Archive for the ‘Tim Walther Adventures’ Category

Check out this short video that gives a little taste of what mixed climbing on a first ascent in the mountains of Wyoming is like. Awesome! Koch, Prax, Mulkey, Stubbs and I on Halloween day (yes, I wore a wig all day climbing) – a first ascent on Carter Mountain!Click here to watch a 1 minute video…   thats ice climbing   It’s kind of like, FUN, but different :o)

I don’t have television, and haven’t for a long time. I spend my evening late night relaxation-chill time reading, writing and occationally watching news and on-line videos. My favorite source for entetaining and inspiring videos is Ted Talks.  Check it out. www.ted.com  It’s great because they are all short videos, about 20 minutes, and brings the best of the best from each speaker. Last night I watched Tim Ferris on learning, Martin Seligmen on Optimism, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi about FLOW.   Here is the Mihaly video for you to check out.  I have studied his work for years and have certainly experienced it in a variety of settings.  I love the model of Challenge and Ability and all the emotional states in between.  Flow comes to me in many forms. Playing music (percussion), rock climbing (long alpine routes most notably), writing (when I am fully engaged in the content), speaking (when I SHOW UP and am open to my own improv), and I could list a few more but will hold with that.

Check it out, and then be prepared to get hooked on TED! 

When you do, let me know what creates FLOW FOR YOU, will you?

I love this time of year.  September and have October have been filled with mind blowing experiences. Here are a few highlights!

The Coins Three Peaks Challenge – USA -

An unbelievable construction industry charity event we developed in collaboration with the Coins Foundation that involved teams of 4 climbing 3 North East Peaks (Whiteface in NY, Manadnock in NH and Mansfield in VT) all in 24 hours! Check it out!

Seeking True North Jackson Hole 

The advanced Grand Dynamics multi-day open enrollment program focused on integrating the STN models, methods and tools and including leadership strategies, complex team adventures, neuropsychology, facilitation techniques and more!  A few program highlights included a Native American Sweat Lodge and purification ceremony, Tyrolean traverse bridge building and Iron Chef cooking competition.  Thanks to all who can out!  Birget we can’t wait to be together soon in NY :o) A special shout out to the California contingency – Stephani and Holly – YOU ROCK!

CFMA Spring Creek – 10 year anniversary  

This year marked 10 beautiful years with our partner, the Construction Financial Management Association. Two groups, each coprised of about 25 finance professionals in the construction industry – engaged in an experience of a life time with Grand Dynamics lead facilitators Rick Erickson and Tim Walther.  More to come on this – and a special THANK-YOU to all who SHOWED-UP!!!!!

Not to mention – the Great Will Leggett has been rocking programs across the North East. From Catapult Building events and Collaborative GPS and facilitate managment advances – GREAT work willie!

I look forward to working and playing with you all soon!

Live your Adventure -

Tim

Hi Everyone,

WOW – am I excited!  On Friday afternoon, September 25, 2009 we will be joined by my good friend and Investment Strategy Master Phil Town.  Those of you in Jackson may know Phil or have seen him around town (ha, ha).  But then again, maybe not because he has a wild travel schedule, speaking to 20,000 people at a time!  (No kidding!) You might have heard about his NY Times # 1 Best Seller, Rule # 1.  You probably haven’t heard about his new book, Payback Time.  He told me that he had a 5 day window between Singapore and travel all over the US this fall, and he’s coming to Jackson to be with us!  Why? Because he not only BELIEVES in the Seeking True North message, but has LIVED IT.  Phil is an expert a knowing when to hold em, and when to fold em, so to speak.  He puts on his pants just like we do, except when he does he makes gold records. (ha! Obscure More Cowbell joke)

Seriously, If you are going to be learning about financial success, why not go to an EXPERT?

I want you to learn all about investing in your most important assets while Seeking true North in your own life, regardless of whether or not you can make it to our seminar.  So here is a post for you that has success strategies about your relationships, peer groups, and strategies that are cross contextual. Yes, this is all part of the Grand Dynamics strategy to offer our perspective and empower individuals, teams and organizations – whether that comes across in a dialogue, email or our team building events, seminars or speakers.

So get this, part of Seeking True North is about surrounding yourself with a peer group that raises your standards. One principle I have known to be true is that our lives are a direct reflection of the EXPECTATIONS of our peers. Do your peers truly raise you up? Do you raise to the expectations of those around you?  Do your relationships serve you to evolve into your highest self? If your relationships do not serve you, consider the reframe of the relationship that empowers you to your highest self.

You may find this concept similar to the STN tool known as the Prax Factor, which in essence says that if you want more of a certain thing in your life, then seek out people that have those qualities! Want more happiness and laughter in your life? Then surround yourself with people that are happy and laugh a lot!  What qualities might you want more of in your life? Who might be someone that has those qualities? The same principle applies for anything you want more of. 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we all would like to make smart investment decisions, whether that is investing your energy, your time or your money.  Which leads me to another point, and that is that many success strategies are cross-contextual.  This means that what you learn in one situation can be applied to another. Where have you already been successful in your life? What strategies have worked for you already?  I can certainly vouch for this principle in my own life.  The first thing that comes to mind for me is Rock Climbing. That’s another post, another story, but my point is that when I apply those concepts that have brought me success in the mountains, I immediately begin to experience results in other parts of my life. And as I  continue to continue to seek out those people who have been VERY successful in many contexts, I begin to discover their patterns that I can apply in my life.

Yet another STN Principle is that SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES.  If you want to achieve a certain thing, there is a pretty good chance that there is someone out there that has already achieved it.  A personal motto I like to say a lot is that success is reserved for those that search it out!   Thus the Seeking part of the True North equation! Who might be a role models who has already achieved or is currently achieving the success you with to have? Generate your own list and find out what they are doing! And don’t forget the implementation part of it. Choose the action and begin to MODEL their success. Develop your sensory acquity along the way and notice what it working. Learn, adapt and continue on with power and confidence. Soon the results will be coming your way.   

I personally desire to continuously learn more about financial success. Phil Town has and continues to experience that. And What I love about Phil Town is that he started off, well, very similar to many of us in Jackson Hole who moved here to ski, climb or guide rivers.  And he took a borrowed $1000 and 5 years later had turned it into a million. Now he is one of the most sought after speakers on investment anywhere.

I’ll spare you the details of his rags to riches story (which is awesome by the way) and skip to the present. Phil town will be at Spring Creek Ranch on Friday afternoon from about  3-5 PM sharing his Seeking True North story and success strategies for investing.  Yes, Phil will be talking about investing. He’ll share secrets about how you can begin to capitalize on the current market, even if you have never traded a stock in your life. And for those that have, or do regularly, you’ll gain insight that could make all the difference. Yes, Phil will share secrets that could make you millions. And yes, the strategies that Phil will share will be concepts that you can APPLY to many aspects of your life. Remember, Success Strategies are cross-contextual!

Now you may or may not be a stock trader. You probably at the very least have a 401 K or an IRA or something of the sort.  Maybe you do have a bunch of stock and maybe you have lost a lot of it. Here’s what Phil has to say about his new book, Payback Time.  “PAYBACK TIME is about just that – how to get it back if you’ve lost it.  If you’ve been following my advice you should be in pretty good shape and now starting to get back into the market.  But millions are not. Most of these people are not people who are interested in investing, nor do they want to trade. They are buy and hold mutual fund investors.  And they’ve been killed financially.  Now all they are doing is praying the market will go back up.   In a recent email exchange with Phil he told me this: ”This market is the opportunity of a lifetime for true north investors who understand the basics of great investing:  buy only wonderful businesses.  Buy them only when they are on sale. Knowing how much to pay for a business is all about knowing Payback Time.” 

WAIT! What if I can’t make it to the ENTIRE Seeking True North Weekend? 

Well, I want to make this presentation accessible for anyone interested. Of course, there is only so much room at Spring Creek, so we’ll have to cap the numbers, so if you are interested in attending this portion of the weekend, then contact us immediately at info@granddynamics.com to reserve your spot.  However, I want to reinforce that this weekend is about immersion into the MANY success strategies that apply to our lives personally and professionally.  The weekend is designed to take your life to new heights and to breakthrough anything in your way.  I look forward to seeing you there.  http://www.seekingtruenorth.com/a-personal-invitation/

Here are a few posts of Phil’s that I personally like. You might enjoy them:

About Phil Town: His story, information, links, etc:

http://www.philtown.com/phil_towns_blog/about-phil-town.html

Phil’s post about the MEANING of what you are investing in, and investing using your values to make decisions (awesome!)

http://www.philtown.com/phil_towns_blog/2009/08/rule-1-and-meaning-reap-what-you-sow.html

Phil’s post on what you do if you don’t have the money:

http://www.philtown.com/phil_towns_blog/2009/03/what-to-do-if-you-dont-have-the-money.html

Here’s a sweet video of Phil in Action:

Phil Town on CNBC from Phil Town on Vimeo.

I look forward to seeing you soon. Until then, LIVE YOUR ADVENTURE!

Tim

Hey Everybody!

I am SO excited about STN in Jackson and our registration release!  Psyched to see you here! Here’s a brief update.

I’m back in Jackson Hole. After a couple hours sleep yesterday, went into the mountains to climb the Grand Teton. We started at 1 AM from the Lupine Meadows Parking Lot in Grand Teton National Park.  By the time we were 2 hours in (at Garnet Meadows) we were walking through a blanket of snow!  The night before we took off (which was the same afternoon I arrived from the drive from California) there was a storm came through between 7 pm and 11 pm and completely changed the conditions on the mountain.  In other words, when I went to sleep for a few hours that night, the mountain was in one condition, when I woke up, it was in another entirely, but I didn’t know it!  Therefore, we planned on one set of gear, including lighter weight shoes, which wasn’t appropriate for the climb…

The hike was so beautiful and eveything was flowing, so we continued on our approach optimisitically and by the time we made it to the Lower Saddle our feet were just about frozen.  After a few minutes of reality testing, we decided to rest a few minutes and head back down.   It was a beautiful walk in the mountains.

Here are some links to posts you might find interesting!

Something Funny about perceptions and entitlement:  http://www.seekingtruenorth.com/2009/07/everybody-is-amazing-nobody-is-happy/

A story of adventure/my near death abalone diving experience):http://www.seekingtruenorth.com/2009/04/happy-birthday-abalone-diving-near-death-experience/

FLOW and an Incredible Rock Climbing Yosemite Link Up: http://www.seekingtruenorth.com/2009/05/flow-geronimo-yosemite-and-royal-serenity/

Self Actualization, Happiness and Emotional Intelligence:http://www.seekingtruenorth.com/2009/06/are-you-living-to-your-true-potential-notes-on-self-actualization-and-happiness/

I recently attended Brenden Bouchard’s Expert Academy in San Francisco.  The concept of the intensive four day training way how to position yourself, and your company, as an expert.   The training was excellent for many reasons. The foundation is that most of us have a certain level of expertise that we want to share with the world. The question is, “How do I bring my expertise into the world, to make a positive impact for the good of others and make a living while doing it?”   

Like anything in life, there are SYSTEMS, that help us to turn our ideas and visions into reality. Earlier this year I decided that THIS YEAR is going to be the year for Grand Dynamics to expand our impact through information products, systems and on-line training.  In doing so I have been studying in great detail many of the big time on-line product sales gurus.  One of them being Eban Pagan, who is know for his Guru Mastermind programs and systems. Eban is all about selling information products on-line. He made more than 20 million last year in on-line product sales.  What I have paid special attention to are the systems which these “experts” employ.  The sales copy, the product launch, the value propositions, the mixed media deliverable, etc… 

In early April I received an email from Tony Robbins recommending some free video training from Brendan Bouchard.  All it said was, “check out this link, there’s good free training, and it’s only up for a few days.  Of course, I went to the site and checked it out.  It was “Expert” training for Speaking, Seminars, Coaching and Publishing.  Ummm, okay!  Well one thing led to another and I signed up.  Now I could tell you a TON about the systems that I learned over these four days.  And I will be sharing a few of my insights down the road. I will tell you that Grand Dynamics is positioned to expand our influence and add tremendous value to individuals, teams and organizations.   Armed with these new systems, we are ready to fully leverage our organizational potential. 

So there Holly and I were, after two days of intense training, waiting for what I knew would be a highlight of the weekend – Tony Robbins joining us to share his secrets on how he created his empire.   Tony stepped onto the stage and his presence was simply undescribable. He IMMEDIATELY took control of the packed house of 400 by simply SHOWING UP.  His first words to the crowd were something to the effect of, “You are all EXPERTS or want to be EXPERTS, right?”   ”YES!” Well I have news for you, NOBODY LIKES AN EXPERT.  In fact, experts are ego-filled know it alls that are typically pretty darn annoying.  He went on with this them for some 15 minutes, essentially telling all of us that we don’t want to be experts at all!  And as I listened, I could do nothing but agree with him.  WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO BE IS A SERVANT.  Yes, a servant which brings all our passion, knowledge and skill to the world to ultimately create an incredible positive impact in society.  As leaders, we want to add so much VALUE that our service is undeniable.  This concept has been ringing in my ears since he stepped off the stage.

The rest of the 4 hours of Tony’s talk was filled with stories of how he has made it out of one seemingly impossible situation after the next. I mean truly amazing.  He talked about how our belief systems and determination and our goal of being servants for GREATER GOOD is what will drive our long-term value and success as “experts.” I believe it. I am so passionately fired up about Grand Dynamics – and how we can empower individuals, teams and organizations to live to their true potential. We DO Have the expertise, the experience and the passion to add value. Get ready for a whole series of services, products and passionate GDI people dedicated to delivering value – and massive positive impact.

I’ll leave you with these thoughts – What is your passion?  Where do YOU have expertise?  Are you truly sharing your expertise for the GREATER GOOD in society? And if not, what’s holding you back?????  -  TIM