Baby Boomer balance has everything to do with alignment and walking our talk.

How many times in your life have you verbally committed to doing something and then reneged at some point because something came up – or the memory and focus of the original conversation faded and became a distant glimmer of muffled sound – like a silhouette of a campfire on the beach against a cliff late at night?

Was it your intention not to follow through? Did you actually make the commitment intending not to follow through?

In a peculiar way, this is the truth.

Recently, on a personal level, I have learned about authenticity – living it, speaking it and looking for it. This ties in directly to other aspects of what I am learning that I would like to share with you. See how it sits with you and maybe it will make sense to you the way it is beginning to in my life.

Lately many aspects of emotion are becoming clear in my life.

What emotion is, for example.

As far back as I can remember, emotion has been something usually associated with discomfort – something to “kind of walk around” or to be cautious about not stirring up the mud in the bottom of the pond, so to speak.

Because there was so much turmoil in my household as a boy, it became easier to avoid emotion than deal with it. As a memory, there is a great deal of fighting and negative emotion throughout much of the childhood experience. So looking back at the chain of events in my own experience, I see that inadvertently, as a young man my “internal” system gradually guided me in the direction of avoiding emotion as a survival tool, because many times this was easier than experiencing the emotion that was available there.

It was not a conscious choice, in retrospect.

And looking at that process, it becomes clear to me that a great deal of my subsequent experience around emotion was either directly – or indirectly – linked to the that “unconscious choice” so many years ago.

What is interesting about this scenario is that I have always been a highly sensitive human being with an singular sense of fairness and equity that has always been a major part of my personality. Being a “Cancer” with a heavy emphasis on emotion, this aspect has often been a double edged sword for me.

More often than not, I felt more than the others around me did. Many times it created a situation where I really felt like an outcast – the weirdo, the odd one – that got messages and direction that nobody else seemed to understand – or be aware of. At the age where peer approval was so important to a young man, this was often troubling and confusing. And yet on a certain level, I really didn’t care what they thought either. I rarely listened to what other people had to say.

Talk about confusion…

So here I am as a teenager:

• becoming a master of avoiding emotion while simultaneously
• being highly sensitive to the energy and emotion around me
• angry and aloof – getting tons of “downloads” encrypted in a language that only I seemed to understand

So back to the “truth” of not intending to follow commitments – of having intentions NOT to honor commitments we make – even though we are verbally nodding our heads.

In 2005, at a Peak Potentials Wizard Camp (a 5 day intensive seminar not to far from Whistler, BC) I had an epiphany. I learned first hand what commitment means. This took place in the form of a direct experience – but also, I actually saw commitment with my own eyes. I have written about this experience in depth in my book so I will not reiterate it here.

I really got something in that experience that I have carried forward with me since and have grown to realize that it affects everything we do in life – all the time.

To summarize, this is it:
Commitment does not exist in the cosmos as ‘partial’. It is all or nothing. We are either 100% committed or we are not committed. There is no such thing as “sort of committed”.

This is the crux of the theme of this post: Baby Boomer Balance.

Lately, as a I mentioned earlier, many aspects of “emotion” are becoming clear to me.

1. I have recently heard this: emotions are the way that God speaks to us.
2. Emotions are the internal guide posts that empower us to choose the right decision.
3. Emotions have nothing to do with pain or fear – both of which stem from our reaction to what our emotions are telling us – rather than what is actually being said.
4. Most of us avoid experiencing emotion like the plague because in much of our experience, when we feel emotion, we feel pain – so we associate it with pain.
5. Emotions are tools to guide us in the decision process. That decision process is very simple: Does this choice feel good? Or does this choice not feel good?

When we pull this understanding into our daily life as an operating tool, emotions make it easy to decide what to do. Esther Hicks and Abraham always talk about “going upstream or going downstream”.

I am learning how simple this is – but it took a long time for me to “get it”.

I am learning to use this tool frequently throughout the day. Any time I start to feel agitation about something I am hearing, or about something I am thinking or a choice I am about to make, I ask myself:

Does this feel upstream or downstream? If I get the feeling that the “thing” is upstream ( a choice that will take me into a situation that will mean “fighting my way upstream”), I choose consciously not to do that thing, or say those words or go that direction. No explanation, no argument and no rhetoric.

If this thing makes me feel “downstream” – like flowing with the current and really going with the flow, that is the choice I make. I find that as soon as I identify internally what feels good and what feels downstream, all sense of agitation and discomfort – in the bottom of my stomach immediately fades away and I feel good.

What a cool way to deal with emotion. It now becomes a tool for choosing our path and for making decisions all the time. And it is so simple – as long as we just listen and do not resist or react.

Now more about balance…

I am finding that living our truth is all about balance.

To be authentic we must live our truth. That means we can not go against what we know is right within us. In other words, we must always choose what feels downstream in order to follow “what feels right for us”. Any time we make a choice other than this, it means that we are making a choice out of alignment with who we are.

Maybe this is to please others whom we admire and whose approval we are seeking. Maybe we want a different outcome to be our reality so we think that if we ignore that “feeling” it will come out the way we really want it to happen.

The truth is that we can only make choices in alignment with our “authenticity” if we want to be authentic. Nothing else makes sense. The interesting part is that as soon as we choose this, everybody else around us identifies our authenticity and starts to respect it.

Now how does commitment fit into this picture?

It is very simple yet subtle – much in the same way how easy it is to choose “upstream or downstream”. Yet, perhaps commitment is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern society at this point. Truly most of us think we are committed when we are not.

Because being committed means that no matter what we will follow through. It means our word is our bond, it is an extension of our truth and it is a big part of being authentic.

How is this so?

If we are truly being authentic, we follow through on our commitments because when we are following our inner truth, we only commit to those things that make us feel “downstream:” We choose what is right for us at all times and we choose to be in the flow.

When we are authentic, we are choosing that which is alignment with our higher self – which also means we are choosing that which is in alignment with the part of us which is Divine.

When we are authentic, we only agree to commit to anything that we choose to be in alignment with. What this means, therefore, is that it is really ok to say NO.

Simply go inside and ask yourself: If I commit to this does it make me feel downstream or upstream? Then base your commitment on that feeling – one way or the other.

If we commit to something and we do not follow through, either we were not being authentic when we entered into the commitment, or we are not being true to ourselves when we do not follow through to that commitment.

We are the leaders for future generations. What happens is our responsibility. How can we lead these kids and guide the flow “downstream” in the bigger picture if we are not committed to our principles, our values and our integrity?

And how can we expect those who are so desperately needing our leadership to believe us and follow our direction if:

• our walk is not in alignment with our talk and
• if we are not being authentic

We cannot expect them to listen because it will not feel “downstream” to them. And they will blow us off.

We have a chance to make a real change as we head into the magnificent transition into the new paradigm that is coming.

Commit to your own alignment and your Baby Boomer Balance.
Being in alignment is a big part of Baby Boomer Balance as well as a major ingredient in Baby Boomer Health. Coming to grips with these issues are not only a component of who were are becoming as leaders, it is also a big part of choosing emotional cleansing and self esteem on a conscious level – instead of an unconscious one.

Are you ready to see it all in a different light and quit fighting the inevitable – upstream?

I am.

Blessings.

Michael Barrett

Most the time people in America describe a billion as a thousand million.

But for this example, I would like to describe a billion as:

• one million thousand or
• ten million hundred

So that means you can visualize a stack of a billion dollars on your dining room table in the following different configurations:

Thinking in terms of $100 bills:

• Count out 50,000 stacks of 200 (two hundred) each, $100 bills
• Count out 20,000 stacks of 500 (five hundred) each, $100 bills
• Count out 10,000 stacks of 1000 (one thousand) each, $100 bills

$10K Bundles of $100 Bills

You could count out stacks of 100 each, $100 bills (like this picture of bundled hundreds).

Each bundle is $10,000 each.

You would need to count out 100,000 of these $10,000 stacks to create $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars).

You’d better have a very large dining room table.

Stacks of $100 Bills

Now it gets even more interesting when we start looking at stacks of $100 bills another way.

Suppose you wanted to make a single $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollar) stack of $100 bills.

It would have to be 10,000,000 bills high.

That is a stack of 10,000,000 – $100 bills…

According to the department of treasury a bill is .0043 inches thick. That means that 10,000,000 thick stack would be 43,000 inches tall or 3,573 feet tall – a little over 2/3 mile high.

Stacks of $1000 Bills

When we think of a $1Billion in terms of stacks of $1000 bills, a single stack would be 1,000,000 bills thick and would reach a height of 4,300 inches tall or 358.88 feet – 1.19 times the length of a football field – high

Remember a Million Thousand Earlier?

Now those stacks of $1000 bills on your dining room table would be could be configured this way:

• Count out 1000 stacks, 1000 high each of $1000 bills
• Count out 500 stacks, 2000 high each of $1000 bills
• Count out 10,000 stacks of 100 each of $1000 bills

That’s 10,000 stacks of $100,000 bundles of $1000 bills. Whoa, that’s a lot of thousands – a million thousand.

Another Way of Looking at $1 Billion (1,000,000,0000) Dollars

• $1 Billion of $100 bills end to end is approximately 55,000,000 inches long.
• $1 Billion of $1 bills end to end is about 86,805.56 miles long, approximately 3.49 times the circumference of the earth

A Billion Is A Huge Number – How About One-Part-Per-Billion…

1. One 4-inch hamburger in a chain of hamburgers circling the earth at the equator 2.5 times.
2. One silver dollar in a roll of silver dollars stretching from Detroit to Salt Lake City.
3. One kernel of corn in a 45-foot high, 16-foot diameter silo.
4. One sheet in a roll of toilet paper stretching from New York to London.
5. One second of time in 31.71 years.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but an advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it’s releases. I added a few of my own here too…

1. A billion seconds ago it was 1976.
2. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
3. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age
4. A billion hours is about 114,155.25 years
5. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet
6. A billion inches is 15,783 miles, more than halfway around the earth
7. A billion dollars of the US debt – paying it off by one dollar a second – takes 31 years, 259 days, 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds
8. A billion dollars ago was only 3 hours, at the rate our government is spending it (based on figures from usgovernmentspending.com ) and we’re talking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – 365 days a year – Congress will spend a little over 8 times that amount every 24 hours every single day in 2008

The next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money – to the tune of ~$2,931,200,000,000 (that’s 2931.2 Billion to be spent by Congress in 2008 )

Give or take a billion…

Washington, D. C < HELLO! > Are all your calculators broken ??

How do we know who to listen to when it comes to Web 2.0?

There is a new internet craze going on now from my perspective. Lately everybody has become an overnight expert about making money online by WordPress blogging and social bookmarking.

That’s funny to me because I remember hearing an interview with Ed Dale on a tele-seminar (around January 2008) speaking to a group of the interviewer’s “inner circle” students. The guy interviewing Ed Dale was an “expert at internet marketing” and had no idea about Facebook as a marketing vehicle.

Until very recently, few gurus promoted Web 2.0 and social bookmarking as a viable marketing online mechanism – in fact many of them referred to social media sites like Facebook as a playground for adults like MySpace is for teenagers. Something not to be taken seriously.

Suddenly they are all experts with megaphones touting Web 2.0 as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Now Will the Real Web 2.0 Please Stand Up?

There are exceptions: the two most notable are Jack Humphrey and Ed Dale in my experience.

Long before it was fashionable to be a Web 2.0 expert, most SEO-Internet Marketing guys looked at Jack Humphrey like he was one of those bus stop evangelists holding a sign that said, “The End Is Near,” preaching doom to everyone.

Only Jack was really holding a sign that said,

“Social bookmarking is cool. Web 2.0 really works and it’s the wave of the future.”

And the naysayers, would wink at each other implying that Jack should be locked up – wondering when the guys in the white suits were coming to take him where he “really belonged”.

I actually hired one of Jack’s partners (Peter Lenkefi) to build three adsense sites for me before I had a clue what adsense was all about. After that he contacted me again and said that he and his partner were starting a new program that would revolutionize internet marketing. Fall 2006 the subject came up again in my discussions with Peter about joining the new system and to get involved in an intensive and specialized training program – kind of a insider’s club of the new wave – the future of internet marketing. There was a last minute a glitch and I was unable to participate in the training.

Well that was the precursor the current version of Authority Site Center, Jack’s baby.

The idea is that if you create an extensive network of social media sites – a “web” – correctly linked and constructed, you will end up with an Authority Site that ranks well, has tons of inbound links and is both “Google-slap” proof as well as recession proof.

Jack gets about 5000-10,000 unique visitors a day to his site. And he does not spend a dime on Google adsense.

How many SEO guys can say that?

A few months back, Jack offered a free 8 week webinar class to 500 people on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The classes were held online at 1:00 p.m. and then the session repeated again at 10:00 p.m. There were participants from all over the world. The moderator did an online presentation and the students could text questions and comments.

What a great course and what excellent teaching. Jack sat in on a few sessions, but the vast majority of the course was taught by Sam Clarke. What a fantastic guy and a what a great class. The camaraderie and the depth of the learning and the bonding was exceptional. It was like Sam created a family.

We liked it so much and liked Sam so much, we’ve decided that we are going to have a reunion on a cruise ship next year – so all the “text-forum” friends from around the world can meet face to face.

These guys give it their all and they do not hold back.

The emphasis of the training was on extensive and professional market research, prior to ever publishing a blog or a website. The course was based on years of Jack’s personal experience – as well as their experience as internet marketers, bloggers, dealing with students and clients for several years.

The best part about this course was that it was laid out in a step-by-step format sequentially in 16 Steps. Accordingly, the name was 16 Steps to Success. What to do and how to execute each step.

My iron clad conclusion was that Jack, Sam and Authority Site Center are the real McCoy.

I was so convinced I joined the membership site for more extensive training.

Ed Dale and The Thirty Day Challenge

Ed has an annual program that he started several years ago called the Thirty Day Challenge. This is the fourth year, I believe. Prior to last year, I don’t know the history, but I do know that there are people who came out of the 30 Day Challenge and have gone on to be millionaires. My wife and I took the 30 Day Challenge last year and it was a great experience. We both agree that it is one of the most valuable courses we have taken.

Another Absolutely Amazing Free Web 2.0 Resource

Sign up for the Thirty Day Challenge.

The Thirty Day Challenge is chocked full of cutting edge techniques because that’s the way Ed Dale does stuff. He is a massively successful internet marketer. I believe he started this tradition because he wants to give back.

Take this class.

And it’s free. It doesn’t cost anything to take the course.

Here is the concept: In 30 days, even if you have no internet experience, you will learn how to make money online from scratch using Web 2.0 and social bookmarking.

You learn how to make $10 (ten dollars) from a website you build during the 30 day class.

$10 bucks – big deal, right?

The idea is that once you know how to make $10, you know how to make $1,000 or more. Just do more of the same thing that worked.

The 30 Day Challenge is a blast. This year is supposed to be the best one yet because the technology has come so far since last year. And last year was awesome. We’re taking it again.

See you there.

Both Jack Humphrey and Ed Dale Share Something in Common.

They care about people. They put people first and making a buck second.

They also encourage you to learn what you can with free tools first, before you spend money on mentoring, software, design and business development.

They teach focus.

And they teach to research your topic completely – identify your niche (or niches) and thoroughly do your market research before you invest in your topic. Make certain there is demand, traffic and a way to monetize the site before you build it.

That’s damn good advice guys.

Two excellent marketers, Web 2.0 experts and Teachers

Other related links…
Jack Humphrey in Vegas…again – Hey all. Just dropping by to report my where abouts so no one freaks out and I don’t go too long without posting. It is also required by my probation officer, and the CIA likes to keep track of me as well. Wish I had some pictures. …

How many of you Baby Boomer Life blog readers participated in the incredible amazing Thirty Day Challenge??? With Ed Dale and Dan Raine?… That’s it. Time to wake up and touch the internet and I don’t mean check your email either!

Officially, the 2007 Thirty Day Challenge… is over. But, for me it will never end, as I will continue to challenge myself every day to do and learn more. What they have taught me will stay with me forever. …

30 Day Challenge: Can you do without TV? – I do a lot of things differently in an effort to enjoy my life. Sometimes I forget just how abnormal some of them are. This past week I co-instructed the IRA Association of America professional member enrollment course in Denver, CO. …

Thirty Day Challenge – It’s called 30DC (Thirty Day Challenge). It starts August 1st. This is a wonderful thing to join because it teaches you allot of wonderful, helpful & and free ways to find your “Niche” or find what kind of online business you would like …

Visual Communication And Video Publishing – Selected Tools And Web … – Web 2.0 Free Logo Generator Web 2.0 Free Logo Generator is a web-based service that lets you create Web 2.0 logos, without knowing anything about photo editing. You can personalize the text, font, background color, size, reflection, …

Web 2.0 a social networking explosion…Web 2.0 – What the hell is this all about then? Most of the folks that I’m trying to get this across to around their early 40’s. Having just mastered the www and now know what a web site is, how email work and how to download all the free music you need for life. …

Work At Home Boomers – Is This You?

There are a growing number of work opportunities for Baby Boomers as Corporate America is waking up to the fact that a significant percentage of the work force is getting ready to retire.  And there is a lot of talent in that retiring group.

Even so from a variety of estimates it’s clear, most Boomers are not saving enough.

Did you know? It’s estimated that:

• 4 out of 10 people over 60 will fall below the poverty line in their later years.
• And Merrill Lynch says that many people are only saving about 1/3 of what they will need after retirement.
• Only about 50% of us are saving enough to maintain a pre-retirement lifestyle when we retire.

It’s actually worse for Gen X, but they’re further down the road.

Since Boomers aren’t saving before they retire, how is working deep into retirement age going to solve the problem unless you have a lot of money stashed before you retire? These issues are compounded by the fact that we are living longer so the savings have to go a further distance. 

And we all know that no matter how much we hope it, the social security debackle is getting worse – not better.

If you want to be a wealthy boomer, the answer is making more money.

Find out why starting an online business makes more sense  ==> work at home boomers