Character – Page 2

Habit #3 – Fill Your Well

Once again I’m staring into the distance as if nothing could be important enough to catch my attention. Another business trip and another morning of viewing the world through the looking glass of a window seat. Reflective vests and blinking lights will soon be overpowered by the breaking of the dawn. If you fly regularly at all, this is a common experience, and more than likely you zone out like I do during preflight check and the safety announcements they give at the beginning of the flight. Normally I would have my earphones in and a book open. For some reason this morning was different. I was actually paying attention and as they started directing us on how to use our oxygen masks if they are needed. Like always the steward stated that if you are traveling with someone that needs assistance make sure to put your mask on first before you assist those around you. What a real world example of Habit #3 on the list. It is impossible to help those around you if you are not taking care of yourself, or for the sake of our lesson, Filling Your Well. We are called upon daily by our friends, family and employees to fill a need. Heck, even random face to face meetings throughout the day deplete you of resources. In order to fulfill these responsibilities placed upon us, we must replenish our resources by means of routine maintenance.

Below you will find 3 “R”s that if practiced daily can ensure you are equipped with the tools needed when life calls on you.

Read

It’s so simple yet so ignored. Reading is a must for any leader. We must feed ourselves with the experiences and knowledge of those that have gone before us is we want to reach our personal best and help those around us fulfill their potential.

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary. We must not allow anything to stand between us and the book that could change our lives.” – Jim Rohn

Benefits of Daily reading

Starts a process of achieving self-mastery: We may not retain 100% of the knowledge that we take in through reading but through the repeated process of digesting data we both expand and sharpen our skill set. It’s a means of equipping and developing.
It’s the quickest method of gathering valuable information: Through reading we are awarded the opportunity to live multiple lifetimes in the pages of one simple book. Reading does not replace the knowledge we gain through experience but instead ,if applied properly, it multiplies our life knowledge exponentially.

Rest

This word means different things to different people. It may mean nightly sleep, vacation, golf with the boys, or all of the above. Regardless of your definitions, you need to find the time to take a break. Some time to just take a deep breath and relax. You can not stay in production mode all the time. It is a mandatory practice amongst successful people to take a moment to heal form the stress of life.

Benefits of taking a break.

Improved brain function – Fatigue or stress can make it difficult for you to concentrate and retain information. How many times have you said “I don’t know where my head is?” when you’re stressed or tired? When you relax, your brain gets a chance to process the activities and impressions of the day which is important for memory formation and problem solving.
Overall health – The human body needs adequate rest to heal and rejuvenate itself. Even the most fit of individuals can benefit from a day of leisure.
Reduces stress – Rest has beneficial effects on your emotional health as well. Starting off the day well-rested makes you feel more capable of handling what life has to offer. If you’re exhausted before you get started, you will never catch up.

Reorganize

At some point during the day you had to handle something that disrupted your schedule or priorities for the day. Take a few minutes to place your priorities back in order and plan the following day.

Benefits of Reorganizing

It stops the snow ball effect: Taking just a few minutes to put the pieces back in place can keep any chaos that happened during the day from continuing or at least not pick up momentum going into the next day. Don’t fall into the habit of ignoring issues and hoping they’re better tomorrow.
It keeps your priorities in order:
It makes us more capable: If we have pre-prepared plan for each day, we feel confident that we are back in control. By knowing the next step you’re taking you are much more likely to be successful at it. We owe it to ourselves and those under our watchful eye to put forth the effort to always look ahead.

Learning to give to others is a building block to becoming a better leader, but creating the habits necessary to make sure there is always something to give is what sets you up for success. Make sure you are taking care of yourselves so that you can take care of the ones you care about.

Habit #2 – Take Action

Another habit that separates leaders from the pack is their ability to replace intent with action. You should never procrastinate when it comes to your future. This may be the most important of all the habits. There is no way to measure the impact of taking your plan and acting upon it each and every day of your life.

I was brought up in a family of doers. I can remember Mom telling us on any given weekend that we needed to get out of the house. She would say “I don’t care what you do but you better go do something, you’re not just going to sit around!” In general, both of my parents had a distaste for idleness. They instilled a belief in me from an early age that in order to reach any milestone in life, you first had to get moving. Many people have no chance of crossing the finish line because they can’t seem to leave the starting line.

During Habit #1 of Taking Responsibility for yourself, you are in the planning phase of life. Those plans must be put to action to be of any real worth. After this step, each of the remaining four habits will deal with physical practices of one form or another. However, what Habit #2 is referring to is the actual transformation from just planning to doing. It’s a lifestyle that must be practiced until it’s second nature.

It’s at this crossroad of changing how we think that we have choices to make. Below are 5 Choices to make so that you can become a person of action.

Choose to be a positive thinker – More than any other poison that you can let into your personal life and career, negativity is the most-deadly. Every morning you must choose to think positive thoughts about your life and your career. After making positive thoughts a routine part of your day, you will find that you actually begin to expect things to go “right”. That is one of the biggest differences between mediocre and exceptional people, the exceptional ones expect to win.
Choose to Educate yourself – Don’t wait on the timing to be right. Pick up a book and read it, even if only a few pages a day. Subscribe to a blog that is relevant to your current circumstance. Attend seminars or spend your travels listening to podcasts, you’d be surprised what small bits of wisdom you can gain from these practices. The plan is simple yet effective. Learn something today that you didn’t know yesterday.
Choose to Do Good – Just as Benjamin Franklin practiced for most of his life, ask yourself every day those two famous questions as he did. “What good shall I do today?” and “What good did I do today?”. These two questions can change your life. Start your morning off with the wonder of how you may help someone and end the day with the accountability needed to ensure you continue this practice. Look for opportunities to help those around you daily and you will find the true reward of a purposeful life.
Choose to Do Right – John Maxwell states – “Managers do things right, but LEADERS do the RIGHT THING!”. You can make a personal decision to carefully assess each situation throughout the day and do what is fair and honest. In the long run, walking with integrity will always pay off. People will respect you and your family will take notice. Learn to live life without any grey areas. Try to find the line between right and wrong, don’t ignore it. When it comes to your character, ignorance is not bliss.
Choose to Be Accountable – It’s not comfortable to be exposed with all our flaws. It’s even less comfortable to volunteer that information to people in an effort to improve upon our shortcomings. This, however, is a necessary practice in the quest for self-improvement. Choose people you trust and that have had a level of success you hope to achieve. Once you have these partners, make your plans known to them and be transparent in your actions. This act of accountability will help prevent you from straying too far from the path to success. They can help you avoid the pitfalls that lie off the beaten path because they have traveled that road before.

These choices will help you build a lifestyle of action. All the greatest intentions and ideas aren’t worth anything if we don’t manage to get the wheels turning.

“What we do on some great occasion will depend on what we are. And what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.” – H.P.Liddon

Personal Responsibility

Last week We had an overview of all six habits of successful people. This week we will focus on the first and most important one.

Habit #1

Take Responsibility for Yourself

The first step towards growing as a leader and as a person is to come to the realization that you are responsible for your own attitude, your own words, and your own actions. Once this becomes a cornerstone of your basic beliefs you can evaluate your shortcomings and make a plan to move forward.

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself, that is something you have charge of. You don’t have charge of the constellations, but you do have charge of whether you read, develop new skills and take new classes.” – Jim Rohn

6 Helpful Thoughts Regarding Personal Responsibility

It sets your mind to becoming the best version of yourself – As you develop the habit of assuming responsibility for yourself it keeps your focus on improving yourself as an individual. You will be in a constant state of evaluating your progress and building upon that momentum.

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” – Henry Ward Beecher

It focuses your attention on character traits – To properly take responsibility you must spend time in reflective thinking. You should constantly take the time to focus on the traits that make up our personalities. You realize that it is the character of a person that determines their behavior not their environment.

“You build trust with others each time you choose integrity over image, truth over convenience, or honor over personal gain.” – John Maxwell

It requires action – it is impossible to take responsibility without taking action. The word “take” on its own is a call to action. It’s a call to seize the moment and not wait for chance…to take that first step.

“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It cements the law of accountability – It is important to understand that every decision comes with a price to pay. You may be free to choose, but you are never exempt from the cost of that decision.

“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price on its goods.” – Thomas Paine

It builds your self-confidence – As you take responsibility for your actions your confidence grows with your new-found sense of ownership. As you start to see yourself as a better version of you, the image looking back from the mirror looks better each day.
It gives you permission to live a better life – As you follow through with the daily practice of lining your current status up with your aspirations you will become more efficient and thus free for advancement. This will allow your to be rewarded by chasing your dreams more actively.

“A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.” – Denis Waitley

Six Habits I Stole From Some Guy

I was visiting with some industry colleagues of mine. Although we hate to admit it, we spent the first ten minutes showing we’re completely human by griping and moaning about the economic forecast, customers, and the labor pool. After coming to grips with our shame, we somehow began talking about various supervisors we have worked alongside in our careers, both recently and in the past. Only a minute or two had passed before it became apparent that one of the main attributes that made these people either exceptionally good or bad was their consistency in carrying out the duties of their position. In other words, their daily habits were either a “make or break” bullet point on their resumes. The great authors of leadership and personal growth have a significant amount of printed space dedicated to the importance of such daily habits.

During my own limited studies of the subject I have developed (and by no means do I claim it is original thought!) a list of 6 habits that most any successful person must practice to continue if they wish to grow both professionally as well as individually. Truth be told, over time I have merely watched successful people and copied what worked for them. I’ve never been one to believe that I can pronounce the word “Wheel” in a sexier manner much less make it roll better.

This week I’ll touch on an overview of these habits and then over the next six weeks we will look at each one separately.

Take responsibility for yourself: The first step towards growing as a leader and as a person is to come to the realization that you are responsible for your own attitude, words, and actions. Once this becomes part of your basic beliefs you can evaluate your shortcomings and make a plan to move forward. Your plan can be as simple as: Starting, Educating, Reflecting, Correcting, and Repeating. Yes, I did mean for Starting to be first!
Take Action: The next step to growing is acting. Now that you’ve made a plan, you need to act on it. Never procrastinate when it comes to your future. This is possibly the most important of all of the habits. There is no way to measure the importance of, taking your plan and acting upon it each and every day. Many people will tell you that you need to prepare before getting started. True personal growth will be accelerated when you understand that preparation is an ongoing part of the journey, not a prelude to it.
Fill Your Well: Treat your mind as a well that you and the people under your influence draw from for support and sustenance. For you to lead others properly you must retain enough knowledge and resources to give to your team and not run out. Education must become part of your daily routine so that you don’t run dry as a leader.
Take Time to Reflect: Reflection is one of the more advanced habits of successful people. Too many people have the drive to push forward but not the discipline to stop and learn from past experiences and mistakes. It is in this reflection that we modify our past plans to make better our future plans. Remember that “What was good enough to get you here, may not necessarily be good enough to get you where you’re going!”
Help Others: All of the habits we form to become more developed leaders, and hopefully better people, should be for this one reason, to help others. If you live your life so that other’s lives are fulfilled, you will find your true purpose as a leader.
Never Stop, Do it all over again: Finally we must come to the realization that growth is a continual process. Truly successful people know that they can never stop these daily practices if they want to continue to grow. Once you have become efficient at each of these habits you will learn to recognize the opportunities to practice each of them, even if only in a small way, every day.

Thanksgiving Joe

I woke up again with roof over head

He sleeps on a bench, newspapers for bed.

I dress in my best, ironed, polished and clean

His rags are so tattered just standard issue greens

Only once have I seen him, his name I don’t know

For the sake of this story we’ll just call him Joe

Thanksgiving’s now calling as it sits in the fridge

Traditions kept sacred because he fought on a ridge

So I’ll dine with my loved ones as he’ll stand in a line

I’ll cherish each moment, but Joe’s just biding time

I’ll pray to my father to spread blessing and cheer

He’ll pray for just one night without hunger or fear

I think of him often and what’s become of him now

And how could this man make a difference somehow

Maybe a meal to a shelter or some change when I can

For that guy on the corner, cardboard sign in his hand

Maybe clothes for their back or shoes for their feet

Or to simply not look off when by chance our eyes meet

Could I have changed his Thanksgiving? I may never know

But it’s never too late to help the others like Joe

Greg Bauer

Is This Election Epic?…Maybe Not

Well it’s less than 24 hours away, the most epic election in our country’s history… Ok, I can’t even make myself believe the hype. I tell you what, I’ll meet you somewhere in the middle. It’s the most epic election in the last 4 years. Is it important? Of course it is, they all are. But that’s all it is, nothing more, nothing less. It’s an important choice for the next 4 years. Why do I believe this? Because we have a system designed to keep it that way. Although aging and beat up, our system does still work for the most part, and I for one always look forward to doing my part to keep it working. Each election is the most important election for that moment in time, not for all of time. This isn’t a decision of eternity. Neither candidate can bring salvation or take it from us come Wednesday. Can it change the course of History? Sure it can. But the great thing about our system is, we can alter the course again in 4 years if we realize as a people we screwed it up. Deep down we all have to believe this. If not, half of the country would either be moving or starting a civil-war on November 9th.

Will Hillary or Donald destroy our country or make it great again single-handedly? No, not even close. Neither candidate is capable of such tasks on their own. Maybe I forgot to put on my rose-colored glasses, but about two years ago, wasn’t it fair to say that the church viewed Trump as egotistical and greedy? Today you’d swear the hope of Christianity is resting squarely on his shoulders. On my way to work this morning, I’m pretty sure I saw a nice blue-collared Christian family leading their “faith-in-humanity” to the edge of the village to prepare it for some sort of mercy-killing in the event that Hillary wins. When one party wins, does goodness cease to exist for the other party immediately or is it drawn out mercilessly?

I know I’m young, but how is this election really different from previous ones? In my short time I’ve seen the first Black President, father and son Presidents, an actor President, and a peanut farmer President. Every one of them was looked upon as one party’s King and another’s Fool. Not once during my 40 years, have I turned to any of these men for advice on love, religion, marriage, parenthood or any other topic of how to become a better man. Why?, because I don’t ask such things of my President. I simply ask them to play their role in the system that is our Government of the United States of America. The system that “We the People” are responsible for, more so than the President. So Mr. or Mrs. President, I’m not looking to you to be a superhero or a savior, just do the best you can for 4 years or 8 if we decide we really like you. It’s not fair for us to put the responsibility of our hopes, our dreams, or our futures in your hands. We fought valiantly to keep the words “In God We Trust” on a wrinkled dollar bill. Now how about we fight just as hard to actually believe those words, vote and live accordingly?

Now one last drum to beat, I have a problem with good people using fear as a tactic, verbalizing that our country has gone to hell in a hand basket. We say that we need to bring our country back to its founding beliefs, to make it great again, as if things used to be peachy and have only gotten worse along the way. Has our recollection of events really become so selective? Please do not pray for this country to return to what it once was. Pray for it to be better. It has never been perfect and there has always been Good and Evil. Because of fear and greed, we have corralled Japanese Americans into concentration camps, killed people for their land, and spent a sizeable portion of our country’s history enslaving minorities and in one way or another women too. Most of that is gone now. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to go back there. Plus they didn’t even have air conditioning…really people we have it good. We’ve overcome before and we can do it again. Let’s stop the reminiscing, the romance of it clouds reality. I’d love to see our vision cast forward towards other things…little things like hope for Love, Joy, and Peace. Not because of a campaign, but because of our actions towards each other.

Is this country getting worse, better or staying the same? How could we ever know? As a people, our baseline for measuring it changes with the morning’s side of the bed or which news channel we turn on. What we do know, however, is that 240 years into this thing, we are still here as a country and as a free people, and that’s pretty cool. We also know that tomorrow we can walk into a booth, regardless of race or religion, and push a button to play a significant role in the ways of governing our country.

Am I pleased with our choice of candidates? Hell No, are you crazy? These two aren’t the best choices we could have by a long shot, but they are WHAT we have and it is our responsibility to make a choice. That, my friend, is one thing that I am VERY PROUD OF, the fact that I live in a country where I have choices. Even if they’re not great, I have them. So I’ll reveal my pick. Drum roll please…Tomorrow I’ll vote for Donald Trump (I know you really cared). Am I proud to call Trump my choice? I wouldn’t say that, but I am proud to say I made my choice. Because that’s what makes this country great…its Citizen’s choices, not its President.

(Cue the Chariots of Fire Soundtrack)

Now pretend it’s early Wednesday morning, and if fate has loosened its grip slightly more than the dangling chad of yester year, I will present the President of the United States to my children. I will explain to them that I don’t agree with everything that He or She believes in. I may not even like them, but as a family, we will honor the position of President. Because the people have chosen. I’ll teach them that our family does not accept the convenient idea that our President Directs the character of our country, but instead that the President Reflects the character of our country. If we have bad Presidents, rather than complain, we start fixing our character. I’ll kneel with them that morning and show them how a man prays for leadership after they’ve been elected. And with God’s guidance, I’ll teach them that no matter who won, we don’t speak hatred of anyone, because the power of life and death is in our tongues.

One last thing, whether or not my choice wins this election, I will try my best as a father to cast into my children’s lives the vision that their decisions, more than any President’s, holds the power to make their country greater tomorrow than it has ever been.