Goooood Morning Muchachos,

It’s been a great week getting back into a groove after Easter and carving out some “Mike time” as I like to call it. I hope you all have carved out time for yourselves this week as doing so will in turn help you to be a better companion, friend and colleague to those around you.

• Starting off is a gem from a pal in Toronto, Chris Ackroyd, titled “You ALWAYS Have Time“. This piece resonated with me on many levels but namely because as a society, we always seem to be “too” busy with work, with school, with a romantic relationship to find time for other important people in our life, not to mention, personal time to reflect. It is all a matter of priorities but if we manage our time effectively, perhaps we are not “busy” but rather “productive” as Morgan Spurlock brilliantly points out in his own take on the subject. Feel free to drop a comment below with your thoughts on the topic. I know I’m not the only one with something to say on this front…

• This is an article written about a kid named Sam from Calgary… But Sam is no regular university student that just goes through the motions and takes what is handed to him. When I saw this article come across the wire, I was really proud of Sam but also taken back a bit to my own university days at Dal, as my life changed the day I left home for university on the opposite side of the country. If you’re a parent and have a son or daughter struggling to “get after it” in university, perhaps introduce them to Sam via this article because he is playing his cards right. There’s more to university than just going to class and studying in the library. It’s about putting yourself out there, going out of your way to meet new people, taking risks, competing and gaining life experience. Sam and I met about two years ago and became friends largely as a result of the reasons I just mentioned above. His quote “The farther I go from home, the higher likelihood that I will have to step out of my comfort zone, meet new people and challenge myself” really resonated with me. Keep on rockin’, Sam!

• This is a particularly interesting read for someone of any age, yet alone if you’re in your mid-to-late twenties… The title is rather bold and perhaps false or misleading, “Why Your Late Twenties Is The Worst Time In Your Life“, but a lot of the content within the article I think is fairly accurate. As twenty-somethings, we have a lot of passion but at times find it difficult to channel or apply that passion into something we love doing day in, day out. We tend to get so caught up trying to find our way and learning to be at peace with ourselves for the person we become. It’s a bit of a daunting aspect of life to zoom out on but one worth spending some time and effort reflecting on.

• Tony Robbins and Tom Bilyeu, mono a’ mono, talking about all things personal growth and fulfillment. I really enjoyed the depth and gravitas this conversation went into. It gets particularly good at 34:00 minutes onwards… If you’re unfamiliar these two gentleman, they are very inspirational men on a mission to help those around them. This conversation is definitely worth tuning into.

• “Off the floor, on the board!” Paul Kariya. 03′ NHL playoffs. Does it get any better?

Song of The Week: “Fire Away” – Chris Stapleton

Quote of The Week: I went to some really powerful flow yoga classes this week and learned a lot from our instructor, Dawn. As we started class on Tuesday night, she brought up the notion that essentially “whatever it is you’re doing, make sure to continually push yourself to new heights but all the while making sure you save some of yourself so you have something to give to those around you. If you give up every ounce of energy you have day in day out to external things, you won’t have anything to give to the important people in your life.” Thanks for the great perspective, Dawn.

Adios Amigos,

Mike