What Inspires Me?
Has life or work ever been hard for you? What about mundane? Or, is your life always exciting and work is always a breeze? If you’re like most people, and I am, it’s a mixture of both. Life in general is like a roller coaster. One moment of excitement is followed by another moment of monotony. The trick is to keep those two extremes in balance. That’s not always easy and for each of us there will be those times when life just gets you down. So, what do you do when that happens? As for me, I look to favorite authors for inspiration to press on. To quit feeling sorry for myself. To get me back on the right track.
One of my favorite authors is Andy Andrews. In his book “The Traveler's Gift”, he takes the reader on an incredible journey through time to meet some of the most well-known people of history. Each of them has an inspiring story to tell with a life lesson attached to it. Learn and apply these lessons to your own life, and look out! Your life almost instantly gets better.
Where do you want life to take you? Do you want more or less? More is what most people would say. But more of what? More money? More time? More freedom? More ________? You fill in the blank. Whatever it is that you put in the blank, you can have it. How many of you have ever traveled to somewhere that you had no idea how to get there? Most people have at some point in their life. What did you do that first time? If you’re like me, you made a plan. Perhaps you got out a map, studied it for a while, and made some decisions about the best course to take. That’s what most people do. Then you executed the plan and hopefully reached your destination with a minimum amount of pain.
Believe it or not, life is that way also. If you take time to intelligently plan what you want more of (or Less of) and faithfully work the plan, you can achieve anything. Where you are in life right now is because of the decisions you have made in the past. That truth may be hard to swallow for some but it is still the truth.
Every decision you make takes you down a path. Some are good and others not so much. Just today, my simple decision to put some sticks, along with an unknown hot coal from a campfire, in the dump box of my Polaris Ranger, has caused me to not have a functional UTV any longer. It went up in flames. It was nobody’s fault but my own. What decisions are you making that are causing trouble in your life?
The bottom line is this….. Too often we allow life to just happen. When that occurs, we simply react to what is going on around us. Instead of being reactionary, over the next several weeks, we will explore the changes each of us can make in order to take more control over our lives and get your ship headed in the right direction.
Til Then …...
This week we begin the journey of learning the secrets of success. The credit for this material goes to Andy Andrews and his amazing book, “The Traveler’s Gift”, a book I highly recommend.
How many of you are really calling the shots for your life? I know we all like to think we are but really, are you? If you are, you are waking up each day and deciding what to do. You are making things happen instead of letting things happen. In reality, our lives are usually a mix of take charge moments and reaction moments. However, that doesn’t mean that we are not in charge. Being in charge has its ups and downs. Sometimes things don’t go as planned and then guess who is in the spotlight? Being a leader means stepping up to take the heat AND stepping aside and sharing the glory.
If you want to be successful in your endeavors, you must be willing to take responsibility.
The Buck Stops Here! You have to accept responsibility for your past, for your own problems and your own successes. Doing so allows you to move into a position for a bigger brighter future that you decide for yourself.
Don’t blame your parents, spouse, friends, bosses, fellow employees, for the crap you may be walking through right now. Don’t blame your education or lack of one, your circumstances, or even your genes. If you allow yourself to blame others for where you are, then you are effectively saying that you have no control over your destiny and you will be forever caught in the web of the past. No… The Buck Stops Here.
You are responsible for your past. Where you are today is a result of the decisions you have made up to now. Decisions are governed by your thinking. If you change your thoughts, you change the way you think. Think positive, not negative. Bring positive changes, not negative. When you have a choice to make, make a good choice. We don’t have the ability to always make a right decision, but we do have the ability to make it RIGHT! If you mess up, be the person that makes it right.
As a young man growing up fast in Texas, I often attempted to deflect responsibility when things went wrong. “It’s not my fault!” was one of my well-used phrases. By taking this position, I effectively allowed myself to be controlled by the actions of others. As I moved into full adulthood, this tactic worked less and less effectively and finally, I was able to see how it was having a negative impact on my life and career. I had to step up. I had to take responsibility for myself and my actions. When I did that, my career began to take off! When you take responsibility for your actions, others begin to develop trust in you. When people trust you, they want to include you in their plans. That is when life really begins to open up to you, and it all starts with trust.
Accept responsibility for your past, Control your thoughts. Control your emotions. Be responsible for your own success. Remember: The Buck Stops Here!
August 9th 2021
As we learned in the previous blog passage, each of us is responsible for where we are in our own lives. We make our choices, and we live with the results. Some choices are good and others… not so much. So how do we learn to make good choices? Some would say we learn those lessons by making bad choices! However, there is a better way.
SEEK WISDOM! Your past can never be changed but you can change your future by changing your actions! Wisdom waits to be gathered and must be actively sought out. We have to train our eyes and ears to listen or read books that bring about positive changes in our lives and our relationships. Quit bombarding your mind with the negative thoughts and worries that you have absolutely no control over. Read and listen to things that lift you and increase the belief in yourself.
SEEK WISDOM. Choose friends with care because you are the average of the five people you associate with the most. Step back and look at the lives of your friends. Are they representative of who you want to be? If they are not, then change your association. It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you run with the turkeys.
SEEK WISDOM. Listen to the counsel of wise men and women. If the people you listen to don’t challenge you to be better, they aren’t the right people. The words of a wise person are like raindrops on dry ground. They are precious and can be quickly used for immediate results.
When you only take the counsel of your own mind, you are only exposed to what you already know. By counseling with a wise person, you add his experience and knowledge to your own and can dramatically increase your success.
SEEK WISDOM and serve others. A wise person will cultivate a servant's spirit. That one quality alone will attract people into your life like no other. As you serve others, their wisdom will be freely shared with you. People who serve others with a servant’s heart often find themselves in good favor with others who can provide opportunities for bettering oneself.
Become a humble servant. Look for opportunities to serve. Don’t look for someone to open your door but instead open the door for someone else. Do not be distressed when on one is available to serve you but excited when you are available to help someone else.
Serve others, listen to wise counsel, choose friends with care, SEEK WISDOM.
Aug 24, 2021
Over the past several weeks we’ve learned that the BUCK stops with YOU! You are responsible for your current position in life, just as I am responsible for mine. We talked about seeking Wisdom, serving others, and being humble. Today, we are going to talk about TAKING ACTION!
Today, you can start a new future! Quit dwelling in the pit of despair, complaining about the past… lost jobs, wasted time, missed opportunity. You can’t do anything about the past. Your future is NOW! Grab it with both hands and run with it. ACT! When faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something, always choose to act!
Be a person of action. Be energetic. Move quickly. You know that laziness is a sin so create the habit of lively behavior. Walk with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Wealth and prosperity hide from the sluggard, but rich rewards come to the person who moves quickly with intention.
Be a person of action and inspire others. Be a leader. Many people move out of the way for a person who is moving with determination. This instills confidence in those who are following you. An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep!
Be a person of action wh can make a decision. A person who moves neither right or left is destined for mediocrity. Many people when faced with a decision to make will say they are waiting on GOD. However, God has given you a healthy mind to use to sort out information and the courage to come to a conclusion. Don’t be fearful or indecisive. Successful people make their decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Failures make their decisions slowly and change their minds quickly. Be a person of ACTION. Be daring and courageous and let fear have no place in your life! Do not let fear outweigh your desire to make things better for yourself or your family. Fear is a vapor that has no power over you in the first place. Do not fear opinion, gossip, or the idle chatter of monkeys for all are the same. Do not fear failure, for in your life, failure is only a myth. Failure only exists for the person who quits. You are not a quitter.
You are courageous, you are a leader. Seize the moment and be a person of ACTION.
Sep 6, 2021
Do you know who you are? Do you know what you are? Do you know where you are? It really doesn't matter for these are the wrong questions! The correct question is , Do you know who you are becoming? Do you know what you are becoming? Do you know where you are going? These are the questions you should be answering! These are things you can control. If you don’t like who you are …. Change! If you don’t like what you are …. Change! If you don’t like the direction you are going …. Change! You can do this. Don’t listen to others when they tell you you can’t do something. What do they know? If a thousand people believe something foolish, it is still foolish. Truth is never dependent upon a consensus of opinion.
“I have found it is better to be alone and acting upon the truth in my heart than to follow a gaggle of silly geese doomed to mediocrity” Please remember that if you are afraid of criticism, you will die doing nothing.
PASSION is a product of the heart. Passion is what helps you when you have a great dream. Passion breeds conviction and turns mediocrity into excellence! Your passion will motivate others to join you in pursuit of your dream. With passion, you will overcome insurmountable obstacles. You will become unstoppable. Remember that most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The uncommitted heart will search for an escape. A committed heart doesn’t wait for conditions to be perfect. Why? Because conditions are never perfect. Indecision limits the Almighty and His ability to perform miracles in your life.
A wise man once said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Knowing this to be true, go ahead and take your first step today. Criticism, condemnation, and complaint are creatures of the wind. They come and go on the wasted breath of lesser beings and have no power over you. The power to control your life belongs to you when
you have a decided heart. Your course has been charted. Your destiny is assured.
You have a decided heart!