Grow Yourself

I have just returned from Houston(Shout out to all my Houston friends). A post hasn't come up in a little while, but I'm back people.

What I want to tell you is...you must grow yourself. This past week, I have been growing myself. I have focused on myself. Let me tell you, I have developed myself so that I could break through to the next level. I do this for all of you. I want to take you all to the next level, but how was I supposed to take you there if I have never been there myself? But I am there! I am at the next level!

Now is the time to go to the next level.

Now is the time to grow yourself.

How I got there is by listening to Chris Brady, Orrin Woodward, and Jordan Adler. I also read Seth Godin, John Maxwell, the new Steve Job's book, and the Bible. These people have a lot of wisdom, and there is always more I can learn, but I have made it to the next level.

Join me at the next level. Read these books and listening to these people. They are great! It's really fun and exciting at this level(plus the new and great people at this level are wonderful, I can't wait to get you connect).

Join me, call me, email me.

I can help you get to the next level or you can get there yourself by reading these books and listening to these people.

Whichever you do, get to the next level, or you will be left behind.

Putting Your Love On The Line

I have a friend who is currently trying to publish a book. I had no idea how complicated this process could be. I knew how to self publish a book, but if you try to get it published through a publishing company...oh boy.

She is just about to send her book to the company. Now, this is bravery. Something that she invested so much time and heart into, is now going to a person who can say either yes or no. Yikes, she is putting something that she truly loves on the line, and someone could just look at it for a sec and say, no. One simple word could devastate what she loves.

But that's what it takes. That's why she is brave. That is why she is courageous. She is willing to put what she loves on the line, because she believes in what she loves.

This makes me think, "What do I love? Do I have the courage to put my love on the line?" Sometimes life asks you to put your love on the line. It's risky and it's scary. So I guess the question is, will you put your love on the line and do you believe in it? My friend does. And it inspires me to do the same.

The Greater the Storm, the Greater the Catch

The Leader of Love on the East Coast challenged me a couple weeks ago based on this theory, "The Greater the Storm, the Greater the Catch".

In the movie The Perfect Storm, George Clooney and his other commercial fishermen crew sail into storms. They have found that in the storms, they are able to catch a larger proportion of fish than when they try to catch fish without the storms. 

One of the biggest storms in my life was creating the Dance Like Zach movement. I thought I was crazy. I was a great dancer and I was just beginning my journey as a professional dancer. And then, I saw a storm. I saw the huge need to help people be able to drink clean and healthy water.

I remember lying in bed. It was 1:30 in the morning. I was staring at the ceiling thinking, "What? I'm going to lead a movement? I'm going to help people spread love and joy? I'm going to give water to the thirsty? I can't do any of that! I'm just a dancer! How am I supposed to do that?"

It was a storm. 

And I knew, somehow deep in my gut, that I needed to sail into it. If I wanted to live a life fully alive, I needed to sail into the storm.

Where are the storms in your life? Where are the places you need to go to get the big catch? Where will you find the greatest catch?

In the storm, you have no idea. Really, you have no idea what you will find. Now, I don't recommend going to actually chase storms. I just recommend you try jumping on your boat and sailing into a storm metaphorically. Throw the net out and see what you catch(again, I just like using metaphors). Here's some storms that might be in your life. 

Talk to your boss about the great idea you have, even though he doesn't like change. Ask that boy out on a date. Go skydiving. Sing karaoke. Say, "Forgive me". Say, "I forgive you".

You don't have to sail into the storm, that's fine. But I'm going out into the storm. Who's with me?

Giving Rather than Getting

The way to move through life joyfully and successfully is by focusing on what you give rather than on what you get. Being of service isn't an obligation, it's an opportunity. Being encouraging is even more fun than being encouraged.

It is one of those things we all know, but it is extremely difficult to do. So let's simplify it:

Give, serve, and encourage.

Not because you want to get anything, but because you love and appreciate those that you are giving and serving and encouraging in your life. The simple truth is...it's really fun. I know this because it's what I do. I have fun giving, serving, and encouraging.

So give to others from the love you have for them. Serve others because of the compassion inside you. Encourage others because you deeply desire peace in their life.

Give, serve, and encourage.

P.S. if you want to have fun giving, serving, and encouraging with me...join me over here today.

Leave a Legacy

 Here is a new video I wanted to share with you. Thanks Animoto for helping make this video!

Encouragement

"Are you confident enough to encourage people to do what's right and useful and joyful, as opposed to what the system has always told them they have to do?"-Seth Godin

I read this and I thought, "Am I encouraging all of you to do what's right and useful and joyful?" I think I do what is right, useful and joyful, that's what the Dance Like Zach movement is all about. Doing what is right-giving water to those who thirst and spreading love into the world. Doing what is useful-saving lives is pretty useful. Doing what is joyful-sending cards and gifts to those in my life is a blast!

I do need to encourage you to do what is right, useful, and joyful. Doing these three things is a lot fun. You can join me today, and help spread the love and water(and have a blast while doing it). You can reach me at 815-575-0952 or email me zach@dancelikezach.com.

I encourage you to do what is right and useful and joyful. I also encourage you to encourage others. You know how fun it is to do these three things. Now, just have fun with your friends doing these actions.

Do what is right. Do what is useful. Do what is joyful.

Power of a Whisper

Whispering is powerful. The best coach of the NBA(in my opinion) was the master of keeping it calm and not yelling at his players. He worked with some of the biggest egos of the NBA. He is one of the most successful coaches of all time. He is, of course, Phil Jackson.

When you get yelled at, do you want to listen to what they are saying? Or do you want to defend yourself from the loud aggressive voices?

When someone whispers to me, I lean forward. My curiosity get's peaked. I feel a part of something secret. Something that not everybody knows.

Whispers gain my interest and demands my attention.

Phil Jackson was on to something. Whispers hold more power than shouting or yelling.

P.S. some new things with Dance Like Zach movement you might like...

Push The Brave Button

Push the Brave Button Today. Do something brave. Live a little out of your comfort zone. Feel the excitement of doing something you don't normal do.

It doesn't matter whether you "succeed" or "fail", just push the button.

What Kind of Wallpaper Do You Have?

When I was 12, I heard someone say, "You need to re-decorate your mind". We have all heard the saying, "You are what you eat".

That goes for our minds as well. What we put into our heads, these ideas that we hear or read, they shape us.

It's like wallpaper. What we hear or read gets rolled onto the walls of our mind. It stays with us. It's like our mind is in a room and is staring at the walls filled with what you are hearing and reading.

What do you want your mind to be looking at? Do you want it to be looking at tacky wallpaper, rotten wallpaper, moldy wallpaper? Or uplifting, beautiful wallpaper?

Sometimes when I find myself feeling bored or depressed or just in a bad mood, I think, "What am I putting into my mind? What does wallpaper of my mind look like right now? Do I need to start redecorating?"

What kind of wallpaper do you have?

Thanks Pathways

Just wanted to say thanks to my friends in Pathways for helping support me. Also thanks for all the fun we have had so far and all the fun we are going to have! Going to be a great weekend :)

Love Letters

"Love letters always get to their destination. Love letters always get to the person they are addressed to. Because, in a sense, love letters are addressed to the one who is writing them. That's why we often write love letters that we don't even send. Because sometime they come from us and they're there to work through our feelings, to work through our emotions. And actually, it's not really for the other person at all. They're kinda reading it and overhearing a conversation we are having with ourselves."-Peter Rollins

In many respects, a blog always reaches its destination as well. Because the one who is writing it is the one who needs to read it. I'm not writing to you, but I'm writing to myself. And I need to take heed of what I'm saying. 

What are your love letters that you are writing or maybe speaking to yourself?

I need to be honest with you all...what I've written and what I will write on this blog is very difficult, and I'm sorry for that. As Peter Rollins says, "I hope that you disagree with me, because that would make it easier. If you agree with me, that's much more difficult".

Will you do what is difficult today? Will you join us and take action now? Or will you disagree and do what is easy? Will you watch as others take the risk and stand up for what they believe in? It's really easy to watch and miss out. 

I encourage you to take the difficult road. And it is difficult, but the people on the road beside you...man, are they great. There is encouraging, wise, and (my favorite) really fun people who believe in something greater than themselves. These people make the difficult road, a joyous road. 

So maybe it is not the choice between the easy or the difficult road, but the easy or the joyous road.

Start

This is something I wanted to share with you all. This is what my mentor told me before I began the Dance Like Zach movement:

          Somebody has to start.

          Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.

          If nobody starts, then others cannot follow.

          Will you start today?

If you have taken your first step and joined us, this is something that is great to share with others to help them get started. Whether to get started and join our movement, or start something that matters to them, it doesn't matter. But somebody has to start and do what is right.

If you haven't taken your first step and would like to join us today, we would love to have you.

Loosen The Grip

When you are going to jump off a cliff and the only thing that is going to be holding you up is some lightweight poles and some thin cloth material, what goes through your mind is something like this, “AAAAHHHH”. Yep, that pretty much sums up what you think about as you jump off the cliff for your very first time hang gliding. 

What you are tempted to do is to choke the non-existent life out of the pole in front of you. You tighten your grip as hard as you can. You squeeze like you are jumping off a cliff and holding on for dear life(cause you are). It’s the natural reaction to clench the bar as if there is no tomorrow, because in your head, there might not be one.

What you need to do is actually loosen your grip. If you clench and tighten up, you will become stiff as a board. You won’t be able to shift your weight and ride the winds. You won't be able to soar.

You must loosen your grip so that you can soar.

My question for you is, "Where in your life are you holding on so tightly that you are unintentionally disallowing yourself to rise off the ground and soar above the rest?"

Allow yourself to hold on to your dreams, your aspirations, your desires, but don’t choke the life out of those that are helping you soar. Instead, rejoice with them. Thank them. Delight in them.

Celebrate them for soaring with you.

Be a Blessing

To be loved is to be blessed. 

To be loving is to be blessing.

Be loving. Be a blessing. Today.

Thank You Steve Jobs

I can't compose a proper eulogy for Steve Jobs. There's too much to say, too many capable of saying it better than I ever could. All I can say is you inspired millions of us. Your courage to keep going, even when you get fired from the company you started, is motivational. We miss you and we will not stop learning from you. Your life was a blessing to this world and you truly left it a better place.

Here's a Story

There is a story about a woman whose child dies after only a few days of life. She is so distraught, so in pain, that she wraps her child in linen and goes around seeking anyone who could revive her child. She goes to faith healers, magicians, and witch doctors, and no one can help. But somebody says, “Secluded, high up in the mountains, there is a holy man who is so close to God that he can bring your child back to life, he can raise the dead. It might be just a story, but you never know.”

            This woman goes to the mountains and searches for this mysterious holy man. And after days of searching in the mountains, she stumbles upon a little hut beside a beautiful lake of water. She nocks on the door and a little old man comes to the door. She says, “I do not know if you’re the man I’m looking for, but I need your help.” She begins to cry and tells this man her story. Once she is done, he says, “I am the man you have been searching for. I can help you. But first you must go down into the village and you must look for a home that has not been struck with suffering. And from that home, you must bring back a handful of mustard seeds. Once I have those mustards seeds, then I can help you.”

            So she goes down into the city. She goes from house to house and she can’t find any house that has not been struck by suffering, death, pain, and loss. But somehow, as she hears the story of other peoples suffering, she gradually comes to term with her own. Until, one day, she is finally able to bury her child in the earth.

            The point is, we often want to say to those that are suffering, “Here’s the answer. Here’s God. Here is what you need to do to fix the problem.” But you know what? Sometimes the answer of faith is, “I will suffer along side you. We will share our stories. Together we can provide a space of healing.” God is not some answer. Because when we hold on to God as if he is some answer, then we don’t actually go through the mourning process. We hide ourselves from it. When we treat God like that, he is an object. He is an idea we have to hold on to in order to cope with life. Instead, let us have a community of broken people suffering together. And in that space, God is manifest in the relationship of healing. The woman was going to the holy man, who is so close to God, so that she could have her answers, when she finds that the whole time, surrounding her in her city, was the love of others and the healing that she so desired from God.
            Love works something like this. If I desire food, I desire it until I have it. Once I have it, I no longer desire it. But with people, you cannot lover or desire someone you have never met, because you never met them. Peter Rollins, author and speaker, says this, "The romantic truth is this, 'I never needed you until I met you. But when I met you, I realized I always needed you'. The need is retroactively given...whenever  you meet someone, they are a universe still to know. The coming of your beloved is the still to come, the not yet. So when you meet the person you love, desire is born and need is born."

            

Glory

John Ortberg, author and speaker, defines glory as such; “Glory is that particular excellence of a thing that makes it praiseworthy”. The glory of a sunset is its’ beauty. The glory of an actor is his believability. There is a glory of a flower, an ocean, a mountain, an antelope, an eagle, a perfectly implement kick off return, or a masterfully played piano.

We are designed to detect and express glory. It’s what it means to be human. If you see something glorious(a beautiful day, a young puppy, the Grand Canyon, a spectacular mountain top) you want to tell somebody. It’s part of the joy. And if you see somebody who is glorious, it's even better. When we tell somebody that they are gloriously wonderful, and they receive the praise, they are pleased by it, they delight in the praise, then you get to be blessed by their reception of it. It strengthens the relationship. And in some profound and deep way, you share in their wonderfulness. That is glorious.

When we try to bring glory to ourselves, we just end up looking…like this. Here is a scene depicting a new boss trying to look important and popular in front of an employee.

It just doesn’t work. People can see right through you when you attempt to bring glory to yourself. 

This brings me to the Dance Like Zach movement and what we do. We tell others of their glory. We bring love and appreciation into the world. We tell a woman she is beautiful the way she is, even when the world says she needs a certain makeup, or clothing, or a certain dress size to be beautiful. We tell a man he is strong, even though the world tells him he needs to drive a certain car, lift a certain amount of weight, have a certain amount of money to be strong. We give life to those who the world says they don’t have a chance. We give purpose to those that march with us.

C.S. Lewis, author of the famed Chronicles of Narnia, wrote a book entitled, “The Weight of Glory”. Near the end, he writes this,

“It may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use.

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”

Let us carry the glory of our neighbor in humility today.

That's Not...!!!

That's Not...!!! How many times have you heard a sentence starting with these 2 words? Often the people who tell you that, are often, what I like to call, the "That's Not'ers". The "That's Not'ers" of the world like to tell people how things should be (and how they shouldn't be, thus that's not...how it should go, a good idea, what is best).

Last night I was making cookies (trying to make cookies), for my friends. I thought I had messed up, but I figured out a way to fix my problem. I showed them the cookie dough, when I heard, "That's Not cookie dough!!!" So first, I was upset because I fixed the problem and he thought that I still had problems(because the cookie dough didn't look like "normal" cookie dough). Second, he didn't appreciate that I was making this for him...ugh!!! Anyway, now that I am done complaining, I'll get on with the story.

I put the cookie dough in the oven, and when it came out...it was awesome! It was super delicious. It was superb.

Moral of the story...there are going to be some "That's Not'ers" in your life. There have been some in my life. That's not how you make cookie dough. That's not going to work. That's not how most people want to spread love. That's not actually going to help kids in Haiti and Honduras.

People, please don't listen to the "That's Not'ers". They aren't helping you grow. They aren't encouraging you. They aren't believing you.

P.S. If you say it out loud and hear the words that snotters, and get the ugly idea that someone is a snotter (someone who snotts regularly)...that's the point. These people try to snot on your dreams. It's gross. It's what they try to do.