Kelley Bremer

The Delusion of Passion: A Guide To Exploring Opportunity

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In the world of professional aspirations, business ideas, and personal growth, we occasionally encounter a recurring sentiment from people after being exposed to an opportunity to enhance their lives. It sounds something like this: “I just want to be passionate about what I do,” or “I want to give 100% to everything I undertake.” These statements, while seemingly noble, often paint an unrealistic picture of how passion is developed and what it really takes to get there. Passion does not come from exposure, it comes from involvement. Without this understanding, the idea of passion can be misleading and, at times, delusional.

Let me explain.

Kelley BremerThe Delusion of Passion: A Guide To Exploring Opportunity
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Getting Over Yourself:  A Journey of Selflessness & Growth

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Have you ever paused to consider the thoughts, needs, and motivations of those around you? Why are they here, and what do they seek in life? These questions often lead us to introspection, urging us to understand our own purpose and the impact we wish to make. I’d like to embark on a short journey of self-discovery, exploring the power of putting your life where others are, shedding light on empathy, and recognizing the role of personal growth in becoming a better version of ourselves.

Kelley BremerGetting Over Yourself:  A Journey of Selflessness & Growth
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13 Blockages That Keep People From Becoming Their Best

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The last several years of life have revealed so much to my wife and I.  In the early days, we struggled to get our business up and running.  However, we figured it out, overcame fears, and persevered through struggles to accomplish some significant goals.  Of course, then life hits in a way that is never expected.  Suddenly, the lessons that we didn’t learn on the way up, were made very clear to us on the way back down, as we wrestled to find our footing from poor decisions, complacency, and lack of vision.   

God knew there were some lessons that needed to be learned before really trusting us with the level of success and prosperity that he had in store for us. Thankfully, we were able to learn those lessons, and now we look back at the last several years, thankful for the losses, thankful for the struggles, and thankful for the perspective we have gained through experiencing the pain. 

We have not arrived, but as I look back over those years, having since helped hundreds of people realize their potential, I reflect on some of those things that may have slowed us down at times, and the things I see slow others down.  

With that, I want to give a list of 13 reasons why I see people struggle.  These are in no particular order, and the list is certainly not exhaustive.  They are simply a few things to be aware of, as they could be pitfalls in your journey toward a fulfilled life. 

Kelley Bremer13 Blockages That Keep People From Becoming Their Best
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Tips On Working From Home

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Are you new to working from home? Well, welcome to a way of life that millions of Americans are living. It has been a growing trend as more and more companies are entrusting employees with their work-space, as the number of entrepreneurs continues to grow, and as the world creates circumstances and technology that puts work, family, education, and entertainment all in the same space.

We have been living and developing business from our home together for several years.  We’ve had to not only figure out logistics, but also figure out the pitfalls of human behavior through trial and error.  To help you out, and ease your transition on your new adventure, here are a few tips that we have learned along the way.

Kelley BremerTips On Working From Home
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A Philosophy That Gets Us Through Anything

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Life constantly throws curve balls.  Whether family, finances, relationships, business, or personal self-doubt, there always seems to be resistance keeping people from living out their purpose and pursuing a life that they were designed to live.  Call it whatever you want, but at the end of the day, there are seeds of greatness placed inside of everyone that constantly remind us that we deserve so much more, so living in defeat is simply not an option.

Over the years we’ve had a lot of “overcoming” that we’ve had to push through. We have certainly seen our fair share of times where we were slowed down by self-doubt, financial struggle, business setbacks, and a multitude of distractions that could take us off our course.  That said, we’d like to take a moment and share with you a personal philosophy that helped us get through it all, and still does to this day.

Kelley BremerA Philosophy That Gets Us Through Anything
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Working Together To Accomplish Something Great

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 “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”  
-Henry Ford

This quote rings true in business, but never more true than with couples, and in particular couples working together to accomplish something great. If you’ve ever experienced the ups and downs of working together with the one closest to you, you’re likely nodding in agreement right now.  The power of a team is rewarding.

Removing the Layers

Our lives are filled with demands to perform, and we rarely have an “off day” even when we’re “off”. In the course of pressing in to create something great in your life, the romance and fun in a relationship can dwindle and fade.  If we don’t continue doing the little things that keep it fresh, we can lose sight of the need to constantly get better for each other.

So, is it possible to work together with great excitement, purpose, and passion?  Yes!!  In fact, we’re living it, and know many couples doing the same.  Continue reading, and you’ll be inspired to work better to accomplish your personal, family and business goals—together!

Can We Talk?

Gary Chapman talks about understanding each other’s love language—simply stated, how you prefer to give and receive love. If you find yourself feeling as though you’re falling short in filling each other’s needs, read his book and take this fun and eye-opening assessment. You’ll be amazed by the results and will experience the value as you begin to practice this language in your relationship.

Every worthy undertaking starts with effective communication, and practicing effective communication takes time and commitment. Commit yourself to the practice of sharing your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, respectfully. Your spouse is not a mind reader. Couples who communicate early and often, can work through even the most challenging of situations.

Our Labor of Love

We are passionate about mentoring and encouraging couples to work better together. With that in mind, we’ve prepared a list (in no specific order) of 12 practical tidbits to keep your working relationship fresh, fun and fruitful:

Kelley BremerWorking Together To Accomplish Something Great
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4 Ways to Be Intentional About Personal Growth

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For most individuals, personal growth comes by accident. However, it does not have to be that way.  We often leave our personal development to chance, when there are steps we can take to do something about it.  The best way to gain in the area of personal growth is to make it intentional. We can either choose to grow, or to remain complacent where we are.  By default, however, if we are not growing, then we are dying. Personal growth is NOT a matter of time, it is a matter of intention.

It is hard to change your life unless you do something different.  You see, nothing changes unless something changes. There comes a time when you must make deliberate efforts to grow, to have a realistic shot at changing your life. The following are some of the things we have done to make our personal growth more intentional:

Change How We Spend Our Time

Everyone has 24 hours in a day. If you have a full-time career, most likely you spend 8-10 hours a day dedicated to that. Of course, each night we all need a few hours of sleep (let’s say 6-8), and a couple hours to eat and take care of “basic needs”. This leaves us with a about 6-8 hours each day that we can “choose” what we do with.  How we use that time matters.

So where does our time go?  

Kelley Bremer4 Ways to Be Intentional About Personal Growth
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Tips to Get Your Kids Involved In Winning At Home

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One of the biggest mistakes parents make is leaving their children to the care of the teachers in school. As a parent, you have the power to help your children become winners at home and elsewhere. But just how do you go about that? Parenting seldom comes with a manual. You have to literally run the ropes on your own. Help is on the way!

Here are some tips to get your kids become winners:

Help Them Set Goals

Like everyone else, children need to have both short-term and long-term goals. For long term goals, children need to know what they want to achieve in the coming years. It could be making a step in the education cycle by scoring a certain grade. It could also mean having a vision board in front of them for things they want to have, see, or accomplish in the future.  Most goals ever met were seen in one’s mind LONG before achieving the goal.  It is incredible how the mind goes to work to help one attract to them the vision they set. Short-term goals will help them do the day-to-day actions that will eventually translate to the achievement of the long-term goals.

Teach your kids what setting SMART goals involves. Help them think about what they want to become as adults. Well-defined goals should guide them in everything they do whether at home or in school.

Find Ways for Them to Earn Money

There is one thing that you must teach your children

Kelley BremerTips to Get Your Kids Involved In Winning At Home
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Why What We Say Matters

Would you believe that you can change your life with your words? Growing up, we learn that our words can hurt others, but no one ever told us that the opposite is true too. Our words have creative power and can be life-giving to both ourselves and to others.

Since we were young, we have been programmed to think a certain way about ourselves based on what we say or on what others have said about us – “I’m shy,” “I can’t do this,” “She is so quiet,” “He is not good at reading.” The subconscious mind cannot take a joke and will believe what we repeatedly tell it.

Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, M.D. and therapist Mark Robert Waldman, explain that “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.”  Positive words kick the brain into action, whereas negative words shut it down, increasing activity in the fear center of the brain.

“The longer you concentrate on positive words…functions in the parietal lobe start to change, which changes your perception of yourself and the people you interact with. A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will include you toward suspicion and doubt. Over time, the structure of your thalamus will also change in response to your conscious words, thoughts, and feelings, and we believe that the thalamic changes affect the way in which you perceive reality.” -Dr. Newberg and Mr. Waldman

Terri Savelle Foy, author and motivational speaker, often speaks on this topic. She teaches, “Your life moves in the direction of your words!“, and “What you speak about, you bring about!”

Pastor and author, Dr. Frederick K.C. Price says it this way: “Your faith will never rise above the words of your lips.” We may not believe something could be possible, or that we are capable of it, but the more we confess it aloud, we start to believe it! And then we even believe it enough that we start to take action toward it!

Dr. Price explains that the word for “confess” in the original Greek is “Homologeo”. It comes from Homou, which means “same”, and Logos, which means “logic”. In the Bible, specifically in the New Testament, Logos is used for “Word” (note the capital “W”), as in John 1, “In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God…” Therefore, the Biblical word for “confess” means “saying the same thing God says.” How powerful is that?!

Kelley BremerWhy What We Say Matters
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Getting Yourself Organized and Productive

Timе iѕ a constant. Thеrе аrе twеntу-fоur hоurѕ in a dау, nо more, nо lеѕѕ. The сhаllеngе iѕ tо mаximizе their use-and it’s роѕѕiblе, рrоvidеd you approach the iѕѕuе mеthоdiсаllу. All ассоmрliѕhmеntѕ in lifе, other than that whiсh rеѕultѕ bу ассidеnt, раѕѕ through thrее ѕtаgеѕ – thе gоаl, thе рlаn, аnd the асtiоn. Bу mаintаining thiѕ ѕequеnсе, уоu саn bеttеr organize уоurѕеlf to squееzе more оut оf thоѕе twеntу-fоur hоurѕ.

Identify what iѕ ѕtrаtеgiс tо you
Knоw еxасtlу why уоu’rе dоing what you’re dоing. Identify ѕtrаtеgiс goals.  For example

Kelley BremerGetting Yourself Organized and Productive
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Preparing for Success

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“Success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet.” “Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” We all hear quotes like these, and they sound great in theory, but have you ever found yourself asking, “Where do I start? How do I prepare?”

Author and motivational speaker, Terri Savelle Foy, teaches that success in anything truly begins in our daily habits. In fact, John C. Maxwell, world-renowned leadership author, has famously said that he would be able to tell whether or not someone would be successful simply by following them around for one full day. It is the little daily decisions, often when no one else is watching, that lead to personal growth and goals achieved. These daily disciplines and good decisions prepare us for larger things.

“The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win.” – Vince Lombardi

That said, here are the three areas we focused on in order to prepare for future success…

DEVELOP A DAILY ROUTINE
It is often said that the most successful, influential people follow a daily routine. Identify what daily activities will make the greatest impact on your success, and integrate them into your daily routine.  Here are some suggestions…

  • Wake up earlier. Whether it be 15 minutes or an hour, you will start your day feeling more accomplished and confident because you stuck to this decision and have more time to prepare.
  • Find a quiet time to read, pray, journal, think, or all of the above.
  • Review and speak your goals. Maybe you have a vision board or notecards with your goals on them.
  • Get active and watch your energy level increase so you can do more!
  • Review and draw out your calendar. We have learned that if you do not know what you need to accomplish or do the next day, you have already lost the day before it has even begun!

Creating a routine will help you stay focused throughout your day, and bring a level of stability to your emotions and attitude no matter what happens. Plan, prioritize, and watch your productivity soar!

DEVELOP A PLAN FOR PERSONAL GROWTH
We have to take a look at ourselves. If we are hoping to lead others, we have to be able to first lead ourselves. We have to be better. Like Terri Savelle Foy says, “Your future success largely depends on the person you become today.”

  • Listen daily to a success audio, leadership talk, or maybe it is a podcast.
  • Read at least a chapter in a success or personal development book every single day.
  • Communicate with your mentor, business partner, or manager regularly. Staying in communication with someone who has an interest in your success and a bird’s eye view of the playing field will make you a better leader and communicator.

TURN OFF THE NOISE
This is the cherry on top, so to speak. People often stop undoing the progress they made on themselves by allowing the noise of the world to enter in. Whether it be the news channel, binge watching the latest tv show craze, scrolling mindlessly through social media, or listening to the opinion of someone who does not have what you want in life.

Negative noise dilutes a positive spirit and fogs your mental clarity, and it is this spirit and this clarity that are needed to set and achieve goals. It is not easy to break this habit, but it is worth it!

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” – Benjamin Franklin

It is important to note that this is a journey and it may take some time to develop good habits in these areas. However, if you are anything like us, focusing on these three areas throughout your day will make all the difference for you and your family!

Kelley BremerPreparing for Success
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5 Steps to Eliminate Mental Clutter

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It has been said that, “Simplicity is the byproduct of FOCUS.”

In the midst of today’s minimalism and decluttering craze, we have found that sometimes decluttering is not just about items around the house, but more about where our mental, emotional, and physical energy is going.

Often, these are intangible things – things that we cannot see or touch – but we feel the effect on us. Really, it is about how to prioritize. It is about getting rid of what does not matter much, to give room to what matters most. Prioritization is especially important for the emerging leader to learn early on.

So how do we eliminate our mental clutter and prioritize? How do we focus on the thoughts, habits, and relationships that truly matter, rather than on the little or insignificant things that do not actually move us closer to our goals?

STEPS TO ELIMINATE MENTAL CLUTTER….

  1. Take Inventory. What is your goal this month? This year? In five years?
  2. Decide WHY. Why is that your goal? What will accomplishing this do in your life or create for your family?
  3. Focus on Who, not What. Who matters most? To whom do you have a responsibility? Maybe it is to your family, or a team you lead. People, not things, are typically the best indicator of what is truly priority for you.
  4. Filter a brainstorm of what’s important through the above-mentioned questions. What do you need to do? What should you do? What are things you simply want to do, but are not required?
  5. Isolate. Get rid of anything that does not get you closer to your goals or to those who matter most. Isolate the thoughts, habits, and actions which do move you forward. It is as much about what we say “yes” to as it is about those things to which we say “no”.

Let’s go through an example of this process…

A husband and father works full time and is starting his own business. He currently picks up overtime, plays in a basketball league, enjoys “guy time” on Saturday nights, and loves ESPN. He takes inventory and decides that his goal is to launch his business this year and turn a profit in five years. Why? He wants to provide more for his family. He thinks about who matters most – his wife, his children, and his investor. He brainstorms all of the things he needs, should, and wants to do, and filters that through his goal, his “why”, and who is important. He isolates what is necessary from what is not, cutting out overtime and the league. Saturday nights will be for family time. Instead of watching ESPN, he will use that time to work on his business or meet with his investor.

What this man has done is remove the clutter occupying his mental, emotional, and physical energy so that he can FOCUS only on what will move his life and, most importantly, his family forward.

It may not be easy, but when you free up your mental capacity, you can begin to fill that space with focused effort toward worthwhile dreams, goals, and people. You will look back in five years and be so glad you made these decisions now, we promise!

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14

Kelley Bremer5 Steps to Eliminate Mental Clutter
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