The Most Popular Game of All-Time

THE BLAME GAME

“People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives.” - J. Michael Straczynski When we were born, we were given 100% of all the talent, all the personality, all the energy, all it took to fulfill 100% of what you were placed on this earth to accomplish.

When we get the dream and then make it into a goal we go to terrific conferences - loaded with ideas, information and action steps to take. We read a book or watch a show that gives us inspiration and a blueprint for our desired outcome. We attend classes with brilliant teachers and take copious notes.

Unfortunately, I know, as many other speakers, trainers, writers and gurus know, that very few of the recipients of these useful messages will ever put them into practice. Why is it that we feel motivated, but don’t follow through? Why is it that we know we have a great idea, but never move to execute it? Why is it that we buy and/or download books, but never open them? Instead we make excuses (and don’t think that I am not guilty of this too!). Bo Bennett said it so well, “Not managing your time and making excuses are two bad habits. Don't put them both together by claiming you ‘don't have the time.’”

But isn’t that the excuse we make so often? When begin to play the most popular game of all-time – The Blame Game. When I find myself making excuses for not pursuing a certain project, I need to ask “Why are you putting this off? What are you afraid of?” You see, I feel that it all comes down to fear. We don’t like to admit it, but we all make excuses rather than facing the fear of failure, of criticism, of poverty, of success, and of looking foolish - to name just a few of the big ones.

Most of us already know what our core passion is. But, if we admit to it, we have to pursue it and that is the scary part. We desire to win so badly that we start playing a game – The Blame Game, a cheap counterfeit for winning at the game of “Life”. Unfortunately, the sad truth is, the only person you compete against in The Blame Game is yourself. And no one wins. You don’t win and the people you would have blessed lose too.

I have some great quotations to get you in the mood to stop playing The Blame Game: · George Washington Carver said that, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” · Melvyn Douglas advises, “Don't make excuses and don’t talk about it. Do it.” · Doug Hall agrees, “Don't make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes. Then make history.” · The successful James Cash Penney expressed strong feelings, “I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life's problems.”

So, how do we deal with the fear and forget the excuses that keep so many of us from fulfilling our dreams and goals?

First of all, realize and believe there is always a net to catch us. In her enlightening and beautifully written autobiography, Blood Memory, Martha Graham wrote, “Ben Belitt’s poetry more than once animated me to work on a ballet. There is that wonderful phrase of his, ‘Acrobats of God.” What is an Acrobat of God? I feel it is a person, not necessarily a dancer, who lives fully and completely. It is taking your chances whether you fall or not.” Secondly, know that the more times we fail and make mistakes, the more we learn and even faster than we can imagine.

And when you find yourself making an excuse: “I don’t have the time.” “I can’t resist chocolate.” “That computer stuff is too technical for me.” “I am too _____ (fill in the blank).” “I don’t have the ______ (fill in the blank).” “My metabolism is too slow.” Just stop yourself before you come up with another excuse. You get the idea. Let's work together to stop playing and start pursuing. E. Hubbard was correct when he once said, Don’t' make excuses, make good.

I'd like to hear about what you're pursuing. Leave a comment, send me an e-mail at chrisperez@katewwdb.com or leave a message at my office 866-853-4462

For fun, check out what the great sage, Rocky says about excuses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5OookwOoY&feature=related

CAP

The Bozo Principle

The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television. I remember watching The Bozo Show on WGN-TV , channel 9 in Chicago. The show had a 13-piece orchestra, circus acts, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience – what more could an 80’s child ask for? The Bozo Show featured skits and local talent. My favorite game, was The Grand Prize game, where Bozo used the "Bozo Puter" to select a boy and a girl player from the audience based on a three-digit ticket! Now that I think of it, it was kind of a “kiddie lotto” – perhaps this was an attempt to make “gambling” cool with kids and create a hunger in these little Gen. Xers, which later could only be filled with state-endorsed Lottery game? Funny that the Illinois Lottery started in 1974, the same era, and the televised drawings were broadcasted on the very same channel, WGN? I digress – let’s put conspiracy theories aside. Anyways, these two players, with the “lucky” tickets would pick a postcard from the drum of an "at home player" which won duplicate prizes in the game. The game consists of dropping a ping-pong ball into each numbered “bozo bucket” up to bucket six where a $50 bill and a bicycle awaits the winner! Players had their photo taken with an instant camera after bucket one. There was also a team game in most episodes, with a red team and a blue team picked from the audience winning prizes for some physical contest – a precursor to Survivor. And each episode ended with The Grand March, where the audience sitting in the first several rows walk off the set past a camera that has the credits superimposed over it for an additional two seconds of fame. But what I liked most of all was all the characters on the show. Bozo the clown had lots of friends that accompanied him, like Cuddly Dudley, Cooky, and female characters like, Pepper and Tunia. Interestingly enough, as a young child, through observing the show’s cast I realized that clowns hang with clowns. Why so nostalgic? I was listening to an interview of Guy Kawasaki (Pioneer Apple Evangelist, best-selling author) and he made a statement that the interviewer jokingly called the “Bozo Principle” and it brought back old memories and had me thinking. The “Bozo Principle” states: “If you hang around with ‘Bozo’s’ that can’t deliver – you shouldn’t keep hanging around them…If you pick ‘Bozo’s’ over and over again to work with that makes you a ‘Bozo’!” Questions: Who are you picking to run with you? Who are you talking too? Who are you hanging with? Try this: get two “bozo buckets” (they don’t have to be actual buckets – think cups or jars) and play your own grand prize game. Label one bucket “keepers” and the other “bozos”. Now, take time to write the people you want in either the “keeper” bucket or “bozo” bucket. Next, take the appropriate actions to lose the “bozos”.

For Fun: Check out The Bozo Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrqqqfZswWk

CAP

Don't Eat the Marshmallow - Yet.

A successful person uses small indicators to make big decisions. If he explains his methods to data-worshippers, he sounds like an idiot. When it later turns out that he was right, the doubters claim he was lucky, saying, “You can’t possibly forecast a positive outcome from those numbers.”

Interesting study: A large group of 4-year old children are led into a room, one at a time. The room is equipped with a two-way mirror. Each child is seated and given a marshmallow. “You can eat the marshmallow right now if you want. But if you wait until I come back to eat your marshmallow, I’ll give you a second marshmallow to go with it.” The giver of marshmallows then leaves the child alone in the room. One third of the children ate the marshmallow immediately. One third held out for a short time, then ate the marshmallow. One third waited 15 to 20 minutes until the giver of marshmallows returned with the promised, second marshmallow.

Small indicators are valuable to a savvy person, just as they were valuable to Walter Mischel*, a scientist at Stanford 40 years ago. Fourteen years later, at the age of eighteen, each of the original 216 children was located. Those who did not eat the fluffy goodness scored an average of 10 points higher on the SAT (610 verbal and 652 math versus 524 verbal and 528 math.) At age 40, the group that did n0t eat their marshmallows had more successful marriages, higher incomes, greater career satisfaction and better health than the marshmallow eaters. The 4 year-old who eats the marshmallow is oriented toward the present. The 4 year-old who waits is oriented toward the future. Yes, we can learn big things from small indicators.

For most, 2009 is going to be a year of change, temptation, upheaval. Will you be oriented toward the future? Or are you trapped in the present? Before you eat that marshmallow, let's talk. Tell me a story about when you "ate the marshmallow" and what you learned from it -- for the story I like the best --I'll send you a bag of puffy marshmallow!

*Walter Mischel was a professor of psychology at Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia Universities and a past editor of Psychological Review. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 and became president of the Association for Psychological Science in 2007.

CAP

What to do if the joke's on you

"Knock, Knock." "Who's there?" "Not you anymore." --Dilbert A Downturn Provides the Ideal Opportunity to Force Hard Choices London Business School professor Donald Sull wrote in the Financial Times that we need to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented by the economic downturn: Major change efforts are difficult in the best of times, and many people worry that a downturn will halt future progress or financial gains made to date. Indeed, in a downturn, people too often scurry from fighting one fire to the next (lay offs, credit cards, baby needs a new pair of shoes, the house bill's due, oh look, the light bill's due too!) and thereby lose sight of the longer transformation effort. Large-scale change initiatives typically require eight to 10 years to complete and often run out of steam along the way. Downturns provide an ideal opportunity to re-invigorate an ongoing transformation. You can harness a downturn to renew a sense of urgency, justify unpopular decisions and overcome complacency or resistance to change or you can bury your head in the sand and hope everything will turn out alright. If you use the same strategy your parents used, you have a 90% chance you'll be broke, busted or buried with debt to pass to your kids. How's your 401K? If you're over 40 yrs old and you lost money in your 401K over the last 18 months, compound interest simply is not your friend. How's your job going? The days of "job security", working for a company and getting the gold watch are over. Why do you think over 70% of moms have to work? How has the last 3-5 years gone for you--have you made progress financially or went backwards? If you're honest, what will your response be in this time? Will you bury your head in the sand or STOP doing the same things that don't work and START something new? You need to get on one of my video conferences and learn how to take the next 9 months (that will go by if you join my or not) and put yourself in position to make a six figure cash flow by the end of 2009. Please click on the following link:http://conferencing.katewwdb.com/meetings/wwg/15064836/vlogin.php?id=2095 OR Please click on the following link:http://conferencing.katewwdb.com/meetings/wwg/15064836/vlogin.php?id=6001 CAP twitter.com/chrisaperez

YOU (& your) TUBE

It's official, there are more people in the U.S.A. -- the number of obese American adults outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight, according to the latest statistics from the federal government. One of the common statistics often cited by video game industry trade groups is that the average age of a gamer nowadays is around 30 years old. What you might not know, however, is that among game players between the ages of 25 and 34, women far outnumber men, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (as reported in The New York Times).

I've worked one-on-one with hundreds of people of the last few years and it always surprises me to see the most beautiful, "LARGER THAN LIFE" plasma-screen TVs in the most modest houses. However, happy people don’t spend a lot of time watching television, a new study finds. The study relied primarily on the responses of 45,000 Americans collected over 35 years by the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, and on published “time diary” studies recording the daily activities of participants. Speaking of the Roman Colosseum one expert said: "Entertainment has always played in important part in human history. People go to great lengths to escape their mundane lives..." And as most of the lower and middle class lead lives of quiet desperation, they've learned to escape from other areas of life:

--4 in 5 of us will be married at least once

--1 in 3 will be divorced at least once

Stop watching in prime time and start living in prime time. Prime time is 7-11 p.m. EST, when all of America is watching other people making money and having fun in their professions. So if you want to watch other people making money, having fun in their professions, which gets their ratings up so they make more money, go ahead and do things that are tension relieving, instead of goal achieving. But if you truly want to live YOUR life in prime time, then write in prime time, have intimacy in prime time, talk with your children in prime time, live and do in prime time instead of unhooking and engaging in tension relieving activities. So stop watching and use the television set as an appliance. It has doors on it. Close the doors and use it like an iron. When you need to iron your clothes, bring out the TV set. Regarding the television, there was a guy who wasn't doing too well in my industry and he asked for some advice from his friend. He had a television set and watched a lot of it, so he was asked, "How much did that television cost you?" He said, "About $400." The friend responded, "No, you're mistaken." He said, "No, this television set cost me $400." The friend said, "Well, that's to buy it. To watch it, I am sure it is costing you about $40,000 a year to watch." He finally got the message and he called his brother-in-law, who had a pickup, and he and his brother-in-law hauled his television out of the house. His brother-in-law did say, "Well, you can just shut it off."And he said, "No, for now I don't trust myself, my friend is right. I'm not going to let this television set cost me $40,000 a year anymore."

What does your tube cost you? T.V. could cost you: money, an opportunity serve, health, or relationships. Count the cost, and if you have to, call me -- my father-in-law has a pick up truck for your T.V.

CAP

Kung Fu Fondue Principle: Begin...

Kung Fu Fondue Principle: Begin by "Eating That Bug."

Many of you may know that I ate a bug (a few of them) during our annual fondue party on New Year's Eve. I had 2.5" black crickets and bamboo caterpillars to munch. From that experience, I have discovered a truth that perhaps could benefit you in your journey of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The night that I ate bug(s), my first impulse was to wait to eat the bugs. But, my bug-eating cohort prompted me to eat the bug first - as a kick off to the evening. Looking back, this approach, to eat the bug first, was as wise as a wushu champion, because I really didn't want to eat the bug. However, I went through the trouble of searching for the bugs, I bought the bugs and I committed to people that I would eat the bugs. It's like those things in your life that you've committed to doing, you've told people around you that you are going to do the (fill in the blank), you know you should do them, but you delay, delay and don't do them. Sometimes doubt begins to creep in and you don't do the deed. Most of the time, the "thing" is something you should do, but is simply not fun, easy or entertaining -- so it doesn't get done (at least by you).

The Begin by "Eating that Bug" Principle basically says that if the first thing you do in the morning is eat a bug, then you will have the satisfaction of knowing it is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. And your "bug" is your most important task. Now there's two issues to address. The first one is if you have two bugs to eat, eat the ugliest one first and the second issue to that is if you have to eat a bug at all, it doesn't pay to sit and look at it very long. In my case, the cricket won the ugliest of them all contest. So, the cricket was downed first. I also, didn't spend a great deal of time staring at the creepy critter. So a key to Kung Fu (Excellence) in what you do is to plan every day the night before, in advance, and set priorities. And then say, "If I can only complete one task on this list before I was to be called out of town for a month to visit the Wudang Mountains, which one task would it be?" And whatever that is, it becomes your "bug" -- the next morning discipline yourself to start in on that task, the most important thing on your list, and do only that until it is complete. Let me know if you can develop that habit, and if it helps you. I hope this principle will play a small role (perhaps bug-like) in your attempt to take full control of your life, and gives you a personal feeling of pride, accomplishment, discipline and achievement. It is one of the most important of all lessons to learn, and one of the hardest things to implement if anybody has tried to do it.

CAP

What's Your Haka Chant?

Over the last year or so, I learned about the power of confessions in my life. Every day, at least that's the goal, I have confessions that I speak over my family, myself, my business partners, etc. I have some of the confessions handy on my cell phone ready to access throughout the day. Have the confessions posted on my wall in my home office too. The confessions get my mind right; last night Rhoda, my wife, saw that I was dipping a bit and reminded me of the confessions we have for '09. As my day starts, the power of confessions gets me going - ready to take on the day. I'm ready to take authority over my life. I'm ready to step on the head of my enemy. I'm ready to conquer fear. I'm ready to win. I'm ready. It turns out that when you speak, you hear yourself with your "inner ear", which sounds different than listening to someone else speak. There's a benefit, a clear confirmation to yourself, if you will, when you tell yourself what God says about you. Sometimes you're the only one around you that will tell you who you are in God - so you should tell yourself more often. When you listen to someone else speak, you do so with your "outer ear". Don't believe me? Try recording voice. When you play back the recording of yourself talking, you'll notice it always sounds a bit different to you. Preachers often say that they don't like to watch themselves on DVD or listen to their audio recordings, because they don't like the way their voice sounds. Anyway, the power of confessions are used all the time, especially in sports. You'll see teams and more importantly players chant. One of my favorite examples is The All Blacks, the international rugby union team of New Zealand. The All Blacks perform a haka (kind of a chant) (Māori traditional dance) immediately prior to international matches. Some say, the chant is a bit of an intimidation factor for the opponent - even more reason to like it! Interestingly, chant, in the dictionary can also mean slogan, phrase or even psalm. What are you getting ready for today? What's your psalm, chant - whatever you want to call it? If you don't have one - get one. Eph. says, to keep on being filled with the Spirit. And you will recite to one another psalms... What's your confession, psalm, chant - whatever you want to call it? You tell'in the opposition that you're bigger, better, stronger and faster and that you've already won - so don't even try it?! Confessions: If you don't have some - get some. Watch the Haka Chant here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4LNjNXt1yM CAP *All Blacks Haka details found on wikipedia

Kung Fu Fondue

There is no English equivalent for the original meaning of kung fu. In short, 功夫 (gōngfu) means "achievement through great effort". Originally, to practice kung fu did not just mean to practice Chinese martial arts. Instead, it referred to the process of one's training - the strengthening of the body and the mind, the learning and the perfection of one's skills - rather than to what was being trained. It refers to excellence achieved through long practice in any endeavor. You can say that a person's kung fu is good in fondue; saying that a person possesses kung fu in an area implies skill in that area, which they have worked hard to develop. For several years, now, our family has worked hard to develop Fondue Kung Fu. We own several fondue pots and each year it has become a tradition for our family (and a few friends) to get together on New Year’s Eve for an evening of fondue. I think it is ridiculous, how the art and practice of fondue has fallen out of favor. That everyone thinks it the same way they do avocado green appliances & shaggy burnt-orange carpeting. However, fondue is fun. And it is truly is the ultimate party food. Fondue comes with traditions; one being, if you drop the tasty morsel of goodness that you have on the end of your stick into the hot cauldron of oil – you have to kiss the person next to you. At our party, we’ve created a variation of this tradition that simply requires the fumbling fondue(r) to answer a question about themselves that most people at the party might not know about them. Another budding tradition involves playing the wii baseball, boxing, et cetera (I won’t go into detail, because I lost badly last year). This year, I feel like adding a new tradition that involves exotic fried items; and in honor of Kung Fu and the young “grasshopper” I think I’ll start with a treat I’ll dub “fried hoppers”.

A couple of questions remain:

1. Where to get grasshoppers? I wonder if the local Thai grocery will carry them?

2. Will the little hoppers taste better in chocolate or honey? My guess is honey, since John the Baptist seemed to prefer insects that way – good enough for John, good enough for me.

3. Who at the party will end up eating these things? I hope I don’t have to gorge myself with an excess of fried hoppers – waste not, want not. Have a Happy & Prosperous New Year! CAP

"Ich dien"

How do you get more out of life? I can give you a few guesses. Do you get it by complaining and criticizing? Nope... How about wallowing in self-pity and demanding to be the center of attention and everything center around you and your needs? No...Not even close.

I've noticed, that we've become a "soft serve" society. We have every possible service available to cater to our needs. The only thing missing, for the most part, is "self serve". Often we're "hard" on our service providers, but "soft" when it comes to serving others ourselves.

I've mentioned before, that I'm reading a book, titled, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" (HSW). Before you jump to conclusions, no, I'm not a worry wart. However, since I work in a "people business", and it's on my reading list of books to read in the next year, I thought I should make sure I'm not worrying about stuff I can't control -- other people. Consequently, I've been reading HSW, almost every night, about 15 mins. at a time.

Tonight I came across the motto of the Prince of Whales: "Ich dien" -- "I serve." To put the mention of the above motto in context, the author of HSW used an illustration of service to others as a way to cure depression in 14 days. You see, there seems to be a healthy inner glow in a man with purpose, a mission. There's a joy of knowing that one is being used by an idea far more nobler and more significant that oneself. Alfred Adler, psychiatrist, would prescribe the following exercise to all his patients: "Try to think every day how you can please someone." The prescription came with a guarantee that, if they follow Dr. Adler's instructions, they would be cured from their depressed state in 14 days.

Most people know that, between Christmas and New Year's Day, many people can become depressed, some even commit suicide. However, I figured we don't have to be depressed to take on Dr. Adler's 14-day challenge. Will you join me in forgetting ourselves enough to become more interested in others? For the next 14-days (and hopefully for the rest of your life), do a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone's face. I'd love to hear from you on how you are demonstrating "Ich dien" to the world (in big and small ways).

CAP

*Note: This blog was not intended to discriminate against those who like soft serve. I, for one, love soft serve. Generally, soft serve is lower in milk-fat and tends to allow the taste buds to detect more flavor. If you are in need for a soft serve, please go to: joshandjohns.com and find a location near you. In fact, if you take the 14-day challenge and comment about your experiences, I may treat you to a soft serve some time.

People You Don't Know That Changed Your World

This is the start of a series I call:

"People You Don't Know That Changed Your World"

(Question: Like the title? Give me a better suggestion, and I'll give you a free book!

Comment on this post, send me an e-mail, twitter me, post on my facebook, call me, or just tell me in person!)

Carl F. Rehnborg, while living in China in the early 1920s, noticed, amid unforgettable malnutrition and disease, an important connection between the foods people ate and their overall health. In farming communities, where fresh fruits and vegetables were plentiful, people were much healthier overall. In the cities, where diets included far more sugar, salt, and fat, Carl noted that there were many more instances of critical diseases, such as scurvy and beriberi. During political unrest in Shanghai, Carl was isolated in a protected enclave. There, he conceived the idea of using nutritional elements missing from the typical diet as a way to improve overall health. Carl supplemented his meager diet with soups from what was available: local herbs, grasses, and vegetables, along with rusty nails (for iron), and lime stone and ground-up animal bones (for calcium).

He shared his broth with a few friends, although the flavor was far from palatable. Months later, Carl and his friends who ate the nutrient-rich broth emerged from their enclave much healthier than those who had eaten only army rations. Returning to the United States, Carl set up a small laboratory on California's Balboa Island, where, over the next six years, he conducted experiments using different plant varieties. He developed a way to dry these plants while still preserving their important nutrients. He created a formulation of alfalfa, watercress, and parsley, which became the basis of his first product.

Prior to 1934, there were no multiviatiam/multimineral supplements. People found it difficult to know if they were getting enough nutrients in their daily diets. Ultimately, pioneer, Carl Rehnborg created the first multivitamin/multimineral supplement sold in North America. Since 1934, when the first NUTRILITE product was introduced, the company has become a leader in nutrition research, development, and innovation. Because they are made from whole plant concentrates, many NUTRILITE supplements contain a wide array of phytonutrients.

Throughout his life, Carl Rehnborg believed this was the optimum way to achieve good nutrition the way nature intended. Manufacturing operations in Buena Park, California, and Guangzhou, China, produce up to 10 billion NUTRILITE tablets, capsules and softgel capsules annually. Carl began selling his new supplement person to person, friend to friend, through word-of-mouth referrals. When some of these early customers began referring new customers to Carl, he suggested they sell the product themselves, rewarding them with discounts on their purchases.

Carl Rehnborg's innovative work was the start of a multi-billion dollar company. (Source: Nutrilite.com)

http://www.surfmyshops.com/ /twitter.com/chrisaperez/facebook.com: Christopher A. Perez

Getting Dirty

Every year, around this time, people begin to look back at their year and say, "I can't believe it's almost Christmas! This year went so fast!" As they contemplate the fleetness of their days, the song Happy Christmas, by John Lennon and Yoko Ono rings out, "So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun..." Next, there's the pangs of their conscience, as they lament over lost time, and lost opportunity to change for the better. The sit- ups they stopped doing, the friends they forgot to call, the spirit-man they didn't strengthen, the finances they didn't fix--all these miscarried goals flood their mind. In my home office (the war room), I have a quote by Thomas Alva Edison that reads, "Most people don't recognize opportunity when it comes, because it's usually dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work." If only there was a magic pill, magic bullet, or magic trick, that you could pick up at the local magic store--and POOF--your life would be magically delicious! Everything nice, neat, and pre-packaged. For a moment, there's the bright idea to ask for the magic gift for Christmas! Last week, you remember seeing an info commercial offering the magic gift in your choice of color. About this time, you realize that your God-given goals and dreams don't come in a nice, neat box. They are found in seed and soil--sometimes covered so only you can see them. You have to get your hands dirty. You have to work with the seed and soil. I'm not talking about a toilsome work. Rather, I'm talking about diligence--steady and earnest in application to a subject or pursuit. God says that the hand of the diligent will be successful. As we approach 2009, and you map out your goals, dreams and desires for you and your family, here are some instructions we can learn from an old cotton farmer that might help you in the process: Preparation: A. Till your soil, eliminate weeds, and add compost. B. Next, drag a garden hoe in a straight line the length of the garden to create a row for planting. If making more than one row, make them about thirty inches apart from each other. Then pre-moisten the soil with a good deep watering. C. Plant. Application: What are some weeds that you've allowed in your soil? Take action to eliminate the weeds immediately. Renew your mind daily to ensure the soil is rich to grow a strong harvest. If you have dreams and goals, make sure you give them room this year to grow properly. Don't crowd your dreams with so many activities, clubs, commitments, and committees that you hinder any one thing in your life from truly reaching it's God-Size! Get familiar with the word, "NO". It's OK, go ahead and say out load--No! Staring at the compelling distractions on a television screen is one of the major consumers of time. You can enjoy and benefit from the very best it has to offer in about seven total hours of viewing per week. But the average person spends more than thirty hours per week in a semi-stupor, escaping from the priorities and goals he or she never gets around to setting. The irony is that the people we are watching are having fun achieving their own goals, making money, having us look at them enjoying their careers. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire today, month, year. If you've just frittered away an hour procrastinating, you will still be given the next hour to start on priorities. Time management contains one great paradox: No one has enough time, and yet everyone has all there is. Time is not the problem; the problem is separating the urgent from the important. Clear your calendar to get your hands dirty doing what God has uniquely called you to do this year. Take time prior to Jan. 1, 2009 to pre-moisten the soil with a good deep watering at a one-day retreat. Book it in your calendar now, get out of the house and dream cast, pray, seek God (alone). If you are married, spend time alone with God and schedule a portion of the day to come together with your spouse and discuss what God's prompting each of you to accomplish. A few ideas--my friend rents a room at "Glenn Erie" each year, walks the grounds, brings paint brushes, paints and canvas, his guitar, his Bible, lots of paper, and meets his wife for a dinner date later in the evening to discuss, etc. Cultivation: A. Check the soil temperature using a soil thermometer. B. Refrain from watering the newly planted seeds until four to five weeks after the plants emerge. Then water the small plants through the summer months about every ten days. C. Stop watering the cotton plants sixteen weeks after planting. Soon after they stop receiving water, they will start to dry and shed their leaves. The cotton bolls, or pods, will split open allowing the cotton fiber inside to dry. Application: Get a game plan and follow it. Check on your dream seeds on a regular basis. Give your dream seeds time to take root. It's all about the slight edge. Sometimes (OK, maybe all the time), the tendency is to over do it, and want to see fruit on day one. Example: you want to lose weight, so you join a gym, and on Jan. 1st you go in and "over water" by lifting too much, for too long. The next day, you get up and your body is screaming! Your body is stiff and sore from all the lactic acid rushing to rescue your muscles, so you don't go back to the gym that day. Day three the soreness hasn't subsided, and you're feeling sorry for yourself. You can't even raise your arms above your head, and you don't want to cook, so you order McD's for dinner on the way home from work. After downing a Big Mac, a biggie fry and a large strawberry milkshake you feel guilty, fat and sore, with clearly no results in sight. The next day you sleep in and say, "I'll start again next week." Next week turns into next month, and ultimately next year. The key is daily, diligence and monitoring. There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don't take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. Worst of all, when neglect starts, it diminishes our self-worth. Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? All you have to do is act now! Start with the smallest discipline that corresponds to your goal/dream. Harvest: A. Harvest the cotton when all the bolls have cracked open and the cotton is a ball of fluff. Application: Celebrate the harvest! People will see the fruit and so will you! Something good is going to happen in 2009! IDEA: Get a cotton ball and put it somewhere you can see it daily (put it on the dash of your car, tape it to your computer monitor, keep it in your pocket, etc.). Make the cotton ball a visual reminder of the dreams you're cultivating, to be diligent, to be ever-monitoring and to get your hands dirty! CP

icareaboutorphans.org

Learned about an awesome movement of local churches, non-profit-faith-based orgs teaming up to solve problems the goverenment was never meant to fix. We took our kiddos to an adoption summit this weekend just to get information and see the good work that's being done in this social cause. I think one of our dreams, as a couple, is to adopt in the next few years. 5 kids sounds like a good number! We have three now, so two more... With every dream/vision, there needs to be plans, so our first step this weekend was to simply get information on the subject. Christians have a clear command to care for orphans, and there are many ways to get involved-like praying, giving, mobilizing your church, or adopting. Whichever you decide, there is planty of guidance and support as you walk down this incredibly rewarding path. So embrace the call, avoid the trap of thinking "someone else will help," and let's make the US a place where every orphan waiting in foster care has a family. Question: What vision do you have? What simply, first, steps are you taking to make your dreams/visions real? Start today with your first step (research, interview people, go to a meeting, pray, etc.). A wise mentor of mine once said, if you do something, something will happen--every time! So, if you have something that God has placed on your heart--do something about it! CP

Win a FREE book! National grown-up super hero costume day!

Fall is here, and fall festivals abound. I do let my enterprising kids run around the neighborhood in search of deliciously, sweet, jewel-like loot (my son Edan, and my two daughters Cienna, aka Wonder Woman and Brianna bottom right pictured above). My only requirement is that my kiddos adorn themselves with costumes of characters they should aspire to be--no witches, dead people raised from the dead or goblins in my household. Super heroes are a perennial choice. This fall, there's a lot of doom and gloom and surprisingly it has nothing do with Halloween. This fall, we've had visitors coming to our houses, well in advance of Halloween, doing more tricking than treating. If you listen long enough, you might get a little pessimistic, sarcastic, and as gloomy as a average fall day in the Midwest. Many people are asking where's superman?! Where's superwoman?! Won't someone come to our rescue? The answer is simple. No. You are the hero. I'm NOT talking about some naturalist notion. I know where our true source of power comes from (GOD). However, living in a country that is blessed by the Big Guy empowers us to prosper (in every area of our life). We can't let the "bad news" mentally bum us out. We need to dream. Ronald Reagan, after losing his first bid for the presidency, wrote this note on the campaign ticket of a Sr. Advisor for his campaign: "We fought, we dreamed, and we dreamed some more...". The next Presidential election Mr. Reagan won. We need to dream, and dream some more. When I was a kid, I had "underoos". Underroos were underwear with super hero graphics! I went to bed every day as some form of super-human-mutant (Aquaman, Green Lantern, Superman...). However, the dreaming didn't just happen when I was sleeping. As a little man, my whole day was about living the dream, playing the dream, acting out. It was evident in the things I watched, the people I played with, the clothes I wore, and the tools/toys I played with daily. I was listening to the President's Weekly Radio Address to the Nation (yes someone listens to this stuff) and I love the closing remarks from 'W' : "...We are a country where all people have the freedom to reach their potential and chase their dreams. This has defined our nation since its founding. This promise will guide us through the challenges we face today and this promise will continue to define our nation for generations to come..." So I've been thinking about that I'm going to take advantage of 10/31 and dress up! I figure since everyone else will be publicly playing dress up, it won't weird anyone out. Underoos would be a little more concealed, but they don't come in grown up sizes (I checked). How many of you are in? Will you join me in my declaration that we are the heroes! Individuals in this country still has dreams! Post your pic from national grown up super hero day, we'll vote and I'll send you a free book to the winner!

fight

A mentor of mine, when speaking in front of thousands of people has read this quote that he was made to memorize while attending the Air Force Academy. At the time, he admits, he didn't really grasp the significance of this message. "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart MillEnglish economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873) This quote isn't just about the fighting our brave men and women are doing overseas, it's about you and me. What are we willing to fight for? I have a few ideas, and I'm in a fighting mood.

Mission Statement

Mission Statements are everywhere. For example, here's Taco Bell's Mission Statement: "We take pride in making the best Mexican style fast food providing fast, friendly and accurate service. We are the employer of choice offering team members opportunities for growth, advancement, and rewarding careers in a fun, safe working environment. We are accountable for profitability in everything we do, providing our shareholders with value growth. " What about Starbucks (we call it Fourbucks, because you can't get out without spending $4): Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.The following six guiding principles will help us measure the appropriateness of our decisions:Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business.Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee.Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time.Contribute positively to our communities and our environment.Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success. Pretty boring stuff (no wonder people need so much caffeine to get going in the morning, and mid-afternoon). The only mission that really matters is something like: "My mission statement is to participate in the end of suffering." The greatest people/organizations in the world are taking up the mission to end suffering. A person will do anything to end suffering in their life. Consequently, if you dial into suffering in any arena and help to end it, you'll create a movement of people that want to participate. If I take it up a notch, my vision statement is to "destroy spiritual, relational, emotional, physical, and financial poverty worldwide." What's your vision? What are some ways you think I can accomplish my vision?

What's up with you?

The Hardest Person to Lead It doesn't take long to realize that leadership is hard. You should be able to conjure up the names of at least five people who make that a true statement. All kinds of things make leadership difficult, but certain people are one of those things. As the picture of those certain people comes to mind, take a minute to let that picture fade. Because of all the difficult people you will lead, the hardest person to lead will be yourself. Call it whatever you want-the discipline of a leader, self-leadership, managing yourself-you've got your work cut out for you. The journey of leadership is as much inward as it is outward. Leadership, done well, will continually be a force that drives you back into the center of yourself to find out what you are really made of. Great leadership occurs when you understand your own motives, your ‘dark side,' what you want to misrepresent in order to look better than you really are. One of the things I believe deeply is this: Leaders ought to be the most self-aware people in the room. Sure, who doesn't agree with that? Especially if I clarify that I am not talking about a narcissistic self-awareness. You know the kind: The people who know only two pronouns: I and me-no, not that kind of self-awareness. I'm talking about the kind of self-awareness that makes you comfortable in your own skin. You know who you are and who you aren't. You lean into and lead out of your strengths. You have words for your brokenness, and while you may wish you had none, you know that you do, and you know what they are. And you know that other people know. You wouldn't have it any other way. Taken from Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands by Nancy Ortberg. Copyright © 2008 by Nancy Ortberg. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Give, Receive, and be the second chance

I fail a great deal. If I fail, it means I'm trying. Trying something! A mentor of mine once said, "If you try something, something will happen." Generally, I like something happening more than nothing happening. However, if I try, I generally fail. It's not a matter of if I'll fail, but when. One second I'm taking a chance, the next second I need a second chance. I'm a part of The People of the Second Chance, which is a community of individuals who advocate radical grace and second chances. We champion lost causes and think that a second chance is a human right.People of the Second chance have 3 core values: 1. People of the Second Chance are individuals who are fast to forgive. In a culture that believes in revenge and payback, we rebel with grace. 2. People of the Second Chance receive second chances in their own life. When we have experienced personal, professional, or relational failure, we refuse to be defined by our mistakes. We learn, we grow, and we have the courage to move on. 3. People of the Second Chance serve in places where people need second chances. We advocate for the vulnerable and fight for equality for the poor, the prisoner, and the voiceless.These three values can be simply summed up by:Give, Receive & Be the Second Chance.

Questions

I recently read a book titled, "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling" and I was intrigued by a chapter about "questions". Instead of making so many positive statements, you should put your conversation in the form of questions the author added. The author of the book went on to describe how in one day he generated more sales then he had anticipated for the entire year! The epiphany of simply asking questions changed the entire trajectory of his sales career! It made me think about how the principle of asking questions is so important to direct selling too. If I were looking into a direct selling opportunity for the first time here are a few questions I would ask my potential sponsor: 1. Is the company you represent debt free? 2. Is the company privately or publicly held? 3. How long has the company been around? 4. Is the company registered with the BBB? 5. What % of company sales go back to the business owners in the comp. plan? 6. Does the company have a global footprint? 7. Is the company an innovator (how many patents, awards, etc. are they responsible for)? 8. Is the product line limited by a specific category? 9. Where do they rank in their category (are they a leader)? 10. How are they investing in the future? 11. How many products do they offer to sell? 12. What are their annual sales? 13. Do you use your own products? These a few questions I would ask. How about you?