Focus is the key to success - Don't look down just hold on...

  

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

 “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” – Dwight Eisenhower

”Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” 
 Alan Lakein

“One reason so few of us achieves what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.” – Tony Robbins

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” 

Zig Ziglar

Decoding da Vinci - 4 Ways to Increase Your Impact on the World By following His footsteps...

Do you believe we live in a perfect world?  Are there things you'd like to see change?  Would you like to increase your impact in the world?  The Renaissance (from the French word meaning "re-birth from the French word meaning "re-birth") was a cultural movement spanning (depending on which cultural historians you believe) from the 14th to the 17th centuries.  Artists, writers, sculptors, musicians and architects began to look back to Greek and Roman times, and seek out ideas and inspiration from ancient texts.  The changes in the Renaissance were social and political as well as intellectual.  The Renaissance "re-birth" pertained to a return to the classical culture, which was the inspiration for numerous inventions and improvements that have benefited our modern day society.  One of the most famous influential people during this time period was Leonardo da Vinci.

 

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (Italian: [leoˈnardo da ˈvintʃi] ( listen); 15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.^[1] Hisgenius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".^[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Renaissance)

Why is it so important to focus on da Vinci if we want to become people who can drive changes in our own lives and the world?   Leonardo da Vinci was an extremely accomplished person who possessed the unique ability to master broad topics of knowledge and their technical skills.  This uncommon talent has been recognized in our history books by coining the phrase "Renaissance".  Which means a man or woman who command a breadth of understanding and abilities in both the arts and sciences.  It is for this reason that decoding da Vinci is important to develop a template we can each use to become extraordinary in our lives.

When we look at the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci we can start putting down the stones that will help to build a pathway achieve similar success in impacting the world.  Da Vinci impacted the world by showing us 4 fundamental ways that we can use to also impact our surroundings:

Be an Observer - We know that Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest observers in history which was proven by the masterpieces that he created.  Why is being an observer so important to creating a significant impact in the world? If we look at the definition to observe it states, "to see, watch, perceive, or notice; to regard with attention, especially so as to see or learn something".http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/observe?s=t?  What made him so unique was his ability to see what was invisible to others.  The slope of angle, the reaction of a person, the impact of an action.  Being observant offers many benefits:

It will offer you an amazing insight into how people think, react, and behave in general. This could have startling revelations in your work, no matter what you do for a living. - See more at: http://www.beyondphototips.com/2008/11/28/7-ways-to-a-more-observant-life/#sthash.0sI92AGr.dpuf

• Provides insights into how people think, react, and behave
• Helps you gain an understanding into how mechanical things function
• It will help you appreciate the people around, and improve your social skills which will help you impact others positively.   
• How can you improve your abilities to observe:
• Take an art class, be more aware of your own actions, listen more intently, watch people, and take time to focus by meditating.

Be a Learner - Life is a continual process of being exposed to new information and experiences.  Much like da Vinci we need to have a burning desire to increase our knowledge and understanding about the world.  By choosing to be a learner you'll be exposed to new ideas that will give you the ability to connect with more people, and increase your imagination to come up with new concepts to improve the world.  Learning new things also expands your mind and can prove beneficial as we move through life.

• Being a learner helps you develop your abilities
• Opens your mind
• Increases your wisdom
• Improves your adaptability
• Provides access to more fulfillment in life
• Offers opportunities to develop relationships with others.   
• How can you improve your abilities to learn:
• Take an online class, try reading a book, learn another language, do brain games, and participate in thought-provoking conversations with others.

Be a Catalyst - The purpose of looking around and learning is to utilize experiences to impact others in a positive way, but you'll never do that without action.  Therefore, being a catalyst means taking risks by challenging yourself to get out of your comfort zone.  We only find success or create an impact when we're in motion.  Are you in motion in your life?  Are there things you've wanted to do that you've been putting off?  Now is the time to act, and use your talents to make a difference.  Start thinking about what makes you special and unique.  Every person has talents or "gifts" that they can put into action without much effort.  What is your gift that could be used to benefit others?  

• Being a catalyst will help you show others how choosing to make positive changes can result in personal growth, improve the ability to handle challenging situations, and opens the doors for new opportunities to enter your life.  
• How can you improve your abilities to be a catalyst:
• Put an idea out there and see what happens, share your talent with others publicly, join a volunteer organization that matches your gifts and interests, make yourself available to others that could use a helping hand.

Be a Giver - The reaction that comes from being a catalyst is that you have the ability to benefit others through your actions.  When we look at Leonardo da Vinci we see someone that used his perceptions, talents, and imagination to create things that have significantly changed the world forever.  If you desire to make an impact in this world you have to look for ways to increase your generosity to others.  Giving to others provides as much of a benefit to the giver as the receiver.  It can be taking the time to sit with a sick friend, listening to someone important in your life, getting involved in your community, or just providing a smile to those who cross your path each day.

Leonardo da Vinci is thought to be one of the most intelligent people to ever lived.  Making an impact is truly about having a plan on how you want to create a legacy.  If you're a person who is driven by a desire to improve the world and the lives of others, then start following da Vinci's footsteps.  Having the code to his success includes starting to teach yourself to take the time to look at the world with an artist's eye, challenging yourself to learn something new every month, taking action by looking for ways to show others how to take risks, and using your talents to benefit the lives of others.  If you implement these 4 ways that da Vinci used to impact the world, you will also leave a trail for others to follow.

"The road to success is not a path you find, 

but a trail you blaze."

Robert Brault

 

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Are You Getting the Sleep You Need? By Dr. Wayne Anderson

Don’t Underestimate the Value of Sleep.  Sleep is one of the cornerstones of optimal health, but its importance is often underestimated.  For many, late nights bleed into early mornings over and over again to the point that a good night’s sleep is nothing but an unachievable dream. A new study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society has brought the importance of sleep back to the top of medical conversation. The study linked a lack of sleep and an overabundance of sleep to memory problem in older women.  In a press release connected to the study, study leader Elizabeth Devore said, “Our findings suggest that getting an ‘average’ amount of sleep, seven hours per day, may help maintain memory in later life and that clinical interventions based on sleep therapy should be examined for the prevention of [mental] impairment.”  In fact, the study goes as far as to suggest that undersleepers and oversleepers, when compared to women of the same age that got seven to eight hours of sleep each night, were mentally two years older.  These findings are not yet definitive, but they add to an already large body of knowledge that supports the idea that getting the recommended amount of sleep is critical to your health.

The Chief Medical Editor of the Harvard Health Blog, in his analysis of Devore’s sleep study, summarizes some of the key consequences of lost sleep:  “Previous research has linked poor sleep with higher risks of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and depression. How might sleep affect memory? People who are persistently sleep deprived are more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and narrowed blood vessels. Each of these can decrease blood flow inside the brain. Brain cells need a lot of oxygen and sugar, so blood flow problems could affect their ability to work properly.”

Though we are still learning about the far-reaching importance of sleep, we already know that a lack of restorative sleep leads us into a non-sick state prematurely and, like unhealthy eating and a lack of movement, degrades our health.  Sleep is your body’s way of restoring organ function, stabilizing chemical imbalance, refreshing areas of the brain that control mood and behavior, and improving performance. During sleep, your brain replenishes spent nutrients and repairs circuitry, rearranging your experiences much like a computer rearranges data.
To assess the quality of your sleep at a glance, consider the following questions:
Do you…

Wake up tired in the morning?
Need a nap in the afternoon?
Fall asleep watching television?
Find yourself sleepy after lunch?
Have difficulty falling asleep?
Have difficulty staying asleep?
Drink several cups of coffee or energy drinks to stay awake?

If you answered “yes” to many of these questions, don’t worry. You are not alone. In 2006, an
Institute of Medicine report found that between 50 and 70 million people in the U.S. are not getting enough sleep. To help you escape this statistic, here are some quick tips to incorporate into your daily life (reference page 217 of Dr. A’s Habits of Health for a complete guide to revamping your sleep):

Get out of bed when your alarm goes off and limit your in-bed activities to train your mind to always associate sleep with your bed.
Limit your caffeine intake, especially late in the day and within hours of your bedtime.
Decrease stimulation from electronics and other sources of bright light at least 30 minutes prior to trying to fall asleep.
Avoid exercising within two hours of your bed time to help your body’s natural process for releasing the chemicals that induce sleep.
Set a sleep schedule and stick to it all week, including on weekends.

Sleep tight!
About Dr. Wayne Andersen
Dr. Wayne Andersen is a NY Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Leader in creating Optimal Health.To learn more about this topic or how you can work with Dr. Andersen to create optimal health in your life, email