Over the past few weeks its been real trying for me, both with an increased workload and longer hours at the office as well as handling of a newborn son (mine and my wife’s first).  Add into the mix my desire to move into the next phase of my life as far as a different career goes and it can be downright overwhelming at times.

I admit to going into the session without a real understanding of what I can expect a life coach to do for me, or why I even needed it.  However, thirty minutes later and I have newfound respect for those that pursue that career path.  I had done some of my homework and I know what I want to do over the next two years, but whether it was reasonable, or even able to be done in the timeframe I was picturing was still uncertain to me.

Not anymore.  The two year plan I have is full steam ahead and I’m looking forward to the gradual transition of things.  She was able to convince me that I’m right in what I am trying to do and I’m running with it.

It has always been a thought of mine, watching sunrises and sunsets, quiet time, loving your life, both socially and career path, laughing every day, being spontaneous, able to up and leave on a whim, reading, having adventures and the every so often adrenaline rush.  Fun times.  Life doesn’t afford everyone those opportunities though.  Or does it?

Sunrises are not meant to be viewed by only one person.

In talking with her and reading her book again, it’s more and more obvious things are easily accomplished with the right mindset and a little work ethic.  Nothing in life is free unfortunately, but even that is minor if you are actually enjoying what your doing.

Schedules can help us accomplish things but it also limits us, keeping us tied to a strict regimene, I mean, how many times do we actually put “call wife and say hello” on our calendar?  It’s something we plan on doing but doesn’t get done as often as if it were actually on a schedule.

I want to be schedule free.

Lucious Living, as Shann puts it, is exactly that.

Image by Health In Motion (http://healthinmotion.wordpress.com/)

E-book Review: “Reclaim Your Dreams: A Uncommon Guide To Living On Your Own Terms” by Jonathan Mead

As a new blogger, it was with great excitement I received in one day two seperate opportunities to review e-books for the first time.  The first one that came in via email was Jonathan Mead’s Reclaim Your Dreams, so I spent the last hour absorbing all 85 pages of it.

Most self-help books/e-books start the same way, they hype themselves up to what you can expect to change in your life, tell you how the outcome should be, then give you overrated and, for the most part, unrealistic ways to solve them.  That is not to say the way described is not possible and doesn’t work, quite contrary it probably does, *if* you followed it.  However most of us seeking help or looking for a change have already tried several methods and usually the most obvious ones at that and are really at a point in our lives where the usual just isn’t enough for us.  Blame it on willpower, confidence, or whatever, we just typically don’t follow through.  I have been one of those types for longer than I care to admit to anyone, including myself.

Jonathan’s book however is a welcome change to that and actually provides me hope on that what I am out trying to accomplish in my life right now is actually obtainable.

Divided into two parts totally eight chapters, it contains enough material and quotes that even a bullet list of key sentences would be enough to inspire you.

To me a key part that differentiates his book from others is he is not providing you a check-list of things you must do to obtain your goals.  Instead, he gets you to understand yourself better, to bring to light how you function and how you operate so that you can inevitably fulfill your goals in a way satisfactory to your preferred lifestyle, or way of being.  I say that just before I tell you that there are exercises for you to follow, but I think they are just that, exercises, they help you accomplish but aren’t what actually does the accomplishing, that is reserved to the change of attitude and mentality you hopefully adopt during the course of the book.

For me, there are definite ideas and exercises in the book that I have never fully brought to light in my own self, such as just what exactly are my dreams, what do I want to accomplish in my lifetime, and the dreaded line I’ve heard before but never gave the time of day until now, how do you want to be remembered when you die.  Just the idea of the “To Stop” list instead of a “To Do” list is completely new to me yet makes so much sense, why didn’t I think of it before?  The ‘Points To Meditate On’ make good endings to each chapter, giving you a time to reflect over what you have just read, rather than moving forward and possibly downplaying the importance of the previous chapter in itself.

A book like this has to be lengthy to some degree, I’ll give him that, so if your engulfing everything like I did, chapter one becomes a blur by the time you read chapter eight as so many ideas are brought to light, so this weekend I’ll definitely be spot-reading over chapters again as I try to implement the ideas in my own routine.  Every chapter had key phrases that clicked in my head that I look forward to reading again to solidify them in my mind.

For those needing a kick in the pants, this is definitely worth reading.  If nothing changes in your life afterwards, I can promise you it won’t be the books fault.

“Ditch the mainstream and embrace the unstream.”

Besides King Diamond, they have been one of my favorite groups to put out concept albums, they do it well, with 1988′s Operation: Mindcrime being their shining star, often compared and grouped in with such works as The Wall and Tommy.

I personally have seen Queensryche in concert on two occasions, one of which where they opened for Metallica, which still is one of my favorite concerts of all time.

If you were to ask me, starting with 1997′s Here In The Now Frontier and on through Operation: Mindcrime II, they have not been the same. Geoff Tate has always been one of my favorite singers ever, but the music wasn’t the same, and as a fan, it seemed like they didn’t put the feeling and emotion into it that they did when they were younger.

I do not speak for 2007′s Take Cover, as quite frankly, I haven’t heard it.

Fast forward two years to this years American Soldier.  When I heard it was another concept album, this time about war, World War II mostly, veterans, and the like, I admit to being somewhat excited.  I hoped they would deliver, both for who they were as a band, and being one of the few bands who, in my opinion, can deliver a concept album very well.

I was not disappointed.

I had the fortune that my birthday was near its release, and my sister managed to meet the band at a signing and scored me an autographed copy of the CD.

Can I say it’s as good as Operation: Mindcrime?  No.  But it’s damn close.  The special quest vocals, Geoff’s voice, the music and interview pieces, and even the lyrics are reflective of a matured style and production.  The 11th song of the album, Home Again, is one that is now on day two of repeat in my car CD player and just an amazing piece.  Tate admits to not writing about his own views this time around, but about other people’s stories, and it comes through nicely in the new tracks which is quite a change for Tate.  Only peaking in the 25th spot on the Billboard top 100 (for perspective, Operation: Mindcrime only peaked at the 50th spot), this album is still very much worth checking out.

“Welcome to the show!”