The other day, I was off work and had a little time to catch up on some things that I had been putting off. One of those things was a small leak behind our toilet. My wife had noticed it a month or so ago, and I had promised to take a look at it. The leak wasn’t bad, just a drip every once in a while, but it needed to be fixed. So I crawled down where I could…
Has anyone ever described you as gentle? Did you take it as a compliment? I admit, I’ve always had a negative feeling about the word. Who would want to be gentle? Then this morning, my pastor talked about the passage in the Bible where Jesus describes himself as gentle and humble. Humble, I was OK with. Gentle, not so much. Then my pastor defined gentleness as “strength under control.” The example he gave was wild horses that are tamed. They…
Recently I went on a trip to Belize with some folks from my church. We spent four days working and about a day and a half sightseeing. One of the sights we wanted to see was the Blue Hole. It had been raining hard that day, and initially it appeared that the park where the Blue Hole was located was closed. But a park employee came out and opened the gate to let us in. Before long we were hiking…
The other day I got out my keys to unlock the door at my office. While looking for the key to the door, I noticed an old GM car key. I don’t remember where I got that key. I suppose it went to one of our old cars. I have no idea which one. Why is it still on my key ring? Don’t know. Perhaps at some time it held some special meaning to me. But if it did, I…
I’m leaving soon for a mission trip with my church. We’re going to another country to help build a room for a church and lead a Vacation Bible school for the children. In preparation for the trip, one of our leaders talked about some ways we could make the trip a success. It occurred to me that her suggestions also made good advice for life. First, we’re supposed to realize that we’re the outsiders. We’ll be in a different culture….
Recently a friend of mine showed me a list of famous Napoleon Hill quotes. Since Hill is the author of “Think and Grow Rich,” one of my favorite motivational books, I read the quotes closely. Here are a few that have helped me in life and in business. — “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”Often we find ourselves overanalyzing our situation in life. We think of something we want to do, then we try to come up…
When I was young, I loved to play sports. Basketball was my favorite, but I liked other games, too. Most of the games I played were pick-up games in the backyard or in the street. One of my friends even painted yard lines on our street so we could play football. But I also played some organized sports. Some of my favorite memories came from playing church-league basketball and softball games. One year, my cousin’s father, Jack Llull, said that…
Every once in a while it’s good to sit back and take a good, long look at life. Here’s a simple, easy way to think about where you are. It’s called the wheel of life. First, draw a circle. Make it plenty big enough to write in. Now divide the circle into eight pieces. You do that by drawing a line straight up and down, then one side by side. That makes four pieces. Then draw two more lines diagonally…
Is it possible to be a marketer and have no agenda? That question has been on my mind lately. At first it seems the answer is no. After all, isn’t a marketer’s agenda always to market his product or service Doesn’t marketing something mean you’re trying to sell it? And if you’re trying to sell something, that’s an agenda, right? Dictionary.com defines marketing as “the act of buying or selling in a market” or as “the total of activities involved…
A friend of mine is a huge Tony Robbins fan. He told me the other day that Robbins says that one of the most important decisions you can make to ensure you long-term happiness is to decide to use whatever life gives you in the moment. According to my friend, Robbins says there’s nothing you can’t accomplish if: 1. You clearly decide what it is that you’re absolutely committed to achieving, 2. You are willing to take massive action, 3….