We were sitting on a patio in downtown Havana Cuba waiting for our mojitos to arrive. A cuban five piece band played. The air was filled with music, sunshine and the wide eyed wonderment of a thousand tourists.

It was hot. Not that we were complaining. Back home in toronto canada it was the deepend of winter. Average temps of -20 degrees Celsius with enough snow to throw out your back from shoveling the white fluffy stuff.

So as the cuban music played my fiance and I sat back soaking it all in. The sun, the breeze and the moment.

Life is all about the experiences we have. Those million little moments that make up life. Sharing them with people we love makes it all that much better.

Buddhists have an interesting take on life. And in the Tibetan tradition they remind themselves daily that they are lucky to have this day – that tomorrow may never come. With that type of awareness they pour themselves into the experience of the present. They infuse the moment with joy, helpfulness and the reminder to soak it all in. To not worry about the past and fret about the future.

It’s a mindset that we tap into a little easier when we’re on vacation. Everything’s new, fresh and exciting. But the minute we touch down in our hometowns we quickly slip back into our routines. Into the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

But we can bring the magic back into everything that we’re doing by touching the present fully with our awareness.

Like right now – I’m writing this post on my blackberry – sitting on the back porch while I sip my coffee. The sun is shining, there’s a cool easterly breeze blowing, the neighbors kids are chatting away next door, the birds are singing their spring songs, my fiancé is taking a long hot shower (one of her favorite things to do) before we head out to buy some balloons for our daughters tenth birthday party on Monday, and a big muscle car has just rolled down the street. Life is beautiful.

I’m thinking about how lucky I am. I’m thinking of you – that I hope these words touch you in some way. That they remind you to come back to the moment. To breathe it in fully. And to give thanks for everything that you have.

Because there’s magic happening right now in your life. It may not be over-the-top earth shattering awesomeness but it’s there. Hiding in plain sight. All you got to do is notice it.

Ian

There’s an urge. A calling. An impulse that sleeps inside of you. Whispering. Nudging. Pushing. Constantly reminding you of something that takes titanium like courage to remember.

It knows you want to acknowledge it’s calls. It’s far wiser than you. It sees potential where you see failure. It knows only triumph while you brood over imagined defeat.

It bears witness to your flailings, tantrums and doubts.

But it still beckons you to see what it sees. To know what it knows. And to join its quest. A journey of pure potential. An adventure beyond anything that you can imagine.

We all know that it’s there.

And sometimes we listen. Sometimes our fears are sleeping but for a moment. And we hear the quiet call of our heart.

And in that brief moment we move forward. We take a tentative step toward a vision. A view of ourselves that sparks in us a desire – to be more, do more and see more.

It’s not easy. Fear wages a war against us. It knows that it must move fast. Because if we continue, if we but claim that new vision as our true self, it will have lost its power.

But if we break free from fears talon’s we will discover the miracle of beginning.

There’s magic in that moment when we step forward. When we move toward a greater aspect of ourselves. Unseen forces gather around us. Empower us. Fill our sails. Point us toward an un-chartered direction. And give our dreams flight.

“All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his or her way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” ~ W.H. Murray

So listen. Eternity’s calling you. Is it time to answer? Is it time to begin?

Ian

Thank-you all for joining me on this amazing journey of growth and self-discovery. I hope your holidays are fantastic. And here’s to an amazing 2012!

Keep Being Inspirational!

Ian

It’s 6am and I’m thinking of you. Wondering how your year was? Curious to know if it ended the way you wanted it to?

2011 was a year where I began to measure my life in different ways. Trying to get to the core of what truly matters in life.

* How many little perfect moments did I experience with my family?

* How much impact did I have within the world?

* How aware did I become to the unskillful patterns of behavior in my life?

* How often did I speak my truth?

* How much of my time was spent pursuing my passions?

* How many adventures did I go on?

* How many moments did I spend with good friends?

So many of us are living lives of silent suffering. We suffer because we’re not true to ourselves. We don’t take the time to get to know who we are, what we want, and what we’re here on this earth to do.

Makes me think about regrets…

Did you know what the top 5 regrets of the dying are? Well according to Bronnie Ware who worked for years in palliative care, she found that over and over again people at the end of their lives had the following 5 regrets:

The 5 Regrets of the Dying

1) I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2) I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5) I wish that I had let myself be happier.

So as this year comes to a close and you prepare for the next, take a little time to reflect on what matters most to you.

Try to answer the question…

“What does a good year look like for me?”

And once you know – start to create that year bit by bit, thought by thought, action by action.

Thanks for a great year.

Ian

“Prepare to be amazed”
Michael “Goob” Yagoobian (The Bowler Hat Guy) From Meet The Robinsons

2011 has been one of the best years of my life. And if there was one word that would some up how I’m feeling right now it would be blessed. The four best things that have come out of 2011 have been:  

* The chance to work alongside International Bestselling Author and Leadership Expert Robin Sharma

* Having a million perfect little moments with my childrean Eavan and Shea this summer up north

* Meeting Tabitha – an amazing woman whos mere presence in my life has inspired me to be more, do more and experience more.

* Writing from the heart and connecting with my readers from all over the globe. I am humbled and honored that I can be of service to you.

So with all the reflection and warm fuzzy feelings floating around my brain I got to wondering…

“I wonder what were the most popular posts on the site for 2011?”

Below you will discover those posts for yourself. A simple offering from me to you. It’s my hope that in some way these words will help YOU be more, do more and experience more.

The Top 10 Most Awesomest Posts of 2011

1) Attraversiamo – Let’s Crossover (171 Shares)
The middle ground of life is a double sided coin. On one side is the comfort of the familiar. And on the other the fear of the unknown. We sort-of crave and are repulsed by both. We hate being in the gray zone. That in between place. Stuck between worlds. Not sure where we’re going. And a little hurt by where we’ve been. Click here to read more…

2) Stop Working and Start Wondering (167 Shares)
It’s time to stop working. Stop answering emails, putting out fires, creating to do lists, finishing those to do lists, and going to meetings. It’s time to stop everything that makes up an average day in the “working” world. It’s time to put on the brakes. Click here to read more…

3) You’ve Got To Own Your Life (110 Shares)
We were standing outside the Indigo bookstore down at Bay and Bloor in Toronto after sharing some great conversation and chai. She was telling me about her past and some of the really tough challenges she’s been through. And you could see something in her eyes…Pain. Click here to read more…

4) Daring To Dream (93 Shares)
It takes a lot of courage, a big heart and a dash of insanity to go for your dreams. But every truly happy person that I know is doing what they love. Be it as a career or as a business. Daring to dream again is no easy task. It’s not like we’re taught how to do it in school. Click here to read more…

5) 3 Keys To An Awesome Life From A Zen Master (90 Shares)
Life flies by. And the older we get the faster it seems to go. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done. Let alone squeek out a moment of peace for ourselves. So with all of responsibilities and obligations is there something that can help us? What can we do to not feel overwhelmed, overworked, or overtired? Click here to read more…

6) Going Beyond (79 Shares)
Sometimes you have to go beyond. Go beyond the norm. What you usually do. What your friends think. What your family says you should be doing. What society says is the right way for you to live your life. Sometimes you have to go beyond the point of no return. You have to start something. Commit yourself. Jump into the unknown. Take a risk. And make something happen. Click here to read more…

7) Richard Branson’s Keys To Success (78 Shares)
In an interview for CNNMoney.com Richard Branson, the charismatic founder of Virgin Group and author of several books including one of my favorites, ‘Screw It Let’s Do It.’ had this to say about having a burning desire to follow your dreams, Ideally, since 80 percent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours. Click here to read more…

8) Find Your Passion (62 Shares)
You ever notice that the coolest and most energized people to talk to and hang out with are ones who are living their passions? They’ve taken something that they love doing and turned it into a career or business. They’re fired up. And even if it’s not something that you’re into you still find yourself mesmerized by them. Click here to read more…

9) My Journey To Hell And Back or How I Quit Smoking (56 Shares)
This month sucked. My Dad had just come out of the hospital after having triple heart bypass surgery. One of the biggest operations out there. And as soon as he got some color back in his cheeks and we stopped being scared that he was going to die because of something stupid like sneezing too  hard we were blind-sided in the early evening with a phone call from the hospital. Click here to read more…

10) How To Discover Your Gifts & Talents (37 Shares)
Do you know that you have a gift? There’s something special that you need to share with us. There’s a problem out there and your life’s the solution. Each and every one of us has some talent for doing something. Like it’s hardwired into you. And you can do this something better than anyone else you know. A thing that if you were allowed to, you would do it all day long. Click here to read more…

So there you have it – 2011 in a nutshell. Thank you for being a part of the journey with me. 2012 is going to be amazing. I can feel it in my bones. If there’s anything that you’d like to see me write about here on the site please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Ian

Best selling author, Luciano de Crescenzo once said that, “We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.”

And that my friends is the secret of life. When we give ourselves to some noble cause. When we pour ourselves into a purpose. When we share the best of ourselves with the world – we soar.

What I want to share with you now is a chance to do just that.
To share a part of yourself. To become a part of a legacy. And in doing so we all may be able to save a life and make the world a little bit better by our efforts.

My friend Lynne needs our help. She has cancer. It sucks. And she needs money. A LOT of it.

So in my crazy mixed up brain I came up with a cracker of an idea…

“Since Lynne is all about Peace, why not create a book called, ‘Finding The Peace Within’”

We get a whole bunch of cool people together to share their stories, wit and wisdom to help the world during these turbulent times.

Sound cool?

Wanna be a part of it?

I’m hoping you said “Yes!” to those questions.

And now you’re wondering what to do next?

Take the next five miinutes and bang those keys. Write down a chapter for the book. Make it awesome. Make it fun. And make it matter.

Then send it in.

Submit Your Chapter

Send me an email: peacewithin@ianpaulmarshall.com

Please include:

Your name
Your Chapter Attached as a .txt file
Your website address if you have one
A Brief Bio

Don’t know what to write?

I hear ya on that one? Staring at a blank computer screen waiting for pure genius to flow out of you is one of the greatest tortures for a writer.

So below you’ll find my chapter. I hope it helps gets the creative juices flowing. And I’m excited to read what your chapter is going to be all about.

Ian

FROM FIGHTING TO FREEDOM
(Excerpt from the upcoming book Finding the Peace Within)

I want you to take a moment and imagine…

Imagine a young Japanese man by the name of Morihei Ueshiba, the eventual founder of the martial art Aikido, who has decided to take a walk through his garden to calm his racing heart.

You see he’s just been attacked by a naval officer wielding a big stick.
The young Morihei was surprised by the man’s anger, but with a little skill and grace, he subdued the brute without harming him.

So now he seeks the solace and tranquility of his Japanese maples. Beautiful pink blossoms. Gentle and delicate. A stark contrast to his warrior lifestyle.

He becomes immersed in the beauty of his surroundings. A deep peace begins to flood his mind and body. He can feel something stirring deep within him. The fight he had earlier with that angry man seems like a distant memory compared to the magic he feels within the present moment.

Something amazing starts to happen…

“…I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe.

At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budo is God’s love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings… Budo is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool to lead the world to destruction with arms.

True Budo is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.”

Morihei Ueshiba, a deeply spiritual man, has the first of many awakenings that would come to shape his life, hone his passions, and inspire his students.

At first glance you wouldn’t imagine that a man who could toss around a 300 pound lunatic without breaking a sweat would be a person pondering the deeper mysteries of life.

But Morihei Ueshiba was no ordinary man.

Everything that he did came from a place of deeply rooted wisdom and tranquility.

Aikido – The Mystery Within The Name

Even the name Morihei Ueshiba chose for his martial art is beautiful. The name Aikido alone can lead a person to profound insight.

The word Aikido is created or formed by three separate but beautiful kanji characters:

Ai means: to join or joining, harmonizing, unifying
Ki means: spirit, universal life force energy
Do means: the way or path

So we can interpret Aikido as, “A path or way of joining, harmonizing and unifying oneself with the Universal Life Force Energy that flows through, surrounds and is within us all.”

Surprised that we can find so much beautiful wisdom within a system of martial arts?

Well this is probably because, as Master Morihei Ueshiba has explained in the past, the true way of the warrior has been lost in confusion:

“The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power of love.” ~ Morihei Ueshiba

The Art Of Peace

Even more interesting is the fact that aside from Aikido training manuals and guides the only other work I can find by this Master combatant is a collection of his sayings entitled “The Art of Peace”.

It’s another little piece of a puzzle that reveals the depths of this mans wisdom.

“Create each day anew by clothing yourself with heaven and earth, bathing yourself with wisdom and love, and placing yourself in the heart of Mother Nature.” ~ Morihei Ueshiba from The Art of Peace

Embracing Freedom & Releasing The Fight

The Aikido philosophy is an interesting one as well:

To accept the spirit of the universe
Keep the peace of the world
Correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.

Maybe we all can learn something from Master Morihei.

Maybe what he was quietly showing us was a way to live our lives. He was gently leading us from fighting to freedom. All we had to do was notice the path he laid out before us.

Work in harmony with life, responding to it with a subtle force, that continually keeps us grounded in the deep peace that lays within each and every one of us.

Please share this with all your friends and family.

Submit Your Chapter

Send me an email: peacewithin@ianpaulmarshall.com

Please include:

Your name
Your Chapter Attached as a .txt file
Your website address if you have one
A Brief Bio

Awesome! And thank you so much…

(Be sure to slap one of those share buttons below to help get the word out)

“Do you think you are being true to yourself? Do you think you are leading the life you are meant to live – the one that most honors the real you, celebrates your deepest values and respects your highest dreams?”

This by far is my favorite part of Robin Sharma’s new book, “The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari“.

It’s a tough question. One that so many people are afraid to answer. Why? Because it hits us right at the core of our being. Making us seriously look at our lives. Seeing them for what they are. Asking us if we are truly living our passions, following our dreams and using our gifts and talents in such a way that we do what we can to make a dent in the universe.

When we’re not being true to ourselves we suffer. When we’re not exploring who we are our lives become lifeless. If we don’t take the time to discover what we’re all about, what our hopes and dreams are, what we’re passionate about, and what is truly important in our lives we go through life in a haze.

I believe that each and every one of us has something that we’re meant to do. That the world needs us to share the best of ourselves in some way. That our story can and will inspire others to live their best lives. That by not sharing the best of ourselves we are robbing the world of a precious opportunity.

So how can we start to live our best lives?

There’s no easy answer to this. If there was we’d all be out there crushing it. But I do think if you’re willing to carve out a little time to really dig into the essence of yourself you’ll be amazed by what you’ll discover.

To make things a little easier here’s 5 Questions To Ask Yourself:

1) What is most important in my life?

2) What are my gifts and talents?

3) What activities do I love to do?

4) What comes naturally to me?

5) What kind of problems do people always ask me to help them with?

Block off some time on a Sunday afternoon and really think about these questions. Answer them as honest as you can. Then compare your answers to how you’re currently living your life.

If you’re miles away from being true to yourself – well then you’ve got yourself an opportunity there. One that will lead you to your own adventure.

Have fun. Make money. Change the world.

Ian

P.S. Please share this with your friends and family to help them live their best lives. Thanks!

So I’ve been meaning to share a traffic report with you for a long time. I have to warn you though – you may become addicted to checking out your stats on a daily basis. I know I was for awhile.

So let’s look at Octobers Traffic:

Visually my traffic flow for October looked like this…

So what’s with that HUGE spike? It happened on October 6th. The day after Steve Jobs died. A post I had written last year called, “5 Keys To Success From Steve Jobs” was coming up all kinds in the search results for people. It’s now been shared 445 times! Crazy.

Who sent me the most traffic?

Google by far sent me the most traffic (thanks google!) coming in at over 68% of all the visitors that come to the site.

I use a tactic I share with my clients called “Cherry Picking”. Where you slant the content you’re sharing to what people are actually searching for. The awesome thing about doing this is you work once but you get traffic to your site for a very long time.

Two sources I think are pretty interesting for me:

1) 10% of the people that came to the site punched in the URL directly (http://ianpaulmarshall.com). Flattered – thank you. ;)

2) Linkedin sent me 3% of my overall traffic. Which is funny and curious because I can’t remember that last time I logged into Linkedin let alone what my password may be. So I need to look into whether or not I should be spending a little time there in the future.

Here’s the Overall View and What I’m Going To Improve Upon For The Future

The number 1 traffic metric I’m going to work to improve upon is to increase my visitors average time on site which is hovering under a minute right now.

How can I do that?

* By writing more engaging articles.

* By interlinking my articles more often. Which is something I used to do a lot. Not sure why I stopped.

* By showcasing new articles in the sidebar

* Maybe create a “Start Here” page for first time visitors to give them some structure to what’s on the site if they want to poke around and stay awhile longer

The second thing I’m going to work on is reducing my Bounce Rate. How can I do that?

* Make sure my site loads fast

* Make sure that the pages that are showing up in search engines have engaging opening lines and images that compel people to stay and read on.

To paraphrase copywriting legend Joe Sugarman, “Everything about your page should make your reader want to read the 1st sentence of your opening paragraph. That 1st sentence must make your reader want to read the next one.”

Another Interesting Thing To Note…

In October I only wrote 1 post. (Sorry everyone. Promise to write more in the future.) So all the traffic that came to the site was primarily from the work I had done in the past. This is the beauty of Search Engine Optimization and Social Media.

I know a lot of people that visit this site either have their own website or are thinking of setting one up in the near future. So hopefully looking at the type of traffic I get can help to improve your own.

If you found this article useful please let me know in the comments below. If it’s something that you’re interested in I’ll see about doing it every month.

Have fun. Make Money. Change the World.

Ian

P.S. You could always share this with your friends. Why? Because you’re awesome that way.

P.P.S. The key to looking at your website stats is to do something about the information that you find there. How can you improve your user experience? What can you tweak? What can you test? What insights can you glean from staring at those numbers? Otherwise you’re just wasting your time.

“Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it’s more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.” ~ Michael Johnson – The winner of 4 Olympic Gold Medals and 8 World Championship Gold Medals for running.

We’re funny creatures. We create little fantasy worlds for ourselves. Where golden riches fall magically into our laps. Hoping and praying for a lucky break. Dreaming of a better job, financial freedom, or whatever else may be on our wish list.

And we know it’ll come. We know that perfect moment will find us.

But then it doesn’t. And we resign ourselves to mediocrity. To just getting by.

Maybe we’ll even blame someone or something for our misfortunes.

Shifting responsibility away from ourselves. Giving away our power. And never really tapping into our full potential.

Conrad Hilton, from the worldwide chain of Hilton hotels said that, “Success seems to be connected with action.”

That people who reach their goals and find the success they desire are always on the move. They’re hustling.

They’re churning it out. Studying. Practicing. Preparing. Planning. Networking.

They’re getting ready for it…

And that’s when opportunity comes. That’s when you’ll hear the knock. That’s when you’ll get that lucky break. When you’ll meet the right person. Close the big sale. Be at just the right moment at just the right time.

Why?

Because you’re ready. You’ve paid your dues.

Blood, sweat and tears are the sirens call. Luring opportunity to crash into your life.

Are you ready for it?

Have fun. Make money. Change the world.

Ian

(Photo Credit: Gunnar Berning/Bongarts/Getty Images)

You ever been swept up in something so big it really breaks you free from the person you were before? Maybe you’ve experienced that feeling from a movie, a concert? Maybe during a rally or march? Or maybe even from love itself?

Something that touches a deeper part of you? That moves you? Connects you to the world in a such a way that you no longer feel alone?

It’s happened to me in several different ways. All of them special and unique. All of them connecting me with the greatness that lies within. And revealling to me that we all are bound together in oneness.

There’s one such moment that I’ve been honored to help champion over the years. A movement that I am humbled and grateful to be a part of – and that’s Peace Day.

I have the privilege to stand with people from around the world raising their voices for peace. An effort spearheaded by my dear friend and inspiration Lynne Hazelden of Peace In Our Lifetime.

This year she has amassed a huge community of people from around the globe to celebrate peace.

Wanna play with us?

Here’s what you can do…

Click here and check out everything that’s happening worldwide…you may be surprised by what you find.

Peace!

Ian

WORLD PEACE PRAYER

& MEDITATION

© Ian Paul Marshall

There Is One Peace, One Power, One Presence that permeates and penetrates all the universe. It is a Force for Good. It is the Source of all Existence. It is alive in all things. It is an Energy available to all humanity and is present now in this very moment.

I realize now that I am a pillar of Peace. I know that I am one with this Power. This Glorious Presence is the very foundation of my being. This Cosmic Energy flows through me and connects me to all humanity.

I choose now to use the mighty power of my mind to create a world worthy of us all. I steer my thoughts toward Peace, Love and Co-Operation and I can see all the people of the world joined together in a Joyful Celebration of Life.

This energy that I release transforms this moment and all eternity. Generations to come shall be blessed with a world founded upon Peace. For I know now that Peace begins with me and is Humanities rightful legacy. A legacy that I live out daily with all my thoughts, words and actions.

Peace is here now!

Peace is here Forever!

I give thanks for this sacred moment of Peace. I give thanks for an eternity of Peace. I give thanks for my global family who lives in Peace. I give thanks for the bonds of love that bind us together and give us strength and courage to create the world of our dreams.

A Peaceful World.

A Loving World.

A World Full Of Infinite Possibilities.

I am One with all of Existence. I am One with the Source of Life itself. I am One with the Presence of Peace and I share these blessings with all the world.

I know that my words are filled with Truth and Power and I release them to the Universal Law of Life. I know that as I have said it so shall it be.

And so it is.

Peace. Peace. Peace.

OM