Two Years to LIve? What would you do. My Father's Cancer Inspires Me

I just found out my father (what seemed to be a healthy 73 year old) has stage 4 colon, liver and rectum cancer. Doctors have given him 2 years to live with intensive chemotherapy.

So during my journaling on this news, I asked myself what would I do if I was told that today. Really, any of us could have only 2 years or less left to live. So I started my list:

1. Travel European, South & Central America, India, Thailand & Egypt (I just don't know where I would find the money or way to do that right now.)
2. Get accepted in a Ph.D. Program 
3. Write a Book ( I was thinking of a way I could leave a Legacy and help the most people in two years) - it didn't take me long to come up with the topic and chapter outlines: "Motherless Children, Workplaces & the US."
4. Deliver Keynote Speeches on my book.

Currently I am an Eco-Realtor, Sustainable Creative City Consultant and delivering an occasional training program on Generations at Work/Train the Trainer/Creativity/Creative Teams and a few others. Even though the first two are interesting and fun...I truly love training, teaching, researching, education and helping people to grow emotionally, psychologically to live happier lives. So it is such a hard process but I do want to act as if I have only 2 years left and do more training, teaching, writing my book, delivering my keynote and traveling.

What about you? What would you do if you were told you only had 2 years left?

Sick and Tired of Wimpy Americans Especially Those Who Call Themselves Activists But Won't Use Facebook to Their Advantage

Every day I run into varieties of people who squish up their faces when I first ask if they are on FB and then when I ask if we can be friends. I especially go bezerk when I am at a community activist organizational meeting or just chatting with an activist, community organizer, or small business person and they look at me with a glaze in their eyes when I explain how I am using Facebook to connect with people for the purpose of organizing larger numbers for the causes I care about. It is especially annoying when I run across a Community Activist or Organizer on Facebook because they are either friends with somebody I respect or have made a few posts/comments I like and when I go to ask them to be a friend - they have told Facebook to block anybody they don't personally know with no way of sending a message of why I would want to be their friend...i.e. so I can support them in their activist cause and help them build numbers for their movement!!!!Geez Luise

Come on people of America! Wake Up! We have the most powerful tool we have ever had to truly have democracy and power to the people, but if you continue to be whiney about "ooooohhhh I don't want people knowing about my personal life so I am only going to be friends with people I know (all 8 of them) but yet I want "collective bargaining" or I want the corporations to clean up their messes or better yet be restricted from making messes in the first place or I want my cause_____________ to get bigger, receive money or support to actually make something change. Get over yourself and join forces with as many people who are trying to make a difference locally first...be open to new friends you don't know. If you see a post you like check them out and ask to be their friend.

Egypt+ people have figured it out and are using FB & Twitter to overcome Dictators and get freedom and democracy.

I suggest you get as many new friends as you can in FB (you can set up lists to see your closest friends and families mostly but then be able to check in with your new FB friends) and check in daily on FB &/0r Twitter to be connected, stay in touch. Quit relying on the Corporate Owned Media on your television - and rely on people you trust to get you information.

And if you are in charge of an organization trying to make a difference and you don't have a Social Media Campaign in place - stop saying I don't know how, its so time consuming, blah blah blah and get somebody on board who can help you get it going. I offer those services call me: 816-686-7499 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              816-686-7499      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Please people before its too late and the Corporations & the Wealthiest People Who Don't Care about a World That Works for all completely strip us - get connected to more then just the people you personally know.

Its so easy to get started if you haven't started your own personal FacebookTwitter Activist Campaign or to go to the next level as well as getting your organization going.

1. Send me an email with your name, organization, a brief description of what your cause is and what you are currently doing for your Social Media Campaign,
2. a good email address and
3.  I will send  you a top 10 things to do from where you are right now.
4. my email is franny@frannyknight.com.

Jesus & The Law of Attraction

It is unfortunate that many Christian denominations claim to have the truth about Jesus Christ and his teachings when most of them don't jive with my understanding of his message. I have studied Jesus Christ now for 45 years and I just don't get the mainstream interpretation of his life and my belief of the life he was wanting us to live is so extremely different. For example, I believe that Jesus Christ taught us that we could have anything we wanted physically with the proper manifesting using our talents, mind and faith. He had examples of this over and over again, from creating bread and fish out of thin air, to multiplying wine by 1000s of bottles, to raising the dead, to walking on water and assuming Peter could too. He didn't perform these acts too look cooler than the rest of us or for us to worship him but so that we could learn to tap into our God given manifesting gifts.

But with this manifesting gifts are some rules. First you cannot be hating people, holding grudges, being mean, or selfish. You have to forgive and love and even love the "unloveable". If you don't do these things everyday - you are clogging up your mind, heart and spirit and will not be able to manifest what you want in your life - it won't work. I also believe Jesus Christ message was you have to have a committment of giving back and giving to others - 10% was a suggestion - but that is not to be taken literally - you can give more - and if you give less I think that is okay too. And giving comes not just in money, but also in time.

So people who have studied metaphysics, the subconscious mind, science of mind, the secret, the law of attraction - I believe that is Christianity!!!  But if I was to go into any of the dominate Christian churches and teach this message of manifesting your desires unless it was all through prayer I would be looked at as if I was from another planet (although I have hope when I see Joel Olsteen preaching this message). My belief is that prayer is to connect us to Jesus Christ & God in order to give us the belief in ourselves that anything is possible and the energy and faith not so we can wait for Jesus Christ & God to deliver to us our desires. We still have to go make that happen - but studying Christ message (as well as Buddha and other great prophets who speak the same truths) and asking for his help to believe it is possible is the reason for prayer.  That is why I think that group prayer can be powerful. It provides support for everybody in the group to believe that we can have anything we want - with the above rules in place.

So if you are a Christian it is perfectly natural and your human right to ask for what you want, to Follow Your Dreams and live the life you were meant to live.


To learn more of Franny Knight's philosophy on Christianity and the Law of Attraction come to the workshop on January 22 in KCMO: Follow Your Dreams.

3 Magic Questions for Improved Human Potential at Your Company

The best way for a company to grow and increase innovation and sales is to hire people who are interested and open-minded in self growth and interpersonal growth. The first step for a company to change from a stagnate, lacking in innovation, flat or decreasing sales company is in changing the hiring and interviewing policies of potential employees by asking these 3 Magic Questions:

1. "What book have you read in the last year that has helped you to become a better person?"
2. " What training, seminar or class have you attended that helped you to become a better person" 
3.  "If you could do anything you desired and make plenty of money and be successful what would you do?"
   The first two questions will let you know if the potential employee is on a path of self-initiative to learn and grow as a person and it lets them know from the beginning that self and interpersonal growth is a value and expectation of the company. So when they are asked to go to a training on better communication skills, they are excited and ready to learn versus feeling like it is a waste of time.
   
   The third question gives you the interviewer an idea of how much soul searching the candidate has done to determine their calling, passion or purpose in life? It also sets up the value that your company celebrates a person's whole self and will help them to live a life of purpose.

The next steps is to incorporate a Human Potential Strategy at your company.

1. Train Managers in Interpersonal & Managing People Skills: Personality, Communication and Diversity
2. Orientation train new employees on interpersonal skills: Personality, Communication, Diversity and Team Work.
3. Train Trainers and Managers to be Dynamic & Creative Trainers
4. Train all employees on Interpersonal Skills (see above)
5. Provide classes on helping employees examine their purpose and career choice.
6. Track employees self growth and  interpersonal development skills using a Learning Management System (LMS) software.
7. Use a 360 Degree Evaluation System: 5 people evaluations vs. supervisor to employee evaluation.
8. Conduct yearly Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Surveys
9. Conduct Exit Interviews
10. Conduct Return On Investment for impact on company bottom line numbers for Development & Engagement Strategies...you can easily look at sales numbers, turnover, customer service scores for example.

Franny Knight, Inc. and the SME People of KC offer a Free Human Potential Evaluation for organizations to help them begin the process of getting 100% engagement from employees: www.frannyknight.com or 816-686-7499. 

Do What You Love Steps - Reprogramming Your Subconcsious Mind

Many people hate work simply because they have not found their own place in the scheme of life. They are doing what is the best they can do at the moment mostly in a job to pay the bills. So the first step out of this rut is to make a commitment to yourself to everyday retrain, reprogram your subconscious mind to get what you really want in life in your vocation. Here are the steps:

1. Every day for as long as you can do it (at least 15 minutes - the longer the more powerful) ask yourself: "If I could do anything in the world I wanted to do, be successful, make plenty of money and be happy what would it be?" Now this is very tricky for a lot of people. We are so used to going for what we think we can get that we never really access our true passion-mission-purpose. So you have to trust me on this and sky's the limit. Be very detailed with what your life would be like (be careful to include everything if not you will be doing something that you thought you wanted but a few of the details are not right. For example 15 years ago, I did this exercise 17 years ago and I came up with I wanted to teach about the higher mind and help people to grow to be better-happier and to travel. Wow it happened. I ended up getting my gig with National Seminars teaching seminars in every city in the country, but the travel was very tough, not quite what I was thinking of.
2. Ask your subconscious mind to open the way for you.
3. Create pictures mentally and in print to look at everyday. Vision Board with magazine pictures is very effective.
4. Create affirmations - pithy short that you can remember and say every day.
5. When the doubts, no ways, fears, insecurities start coming to your head - just say "cancel cancel cancel, I don't know how yet but there's got to be a way! Then set it aside and go about your day! Don't start rolliing in the "REALITY". You have to reprogram your subconscious mind with the possibility, visuals, etc...it won't happen overnight. You will have all the self doubts and negative self talk - count on it. Just say to yourself its okay it will take me awhile to start believing but its going to happen. AND I guarantee if you do this every day it will.
6. Get some books that speak to this (see below), a support person who is also doing it or a support group (starting January I will be starting up the Dream Builders Club that will be meeting weekly).
7. Don't tell anybody about your dream unless they understand the subconcious mind and the Laws of Attraction, Manifestation. Keep it to yourself! Most people don't understand these concepts and will sabotage you especially those closest to you.

I have been doing this exercise off and on for 17 years, starting when I was 28 years old after reading these very inspiring books:

1. Think & Grow Rich: Napolean Hill
2. Do What You Love the Money Will Follow: Marsha Sinetar
3. Psychology of Achievement: Brian Tracy
4. Creating Money:
5. Key to Yourself: Venice Bloodworth
6. Law of Attraction: Hicks-Abraham
7. Wishcraft: Barbara Sher
8. A Course In Miracles & Return to Love: Marianne Williamson
9. Erroneous Zones: Wayne Dyer
10. Hope for the Flowers

Reading these books, asking myself every day the question from above things really started changing for me. At the time I was working as a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant for a Medical Management Company and was very unfullfilled even though the money was great! I knew there had to be something more for me. So I started this journey and soon got accepted in to a Women's Spirituality PH.D. program in San Francisco. Even though I loved being in SF and the program, I couldn't quite make it $ wise so I had to quit. I then tried to do my business Knight Vision & Follow Your Dream Workshops and Counseling. Again, I couldn't make the business go because I couldn't make enough money.

BTW every time I tried something that was my passion and couldn't make $ I would go get  a job to pay the bills and many times would think this "Do What You Love" is a load of crap!  Because I was doing everything the books-authors were telling me but it wasn't working for me. I would go into mini depressions but eventually would come back to the above steps and start again. Why? Because what else do I have? To just stay in jobs that are unfulfilling? So it is the repetition that gets me farther each time. After my Knight Vision failed to make me enough money to live on, I worked for New Horizons Computer Learning Center as an Account Executive - was kind of cool for a job because I got to learn a lot about Microsoft programs, networking, etc....and I made really good money.

Whatever you are doing - do it well - with a light heart, knowing that your present occupation is merely a stepping stone to your desires. Do not scheme nor worry, but with prayer and thanksgiving make know your wants to the Holy Spirit within. Venice Bloodworth

I learned a lot but was bored with the Telesales job in a cubicle after a year and sought out something else closer to my passion of teaching & inspiring people to be happier. I then got my gig with National Seminars as a Public Seminar Speaker, which was awesome. It was the next step to my dreams. While doing work for them I created my own brand of programs that I sold "Shenanigans" and tried to market them, but couldn't ever get enough business to let go of National Seminars work. So I took a leap of faith 2 years ago (after 8 years at National) and quit not knowing how I was going to manifest the next level of my dream-passion. I did Real Estate for two years with my husband and started up the process-steps above again 2 months ago and I am now doing Franny Knight Consulting: Human Potential Consulting for companies, leaders, executives, managers and individuals. I feel it is happening now. I am getting closer to my Dream-Passion with more details in place. Details are very important to ask for in the beginning, but sometimes you just don't know the details until you start manifesting and see the ones you don't want.

The lessons I have learned: never give up, dreams don't have expiration dates, keep asking the question what would I love to do everyday, ask specifically with details of what you want, your mind can't hold to thoughts or visions at one time-go for the gusto vision/thought over and over, wash-rinse-repeat, repetition, repetition, repetition, find a support person or group.

If you are interested in the January Dream Builders Club and Support Group shoot me an email. Here' to hoping your dream comes true in all its amazing details. Franny

What to Do When Unpleasant Things Happen to You.

You cannot always prevent unpleasant things from happening, but you can develop the habit of self control and what happens does not matter but your reaction to them is what counts. The same disaster that causes one man to commit suicide will cause another to redouble his efforts and succeed. Train yourself to smile in the face of seeming defeat. The misfortunes of today are things to laugh about next year.

Every destructive emotion is a wasteful emotion. They always waste your energy and make you less able to meet a situation, whatever it may be. Great anger leaves you weak and unable to put forth your best efforts for some time, while suppressed, pent-up emotions are one of the surest causes of disease, for any destructive emotion disturbs the chemistry of your body and always causes illness in some measure.

If you find it impossible to prevent such emotions from getting started - make yourself repeat an affirmation that will counteract the emotions you are trying to control. Do not try to crush all emotion from your life. Simply replace all destructive habits of thought and emotion with constructive ones. Encourage and develop your capacity to express love, happiness, contentment.

I like to say "cancel, cancel, cancel" when I start down a road in my head that is negative, self doubting, worry etc...then after the cancels, I then say something like, there's got be a way, or everything happens for a reason, or I am powerful, successful and happy or another affirmation. The cancels are a great mantra trigger to break the negative cycle. Try it next time you are hit with a negative or unpleasant situation.

Patience! How Long Do You Wait On Your Dream to Appear?

I have been working on manifesting my Dream Career for 17 years now, since I was 28 years old and read: "Do What You Love The Money Will Follow" and "Creating Money" and "Think and Grow Rich". My biggest challenge is patience and knowing when its time to give up and get another dream or keep waiting. An equal challenge, having a desire for more than one dream.  So let's look at my timeline and dream seeking and see if you can help me out as to what to do. I will do the same for you if you post here or email me your story.

1. 1993-1996: after soul searching and reading the above books, and asking the question over and over again: "If I could have anything I wanted, do anything, live anywhere, be successful what would it be?" I decided I wanted to teach and travel. So I applied to Ph.D. programs (had always wanted to get my Ph.D. and become a professor, my Masters in Psychology was just a pit stop.) Very quickly I got accepted at California Institute of Integral Studies in SF in Women Spirituality: WSD/Ph.D. Perfect.

I began the external degree program (I went to SF once a month for a weekend class) and loved it initially. But I was also supporting myself with my contract work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant for Worker Compensation Claimants and Insurance Companies (this was what I was doing before and really had grown to dislike the work). I also moved to KC from Wichita.  Within a year, I realized I couldn't manage everything: the study load was enormous because I was deficient in lots of areas, costly to fly back and forth and pay for it all and having a hard time keeping enough business coming in to support myself. Something had to go. It was the Ph.D. program. Very sad but didn't know what else to do.

2. 1996-1998: I still knew I wanted to teach and help people and wanted to help with others with Following Their Dreams so I started my business Knight Vision Career Counseling and Follow Your Dream Workshops. I still was supporting myself with the Voc. Rehab Contract Work. I then moved back to Wichita for  personal reasons. After trying to do Knight Vision and work part time jobs (Kinkos, Harry's Bar & Grill), I had to make a change I just  wasn't making enough money to support myself. I was crushed! It is so hard to believe in "Do What You Love the Money Will Follow" and be teaching it, but not be able to make it happen in your own life...yawzaa! So I got a full time job at New Horizon's Computer Learning Center as an Account Executive (paid the most $ with the most interesting service for company and a job).

3. 1998-2000: I thought I was going to do the New Horizons job and keep doing my Follow Your Dreams workshops and counseling, but I found I was too tired from the day job to keep that going, plus I felt like a fraud in the Follow Your Dreams genre. After a year or so, even though I was doing very well at New Horizons, I couldn't stand working in a cubicle and making calls all day and a friend of mine wanted to move to KC and so did I. Not knowing what I was going to do to support myself next, I took a leap quit the NH job and moved to KC and started looking for work. I got brought on with National Seminars as a Contract Trainer and Professional Speaker.

4. 2000-2008: I was an immediate success and a natural at this position. I was delivering programs on Creativity: Creative Leadership, Creative Marketing, Creative Training, Business Speaking Skills, Layout and Design Skills (while I was at Kinkos and New Horizons, I learned all the Adobe Graphics Programs) I loved the training and entertaining and the traveling. I got to go everywhere in the US. I have been to every state in the US at least once. I was also encouraged at that time by friends and colleagues to market and book my own speaking & training business - Shenanigans: Conform to Creativity: Play at Work was born. I was getting booked once a month which was great, but not good enough to just do that. Even though I loved training and traveling with National Seminars, I didn't like the high pressure selling of books/audio at the back of the room (we had to sell a certain amount or we would not be booked) and the travel after 5 years, a different city and hotel room every night, got tiring - I was wearing down. I spent a lot of money and time trying to market Shenanigans then Franny Knight, Inc. so I could travel less and not do the pressure book sales, but I just couldn't get it off the ground (I hear this a lot from other speaker-trainer colleagues of mine).

5. 2008-2010: I got married to my husband in 2009, was burned out on the travel and not sure how to make my own business go and I wanted to get a dog and be at home with my husband, maybe grow a garden, reduce my carbon footprint. My husband suggested I become a Realtor - he was doing this part-time as a retirement vehicle for himself and thought it was a perfect career for me with my personality, sales skills, desire for freedom and flexibility and to make good money. At first I was resistant (I had never ever thought about being a Realtor. Not on my radar at all!) I became interested in it when I learned about Eco Realtors - Green & Sustainability Homes. Now, that, I could sink my teeth into, but still not the same passion and dream of being a Teacher, Trainer, Speaker, Counselor. But I just was too burned out on the travel, and the trying to market my speaking-training business so I took the leap and got my Realtor license.

For two years I have been slowly building as a Realtor specializing in Eco Realtor activities, but am no where near being able to support myself and realize some of the physical things I would like as well as the travel I would like to go on. And its not feeding my soul, passion, purpose, dream. But two years of quite a bit of $ spent and time is hard to let go of, so I just keep plugging away. I do enjoy helping people find homes they love and purchase them. I love looking at cool houses and learning about Kansas City neighborhoods. But I don't enjoy having to list homes for sale that the sellers have to have a certain amount and the market won't support it. Its a tough market for sellers. The way to grow business more quickly in Real Estate is to go after expired listings and for sale by owner listings. These are typically homes and people that cannot sell at market price because of their mortgage or need for enough money for down payment on next house or something else.

Present Day: so I continued to ask myself, "if I could do anything I wanted and be successful at it, what would I do?" And I keep coming back to teaching, counseling, consulting, speaking - I love to do these activities. I also would still love to get my Ph.D. So 2 weeks ago, I made a commitment and an posted an Event on Facebook: 30 Days to Follow My Dream Commitment so I could have a public commitment and support. My commitment was to state every day and do something everyday towards my Dream - programming my subconscious mind for 30 days, consistently. My Dream Right Now: I am a successful Human Potential & Capital Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, Counselor for Organizations, Leaders and Individuals. As soon as I made that public commitment, a friend of mine from Wichita arrived in KC and over a night of catching up and discussing my past training and her past management experience and a week later, we decided that she could really help me re-launch this consulting and training business - that was quite synchronistic.


I was going along fine with my new goal-commitment, until my husband said that he didn't think I could do both things successfully: Realtor & Consulting-Training Business. That both would suffer and that I needed to make a decision. So that is where I am at today - trying to make this decision. And not sure that I need to make the decision. I would love to take a leap and go full 100% into my Consulting Training Business, but am fearful that it won't work, again. That I don't know how to market and get business. That I don't have the ability to do good follow up and manage the business side of it. I know my friend is there to help, but I have fears that she may not stick with it. And then I am alone doing it and am not sure I can do it alone. I am also having a hard time letting go of the parts of being a  Realtor I love - helping people find their Dream Homes and Green-Sustainability Home Education.

So what do you think? What's your opinion? Intuition? I would love to hear from others.

What is your story, dilemma, challenge, dream commitment, patience?