Back after 6 year break!
Everyone thought I was a coach!
More pics here…
http://www.thelugeman.com/2010.htm
Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
Motivational Speakers
Motivational speakers
I’m back in the saddle again…
Yesterday I took my first training runs on my new sled.
I felt great. No fear, very relaxed, and for the first time ever, in a mental state that allows me to finally start working on fine tuning my sliding technique - proper breathing, proper positon on sled, etc.
It feels like a different sport.
It took me 24 years to get over the fear while luging….
I guess I’m a slow learner.
Moral - Don’t quit too soon. Give yourself a chance to learn the skills that you need to reach your goals and dreams.
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Leadership, whether in a family, in a little league team, or in an organization, requires the same factors.
First of all, you have to have the mindset that you want to help people reach their full potential.
The leader constantly teaches the people in his team how they can become more successful by contributing to the team’s common goals.
The leader teaches his people how to be the best they can be - how to achieve greatness by helping the organization succeed. How they can perform at their peak in ways that serve the goal of the team.
It’s a constant teaching process that takes a lot of patience. Constant explanation, demonstration, imitation, correction and repetition until the lessons are learned.
That’s why it takes a special person to be a leader.
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Is your dream worth the effort, cost and risk?
Success is not conveient. In fact, the things you will have to do to reach your dream will not only be inconvenient, they will push you way beyond your comfort zone.
Chances are, you will have to struggle, take consistent and persistent action with no guarantees of success, and dig deeper than you have ever dug before.
Is it worth it? Absolutely. Because whether you realize your dream or not, if you put yourself through the process. You will grow like you have never grown before.
You will find out things about yourself that will help you for the rest of your life. When you pursue your dream you win either way.
I head out for luge training in four days. Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Latvia, and Calgary.
The cost?
Time away from my family, missing my son’s birthday, my brother’s birthday, possibly my wife’s birthday, and Thanksgiving. That’s TOUGH because not only do I miss everyone, but it puts a strain on my relationship with my wife.
I’ll also be paying my own way. Airfare all over the world, hotels, car rentals, luge track fees ($45 per RUN!). New equipment, etc.
I won’t be working for several weeks. So I’ll be missing out on the opportunity to speak for several clients - meanwhile, the bills will keep on coming at home.
There’s always the possibility that I could hurt myself if I have a serious luge crash.
Of course, I’ll do it all agin next winter so that I can continue the fight to qualify to compete in a 4th Winter Olympics each in a different DECADE - an Olympic record.
Of course it’s worth it if I make it. But what if I don’t?
Then is it worth it? I believe it’s worth it either way. Because even if I don’t make it, I will discover things about myself that I will be able to benefit from for the rest of my life.
THAT’S why you chase your dream and NEVER quit. Because of the person you become as you are chasing your dream.
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Josh Gardner, Age 3, September 2008
I am sending this email out to raise awareness of a tragic, chronic, and lifelong disease a friend of mine is facing with his 3 year old son, Joshua.
A little over one year ago, Josh was diagnosed with Eosinophilic GastroIntestinal Disease (EGID), a very rare immune system disease. The short explanation is that we all have eosinophils in our body whose job is to attack parasites. In Josh’s body, they attack all food as if it’s a parasite.
As you might imagine, there are a number of complications that come from having your esophagus, stomach and intestines in a perpetual war zone, of sorts. Josh was placed on a naso-gastric feeding tube July 28th. His parents have removed all food from his diet since then and he has been sustained by a formula that essentially breaks food down to the amino acid level so the body doesn’t recognize it as food.
Imagine what life would be like if your kids had this rare disease.
Due to the complexities of this disease, his parents have transferred his care to a specialist in Denver who is one of only a handful of experts on EGID nationwide. They are returning there November 6th for the next surgery and to evaluate whether their 18 month old son, Timothy, who is exhibiting all the same symptoms, also has the disease.
Why am I telling everyone I can about this?
Because Josh’s parents are fighting back at this misunderstood and mis-diagnosed disease, and they need your help. There has been less than $2,000,000 raised in the past 5 years by the two main foundations focusing on this disease. Because that is not nearly enough, Josh’s parents have decided to establish the Gardner Family Foundation (www.gardnerfoundation.org), a 501c3 whose focus is to raise $15,000,000 in the next two years to combat EGID.
Imagine if your son or daughter could not digest food. Personally, I can’t imagine what life would be like if my kids had this disease.
Please take a few minutes to check out the Gardner Foundation and to help out.
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Every day you have opportunities to take a leadership role by meeting the needs of the hour. We all have opportunities to take charge and atke action on something we believe in.
How we act during these defining moments show us and show others who we really are.
How we respond to challenges shows what we are made of. How we deal with tough choices does too.
You and I will have many defining moments ahead of us. By looking ahead for them, you will be in a better position to make the most of them.
Remember, success is a choice.
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
The Gonzalez clan watching the parade at Disney World
Lately, a lot of people have been asking me about work-family balance. It definitely can be tricky. But if you get a little creative, and if you pace yourself properly (see this post) it can definitely be done.
A month ago, I called my good friend Austin Davis. Austin is a great internet marketer and he is my mentor in that department of my business.
I called Austin to see if I could meet with him because I needed some of his help. Austin said, “I’m taking my family to Disney World in a couple of weeks, why don’t we meet there and have some fun as well?”
We booked an 8 day trip and I got some great internet marketing tips while having a blast with both of our families.
Gracen and Gabriela at a special breakfast with Mickey
The beauty of meeting at Disney was that we got a lot accomplished. Most of Austin’s mentoring was done as we were walking through the park or at the pool.
The whole time we were inspired by Walt Disney’s vision and incredible implementation of his vision. And since both Austin and Shannon and Cheryl and I homeschool our kids, we were able to visit Disney in October which meant: low season tickets, cool weather, and best of all, no lines because the park was empty.
All of this did not just happen. Austin and I met about 6 years ago when we were both getting started. Back then we talked about how we wanted to design our lives so that we could have maximum flexibility so we could enjoy lots of time with our families.
It didn’t happen overnight. Both Austin and I went through some really tough financial times but we kept plugging on. We are still plugging on. Spending a week in Disney stretched our minds so that we are now inspired to take everything we do to the next level.
You can do the same. Figure out where you want to go. Build a dream team of mentors who can help you get there, and work your tail off.
On the way back to Houston we were planning our next family business meetings. Caribbean, Rocky Mountains, Spain, etc.
You can do it to…
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Bill Bartmann and I after speaking at a big event with Zig Ziglar
It’s pretty rare to get an Olympic Gold Medal, wouldn’t you say? Only 1,210 Americans have received one. It’s unusual to climb Mt. Everest, too: Just 2,300 people have done that.
But there’s an even rarer category: The number of billionaires. No more than 1,125 people in the world can claim that distinction.
My friend, Bill Bartmann, did just that. Now keep in mind that this group of 1,125 people includes people who had major help along the way: Many were born with it, inherited it, or had every advantage while growing up.
In the history of billionaires, Bill Bartmann stands alone. He’s the ONLY former homeless person and gang member ever to have made a billion dollars. That’s right, Bill went from eating out of dumpsters and living under a bridge viaduct, to having after-tax, take-home pay in a single year of more than $100 million and being listed as the 25th richest person in America.
Here’s where it gets extremely interesting: Bill is willing to coach YOU on how to succeed in business.
After all, what can you learn from someone whose daddy died and left him a billion? But it’s totally different with Bill Bartmann: He worked in a slaughterhouse. He was an alcoholic at age 17. And at one point Bill was paralyzed from the waist down. Yet Bill discovered a DIFFERENT way of thinking and acting that enabled him to overcome all of that, and become a self-made billionaire.
After scaling the highest peaks in the business world and getting his fill of toys like $25 million aircraft, what’s Bill up to now? He has one current passion: Showing others his special techniques for overcoming any challenge and being as successful as they want to be.
Do you think Bill might know a few things YOU could use to overcome your own challenges? What if you could get his thoughts on dozens of business topics?
Now you can. Bill is launching a one-of-a-kind online service, called his “Billionaire Business System”. This is not some one-size-fits-all deal. Instead, Bill has built a mentoring tool that provides you with laser-targeted advice on many individual topics.
Are you already running a business but not sure what’s the best way to secure financing for your next stage of growth? Bill covers that topic. Not even sure if business is right for you? Bill has a video session just about that.
In fact, the Billionaire Business System currently has almost two dozen topics, and is constantly growing.
I strongly recommend that you take a look at Bill’s system and see for yourself how it can remove whatever roadblocks are in your way to greater business success. You can find it by clicking here.
Name me anywhere else on the planet that you can get specific, useful, and comprehensive business-building advice from a self-made billionaire? That’s OK, I can’t think of any, either.
The sooner you have Bill Bartmann in your corner, advising you on business success, the sooner you can sit back and bask in your own dreams coming true.
By the way, the chances are really good that whatever challenges you have, Bill’s been there, and found a way to overcome them. Let Bill show you how, by taking the easy step of clicking here.
Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers
Motivational speakers