MikeThomasSmith.com

We had a family outing at the movies yesterday.  We saw Night At The Museum. Battle of the Smithsonian.

It was a great movie.  One thing really stood out to me though.

The story opens with Ben Stiller’s character Larry Daley as the CEO/founder of his own successful company.  He has come a long way since becoming a night guard.

What was interesting was how much his former boss had despised him because of his success.  Larry had not treated the guy badly or acted as if he were better than anyone else.   But the guy was obviously bitter over Larry’s success

Today was a really hard day for my wife and me.  We were woken up by our 3 year old screaming that his neck and head hurt.

After taken him to an Urgent Care room the doctor told us that he was in too much pain and we should take him to Le Bonheur, a local children’s hospital, immediately.  My mom took my other kids and we all went to downtown Memphis to the hospital.

The symptoms had people guessing ear infections, meningitis, and a few other long terms I don’t remember how to say nor spell.

Every night I spend a few minutes and think about my day and just thank God for all the little things that happened.  I try not to take anything for granted as I have often thanked him for little things such as getting to work without my truck breaking down.   I always thank God for the super woman he paired me with and our 3 healthy boys.

I suggest everyone do this because it keeps you from taking anything for granted.

We all have little events that happen to us everyday that may not seem real significant at  the time but in retrospect you realize just how special that moment was.

I’m dedicated this page to that one moment or event that really stood out every day.  It’s going to seem challenging at times as life can get pretty routine but at the same time this project is really going to open up my eyes more and enjoy the little things more often.

Sometimes it may seem boring, sometimes it will make you laugh, others may make you cry.  But in the end we’re all going to have a lot of  fun.   And isn’t that the whole intent?

I got an e-mail today that I really liked.   I don’t forward chain e-mails but this one had a really great message that ht close to home.   Plus more people will see it this way.

Enjoy….

Hey everyone,

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted.   I’ve been working real hard on some special projects of mine.

But I stumbled on something that I thought you’d find interesting and quite exciting.  But first a few questions to get you thinking…

• What are your thoughts on speed reading?

• Do you think it can really be done or do you think it’s just hype?

• If you think it’s a valid skill do you believe anyone can learn it?

Did you know that speed reading champ Anne Jones read an entire Harry Potter book in just 47 minutes and 1 second?   Amazing.

Please show some comment love on this one.  You can really benefit from this one and share your thoughts with everyone.

Well, I love to read and thought about how much faster I could read and do research for various topics if I could learn speed reading.

So I bought a speed reading course online and went for it.  Read my personal review and results here.

Go read it now and take action on it if you’re interested.  You’ll thank me for it later.

Before I close out I wanted to share a link with you if you decided to do more research on speed reading.

http://www.worldspeedreadingcouncil.com

God Bless,

Mike

Sad Day, my basketball season is over.  I’ve really enjoyed coahing those kids and teaching them a sport that I love.    I miss those kids already.

The last game was a blast!  I have to say the league we were in goes out with a bang.   They had an announcer and introduced each player over the PA system.  It was so funny seeing their face when they heard their name and jersey number called.   You know the look a 7 year old boy gets when he’s trying to be cool?    Trying to hide that smile.
But to me the best part was after the game.   We had a short trophy ceremony and I got to honor each kid’s accomplishments in front of a crowd of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other supporters.    It was a small crowd of about 100 people.   I had a great time and it meant a lot to the kids too.

Two years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of getting in front of a crowd with ease.  To be completely honest the fear of getting in front of a crowd would have kept me from coaching the team in the first place.

If your fears of public speaking are holding you back from that promotion, honoring loved ones or coaching your kid’s sports teams than you need to click here and begin conquering your speaking fears today.

Thanks for a great season

Hey!

Craig Ballanytne has declared this “Bodywieght Workout Week”.   So what does that mean to you?   How about a healthier you and an extra $100 in your pocket?

This bodyweight workout is an extensive DVD-manual combo that walks you step by step through a fat burning exercise program with no heavy equipment, just your own bodyweight.   It means it can be done anywhere, a dorm room, a hotel room, in the office, or even in the park.

It takes all the excuses away and it’s a $100 cheaper this week only!

So click here for more info and take advantage of this money saving opportunity.   It may never be this low again!

Have a good week.

Mike

Hey Everyone,

I’ve got a problem.

I coached my 2nd basketball game last night and I wasn’t happy with the results.   I don’t feel like the ref was real fair with my kids.

Now understand it’s a church rec league for 6 year old boys so it’s not real intense.   The ref is real lenient on calls such as double dribbling and traveling and that’s understandable.    But last week we were beating the other team by 8 points midway through the fourth and he started calling everything on us until the game was taken away from us.

Now last night: Same ref.   One of the league rules is the kids must play defense with a foot in the paint.   My team complied but the other team consistently went as far as 3 steps out of the paint and play defense on us.  Nothing was called.   If my team took one step out he would blow the whistle.  He even acted as if he was getting tired of correcting my kids.

Me and my assisitant coach have talked to him and he gets real short with us.   I’ve thought about going to the director and asking him about it, but I don’t want to alienate my team any more than it obviously is.

Now I want to clear one thing up before hand.   I’m not a sore loser.  I don’t really care about winning and losing at this level.  I just want these kids to learn the game and have a lot of fun.   It got to the point where my team just gave up because it seemed they felt they couldn’t do anything right last night.  It killed their spirits.
Any suggestions on how I should handle this?

Mike

Hello all,

I’ve got some exciting news!

One of the most respected trainers in the world has agreed to do an interview with me.   Craig Ballantyne, the creator of Turbulence Training is going to take time out of his busy schedule and answer a few questions.

But even better I’ve got something special for you, but more on that in a moment.

For those who don’t know Craig Ballantyne, he is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and his articles have been featured in fitness magazines such as Men’s Health, Oxygen, and Muscle and Fitness Hers.

Being the first day of a brand new year I know that you want to start 2009 the best way possible and what better way to achieve your fitness and weight loss goals then to get the straight answer from someone like Craig.

Here’s what I got for you.   Give me any question you have on fitness, strength training, weight loss, or Turbulence Training and I’ll ask Craig in our interview.    I’m expecting a lot of questions so I can’t promise yours will make it but I can promise you some good info from the interview.

To submit your question simply submit a comment to this post and don’t forget to bookmark this page and subscribe to the RSS feeds so you can see the transcription of the full interview later.   Or better yet subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll e-mail you when it’s ready.

Again, Craig Ballantyne is a very busy fitness expert and I urge you to take advantage of this.  You may never get this opportunity again.

Mike

The other day me and a friend worked out together at his home.    After every workout I like to drink a protein drink, as everyone should in a body building program.   My friend drinks protein drinks also but uses the classic liquid and powder and then stirring with a spoon.

If that’s how he wants to do it that’s fine I mean who doesn’t like a tasteless drink with almost no consistency except for the chunks of powder that did not mix.  YUK!

Personally I would rather use whatever liquid (soy milk, water, juice, etc.) with some frozen or fresh fruit, and anything else I want to add for taste and nutritional value, and pop all that in a blender and be done within seconds and save myself from carpel tunnel syndrome.

So I made him a real shake in the blender and he said it was great and he knew how to do all that but it was such a pain taking the blender apart so he can clean it after each use.    It should be cleaned otherwise you get all that hard food stuck in the cracks and crevices (again, YUK!).

The good news is there’s an easier way to clean your blender, and it only takes seconds.   Immediately after use just fill it halfway with water and put a drop of dish washing liquid in it.   Put the top back on it and stick it on the base and put it on “blend”.   It will fill up with suds in less than one second.  Turn it off pull off the top pour it our and then rinse it with water.  Dry it out with a towel and you are done.

Needless to say my friend was thrilled.

Enjoy your protein drinks again.

God Bless,

Mike