Want to feel better about yourself and your life-8 steps to bring your life into focus

There are times in our lives when what you see, hear, and watch determine what we think about life...but that's A$$ BACKWARDS!!!!....YOU should be determining what you think about life and live YOUR life accordingly with what you VALUE!!!...so how do you get back to thinking about what YOU think is important instead of what other people tell you what is important????....follow these 8 steps and start them NOW and try it for a month:

1) READ from a really good book 15 minutes a day (The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes, The Money Book, Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman, Rick Pitino or Lou Holtz Business coaching books, a book that stimulates your way of thinking)

2) Turn off the "Electronic Income Reducer" AKA your T.V. to be effective with your precious time...

3) Stop listening to the radio in the car and put a great book audio CD in your car and listen to it in your car!

4) Read less newspapers

5) ASSOCIATE with Like-minded, POSITIVE people...this will indirectly inject more POSITIVE energy into your life through association (join a club, team, group of people who have common goals and beliefs as you do that makes you feel good about yourself after you meet with them)

6) DRINK more WATER...take your weight divide by 2 and that is the number of OUNCES of water you need to drink...i.e. 192/ 2 = 96 OUNCES of water = 12 cups of water to drink per day or 3 full containers of my 32 oz Nalgene bottle

7) EXERCISE - do whatever - gym, riding you bike, walking, pilates, swimming, whatever...be more physically active

8) 15 minutes of REFLECTION: on what you want to do with your life, where you want to be with your life, how to improve areas in your life that make you feel bad...while you're in the shower, when you wake up/go to sleep, taking BART/train/bus, whatever...think about your life and how you can make it better...

Try these 8 things for 1 month and see how you feel, how you look, how you think, and how your life is going...if you like what have, try it again for another month and see what happens...if you don't, then that's okay too...Bottomline is to take control over your life and your thinking and your future as best we can...and if we can have a feeling of more control over our lives, then that's a GREAT start to having more meaningful lives...

You can make yourself GREAT!...

I am a big believer in horoscopes, as a way to provide meaning and explanation to many of life's occurrences and circumstances...so one of my horoscopes revolves around the concept of "I have control over how great I will be..."

What this means is I am the one who places restrictions on my life; I am the one who dictates what I can or cannot do; I am the one who decides what I fill my time with...so when people say, I cannot do this, I cannot do that, I ask myself, "why or what caused you to put that restriction on yourself???" Now, I cannot become Japanese, but I can be a Japanese citizen if I choose to be (it will be really hard, but it's possible); I cannot become 7-feet tall nor can I change the way my skin color looks...but I can become an airline pilot, right now, if I choose to by going to school and working hard and making it happen; I can become President of the United States, if I become a local politician and work my way up through the ranks and earn the respect of my constituents and lead this great nation; I can be happy with my current circumstances if I appreciate what I have in my life right now and I work hard to earn the rest of the things I want to have in my life...what's my point???...I decide what I can be or do or feel, IF I CHOOSE TO HAVE THAT RIGHT...many people feel that they have no control over their own lives, and I say to them, the decision to relinquish your right is the same effort and energy as to take it back for yourself and do something with it...

So if you're feeling sad, do something about it and make yourself happy; if you want more money in your life, work harder, work smarter, work longer-bottomline, work to have more money; if you want more love in your life, love yourself first and then others will attract themselves to you to provide more love in your life...it starts with love in your heart before you can have love in your life...it all starts with you deciding to make your life what you want it to be and believe that it is your right to have it!...For myself, I have been making myself sad and mourning the loss of my mother and I am sick of it...not sick of losing my mom, but sick of making myself miserable and focusing on "the loss" when there is so much she has left behind for me to make my life extraordinary...therefore, I CHOOSE to stop mourning my mom and the loss in my life, and will work hard, work smart, work longer to focus on the wonderful riches "I have" because of my mom (passion for cooking, effortless energy to share with those I love, and a burning desire to be the best I can be)...

I will be GREAT; I will remove the obstacles I have placed in my life that keep me from being GREAT; I will place in my life the goals and milestones that will make my life GREAT; I will be the man I know I am and exceed my expectation...

I will be James Cabigon!...

Allow Oneself to Let Go...

I have to keep this post short, but in essence, most people like to have a "sense of control" as to say, "If I put my mind to it, I can control how things go in my life..." The unfortunate reality is that we only have control over ourselves and that's it...We control how we think - can't control people's thoughts...We control how we move - can't make people move in a certain way or somewhere...We control how we feel (really!) - can't make people change their feelings about anything...So all we have left is "control over ourselves..." What's the secret???...Allowing ourselves to let go of what we cannot control and take command of what we can control...this is a conscious act, to control ourselves...an example of this is making itself quite evident to me today and will make an impact on me for the rest of my life - I have to let go of a very "special lady" today...it's going to hurt, it's going to be painful, but it's necessary...however, I can only control myself (feelings, thoughts, actions) and no matter how much I wish or ask or request, I can only control me...so today, I choose to control myself and allow a "special lady" to follow her own path and travel down that path the way she is meant to travel down that path...I believe she knows what she is doing and I have faith that she will make it there safely and happily...and for myself, I believe that I will be just fine...WAIT...not "just fine"...I will be more than "just fine"...I will be GREAT!...

Thank you and I when I start to miss you, I only have to look to myself and find you in my heart!!!...Love you...

Wow - Ready or Not, here comes Jameson!!!

Hi, my name is James Cabigon and I want to "BE GREAT!"...my salsa dance friends call me Jameson (not as good as Courvoisier, but close enough!), my construction friends call me "everything related to Hawaii" (i.e. Pineapple, Coconut, Crazy Hawaiian, "Stop talking so Fast because no one understands you!", etc.) and my sisters call me "Jamie"...but if YOU were to ask ME, "Who is James Cabigon, and why do I care???", I would reply back:

"...James Cabigon works hard everyday to become greater than he is; to become more than he is; and has the faith to believe he WILL be more than he is...in essence, he wants to "BE GREAT!"...what does that mean???...it means to take everything your good at and share it with the world; and for the areas in life that have room for improvement, it means seeking out experts, mentors, masters to show you the different paths to GREATNESS and have the courage to go there..."

So...."what am I trying to be good at???"...how about we ask a better question..."What am I passionate about?"...Now we're talking!...Food, health, family, and life...keeping it simple for now...and that's what this is about...Sharing with you my continuing experiences towards GREATNESS with GREAT Food, GREAT Health, GREAT Family, for a GREAT Life!

Making it Happen!