December 22, 2021 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

I hope you appreciate yourself for how far you’ve already come. For how graceful you carried yourself through difficult seasons of your life. For the strength you held yourself as you went through each challenge you had to face. For the hope you kept up during uncertain times.

Life. What a ride! Some of the most exhilarating moments coupled with some of the most devastating and troubling moments. It is the experience of all experiences.

Some people strike me as being too harsh on themselves, holding themselves up to a standard that no one can truly live up to. It looks admirable on the outside looking in, but as they are living that code of duty/honor/ethics/determination/fortitude and tenacity, it can be incredibly grueling on the person who is trying to endure those variables.

Perhaps the solution is to learn to be more gentle with yourself. You’re doing the best you can and that is enough.

I see some overachievers who appear to never be happy with any of the goals they achieve, because there is one greater that they are aiming for. I understand the general mindset, as I have been guilty of this myself, but in counter to that perspective is the realization that we will never pass this way again. Today is the moment. Tomorrow is the promise and Yesterday is the track record.

So this season, perhaps you might take a minute and do a victory lap for yourself. Recognize that you have been weathering very uncertain times. Navigating uncharted water. Searching for your particular path to glory.

Treat yourself to something. It does not have to be large. It can be that dessert you love, or that day trip you have been wanting to do, or connecting with that one person who just makes you feel like you.

The journey is short and fraught with conflict, peril, and tumult…. So when you have a few moments to let your guard down and do something just for yourself… do it.

And in doing so, quietly thank yourself for the grace and fortitude you have exhibited along the way. Those qualities are the building blocks of your future, and you have constructed them with care and diligence.

Happy Wednesday!

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!