A few weeks ago, I bought a box of Louis L’Amour western novels. He’s one of my favorite authors, and I was happy to find several of his books that I had not yet read. In the box were several books by other authors. As I was looking through them, I noticed one from a series of books called, “Choose Your Own Adventure.” I had never heard of the series, so I took a closer look. The cover said there…
Several years back, I went through a leadership training course with about 12 other people, mostly ministers. It was a valuable experience. I learned a lot about myself and why I think and act the way I do. One of the things I learned was there are different types of leaders. One of the instructors said that sometimes the best leader is the one who says, “We’re not ready to take that hill yet.” So how can you spot a…
Earlier tonight, I was reading Steve Pavlina’s personal development blog about switching to a 100 percent raw diet. I admire his commitment and the general reasoning behind his move. Two sentences in a section on dealing with social issues struck me. “Every time you stretch beyond the social conditioning, risking the rejection of your peers, you simultaneously serve as a powerful example to them,” he said. “You help other people awaken to the knowledge that they can exceed their current…
I got home a short while ago from my daughter’s softball game. We won, 5-0, defeating the #1 team in the state. After the game, I was talking with one of the coaches about how well our girls had played. I told her that I thought our defense was the difference. She didn’t disagree, but added that it was more than just defense. Our girls played as a team. As I thought back on the game, I saw that she…
I heard a story the other day about two owners of horse-racing stables. Seems the two had been heated rivals for years. One of the two had the idea to hire a professional jockey to ride one of his horses in a big race. When the race started it was clear the horses from the two stables were far superior to any other horses in the race. They opened a huge lead over all the other horses. As they neared…
I was in a forum on a web site for piano players when one of the participants asked how other people felt about being called “gifted.” The person took some offense at the description, thinking it failed to acknowledge the amount of practice it takes to play the piano well. The discussion brought to mind my early years taking piano lessons. I was a student of what was then called the “lab method.” There were six students in rows of…
About six months ago, I was sent a free e-book that has changed my life. The book was written by Michael Dlouhy, who has since become my good friend and a personal mentor. When I read the book, “Success in 10 Steps,” it seemed as though Michael was writing it to me. It was like he knew everything that had happened to me in my network marketing career. He couldn’t have described it any better if I had told him…
Have this ever happened to you: you’re talking to someone, perhaps sharing a matter of deep concern, when you notice they have a far-off look in their eye. When you finish talking the person responds with an odd-sounding anecdote that doesn’t make sense until you realize a slight connection with something you said very early in your remarks. Or worse yet, have you ever been listening to someone when they say something that causes your mind to immediately think of…
Have you ever thought about why you’re in network marketing? What is it that most keeps you going toward your goal? I’ve been giving that a lot of thought recently. I’ve been trying to strip away all the peripheral reasons to get to my core desires. All this has forced me to ask myself a lot of question. Some of them were tough questions. Some were downright scary. For example, I’ve thought about what I want to be said at…
Recently I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my story. After a while, it occurred to me that I was thinking almost entirely about my past. I decided that it would be better to look instead at the future. I’ve thought about what my “future story” will be. For me, it turned out that my future story is strongly influenced by my successes and failures in the past. My aim is to emphasize the strengths and downplay the weaknesses….