Thought I’d share an email I got from a Picture Worthy Day’er. Julie saw one of my presentations and immediately told me she was going to get started. Here’s a follow up.

Dave,

I want to thank you for your inspiration! Doing the Picture Worthy Days in June was a blast!!! It bled into my family in ways you cannot imagine! My girls were actually into it and helped me find different things to do. For example, my 11 year old was going to a ropes camp and on the preview day she said to me, “Mom, why don’t you come and ride the big zip line with me for your picture today?!” On a normal day, I wouldn’t have EVER done that. I was scared until the moment I took off, BUT we did it!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! And something she or I will never forget!!!!

My 7 year old was creating pictures of her own! She came to me one day and said, “Mom, you have got to come down to the pool! I can swim a lap!!! I am only 7 Mom and I can swim a lap!!! THAT IS PICTURE WORTHY!!!” Her exact words!!! J

As a family, we went out on the 7th to pick up trash. We were doing “ 7 Up on the 7th” that [name deleted] started. We have a picture with all of us with our gloves and our bags of trash. Not a single one complained!! That is saying a lot with a 17 year old!! Her friend actually came out to take our picture!!

I made monumental fitness goal strides that month too!!! Remember that I told you that my first picture was running a mile straight?? Well, another day was running 2 miles. Another day was running 3 miles. And ultimately before the end of the month, I ran my first 5K ever while we were on vacation in Hawaii!!! I want you to know that I would have NEVER done it without having heard you speak and having been so inspired to do more, to reach out, to challenge myself. I just wouldn’t have. Thank you so very much!!! From the bottom of my heart, sincerely, THANK YOU!!!

I look forward to this year because I think that regardless of if a do a picture daily, the Picture Worthy June I had changed my attitude, my drive, my life!!! As I said, I still seek ways to challenge myself and challenge my children to be more, do more and most importantly, live more! J

Thanks again!
My very best,
Julie

One of the interesting things I hear about is not just the intended affects of the program, but the unintended. That’s the real magic. It’s all about stepping out of your box and really seeing what’s out there when you seek to do more. I spoke with Julie by phone afterwards and she told me how incredibly supportive her husband was, always asking what the days picture was, what was planned for the days ahead, etc.

Thanks Julie for the great email. I loved reading about the tangential affects the program had with your family as well – and that was all after just one month, imagine the impact this will have after a whole year!

-Dave

If you want one of your Picture Worthy Day pictures to include learning from a great documentary about one person’s relentless pursuit of passion, look no further than the movie Valentino. Valentino’s passion is so overwhelming that it overpowers every character, scene, and haute couture dress in the movie.

Where does such a passion come from?  I always believed you’re born with it, but it gets diluted daily as we make choices for ourselves that conform to what others ask of us. What makes Valentino different is that when others asked for something of Valentino that was outside his passion, he did not answer, not even for a moment. Realizing that your own pursuit of passion has been forgotten is bad, but forgetting what your passion was in the first place is far worse. Whether you’ve been putting off your passion, or have forgotten what it was altogether, Valentino, the movie, will be a great reminder of what happens when you live your life following that passion which will power and empower you most.

As an aside, one of my favorite scenes was when the CEO for the buyer of Valentino’s company, Matteo Marzatto from the Marzatto group, suggested that they needed to start grooming a replacement for Valentino for when he retires. He mentions that, among other things, they must always keep their eye on what their customer is asking for. I thought this was such a sharp contrast to what made Valentino such a success. I don’t think, for a single moment, Valentino ever tried to figure out what his customers were asking for – Valentino made Valentino by whatever vision Valentino had at the time. It was a vision that was proven and time honored and his customers either subscribed to it, or would come to understand.

I also loved whenever Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino’s longtime partner in business and life,  would get acknowledgement for his contributions to Valentino – the company. Valentino, the man, may have had a vision and been a great artist and designer, but Giancarlo made that talent and passion into something Valentino could build a lifelong pursuit from. Watching the movie, I don’t think the substantial impact of Giancarlo’s contributions is a viewpoint anyone disagrees with.

The bonus features are great too!

Valentino – The Movie – Offical Homepage

Best to all,
Dave

The first challenge people bump up against is within the first 14 days. It’s the realization that you may not have something picture worthy going on every day. I have seen this happen to everyone, so be prepared for it. Sometime it can be upsetting to think you don’t have much going on, but that simply not the case.

So, what’s the solution? Realize now that it will happen, and know that the only way to overcome it is to realize you have to create picture worthy events in your life. Picture worthy events absolutely will not “just” happen every day, no matter who you are.

That’s part of the magic of Picture Worthy Day, when you have that realization and you start planning picture worthy events in your life instead of just waiting for them to happen. So, what are some examples? It’s easy, just think of all the things you’ve always wanted to do, or learn to do, and start looking around for classes, etc. Want to learn sailing, go to a convention, take painting class, go gliding, take yoga or how about running for local office? No matter which of these, they take planning.

So, go online, join meetup.com if you have not already, look for classes online, sign up for airline netsaver fares, join a charitable group, run for office, join a club or two, or three…whatever it is, just start writing down all the things you’ve always wanted to do, do some searching, pull out your calendar, make some plans and mark some dates. You’ll be surprised how quickly your calendar fills up with classes, meetings, etc.

What’s the message, if you want to capture meaningful events in your life every day, then start planning them and creating them, they won’t happen on their own. Have fun and start planning.

Thanks to Picture Worthy Day again for one of my biggest changes of the year, getting back into shape. Prior to the last few years I was always in pretty good shape, even excellent shape at one point, as one of my pics below show. But a lot has happened since then. All good stuff…getting married, moving a couple times, a new job and starting my first company and a few kids too. These major changes did not seem to leave a lot of time for staying in shape. So, one day, March 30^th to be exact (i’ve got the picture) while feeling tired and out of shape, I asked my good friend Daniel to take my Picture of the Day of me hanging out at his place. I really wanted to add the “getting into shape” journey to my Picture Worthy Day book for the year and I thought this would make a great “before” picture.

Highly motivated I started back in the gym and within just a few weeks, while on vacation, just happen to meet raw food guru and now famous author, Diana Stobo. A lot of great coincidences took place in my life during my year of Picture Worthy Day and finding myself at a table with Diana seemed to be just one more. Diana introduced me to one of the biggest “take aways” of the year – “going raw.” Diana is probably among the very best in the world on the topic of going raw and her recipes and inspiration, which comes through even in her book and on her website, are a real gift to those interested in getting in shape and feeling great about themselves. I just noticed her book is sold out on Amazon…way to go Diana!

Going raw means eating a diet of about 75% raw food. Why? Because without it our bodies begin to lack certain live enzymes and other nutrients that otherwise get “cooked out” through heating. The proof is in the pudding and in just a few months I dropped over 20 pounds, felt amazing, started jogging (a lot easier 20 pounds lighter) was sleeping deeper, better and for fewer hours and just was amazed overall at how good it made me feel. Going raw gave me tremendous energy and that got me started jogging, something I always wanted to do. My Picture of the Day below is my buddy Steve and I on my/our first jog at 6am. I had also started going back to yoga but was having a tough time since I had not been in a while.

I was never very flexible, so yoga was a big challenge, to say the least. I was the type that could not bend at the waist and certainly couldn’t come close to touching my toes.  As I began losing weight yoga starting getting easier. Soon I was 20 pounds lighter and was hitting yoga poses I could have never imagined.

Then, about five months after going raw I decided to do some research and seek out not just another tailor, but rather the best tailor in Dallas. I worked hard between found a new tailor to really maximize the impact of this new, trimmer physique I was not sporting. Enter Robert Cantu of Dallas. The man is a genius with a needle and we have a lot of great stories together since I brought him almost my entire wardrobe and requested that it be “painted” on.

Thanks to all the people in my life that made that goal of getting in shape so much fun. My wife Leora for making sure the house was always full of raw goodies. I don’t want to even think of where I’d be without her love and support. Diana Stobo, your inspiration, message, true caring…oh yeah, and raw recipes was priceless. My friends at the Suze Curtis yoga studio (I’ll write about them in another blog) are amazing and Robert Cantu (also the subject for another blog). Robert is a great tailor. Why, because he cares about tailoring and customers first and business second. Not a very popular recipe anymore, but a rare one that is hard to find, but welcomed and appreciated when it is. I cannot wait to write about how great of a tailor Robert is, his love and passion for his time-honored craft and why my August 3^rd fitting with him was truly a great Picture of the Day!

Getting my suits "painted on" by master tailor Robert Cantu of Dallas

Raw, energized and ready to go for my first job with my buddy Steve.

Diana Stobo's new "already sold out" book about eating raw. If you ever thought about going raw and getting in shape, start with this book!

In pretty good shape in this shot. The date is not right, I recently took a pic of the actual pic...thus the recent date.

Here was my Picture Worthy Day moment, at 180 pounds and over 10 years later. Tired and feeling run down, it's time for a change for sure... great "before" picture.

This was great. I have always dreamt of being flexible and being able to do a pose like this! Totally a Picture Worthy Day moment and huge difference between then and March 30th

It’s official. The blog is now up at PictureWorthyDayBlog.com and linked to the Facebook wall. Here you will find many thoughts and tips to get the most from your Picture Worthy Day experience. Some quick news…Please help me welcome our new Chief Welcoming Officer, Joy O’Brien. Congratulations on the new position JO. I wish you many opportunities to use your well honed welcoming skills. Also I just extended a very appealing offer to someone I hope will become our new VP of Holding It All Together. I hope she says yes! She is highly skilled and experienced in many of the things we’re looking for skill and experience in, so let’s see what happens. Look forward to more great news soon.

Dave