7 Ways to Be the Very Best Leader You Can Be

7 Ways to Be the Very Best Leader You Can Be – Brian Tracy

 

It takes a special kind of courage—to refuse to consider the possibility of failure. – Brian Tracy

 

The best leaders have a special kind of courage. They have the courage to endure, to persist, to “hang in there” in the face of doubt, uncertainty and criticism.

 

You are a work in progress, you are always growing and improving. Your job is to become the very best leader you can be. And you can—with regular and persistent practice of these seven courageous habits:

 

1. Practice patience in adversity.

 

Courageous patience is the willingness and ability to stay the course in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from others.

 

Related: John Addison: The 5 A’s of Leading Through Adversity

 

2. Stay the course.

 

There is a critical time period between the launching of a new venture and the results that come from that venture. During this hiatus, this waiting period, many people lose their nerve. They cannot stand the suspense of not knowing, of possible failure. They break and run in battle, they quake and quit in business.

 

3. Lead by example.

 

A true leader is the person who can stand firm, who refuses to consider the possibility of failure. The turning points of many key moments in human history have been the resolution, or lack thereof, of one person. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership.

 

To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires that you lead by example.

 

Related: To Perform Best in Life, Remember These 6 Ziglar Truths

 

4. Allow honest mistakes.

 

Alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in others by encouraging your team to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes.

 

5. Encourage your team.

 

Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval. Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where people feel safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind.

 

6. Become unstoppable.

 

Courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviors of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable.

 

7. Prepare for adversity.

 

Prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks you will experience on the way to your goal. Don’t be surprised when they occur. Resolve in advance that you will bounce rather than break and continually encourage others to think and act the same way.

 

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, WEEK TWO: PERSONAL GROWTH

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, WEEK TWO: PERSONAL GROWTH

BY JOHN C. MAXWELL.

 

Share:

 

Have you ever noticed how small children spend a lot of time talking about “one day”?

 

“One day, I’ll be big enough to ride that ride.”

 

“One day, I’ll be able to make my own decisions.”

 

“One day, I’m going to have a pony.”

 

When you’re a small child, you want to be a big adult. You don’t pay attention to the details of adult life. You just see that adults – big people – get more privileges, get to have more fun.

 

What we don’t understand until we’re adults is there’s a price to pay for growing up. You have to go to work – every day. You have to take care of things around the house – every day. You have to pay attention to things like bills, car maintenance, emails, and projects – every day.

 

Children think about “one day.” Adults think about “every day”.

 

Here’s the truth: if we want to grow, if we want get “big,” we have to get intentional about “every day”.

 

Last week I started the Secrets of Success blog series to highlight the three most impactful decisions you can make for your life. The idea is that the secret to your success lies in what you do each day. We began with health, because your body is a crucial asset. If you take care of it, it will take care of you!

 

This week, I want to focus on personal growth. And just like we must be intentional about our health every day, we must also be intentional about our personal growth.

 

Unfortunately, many people treat personal growth as a by-product of life. They seem to think if they stick around long enough, they will magically accumulate maturity, wisdom, and skill. But acquiring the right seasoning to make a difference in the world takes more than longevity. It takes a commitment to get just a little bit better each day.

 

Here are two things you can do daily to help your personal growth. They are simple, but just remember, simple to understand doesn’t always mean simple to execute.

 

MAKE GROWTH A DAILY PRIORITY

 

You’d be surprised at how many people fail because they don’t make growth a priority in their minds and schedules. They have every intention of growing and want to grow, but they lack the ability to translate their intention into action. They need something to help them get growing.

 

I’ve shared before about my Rule of 5. (Click the link if you haven’t heard of it before now.) It’s a simple but powerful system that helps me focus on the five small tasks I do each day to maintain my growth in certain areas.

 

For instance, if I want to continue to grow as a writer, I know I need to spend time each day reading, thinking, filing, asking questions, and—of course—writing! I could do all of those things each day without my Rule of 5, but I wouldn’t be nearly as intentional about it. One or more activities could easily fall through the cracks. It’s a simple system, but it helps me maintain my daily discipline of growing as an author.

 

To make growth a daily priority, make a Rule of 5 for personal growth. For example, if you want to get better at work, choose the five tasks, attitudes, or habits you need to emphasize each day to improve. It could look something like this:

 

Begin each day with the the two most important tasks

Spend time connecting with my supervisor and doing more than expected

Return client emails in a timely fashion

Choose to be positive with co-workers

Leave my office tidy and ready for the next day

Which five things you include in your Rule of 5 is up to you; in fact, you should adjust your Rule of 5 as you grow! Creating the system is the important thing because it creates a pathway for daily growth.

 

MAKE GROWTH A DEFINED PURSUIT

 

But maybe you’re not a systems person. Maybe you work best when your options are open. You can still be intentional about your growth if you’ll get intentional about your time. Start with defining your priorities, and then allot each a certain amount of time based on importance. Give your growth activities more weight than your rote activities, to minimize the distractions that might set you back.

 

A great example is the email inbox. Set a time limit for checking email, say maybe 20 minutes at the start of the day, 15 minutes at lunch, and 10 minutes before you leave to go home. It sounds severe, but you’d be surprised at how quickly email can eat quality minutes from your day.

 

Defining how much time you’ll give to your priorities allows you to utilize that time to its fullest. Chances are you allow more time than you realize to slip through your fingers. After all, rabbit holes aren’t just for public speakers; anyone can get lost in a task that doesn’t offer much value.

 

How ever you choose to go about it, remember that growth doesn’t just happen. You have to plan for it. It’s what Kurt Campmeier taught me when I was just starting my career, and it’s something I’ve repeated countless times. I’m so dedicated to it that I created the Maxwell Plan for Personal Growth, which takes you even deeper into intentionally choosing a life of daily improvement.

 

Remember, personal growth is the cornerstone for success. By being intentional about growing better every single day, you can experience incremental growth, “five good swings” at a time.

3 Money Habits That Separate the Rich From the Poor

3 Money Habits That Separate the Rich From the Poor – by Jim Rohn

 

It all starts with the same amount of money—just a different philosophy.

Jim Rohn

 

Here is an exciting thought! Why not work full time on your job and part time on your fortune? And what a feeling you’ll have when you can honestly say, “I’m working to become wealthy. I’m not just working to pay my bills.” When you have a wealth plan, you’ll be so motivated that you’ll have a hard time going to bed at night.

 

So if you will indulge me, I would like to share a simple formula for creating wealth. Here’s my thought on how money should be allocated.

 

The 70/30 Rule

 

After you pay your fair share of taxes, learn to live on 70 percent of your after-tax income. These are the necessities and luxuries you spend money on. Then, it’s important to look at how you allocate your remaining 30 percent. Let’s allocate it in the following ways:

 

Charity

 

Of the 30 percent not spent, one-third should go to charity. Charity is the act of giving back to the community and helping those who need assistance. I believe that contributing 10 percent of your after-tax income is a good amount to strive for.

 

The act of giving should be taught early, when the amounts are small. It’s pretty easy to take a dime out of a dollar. But it’s considerably harder to give away a $100,000 out of $1 million. You say, “Oh, if I had $1 million, I’d have no trouble giving $100,000.” I’m not so sure. $100,000 is a lot of money. Start early so you’ll develop the habit before the big money comes your way.

 

Capital Investment

 

With the next 10 percent of your after-tax income, you’re going to create wealth. This is money you’ll use to buy, fix, manufacture or sell. The key is to engage in commerce, even if only on a part-time basis.

 

So how do you go about creating wealth? There are lots of ways. Let your imagination roam. Take a close look at those skills you developed at work or through your hobbies; you may be able to convert these into a profitable enterprise.

 

In addition, you can also learn to buy a product at wholesale and sell it for retail. Or you can purchase a piece of property and improve it. Use this 10 percent to purchase your equipment, products or equity—and get started. There is no telling what genius is inside you waiting to be awakened by the spark of opportunity.

 

Savings

 

The last 10 percent should be put in savings. I consider this to be one of the most exciting parts of your wealth plan because it can offer you peace of mind by preparing you for the “winters” of life. Let me give you the definition of “rich” and “poor”: Poor people spend their money and save what’s left. Rich people save their money and spend what’s left.

 

Twenty years ago, two people each earned a $1,000 a month and they each earned the same increases over the years. One had the philosophy of spending money and saving what’s left; the other had the philosophy of saving first and spending what’s left. Today, if you knew both, you’d call one poor and the other wealthy.

 

So, remember that giving, investing and saving, like any form of discipline, has a subtle effect. At the end of the day, the week, the month, the results are hardly noticeable. But let five years lapse and the differences become pronounced. At the end of 10 years, the differences are dramatic.

 

And it all starts with the same amount of money—just a different philosophy.

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do (& the Secret to Shredded Abs)

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do (& the Secret to Shredded Abs) – by Preston Ely

 

Why are you alive?

 

Can you answer that question?

 

I can’t. Not right now, anyway. I’m hoping maybe by this weekend. Next week at the latest.

 

There are going to be times when you have no idea what to do with your life in general. These are seasons of existential pain in which you would seriously consider chopping off your least important finger in exchange for the knowledge of exactly what you should be doing.

 

Maybe you’re in college and don’t know what to major in. You’re not into keg stands or hazings so this actually bothers you. Torments you even.

 

Maybe you’ve graduated college, discovered your diploma is about as useful as a gift certificate to IHOP and don’t know the best way to go about making actual money to pay off the $100,000 in student loans you’ve racked up.

 

Or maybe you’re like me and have had success, your businesses are automated and it’s time to move up to the next level. But… the next level doing WHAT exactly? Me personally, I have no idea. But here are seven things I’m doing while I’m currently having no idea:

 

1. Crying

 

Never underestimate the power of tears. They can wash away all the sins you did in college, refresh your soul and clarify your vision. These seasons of cluelessness I’m talking about are major life transitions. They involve crisis of IDENTITY.

 

Moving from one person to the next will almost always involve tears as we grieve the loss of our previous self and tremble with a degree of terror at the uncertainty of what we fear is almost certainly going to destroy us right around the corner.

 

2. Thinking

 

Thinking may be the hardest work known to man. Which is why you will find very few people doing much of their own.

 

Thinking other people’s thoughts is easy. Just read their books, take their notes, obey their orders, repeat their words, watch their reality TV shows, etc.

 

CREATIVE thinking is what separates the rich from the robots.

 

But why? What’s the big deal? What’s so scary about sitting still, turning off all the noise, and simply contemplating life or conjuring fresh ideas?

 

The big deal is that this is ultimately about facing yourSELF. And God. We’re not sure we really want to see those people. It’s about turning our focus away from the outer world of distractions towards the inner world of… what? What will we find? Is there anything there? And if there is, is it any good? Scary thoughts. Almost enough to make you want to not do it, turn on the TV and just watch the Kardashians not do it either.

 

You have two choices in this world: Create your own life or have someone else create it for you. I have to admit, the latter sounds pretty good right about now. But I know where that road ends, and so do you…

 

Government cheese.

 

Me personally, I have a dairy allergy so that’s just not an option for me.

 

To be sure, when you don’t know what to do, you need to be thinking more than ever. Almost constantly. The voice in your head should sound like this all day:

 

What should I be doing? What do I LOVE doing? I can’t get paid for having sex so what ELSE do I love doing? Actually I could get paid for having sex, but that seems like a wrong idea. What is my ultimate purpose in life? What could I be the best at?

 

And so on. You can stop once the gnawing sense of not doing what you’re supposed to be doing goes away. Remember that feeling when you were a kid while your parents were gone and you were goofing off instead of doing the chores they gave you to do? Same feeling.

 

3. Working

 

The temptation during seasons of uncertainty is to curl up into a ball and get high. Or cry or die or almost anything that rhymes with I. Don’t do that. WORK. The less you work the worse you’ll feel. Don’t know what to work on? Work on that. Work on anything. Work at IHOP. Whatever.

 

You have to keep moving. Momentum is everything. “The less you move the less you are able to move” is one of my favorite quotes. I’d tell you who said it, but you don’t know him so who cares. “Action leads to more action.” T. Boone Pickens said that one.

 

I don’t know what the next stage of my life is going to look like. But I have the sneaking suspicion it will involve me teaching people how to be successful in some shape or form. So what am I doing? I’m teaching people how to be successful for free at WakeWealthy.com and SUCCESS.com.

 

Why? Why not? At least I’m moving. Who knows what it will lead to. I know a guy who wrote a Facebook post like this, it went viral, and he ended up on Dr. Phil with a book deal.

 

Advance Warning: You’re not going to feel like doing this.

 

DO YOU THINK I FELT LIKE WRITING THIS ARTICLE?

 

I don’t do what feels good. I do what needs doing (most of the time). Feelings are irrelevant.

 

4. Reading

 

Reading does two things:

 

– Build your brain up to where everyone else’s brain is at this next level you’re about to go to.

 

– Give you a break from crying.

 

Reading is everything. If you’re not willing to read, just stay in bed. It’s too competitive these days. You simply will not succeed.

 

Read biographies of great men and women. Especially those who dominated industries you think you might be interested in.

 

Read how-to books.

 

How to what?

 

How to do freaking everything. Right now I’m studying history, biology, math, Spanish, economics, logic, world religions, business, psychology… I’m even reading poetry for some insane reason. I hate poetry. But you know what? Teddy Roosevelt loved it and even wrote it.

 

Ever read a T Rose bio? I highly suggest it. Men like that don’t exist on this planet anymore, besides maybe Navy Seals if any of them are capable of reading a book a day while in the middle of World War 3. Teddy could crush us all just with his manly mind.

 

Note to boys who think they’re men: Read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. That’s what a real man looks like. See how you compare. I’m still in the womb apparently.

 

5. Motivating

 

You have to stay inspired and keep hope alive. Otherwise you’ll curl up in a ball and do something that rhymes with an I. You have to motivate yourself.

 

Here’s how I stay motivated:

 

– I listen to Les Brown on audio. Sometimes I’m tempted to listen to some other motivational speaker besides Les Brown, but I’m always forced to ask myself “Why?” He’s the best. There’s no close second besides myself, and I don’t feel like talking. There’s just no way to listen to Les and not come away feeling like Rocky Balboa after he finally caught that chicken. If you’re feeling down, the very first thing you should do besides pray is buy every single program Les Brown has and listen to them all 10 times.

 

– I remind myself that seasons of uncertainty are normal. They’re a natural part of life, and they don’t last forever. It’s for my good that I’m questioning everything I’ve ever thought about myself, my Facebook friends, my real life friends, the entire world and God Almighty. I thought I had it all figured out—I don’t. And that’s OK.

 

LIFE IS CYCLICAL. It is so imperative that we know this at a deep level. Otherwise we’ll be constantly confused. Think of cycles as yearly seasons. Seasons are symbols of our stages of growth. There is the birth of spring, the vitality of summer, the harvest of fall and the death of winter. We will have many cycles throughout life, and cycles within cycles—all of it within the context of the ultimate cycles of our physical birth, life and death and even the universe itself.

 

The universe is currently in winter in case you were wondering. He who has ears to hear let him hear.

 

It’s also important to know that the cycles get bigger and more intense the longer you go. Some things get easier because of lessons learned, but life in general will almost always get harder and more complex.

 

“Mo’ money mo’ problems.” – The Notorious B.I.G.

 

Unless you’re hiding out of course. You can always hide and duck out of the game. But there’s an end to this game. Trust me… you want to win. You have to keep growing all the way to the end.

 

6. Exercising

 

If I didn’t exercise almost every day, I would be forced to get drunk instead. Exercising keeps my feel-good brain chemicals flowing that are so imperative to effective action in life. It also gives me a sense of accomplishment, a sense of self-esteem and a sense of shredded abs.

 

It would be hard to overstate the importance of a sense of shredded abs. I’ve attached an ab-selfie that my abs took of themselves without my permission just to kinda give you some vision board material and proof that I don’t just make stuff up for these posts. This is real life.

 

[Editor’s note: Ab selfie redacted for reasons. What reasons, I’m not sure yet but Preston sent us a picture of himself in a towel. That’s a reason.]

 

Shredded abs are helpful because whenever I’m feeling like a loser, I can just go to the mirror and pull up my shirt. “Losers don’t have abs like these” is somehow a comforting albeit douchey thought that keeps me going.

 

Seriously though, exercise is a life saver. If it weren’t for exercise, I’d still be in the rat race doing normal stuff. That’s a fact.

 

7. Watching

 

Bird watching. Have you ever watched a bird? Notice how they’re never watching you. Learn from that, and get to work.

 

While you’re working doing something that’s not your calling but necessary to stay off the cheese.gov until you are, be watching for signs. Be hyper-observant. Your calling is just that—a calling. In other words, it contacts YOU. Not the other way around. But you have to be looking—watching—for the call. (Read The Call by Os Guinness, btw.)

 

So what are signs exactly?

 

Signs are messages from dreams, books, movies, people and some breeds of talking parrots that point you toward your destiny. So if you insist on bird watching, I highly recommend watching an African Grey parrot. The only problem is they are compulsive liars. Only believe maybe half of what it says.

 

The other day someone made a comment on one of my posts that said, “Preston, have you ever considered stand-up comedy?” Although I don’t think that’s in the cards for me, I took the comment seriously. It was a clue. If I were to hear a similar comment from two more people besides anyone commenting below, I’d probably go try it. Who knows? And even if stand-up comedy isn’t in my future, maybe humor plays a big part in some way. It’s just another piece in the puzzle to file away for future use.

 

You get what I’m saying? Pay attention. Sometimes people are talking to you, and it’s actually God speaking telling you exactly what to do. LITERALLY. And I can say this because it’s happened to me several times. This world is way more magical than maybe you think. I’ll give you another example:

 

A while back I had the thought that I should write a blog article about the correlation between happiness and holiness. A week later a friend of mine sent me a text that said, “Hey me and my friends think you should write something about how the secret to happiness is holiness.” A few days later I read a devotional about that exact same topic… 3 DAYS IN A ROW. So, what did I do? I wrote what I think is probably the best and most profound article… in the world. haha. j/k.

 

The best I ever wrote for sure. It was 7,000 words—a small book. You can read it here if you want. So another big key is repetition. If you keep hearing the same thing over and over in different places, God is speaking to you. There is no such thing as coincidence.

 

So those are the seven things I’m doing while I’m waiting. I’m actually doing 35 things, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you or write them all.

 

Don’t believe anyone who tells you there is no meaning to life and you can just do what you want. There is an obvious design in life to anyone bothering to pay attention. A design logically implies a designer. If we were able to read all our DNA—our genetic code (who was the encoder?)—we would probably fall out of our chairs when we saw what we’ve been programmed to be and do. It’s far more than we think. It’s way bigger than we’re living now.

 

Let’s keep it moving. Be all that we can be and all that. Les Brown likes to say “Listen man, if you want proof you’re a winner, just understand that out of 40 million sperm, you won the race! You won’t ever have those odds again!” I’m not sure what that does for women, but… I’m sure there’s proof for them, too, in some other funny analogy.

 

Leadership Begins in the Heart

Leadership Begins in the Heart

John Maxwell

 

What can a person do to manage and cultivate good relationships as a leader? It requires three things:

 

1. Understand people: Marketing expert Rod Nichols says, “If you deal with every customer in the same way, you will only close twenty-five percent to thirty percent of your contacts, because you will only close one personality type. But if you learn how to effectively work with all four personality types, you can conceivably close one hundred percent of your contacts.”

 

2. Love people: Businessman Henry Gruland says, “Being a leader is more than just wanting to lead. Leaders have empathy for others and a keen ability to find the best in people . . . not the worst . . . by truly caring for others.” You cannot be a truly effective leader unless you love people.

 

3. Help people: If your focus is on what you can put into people rather than what you can get out of them, they’ll love and respect you-and those attributes are great foundations for building relationships.

 

Excerpt from The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader

Equipping: The Leader’s Responsibility

Equipping: The Leader’s Responsibility

John Maxwell

 

Equipping is a tough job, much harder than shepherding. The leader is to equip others for ministry. Paul explains the goal for the shepherd. If leaders wish to equip their people, they must give them certain gifts:

 

• I must CARE for them (Communication, Affirmation, Recognition, and Example).

 

• I must work on their weaknesses, but work out their strengths.

 

• I must give them myself (time, energy, and focus).

 

• I must give them ownership of the ministry.

 

• I must become a resource person (atmosphere, training, support, tools).

 

• I must make expectations clear.

 

• I must eliminate unnecessary burdens.

 

• I must catch them doing something good, then reward them for it.

 

Excerpt from The Maxwell Leadership Bible

Seek God, Then Ask Questions

Seek God, Then Ask Questions

John Maxwell

 

Most people can prioritize when faced with right or wrong issues. The challenge arises when we are faced with two good choices. Now what should we do? If you’re having trouble deciding between two good things, then look at these suggestions:

 

1. Ask your overseer or coworkers their preference.

 

2. Can one of the options be handled by someone else? If so, pass it on and work on the one only you can do.

 

3. Which option would be of greater benefit to the customer? Too many times we are like the merchant who was so intent on trying to keep the store clean that he would never unlock the front door. The real reason for the store is to have customers, not to clean it!

 

4. Make your decision based on the purpose of the organization.

 

Excerpt from Developing the Leader Within You

Giving is the Highest Level of Living

Giving is the Highest Level of Living

John Maxwell

 

Nothing speaks to others more loudly than generosity from a leader. True generosity isn’t an occasional event. It comes from the heart and permeates every aspect of a leader’s life, touching their time, money, talents, and possessions. Effective leaders, the kind people want to follow, don’t gather things just for themselves; they do it in order to give to others. To cultivate the quality of generosity in your life, do the following:

 

1. Be grateful for whatever you have.

 

2. Put people first.

 

3. Don’t allow the desire for possessions to control you.

 

4. See money as a resource.

 

5. Develop the habit of giving.

 

The only way to maintain an attitude of generosity is to make it your habit to give-your time, attention, money, and resources. As Richard Foster says, “Just the very act of letting go of money, or some other treasure, does something within us. It destroys the demon ‘greed’.”

 

Excerpt from The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader

 

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, WEEK ONE: HEALTH

JOHN MAXWELL ON LEADERSHIP

 

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, WEEK ONE: HEALTH

BY JOHN C. MAXWELL.

Why is it some people always seem to get ahead?

 

How has that older couple kept the magic of their marriage alive all these years?

 

What does the fitness instructor at the gym, the one with the perfect biceps, know that you don’t?

 

It’s simple: the secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.

 

That guy who’s always getting promoted knows he has to make decisions every day to grow better in his job. That couple celebrating 50 years of marriage knows they have to choose each day to love and honor their relationship. And the fitness instructor at the gym, the one with the perfect biceps, she knows you have to be disciplined in your daily choices in order stay fit and trim.

 

It’s the power of daily decisions. Everyone makes them – but not everyone makes them well. In my book, Today Matters, I outline how the key to being successful is determining ahead of time the decisions you will make and then managing them each day. The book takes a good long look at the twelve crucial decisions that shape our lives, and gives some powerful insights on how to manage those decisions each day.

 

But this is a blog, not a book. We only have so much space! That’s why over the next three weeks I want to focus on three critical decisions that impact everything else in your world. If you can win these three each day, you are on your way to living life successfully. We’ll cover one a week so you’ll have plenty of time to marinate on each one.

 

The first area I want to address is health. After all, you can’t do much of anything without your body and mind, can you?

 

As someone who hasn’t always taken his health seriously, I want to emphasize the importance of this area of your life. I took my health for granted until I had my heart attack in 1998 – and even after that, I struggled to embrace healthy living. Fortunately, I’ve gotten better over time. And I’ve discovered that there is no substitute for making daily choices to eat the right amount of nutritious foods and engage in the right amount of physical exercise. I talk regularly with my doctors to know what is safe and effective for me, and that’s a good place for anyone to begin.

 

You see, how you eat, how you exercise, how you choose to feel about the day, all have significant impact on your quality of life. If you eat poorly, it can make you feel tired. If you go to the gym early, it can be the kick start your day truly needs. Even something as small as waking up and saying to yourself, “Today, I will choose to be positive” can transform how you experience the day.

 

That’s what makes this decision so vital – the choices you make about your health affect everything else. And yet is there another area where people struggle more?

 

Quite often I hear people say they don’t have the time, or the resources, or the discipline to do better with their health. And my response is always the same.

 

“Yes you do. You just have to choose it.”

 

As simple as it sounds, that’s the truth. You can choose each day to live a healthy life. It doesn’t require a gym membership, or switching to a vegan diet, or anything more complicated than just making a decision you already know you need to make. It’s a two-step process, which I’ll explain right now:

 

1. I decide I will be healthy today.

 

2. I choose to eat, drink and do healthy things today.

 

That’s it! Nothing more to it – you simply repeat those two steps each day. But to give you some practical handles for this idea, allow me to suggest the following:

 

Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.

Instead of drinking a soda, drink water.

Instead of ordering the super-size meal, order the small.

Instead of parking next to the building, park farther away and walk.

Instead of ordering dessert, be content to pass.

Instead of allowing the day to dictate how you feel, choose to see the good in the day.

 

Your health is the accumulation of your choices, good or bad, over time. If you decide each day to make good choices, no matter how seemingly insignificant, those good choices compound as the days pass. You may not run a marathon on day two, but you might in year two – and that’s the point. When you choose each day to do what you can to be healthy, those choices add up.

 

I can think of no better decision I’ve made than the choice to manage my health. Every time I go to dinner with Margaret, or spend the weekend with my grandchildren, I’m reminded that the small sacrifices I make each day to be healthy give me so much in return. Because in the end, I’m not just choosing to be healthy for me; I’m choosing to be healthy for them as well.

 

My friend, you can do this. You can make the small choice to have a salad instead of a burger, to hear the compliment instead of the criticism, or to take the stairs instead of the elevator, and you can do it today. I promise you, if you’ll start today, and make the same healthy decisions tomorrow and the day after that, you won’t regret what you’ll gain.

 

You can be successful with your health. I believe in you – and I’m right here beside you.

Not Without My Family

Not Without My Family

John Maxwell

 

Every day parents and spouses leave their families in the pursuit of success. It’s almost as though they’re driving down the road, and they get pretty far along before they realize they’ve left members of their family behind. The tragedy is that many value their careers, success, or personal happiness more than they do their families. They decide that it’s too much work to go back, so they just keep driving.

 

But what many are now realizing is that the hope of happiness at the expense of breaking up a family is an illusion. You can’t give up your marriage or neglect your children and gain true success. As Nick Stinnet asserted more than a decade ago, “When you have a strong family life, you receive the message that you are loved, cared for and important. The positive intake of love, affection, and respect . . . gives you inner resources to deal with life more successfully.”

 

Excerpt from Your Road Map for Success