How do you feel when you are left out of the communication loop?

Does it make you feel angry, sad, and like you have a lower status within the company of the group?

Being left out of the loop stings regardless of whether it was intentional or not.

Here are some ways to cope with  your emotions when you feel like you're the only one who, "Didn't get the memo!"

1. Understand that people who care about you won't leave you out of the loop on purpose. Give others the benefit of the doubt when everyone else seems to have information you don't have.

2. Instead of letting your emotions get the best of you, reach out to friends whom you may not have communicated with in some time. By doing this you are preventing others from feeling "uninvited."

3. Talk to the person who initially communicated the information to figure out why you may have been excluded. Hopefully, this discussion will provide you with greater insight as to why you were left out.

Being excluded from an important communication highlights the negative feelings we all feel when we are left out. 

This illustrates the importance of being effective communicators and the necessity of over-communicating rather than under-communicating.

Check out the short video below to learn more about the importance of keeping people informed so they feel a part of the group.

​Also, leave me a comment about your thoughts on how you handle situations where you are left out of the communication loop.    

Has the world ever broken you?

What would it take for life to break you to the point where you were beaten to your knees?

The writer Ernest Hemingway wrote, in his classic novel, A Farwell To Arms, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."

Hemingway got it right when he stated that life breaks us all. Whether it is the unexpected loss of a job, the unforeseen death of someone close to us, or the unanticipated realization we have a chronic or terminal illness, life will eventually try to beat us into submission.

So, how do we get our lives back when we are broken?

Many times, I feel life breaks me when I receive my cancer infusion. The medication wrecks havoc on my body, drains my emotions, and ruptures my spirit.

There are times when I am reduced to an exhausted, remorseful, and sniveling heap of a man who just wants to throw a little pity party for himself.   

It's during those times when I feel broken that I fold in on myself and can't see the bigger picture of life. At that point, the only thing existing in my world is me.

I find one of the easiest ways to remove myself from my self-centeredness, is to find another person to engage, to help, or to just check in with.   

​Shifting my focus away from myself and on to another person, who might be hurting, is a great way to not only encourage someone else, but to alter my outlook from myself to that connection with another person.

The next time you feel life has beaten you down, try changing your focus from yourself and your pain, to finding someone who might benefit from the bonding with another person.

Leave me a comment about how you rebound when the world breaks you.

What do you want to be remembered for doing?

What will you be remembered, if anything, for accomplishing while you were alive?

How will you know you have lived a fulfilled life?

According to Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, "One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has a specific vocation in life to carry out, a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment."

If we are to believe Frankl, we were all born for a reason. We just didn't come from nothing and will return to nothing.

There is a uniqueness to our existence and our life in not arbitrary. 

Research indicates that few people ever find their purpose. Only 10% of people surveyed believe they know what their purpose is, and less than 5% of those say they follow their purpose on a regular basis.

While I believe we have purposes (plural) during the course of our lives, here are a few ways to go about finding your purpose:

1. Understand your values. Most of your values are formed in the first twenty years of your life, but you should know and understand what it important to you.

2. Explore your interests. We all have unique gifts and talents. Know what you're good at and experiment with jobs and assignments where you can use your gifts.

3. Surround yourself with good, caring, and positive people. These are individuals who will encourage, support, and most importantly, tell you when you are headed down the wrong road.  

4. Be part of something that is bigger than yourself. Broaden your focus and use an abundant mindset so that you can make a positive difference in the lives of others.  

Fulfillment is when you continue to grow your gifts and use them in service to others. But you must start by knowing what you gifts and talents are so you can expand and refine them.

Please watch the short video below about a woman who found her ultimate purpose in life when most of us are thinking about retiring and the impact that purpose had on so many disadvantaged people.

Also, leave me a comment about how you go about finding your purpose.  

What is the most unique moment you have experienced in your life?

Did you realize in the moment, just how amazing the experience was, or did it take some time for the exceptionality of the moment to sink in?

When you are part of something bigger than yourself, it changes you. When it's over, you want that feeling every day and all the time. 

During those magical moments, you think it will last forever. When it ends, you realize how fragile and precious it was.

In their book, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, brothers Chip and Dan Heath, list four elements that make an experience memorable. They argue that every defining moment has at least one of these traits:

1. Elevation - You are surprised by a sensory pleasure.

2. Insight - Seeing things as they are, as in an "A-ha moment." 

3. Pride  - Knowing that you have given your all for a worthy cause.

4. Connection - Sharing a meaningful experience with others. 

Every involvement has the potential to become meaningful and memorable if you know what you are looking for. Each day, each encounter, and each experience can be meaningful if we put forth the effort to turn the mundane into the amazing.

Please leave me a comment about your thoughts on what makes a moment unique.