Hi OWL team! Congrats to everyone who made it to our last OWL meeting. We'll continue to get together once a month. Every Saturday, I'll be posting a quick vid or audio for the OWL team to plug into so that we can stay on track with the process we're all involved n. Here's the first one. Enjoy! ;)

In an interview with Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS magazine, he makes an incredibly important point to carry with you in your journey of personal development.

If you're a PD (personal development) newbie or even if you've been around a long time, you've probably experienced bouts of feeling overwhelmed by all the information. There's just soooooooo much to learn and you want to consume it all. You're jumping from book to book, audio to audio, program to program, blog to blog, etc. You're wired up with exciting information about how to improve your life in a million different ways and you feel great!

But then a few months or even a couple years pass by and though you feel and see some positive effects, you also realize that you haven't really applied what you've been learning. Yes, your life and overall sense of well-being has improved, but you know in your gut that you could and should be achieving more progress faster. And then the guilt starts setting in. This is what Darren Hardy called "personal development frustration" in his interview.

So how do we avoid it?

Darren Hardy says your mind is like an empty glass and it will hold whatever you put in it. Now imagine all the negative we encounter as we go thru our day. That's dirty water going in your glass whether you like it or not. The only way to get that dirty water out is to flush it with a continuous stream of clean water. That clean water is the positive input of personal development.

So, every day you have to keep that stream of positive input flowing constantly to flush out the negative, but the secret to avoid feeling overwhelmed by all the wonderful things you want to implement is to simply pick one thing that you want to focus on and apply it consistently and persistently starting right now for the next 30 to 90 days. Now, that stream of general PD input is still flowing because you can never take a break from flushing your mind because the monsters of negativity never take a break, but what you've done is allowed that stream of information to go into the background so that you can focus on one, specific thing to start applying in your life.

So pick your one thing now! Do you want to start implementing that investment plan that you read about 2 years ago? How about that exercise routine that sounded so good on the cd you listened to last month? Pick one thing and as Darren Hardy said: "Drive it deep!"

I remember a line from an article from someone well known in the PD (personal development) arena. I can't recall his name right now, but what he said really struck me and I'm glad I stumbled across it because this advice is golden and will make your journey to success much more joy-filled.

He said (and I'm expanding here) that there are basically two ways to achieve a goal. One way is to fret and worry about it and lose sleep over it. People who do this hang onto anxiety as if it's some kind of goal-achieving requisite. They subconsciously feel that to let go of their worry would mean letting go of their goal. They're acting on the belief system that once they become successful, then and only then can they relax and be happy. Until then they feel they have to "grit their teeth" to make it happen.

The other way is to have complete and utter faith that you will achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Then you simply act upon the little nudges that come your way. You're not concerned about connecting all the dots or seeing all the pieces of the puzzle. You've put your trust in God. And now you're enjoying the journey. You're being patient. And as your goals begin to materialize for you, you start to realize one very important thing in the process: happiness is not a product of success. Success is a product of happiness.

Since we always receive what we focus on, BOTH types of goal-achievers - the type that takes the path of the worrier and the type that takes the path of confident joy - will reach their goals.

The question you need to ask yourself is, "Which path would I rather be on?"

I think this sheds alot of light on the saying that "It's not about the destination. It's about the journey." How you treasure, enjoy, and savor the journey has a direct influence on just how sweet your destination turns out to be. And that's what personal development (and this blog!) is all about. :) - MFR

Mark Victor Hansen, best-selling author, popular keynote speaker and expert on human potential, says that your habits will determine your future. “If you know you want to start exercising three times a week, schedule it now in your appointment book. If you want to start reading uplifting books, schedule an hour in your daily schedule and make plans now as to where you will read without interruption. Whatever the new habit, work it into your schedule for the month ahead as most habits—even the very ugliest ones—can be completely re-patterned in this short timeframe.”

Hi fellow OWLs! So, I went hiking with a friend yesterday and she makes these awesome granola bars that are a great after-hiking munch! I'm planning on making a bunch just for a back-up snack for whenever I get hungry and want a better choice than cookies or chips. I'm sharing the recipe here because this blog is about making a positive difference in every area of your life and that includes physical health! :)

Granola Bars:

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup flaked coconut (I toast these with the nuts first)

1 cup sliced almonds (have also used macadamias...VERY delicioso)

1 cup mini semisweet choco chips (I usually don't put these in)

1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1 cup wheat germ

Really, you can use any combination of chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, pecans, almond slices, flax seed, wheat germ, etc.

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9"x13" pan. In large bowl, mix oats, milk, butter, coconut, almonds, choco chips, and cranberries with your hands until well-blended. Press flat into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool 5 mins, then slice into bars.

Enjoy!