​How do you define "Your Thing"? Could "Your Thing" be success? Whether personally or professionally, success is something that people strive to achieve their entire lives. Since success looks different for everyone, finding it can be a challenge that you can only overcome through effort. In a world that is constantly changing at an incredible pace, becoming a lifelong learner can boost your chances of success and getting "Your Thing".

One of my earliest lessons in life was that if I wanted something I would need to make it happen. I liked things, and it took money to get my things. My first entrepreneurial experience was mowing lawns in my neighborhood so I could earn money to get, you guessed it, my things. The challenge here I was only 10 years old and pretty small in size, but I could push a mower. I knocked on doors and offered my services. I didn't know it at the time but I was learning about marketing & communications, sales, rejection and success. It was the start of a lifetime of learning that added to my skillset today.

Skillsets
The more skills you have, the better chance you have to become and stay employed when it comes to the workplace. Discovering new learning opportunities is the key to increasing your skillset.

If you are a lifelong learner, you can increase your level of knowledge and skills to the point where you are more marketable to future employers. In addition, if you are already employed, your potential for advancement is more likely if you take the time to learn new skills.

Communicate
Communication is a key factor in creating the success you desire in your personal or professional life. This is because it allows you to send information out into the world and understand the world around you.

If you are a lifelong learner, you tend to gain knowledgeable information about various topics that you can then communicate effectively with others. Being seen as a source of valuable information is a trait that many successful people hold.

Good communication effectively comes from having confidence in various areas of interest. Additionally, when you are familiar with a topic, you will convey the information so that people will understand and can apply it directly.

Opportunities
If you ask most people why they are not taking risks in either their personal or professional lives, they will probably say they are afraid of failing. This is especially true in the world that is moving at lightning speed.

Lifelong learning creates opportunities that you might not have had the opportunity to partake in prior. This is because by acquiring new knowledge and skills, you may seek out new career opportunities.

Employers are typically looking for people that have versatile abilities that will, in turn, benefit the company. People who are willing to continuously learn new skills are extremely attractive to businesses.

I often remind myself and my staff of our purpose by asking a question. Why are we here, why are we employed? The answer is to add value. Understanding this and that lifelong learning leads to added value and success is vital. It's why my Guru Ninjas project exists. It's to help others grow personally and professionally with content and expertise. I'm excited to continue growing it to add value to you as it continues to evolve and develop just as we do.

Never stop learning and do what you wanna do, if it's your thing.

What can I create today? It's how I start each morning. It's what is making me write this article! What does being creative even mean? How does it even happen? To most individuals, they refer to the arts – writing, painting, sculpting, and music for instance. However creativity applies to everything – anything fresh, anything that's never been created earlier. Being creative takes imagination and after doing some research, I've found there are two types of imagination for creativity. Join me as we take a journey into imagination.

Creative Imagination
Creative imagination, which lies on the far side of our logical mind and our ego, is where all genuinely new ideas derive from. When a scientist devises something the globe has never seen before, he's using creative imagination. Consider it as new clay.

Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were well-known inventors who learned to tap into creative imagination. Mr. Edison, for instance, was reported as having tested more than ten thousand ideas for his electric-light bulb using his synthetic imagination alone, and they all failed. It was only when he tapped into his creative imagination that he carried off the perfect electric-light bulb.

Synthetic Imagination
What is this synthetic imagination? This is the imagination delivered of education and experience. You apply your mind to alter things around, view them from another angle, or rearrange existing stuff to form something “new”. But nothing really new ever came from synthetic imagination.

How much of what you accomplish has never been witnessed before (by you, at any rate)? When you author a fresh book, are you regrouping stories or legends you’ve seen before, substituting characters, hacking and exchanging? When you write a new musical composition, are you truly only changing one of your preferred childhood songs? When you do a fresh marketing campaign, are you simply placing your own spin on a successful campaign already used by some other company?

​Most modern creative thinking books available are in reality centering on your synthetic imagination. But there's nothing inappropriate about this; as a matter of fact it's a critical step. An original idea frequently needs to be forged by education, reasoning, and experience in order to forge a finished product.

Let me sidetrack a bit here. All thoughts, all goals, everything we would like to achieve starts out as an idea mentally, and is forged by hand physically. Anything humankind ever created started out as a thought. Anything humankind ever created was forged by hand.

I know I find myself in the synthetic creative mode constantly. I look at existing ideas and concepts and shape them in my own way. I do it to add value not only to myself, but hopefully others as well. Some resonate right out of the box, some take time, and some just never do and disappear. But, I'm always willing to give it a try.

So what makes an idea a great idea? There are 4 things found here. 
​

I've visited my hometown of Tampa, Florida and the neighborhood I grew up in many times over the years. My most recent visit seemed different and it was because I was seeing things in a different way. "With different lenses" is what I've been telling others. If you know me you know I'm passionate about locally-owned local-brand businesses. They are what give communities personality and make them unique. Without them, we all look the same. Within the grid of South Tampa, it definitely looks unique to me!

I define the grid of South Tampa for this post as bordered by Kennedy Blvd to the north, Gandy Blvd to the south, Bayshore Blvd to the east, and West Shore Blvd to the west. It is within this grid you'll find a few hundred locally & family-owned local-brand businesses. Many of them for generations and it was so refreshing to see and finally appreciate! Other business friendly roads within the grid are Henderson Blvd diagonally, Swan Ave, Bay to Bay Blvd, El Prado Blvd, and Euclid Ave horizontally, then Manhattan Ave, Himes Ave, MacDill Ave, and the main drag of Dale Mabry Hwy vertically. In South Tampa national brands seem to be the exception and not the rule serving an estimated 90,000 residents.

So why are there so many small local brands in South Tampa? Tampa just turned 135 years old and there are many older buildings and strip centers within the grid that are local business friendly. They are visible, part of the neighborhood, many of the owners live there, and the residents support them. It's the right formula for a local brand to succeed.

This was a short four day visit for us and I'm so glad we took it. I stopped by the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce to meet my counterpart Kelly Flannery, President & CEO. I wanted to introduce myself and let her know how much I appreciated the number of locally & family-owned local-brand businesses they have the honor to work with and serve. It was really impressive! Do you have a city or community that gives you the same feeling?

​While listening to Pitbull's Globalization channel on SiriusXM on my way to work one morning I hear a promo bumper with Pitbull saying "FEAR has two meanings: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours." I love acronyms and I really liked this one but was it a Pitbull original? After a quick search it actually originated from Zig Ziglar, an author, salesman, and motivational speaker and it's a powerful message to share.

In 2019 I was asked if I would participate in a Dancing For A Cause fundraising event for the Lake Houston Family YMCA. Those who know me know I'm not shy and have no problem being in front of large crowds, but this, this was different. A choreographed routine with just me and a dance partner with everyone watching? So much could go wrong here and the fear kicked in! I had two choices: Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. I chose the later and with the help of my amazing dance instructor and partner Elly Willms, it was an amazing experience and personal accomplishment. If you watch the 2 minute routine you'll understand why this post is titled 'Inspired by Pitbull'.​

There comes a time when the pressure is on. It would be best if you made a decision, but you're afraid to act. You're not sure you even can make the right decision, much less act on it. What do you do?

The problem isn’t so much about what needs to be decided. Instead, when this happens, you need to figure out how to find the confidence to act. But where can you gain unwavering self-belief fast? 

Give Yourself a Pep Talk
Hey, you've been here before. You've had doubts, made decisions, and in the end, things turned out just fine. Remind yourself of a little previous history where you know you did well. Now use a little logic: if you've done it before, it's clear you can do it again. 

Surround Yourself With The Right People
Do you have a support system? If those around you are more likely to criticize than cheer you on, walk away. You don’t need others running you down right now. Instead, seek out support from someone you know who believes in you and will be encouraging. Give them bonus points if you ask them to help you remember all the good stuff you've done in the past, and they come through for you.

See Yourself Succeed
Why not try a quick visualization of the outcome? By picturing your success, you’ll find it easier to make the decisions to set yourself in motion and will feel better about the potential outcome. Read my Guru Ninjas article on visualization here!

Face Everything And Rise
Finally, it’s so easy to be indecisive. Don’t fall into procrastination or stall out entirely. Instead, realize there comes a time when you need to take the plunge and act. Trust your instincts and jump right in.

The heart and soul of entrepreneurship is people. Company and product branding are important but when it comes to being the person associated with these two, personal branding is a must. That's why I created GuruNinjas.com.

A common saying is people like to do business with those they know, like, and trust and I believe in that. The best way to accomplish this is building relationships face to face. I love the opportunity in-person networking offers to accomplish this and it works. But you are limited to how many of these you can participate in, if you can at all.

I've met so many talented and knowledgeable people over the years who are experts in their field. I wanted to create a way for them to expand their spheres of influence beyond in-person events. A way for them to connect with each other with the added benefits of public visibility and exposure. That's Guru Ninjas.

A Guru can be defined as an influential teacher or popular expert. A Ninja can be defined as a person who excels in a particular skill or activity. Put the two together and you've got what it takes to be a Guru Ninjas member. Members of Guru Ninjas are recognized for their expertise. They support each other whenever possible. They share knowledge and earn trust. They are the go-to-experts you want to connect with.

The digital landscape needs to be part of a personal branding plan, especially if you are a master at your craft. ​Guru Ninjas is more than an online directory with quality ways to build backlinks for SEO, it's a digital space to earn the trust and respect of those who need the goods and services you offer. Are you ready to be a Guru Ninja?

"Hi, my name is Mark Linabury and I like to create membership organizations that people want to be a part of." This is how I introduced myself at a committee meeting recently. I then followed up with how it all started in high school with a club named Toga.

Toga was not an original idea. It was a revival of the original Toga club of the late '70s that my close friend John Hudek's older brothers were part of. We were looking through their yearbook and thought it would be a good idea to bring it back in 1983. What was its purpose? It was a social club more than anything else but it helped lay the foundation to a skillset for future endeavors.

First it had to be formed through an approval process by the school's principal that included having a teacher that would sponsor it. We needed to know our "what & why" to get it started. Toga was a spirit club and the purpose was to bring that spirit to events such as pep rallies and games. Then came the "how". We brought that spirit by performing skits and making banners. But why would anyone want to be in this club?

Let's face it, it was high school and there were people who wanted to be part of something "cool". And Toga was a "cool" club to be part of. To help make it cool, it needed to be exclusive. Not just anyone could be a member. Students were required to submit a membership application for consideration along with a $10 fee. We actually never denied membership to anyone and as you can see by the group photo, the concept worked. "Are you a member of Toga? You should apply to be a member of Toga!" created the momentum for the club and many new friends were made because of it.

So why am I sharing this story? If you are building a membership-based organization or business, a key element to its success is creating something that others want to be part of. More importantly, they want to invite others to be part of it too. I experienced this starting with Toga at Plant High School in Tampa, FL, and then again with Paradise Fitness Center in Guam. Our business plan was to have 1000 members the first year and we more than doubled it. I'm now experiencing tremendous momentum and growth with the Greater EMC Chamber in New Caney, TX. Always surround yourself with good people and teams. It's a great feeling to be part of something that adds value to others. It's an even greater feeling to know they want to share that value with others too.

​Sometimes, making changes that you want to see in your life feel nearly impossible. It takes a willingness to step outside your comfort zone to make significant changes that will transform your world. In a leadership position it should be more about "We" and not just "Me". However, for you to lead effectively you must focus on yourself and never stop learning. These changes can be the beginning of a happier, healthier life both personally and professionally for you and those around you.

1. Listen to Your Intuition—We like to think life is linear and rational. But more often than not, we make blind decisions based on what we know at the time. But what if you started following your intuition more? Often, the right choice is the one we don’t fully understand at the time. Your intuition can lead you down a path you least expect, but that can change your life in exciting ways. Worry less about connecting the dots and spend more time riding the wave.
   
   
2. Understand Your Why - You want to make changes but find year after year, you have yet to make it happen. One reason for this is because you don’t understand why you want to make the change. Or you understand it, but you focus on how hard it will be to make the change. Look at the big goal you have and ask yourself why you want it. Will it free up time, make you healthier, or make retirement more comfortable? If the answer is yes, you should keep your thoughts on how much better your life will be when you’ve made the change, and then take action. Always start with your “why.”
   
   
3. Take Action - Often we humans wait until the time is right to do something meaningful. And for this reason, many of us have regrets later in life. What do you genuinely want? If you can answer that question automatically, it’s time to take action. Any action. It doesn’t have to be the “right” action. But making that first step will lead you to discover the right next steps to take that will lead you to where you want to go.
   
   
4. Stay Shortsighted - Have you ever thought you’d like to make a significant change in your life but then thought yourself out of it? When we look too far into the future, we can get overwhelmed and end up doing nothing. Ask yourself what the first step would be to make that change. Then the next step. And the next one. Most successful people didn’t know where exactly they’d end up. They just knew they wanted to change their lives, and so they did, step by step. Don’t let the fear of the unknown steal your happiness today by keeping you paralyzed.

These four concepts were key to an amazing year both personally and professionally and I'm often asked how it was done. No secrets here, this is how. I'm very thankful to be surrounded by others who supported where these four concepts have taken us and will continue to take us.

Drive north, south, east, west through well populated areas and you may notice how they mostly look the same when it comes to retail, dining, and other choices. We as consumers make that possible. It's not until you explore more beyond the big boxes that you may find what gives communities personality and what makes them unique. I'm talking about local brands. Have you supported one recently? Give a listen to my short PodMark podcast of why we need to think of them as an option more often.

"Hi Mark, this is Brad Hollibaugh with ServiceMaster. We have an app that I'd like to talk with you about in regards to marketing. Could you come visit so we could discuss it?" It was a call that set in motion a series of events and opportunities that lead me to where I am today.

I had first met the Hollibaugh family in the mid-2000's through a local chamber of commerce. Brad, his wife Linda, and his brother Stan were actively engaged and were connecting with the Kingwood community they not only did business in with their ServiceMaster franchise, this community was also their home. Fast forward to 2016.

This is when the call was made from Brad. We made the appointment and I went to visit where we discussed the possibilities of their new app. Long story short, I left that meeting as their new Director of Marketing. Although I knew the Hollibaugh family, I didn't know how supportive and caring they could be. This new position would reveal this and so much more.

One of the first things I did as Director of Marketing was reengage the company with local chambers of commerce, the Lake Houston Area Chamber and the Greater East Montgomery County Chamber. We were not only members, we got actively involved. I quickly found myself making new connections for the company and taking on committee and leadership roles. In 2017 I was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Greater East Montgomery County Chamber and then out of nowhere, I was dealt a personal health issue that allowed me to learn about the true supportive and caring nature of the Hollibaugh family.

Twenty-five years later I can still hear her voice saying, "Thank you for bringing this to our family".

It was 1993 and we had moved to the island of Guam from San Diego. I had been in the fitness industry for a few years but I was not sure what I was going to do on the island. The move was a reset decision for us after losing a business in San Diego and my wife had family there which was a big help. It was a time to start over, plus we were young and had nothing much to lose.

After being inspired by the high price of sports supplements found on the island, I knew what I was going to do. I started a company and named it 'Island Muscle'. I was able to take it from selling products out of the trunk of my car to a retail location in a short amount of time. It was from that store another idea was born called "Paradise Fitness".

Island Muscle customers would share with me what they liked and didn't like about other gyms on the island. It became very clear that there was an opportunity for something new and different. Guam needed a fitness center that catered to all who wanted to make a difference in their lives. I had the know-how, the connections, the experience, but I didn't have the financial resources to make such a venture a reality. However, there was someone who did... he was my 'Island Muscle Fitness Store' landlord and he loved working out and spending time in my store. He not only had solid relationships with financial institutions on the island for funding, his family owned the building and property in the right area for it! He was able to offer what started as a simpler vision to one that was much larger and a partnership was formed. His pitch for my idea? "You can stay in your little canoe or hop on the big ship with me".

In 1996 Paradise Fitness became a reality and a place for everyone. The slogan was "Experience the Difference". It was created from the very differences people were seeking and it flourished! I was a Founding Partner, Vice-President & General Manager, and I also opened my second 'Island Muscle' retail location inside our new fitness center. I was so proud of my achievements feeling on top of the world with my incredible ideas and business building abilities. I was young, cocky, and making money but I was no match for my business partner. He was off the chart when it came to those attributes, plus he had ten years on me.

It didn't take long to realize the partnership was not a good fit when being made to feel nothing was good enough. No matter how much success I was achieving I no longer enjoyed what I was doing. I was not without fault though. What was once a confident bulletproof builder of empires was belittled into something much less of his former self. I found comfort in partying to all hours and it just added to the problems of the entire situation.

In 1998 I sold my interest to Paradise Fitness. I'll probably never understand my business partner's methods and motives but I do thank him for the opportunity he gave me. He knew how to think bigger and better. He provided a first hand experience of what I did and didn't want to become.

I helped him with the creation of a second location even though there was nothing in it for me. To his credit the fitness centers remain open twenty-five years later and while there are many stories within this story as to why this was even possible for him, it is quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately I'd been written out of the Paradise Fitness story (​as you can read here) but those that were there know the real story.

It's the reason I write this story. It's a tribute to his mother who I will forever be grateful. Without her blessing and approval of the Paradise Fitness Center venture, it may not have ever happened. Because of her we both benefited greatly. She would often call to talk and would take the time to say, "Thank you for bringing this to our family". Her name was Agnes Ada Sgro and she understood the meaning of gratitude.