Brian's Blog

Recently I went to challenge several schools in Annapolis Maryland. This was a last minute stop, pulling events out of thin air and truly challenging students to create a massive difference with one week of planning – and to truly gather their entire community to rally on their side.

Truth be told, I had no idea how they’d pull it off. . . but they have. Here is the video they put out for all the youth in the nation to see. . . produced by Ky, a high school senior and future star producer. . . just wait and see!

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We are sending coffee to Reno Soldiers.

Please visit: Coffee.ThinkKindness.org

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In August of 2009, Think Kindness delivered over 8,000 shoes to an orphanage in Nyeri, Kenya. . . and this is the story we saw. Documentary coming out in Winter 2009.

Tumaini Smiles (Kindness Travels Around The World) from Brian Williams on Vimeo.

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“No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves.”
– Dwight Eisenhower

EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW THIS:

***You always go through a period of insignificance
before you become significant.***

97% of the world quits what they’re doing during the
‘insignificance’ phase.

Rachel Ray did her TV show for years and nobody watched.

Billy Joel played in bars for a handful of people.

Many people tell me, “Brian I want to achieve great things!” But here is my question: “Are they willing to be insignificant before they become significant?”

Truth be told, I am pursuing a career based on insignificants. I am working to inspire thousands to do small, and seemingly “insignificant” acts of kindness. These small “insignificant” acts of kindness when added up together will make one massive SIGNIFICANT difference. For example, a old used pair of shoes that are no insignificant to you. . . what are they to a child that has never owned a pair of shoes? I believe you know the answer.

Have I failed thus far in pursuit? Yes. . . but I fail forward. And I try to do it as fast as possible. I take one step at a time.

With the power of your mind, in the land of opportunity, there’s never been a better time to take something you love and turn it into something significant. Whether it be a personal goal, volunteer project or business. You are MORE powerful than you know!

Are you ready to be significantly insignificant and fail forward. AWESOME !

READY GO!

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“My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.”
Wilma Rudolph

The human will is the most incredible thing. I believe it is the human will that keeps us going, when everyone else expects us to sit, or even quit.

I have always been fascinated by the heroes who have made unforgettable marks in world history; and illustrated distinguished triumphs over seemingly, insurmountable adversity.

I can vividly recall learning about Wilma Rudolph when I was in grade school. Her life characterized: “breaking through limitations.” Over the last couple of years, I have thought about Wilma when so-called, “limitations” presented themselves in my own life. I think of Wilma, and I am passionately reminded of the amazing power of the human will.

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely and weighed only 4.5 pounds. Most of her childhood was spent in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee. There, she was bedridden as she battled double pneumonia, scarlet fever and polio. At six years old, she lost the use of her left leg. Subsequently, she was fitted with leg braces. Later on in life, she was often quoted as saying: “I spent most of my time trying to get them off. (I had an uncompromising resolve) to be a normal kid.”

At the age of 16, when she was only a sophomore in high school, the 5′ 11″ Wilma Rudolph won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. And, in the 1960 Rome Olympics, Rudolph became “the fastest woman in the world.” She also was the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She won the 100 and 200 meter races; and also anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4 X 100 meter relay, breaking records along the way.

Wilma has always been a role model for me in my life, along with dozens of others, and I hope she can be one for you as well. Today, we are facing tough economic times. However, I truly believe the WILL of our community, the WILL of our family, is strong! I know we can overcome the adversity that is surrounding us, and I know we can come out of it making the world a better place.

Wilma valiantly and brilliantly removed all of her “struggles” during the course of her lifetime. Yet, the stories that arose from her struggles will live on forever! The struggles you and I face day to day seemingly make their ways into the “Best Stories” we will tell our friends at a night or to our grandchildren as they sit on lap next to a campfire. “I walked a mile uphill both ways” or for me, “I am trying to bring over 7,800 shoes to go to orphans in Kenya, inspire hundreds to walk a mile without shoes, film a documentary, and give hope to an entire city that WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.” – Yes, people doubt me – this is my challenge, this is my adversity I have to overcome – but I promise, it will be a story that I will be able to tell my grandchildren with a smile on my face and big arm motions to make it sound even grander!

Wilma expected victory when just about everyone would have understood if she’d just lay down and quit. So my question to you is. . . What is your challenge, what do people expect for you to lay down and quit at – . . . This is your story – make it a good one!

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adversity, hero

I always like to ask random questions. . .as some of you may know. Things like – “If you had a one way ticket to anywhere . . . where would you go?” – Well, someone asked me “what are some of the craziest things you want to accomplish in your life” . . . so here are mine – this is my “Life List”

(These are in no particular order)

1. Drive a Ferrari in Italy
2. Witness a revolution
3. Go winter camping
4. Raft the grand canyon
5. Try the blowfish
6. Speak to 100 Schools
7. See the sunset from key west
8. Go Vegetarian for a month
9. Machu Picchu – Great Wall – Pyramids
10. Heli-Ski/Board
11. Write a book
12. Hug a tree
13. Sleep in a tropical rain forest
14. Eat a living thing
15. Climb an active volcano
16. Learn to sail
17. Learn to fly
18. Go 12 Days without checking messages
19. Crash a black tie party
20. Take pictures of exotic animals
21. Paris – Rome – Barcelona
22. Run a marathon
23. Visit Antartica
24. Marry the most amazing woman in the world.
25. Make my child’s “Life List” my own.

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I am now going on my 8th day in Manitowoc WI challenging over 9 schools to make a massive difference in the world. . .all through a simple pair of shoes. Many people, and children, in the United States don’t realize how easy it really is to make a massive difference in our world. Soles4Souls and myself have come up with a program that inspires students to “Change the world, from the feet up”.

In martial arts I was constantly given seemingly impossible challenges, one being a black belt. We’ve taken this philosophy and applied to the school program. We have decided to give them 3 MASSIVE challenges.
1. Text Drive: Each school will run a text message drive to see how many $5.00 sponsored text message they can get sent to Soles4Souls. Each text message makes a $5.00 donation and will fund 2 BRAND NEW pairs of shoes for a child in need!

2. Gently used shoe collection: Each student will challenged to go into their closet and find gently used shoes that they would like to donate to a child in need. We have set up drop boxes at each school for students to donate their gently used shoes to Soles4Souls.

3. Kindness Challenge: The first two challenges ask students to perform acts of kindness for others they will never meet. Now, we want them to focus on their school, friends, and family. So we challenge them to document and perform over 5,000 Acts of Kindness in two weeks! School Vs. School – who can document the most acts of kindness?

So far the challenge has done amazingly well. We have gotten on the front page of the news paper – and by the end of the challenge I will have spoken to over 2,700 students in less than 10 days! Amazing.
Will keep you posted on how their results turn out.

-Brian

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In our society we are surrounded by modern day technology, news, movies, video games, cell phones, and tons of other luxuries items. . . these things sometimes take our focus away from what is really important. Sometimes, we miss the beauty, love, and kindness that surrounds us on the daily basis. Sometimes we miss the very things that makes life “worth living”.

With Kindness,

Brian Williams

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At what point in your life is it exactly as you expected? Does this really ever happen? If you asked yourself 5 or 10 years ago, if you pictured yourself where you are today. . . would you have been right?

Now for some, and yes I fall victim to this as well, look at this question in a negative light. You are NO WHERE near what you expected. Your life at some point, took the left turn, instead of the “right”. You pictured yourself more successful, better job, living in a bigger house, married, children, healthier, fitter, or better educated. At what point in life do you prove yourself “right”. You are going “exactly” to plan, you go down the right path, you accomplish everything “according to plan”.

Well, I know some people that do have “plans” and they do a wonderful job sticking to them. “I will be married by the time I am 27” etc. Funny part is, the individuals I know that have specific plans, from my perspective are not that happy.

Life does take unexpected turns. New people come in your life and people unexpectedly leave. Some you may fall in love with and others, will fall out of love with you. Heart break will tear down your walls and others won’t even let you through theirs. Success will knock on your door and you’ll forget to answer. An extra heart beat may sound in a womb of a new mother and you may become an unexpected father.
We know, or have become, any of the above.

I can honestly say in 2004 when I moved to Los Angeles I thought my life would be in a totally different world than it is. I don’t for one second regret it (especially after traveling to Kenya), but is it different? Night and day. At times, this causes me to be negative. Feel like I need to work harder to get back on track, please more people, or to make a bigger difference.

Yet, it is the challenges that come into our life – it’s the adversity that we unexpectedly face that make LIFE a great story. Movies have their bit of unexpected twists and turns. AND IT MAKES THE STORY GREAT!
So when you are mentally in your downward “dumps”. . . what gets me positive?

I think of every moment as a “Bar Stool” moment. As if 10 / 20 / or even 40 years from now I will be telling this story on a bar stool. And the story I am writing with my life right now, will gather the attention of everyone. It will chill their skin, place smiles on their faces, and even at times, cause tears to roll down their cheeks.

One great example is a famous band called the Eagles. They said, ““Just for the record, we never broke up. We just took a fourtee year vacation.” Now, 40 years later they talk about how they broke up, lived separate lives and got back together.

Everyday children are reuniting with their birth parents, rekindling old lost relationships, finding old friends, and igniting the drive to reach their true potential. Truth be told, nobody has a plan. . . just a history. Your history is written every day. And as you sit down on your bar stool decades from now, your life will not be where you thought it would. . . but if you seize every breathe and every moment. . . it will be even better. I promise!

To Your Bar Stool Moment,

Brian Williams

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Brian Williams, motivation, Think Kindness, youth

If you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep a-goin’!
If it hails or if it snows,
‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine
When the fish ain’t on your line;
Bait your hook an’ keep a-tryin’–
Keep a-goin’!

When the weather kills your crop,
Though ’tis work to reach the top,
S’pose you’re out o’ every dime,
Gitting broke ain’t any crime;
Tell the world you’re feelin’ prime–
Keep a-goin’!

When it looks like all is up,
Drain the sweetness from the cup,
See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like singin’, sing–
Keep a-goin’!

Written in 1920 – still rings true today.

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There was a mother inside of the grocery store the other day, and while in line, she was complaining about everything. About the length of the line, the volume of the music, the cashier was too slow, the weather. . . and I looked down at her daughter, who seemed to be about 4 years old, the look on her face said – “Mom please just be happy.”

Her look made me smile and made my day happier – maybe not her moms, but mine. As I was driving in my car, I was wondering why people are so “Negative” “Judgemental”. . . my thinking processed answered both of those questions.

To the negative part:

I think people need to start using the “F” Word. . . FAITH. You see, our society has made us creatures of habit to look through glasses of negative thinking. Negative thinking can be synonymous with “Problem Thinking”. No matter what the situation, you will always find the problem or the bad in any environment. Rather than dwelling on the negative though – let’s jump to the solution

What is Positive Thinking?

Simple – it’s “Good Thinking”. You have faith that no matter what happens, good will always prevail. And what is the key ingredient to make “Good” prevail. . . YOU!

If I asked you to go to a party and look for all the “negative”. You will see the person leaning against the wall feeling alone, the girl that is mad at her boyfriend. . .HECK you might even think the music sucks. But, if I asked you to find all the good. . . you will notice people dancing, having fun, talking, smiling. . . you see. . .what you look for – is what you notice. If you want to find negative – you’ll damn well see it. But what’s more fun, seeing all the bad or the good?

The first step in thinking positive is to SEE THE WORLD AS IT IS. No judgments. No biases (as much as possible.) Yes that is right, as it is. Both bad and good. HOWEVER. . .

With that in mind, the next step is to: SEE THE WORLD 5X BETTER THAN IT REALLY IS. You see with this, you are creating a vision, a goal, and you must have faith that you can get there. MLK had a vision, Lincoln had a vision, Obama has a vision – and there is no doubt in his mind that he will achieve his vision. And his mission is to get us to join him on achieving his vision – being positive, and CHANGE will prevail.

Most negative people find the problems. Positive people find the solutions to those problems to meet and achieve the vision they have in their mind. This pertains to business, careers, and even relationships. You see, if you look at your relationship with a negative mindset. . .YES YOU WILL FIND PROBLEMS! All relationships have problems, positive people find the solutions to those problems because they have faith that their vision and dreams for that relationship will prevail – NO MATTER WHAT.

Now – what is faith? I asked that question to a class of 5th graders one day and a student replied, “Faith is like air – you can’t see it, but you know it is there.” WOW! Yes, you may not be able to see the end goal, the prevailing vision, the outcome, but you know that a good one is there. . . so keep breathing, be persistent, never give up, take the extra step, YOU WILL SUCCEED. Have Faith.

STOP BEING JUDGMENTAL

The lady in the grocery store was making comments about the cashier. She wasn’t fast enough, she talked to much. . . etc etc.

Most people are quick to make judgments – we all do! So, this is my solution. Don’t be judgmental, be curious. I was at a dinner party and there was a lady that was dressed like she was going to the oscars. Everyone said she was stuck up, snooty, negative, and judgmental (even though they just made judgments). Rather than judge her, I was curious of why she was like this. I sat down next to her and just started asking rather bold questions – but I got to the root of her problem.
You see, she was hurting so much inside, that this was her avenue to vent. She places herself above everyone to make her feel good.

The lady in the store – you never know – she maybe on the brink of being laid off, her house could be in foreclosure, she may have a new grandchild that came into the world and every thought is of seeing him for the first time. . . . YOU NEVER KNOW!

So rather than be judgmental and looking at people with a negative mindset. . . be curious.

Try this:

Try to not have ONE negative thought for 7 days. That is right, not one! If one comes into your mind, instantly change it to be positive. This doesn’t mean that you have to overlook the bad, but you find the solutions. If you are having a bad day, “I am stressed, but I am going to go work out to help alleviate some of the tension.”

Now here is the challenge, if you are into this at day 6 and you have a negative day,. . . START OVER! You see, as you do this, you will start to infect people. Those around you will see you glow, they will be curious what “Wonder Drug” you are on – negativity is contagious. . . so is positivity.

That’s all for now.

With Kindness,

Brian Williams
Youth Motivational Speaker

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Brian Williams, F Word, Faith, motivation, youth