1 Down 64 To Go...

As I started my 65 goals for 2011, so I decided to take a pretty logical approach to knocking some of these out.  Tackle the small tasks that could be completed within a week and knock those out first, along with that start tackling long term goals or goals that needed to completed over winter (example, don't miss a week of church all winter long) and then work forward from there!

65 goals for 2011 (Updated 12/7/2010)

I have started a yearlong mission… to accomplish 65 goals before 11:59 pm December 31, 2011

If you didnt see my last post please check it out... "A New Way to 2011"

I will be updating and tracking these so you guys can follow along! I will also be posting some pictures as well as my progress!


Green will indicate the goals I’ve completed!


Orange marks what I am in the process of completing!


So I give you my pledge:

 "I, Robert Cundiff will complete the below goals in order to be a more successful, healthy, upbeat, person. The goals are all relevant to my life as well as my families... I will not stray… Lets GET IT DONE!"

New way to 2011...

For years I had created vision boards, pictures of miles stones and achievements to remind me of the goals I set for myself.  Until recently, I didn't know how impactful those were... but, I have come to the conclusion that those were ultimately the key to successes I had experienced in my life...  Unfortunately, I have gotten away from them and as "the proof is in the pudding" goes, I have not been nearly as successful recently as I was in the past.

Did you know that 99% of Americans do not have personal goals that last past the second week of January? That's sad seeing that the goals are usually set the first week. 

The evidence that goals work and work incredibly well is irrefutable.

I read a story today that said:  In 1953, Yale did a study on their graduating seniors. They polled all of them to see who would be interested in a goal setting seminar.  Three percent of the seniors signed up and set goals for the three major areas of their lives: business, relationships, and health. They not only had specific goals, but they also had to know why they wanted it.

Perfection and Excellence...

It's been a few since I have wrote anything but, this morning heard something that I thought was brilliant and could not wait to share it with you all.

There's a great quote that's been attributed to Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn and others: "Ready, Fire, Aim!" At some point in life, we have to say it's "good enough" and take action.


At some point, we have to settle for "excellence" and go for it! I'm not talking about being sloppy or settling for mediocrity, but in most cases, excellence is good enough. Particularly if we are willing to fix our mistakes, learn from them and seek constant improvement, excellence is good enough.

iPhone improv... Really sweet video

I came across this video randomly messin around on youtube (what's new).  Anyway I thought you all might enjoy it!


Out...Cundiff

Sports Illustrated Nonsense... "The Bronze Age" (Updated)

"The Bronze Age?"

I have hated Sports Illustrated since the days of the "Jordan Feud", with that said I came across an article from SI in a Blog that I follow pretty consistently the other day. The basic premise of SI's article was how we prop up athletes quickly, build statues too soon, and glorify them as if they are hero's or more than that…"gods". The article goes on to talk about how only after 4 years of college we celebrate an athlete, or only after one contract year are we put coaches in the highest ranks. Well, correct me if I'm wrong but, doesn't the NCAA only allow an athlete four years of eligibility? These are not lifetime achievement awards for players, they are memorials of what they did while at that school. College players impact hard and fast, and if a college player stands out so much (in the case of Tebow) then really how long until a university or boosters prop them up? I'm mean Tim Tebow is only one of the top 5 college football players of all time.
Lets talk about the coaches... if you win a National championship, in Sabans case 2, or coach your team to one national championship game after another like Stoops, then, yes I think that the coach can be "glorified in a Sports sense" all they want, and as soon as they want.

Random thoughts in life's journey...

It's funny, I often times try to compare the state of my life as a 21-year old attending college and a 30-year old parent positioning my way through life... Each experience being accompanied by a certain degree of uncertainty about the future. At 21, I had hooked up with more than my fair share of girls, but I didn't know the first thing about dating, relationships, or real love (even though I thought I did). I had plenty of friends, but I didn't know anything about actually socializing. I'd never held down a job, and I didn't know squat about working. At 21, I knew absolutely jack-shit.

Well at 30, I still know jack-shit, but I know that I know jack-shit. Do you follow? In the 9 intervening years, I accrued experience and humility at approximately the same rate...

My Sphere of Influence...

Sometimes when I'm chatting with friends (like right now) I wonder about the sphere of influence that I have on them.  I'm not trying to say that I think I'm all amazing or full of awesomeness but, rather the crazy places life brought me to, and the actual affect I have had... the groups of friends, scattered across, whom I've had the privilege to meet.

On some level, a apart of me, the dreamer I suppose, feels that there is definitely a greater purpose to this... that perhaps, I may play some key role that allows me to connect with people from all over and influence them maybe just a little (maybe in the smallest way... just enough to gain thier curiosity), and not in a match making sense, although I hear there's a lot of money in online dating.

I suppose on one level, I might seem like a really confident and very forceful person in my opinions, but anyone who really knows me, knows that over the years I have really settled down and thats possibly because, believe it or not, I have seen myself screw up a lot, especially in the past few years here.

78%...

A few days ago, I shared some stats that that I was able to hear the pastor of my Church talk about a few weeks ago, as alarming as I found them, I also thought they were pretty interesting because I was once in the 78% that didn't really attend Church or care to for that matter.  If you didn't read the Blog entry (check it out).  With that said, I will give you a quick refresh on what it was about.  There has been data compiled from a survey of four schools–namely, the local high school district’s outgoing four senior classes. The survey revealed that of 40 qualities which represent basic overall personal health, only one finished in a distant dead last. 22% said they possessed this quality: only 22% of our seniors claimed to invest a minimum one hour of time in organized religious activity each week.

Athletic Propulsion Labs' $300 Concept 1 shoe...

Ever since I have been lacing up the kicks, the myth has been out there... These shoes will make you jump higher, run faster, or even make you play better. It's actually one of the marketing campaigns Nike used with its first pair of Jordan's to turn itself into a billion dollar company.

Well it looks like that whole idea is back, only this time... it’s for real.

22%...

A good friend of mine, who is also the pastor of my church, belongs to a local organization in the Frankfort/Mokena area, I get the opportunity to listen to him weekly and hear his thoughts on a variety of very intresting topics...with that said he also blogs @WorldPress on a variety of topics (not just church and religion).
 
Here is somthing that caught my attention on his Blog that I though was pretty intresting, yet somewhat troubling:

46" Samsung 9000 Series 3D LED TV Review

Being a huge tech geek and media freakazoid, I needed to get a TV for my newly finished basement. I shopped around for about a week and came across the Samsung LED9000 series. It was hands down, not only the best-looking TV but, it also had far and away the best picture quality of all the TV's I looked at (which was basically all of them).  I saw this thing a few days ago and was instantly mesmerized by it.  Not only is the picture gorgeous but, the over all Stainless Steel look of the TV is nearly perfect.

Samsung's LED9000 Series represent the pinnacle of its TV range. Designed with money-no-object flair combine the very latest in LED backlighting techniques and picture processing modes with 3D capability.

They are, in every sense of the word, 'statement' products.

Back Pains Start at the base...

We hear it everyday, “Oh My Aching Back”, and yet we think of “Maybe I lifted too much”, or “I’ve always had a weak back.” How often do we think to ourselves, it must be coming from somewhere else. Just walking down the hall, it is easy to see the picture frame out of kilter. Looking outside we quickly notice that fence that is leaning or sidewalk that is bowed. The answer to these problems seem simple enough. Correct the base and the rest of it straightens out.

Myth or Reality, Craps and the Controlled Dice Shooter…

I don't know any secret handshakes, I don't have a Captain Crunch decoder ring, nor am I a lifetime chapter-member of the Fraternal Order of the Free Masons (yet at least). But I can recognize a Precision Shooter who is likely to win me some money (props to "Iorn Wig" on youtube). I am getting good at venturing into casinos that have craps, walking up to their tables, and in a fairly short amount of time determine if any of the players there are more than likely to help me win. Oh sure, I can wait and hope and pray that someone will have a hot hand but odds are I will be missing out riding their wave of luck. See most pro will tell you that they can't make a living off of luck alone, especially in a negative-expectation game like craps. I look for a particular type of craps player who takes the game seriously, and who has added a weapon to his arsenal that just might give him that slight edge against the casino. You can call it Rhythmic Rolling, or you can call it De-Randomizing the dice. I call it an opportunity to make money!

Slept Late, relaxed long...

As I woke up this morning around 4:55 am, I felt a bit guilty for wasting the little time I actually had in bed.  As I thought a little deeper into this though, I realized that I was going to change it up, lay in bed and reflect for as long as I needed. Typically I jump out of bed to start my long, tedious day...I would have went to the gym, showered, washed up quickly, and got to work, hopefully no later than 7:15 am.  

21 Ways to be a good Democrat...

I saw this online and thought it was funny but also... eerily true

1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. Nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

49% Vs. 84%, America and Europe...

• Capitalism Vs. Socialism

• America Vs. Europe

• 49% Vs. 84% 

A poll just came out showing that 84% of Europeans approval of Obama compared to only about 49% of Americans do right now (I’m talking about general approval rating).  Ask yourself, how could poll numbers from America be so different from Europe?  Well maybe more importantly you should ask yourself, what are the differences are between America and Europe...

What's the difference?  

Are We Under Threat from the Muslim World...

Imam Feisal Rauf is in the news again, warning America that violence may break out if the ground zero mosque is not built.  

In a CNN interview Feisal says "if you don't do this right, anger will explode in the muslim world, if this is not handled correctly this crisis could become much bigger than the Danish cartoon crisis which has altered in attacks in Danish embassy and various parts of the world... and we have a much larger footprint in the muslim world, if we don't handle this crisis correctly it could be something that can become something really, really, dangerous."


Well that sounds ominous doesn't it?  I'm not even sure that Feisal meant to threaten us but, the warning he is broadcasting could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.  


Already Anti-American muslim agitators have gathered up folks in Afghanistan, people who actually have no clue on what this controversy is even about...  How do I know that?  Well many Afghans can't read, many do not have electricity... the delivery of news in that country come from propaganda. 

Chicago... Guns, The Game, and The Soul of a City

Is Heaven Still a Playground? 

Chicago Basketball has always been the sport of two seasons: winter and summer. Winter is when money is made (NBA, NCAA, etc.); summer is when legends are made.

Every summer in most urban areas around the country, the game rediscovers itself. Resurrects itself. On concrete.

This summer...Different. Including in a city that claims as many -- maybe more -- street basketball legends than any place in the world.

Scivation Xtend Review...

Xtend is a blend of Energy Aminos consisting of the proven 2:1:1 ratio of Branched Chain Amino Acids, Glutamine, Citrulline Malate, and Vitamin B6 that will give you the energy you need to maximize your training while enhancing recovery at the same time. The components in Xtend have been proven to help in all aspects of training. 

I was introduced to Xtend a few months back...it was referred to me by a close friend who I hold in the highest regard to fitness and product knowledge.

P90X Plyo-Tuesdays...

OK, let me give you a classic "UUU" (thats triple U).  A classic "UUU" is the guy who says:

I'm sure most of you have heard of P90X, well last week I decided to put the "Plyo-X" portion of P90X into my weekly workout routine.  I hate doing legs at the gym but, understand that working out your Legs maybe the single most important set of muscles to actually work on (for a number of reasons).  

"I've got a case of the Mondays"... "A case of the...Monday".

Listen, nobody wants to hear that, nobody cares. It's kind of like that guy at work, that when you ask him "Hey, hows it going?", he replies.. "ehh, it's Monday"(in some whiny ass voice). 

Yeah, we know it is, and yesterday was Sunday and tomorrow is Tuesday, I get that.  Nobody likes that but, I am going to have to be real here because, for the next 120 or so days, Im going to have to fight off a case of the... "Tuesdays".

Why?

9/11 Remembered...

Has there ever been a time in your life when you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and what you were thinking?

September 11th will always be one of those days for me...I was away at school just leaving the house to get to class. Everything seemed normal, and up until that point everything was normal...cool, clear, autumn day, with blue skies.  I remember the exact minute I walked into the building that my class was in...silence.  Five teachers were gathered around talking..."What the hell is going on?" I heard one of them say...At that time I was clueless to what had just happened, but in only a matter of minutes I would find out.

Rebels with out a cause... A look at the 1990 UNLV Running Rebels

Time has the tendency to fly by. If your eyes stutter-step, you miss a day. Fall asleep, you miss a month. Get caught up in work, you miss a year. This point was hammered home today, when I got a message from my boy that read this: “Your blogs would carry a lot more weight with me if they focused on: And 1 Mixtapes, High School Basketball All-Star Games, and Classic College Hoops…it's like I don't even know who you are anymore!”

As I read that, I realized it has been just about 20 years since the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels ruled the world, and were owners of an NCAA Championship. That means it’s been 20 years since Houston’s own Larry Johnson, Greg “The Mouth” Anthony, Anderson Hunt, and Stacey “Plastic Man” Augmon held court on the Strip like it was never held before and hasn’t been since.

Looking for Tyler Durden...

It’s 7am, I’m laying wide awake in my bed, I flip through the channels looking for something worth watching…Fight Club (perfect I thought).



Fight Club is still one my favorite movies of all time, for a number of reasons…  I remember being a freshman at FSU watching this for the first time.  I didn’t care about the underlying themes of this movie, all I cared about was the fighting scenes.  The idea of a “fight club” was amazing to me (isn’t that what most testosterone filled college freshman would think?).  The thing is, this movie is about so much more than just fighting, a “fraternity or club”, and even middle aged men who join simply to beat the shit out of one another.  For a younger person though, I can see how it may even be difficult to grasp the complexity and sub-themes of this movie.

TV equals Mediocrity... It's Sad

I am honestly tired of television...  I'm sick of hearing about the buzz around reality TV shows and the programs that the Main Stream Media puts out for us to watch.  For the most part I have stopped watching television (except for football games, lol) because most of the shows are honestly pointless, stupid, and are designed to keep Americans dumbed down.   America has taken the bait and run with it.

Hollywood and the media wants to keep Americans distracted from what is happening in this country and around the world (some people still actually think Obama is doing a great job).  The thing is, Hollywood is going to continue to make any kind of show that brings in sponsors and money.  If they think reality shows will make money for them, and they have the sponsors backing, they will continue producing the show.

Turning points in life, darkness and betrayal to complete enlightenment...

Reflection...

It was 2005, I was only 25 then, I remember this particular year for a vast number of reasons. My collegiate basketball career had ended (more quickly than I would have liked it to) and it was time to get a “real” job. Playing highly competitive spots growing up, the school year and summer was decided to working hard in sports from the time I was 8 or 9, there was simply no time for a job, only sports (I wouldn’t change if I could). I’m sure I don’t have to express how much I was not looking forward to the idea of actually working.

For several years leading up to that particular year I found myself loving the freedom that escapes you when you are living at home with your parents (not that it is their fault). I think being out of the house generally gives everyone a feeling of freedom and empowerment.

Love, trust, and loyalty were the three core values that defined me at that point in my life, slowly though through the trials and tribulations of life, those values were being over taken by patterns of fear, hurt, anger, unworthiness and isolation… Those all steamed from a web page that I was certainly not supposed to see. I never knew that one very small statement, meaningless to millions of other people, could have had such a profound effect on my life:

Fat America...

Good news for the good old Red, White, and Blue! While the economy is taking a shit (Boy, did Obama’s recovery summer work out great or what?), we are still in a recession, jobs are being lost, and foreign affairs are a bigger mess than ever. We, the United States of America are getting better at something though! We are getting stronger, well, kind of,... we are getting FATTER. Don’t worry, all is not lost… we still dominate one thing in the world… and that is being FAT.

Inspire.... turning nothing into something

(Inspired by Jim Rohn Weekend Seminar-Excelling in the New Millennium)



in·spire verb \in-ˈspī(-ə)r\
in·spiredin·spir·ing
Definition of INSPIRE
transitive verb
1
a : to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration
b : to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on
c : to spur on : impel, motivate
d : affect


The idea, let me say that again... the “idea" of turning nothing into something, comes from just that, "ideas".

Ode To Chicago...

“Chicago, there is a resilience that rises from somewhere deep in your streets.

You can’t define it but, you can feel it.

You can feel it overflowing from the people who call you home.

The people who will always proudly declare,

"I'm from Chicago",

you took our country from infancy into industry

and your name still carries with it the idea of a nation built on steel, muscle, and sweat.

You became the city that carried a country, the city, like the sport, is built on dreams.

People who arrived here driven to excel, who know that nothing is accomplished without hard work and without sacrifice.

When you hurt we hurt

Your streets witness our struggle, your bricks show our rage, through the emptiness of each house shuttered, of each factory closed.

We've lived through the ups and the downs and we remain..... Chicago.

We can never turn our backs on you Chicago because we are you, my home, the home of Michigan Avenue ,The Bears, and Al Capone...

Through all this, we can not be defeated because we have never been defeated, you've built us, you've moved us, you've shaped us,

sometimes down but never out, take strength in us, your people...

Out... Cundiff