Lost Or Pro-Found

A man walks into a service station wearing one shoe. The attendant calls out, ‘Looks like you lost a shoe.’ The man responds, ‘No mate. Found one!’

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Lost? Found? Half full? Half empty? Can’t afford it? How can I afford it?

So what perspective are you viewing your world from?

The way you think will determine the way you live. And the difference between a winner and a loser is determined by what’s happening between their ears. So that’s why I continue to invest in my ongoing education, because I am fully convinced that ‘as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’

If you want to live a rich life, then invest in your mind.

Apparently the average American buys less than one book a year.

Why not read at least one mind challenging book a month, and see how far your thinking and your life will have advanced after twelve months of disciplined reading. Even if you read even a page or a chapter a day you will be way ahead of the populous.

Turn off the TV and turn on a book.

Don’t get lost. Be pro-found.

Thought’s Forts

The defining difference between those who win in life and those who lose is determined by the thoughts that are allowed to take residence in the minds of both. And not only that. It is also directly related to the hedges of protection that they place around their mind that will impact how they live. The most powerful ammunition that can either fortify your life or destroy it are the words that we use on a daily basis.

My challenge to you as my reader now is for you to do a word check. Stop and listen to the words that are passing your lips.

Are they the words of a victor, or are they the words of the defeated?

‘I can’, ‘I will’, ‘I must’, ‘I am able’ build layer upon layer of protection around the fort of your thought. They are ‘building’ words. They are bound by reinforced steel. They are pylons that are plunged deep into your being, ever ready for any thought onslaught that could hit you at any moment.

However, the words ‘I can’t', ‘I couldn’t', ‘I won’t', ‘I’m not able’ do the reverse. These are deconstructive words that give place to the enemy of your life. They open up wide gaping holes in the fortification of your mind and keep you imprisoned in your present – still bound by your past and unless you change your speech you will remain chained into a future defined by those very words.

Words have the power to paint your present and create your future. The paint and the paintbrush is in your mouth. Are you using bright colors filled with faith, or are your words dark with negativity and doubt?

But if you choose to only allow empowering, life-giving words to be your fortification then you will stand strong when the invisible enemy assails your mind. For he will come – but you will be ready to resist, defend and defeat.

Make it your major building project this year to increase your fortified vocabulary that will not only protect you, but will at the same time empower you. For you will be so strong of mind – so much so – that you will be able to go on the offensive as you assault the enemy before he comes, and you will be victorious time and time again – all the way to a glorious and ‘wordy’ future.

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

Why is it that some organizations attract leaders and keep them for the long run, while other organizations attract leaders, and yet discard them in quick and regular succession?

For the power of any organization is found within the leaders that are developed and nurtured in an atmosphere of love, respect and the freedom to lead – where mistakes are encouraged just as much as successes – because within that environment is found a safe place within which leaders can grow.

So here are five reasons why there is such a difference between the keepers and the losers of leaders:

1. Leaders Need To Know You Care

You require more than a great vision to keep leaders. You need to demonstrate to them that you actually care about them and about their personal vision. Remember that they are leaders, and these leaders, who feel that those whom they follow are actually interested in their personal goals and ambitions, will be far more loyal to the overall vision of the team.

2. Leaders Need To Not Be Told

There are two things that leaders despise. They don’t like being told. And they don’t like being told off. They demand respect. And the best way to show respect to a leader is to engage them. Leaders love to be given the opportunity to input. Once given the opportunity, they may not add anything. But simply because you have opened up the chance for them to contribute an opinion, or dare I say, provide some aspects of wisdom, they know that they are respected as leaders. And as it has been given, so too will it be given in return.

3. Leaders Don’t Respond Well To Imposed Management Strategies

If a leader feels that they are being managed, they will begin to flex their muscles. Leaders love to be invited, but despise being told. They don’t mind being held accountable, but will refuse being driven. In many cases it’s not what is said, but rather how it is said. And if a leader is told ‘no’ too many times, they will leave.

4. Leaders Need A Voice

If your organization doesn’t provide a platform for leaders to present their viewpoint, then it will breed two things – frustration and disappointment. Just following a vision won’t sustain their enthusiasm, because they need to express. Secure leaders allow others to verbalize or even write their thoughts.

5. Leaders Need To Know The Guts

Leaders don’t respond well to the occasional public announcement. They need at times to be supplied with some inside information so that they can take ownership in the overall direction of the organization. Remember, I’m talking about the identified leaders in your organization – not every single member of your team necessarily. In order for a leader to grow as a leader in your organization they need to be engaged – sometimes one-on-one, or sometimes as part of a small group where confidentiality is respected and adhered to, and true team bonding is created.

To lead leaders is the greatest challenge for any leader, and yet the richest field of human endeavor to be developed.

Stop the leader leak today from your organization by plugging the hole with these five leadership building principles, and that way you won’t be left standing asking, ‘Where have all the leaders gone?

Intelligent Beginnings

‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again…intelligently’ Henry Ford

I am so thankful for my mistakes. They have allowed me to take from my ‘misses’ the lessons I have learnt in the process, so that I can reposition myself intelligently to try again.

Some people I have known throughout the years have allowed their mistakes to literally bury them. And when I write bury, I mean exactly that. They have entered an early grave. And then there are those who have given up while still breathing, and are now literally walking dead-men – who have allowed themselves to  be confined to a future that is defined by hopelessness.

But I have great news for you. Neither of these two scenarios need to be yours if you simply see that for every loss that you experience that there is a lesson to be gained.

That is why Henry Ford was able to confidently declare that failure has the ability , if you let it, to increase your IQ. In fact, by analyzing your failures, and by dissecting them – to unveil the hidden jewels that are crying out to be discovered – you will increase your intelligence.

And it is that intelligence, gained through real life experience- with a positive attitude – that will equip you to face and overcome any other challenges that you may find yourself facing in the days to come.

Don’t be afraid of beginning again….intelligently.

And never allow failure to bury you, but rather guide you all the way to success.

Life’s Full Stops

When we are born we are issued with a life sentence.

Now there are two ways that we can approach this. We can either treat our  life as if we have been imprisoned into a set path of drudgery, restricted living and repetitive doldrums, or else we can treat it like writing a book.

Yours and my book of life is made up of a whole collected group of sentences. And each of these sentences are denoted by punctuation such as commas, colons, semi-colons, the occasional exclamation mark, lots of question marks, hyphens, and the inevitable appearance of the full stop.

And it is in this treatise that I particularly want to take a look at – the full stop.

The good news is this, that just because you have reached a full stop in your life, and you’re still living and breathing, you are presented with the opportunity of simply writing the next sentence.

For a book, much like a life, is made up of paragraphs. Paragraphs include a combination of sentences. And each sentence contains a group of words. So don’t see a full stop as ‘the end’. But rather view a full stop as a ‘new beginning’.

One sentence leads to another. One phrase to another phrase. And one completed chapter can unfold a whole new exciting chapter to your life.

As sure as the seasons appear each year – so to do the seasons of life.  Learn to identify them , and learn to flow through them. At times there is a pause. At times a delay. At times a surging forward, and at times a drawing aside. But no matter what punctuates your life at this present time – know this – that you are always moving forward – for time ticks on, age adds on, and life goes on – no matter the punctuation we are currently facing.

Your life is a journal – a book filled with words, pictures and illustrations connected by punctuation marks. It’s the very nature of life lived on planet earth.

Don’t be surprised by them. Flow with them. For they have been given to you so that your character can be developed and your life’s mission can be fulfilled. And at the end of your days – what a story it will read to inspire all of us who follow in your footsteps.

Be Your Own Action Man

Be your own super-hero today by taking action.

Don’t be a spectator in the game of life. Be a participator.

Surround yourself with a team who will stand with you, fight for you, and believe in you. And discard the loser’s strategy – of  ‘Ready. Aim. Fire.’ That in most cases leads only to ineptitude and inaction.

Join the ranks of the achievers and believers who live their lives by the ‘Fire. Aim. Ready.’ philosophy.

With your manual  in one hand and your sword in the other, attack the enemy of your life – procrastination – and engage in mortal combat as you learn from the wealth of experience you are gaining whilst in full flight and full fight.

For there comes a time in your life when you need to take action – and that time is now.

How To Take Your Future By The Throat

If you want to change your future, and yet continue to do what you have done in the past – right up to your present – you are sadly mistaken.

In order to jolt yourself out of your complacency, and a future that will simply be a replay of your past and present – except for one thing – you’re older, you must take your present by the scruff of the neck, in fact take your future by the throat, and change your habits that have brought you to where you are today.

So if you are not fully satisfied with the results of your life to this point, then you need to take drastic action.

So what can you do? Well here are just a few tips.

1. Stop The Rot

If you find yourself pinned in front of your TV night after night. If you take all your guidance from what is thrust at you via the media. If you keep the company of people who have made no significant movement forward in their lives during the past five years, then you need to do these things: stop listening, reading or watching the media and change friends.

2. Fill The Spot

There is a spot in your anatomy that needs filling. No not your stomach – your brain. Start by attending FREE seminars. Buy the Saturday paper or check out the free paper at your local coffee shop and find those seminars and attend them. Pull out your old CD’s – yes the motivational or wealth creation CD’s you bought years ago – and listen to them in your car to and from the office.

Then go through your book shelf and pull out those life changing and mind bending books that have been gathering dust, and spend an hour or so each night reading them in place of your TV watching.

And in this revival of learning seek out mentors or new friends with common interests and goals.

3. Act The Lot

Now it’s no use of simply filling your head with a bunch of great ideas. Put together a plan for your successful future. Use the business plan which could be adapted to a life plan and change your life. And then get out there and make it happen.

If it’s to invest in real estate – go look, make some offers and add to your investment portfolio. If it’s to get healthy then join the gym. If it’s to spend more time with your family, then block out time for quality time with your favourite humans.

So what are you waiting for? Take your future by the throat and squeeze as hard as possible until your next five years far out surpass the previous five in more ways than one.

How To Change Your Life

‘When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.’ Viktor Frankl

Situations come. Situations go. But no matter what situation we find ourselves in, we are given the wonderful opportunity to not always change the situation or even how others respond to that situation, but rather to change the way we think, the way we respond, and the very way we live.

Someone recently told me that if you’re standing still you’re actually going backwards. However, if we create an environment within which we are constantly challenged to change, we will ever move forward.

So position yourself for constant change by surrounding yourself with books, CD’s,DVD’s, seminars, associates and mentors who constantly challenge you where you’re at, and provoke you to  change.

To change is to grow. And in order to grow, you and I must change.

Move your focus from trying to change those around you to changing yourself. And watch the changes that will begin to occur around you. Like a pebble flung into a pond, the ripple effect will be reflected in a changed world in and around you, because you decided to change.