East Coast Visit

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Shaun

I’ve always wanted to visit the East Cost of Canada and finally this weekend I got the chance. While it was mainly for work, I did have some downtime where I was able to walk around Halifax and view the harbour and check out the downtown core a bit. My wife lived out here when she was going to school and has raved about the East Coast so much and I never really understood it until today.

Halifax reminds me a lot of Boston, I was there a few years ago on a conference and when I showed my wife the pictures she said it was like Halifax but just smaller. I now see what she means. This part of Canada is quite beautiful and while it wasn’t the best of weather (apparently I brought the snow since it was sunny and warm the day before I got here, OOPS!) it was still great to get out here and see what some of it was about.

There is a lot of history out here and for anyone looking to visit I highly recommend it. Halifax has the second largest natural harbour at 60 feet deep. It played a pivotal role for many wars where naval ships would come and refuel as well was a major immigration point for Canada. I won’t go into much detail here as you can read up on it on Wikipedia and many other locations. The buildings are pretty cool, old brick buildings with some real beautiful character homes as you travel inland. I visited Truro which is about 1 hour north west of Halifax to see our branch office out there and do some work. The town is quite quaint and has those character homes I mentioned.

I would love to come back here with my wife and soon to be family and spend a good few weeks out on the east coast, not only Halifax. One thing I wish I had time for was to see the Bay of Fundy and the huge low tides that it has, as much as 50 feet difference. One of the guys at the office was saying you can raft on the tide waves called Tidal Bore Rafting (1:40min mark is where it start), sorta like white water rafting we do here in Alberta however it goes with the tide.

We will be back though and make sure we do it up right and spend a good amount of time here. Again if your looking at visiting the coast make sure you do, and make sure you spend a good amount of time here as there is lots to see, lots to eat and lots to do. Just don’t come in the winter or early spring!

Halifax Visit

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Happy Family Day!

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Shaun

For Alberta residents (unsure who else in Canada gets this), Happy Family Day. Enjoy the day with whatever you are doing. We are cleaning the house and getting the babies room cleaned up so that we can be prepared for the big day. So in some part we are spending it getting ready for family!

It’s sad that the government only recognizes one day for the family, just goes to show how much they really do care about the family. If you want more time with your family then you need to make changes in your life to do that. It can be done a number of different ways. I know for us, what we are doing with our business is working for us and is actually going to allow us to have that freedom down the road to spend more time with our family. After all that is one of the main reasons why we started our own business and asked for coaching and mentorship from people who’ve done exactly what we want out of life.

Enjoy the day and cherish these moments with your family.

Vancouver Winter Olympics Reviewed

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Shaun

I honestly don’t have to write much here because this video describes it pretty much to the tee. I did want to add watching these Olympics did evoke a greater sense of pride for my country and I’m pretty sure all Canadians felt the same. Check out this video and reminisce in what was an amazing Winter Olympics.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Video Essay by Stephen Brunt

Debt to Income Ratio Record High

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Shaun

Well to be honest I cannot say I’m surprised. Today CTV reported the Bank of Canada Governor is expressing alarm as information shows Canadians are now carrying more debt than Americans for the first time in 12 years. The debt-to-income ratio is a record high of 148.1% in the third quarter. This isn’t new news because they reported last quarter it was high. This quarter is 5% points higher. You’ve gotta be kidding me. Just shows people don’t give a crap about debt and they just aren’t getting it.

So why is this happening? People think the low interest rates are going to last forever, well I’ve got news, it won’t. Everyone is trying to keep pace with everyone else. “Oh Frank just bought a new car, I must by a new car too!”. “Susanne just bought a new condo, oh we should buy one too”. Maybe it’s not quite like that but people who are full of status and and just have to have that new thing are just not getting it. Its funny cause I see all the time where people buy a new pair of jeans or that fancy new purse and they use their credit card that is already close to maxed to buy it. You’ve gotta be kidding me, your a slave to your credit card and yet your buying new things you honestly don’t need? Same thing can be said for vehicles, TV’s, computers, etc..

Not that I wish anyone ill will but I’d almost like to see an increase in interest rates so that people could just see the effect it would have. Maybe then people will learn? I highly doubt it.

Anyway if you think your not affected by this get honest with yourself because your probably included in these stats.

CTV Article

Reflections from Free Enterprise Days 2010

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Shaun

Wowwowweewow. What an amazing 2 ½ days it’s was in Portland for my 1^st official Free Enterprise Days. Last year I was here as a guest while I was “researching” what Lindsay was getting into. While I was supporting Lindsay during the last FED, I was also judging and scrutinizing everyone with arms crossed thinking I don’t believe that or this. This year I have new eyes, and went in with an empty heart expecting it to be filled up with diamonds and rubies. I went in with some ideas of what I wanted out of this function as I think it’s important to know what you want to get out of a function like this. I was looking for ways I could elevate my leadership and work habit but more importantly ways of how I could move on.

Moving on is key because in order for your team to know how to move on and become successful you yourself need to do so. It was clear by pretty much every person speaking this year that they are united in the fact moving on is key. We in this market are VERY fortunate that our coaches who have personally sponsored us have reached that “1^st Vision” of Double Eagle Ruby. Because of that they can teach us what it takes to move on and secure that for our own self. However this business honestly is not about you it’s about others and being that example for others so that they can move on themselves. It was pretty amazing to see our coaches who have personally sponsored us and also their cross-line and their direct uplines speak in front of over 10,000 people. The impact they had was unreal and something you’d need to experience to fully understand. Canada is rocking the house and inspiring a lot of people!

The largest impact I believe was the bus ride down and back, specifically the bus ride home. 16 motor coaches from western Canada invaded the Portland area taking with it around 800 people, a few other hundred flew or drove themselves. The bus ride back, wow, you want an impact, well you don’t need Diamonds to do that. You sit on a bus full of your team members and other cross line team members and you’re heart will be full beyond imagine. People who are inspired for their vision, their lives, and their families are pretty damn impactful. 5-6 hours of sharing from each person makes for a very short bus trip. I don’t care what anyone says about this business, or what they have “heard” or what they experienced when they built it in the past, the people building it in this Alberta market ARE different. This whole market is on the verge of exploding and impacting thousands and thousands of people and we are able to be one of those people making the impact.

This event is a pretty amazing and while some say it’s a “motivational” event, motivation actually has to come from within you. Nobody can motivate you however you can be inspired and use that inspiration to be motivated to do good for whatever it is in life that requires you to be motivated. I would gladly pay triple what I paid to attend an event like this considering I’ve attended IT conferences that cost $3000+ and I get nothing out of them other than spam e-mails and people calling me to buy their products. I would have never had the impact I had this past weekend and there are really no words to describe it. This entry will never do it justice.

So for the people not in this business or people reading this blog to be inspired by whatever it is you need to be inspired, I’ll leave you with this. Find something that inspires you in life and do whatever it takes to achieve it. Stop with the excuses and put the work habit in and do it!