to yourself then the
outside world does to you. The thought that the poor are poor, and they
are going to stay poor is complete bull. You stay poor because you continue to
make bad decisions, bad choices, and you don't invest in becoming a better
person and a better professional. The very minute you start to make
better decisions, work smarter, work harder, and invest in yourself, you start
to climb from poverty to wealth.
There is no invisible line holding you back, there is no secret group of
billionaires keeping you in the middle class. The opportunities are there,
sometimes they are ugly, sometimes it’s back breaking work, and sometimes it
may take decades to succeed, but the opportunities are there. Maybe those
people that believe they are poor, and they will always be poor, should turn
off their 42 inch plasma TV, stop playing Wii, turn off their computer, and
shut off their face book, then turn off their $400 iPhone and their twitter and
GET TO WORK on their life! I have been to the slums of Haiti, Costa Rica,
and Panama. The difficulties they have to get adequate education, clean
drinking water, clothing, food and opportunities is a real issue. It’s not self
induced or an excuse. If you feel you are not as wealthy as you would like to
be in America, you have every opportunity to improve your life. There are
abundant educational opportunities, dozens of student loan programs, and there
are thousands of employers looking to hire qualified people with the right
attitude and the desire to work hard.
“Everything can be taken
from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” -Viktor
E. Frankl
It sucks to be poor. I have
been there. I grew up moving from town to town as they raised the rent.
My mother raised three children on less than $25,000 a year working 60
hours a week. So don't make excuse…. make plans and take action! I could have
blamed the rich, blamed my environment, and created a life around my excuses.
Instead, I started working at age 12, took $110,000 in student loans, and
started to create my life—a life that I hope will benefit my children and their
children. The idea that if we are successful and we pass down our success to
our children demonstrates responsibility! It doesn’t create poverty for others.
So don't blame the rich for providing for their kids. If you develop a
new technology, or amassed a real estate fortune, wouldn't you pass your wealth
to your children? Because somebody achieves wealth in their generation and
wants to pass it to the next generation in their family is not preventing you
from achieving success. If anything it helps create stability in the economy.
I have read hundreds of success stories about people that started with nothing
and became successful. Don't fall for the Cows that tell you to give up
and spend your life complaining about how someone else is holding you back. You
have all the opportunities in front of you. You just need to start to work
hard, improve your abilities, and learn to persevere in the tough times. There
is a simple key to lifetime success: You become what you think about with intensity
and emotion. Think you are going to be successful and wealthy? Apply
yourself consistently and you will achieve success. Think the world is
holding you back and it certainly will!
Instead of action steps this week, use these three quotes to get you charging
hard!
1.) “You must take
personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or
the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” -Jim
Rohn
2.) “To hell with
circumstances; I create opportunities.”-Bruce Lee
3.) “We can let
circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within.” -Earl Nightingale
"In
any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next
best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." -
Theodore Roosevelt
Hello Rhino!
I am on a cruise with my family and my extended Magrogan family. We are on an 8
day cruise visiting Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama. It’s wonderful to spend so
much time with my kids, my girlfriend and my family. It helps you take a step
back and think about all the things you do in your daily life that might not be
very valuable or productive in helping you live your best life. I am very
thankful for this trip and the time with my family and loved ones.
I had several ideas in my head for this week’s Rhino email, but the recent
press about the cruise ship crashing into rocks of the coast of Italy made me
change my plans. I have read and heard interviews from dozens of people on the
ship. There is a common theme to the complaints of the passengers: nobody took
CHARGE!
"It does not take much strength to do
things, but it requires great strength to decide what to do." - Elbert Hubbard
It seems to be a general theme in our society. Nobody wants to take charge
anymore. When a crisis arises, it seems everyone wants to play it safe and not
take charge to solve the problem. This happens on all levels in society, from
our political system to our corporate and economic system, to our personal and
family lives. People are scared to take responsibility for making the wrong
decision, so they make no decision at all.
When the cruise ship ran aground this week, many of the crew and the captain
failed to take charge. Some of the dedicated crew and a few brave passengers
decided on a course of action and helped other passengers to safety. When the
super committee was supposed to meet in Washington, D.C and help restore our country's
credit rating, they failed to take action. They decided no decision and no
action was a better option and provided a better chance at re-election.
Successful companies, countries, and families have leaders that are willing to
take charge, make the hard decisions, and lead the people around them. Many
people are scared to lead and possibly make the wrong decisions. The truth is
that most failures come from making no decision at all. Making a decision,
setting a coarse and charging towards a specific goal will cause problems, it
may even cause failures, but it is much better than sitting on the sidelines
scared to move in any direction at all.
“When
you take charge of your life, there is no longer need to ask permission of
other people or society at large. When you ask permission, you give someone
veto power over your life.” -Albert F. Geoffrey
In
your life right now there are probably many opportunities for you to be the
rhino and take charge. After reading this week’s rhino email, decide what area
you could begin to take ownership of and start leading other people. Find your
passion, find your strengths, and start making something better in your life!
1. Career—What projects are dying on the vine in your company, school or
business? What cultural shifts need to happen in your professional world to
make your organization a bigger success? Plan meetings with other people that
can help you create change and take action.
2. Personal Life— Are you twenty pounds overweight? Are you watching too much
TV? Not spending time with the right people or reading the right books? After
reading this email, write down a list of how you want to live your life and put
others on notice!
3. Family—What special qualities do you have that can benefit your family and
extended family? Start guiding the younger members of your family towards a
rhino life and teach them to be happy, motivated, and to charge at their
dreams! Lead by example and move your family forward!
Keep charging RHINOS! Take charge, take responsibility, and make it happen!
"Our
behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them brings positive
consequences; violating them brings negative consequences." -Stephen Covey
Hello Rhino!
I hope your 2012 is off to a great start! I hope you are enthusiastically
charging through the jungle, following your dreams and passions. One of my
passions is speaking to different groups about goal setting and living the
RHINO life. I enjoy speaking to different age ranges and different professions.
People of all ages and walks of life can understand the benefits of living a
positive Rhino life.
Most of my talks are paid speaking engagements for companies, universities, and
organizations. Every year, I also give a certain number of free Rhino talks as
part of my “Give, Love, Serve” philosophy. Last night I did a complimentary talk to a
Girl Scout organization. They asked me if I would come help inspire the girls
to set goals and make their cookie selling experience a fun and positive one. It
was a great experience! I basically taught the same Rhino lessons in simpler terms—how
to be positive, plant good seeds and keep trying throughout their life.
Tonight,
I will be speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia at an event
hosted by the Entrepreneurs Forum. If you are near the Philadelphia area would
like to attend the event CLICK HERE. If you would like to book a rhino talk for
your organization, school or company please contact RhinoLiving@DaveMagroganGroup.com
As you move forward into 2012 I thought I would share 5 things you must do in
2012 to help you continue your charge to success. There are a lot of New Year
"to do" lists. This list is different. These are 5 things you MUST do
all year long. Doing these 5 things consistently will make a bigger impact in
your life then trying to tackle a list of 10-20 items that you never stay
focused on.
Make these 5 steps a part of your daily life and you will be more successful in
2012!
1. Follow the Laws of the Jungle. Live your life following the law of cause and
effect (plant good seeds, get good results), the law of attraction (what you
think about with emotion you bring about in your reality), the law of abundance
(think in terms of opportunities not obstacles), and the law of persistence
(difficult times and failures are part of success, the more you fail the more
you learn, the greater success you will achieve). It’s pretty simple—if you
spend your life breaking man-made laws, you will end up in trouble. If you
spend your life breaking the basic laws of success, you too will end up in
trouble!
"Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances....Strong men
believe in cause and effect." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. Become an Inverse Paranoid. Start imagining the
Universe in conspiring to do good for you. Stop focusing on the negatives. Don't
think the world is out to get you and start thinking about all the
opportunities in your life. If you focus on the negatives, you will find more
and more problems in your life because that is where you are focused. If you
focus on the positive in your life, every adversity will reveal an opportunity.
Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out
of challenging experiences.
"If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best
effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are
ready for greater challenges." -Pat Riley
3. Focus on your passions. In 2012, start to follow your passions. You will be
more successful if you do what you really love. Find your strengths and talents
and focus this year on building your life around your passions. Each week ask
yourself: "What are the most important things I need to do this week to
achieve my goals and am I using my talents to follow my passions?" In 2012,
block out the distractions and focus on charging at your most important goals.
"...I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If
today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do
today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days
in a row, I know I need to change something...almost everything..."-Steve Jobs
4. Join the Rhinos and ditch the cows! Do you know what held you back from
success in 2011? It was most likely two things—negative thoughts and negative
people. You are a product of your dominant thoughts and the dominant people in
your life. The people and thoughts that held you back in 2011 need to be
changed in 2012. Don't waste your precious energy on negative cows, the past,
negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead surround yourself with
positive people and positive empowering thoughts.
"Bondage is - subjection to external influences and internal negative
thoughts and attitudes."-W.
Clement Stone
5. Work hard, be grateful and give, love, serve. There is no replacement for
hard work. Great ideas need great plans which then need big action! Be thankful
for everything 2011 brought you. Learn from the failures, capitalize on the
opportunities, and as you achieve success, share your success with others. This
will create a positive feedback cycle that continues to generate success in
your life.
"Our behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them
brings positive consequences; violating them brings negative
consequences." -Stephen Covey
"Some
people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it
happen." -Michael Jordan
Hello Rhino!
I hope you had a great holiday! 2012 is here and it is time to make it YOUR
best year! On New Year’s Eve, I was watching a special on the Discovery Channel
about caves with my daughter Hope. It was very interesting and inspired this
week’s Rhino email!
There are hundreds of caves around the world and some of them are enormous.
They have their own ecosystems, life-forms, and unique environments that cause
the life-forms to evolve in very different ways. One large cave in Mexico
had an amazing ecosystem. The roof of the cave is covered in silkworms
that glow with a small circular white light. From the ground it appears as if
you are looking at a night sky full of bright stars. The cave is occupied in
the day time by bats that cover the floor in hundreds of feet of droppings. In
the droppings live billions of insects, crabs and small animals. These small
creatures spend their entire lives living only off the bat droppings, getting
all of their nutrients, and experiencing their entire life in the waste of a
bat.
Sounds disgusting, doesn't it?
"Don't make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes.
Then make history.” -Doug Hall
For the bats, the cave is a safe refuge during the day after they spend the
night hunting and flying through the jungle. The bats know there is an entire
world out there.They experience it
every day and then retire to the safety of the cave where they are protected
from any predators. The insects, crabs, and small animals living in the
giant mound of bat droppings will spend their entire life living in crap!
Literally! They will live their entire life on the floor of a cave never to see
the light of day.They will never see
the real stars at night, never come in contact with the external world, and
they believe they are living in the real world. They don't even control what
they eat or interact with different life-forms, and they look up at glowworms
thinking they see the entire Universe. They eat the undigestible
leftovers of whatever the bats choose to eat.
Watching this show made me think about all of the people spend their entire
lives on the floor of a cave and never experience the real world. Too many
people think they are looking at the full picture, and that they are living at
their full potential, when actually they are living in a very small world
restricted by their current situation, their current viewpoint, and they are
living in misery. They may only be a few feet from an entirely different
world, but they think what they see and experience is everything.
"There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love;
there's only scarcity of resolve to make it happen." - Wayne Dyer
Don't spend your life living in a cave missing out on the real world! Don't
spend your life living on the leftovers of others like the creatures on the
bottom of the cave floor! You deserve better.You deserve to experience everything life has to offer! You need to push
your limits and start to get out of your comfort zone. You can't count on the
people next to you to push you. They are stuck in the same environment with the
same viewpoints. They think where they are is all life has to offer. You can't
count on a bat to swoop down, scoop you up, and introduce you to the new world
outside of the cave!
"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely
sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
-Leonardo Da Vinci
You need to start looking at the big picture! You need to take advantage of
this new year and get out there and start living you are dreams. Leave the
safety and security of the cave, stop living in the pile of crap and start
making YOUR life happen! Nobody is going to do it for you. You need to start
moving forward and the world of opportunities will begin to present themselves!
