Coach Kip

There is not a whole lot that I want in life.  I great wife (I have one) a nice tempered dog (got one of those too) and a house on the water (well within reach).

But I don’t want some house on the beach, although it would suit me just fine, I want a house on the water.  Yes a real houseboat.  That would just be too cool don’t you think?

Well guess what I just came across this today, a nice article on MSN about living on a houseboat.  Ahh the nice sunsets, commuting via kyak, the gentle rocking of the boat.  Nice don’t you think?  Or are you one that gets sea sick easily?

Check it out it is a good read.  (http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article_bankrate.aspx?cp-documentid=7162126&GT1=35000)

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You know the old phrase, ’smile, it will make people wonder what you are up to.’ Well a simple smile can go a long way.

You ever wonder how that person gets his or her way all the time? You know that person. The one who always gets the best tables, the one who always gets the free give aways, the one who never seems to get in trouble for anything. You know them. How do they do it?

Watch them. Most likely (there are always exceptions to every example) they do not get this through intimidation, they do not get their way through being grumpy and gruff, they do not get their way yelling and throwing a fit. Watch them. They probably have a really good smile and are not afraid to show it.

I admit it, I am a sucker for a good smile. There are students that I have that will get away with a lot more than others, simple because they smile. Not just the girls either, the guys can do it just as well. They will do something silly or dumb. They will bend the rules to the point where I have to say some thing and they will turn around with a smile and say “Sorry, Mr. Coach Kip” and somehow it will be all right. Another kid will do the same thing and I will say the exact same thing to them and they will instead give me an attitude about the whole thing. That never ends well, usually ending with them in the principles office and me continuing on with class.

In the book How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People Les Gibons says

A smile is relaxing, a smile shows confidence. A smile shows that you “just know” the other fellow is going to come through

There are two ways you can apply a simple smile in your every day life.

For You: William James once said that it is impossible to feel pessimistic when you have the corners of your mouth turned up. So smile during your day. You will feel better. This will translate to others. Be happy with you life, who you are, and how things are going. If they begin to turn sour just smile. You will be surprised how this works wonders. Looking at things optimistically will help you solve problems, not add to them.

For Others: Smiling when asking someone to do something for you will almost compel that person to do it for you. A smile will tell that person that what you are asking will make you happy, and is probably not that bad. People want to please others so they will feel compelled to do it. Smiling also takes the sting out of less than pleasing news. Now you wouldn’t want to smile when you tell someone that their Mother has died, but a smile while saying “I am sorry but you will have to do this report over again, I know you can do better” will greatly soften the blow and tell the person that you still believe in them.

A good smile takes little practice unless you have not used it often lately. A good smile does not come from a combination of muscles in your face that turn the corners of your mouth up. A good smile comes from deep down inside. It comes from the heart. Smile from the heart and you will find that life will be more enjoyable, more fun, and a heck of a lot easier.

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Warning: Rant and Personal Views here. Some may be controversial and offending to some.

As some of you know who have been following my blog I am a public school teacher and a football coach. Me and my wife have been looking into many different avenues to be able to teach and give what we have. The current school system just does not let us do this. Why?

They are factories. I am sorry people but not everyone is an expert in schools. One of the problems with schools is that everyone thinks that they are experts. Why? Because everyone has been to school. But they have only seen one or two parts of what school is.

Everyone has seen school from a students stand point. Yes it is boring, yes some of the teachers can seem apathetic. Yes you probably didn’t like it. Why? It was not stimulating enough, it was not interactive enough, and for most of us it just was not challenging enough.

The teachers are not apathetic, they are board to. So why don’t they do anything about it? Because you have not seen the other part of education. Very few have. I know. I have been in schools now for 7 years, early in the morning. You know who is there early in the morning? Teachers and Principles. Thats it. Don’t try to say that you know how things are. If you have had a parent meeting early in the morning you still don’t know what it is like. You still don’t see teachers scrambling to use broken copiers, outdated books, limited resources, and limited time. You don’t see the struggles that many teachers go through.

If you are reading this and you are a teacher who has these resources then you are one of the lucky ones. You don’t have it made, but you are getting closer.

What about after school? Yes many teachers leave within the first 15-20 minutes that school is over. But what do they do at home. Most of the time they leave because school is a very negative place. Teachers like to bitch about the latest problems with Principles, Students, Parents, the School Board, our President, whatever. No one is immune. It is not harmful, it is just venting. But it is extremely negative.

So they take their work home so that they can do it in their own setting. Most teachers have homework. If you are one of the lucky ones (I am included in this) then you have a system set up in your classroom that lets you be done at 2:30 or whenever you school lets out. But it takes years of planning until you get to that point.

Back to the factories. To get to that point it has to be run like a factories. The worst possible system for a school to be run. It just does not work. It is not innovative, it is not creative, it is not real learning. Concepts are being replaced by techniques to get the answer right. True learning is being replaced by memorization. We have the technology and the ability but not the means. It is very frustrating.

Why? Because we are tested. Not just our students. Teachers can be hired and fired from tests. Students just have to take them to pass. Not teachers. No matter what anyone tells you teachers are judged based on how well their students do. It is unfair because these tests take all the learning out of schools and limit themselves to rote learning just to get students graduated so that the school gets enough money to pay the staff and turn on the lights. It is a sad sad time in public schools.

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My Grandmother who was 98 just passed away. It is very sad, but it is also a very happy time. She was ready, and had been ready. I am sure that it was very frustrating for her for the last few years. Her mind is as sharp as ever, and we as a society let them go to waste. She knew everything about everything right up to her final days. How do I know this? I visited her just three weeks ago. It is a long trip about 250 miles (about 402 km), but I am glad I saw her. We are close, probably even closer now.

I do not want to get to spiritual because I know my views are very different from most people, even though I see them as being more balanced, but I know that her spirit is still alive and well. It makes me cry to think that she is with my Grandfather now, who she missed dearly.

It all puts things into very sharp perspective. My Grandmother was a very great lady, living from 1910 until Friday. Incredible. So what does that really mean? What did she do with her life, how did she live it? What happened in history? Heck she was married during the great depression. Her husband was told to stay home during the war to take care of his family and manage factories that supplied the war. One son was in the Airborne Rangers, another in Vietnam. One Grandson is now in Iraq. There were tremendous changes in civil rights, the economy, technology, and even transportation.

But there she sat in her room needing assistance to do nearly everything for the last 5 years. A mind full of wisdom and history, a mind that really needed to be exposed to the world. There she sat waiting for her next visitor, watching the Detroit Tigers. She was very disappointed that Brandon Inge got moved to the outfield this year by the way.

So what can we learn from this? Things that seem big to us really are not. My grandmother lived through all that stuff without anything really effecting her. It is part of life. Things happen, situations arise, come, are dealt with and we move on. It does not really change what life is all about. It does not really change the things that are important. What is important is are you happy personally? Are the people around you happy? Are you contributing in a good and positive manor? Are you making a difference?

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Why do I like golf? To me golf is a meditation. It is a way for me to get away and be free from the day and the happenings around me. Why do we all need a place like this to go?

We all need a simple place to go to get balance back in our lives. In most of the World our lives are very stressful. Meditation is a great way to retain this center. It is a great way to get back to our basics to relax, to enjoy our lives, to slow down.

Life is fast. Many times in the last year I have been in school teaching all day, then coaching until the late evening, I get home and get on the computer and do some web design or some writing. For what? Is that what I really want out of my life? What am I working toward? I am working toward a simpler more free life. A life that lets me do the things I want to do.

Guess what. Sometimes we work so hard to get something that we think we want, or that we actually need that we sometimes overlook the fact that we already have that. Mediation, slowing down, taking time to reflect lets us see things that may be right in front of us.

One of the things that I would like to do is play more golf. It is a great mental and physical challenge. Probably the most mentally and physically challenging games there is. But I have been concentrating so much on working to get toward that goal I have hardly played in the last 8 months. Now that my sites are working and my life is changing and moving toward the goals that I wanted in the first place I have to slow down and play a little golf. I find that after I just go to the driving range I have a much easier time concentrating and getting things done.

Find what it is that works for you. Find your meditation. For some simply sitting in a quiet place with no outside distractions is their meditation. For others it is sitting down with a good book, and for still others it is some other hobby. Find what helps you relax and you will find that you may already have many of the things that you are working so hard to get.

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Who owns your life? You do. Actually the only thing you truly own is your life. I got that from a Los Lobos song called A Matter of Time. It is a great song.

It struck me that too many people go through life thinking that they are a part of life, that life owns them, they can only react to what life gives them. It is completely the opposite.

In the path of discovery we must first go through this step. We must, as Dr. Phil says, ‘get control of ourselves before we can ever begin to grow’. Of course I am paraphrasing but it seems that the messages are almost all the same.

It does not matter who you talk to, or listen to, or watch, they have a similar message. Life does not take you where you want to go as the popular saying goes, you take life where you want it to go. You own it.

Take control.

Take charge.

Live life and have fun.

Conceive It, Believe It, Achieve It

Coach Kip

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Life takes place in a 6 inch space. That is the space between your ears. Life happens in your brain, and your brain only. It is your choice to have and do what you want. You make the decisions either consciously or unconsciously. You control everything you do by your big, beautiful, wonderful, brain.

Garbage In Garbage Out. So why do you do some of those things that bring you things that you don’t want. Garbage In Garbage Out. Look at what you watch on TV. Is it good? Does it have a strong positive message? Do you feel good about yourself after you have watched it? Is it worth watching after all? Most shows on TV do not have a good message. Sitcoms may make you laugh for the half hour that they are on, but what is the humor. It is usually slapstick, and put-down humor. So what do you do when you see your friends? You use slapstick and put-down humor. Sure it was funny when you saw it last night, but is it funny when you put-down a friend just to humor yourself. I hope not. Don’t worry they are probably used to it since it is a good chance that they saw the same show. Garbage In Garbage Out.

Now what if you put some good information into yourself last night. What if you read a good book, or a good blog. What if you looked up some things on YouTube like I posted a few days ago. What if instead of spending $50-$100 a month in cable fees you spent the money on a good personal coach. Maybe a Tony Robbins lecture, or heck maybe you sent an email to Coach Kip to see if he would be willing to chat with you. Positive In Positive Out. What if you gave your friend a compliment the first time you saw them. ‘Hey buddy, nice shirt, where did you get it?’ They may take offense to it at first, expecting a put-down on the other side, but they will get used to it. What if every time you saw them you complimented them? What would happen when your car wouldn’t start the next town over. Would they come. Absolutely they would.

It is up to you to decide. You have to make a conscious effort to help your unconscious brain perform the way you want it to.

Conceive It, Believe It, Achieve It

Coach Kip

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How can the way one think effect everything that happens to them? Is it due to an attitude? Is it a perception? Is it a physical thing that is happening?

The easy answer is yes. It is all those things. Positive thinking effects everything that happens to us, and everything that goes on in our lives. It changes perceptions, it changes attitudes, and it is a physical thing that can manifest into infinite possibilities.

How? Lets take them piece by piece.

Perception

By simply thinking positively you can change the perception of everything. If you are having bad thoughts, negative thoughts you will begin to see the bad and negative things in everything around you. You will see every negative piece of everything. You probably know someone like that. You probably have observed them tear something down that you saw to be really great. They don’t even see the good things. They are blinded by their negativity.

You have probably been in a situation where you are in a good mood and happy. You see all these great and positive things. You are very happy. The negative person with you sees none of that. Your positive thoughts let you see more than what is there. You see the beauty of everything. It is a much happier existence.

Attitude

Thinking positively will change your attitude toward everything. I hope that some of you who are reading this are teachers. Teaching is truly the greatest profession, and it is the least appreciated and least compensated. How do you look at your students? Actually lets take it one step further. How do you look at your low performing students?

If you look at them negatively how will they act? They will act negatively. They will do poorly on test, they will act out in class, they will rebel and you have no idea why. It is because of your subconscious negative attitude toward them. You have already decided that they are going to do negative things. They are simply living down to your expectations. OK not you I know. But you probably know of teachers who are like this.

What if you look at these same low performing students in a very positive light. What if you simply look at these low performing students as great students who have yet to get the information needed to shine? What will they do then? They will start off as a dull light bulb. They will not really know what is going on. They are probably used to having people look at them negatively all their lives. You begin to look at them in a positive light and they do all right but they still are not sure how to act. When they figure it out they begin to shine. Sometimes becoming the best students in your class. They begin to shine like the sun. Why?

It is your attitude. You put that positive attitude in your students through your positive thoughts. It is infectious. They begin to think positively about themselves, and the class. They begin to do well. They are now stars.

Physical Process

So how does your positive thinking transfer into physical things? I am about to get really technical now but stay with me if you are not so technical. It will make sense in the end.

Your brain gives off small electrical pulses when you think a thought. It can actually be measured. There is a great explanation to this in the DVD The Secret. That electrical impulse has to effect something. What does it effect? It effects other electrical impulses around you. It actually makes a small electrical field around you. Now do you want that electrical field to be positive or negative? I prefer it to be positive.

Whoa, that is a little deep. Lets make an example for the guys. Women you can follow along because it is about you to. Guys we have all been in a position where you look across the room and see a beautiful woman. Maybe it happened with your current girlfriend or wife. We see them and make eye contact. Now if we are too desperate she looks away and never looks back. Being desperate is a very negative frequency in thought. Women hate this. But what happens when we are confident, when we are happy/ When we are least expecting it? Don’t we usually seem to meet the best looking women when we are just having fun and least expecting it? Why? Because fun, happiness, and confidence is a very positive thought process. It is also very sexy to women. Am I wrong ladies?

That positive feeling and thought process sends little electrical waves or electrical energy into the air. If you are happy isn’t it usually contagious? How does the good looking woman across the room notice you? It is not because you are being loud and obnoxious. It is because you are sending out the positive wavelength of a physical thought. She is picking up on that.

Try being positive about everything and anything of an entire day. Journal it. See how things have turned out. See how much energy you have at the end of the day. How do you feel? Are you ready for the next day?

Try it, your life will be much different using some positive thought.

Conceive It, Believe It, Achieve It

Coach Kip.

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I don’t watch the news for a few reasons. First it has become too opinionated. I don’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. I don’t care if you watch CBS or FOX. When was it the right or the responsibility of the news casters to give us their opinion of what is happening? When did they change from giving the facts of the news and what happened? Did I just grow up and realize what is happening? Has this always been this way? If so I just want the facts, I will have my own opinions thank you.

That is actually a secondary reason why I don’t watch the news anymore. The biggest reason is that I am not letting anything that is not positive in my life.

You can live your life how ever you want to live it. I choose to live my life in a positive manor.

When do people watch the news? When they wake up in the morning. When you wake up and turn on the news what happens? You get blasted by a whole bunch of negative things that happened while you were sleeping. You were sleeping because you were not doing those things. You were doing the right thing preparing for a productive day. So why would you want to wake up to such negativity?

Don’t worry you will be informed. You will know what is going on. You won’t miss anything important. Tim Ferris has a great experiment in his book (The 4-Hour Work Week). He says don’t watch any news or read any newspapers for a few days. It is really hard to do but you have to have some self discipline to do so. Then go out to eat at a nice restaurant. When the server comes to your table tell them that you just got back from a trip and you had not seen a newspaper. Ask them if anything important has happened in the news. You will be surprised to find out that you have not missed anything.

When else do people watch the news? Right before bed. So you wake up to negative news, and now you are about to end your day with negative news. Do you really want to have the last thing you think about negative?

Why did we say prayers just before bed when we were young? To give thanks? To get closer to god?

If those were your answers don’t think that you are wrong. I think that what prayers were meant to be is to give thanks, and be greatfull for a good day. They were meant to be positive. They were meant to be pleasant.

If you want to feel better about yourself, if you want to be more positive, don’t watch the news. You wont miss as much as you think you will, and you will feel better.

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What an interesting experiment. I had a great time doing so and it has been a complete eye opener to me. Here is what has happened.

After reading all the get rich quick, and make money now posts on the Internet I decided to see if it was real or not. I decided to see if it really was possible to make money quickly on line. So I set a goal. A big goal (at least to me). I decided to see if I could make $10,000 in about 4 months. This seems very possible if you read the Internet gurus, and the blogs about people who have done so.

I would not get rich, but it would pr