Thursday, July 1, 2010
Summer Edition #123
Russell Russell R. Shippee
Author, Speaker, Life Coach
subscribe button

book buy it now
Order the book and get the workbook FREE!
Living my Life on Purpose.
Use it for your goals.

'Majestic' was the word uttered by the race committee boat person as we steamed across the finish line under full sail, an increasing wind, and all hands on deck.

Last Saturday we raced in the Newport to Cuttyhunk annual race. We came in 1st in the schooner class. Guess how many schooners were in the race. Hit reply and give us your guess!

We raced for 5 hours 6 minutes and 44 seconds. Overall we finished 3rd, beating the 4th place by 12 seconds and the 5th places by 47 seconds. Our race was 18,404 seconds and we beat the boat behind us by 12 seconds. Imagine how much a little means. How does all this apply to your life?

Shipp's Locker BookerstoreOur bookstore is now Shipp's Locker. It's time to read on the beach and on vacation. There are lots and lots of great books with great messages. Enjoy them, learn something, and realize the value in them for you and your loved ones. You'll be glad you did.

Is it time to shorten sail or to add sail? The article below is about shortening sail. But, for some of us, it's time to add some sail, add some power, and get things done. If you do so, you'll feel much better.

Sign up now for the free GOALS teleseminar on July 27, 2010 AT 9 AM EDT or July 28, 2010 AT 3:00 PM EDT.

Who should join the teleseminar? Anyone who wants a better grip on his goals, objectives, and the way he does things.

  • Want your own goals?
  • Want a track to run on?
  • Want to accomplish your goals?

signature

PS: Do you know what it feels like to have goals and accomplish them?

Inspiring Quotations

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. "

--George S. Patton

"I love fools' experiments. I am always making them"

--Charles Darwin

""The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.."

--William Arthur Ward

"Play for more than you can afford to lose and you wil learn the game"

-Winston Churchill

“Everyone lives by selling something..”

-Robert Lewis Stevenson

,

Cameron's Corner

"Pop" was racing so I went out in a power boat to greet him as he returned. He was surprised to see me.

stop watch counting down the seconds

He already told me seconds count and then told me the story of the race. Stories do make it real, I must admit.


Cameron with his parents on a boat to see pop.


Spotlight Article

SHORTEN SAIL

Experienced sailors often shorten sail before they need to.

As a young sailor I was out with an old salt. He saw thunder clouds in the distance and suggested we shorten sail. I was the captain, it was my boat, and I said we don’t need to.

Within five minutes the thunderstorm was almost on us. He strongly urged me and we did shorten sail. The storm was short but wild. The boat was turned from one side to the other, the rain driving with such force it felt like sleet, and the visibility zero. We knew other boats were around but could not see them nor could we control the direction of our boat. We still had a little sail up and I sure wished I had taken it all down.

The storm was over. It felt like it lasted a long time, but it was less than five minutes. The lesson will last my entire lifetime. Shorten sail before you need to, before it’s too late.

Life produces it’s own thunderstorms. In reality, we actually produce them for ourselves, by what we do and what we don’t do. They come upon us and, if we are paying attention, we can see them coming, we can see what is going to happen. We can, and should adjust as needed in advance. Life shows us what the results of our actions today will be.

We have a chance to shorten sail and to change course in advance. We only need to be aware of what we are doing and the storm that it is bringing. Changing, shortening sail, will reduce or eliminate the storm.

Look around. You can see the storm clouds in your life. What are you doing, or not doing, that is bringing a storm to you? What actions can you take to avoid or eliminate the storm? Or, is the storm one that is needed to clear the air and move forward? Sometimes, we need the storm. But, we have to shorten sail as needed in advance to manage the storm.

Storms are part of life itself. It’s knowing how to best handle the storm that we are to learn. Some storms we can avoid, some avoid us, and some we just have to shorten sail for, ride them out, and take advantage of their lesson for us.

Be smart, be prepared, shorten sail before you wish you had.

Email Marketing by