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Showing posts from June, 2015

The Monster Under the Bed!

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Some of you might remember back in the 1970's when you're teacher passed out the Scholastic Book Club Order Form!? I remember being so excited as I looked through each category to see if something inspired me. One of the choices they had was a magazine called Dynamite. It had all of the popular kid stuff like Fonzie, Leif Garrett and the Hardy Boys. One year in 1970 something there was a special edition that had 3D posters! If that wasn't cool enough, a few of those posters were my personal favorites... Monsters! Yes, I loved everything monster: Movies, masks, books, the old Revell and Aurora models, toys, and in this case 3D Posters! Along with the poster you were given a pair of glasses typically cardboard cut out with plastic lenses, one red the other blue, because the posters were printed in two overlapping colors (red and blue). When you looked at the poster without the glasses it looked as if the printer screwed up because the printing was out of register. Th

The Thing

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  Why are you doing "the thing" that you are doing? Is it for the thing itself, or for the things that "the thing" helps you to do? Or both; doing "the thing" for the thing itself and the things that "the thing" helps you to do?! I know, you're probably thinking, WTF are you talking about Craig?! Well, let me clarify: I don't consider myself a "runner." I run to stay in shape, to help maintain my weight, help keep my cardio sharp and to help with my martial arts. So basically, I don't run for the sake of running and I don't plan on being the next winner of the Boston Marathon. I do "the thing" to help me do other things.  Many of you know that I take yoga. I take yoga to help me do other things, namely to be stronger and more flexible, to breath more fully, to open my heart and help my martial arts, to live better. I don't take yoga to be the next B.K. Iyengar, I take it for how it helps me to do OTH

The Light Within the Stone

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If you have ever worked with me directly you probably have heard me say, "I haven't trained my entire life to be more violent. I'm working on being LESS violent."   This is the theme of warrior training: Skills to become a better protector, not a fighter or a thug! That is not to say that you won't have to fight, because as a protector, you WILL have to at some point. It may or may not be a physical engagement, but you will eventually have to make a stand. Just make sure you are fighting for the right thing. Too often people are quick to protect their relative values (something that they hold as important, but others may not) and forget to filter that value through the Dual Life Value. Meaning are your actions respecting Life and supporting most good / least harm for everyone under each circumstance? Remember that a protector doesn't always have to fight and a fighter isn't necessarily being a protector. So how can you tell the difference be

The Bounty of Leadership

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Leadership can be challenging. Whether you are in charge of a corporation, a department, a club, your family or simply yourself, it's tough! To even have a snowballs chance of being successful you'll need Clarity, Awareness, Boundaries, Communication and of course Appropriate Action. Being clear enough to keep everyone on track can be a lot like herding cats some days, but the rewards are worth the efforts. Having the skills enough to do so is not for the timid or faint of heart, it can take you out of your comfort zone and cause you to question yourself. Are you the one being the douchbag? Are you being too gung ho by being overly structured? Are your expectations in perspective? Or are you gun shy, loose and wishy washy, which can create bigger problems by introducing too much chaos or letting things slide too much? So What's the secret rocket sauce? How can you accomplish the balance of giving enough space for freedom, expression and individuality, yet