Do you remember the spirit you had as a child when your feet hit the floor and you couldn’t wait to start the day? Ken Davis shares how to keep that spirit alive in this dynamic interview.

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On This Episode

Rhythm of Life – Bumping Into My Upper Limit
Random Riffs – Exams and the ABC’s
Feature Segment – Fully Alive: A Dynamic Discussion With Ken Davis

Rhythm of Life – Bumping Into My Upper Limit

This week’s topic is about not listening to my own advice.  It all started with my own Find Beauty in EVERYday course.  Day 10 talks about doing something frivolous, and I decided to read a fun novel, which is something I don’t usually make time for.

The problem was I didn’t start until late at night and read very late into the night. After less than adequate sleep, I woke up tired, and lacking the creative and inquisitive mind needed to address the items on the day’s to-do list.  And that’s when I realized that I was bumping into an Upper Limit Problem!  My lack of adequate sleep was limiting myself so that I couldn’t succeed beyond my comfort zone.

Michael Port’s lessons from Episode 035 about being half-in rang true. By staying up to read instead of committing to getting a good night’s sleep, I could blame my resulting failures the next day on lack of sleep, rather than my decision to stay up late.  I was deflecting the blame away from myself.  I wasn’t completely derailing myself; only enough to stay at the status quo.  As Gay Hendricks says in his book “The Big Leap”, I wasn’t completely derailing myself; only enough to stay at the status quo.

Today’s interview with Ken Davis could not have come at a better time. He discusses what it means to live full-out or, as Brene Brown calls it, wholeheartedly. Despite hard work and our best intentions, all of us will bump into our Upper Limit at some point, stopping us from totally going for it.

How this looks in your life will likely be very different from how it looks in mine. But pay attention.  You may appear successful, but still be bumping up against your upper limit.

Random Riffs – Is This Going To Be On the Test?

One of the biggest questions students will ask their teacher is, “Is this going to be on the test?”

Why? Students often don’t really want the knowledge or education.  They don’t see how some of what they learn will actually apply to their lives.  They only wanted to know what was going to be on the test.
What if all of life is one big test? A huge test with no Answer Key.

Ken Davis says in his book, Fully Alive, not to pick “None of the Above”.  Yet, how often do we hang back and try to choose nothing in the hopes it will miraculously choose us?  Ken calls it the path of indecision and inaction.

Greg McKeown speaks to the opposite choice – “All of the Above”.  Otherwise known as “The land of Perpetual Yes”.  But when we say All of the Above, we scatter ourselves to the wind.  Only a small piece of us ends up in any one place.  In previous episodes we’ve called this the Undisciplined Pursuit of More.

Instead, choose one thing. The best answer for you.  And, yes it will be on the test.  The test that asks at the end – Did I live and love wholeheartedly?

Feature Segment – Fully Alive: A Dynamic Discussion With Ken Davis

Ken Davis is a best-selling author who has received national critical acclaim, including the “Book of the Year” award and the Gold Medallion Award. He is a frequent keynote speaker for corporate events, a radio and television guest, and his daily radio show, Lighten Up!, is heard on over 1500 stations in the United States and around the world. Ken is also one of the country’s most sought after inspirational and motivational speakers. His mixture of side-splitting humor and inspiration delights and enriches audiences of all ages.

In this episode, hear Ken talk about:

1. How being at the peak of success can be dangerous
2. Why we shouldn’t lean on past success
3. How he went from eating potato chips on the couch to competing in a triathlon.
4. What’s so great about getting banged up
5. What he means by “pole to pole”
6. How his fullest joy now comes from multiplication

Additional Resources
SCORRE™ Conference, May 2-5, 2016 (communicate with power and persuasion) – get $400 off
Launch Conference, April 4-7, 2016 (launch a successful speaking or personal brand business) – get $400 off
Dynamic Communicators Website (podcast, blog, and other resources)
Ken Davis Website
Ken Davis – Fully Alive book
TED Talk – How To Live To Be 100+