Message 309

I was talking with a friend yesterday and it reminded me of how I ended up with the perfect house. So I thought I’d share it with you.

In order to get this perfect house it required a few components:

• specifics 
• Visualization 
• Nothing negative getting it in the way
• Acting as if 
• And the most important factor was excitement 

I’d always known what I wanted in a house. One story, a computer room and an exercise room. A bike lane where I could run and bike.

When I was searching for houses in San Antonio I came across something called an outside access. Turns out that’s what we used to call a back door.

This was an exciting concept to me and I told everyone about it. If you asked me how I was doing, somehow I would work outside access into the conversation. The entire house I imagined really got me pumped up and I was excited about moving to San Antonio.

I came to San Antonio on what the military calls house hunting. I wasn’t having much luck. So my friend took me around the city and we looked for houses.

We found a couple in this one neighborhood. I gave the addresses to the realtor and the next day she showed me this particular house.

I walked in and it was exactly as I had visualized. They had a specific exercise room. The computers were set up beautifully in the family room. It was a single story and guess what. There are 5 outside accesses. Every room in the house has an outside door. The neighborhood also has a bike lane.

To make this an even bigger miracle is that the people living in the house were what’s called house sitters. They did not want the house to sell so they would take the for sale sign out of the ground and lay it flat so people wouldn’t see it as they drove by. It was just by “accident” that it was up when we drove by.

I know this discovery happened because I imagined it and sent it out to the universe. What cemented it, though, was the enthusiasm I had for it and especially the outside access. It also helped that I was confident that I would get a great house and be set. I knew nothing would stand in my way! And nothing did.

So remember these elements:

• specifics are key 
• Visualization is vital 
• Nothing negative can get in the way
• Acting as if (I already owned it) 
• And the most important factor is excitement/enthusiasm 

Message 306

It’s about 7 weeks til the end of the year. Start now and beat the rush.

“Start doing what?”I’m sure you’re asking your phone.

It’s time to revisit your year, your goals and start planning for 2026

You know how Dr Gilbert will start a challenge the day after Thanksgiving to help you get a head start on developing new habits so you’ll be ahead of your peers by the time the ball drops on New Year’s Day.

Why not use this next 2 weeks to do an inventory. You know how we always talk about these concepts:
⁃ it’s the start that stops most people
⁃ It’s the process not the outcome
⁃ Take your goals and chunk them down.

How has your year been? Do you know specifics? You should. If you don’t know the details, how can you decide what to do or where to go.

This was the most important lesson I learned this year at vol state. You have to have data in order to make informed decisions. Anything else you use simply leads to emotion driven decisions.

So use the next two weeks to review your 2025 goal list but that’s not all.

After that write down what you’ve accomplished this year. You can include things you’re positive will occur before the end of the year

Next write things that have popped into your head that you either started, thought about starting, or want to start. Write down whatever comes to you.

Now go back over that list and see which ones really light a fire in you. Circle them or better yet put them on a separate piece of paper.

Decide if those circled ones are things you want to tackle or begin to work on in 2026.

Keep this list handy and read it frequently between now and Thanksgiving. Let it marinate. When you review it again in about 2 weeks you’ll go through the same review process with a primary purpose of seeing where the lightning strikes after the marination

Next take your 2025 goal list again and see which ones you’ve achieved.

If there are any left, decide if you want to carry them over to 2026.

The point to all of this is to get your mind used to the fact that this year is almost over and it’s time to wrap things up and get ready for the new year. You really want to get your 2026 goals determined and listed well before Jan 1st. The more you review these items and go over them in your head and heart, the sooner you’ll be getting started and the more excitement you’ll have. With greater excitement, you’ll be more likely to reach those goals.

Message 305

The mastery minute 

Today’s message comes from a newsletter called the Daily wellness.   

Essentially the mastery minute is committing to one small, skill- building task every day 

It’s something that takes hardly any time – just a few minutes but you do it each day and it stretches you just a bit beyond your comfort zone. 

You see all these “daily” things like word of the day or some of the language programs that you do every day and then I guess get points for consistency. Maybe learning to play a new  chord on an instrument. 

The key is for it to be short, achievable and gives you a tiny sense of accomplishment. This is not a smart goal even though it sounds like it. It’s too give you something you definitely can achieve every day 

You’ve proved to yourself that you’re capable of growth by doing something challenging even if it’s small. It builds self efficacy which is your belief in your ability to learn and improve

Pick one small skill you want to develop or are curious about. 

Each day, spend just 3-5 minutes doing something related to it that feels slightly challenging but doable. 

After you finish, take a moment to acknowledge it. Even just a quick “I did that” counts.

The goal isn’t perfection or dramatic progress, just consistent practice that proves you can show up for yourself 

It’s Perfect for building confidence, breaking out of a rut, or developing skills you’ve always wanted. It’s especially helpful when you’re feeling stuck. These tiny wins remind you that you’re capable of more than you think.

Keep a simple log of what you practiced each day. Looking back at a week or a month of consistent effort is surprisingly motivating and shows you concrete evidence of your growth.