I ran four miles on Saturday. It was a fun experience. I did it first thing in the morning. While it had warmed up since the 8" we received earlier in the week, everything was melting and so our little hill was a pile of mud. I opted for the treadmill. I did most of it at a 9-minute mile pace, then cut it down to 8-minute mile for the last mile. While I did manage to get a rather large blister on my foot, the run went rather well.

Sunday was a pleasant day. We spent the morning at church. My daughter had a fun time at her Sunday school. After, we went to have our breakfast. We visited with a friend of my grandparents because our party was split into two booths. He and Doreen connected, because he was a real estate agent for awhile. Of course, going into this week, she also prepared a few offers. It is amazing that she had three slow months, came with me to LA and made a decision to change her thoughts and overcome her fears ... and now it seems she is closing on something every week.

I was going to go outside running this morning. I woke up a bit late and was very tired. I decided I would wake up before I run. Then, I looked outside. Temperature? 30 degrees. Oh, and a light snow. It's snowing ... again! I will be doing my 3.5 mile run in a bit, but on the treadmill and inside.

I'll make it out there eventually!

I am very happy with the header that the company I hire (www.bannersonline.com) to do graphics work did. You can see it at the top of the seminar site here:

Become Your Best Coaching Workshop

This is the company who does my banners and some other graphics. So far, the seminar is going great - most of the logistics are worked out, so it is mainly finding out who is ready to come and receive the information. One woman bought a ticket for herself, then one for each of her two sisters, and another one for her mother. They are excited about the opportunity to visit the Black Hills and learn at the same time! This is beautiful country and the snow should be worked out of its system by June. I decided to extend the discount and keep the full-priced tickets at $199 for a few more guests before I raise the rates back to $299.

My wife is assisting me with editing my book for the print version. That is coming along. I created my publishing company (i.e. I purchased my block of ISBN numbers) and have already researched a few places for publication.

This week is the week of interviews. Yesterday, I did two interviews with Ryan Lee. We had a good connection and came up with some great ideas. I look forward to doing more projects and ventures with Ryan in the future.

My good friend Kyle Battis is about to launch his site that focuses on Home Gym Secrets. He's given me some insights into who he's interviewed and information he's received, and it is going to be an awesome resource. We are going to interview sometime this week.

I was contacted by Dave DePew in San Diego, and we're going to do an interview today for me to post to the health and fitness podcast. Finally, I contacted Georgette Pann, who has been an affiliate of Natural Physiques™ and was recently featured in the Fit Over 40 e-Book. I can't wait to interview her and share her inspirational story with everyone.

I'm almost done with a 12-week curriculum for my coaching package. I decided that instead of simply coached and teaching, having an actual guide with articles, suggested reading, projects, etc would allow clients to "learn as they lose." I'm really excited and have received some good, preliminary feedback from the clients I am pilot-testing this with. If you visit the coaching page, you'll also notice that there is the option to "make an offer." I'm doing an experiment to be more flexible and let customers decide what value they feel the coaching package has, and we'll negotiate something acceptable by everyone involved. We'll see how that transpires!

This is it for my update today. Have a blessed week!

Jeremy Likness

Yes, I'm not kidding.

I'm looking at a good 4 - 5 inches outside of my window.

It started as a rainy day. Then, it got cooler. It began to sleet. We went to sleep. When we woke up ... POOF! It's snowing like crazy!

You have to love the weather in the hills.

I had someone write me about my seminar and ask what to wear. Well, it can be either 50 degrees or 100, depending on how the weather wants to behave!

Did I mention seminar? Yes, seminar. We have two major events coming up ... first, on May 17th, I am doing a special promotion of my Lose Fat, Not Faith 5-CD set. I have quite a few people contributing bonus downloads for the promotion, as well as agreeing to spread the news to their own lists. I'm excited because this set has gained some major interest lately by various partners for distribution.

The second event is the seminar. This is going to be a blast and it WILL change lives. I guarantee it. It is two full days and we are going to focus on the miracle of physique transformation. This doesn't mean we will talk about a special diet or training plan ... instead, we're going to run through the entire gamut from mindset and vision to nutrition and even proper training and flexibility. It will include all of the tools anyone needs to make a major change in their state of health and wellbeing. The tickets are on sale now, and you will save $100 if you purchase them before Midnight EST this coming Saturday. The site to learn more is up at this link.

I began my first week in the Multi-level Marketing University. Of all of the programs, training, coursework, etc. that I've done in the past year and a half, this by far is the "nuts and bolts" I was looking for. I've learned so much about what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to. What's more, this isn't about selling or convincing, but simply finding those people already looking for a way to become an entrepreneur and generate additional income without having to change what they are already doing. I'm happy because I'm able to share this information with my team, and the feedback is that they are seeing results and benefits already as well.

I am having a great time with my other coach, Jeffrey Combs. His waiting list is extremely long, but we've managed to have a few sessions due to cancellations, etc. He is very good at finding what exactly I am doing to prevent myself from taking the next step and reaching the people I intend to impact in my life. I always look forward to our next session to learn something new about myself.

One of my team members, Ed Orlowski, has agreed to fly out and participate with me in the seminar we are holding. Ed has had quite a journey himself, so he will be able to share a powerful perspective of what it's like to struggle with obesity at over 300 pounds, and how he chooses victory over being a victim.

I have been mentioning this quite a bit, but I am so excited about Joe's new book, The Attractor Factor. I stayed up one night and read it cover to cover, and my wife is reading it now. Speaking of attraction, my MLMU coach asked me to pick up a few books (one of them being the Attractor Factor). The other was one I hadn't heard of before - Make it Big! 49 Secrets of Success ... by Frank McKinney. My wife wanted to attend a call by my other coach, Mike Litman, and dialed in, not knowing who the guest speaker was. Do you have an idea? Did you guess? That's right, it was none other than the Frank man himself. And what does my wife do? Real estate. How did Mr. McKinney make his fortune? Real estate. Are you still going to do what everyone else does, and call these events in our life "coincidence" in the sense of "luck," or have I brought the message home enough that are you willing to consider coincidence as it exists in the mathematical world (this is something I learned from Dr. Wayne Dyer) - a perfect union of angles and segments?

Very exciting. What really struck me about Frank was his story. Even before he was making it big, he was driving a van and feeding homeless people in his community. Now, he does one-on-one coaching. The investment is quite a bit (depending on where you are at in your walk of life) but then you find out this interesting fact - he doesn't earn a dime for coaching. 100% of the investment goes to a charitable fund that he has set up. And here I was, excited about my half marathon, and find out he is training for the 135 mile Death walk! WHEW! Go Frank!

I am happy to have earned my Master Mason degree, because now I can consider other organizations like the Scottish Rite and Shriners. This is one way I feel I will be able to contribute and give back, although the stories from people like Frank really has me stopping for a moment and contemplating ... "Am I really doing enough? Or am I being selfish and using excuses not to contribute what I could?" I think I have been falling short. I have a done a few things in my own way, but now I realize there is more to do and it is up to me to do it.

Okay, that is enough of an update for now. For those of you who read this, you know me quite well as this is a very "open" journal. We deserve to meet and shake hands and learn from each other. That is why I do hope you will join me this June at the Become Your Best Coaching Workshop. Remember, too, that the more people you invite, the less your own ticket will cost, because I discount all tickets that you buy after the first one.

Take care and blessed be,

Jeremy Likness

LOL.

Not quite. I'm not quite brave enough to tackle the full marathon, so I will be running a half marathon on June 4th. Gives me just a few weeks to train.

It was actually over the weekend when I was completing my degree for Master Mason that I was in a conversation with someone else. We talked about fitness and running, and I joked that there was no way I had time to train for the run this year. He looked at me, and said, "Sure you do." I paused for a moment, thought about it, and decided, sure, why not? So I signed up today and will have my bib number soon. I even have the tracking deal going on to transmit times. Should be a lot of fun.

So now I have about seven weeks to train for the longest run I've ever done. I think eight (8) miles is the most I've done in the past. Whew, this is going to be fun!

Tomorrow, I kick it off with a bit of the ole "cross training" and just do 30 minutes on the bike. Tuesday, we'll see what I'm made of when I get up early to run a few miles.

Doreen and I decided it was time to take things to the next level with coaching and sharing health and wellness, so we are putting together a seminar. It will happen in June and will more than likely happen at the Spearfish Holiday Inn. We've done some other events there and they have great facilities, big rooms, and an ideal location. So, we'll see. I'm planning it to be a two day event, probably 6 - 8 hours each day with a catered lunch and snacks (yes, healthy style). It will be a comprehensive workshop ... we'll cover the topics I have as curriculum for my 12-week transformation package, such as goal-setting, changing habits, affirmations, law of attraction, nutrition, training, cardio, you name it. It will be very powerful. I'll create a CD set from it and probably either make that a standalone set or have it as part of the transformation package.

I'm excited about it. Another exciting event will happen May 17th, when I launch a two day promotion for the 5-CD set. It is selling for the same price, but I'm working with fitness and personal development partners to create a tremendous amount of bonus downloads available to anyone who purchases during the bonus period. So far I have contributions from Joe Vitale, author of the best-selling Attractor Factor, contributions from my own awesome coach and mentor, Jeffrey Combs of Golden Mastermind, an interview with a bodybuilding great by "Former Fat Guy" Rob Cooper, and much more to come. It will be a great time and a true win-win as I know my customers will receive tremendous value not just from the CD set, but the downloads they receive as well.

I finally received my merchant account. I was using third-party companies like 2Checkout.com. The disadvantage, aside from higher fees than normal, was that I couldn't take orders over the phone, fax, or mail-in. This meant I had to keep invoicing for clients signing up for coaching packages, instead of being able to run the transaction right there. As I host more seminars and travel to more events, being able to process sales in the back of the room will also become more important. This account will allow me to do that.

Not much else to report. I've completely reconstructed my life. I was listening to Jim Rohn speak today and he mentioned that most people say, "What I am going to do today?" and it's already too late .. you should know what you will be doing tomorrow, today. Better yet, know your week. Know your year. Know your future.

I've been more in flow and reading synchronicity in my life. I'll keep writing about small examples as they jump out at me - like Dr. Wayne Dyer on a DVD I rented speaking of how Thoreau asks us to move confidently in the direction of our dreams. Of all of the quotes in the world, this is the exact quote on my favorite coffee mug that a good friend gave to me as a gift after visiting with us for a few days.

What's tomorrow look like?

I recently had a friend ask how I find the time to do what I do. It's simple - I plan it ahead of time and learn more about what I can do, when, and what moves me forward and what keeps me standing still or moving backwards. Here is what the day looks like to move forward:

5:30 am - wake up, meditate and do my affirmations
6:00 am - exercise
7:00 am - help wake my daughter up, fix her breakfast, spend time with her before she starts tutoring
8:00 am - coaching call
8:30 am - coaching call
9:00 am - check a few e-mails and respond to coaching client e-mails
9:30 am - coaching call
10:00 am - 11:00 am - go through e-mails, respond to coaching client e-mails
11:00 am - 12:00 pm - respond to inquiries about my network marketing business
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm - lunch and relax, refocus on the rest of the day
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm - call Natural Physiques customers (those who purchased product, requested free assessments, and/or were kind enough to share their phone number when they signed up for the e-Zine)
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm - do my homework for the Multi-level Marketing University that I joined ("business school")
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - another opportunity to respond to e-mails, post to forums, do some writing, etc. Tomorrow, I'll be walking down to pick my daughter up from school
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - more calls for Natural Physiques
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - call back those who are interested in the network marketing business
6:00 pm - 6:15 pm - "leaders call" (leaders in the NWM organization)
6:15 pm - 7:15 pm - live call for my MLM university
7:15 pm - dinner and relax for 15 minutes
7:45 pm - 9:00 pm - clear e-mails, write, prepare my schedule for the following day
9:00 pm - relax, spend time with my wife, go to sleep

Trust me ... Mondays are the busy days, the start of the week always has a lot of kick-starting involved to build that momentum. Once it gets going, this entrepreneurial ship is a pleasure to sail through the week!

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness

Actually,

I'm not going to share the secret here. I was just testing the headline. Did you enjoy it?

It appears that synchronicity lives even with my grandparents. My grandmother's brother has been a nutrition for decades, studying, specifically, chicken. Yes, he is a poultry nutritionist. He has been writing articles and giving lectures at seminars and even playing soccer ... at the tender young age of 84.

Recently, he was contacted by a woman on the Internet. She liked one of his articles, and wanted to publish it. He gave his permission and they entered into an agreement for him to contribute more writings.

My great-uncle lives in South Dakota and has a farm that he works on. He does, however, travel often. He was down in Arizona when he learned of a nutrition convention in the area, and decided to attend.

As he sat in the audience, he struck up a conversation with the individual sitting next to him.

It turned out to be the very woman he had met online.

Coincidence is for the birds.

We signed up for Netflix. Actually, we rejoined. I loaded my queue with movies I believe have a sort of "entrepreneurial" impact. Titles like What the bleep... and The Big Kahuna.

I also joined a new university. I'm back at school, after all. This time, it is the MLMU ... the multi-level marketing university. A year long course, with homework and everything.

Here is where it gets a bit synchronistic.

I mentioned earlier (even wrote to my list) how my good friend, client, and coach Dr. Joe Vitale released his awesome new book, the Attractor Factor. When I began network marketing, my mentor suggested I read several books. One of those was Spiritual Marketing, by Joe Vitale. It was impactful. To make a short story boring, I picked up the Attractor Factor and read it cover to cover in one night (I traded sleep for personal development). When I joined the MLMU, my preliminary coach suggested three books for me to read.

One of them was the Attractor Factor. I had to grin and laugh, and share that I just closed the cover on the last page.

When I went to my very first network marketing seminar, I met a gentleman by the name of John DiLemme. John is a former seven-figure income earner in network marketing. He was also a stutterer for years and is now an international motivational speaker. My mentor in the company hired one Jeffrey Combs to share with us his information on our international team call. Jeffrey struck a chord with me when he talked about how many people use their full time job as an excuse to not get involved with their part time business, so I promptly fired my boss! He referred to it as "jumping from the cliff, and figuring out how to make the parachute on the way down." That's what I've been doing. :)

So if this is not synchronistic enough for you, both Jeffrey and John DiLemme were together at an event - More Heart than Talent it was called, and was hosted by Jeffrey. At that event, I met Mark Victor Hansen — perhaps one of the greatest marketers on the face of the planet, because who else managed to create an entire section in the bookstores using their brand name? That is awesome, and he has energy (hey, my grandfather saw him speak years ago in Sioux Falls, go figure, we're all connected, right?)

More importantly, however, I felt a connection with Mr. Combs and joined his program, Breakthroughs to Success. Part of the program is hosted by Frederic Lehrman, who is a prosperity coach and someone who thinks in a higher dimension than most. I guess the best way for me to describe it is like Monty Python meets 2001: A Space Odyssey and then gives a serious lecture on prosperity. Frederic refers to an obscure book by Carlos Cansteneda, called the Active Side of Infinity ... an exploration of tapping into the "Source" to get things done. In other words, "Let go, and let God."

So, remember how I mentioned my MLMU coach suggested three books? Well, the second book was one I was familiar with. As my CD set is being examined for its feasibility to be offered through an online shopping network, I was watching it to see how other authors/CD vendors did their shows. One Dr. Wayne W. Dyer appeared to promote the Power of Intention. This was something I watched a few days ago and became curious about ordering, and lo and behold, it ended up as #2 on my book list. I purchased it yesterday and was surprised to see Carlos jump out again very early in the book.

I could go on and on, but so many people spend time and energy blaming events on chance. Is this really the case? Or can we become aware of the connections in our lives, and realize it is the universe tapping us on the head shouting, "WAKE UP! HERE IS THE SIGN?"

How about this one ...

I completed a few "challenges" and placed in the former EAS Body-for-LIFE competition (Top 2000, seems like a lot but when you read they claim 750,000 applications were turned in, turns out to be quite an honor indeed). I wrote before how I attended a charity event in Evansville, Indiana, met about 30 complete strangers of whom almost 1/3rd ended up being Top 2000 Finishers. In fact, my most recent clients are a couple from Texas that I met through a Jeffrey Combs event. The woman is a huge fan of Artemis Limpert, a former BFL Champion (year 2000). Oh, wait, the woman herself is ... a Top 2000 Finisher.

Rewinding, however, when I was living in Atlanta, I met a man by the name of Bob Doyle. He interviewed me for Bodychangers.com (twice, in fact). We got really excited about fitness and decided we wanted to leave our day jobs. We first approached the idea of creating a company together, then found we had some different views on how it would function and where we would go (hey, we did hand over a business plan to Porter Freeman ... haven't heard back from Porter, but I don't blame him, I shudder to think of what that business plan looked like). We kept in touch, and he finally left his full time job and started his own company and then I did and I moved. We had lunch and he talked about some of his online strategies, and that was a strong core to what Natural Physiques has become.

So, here I am, back at the Attractor Factor, thumbing through, when who should I see? Bob Doyle, author of Wealth Beyond Reason ... mentioned by Joe for his testimonial and suggested as a resource for manifesting money in the back of the book. There are how many millions of authors and people in this world? Of course, it is all connected.

It's just like what happened with my own network marketing business. I joined a company I had never heard of before by learning about it from someone who lives in Australia and who I met at a seminar in Canada. One of the members of the medical advisory board, Dr. Ray Strand, had a book out that I bought. I took it to my mother and showed it to her, and she flipped it over, looked at the picture, and was amazed ... it turns out that Dr. Ray Strand was her physician. He delivered me when I was born.

When I went to our international seminar, I sought him out and shared my story. We chatted. I would have liked to talk more, but it was a busy event and he was hosting classes, signing books, and sharing his knowledge. So we parted ways. However, the universe apparently knew the conversation wasn't over, so God arranged for us to be seated next to each other on the same flight on our way back home to South Dakota. Convenient, no? It was a completely booked flight and believe it or not, hundreds of people DO fly into South Dakota.

Have you heard of the movie that talks about this strange way energy attracts ... What the Bleep ...? One of the first teleconference calls that I was a guest on, hosted by friend Joe Kasper, who actually visited my site, suggested a friend look at it ... then that friend of Joe's went to a seminar ... that my wife was at, and she was wearing a Natural Physiques shirt, so he said .. WOW I was just at that site, is that really your husband? So he suggested I contact Joe, I ended up on Joe's call, and that first call I listened to before coming on as a guest featured a woman who played a major role in the movie.

Interesting, huh?

I'm going to close this out before it gets any stranger. I imagine at this point you either ...

1. Don't believe a word I am saying, or
2. Trust me but feel these are all explainable coincidences, or
3. Either are starting to really think about synchronicity and the signals in your life and whether you notice coincidences or create them. Perhaps you already live by the power of tapping into this.

What the $#$%#$% do we really know, anyway?

Which one of you reading this deserves to spend a half hour with me each week as I work with you to transform your life? I have a few slots available for my coaching package. This is the cadillac of packages. I have a few people I am working closely with and look forward to share their testimonials, but I know I will be raising my rates soon simply due to the demand. For some reason I feel a stronger responsiveness from my loyal blog readers, so I feel you deserve for me to share that this is the time to get started before the investment goes up.

Okay, now I'm really going to conclude this blog. I am going to put on my nighttime skin care regimen, share tea and listen to some personal development material with my wife, then do 15 minutes of bible study before meditating and going to sleep.

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness

It turns out our daughter came down with a virus.

We noticed she had a rash on her arms and legs. It wasn't raised and didn't itch her, and it would fade, so we didn't concern ourselves too much. It came and went for several days. After about 5 days, however, it came on fairly strong. We decided to take her into the doctor, and while there, she had a light temperature (99 degrees). The doctor said she had a virus that could stay with her for 10 days. Turns out this particular virus is usually associated with extremely high fever - in fact, most children break out in the rash after the fever. Of course, it could be luck, but we believe it is due to her healthy eating and taking a quality multivitamin (that is just our opinion, not a factor or recommendations). She takes the chewy pharmaceutical grade children's multivitamin from the company that I partner with.

The weather was lovely this weekend, so we went to a local lake. Ironically, despite the 70 degree weather, half the lake was frozen over. We had a very lovely picnic with cheese and summer sausage. My daughter had fun splashing around. She ran quickly into the water and fell, and then wasn't too happy (it was REALLY cold). So we wrapped up and headed home and relaxed the rest of the weekend. We didn't take her to church because the doctor indicated she would be contagious.

On Monday, she still had a bit of the rash, so she slept in. Late. Really late! But she needed it and is now doing fantastic.

This morning, I ordered a copy of the Attractor Factor by my friend and client Dr. Joe "Mr. Fire" Vitale. What an awesome book, I can't wait to receive it ... I read the original version when it was published as Spiritual Marketing and it completely transformed my life. If you haven't caught the buzz, go out and grab yourself a copy — you deserve it. That is not an affiliate link and I don't make a dime. Last time I checked, he was #2 at Amazon.com, with #1 being a popular children's book about witchcraft ... shouldn't we get personal development up to that #1 slot?

What else has been going on? I've been connecting with a lot of people interested in this "network marketing thing." LOL. Just received a new CD from John DiLemme called"6 Reasons Why Network Marketing is For You" and love it so far. It is a great tool to explain the way the business works and why it works (most of the people who say it doesn't work never tried it, and most of the people I know who tried it and failed expected to get rich quick and didn't invest the time necessary to succeed). That's not to say it is for everyone - it definitely is not for everyone, which is what I spend a good deal of time doing (interviewing people to find out if this is really something for them).

The editing on my book is slower than it should be, and it's time to set a deadline. I will be forming my publishing company (really just a division of Golden Summit) and have my ISBN numbers soon. The CD and book will receive this. I will have it listed at Amazon in print before long, but that is just the beginning - it's one thing to have it available, quite another to help people realize it's there and actually go to purchase a copy (this mysterious discipline I've learned over the past year called marketing).

I recorded a new audio today. You can listen to me read an excerpt from Lose Fat, Not Faith - the entire introductory chapter. It's posted online and also available with the podcast for download. You may have noticed I took down the call in number and PIN. I won't be hosting the live teleseminars, as everyone dropped off to listen to the podcast. That is perfectly fine, because now I can record them with higher quality and also record when I have fresh ideas that will transfer well. I will begin working on another CD set eventually ... I feel it may be a reading of the book once the final editing takes place.

Other than that, I am simply building the business, finding quality articles to publish, getting ready to write this month's newsletter, and connecting with people. It's going to be an awesome year. Thank you all for being a part of this.

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness

Do you believe it happens for a reason? That events are connected?

I do. My life has changed dramatically since I stopped seeing events as luck or chance, and instead have learned to see opportunities and read the signs and go based on my heart and my gut rather than feel the world is against me.

Take, for instance, the circle my wife and I created. After my success as a student of Mike Litman, my wife and I decided he would be a great source of a referral for her to have her own coach for real estate. So, we asked him for a referral. He suggested a man named Scott, and after Scott's coaching, my wife has literally watched her business explode. She was sharing a testimonial with Scott, which he forwarded onto one of his other students.

The student replied and told him ... wow! Then went on to share something interesting. The student explained how we were all connected. He had been listening to my coaching programs, even participated on the calls, and picked up my Become the Journey CD (the first in my 5-CD set). He listened to the CD and received value from it. Then, one day, browsing my site or reading my Lose Fat, Not Faith e-Zine, I'm not certain which, he came across my recommendation for Mike's product. Mike has a free CD called Greatness Held Hostage that I recommend whole-heartedly to anyone ready to make a major difference. When I shared this with the list, it was a great example of how people receive value into their lives ... many people unsubscribed, a few sent me hate mail ... and then I began receiving the flood of e-mails thanking me for sharing this powerful resource.

I always love sharing offers like that with my list. It allows the cynics and skeptics a chance to unsubscribe, so that whoever is left are people willing to receive value. It doesn't mean everyone tries it out - plenty decide it's not for them and simply decline. You can tell the people who are broke and are not willing to make a change in their lives, however, because instead of just deleting the e-mail or unsubscribing, they give up control, get angry, and spend time typing up negative e-mails. If they spent half that energy focusing on abundance instead of complaining out of lack, imagine where they'd be!

This student bought that CD and to make a short story boring ... hired Scott as a coach. So, we are all connected ... my coach to my wife's coach to the student who was actually a student of mine in a sense! Mike recently released another package, Unleash Your Greatness, which is aptly named because it helped me do this with my own business.

I must admit this was quite a week for me. I haven't focused so much on being productive rather than just active (i.e. doing busy work) in a long time. At the end of the week, I felt a little drawn out. I was even feeling a bit frustrated. It was then that I decided I deserved a break and watched a favorite movie of mine, The Gladiator, and it helped put things in perspective for me.

The movie is really about something larger than life ... a vision. An era. It takes a historical story but tells a modern tale ... because it is about being a part of something inspirational. And that really drew it all into focus for me. Weeks like this are awesome. I spent the week building, calling, connecting, coaching, growing, learning, teaching, and doing so many things. I was too focused on what the result at the end of the week would be, instead of on the important aspect ... the seeds that I am planting. Seeds that are bigger than I am. As long as I do this selfishly, wondering what's in it for me, then I will receive something small because I can only hold so much. When I tap into the vision of something greater, when I do it not just for me, but for the lives I can change and the people I can reach, then suddenly I am lifted to a new level because while I can only hold so much, the vision and the inspiration are larger than me and they can hold a lifetime, many times over!

It is very powerful. I have visions of creating change ... starting out with just one person or couple at a time; giving them freedom when they thought they had none by assisting them with overcoming their struggles with health and weight. Eventually, however, this can impact one person, then another, then another, and ultimately "pay it forward" to ripple into many people's lives.

And that's what REALLY keeps me going. The fact that I can be a part of something larger, that it's not just about Jeremy and Jeremy's company, but instead the impact we can have and the positive changes we can help create.

Exciting! Motivating and inspirational.

I could not have this passion working for someone else ... I have to be free to build upon my own creative energy in order to get closer to that dream, that goal to be prosperous and give out of abundance. It is very exciting and I look forward to the projects we will take on and the lives we will change.

The end of the movie brought me to a place that I don't visit often. This is probably what inspired me to come write this ... I had been tired and was set on just going to sleep, but I felt some strong emotions that I had to release first. At the end of the movie, and this is a spoiler in case you haven't seen it, so don't read this if you don't want to know the ending ...

... but at the end, there is a powerful scene. In the context of the movie, something great has happened, something greater than the main character, something that would change the majority of the world and not just those standing around him. However, the focus draws into to this great man and what he has done. A senator steps forward and asks who will help him carry the body.

This is where it really grabs me.

Part of what helped move me into action ... part of the "click" or "trigger" that prompted me to make a radical change in my life ... had to do with honor and carrying that body. I wrote about this in Lose Fat, Not Faith, and will share it here.

When I was at an all time low ... when I was one of those people with a lack mentality, who was cyncical, skeptical, and always focused on the negative — who blamed the world for everything — I made a major change in my life by deciding to up the drugs, cigarette smoking, and other addictions. I was with the wrong crowd and though I do not know where the courage came from, I decided that my friends were not helping me move forward so I would have to leave them behind. I did this not just figuratively, but literally, by moving to Atlanta.

At the time, I thought it was irony, luck, or chance, but now I know it was synchronicity. When my boss left the company that I was working for at the time, the head of the telecommunications department stepped in as interim boss. I was really young at the time, but he was one of the few people who really saw my potential and chose to help bring out my assets and skills. He fought for me to have a raise and get paid more what I was worth rather than the laughable salary they gave me due to lack of experience and lack of a degree. He also spent time mentoring and coaching me. The twist of fate, as some would call it, or synchronistic event, was that he left the company before I did, and ended up in Atlanta working for the major airline there ... while I ended up moving there for a company that specialized in online systems for tracking in-home healthcare.

When I moved to Atlanta, I did not know a soul ... except Brian. Brian welcomed me into his home, gave me a place to stay when I'd drive up to Atlanta from St. Petersburg to go house hunting, and even tried to take me into places and introduce me to people to help me get into the "dating scene." (That's an entirely different story ... let's just say I was called words like geek and nerd as a child and did not exactly have the social skills to go out and meet people ... fortunately, I met my wife the first week I was there and was saved from having to brave the "dating scene"). When my wife and I were married, it was in Brian's back yard, as we had become close friends by that time.

The Lord took Brian out of my life and that is not something I will be selfish about because he also left his wife and most importantly, his children behind. I won't share the details because they are not important ... I delayed in getting to him to see him, and when I finally visited, he was asleep. He chose that moment while I was waiting for him to "wake up" to instead move on.

I received the honor of carrying him to his final resting place. Before that day, I did not know much about honor or respect. I was more concerned with vanity and wrapped in too much ego to pay respect to others. That was a lesson for me. I cannot tell you how humble it was to carry the weight of my close friend to that place where we hold onto the remnants of what is earthly as we know the spirit has moved on.

This is so powerful for me because it was his memory and that humbling experience that gave me the drive to lose 65 pounds and transform my life. When I was struggling to jog up a hill or finish a workout, and almost gave up, it was Brian who helped me finish ... I couldn't give up with my friend watching over me. Ultimately, it was that experience that led me to begin a relationship with Christ and become baptized with my children.

Aside from that scene, there was a gift he gave me that is an amazing gift. Not just the encouragement and the ability to overcome adversity and get through the pain of transforming my beliefs and growing up from being a scared and hateful kid to a loving and forgiving father ... but something more simple than that.

You see, when I was living in a 10' x 12' garage apartment, barely making rent, and constantly deciding between food or cigarettes at the local convenience store (the one that would tear open the boxes and sell individual cigarettes for those of us who could barely scrape together a few quarters) ... Brian was a father to me. I didn't even realize this until now, writing this. It wasn't that my stepfather wasn't there for me, but that I had rejected him and pushed him away.

So it was Brian who I went to one day when I had to wear a tie, and had no clue how to tie it. Brian patiently worked with me. I asked him because I remember others at my company always commented on how well dressed he was, and how he had great taste with ties. He taught me how to tie a double-windsor with a perfect traingle and a nice dimple down the middle.

Now, every time I wear a tie, I have this precious gift he gave me ... the memory of his love and how he cared for me.

What a powerful gift! Thank you, Brian. Tonight, as I watched the ending of the movie, I remember honoring you ... and that was one of the greatest honors of my life.

And it made me stop to think, and realize ... here I was earlier, frustrated about this, that, or the other, instead of praising God for my gifts! Whether it was the times he took care of me and what he taught me of respect, or the gift I received of being able to forgive and stop rejecting my stepfather and bring his love back into my life, or meeting my wife and gaining an incredible son who has taught me so much about being a father, or the gift of our love that laughs and hugs me every morning and has the name of a flower that is echoed in the movie ... we named our daughter Alyssa after the flower, and in the movie you hear him speak of running through the fields of Elysia, the Roman concept of an afterlife filled with flowers of the same name.

Isn't it great writing late at night ... I can ramble more, get more poetic and emotional, maybe tap into a little more of the marrow of who I am.

Thanks for reading this, I appreciate you.

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness