Mark Cigos

It amazes me how talented all people are. No matter their financial situation or status – poor, middle class, rich, insanely rich OR their education – school was never in their cards, didn’t quite complete high school, honor student, ivy league grad, valedictorian; people of all shapes and sizes, race or color, religion or beliefs have talent. I don’t give a shit who you are or where you’re currently at, where you came from or where you might be going, you have some form, some ounce of unique and natural talent in you. Its your brand, your super power; the one thing that no one else can do the exact same way only you can. I don’t know what it is that you have, but I do know that you have it. Like your facial features, your body, your voice and thoughts, freckles and warts – they’re all yours. They’re unique and unlike anyone else’s on this planet. You have talent. Its your talent. You may sing, and many others may sing, but I swear to you this that no one else sings quite like you do. I may write, and many others may right somewhat like me or me somewhat like them, but in the end, no one can or ever will, write exactly like I do.

We all have talent. But many of us fail to ever dig deep enough, find it, uncover it and do something remarkable with it. We sleepwalk through life spending our energy in/on the wrong careers, the half hearted purpose, the unenlightening meaning. We fail to breathe deep and exhale with nothing but spectacular. Our natural talent lays dormant inside, fading as we eventually die with question marks abundantly storming through our head. We’ve killed by complacency and disinterest our purpose and meaning here on earth. We’ve left the world a little less special than we could have left it had we searched, researched and delivered. We all have talent.

I may write for passion, I may sell for money, I may lift weights and run for my health and wellbeing like so many others most probably do. But I do know no one does it exactly like I do, and I’m damn confident that I never ever will do it exactly like they do. I commit myself each and every day to doing it my way. I take pride in what I can bring to the table, I ensure that I never stop growing, that I never stop searching. Searching deep inside for my natural talent – the things I do best, the natural thinking and actions that make me who I am.

Talent must be combined with passion. I think this is where many of us go wrong. For the people who have unlocked their natural talent (the ones who’ve been fortunate enough to discover it), they’re perhaps using it in the wrong place or within the wrong organization. Many have passion, but lack talent, however I believe over time, true die hard passion can turn sub par talent into something very special and real. Then there are those with so much talent, and that don’t even know it. How sad. They go about their days living someone else’s life, never fully their own. They go through the motions of life paying the bills, sitting in traffic, watching the tube and attempting to keep up with the Jones’s. They leave bottled up and suffocated inside their green card to another world. They refuse to open the main door that leads to so many other doors and possibilities. They live small by suppressing their natural talent. And then they wonder at the end of their life, what the hell happened? Where did I go wrong?

Use your natural talent, or die wondering what could have been.

You can eat well, or you can chow down poorly. You can think strong thoughts and the right thoughts, or you can spin weak and produce ill beliefs. On a non-stop basis, whether awake or asleep, we feed our mind, we feed our souls. Its consuming, its stirring, its contemplating, deciding, innovating and getting damn creative. Its filtering the bullshit ultimately uncovering the real shit. Its feeding your mind and your soul but remaining all the time in total control. Its disallowing pollution to enter your dome and your heart – allowing only the right vibes passage to your mind and your soul. Its taking everything we see and hear and learn, and deciding almost instant like if its what we want to continue on seeing, hearing and learning. It’s the choice between right and wrong, it’s the difference between the weak and the strong. When you choose right, you can never totally lose sight.

Feed your mind. For it never gets full. It never gets to gluttony when its fed the good stuff. It grows. It expands. Its sharp, crisp, compassionate and wise. It becomes a leader that propels your life/this world onto remarkable.

Life aint easy. If it where we’d all be happy as hell, flying above cloud nine. Reality is life is hard. We’re bombarded on a daily basis with more than we’re ever capable or have the ability of retaining/understanding. Good news, bad news. News, news, news. Laws, rules, principles, threats, choices, warnings, fiction and reality. What to believe, what to allow into our world.

Much like eating, and I’ll use this for an example cause its prime, its all about what we choose to consume, what we choose to indulge in. Boast that your metabolism is lighting speed and you can eat whatever you like, the truth is, over time, it’ll no doubt catch up to you. You’ll likely pack on pounds or end up a diabetic or ill plagued with heart disease or high cholesterol. Same goes with the way you live the other facets of your life – the way you envision your career, your health, the environment, your family, friends and community. We see and feel what’s going on around us. We more or less know what’s abuzz. With the unlimited resources all around, abundant and relevant, how is it that with all this real feeding going on, we continue to consume the wrong foods? (And by that you know I mean more than just food. I mean thoughts and feelings and beliefs and information)

We’re never full when its fuel that enables us to grow right. You can never be too smart or grow too much. We can never be capped on the definition of greatness, for greatness knows know limits. There will always be those who unconditionally open their mind to what is out there for them to receive and do something spectacular with. ANYONE can be that person. EVERYBODY can live like that. WE ALL can choose something better than what we previously chose before. We can be fed but still eat right. We can eat and eat and never fully be full. We can do this so successfully if what we choose is right, better and more. Right for the world, better for its people and more of the like, passed on to others, resulting in a life worth living and learning and loving some more.

Change, change go away, leave me alone and come back some other day. Someday when I’m ready, someday when I’m done with petty, someday when its too late and complacency’s finally got the better of me.

-Unknown

Complacency kills. Change, creativity, purpose and standing up for you, your family, your friends, your community, your company, your world, is what ultimately thrills. That’s what’ll take you to the next step of living a remarkable life. A life worth sharing with others long after you’re gone. Are you just sleeping around with complacency or are you getting stone cold serious with change? Maybe we feel like we’ve got all the time in the world. Maybe we’re all in on the secret, that this aint just one life we’ve got to live here, that the real deal is we’ve got several lives to live after this one. Maybe that’s true. Then again I’d like to see the rock hard facts before I make that audacious assumption and start betting the farm. Change is what’s constantly driving our world, either on a path to self destruction or absolute success. Whichever it is, you’re either keeping up or you’re getting left behind in the dust to rust.

I’m not saying work, work, go, go, fast, fast – I’m actually saying the exact opposite. I’m saying change. Change until you feel right with yourself, change your world around you so that it shines brighter, you feel lighter. The weight of the world is weighing us down. Its making us fat and lethargic, greedy and careless. Its poisoning us with complacency, its killing us quickly. The media feeding frenzy of negativity is brainwashing us, filling our minds with nothing more than dark clouds. Change seems too much a fantasy, now’s reality seems so, well, realistic. Complacency is easy, its comfortable, its safe, its sound. Its also the quickest way to nothing and nowhere. Change however is where its at. That’s the real shit. The good stuff. Change thrills. Its messy, its spills, its headaches and strong, strong will. Change is no longer good. Its direly urgent and its great. Barack Obama is change, not just for the US but for the world. Al Gore is preaching change for our planet. Richard Branson is shooting for the stars, literally, for change on so many levels. Bono will work and work until the day he dies so that we finally associate the word change with Africa. Oprah will show the world that media can induce positive messages and promote change. Bill Clinton will continue to demonstrate that change starts with give. Seth Godin will remind us that in order to change, you need to be utterly remarkable. These are only a few of the untitled change agents. Men and women getting their valuable thrills off living through change.

How bout a serious, serious onslaught of change in your life? How bout you rip down and out that page you’ve written so far, that picture you’ve painted to date. Get crazy. Write down your wildest dreams, goals, wants, needs and visions. Go out there and live ‘em. Drive them so hard that they become reality. Change up everything you know no matter how scared shitless you are or become. Fuck everything you know and just go. Go where your heart takes you, go where it wants to go, where it needs to go. Change yourself, change the world, all in the name of better. If it wasn’t for people fond of and obsessed with change, we’d still be living in caves, now aint that strange? Look how far we’ve come. Time to take it further, time to make change synergize with right.

Technology will advance, the environment will shift, markets will rise they will fall, traditions will evolve, seasons will change. No matter what life throws, no matter how in control of the day to day outcomes we are or are not, one thing remains and will always remain true, people are people. We are all human beings; living, breathing, wanting and needing much of the same to survive. We all want and need love, appreciation, the feeling of importance. We ultimately want to make a difference, both in our lives and the lives of others. We want to feel good we want to feel alive. We want the energy to radiate through our souls and throughout the world. Don’t be fooled, no matter the age or status, race or religion, every living human being wants and needs. So why is it we’ve forgotten these crucial elements when it comes to dealing with people? Why have we pushed aside the dire importance to treat others the way WE want to be treated? Greed, selfishness, carelessness, the omitted golden ingredient of attention to detail. We have become a global nation of me first, fuck y’all till later.

There’s no better place to witness first hand how far we’ve lost touch with the human touch, than the business world. It never ceases to amaze me how people Jekyll/Hyde from one person to another when dealing in a business environment. Why? You’re still dealing with people. You’re still dealing with someone who believe it or not, expects and deserves the same service or experience that you would were the roles reversed. So why lose sight of that? Why freeze and forget moving forward? The reason for my rant today is a direct result of what I’ve personally experienced as of late. From both sides of the fence. Not only when selling to or serving someone, but even those making the purchases, paying for those products or services. The lack of respect, politeness and care (why’d we stop caring so much?) baffle me. Like I said to ignite this posting, shit will change, the reality is people do as well, but the core of what people want and need and breathe don’t. You could read every self-help and business book on the planet and still blur to what’s most important should you fail to dig deep and feel what you want, revealing what all those around you also and equally want. I believe that’s the real key to success. Its people. Its people giving a damn about others, respecting others as they move strong forward onwards to success. Reach far reach wide, shoot for your dreams, your goals, but along the way, shake hands, give hugs, smile, say please, thank you and your welcome and be real. Be true to you, true to the people around you, be kind, honest, selfless and speak with nothing but good in your voice. Life will throw you curveballs sure, there’ll be times when it feels like all the goods been sucked out of you, don’t succumb, keep loving.

When all is said and done, it all comes down to people. People like you, people like me. Love people. Love yourself in order to better love the world around you. Love you and others equally. Next time you’re about to make a move, think deeply, think whether you’d like what you’re saying, doing, being if you were on the receiving end. Take a grand look in the mirror. Its simple neglect, that’s all it is. I believe so strongly that every single human being on this planet has good in them. If not we would have been screwed a long time ago. Chip away at the rock coldness, unleash the warmth inside you, uncover who you want to be based on how you want and need to be treated. Love yourself right and you’ll love the world more.

On the borderline of failure. Or at least so it appears to be. But its not. I’m not a failure, I’m just learning as I go as I grow and as I prep myself up in anticipation for the big show I envision. I’ll fall I’ll rise every twist and turn will no doubt surprise. No matter how well I plan how clear my goals, there’ll be ups and downs all around town, highs and lows that’ll be secret and some that’ll show. Yesterday I got a D- minus on a book review I wrote for a creative/professional writing class I’m taking here in Montreal at Concordia University. Shit a D-, am I that bad? Nah. Not me. I’m just, I guess, different. I’ve never been one to follow the guidelines, and I guess in this class you’ll end up last in line if you think your own way will do just fine. Lesson learned. I’ll review, adjust, tweak, correct and rewrite. Next assignment please. 

Like I wrote, I got a lot to say. Things I’ve been thinking about recently that I’d like to share up here on this Blog. I’ll do it in point form, keep it simple, clear and straight to the point. Enjoy.

• Not everyone’s gonna like, love or praise you, or what you say, write or do. Do it anyway. As long as you hurt no one or yourself in the process, be all YOU can be!

• Play music. Play the stuff you love, play it loud. Sing, dance, act, laugh, smile. When people aren’t watching, when they’re watching. Music is the energy that infuses the soul.

• How many friends, I’m talking REAL friends, can you count in your life? I can count them all on one hand. That’s fine with me. Easier that way. The rest I have much respect for, they simply fall into the acquaintances category. Real friends are hard to come by. Cherish real friends. They aint friends, they’re family.

• Money. Man what’s going on these days? Markets, bailouts, foreclosures, bankruptcies. Think we got a little carried away with the almighty dollar? Greed, karma and so it comes full circle. Life is so cyclical, never forget that.

• Good people. I wish companies and organizations understood their invaluable worth. They never do, at least not until they’re gone. So true. You really never do know what you’ve got till its gone. Today with the dwindling supply of quality-to-the-core people, they’re more valuable than ever. Hug ‘em and hold on to them, don’t let ‘em go. 

• Dreams. Why do we kill ‘em once they leave our mind? Once we awake? Those dreams are gold, carry them forward and see them through. You’ll never ever know what you’re capable of until you do.

• Run. I used to jog like crazy. Early morning, mid-afternoon, late at night. I don’t as much as I used to. I miss it. So much. I ran the other day. God its as close to heaven and euphoric as one can get. Run.

• Write. Read. Speak. Write shit down. I’ve done it here on this Blog sure, but lately I’ve been writing everything that comes to mind, so much of what I experience. Its golden. It sparks new ideas, it empties out stress and ill feelings. It clears the mind, the soul, makes me feel real right, right in control. Read. I was reading some pretty intense books as of recent, books leaning towards the dark side of life, I didn’t so much like ‘em. So I switched, decided to go back to the books that warm my soul, invigorate my mind, propel me to be a better human being. Speak. When I write right and read right I speak remarkably. My mind’s buzzing with fresh ideas, delightful dialogue. I’m living large through my mind, letting it all out as I speak to the world.

We all play the blame game. A vicious tag-you’re-it cycle of its your fault. We blame the children’s behavior and obesity on TV and fast food. We blame slow sales and uninterested employees on the economy and internet abuse in the office. We blame we complain and then we do it again. We’re relentless in pointing the finger yet how often do we look to ourselves and ask what we’re perhaps doing wrong, what we’ve become and what we could be doing differently. Change is good change is much needed now’s a great time to change.

I don’t believe we have bad children in this world, I strongly believe we do however have adults who along the way have become jaded. People who were once kids who forgot how to be kids, forgot how to dream big forgot how to laugh loud. Perhaps these adults never knew it any other way, perhaps their start in life was hard and cold. Or perhaps their childhood was warm and loving and full of hopes and dreams but somewhere along the way they lost their way. The harsh dark realities of the world got the better of them resulting in living and teaching in a way without love and compassion. And so the vicious cycle continues. We blame our children’s ill intentions and setbacks on video games and violence, on drugs and music and the pressures of life growing up. We fail to open up to our kids we fail to listen to them. We fail to improve our lives resulting in failing to improve theirs. We’re falling short on showing them a better way. Doesn’t matter where you came from or where you’re going, where you are right now is all that matters. Cliché as that may sound we all are entitled to choice. What we need to relay to the little ones is that they too have a choice. Many of them. Encourage them to find their own way but help them as they build that unique way. Its all about choices, yet the truth is we care little for the outcome when choosing. The routes we take are not always driven for the right reasons resulting in unwanted realities. Realize and understand that your child is your responsibility, just as much as your life is – blaming the government the economy the bullies in this world is succumbing to the real shit we must all endure in this world. Fail to give up, work relentlessly and confidently in knowing that you can help evolve the most beautiful human being ever to walk this planet, no matter if your own journey hasn’t been so shiny bright along the way.

Same goes for our bosses in the world. CEO’s managers supervisors and the like. They are not bosses they should be leaders. Compassionate and passionate people encouraging and inspiring as they move towards goals and missions. People leading people infusing them to be better people better employees leading and living themselves more remarkable lives. The only main purpose for our existence is to grow. Great leaders bring that greatness out in even the most seemingly average human beings – uncovering the grand potential of what could be and what will be given the encouragement and inspiration we’re all thirsty for. Bad employees? Bullshit. A weak staff stems from an ineffective manager. Like our children it all starts from the get go. The manager our boss is that get go, that spark that mentor that leader. Every single person on this planet has the ability to be something different than they are today. If that wasn’t true you’d never hear of people overcoming life’s greatest obstacles.

I’ll never believe that there is such a thing as a self made man or woman. Everybody needs somebody no matter what path they take in life. Everybody needs that light to look up to, to guide them through rough waters and to shine bright with in the end when the glory finally reveals itself. If only we stopped blaming everyone else and chose to look to ourselves I’m confident we’d start making wiser more intelligent and loving choices. Choices where it aint all about us but at the same time is. Choices that create better for our lives and theirs. Whether it be your kid or your new employee, choices that enable you and them to be all they can be.