Newsletter: Together, We Will Change The World
Your “Bar Stool” Story
At what point in your life is it exactly as you expected? Does this really ever happen? If you asked yourself 5 or 10 years ago, if you pictured yourself where you are today. . . would you have been right?
Now for some, and yes I fall victim to this as well, look at this question in a negative light. You are NO WHERE near what you expected. Your life at some point, took the left turn, instead of the “right”. You pictured yourself more successful, better job, living in a bigger house, married, children, healthier, fitter, or better educated. At what point in life do you prove yourself “right”. You are going “exactly” to plan, you go down the right path, you accomplish everything “according to plan”.
Well, I know some people that do have “plans” and they do a wonderful job sticking to them. “I will be married by the time I am 27” etc. Funny part is, the individuals I know that have specific plans, from my perspective are not that happy.
Life does take unexpected turns. New people come in your life and people unexpectedly leave. Some you may fall in love with and others, will fall out of love with you. Heart break will tear down your walls and others won’t even let you through theirs. Success will knock on your door and you’ll forget to answer. An extra heart beat may sound in a womb of a new mother and you may become an unexpected father.
We know, or have become, any of the above.
I can honestly say in 2004 when I moved to Los Angeles I thought my life would be in a totally different world than it is. I don’t for one second regret it (especially after traveling to Kenya), but is it different? Night and day. At times, this causes me to be negative. Feel like I need to work harder to get back on track, please more people, or to make a bigger difference.
Yet, it is the challenges that come into our life – it’s the adversity that we unexpectedly face that make LIFE a great story. Movies have their bit of unexpected twists and turns. AND IT MAKES THE STORY GREAT!
So when you are mentally in your downward “dumps”. . . what gets me positive?
I think of every moment as a “Bar Stool” moment. As if 10 / 20 / or even 40 years from now I will be telling this story on a bar stool. And the story I am writing with my life right now, will gather the attention of everyone. It will chill their skin, place smiles on their faces, and even at times, cause tears to roll down their cheeks.
One great example is a famous band called the Eagles. They said, ““Just for the record, we never broke up. We just took a fourtee year vacation.” Now, 40 years later they talk about how they broke up, lived separate lives and got back together.
Everyday children are reuniting with their birth parents, rekindling old lost relationships, finding old friends, and igniting the drive to reach their true potential. Truth be told, nobody has a plan. . . just a history. Your history is written every day. And as you sit down on your bar stool decades from now, your life will not be where you thought it would. . . but if you seize every breathe and every moment. . . it will be even better. I promise!
To Your Bar Stool Moment,
Brian Williams
Be Insignificant
“No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves.”
– Dwight Eisenhower
EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW THIS:
***You always go through a period of insignificance
before you become significant.***
97% of the world quits what they’re doing during the
‘insignificance’ phase.
Rachel Ray did her TV show for years and nobody watched.
Billy Joel played in bars for a handful of people.
Many people tell me, “Brian I want to achieve great things!” But here is my question: “Are they willing to be insignificant before they become significant?”
Truth be told, I am pursuing a career based on insignificants. I am working to inspire thousands to do small, and seemingly “insignificant” acts of kindness. These small “insignificant” acts of kindness when added up together will make one massive SIGNIFICANT difference. For example, a old used pair of shoes that are no insignificant to you. . . what are they to a child that has never owned a pair of shoes? I believe you know the answer.
Have I failed thus far in pursuit? Yes. . . but I fail forward. And I try to do it as fast as possible. I take one step at a time.
With the power of your mind, in the land of opportunity, there’s never been a better time to take something you love and turn it into something significant. Whether it be a personal goal, volunteer project or business. You are MORE powerful than you know!
Are you ready to be significantly insignificant and fail forward. AWESOME !
READY GO!
Coffee For Reno Soldiers
Hello Everyone,
As many of you have been watching on the news, the topic of discussion right now is Afghanistan. I am sure many of us have several connections to the war. Some of know someone who has fought, is fighting, or has even lost their life. During the holiday season, it is hard for anyone to be away from their family. But its even harder knowing that you still have the chance of never seeing them again.
For me, my uncle is fighting the war in Afghanistan. He has his wife Kellee, 3 children, and 7 brothers and sisters awaiting his return.
Yet, when most of my family compare me to one of my relatives. . . its him. Always finding unique ways to do good. . .but go against the grain at the same time. So I was talking to him on skype and we cooked up a cool idea.
Currently their is over 40,000 Soldiers stationed at his base in Afghanistan. Thousands of which are from the Reno area. Coffee seems to be the hot commodity that just “disappears” among the barracks. So, we want to “hook our brothers and sisters in arms” up with some Java! We are going to be sending out coffee directly to the base and my uncle is going to personally distribute it among the Reno Soldiers!! We will have pictures to come!
So please visit the website and make a donation or drop a bag of coffee off at any of our drop sites.
With Kindness,
Brian Williams
Soles4Souls Partners With Think Kindness
Soles4Souls®, one of America’s top charitable non-profits, has joined forces with Think Kindness to make an even bigger difference. Soles4Souls® is an organization that aims to put shoes on every needy child and family around the globe. To date, they have donated over 5.5 million pairs of shoes. . . that’s one pair every 9 seconds!
“Soles4Souls has made a massive difference in our world. They have touched the lives of millions and by joining forces this number will only increase,” says Brian Williams, Think Kindness President.
Starting in October 2009 Soles4Souls® will present elementary and high school programs in more than 50 schools across the United States. The goal is simple, “We want to inspire and teach youth across the nation how they too can make a difference, even with something as simple as a used pair of shoes,” says Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls®.
‘Mission: Think Kindness’ is the name of the new elementary school program that will be traveling across the country. Each program will open up with an action packed musical martial arts performance by Brian Williams, with high flying kicks, back flips, and an enormous brick breaking routine. At the end of the speech Brian will educate children on how ‘Kindness is the Ultimate Form of Self-Defense.’
“However, I don’t want to just talk the talk, I want students to walk it! So I give them a challenge,” Williams says. Each school is challenged to document 5,000 acts of kindness in a two week period, with schools competing against each other all over the country to see who can document more acts. To date, the ‘Mission: Think Kindness’ program will be visiting over 50 schools from Maryland to Southern California. Each one battling to see who will receive the title of the nation’s ‘Kindest School.’ They are given all the materials needed to help launch a successful program, including posters, banners, morning announcement CD’s, teacher packets, and kindness related discussion topics.
Each school will also host a used shoe drive and the ‘Giving Soles4Souls’ program. ‘Giving Soles4Souls’ is a challenge that asks students to donate two used pairs of shoes to a child in need. The goal is to collect over 800 pairs of shoes per school!
This program comes at no-cost to schools who participate. The only requirement for booking the program is a three school minimum participation rate in the city within a five day period.
For more information on the Mission: Think Kindness program or to sign your school up, please email: Info@ThinkKindness.org
Annapolis MD Raises The Bar For Kindness
This November Brian Williams went to speak at several school in Annapolis Maryland. The goal was simple, to inspire thousands of students to make a massive difference in the world. Mr. Joe Van Deuren, a 2nd degree black belt and owner of Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts, helped organize Brian’s stay while he was touring their city.
“The response was incredible.” Says Brian.
Arriving on a Sunday, he was asked to be on the Baltimore Fox 17 news that next morning at 8:00 am to talk about the Soles4Souls challenge within the city. “Immediately after I did the news cast we had to make a 45 minute trip take 30 in order to get to a school on time. . . we did it!” Says Brian.
He spoke to several elementary schools in the area. Challenging each one to document 5,000 acts of kindness and to collect as many shoes as possible. “However, we gave the 5th graders a special mission – to see how many people they could get to text message the letters “AOK” to 20222. Each text will make a $5 donation, which allows Soles4Souls to give away 2 brand new pairs of shoes.”
The next stop was South River HS. “I first arrived to the school a day early to meet with the student council and leadership team. Unfortunately to my surprise, the school did not approve a “full” assembly. . . but voluntary only. There were only 200 people signed up to attend. However, after talking with a couple classes – with no intention in mind – the principal called the classroom I was in and asked to see me. “oh no” I thought. He said, “I just had 4 of the most respected students come down and beg me to help promote this assembly. . . they said you were amazing. I have never seen them so jazzed about something in 3 years – what did you tell them?”. . . Ha - Well, low and behold we had over 1200 people arrive to the assembly the following day”
After ten days in Maryland, Brian sparked a wave of kindness that is still skating through the city. South River HS has put out a challenge to collect 2,300 shoes in 23 days. Key School is running unique challenge throughout the month of December. Balanced Life Skills is doing 4,000 shoes in 40 days. And the Rotary club is running a challenge in the month of January 2010.
By the end of January, the city of Annapolis will have made a MASSIVE difference in the world and will have raised the bar for the rest of the country. Stay tuned!!!
How To Help Haiti
It’s been 3 days after the earth quakes in Haiti and I received a skype call from a paratrooper based out of Reno Nevada. His expression on his face was pale, ghost like. “The moment I landed a father was holding his 6 year old son who past away in his arms. The father’s leg was broken in several places. He couldn’t walk to get help. The rest of his family didn’t make it out of their home. Brian, . . . “ His voice started to tremble and he looked down not finding the sentence.
This is a time when humanity fights for humanity. We support one another in times of need. We are very fortunate to be watching the news come through our flat screen TV’s sipping on our morning coffee or late night tea. However, all of us find ourselves pondering the question, “how can I help?”
As I heard the news on the 13th, I headed to the Soles4Souls headquarters in Nashville TN. As I walked in, it was running like a well oiled machine. . . a loud oiled machine. The team was focused doing what they do best. . . helping people. Everyone was in the office, phones ringing every second, the halls flustered with the rushing movement of staff, and did I mention the phones were ringing non-stop.
Soles4Souls originally made a commitment to send over 100,000 shoes to the victims in Haiti. After the news casts reported more tragedy, more shoe industry sponsors called in, more people wanting to help – this commitment increased to over 300,000 shoes. Within 72 hours we had cargo containers full of shoes, blankets, food, medical supplies, and water.
Yet, the question still remains for many, “How can I help?”
As cliché as this is. . . donate money. We need to support the organizations that are already on the ground making a difference. If you want to help right now – text “AOK” to 20222. This will make a $5.00 donation to Soles4Souls and help aid them in getting more shoes and supplies to Haiti.
This is going to require a sustained effort from all of us throughout the coming years. Please, mark this as your commitment for 2010 and heck, even 2011. There is going to be a need for a massive amount of help and support. Do your part.
Annapolis School Collects Over 1,800 Shoes
Think Kindness invaded 3 schools in Annapolis Maryland during the month of November. Throughout the December shoes were being donated, tallied, and counted. Hundreds got involved, cleaned out their closets and donated over 1,800 shoes for those in need! However, Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts took it one step further.
Joe Van Durren, owner of Balance Life Skills, started a non-profit organization called, “Grants For Teachers”. The average school teacher spends over $500 a year of their own money on needed classroom supplies. The Grants For Teachers program awards grants to teachers in the Annapolis area. They decided to hold a Soles4Souls fundraiser collecting money to help local teachers and at the same time, placing new shoes on the feet of children in need.
Within a 23 day period, they collected over $3,000. They have taken the kindness challenge to whole new heights and have set the bar for the next martial arts school! Vista California your next. . . so be ready!
A Lesson I Failed. . . Will Never Happen Again
At the beginning of 2009 I took a full load of classes at the University of Nevada. I worked 45 hours a week and started laying down the foundation for the Think Kindness organization. To be honest, it was the most stressful, busy, and yet successful year of my life. I spoke to over 15,000 students, filmed a documentary, received several awards, and gathered thousands to make a difference – the site of which was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
However, right now – I am reflecting and I can only think of one thing. A freaking exam I failed! For as busy as I was, I have no idea how I did so well in school. But there was one test that had a curveball of a question.
The test was on employee management. It only covered one chapter. It was a short chapter – I studied in less than 45 minutes. And the funny thing is, I could have had this chapter memorized word for word, and I still would have failed.
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the classroom as we leave?” It was a night class. Once a week – the same women always stood outside the door waiting for us. Always holding the side door open. A garbage can on wheels within reach.
Surely this was a joke.
I left the question blank.
Before the class ended, one student asked, “Does the last question count towards our grade?” “Absolutely. . . 50% of it.” he responded.
“In your careers you are going to meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.”
I will NEVER forget this lesson.
I also learned that her name was Carinna and she has two sons. They’re twins.
Manitowoc – 27,000+ Acts of Kindness and 2,000 Shoes!
The results from Manitowoc WI are in and AMAZING! Yes in two weeks the entire city did over 27,000 acts of kindness and collected over 2,000 shoes! This was the first city of the nation wide tour and the were the official “Kick off” of the whole 2009/2010 Kindness Tour.
Special thanks to Mark Weber of Lakeshore Tae Kwon Do and all of his students for helping facilitate this event, sort the shoes and count the acts of kindness.
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