Res Ipsa Loquitur. 1. The meaning of this Latin phrase is: “the thing speaks for itself.”

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 2. This is the way my father marketed and grew his dental practice.

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 3. In tort law this doctrine allows a claim of negligence to generally carry its burden of proof without the need for additional evidence.

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 4. This phrase is how I seek to explain the life of Bob Proctor.

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 1. The meaning of this Latin phrase is: “the thing speaks for itself.”

The definition here is pretty easy right? Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that it speaks directly to the essence of its very meaning.

Here, my mind wanders back to my philosophy class during senior year with Mr. Kurth explaining Plato’s concept of “horse-ness” or “chair-ness.”

I vividly recollect Kurth’s reaching out and shaking his right, upturned hand as to wrestle with the concept:

There is an ideal that we all understand as a “horse” or a “chair.”

Because of this whenever we see one – even if it isn’t quite a perfect expression of that ideal – it’s proximity to the standard allows it to that label.

Interestingly, Bob Proctor in a couple of his programs speaks similarly with respect to the evolution of the chair and its multiple expressions by indicating that he imagines that  some cave man or woman originally came up with the bright idea while sitting on a log of putting a back to it.

Once the essence of a chair was established other manifestations came about like the stool, the sofa, the loveseat, the rocking chair, and of course the Lazy-Boy.

Res Ipsa Loquitur at this level is perhaps provides an ultimate portal to “navel gazing” by allowing one to ponder on the “meaning of meaning.”

But, that is not how I originally came to understand this term.

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 2. This is the way my father marketed and grew his dental practice.

My father was the last of 11 children who grew up on a dairy farm in northern Minnesota to parents who had survived the Great Depression.

The results of his upbringing were and remain extreme. He is a man of an extreme work ethic and equally extreme thrift.

His work ethic allowed him to scale to the pinnacle of his craft as evidenced by the fact that though a general dentist, the most difficult crown and bridge cases would come to him from crown and bridge specialists.

Hence, instead of spending money on any sort of advertising his philosophy was that his work “spoke for itself.”

So, imagine my shock when this inculcated understanding of  res ipsa loquitur was newly revealed to me while studying law.  

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 3. In tort law this doctrine allows a claim of negligence to carry its burden of proof without the need of additional evidence.

In a legal context, the situation it is so egregiously obvious that the defendant screwed up that unless having one hell of an excuse – which in legal speak is called a “rebuttable presumption” – they are liable (which is the civil law term for “guilty” ) for the harm produced.

The example I recall  is that of the discovery of a lost scalpel later found somewhere in the intestinal cavity of the patient after surgery.

Now, we may not be able to determine who “dropped” it, but unless the patient is a sword-eating, circus performer who snacks occasionally on scalpels, he sure as hell isn’t responsible for this SNAFU.

But now, by some sort of amalgamation of all of these idea, the idea takes on for me a new meaning.

Res Ipsa Loquitur. 4. This phrase is how I seek to explain the life of BOB PROCTOR.

Bob Proctor while establishing great work habits, did not become a money hoarder.

Much more importantly, he developed his own and others’ spirits along the path of wealth.

Wealth in the fullest sense. Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional, Financial, and Relational.

And I feel it is the later which is most important: One’s relationship with oneself; others; and the architect of the universe – God!

On February 3, less than 48 hours ago, Bob Proctor made the transition to complete oneness with the Creator.

God Bless Bob’s soul for all the positive work he did while he was with us in this plane of existence. As to Bob’s good work:

RES IPSA LOQUITUR…!

As Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now starts, Martin Sheen’s character as U.S. Army Captain Willard finds himself (reflecting on his past) in a numb, dream state just waiting in his hotel room. In his soliloquy he says: ‘I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one.’

The remainder of the movie chronicled his acceptance and execution of that mission.

What I have discovered through the study of materials pointed out by my mentor Bob Proctor is that we all have a mission.

Now, that doesn’t mean that we are all clear as to what our mission is. In fact most people are not at all clear as to their mission.

The reason for this for many is that they simply have never sat down to think what it is that they feel that they have been put on this earth to accomplish.

For some they may have done this and have decided to give up.

I believe this second situation is much worse than the first.

See whereas those masses in the first blithely go forth with their lives in a state of “ignorance is bliss,” those in the second no longer share with them this ignorance.

That’s much more painful! In such a situation, they know that (a) either they are wasting their time because they are not in pursuit of a mission; or much worse (b) they have determined that their life is meaningless.

Unfortunately, these people often fail to identify the qualifier “their” and as a result believe that all life is meaningless.

And this is when things fall apart for not only them, but for any one else with whom they come in contact.

As a friend and co-worker of mine at the fairly recently closed “Camera Shop” just off the plaza in Santa Fe – the one that was right across from La Fonda just off of the plaza – once put it …

These folks have “rectopticitis.”

Rectopticitis? What’s that?

Oh, it’s a “shitty outlook on life.”

And anyone who like him and me who have had a spell of rectopticitis and have later recovered can tell you, this is a horrible disease which puts you on a horrible mission.

Now, that might not make much sense. What type of mission?

The mission in these cases usually is nested deep within the subconscious mind to make one’s own and everyone else’s life miserable.

You’ve seen these types of folks. They are the ones you try to avoid if you can and if you can’t move them along as quickly as possible so they don’t puke out their “crap” on you.

And because of their attitude, the only thing that they secure in life is more “shit!” This creates what Proctor’s mentor Earl Nightingale called “a doom-fulfilling cycle” – their mission.

Now, think of those though who have sat down – perhaps repeatedly for days, months, or even years – and sought to figure out what it is that they really love to do.

If these people come to that answer and then just decide to pursue whatever it is … and even (or often) only as a “passion project” in their spare time at first … they are on their way to a meaningful life.

Again from Nightingale: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

To bottom line it: We all have missions which whether conscious or not we are working toward. So, instead of allowing our mission’s to default to a lowest form, take the time to spell your mission out. Get a clear picture of what it is that you want to achieve and leave as your legacy. Then, get on the path of it’s fulfillment.

I know this is much easier said than done. This is especially true for anyone who has fallen under a nihilistic spell of “rectopticitis.”

But it is necessary. Your life and the lives of others depend on it!!!

A few life iterations ago at the turn of the century found me working at a bank – US Bank.

I worked initially at their Wedgewood branch and then after a year at their Northgate branch.

Besides opening accounts and fielding complaints, one of my primary responsibilities was to “sell” home equity lines of credit.

As I result, I appear to have contributed my little part to what eventually manifested as the “popping” of the “real estate bubble” and with it the US economy’s 2008 collapse.

Well, one of the concepts that I yet remember from those halcyon days was that we couldn’t generally extend credit beyond a 45 debt to income ratio.

What this meant is that anyone wanting to turn their home into their own “private ATM” so that they could draw out “excess reserves of credit,” would need to have the means to pay off their primary mortgage as well as the secondary line of credit.

Specifically, this means that they could not have aggregate debt of over 45% of their income. Pretty simple right!

Ok, now it is important here to take note of the fact that we did not question to what purpose any of the money was to be used other than to keep goose them down the borrower’s track.

But obviously, there is a huge difference between borrowing money to spruce up the basement so that you can rent it out and thus both make their homes more valuable and to generate a stream of income versus say the purchase of a European vacation or jet ski.

Banks at that time  didn’t – and I suspect still don’t – care whether or not they were assisting to make people wealthier or wage slaves.

But now I do!

Most people have heard the phrase: “Pay yourself first.”

And this means exactly what it says.

Create a plan and stick to it – i.e. a financial habit – in which at least the first 10% of your income is moved out of your paycheck (or in lieu out of the bank account that receives your pay check on payday) and have it go into a savings or better yet investment account.

Surprisingly, this is a habit that you should establish even if you are deep in debt.

I’ll go into detail why in another post. But just trust me this is critically important.

What is just as critically important is that this money remains untouched and growing unless used for an opportunity in which there is a clear, low risk return on investment.

Again, I’ll go more into detail as to what I mean by this.

Here though, what is important is that it will serve to get you on the correct side of the income ratio.

Specifically, this means instead of a debt-to-income ratio, now you are looking at a savings-to-income ratio.

And it is this one idea that will start you on the path to becoming wealthy instead of poor.

It’s simply a matter of choice and responsibility.

And the cool thing is that once you get started, you can then track not only the amount of money that starts to accumulate in your savings account, but how by increasing the ratio by just a bit, how much more quickly your money grows.

Believe me, following this financial habit is a lot more fun than worrying about where the money is going to come from when there is no more credit to be found.

That’s a fact I learned the hard way.

Take it to the bank!

On July 7th of last year I started working for LA Fitness.

I also figured that this would be a great way to learn how to sell; a life skill which I had never much developed.

And, I figured this would be a great way to both get in shape after having gone far to long to the “Covid Couch.”

Now with respect to the later, before my start I had already been able to reestablish the habit of getting into the club most days (which is to say 5 days or more per week).

However, I wasn’t seeing much in the way of physical results other than being increasingly comfortable swimming my goal of 2o laps each visit.

Once I started, I was challenged to do a program called “75 Hard.”

I’ll speak on that more as we go, but suffice it to say that for 75 days, I was able to will myself to do two 45-minute workouts one of which had to be outside; drink a gallon of water; refrain from drinking any alcohol; read at least 10 pages each day from a self-help book; and oh yes adhere to a diet.

Regarding the diet, I just came up with the idea of “forcing myself” to eat an apple a day.

The apple a day was really easy. And what happens to you when you do something really easy? Generally you slide.

As it turned out, I was told that apples are much too sweet for a diet.

And I do recollect my wife noting that after a fair workout, she would look down and find that she had burned 300 calories which she indicated was about the equivalent of an apple. She found that depressing!

Nevertheless, I figured that there must be something to the saying:  “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.”

While all of my LA Fitness colleagues noticed that I was eating an apple for lunch usually with a jerky stick and nuts, there was only one that pointed out that this was counter productive.

Alberto, the eldest trainer we have at our club in Ballard, told me that eating apples was not healthy.

He indicated that I needed to take some vitamins instead and texted me a picture of the ones above.

What did I do? Well, I was several weeks into my 75 hard program and I wasn’t going to give up.

So, I just kept crunching and munching my apple a day until I completed my last day of the 75 Hard challenge.

By this time I had long forgotten his suggestion of taking his recommended vitamins.

It was now the sweet, holiday season. There was snow which I had forced myself to walk through and I was sick – perhaps with COVID – though I came up negative when testing, and so I stopped my exercise and water drinking. And then it all caught up with me …

I had a “bout of gout!”

Now, I am not going to go into details about the pain of gout other to say that assuming childbirth is more painful, it is a surprise that we have any people on this planet at all.

Gout manifested for me as an absolutely miserable, localized pain on the joint below my left toe.

Well, I got it fixed by hobbling as best I could to the doctors office.

But, it didn’t just stop there. No. NO!

I like to interpret these types of events as a “gut punch” from the universe.

Essentially, I feel that I am being told to kick it up a level.

Notably, I didn’t feel that I had made very significant advances on losing weight under the 75-Hard program either.

So, what did I do?

I signed up for training with Alberto.

And in addition to putting me through a much more serious workout and giving me directions as to how to change my diet … Alberto again texted me the picture of the vitamins he had originally prescribed for me to take.

These are the vitamins which you see in the picture above!

It’s Chinese New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Tiger!

For quite some time, I have thought that it was nice that in addition to the calendar new year, there is this second new year to again move forward on resolutions.

Like probably more than 90% of the population, I haven’t been sticking to mine.

Asking myself: why? I realize that probably the main reason for this is that I am trying to do too much all at once.

And stepping back from that a bit, I realize that the reason I am trying to do so much is because I am trying to have more activity to get me to a rather nebulous goal “out there.”

The fact of the matter though is that our goals are not “out there.” Each is already within us just waiting for us to bring them into fruition.

Or, perhaps more specifically we all have an infinite amount of goals we could be achieving, but without being focused and pursuing one goal we don’t really get far at all on any.

So, what is necessary?

Simple. Get really clear on the goal and then get in action thinking of ways in which to achieve that goal and keeping striving for it by acting toward it each day.

But, something key to remember is that the goal is not the most important thing.

No, instead it is the process of becoming better.

Yesterday, I started reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits and it helped to clarify many of the mistakes that I have made throughout my life.

Perhaps the most important is the realization that the attainment of the goal is not nearly as important as enjoying the daily actions in pursuit of it.

This has been a huge problem for me.

Each time I have set my mind on a goal, I have found myself putting on my blinders and heading straight at the goal with everything I have.

This got me over to China for study. This got me through law school in 2 and a half years instead of the normal 3. This got me a job at a real estate developer in China too. And this got me to the end of a marathon.

But, in each case upon the attainment of the goal, I felt empty. I came up feeling: “Ok, now what?”

What Atomic Habits speaks to is just going ahead and getting the systems in place to be constantly improving in the direction of one’s aim … the goal will take care of itself.

I like that! My aim is to write each day here. This is the habit I want to establish.

I am doing this for myself and in doing so I realize that production is not going to be expert as I put it out.

Or, perhaps I should say that it won’t be expert until I have established the habit and have been able to improve through its repetition over a significant course of time.

See, it isn’t about writing the perfect book, article, or blog post, article, or book.

Instead, it is about just moving forward day after day by doing an activity that I enjoy and letting the rest take care of itself.

That takes almost all the pressure off.

The only real pressure then is to make sure I get in here tomorrow and do it again.

I think that is a load I can bare. Cheers!

We are all either creating or disintegrating. This is to say we all are either moving forward or we are moving backward.

Oddly, in America – and especially in our corner of it in the PNW – we seem to have made a virtue of fear which precedes denigration.

My understanding is that at least one of the churches I am going to has ended up making a lot of money off of contributions over the past year.

That is all good and well, but what about the lost opportunity to provide comfort to those who were in fear of COVID?

What did the church that I am alluding to do? It went to video while the pot shops stayed open and there was a riotous time at Capital Hill’s CHOP.

Grace appears to allow people to decide on fear even when they profess to be all about love.

Well, isn’t that special!

 

When seeking to learn how to better love any others, the most obvious place to start is with your own family.

Shared experiences may often be unevenly shared in respective family members memory. We all remain different.

But if you are going to invest your time anywhere, wouldn’t one of – if not “THE” – best place to invest one’s time is to express love to your family – those composing the most familiar others?

All of this gets much more complex when we start to consider everyone is unique as to the composition of their own “love language.”

Here, further talk about touch, gifts, time together, contribution, and words of affection will be suspended until another post.

I now fully recognize the most important others in my life are the others within my family of procreation.

I sincerely wish I had done a better job of earlier and more fully recognizing them and the gift of their love.

Mine has never wavered toward them, but my expression did.

There is still time. And that means on a day like today when I felt I should have joined a church retreat, it was clear that my time was better spent completing my family by joining them for lunch at a restaurant instead.

 

Today I started training at LA Fitness with Alberto Meza.

I also started Phase I of 75 Hard with Zimel.

My critical 8 tasks for today are all now a retrospective.

  1. Make calls (though I didn’t even break 20 outbound sales calls).
  2. Train with Alberto.
  3. Thank Melissa for giving me a rather aggressive nudge regarding training.
  4. Speak up on the sales call (which allowed me to learn Jeff Bosworth intends to be at our club on Monday).
  5. Get the oatmeal and honey Alberto recommended and chat up Rob at CVS and Dylan at Albertsons about membership.
  6. Walk a few extra steps to the dog park after my walk to see the big (albeit not full) moon.
  7. Check that my WSBA profile is current.
  8. Put together this post.

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