If You Try

If You Try

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Don't get Mad at Dogs that Bark

This blog post is a special one. It entails a strategy designed to help you maintain a posture that will keep you above pettiness in a petty environment, and with petty people. It is simply this, don't get mad, upset, or take it personal when people, who have exposed their true character, do actions that coincide with their character. On the path to creativity, passion, and greatness, you will find that you will run across two groups of people. People that love and appreciate your courage to go after your vision and those who see you as a threat. This is perfectly normal and one should not over react to the latter group. People are just who they are. Even more, when you find people that (those of the threatened group) take actions geared toward your downfall, do not take it personal. They are only acting in their nature and more than likely could not help it even if they wanted to. Plus, you must take into account that they may have issues going on behind the scene that have nothing to do with you. Perhaps they have some sort of chemical imbalance or some childhood event left them scarred and you trigger that painful memory in the way you say "Hello". I know it sounds silly, but it is reality nonetheless. A better tactic to use when dealing with this group is to be aware of them and take the necessary precautions that will insulate you from their attacks. Necessary precautions may be to gather information on their personality type, watch what you say in front of them, and keep your interactions polite, but brief. There are several more strategies to employ, yet I find these three to be the most effective and ethical. But whatever you do, don't over react. They are only doing what they feel they need to do. Take it as a compliment that you are on their radar.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Every Home is a City

This blog post is directed towards my fellow men. Over the weekend, a concept came to mind about how our homes are very similar to small cities. If he will acknowledge and accept it, every man is a king and charged with the responsibility of governing his home(city) well. Every city has civil issues, an economy, industry, food and clothing distribution, politics, an educational system, entertainment, and recreation. It is no different in a home. Each king is charged with making sure that each sector of their home/city is operating efficiently and effectively. Often times, it is the queen who is left with all the responsibility and burden of governing the city. Many of them do a fantastic job, but there is a vacuum that causes many of our princes and princesses to grow up dysfuntional in one way or another when the king is not in position. It is the king's responsibility to lead, provide, govern, protect, and administer justice. The queen is supposed to assist the king in his efforts of governing a successful city and raising princes and princesses to continue the legacy. I guarantee that if kings begin to get in position in the home, we will see the positive effects on the larger city outside of our homes.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

It Takes Big Character to do Big Things

Anytime I find myself in a rush to get to the point where I am larger than life, I am humbled by the thought that I may not be able to handle everything tied to that success once I get there. I by no means lack confidence in myself, its more so that I realize that in order to handle success you must have even greater humility to remain successful. I read and even see many stories of successful men who let power go to their heads and end up falling very hard as a result. This reminds me to be patient on the road to greatness and let true character permeate throughout my entire being before rushing to make a name for myself. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with being a person of influence and the standards we must live by are very strict. It's no easy task to lead others and it's an even harder task to lead them in a direction that is right. True character is probably one of the top 3 assets a leader can have and it does not come overnight.

Friday, August 14, 2009

The Passion Channel

Passion is emotional fuel. No great man or woman became great without possessing it. What set them apart and made them great was their ability to channel passion in the right direction. When passion is not guided correctly it can do more harm than good, but when passion is connected with integrity, knowledge, and intelligence it has the potential to change not only your individual life, but the lives of everyone around you. It is infectious! I am an extremely passionate person and realize that it is a gift from God. Passion can get you places that talent, smarts, and political connects cannot. But I understand the importance of coupling passion with other attributes and skill sets in order to get the desired results consistently. Passion must also come from the right sources as well. Passion that comes from greed, jealousy, bitterness, hatred, lust, and unhealthy anger is not what you want to use to fuel your vision (think Hitler). Therefore it is important to take inventory on what is driving us to succeed and make sure that our passion is always channeled correctly. Having good people around you that you trust can help keep you on track as well.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Couch Butts and Unhappiness

I recognize a common trait in many unhappy individuals. They are not fulfilling a passion that burns within them. You can have all the money, the best spouse, and the biggest house on the block, yet if your individual passion is not being expressed and recognized by others, more than likely you will have a hole in your heart. People that are unhappy due to unexpressed passion are very critical of others, especially those who are ambitiously working toward their vision. Whenever I find myself criticising someone I have to look in the mirror and ask: is my criticism justified or am I not fulfilling a passion in a certain area of life that the person that I am criticizing is? You will find that you will not have enough time to talk about others when you are working toward your vision. You will be so full of life that even your enemies can do no wrong or at least you won't harbor bitter feelings for long. The point is to stop complaining about how bad your life is, turn of the tv, video games, and get off the couch and do something to put yourself in a better position. It will not come over night. But each day you work at improving your situation, the better it will become. Most people do not gain financial freedom overnight, it is a process and comes by developing good habits. Get out of familiar places, stop making excuses and work a little bit each day at becoming who you are meant to be.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Your Immediate Sphere of Influence

I am a "big vision" person and sometimes to a fault. I am thinking about Z before I even get to A sometimes. I often think about all of the people that I want to reach, connect with, and inspire and they are in the millions. Even though that is well and good, there are people in my life right now that I should be focused on reaching, connecting with, and inspiring. These are the people that I call my immediate sphere of influence. People such as my wife, co workers, relatives, and friends. It's easy to get so hung up on the big vision that we neglect those that are closest to us. It's a sad day for the influential leader to realize that even though he has positively and profoundly impacted millions of lives, he failed to impact the lives of his spouse, children, and inner circle. Even though he reached all of these other people, he is still a failure in my eyes. The most important people in a influential person's life should be those within his immediate sphere of influence. Until you master building them up (A), don't even try to build up the masses (Z). Please share your thoughts.