Copyright
2014 by John Barrett
All rights reserved
Published By: The John Barrett Company
www.johnbarrettcompany.com Book Design By: John Barrett Art
www.johnbarrettart.com
Introduction .................................................... 5 Way #1 Never Let The Past Determine The Future ............................................................. 11 Way #2 Never Let Comfort Take The Place Of Purpose...................................................... 31 Way #3 Never Let Failure Keep You Down .. 44 Way #4 Never Let Time Slip Away................ 55 Way #5 Never Let Unhappiness Steal Your Joy .................................................................. 70
About John Barrett ......................... 81 www.johnbarrettleadership.com 83 Resourcing Leaders 85 Blogs, Books, Tips, Resources, & More 85
Introduction
Did you know the famous artist Pablo
Picasso burned many of his paintings to stay warm when he was facing extreme financial problems while living in Paris? Can you imagine taking your masterpiece paintings that you spent an immense amount of time on and using them as fire wood? Well, Pablo did! I am not sure whether to be impressed by his resourcefulness or shocked by his desperation. No matter how I feel though the fact remains that he had to do what he had to do in order to stay alive. He definitely figured out a way to create a warm future!
Many people hope for the future to magi-
cally turn out great rather than making it turn out great. Hope is a wonderful thing, but it is not a
strategy. Most people just accept their life, they do not intentionally lead it. Pablo could have simply waited until he acquired fire wood in order to stay warm, but he may have froze to death in the meantime. Rather he made a way to survive no matter what the cost. The truth is nothing of great significance happens automatically without a a purpose, a plan, and persistence. Anything that is of extreme worth cost something. Usually the better quality an item is the higher the price. Creating a great future comes with a price tag. We have to be willing to pay the price of hard work and dedication in order to get what we want out of life. Nothing of greatness comes at bargain values when it involves our future. It is only through living out specific principles that push ourselves to be better that brings about a great future. Coach Vince Lombardi said, "Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price."
What is it that you want for your future? I
guarantee it comes with a price. Do you want financial freedom from debt? Then the price is sacrifice by saving your money when you want to spend it. Do you want love? Then the price is humility by giving your heart and love to others. Do you want influence? Then the price will be time by going out of your way to add value into the lives of others. For everything we want in life there is a price tag attached to it. Only those that are willing to pay the price are the ones that will receive the prize. A great future comes with a great price, unfortunately it is not free. Here are some things to think about when it comes to paying the price for a great future‌
1. Everyone pays a price
There is no one that is exempt from paying
the price to be great. It doesn't matter where you came from or who you came from, at some point you will have to pay up. No one gets a free ticket to significance, it comes with a price tag. And greatness never happens automatically in life. If you think
success will come to you without paying a price I have some bad news for you! Success happens when we have payed the price to be successful. You reap what you sow. If you are not sowing seed you will not reap the harvest. As my mentor Dr. John C. Maxwell says, "You have to give up in order to go up." Greatness does not come upon you, it must come from within you and that takes intentional effort!
2. The price is different for everyone
Not everyone pays the same price for a bet-
ter future. Some will pay a higher price than others. Just because someone pays a certain price does not mean others will have to pay the same amount. The most important thing to know is what price will be required of YOU in order to be great? Don't compare the price you have to pay to what others have to pay, you just worry about the price you have been called to pay. When we compare ourself to others we always lose. If you compare yourself to someone who payed less of a price, you can become bitter
and jealous as to why you have to pay more. If you compare your cost to someone who paid more of a price than you it can cause you to become arrogant. All of us are on a different journey in life. Your journey is specific to the price you, and you alone have to pay. This ebook is designed to help you find out what that price is. What is it that you need to sacrifice in order to gain? There will be challenging principles in this book that will cost you by changing your outlook and possibly changing your thinking. Be aware of what areas in this book stick out to you the most and work on them!
3. The payment never ends
The higher you go in life the more you'll
have to pay. Paying the price is not a one time event, it is a lifestyle. Just because you payed a price once doesn't mean you never pay the price again. The higher you go the more it will cost you. If you want to keep moving forward you have to keep paying the toll of progress. Think of the future like a diet, if you want to stay at a healthy weight you can't just
crash diet to get there and then stop dieting and expect to remain healthy. In order to maintain your weight you have to keep eating healthy or you will gain the weight back and become unhealthy again very quickly! If you want to say at the top you have to continually pay the price daily. My hope is that you do not just read this book but that you live out the principles that are taught in this book. I guarantee that if you live out the principles in this book you will create the future you have the potential to have! Never forget that these principles never end no matter what stage of life you are in! They are timeless and applicable at whatever life season you are in.
This ebook is designed to help you find out
what that price I that you need to pay. What is it that you need to sacrifice in order to gain? There will be challenging principles in this book that will cost you by changing your outlook and possibly changing your thinking. Be aware of what areas in
this book stick out to you the most and work on them! Enjoy‌
Way #1 Never Let The Past Determine The Future
The future will only get better if we intention-
ally make it better. It does not automatically get better on its own. As a matter of fact things tend to get worse when left on autopilot. As each page turns in our life it should become filled with more and more passion and purpose. Yet so many people are stuck in the past. They stare out the rear-view mirror of
life, never looking at what lies ahead. Unfortunately their best days are behind them. When the good old days are all we talk about then we are in danger of missing the present and certainly the future. We are bound to wreck if we are always looking behind us in the past. It is alright to glance back in order to be aware and learn from what is in our past, but we must keep our eyes forward if we are going to succeed into the future. Celebrate the wins of the past, but don’t get stuck there. Keeping our eyes forward is about seeing the future the way it can be, not just the way it is. Where there is no FAITH for the FUTURE there is no POWER in the PRESENT.
Some people struggle with the past and the
things that have happened to them. They are still mulling over failures, set backs, or issues that have hurt them. The past is already written, we can't change that, but we can choose what our story will be today. We can use the lessons of the past to create a better future. We don’t have to be victims of our past, we can be victors of it. Ronald Reagan,
one of our greatest presidents, used to say, “Our best days are ahead of us.”
One of my favorite mottos to live by
is...“Though you can’t go back and make a brand new start my friend, you can start now and make a brand new end.” Many people are trying their best to play the cards they have been dealt in life thinking it is their one and only hand. It never occurs to them that they can choose to fold and get dealt a new hand. When you get a new hand you get a new opportunity! It is never too late to start becoming what you’ve wanted to become and to do what you’ve always wanted to do. If we are going to be successful we have to know how to let go of the past and embrace the present for it will determine the future. Famous basketball coach and legend John Wooden carried a card in his pocket for most of his life. It was a card his father gave to him with ten principles to live by. It was a guide that John lived by everyday of his life. One of the ten incredible principles on the card was, “Make Each Day Your Mas-
terpiece.� John, without a doubt, lived his life by that motto. His players knew him as more than just their basketball coach, they knew him as their life coach. When John passed away at 99 years old, his funeral was more than a service, it was a masterpiece of the legacy he had left.
When we approach each day as a blank can-
vas, we realize that we have a responsibility to make every day count. The paint we leave on the canvas of life will be the legacy we have tomorrow. Every day matters. Every day is an opportunity to better ourselves and better those around us. When we treat everyday as an opportunity, we will be better tomorrow because of it. Our FUTURE gets better when our TODAYS get better.
Most people spend their life repairing instead
of preparing. Don't spend all your time today repairing yesterday. Spend today preparing for tomorrow, so that you will not have to repair today, tomor-
row. Here's a question to ask yourself, “What are you doing today to be successful tomorrow?"
You see, we can't change what happened in
the past, and we don't know what tomorrow holds, but we can choose what we do today. What you do today will determine what tomorrow will look like. For example... If you exercise today you will be healthier tomorrow. If you make money today you will have money tomorrow. If you work on a project today, you will be one step closer to finishing it tomorrow. If you read today you will be closer to finishing the book tomorrow.
If you practice your skill today you will be closer to mastering that skill tomorrow. If you put gas in the tank today you don't have to fill it tomorrow. If you have the "meeting" today you can move on tomorrow. If you forgive yourself and others today you can walk in freedom tomorrow. If you think today then you will have a plan for tomorrow. If you love others today you will have relationships with you tomorrow. If you spend time with your kids today you will have respect from them tomorrow.
Never underestimate the present. Today is a
gift and what we do with that gift makes all the difference! We can choose to leave it wrapped up and move about our day, or we can unwrap this gift and make the most of it. By unwrapping it, I mean to take the time to make the most of every opportunity we have been given. We will end up tomorrow where our time took us today, so use today wisely. I believe that what you do today will determine who you will become tomorrow.
Some people are spinning their wheels just
"killing time." However, when you "kill time" you murder opportunity in the process. Others sit on the lazy boy of life waiting for opportunity to knock on their door. However, opportunity does not knock on our door, it does not seek us. Opportunity must be sought after, recognized, and found. People that wait for opportunity to knock on their door will be sitting in the lazy boy for life. Opportunity is created when we go after it and know what it looks like.
Many people don't SEE opportunity because
they have never IDENTIFIED what it looks like. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Can you imagine searching for someone that you have never seen? How hard would it be to find someone that you never knew anything about? We have to keep our eyes open because opportunity is disguised many times by a statement someone makes, a disposition someone displays, a need someone has, an idea that popped into your mind, a passion that drives you, an injustice that grips your heart, or something that you see.
What opportunities are around you today?
What are you going to do with those opportunities? Will you be mindful of the signs and make the most of it? Keep your head up and your attitude optimistic. Never let a bad attitude keep you from a greater future. Have you ever had a really terrible day? One of those days where everything that can go
wrong, does go wrong? Read this true story about a guy who had a challenging day to say the least... Bryan Heiss lives in Provo, Utah. One day during 1982, he awoke to find a leak in the ceiling of his apartment. The water was dripping in his face, so he jumped out of bed and called his landlord to see what could be done about the problem. When he stood up, he splashed in the water that was already gathering on the carpet. His landlord told him to quickly rent a water vacuum. Bryan tore down the flight of stairs to get in his car to go rent a wet vac, but he discovered that all four of his tires on his car were flat. He went back upstairs, reached for the phone, and was shocked so severely it nearly knocked him down. Bryan then shouted for a friend and asked him to take him to get help.
When he got back downstairs, Bryan found that someone had stolen his car. He knew it didn’t have much gas, so he and his friend walked a few blocks, found the car, pushed it to a service station, and put gas in the tank and air in the tires. Bryan later returned home and went upstairs to get dressed for an ROTC graduation ceremony he had scheduled that night. He donned his uniform and tried to get out of the house, but the water had caused the door to swell in its frame. He had to scream until someone could come and kick in the door from the outside. When he finally jumped in his car, he immediately realized that he’d sat on his bayonet, which he had carelessly left in the driver’s seat. Bryan was taken to the hospital for some very strategic surgery.
Let’s pause for a second. You’d think that would be a good place to end this story, right? At this point, I just want to say, “And Bryan spent the night at the hospital and got a fresh start the next day,” but that’s not the end of this poor dude’s day. Friends took him home, and when Bryan opened the door, he saw that falling plaster had toppled the cage of his prized pet canaries, killing all of them. As he ran to the birds, across the wet carpet, he slipped. He hurt his back so badly he had to be taken to the hospital…again. By this time a newspaper reporter caught up with Bryan and asked, “Mr. Heiss, how can you explain all of this happening to one person in a single day?” Bryan answered, “It looked like God was trying to kill me, but He kept missing.”
We have all had bad days. The truth is you
can't choose what happens to you but you can always choose what happens in you. No one can choose your attitude for you, that only comes from within. When crazy things happen to us we have a choice to make. We can choose to get BETTER or we choose to get BITTER. Our attitude will determine how we deal with the future. Bad attitudes = a worse future Good attitudes = a better future
Your attitude can change everything. It is not
that everything will turn out perfect in your life with a good attitude it just means you choose to look at the good. This is why coach John Wooden would always say, “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” Winston Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." Attitude can change a... MESS into a MESSAGE
TEST into a TESTIMONY VICTIM into a VICTORYÂ
Attitude says a lot about what is inside of us.
Show me someone with a great attitude and I will show you someone who will do great things. Show me someone with a bad attitude and I will show you someone who will always struggle. Attitude is an inward feeling expressed by an outward behavior. You see, whatever is in us will eventually come out of us. Attitude is like the rudder of our life that guides us. So goes our attitude so goes our outlook on life. If we choose a great attitude life gets easier, however, when we choose a bad attitude life just gets harder. We can't change what happens to us, but we can choose how we handle it. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it. American Novelist Raymond Chandler said, "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."
The difference between successful people
and unsuccessful people is their RESPONSE to circumstances. Successful people learn and live form their experiences. Unsuccessful people become bitter and give up because of
their
experiences. Unsuccessful people are REACTIVE, successful people are PROACTIVE. Proactive people take responsibility for their attitudes, reactive people are controlled by their attitudes. Unless you are able to harness your attitude you will never be able to steer your future in the right direction. Reactive people get knocked off course easily. They are swayed by the way other people treat them, they become bitter about circumstances in their life as they feel insecure and out of control. Proactive people are focused on their journey, they get better as they learn from their circumstances, and they feel confident in their future!
So are you a proactive person or a reactive
person?
Do you believe your future will get better? or do you fear the future?
Many people wait for extraordinary oppor-
tunities to come their way. But I believe life is about turning ordinary opportunities into extraordinary occurrences. It has been said that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Coach John Wooden said, "When opportunity comes it's too late to prepare."
The difference between ordinary people and
extraordinary people is their ability to take advantage of ordinary opportunities. They are prepared when opportunity comes their way. As a result they seize common occurrences and make them great. There is no magic formula, or as Author Ken Blanchard calls it, "a pill" in his book titled, "The Leadership Pill". Success is not something we get, it is something we create. It is about recognizing opportunity and seizing the moment, "Carpe Diem." I have found that most people do not do the neces-
sary work on the front end of opportunity, so as a result when potential situations present themselves they have nothing to grab. But those who spend time preparing their life by growing and learning are those that are able to grab ahold of opportunity and make them great. Life rarely hands us extraordinary circumstances, however we have the ability to turn ordinary circumstances into extraordinary opportunities. While others are complaining that they never get a break, there are those that are making their break. Who are you? A never-get-a-breaker? Or a making-your-break-er?  Â
How do you prepare in life for an extraordi-
nary future?
1. Believe in your WORTH
Many people simply don't believe they can
be extraordinary and therefore they never will. I
have learned that people tend to rise to the expectations they set on themselves. So if your expectations are low for yourself chances are you will perform at a low level. However, when you believe in your worth and value you will rise up to a higher level of performing. Successful people are those that break through the self-limiting beliefs that try to suppress their ability. Do you believe in your worth and value? Are you living life with confidence in who you are? If not, find your worth and your value and lift your head up with some expectation in you. Life is too short to mope around day by day when you could be living your dreams. Don't be like the person who's grave read, "Died at 35, buried at 88."
2. Believe in your GIFTS
Everyone of us have special unique gifts and
talents. Life is best lived when you have discovered your "why." Why you are here and what you have to offer this world. If you haven't found your "why" you will never find your "will" to be extraordinary. The good news is your "why" is connected to your
gifts and talents. What is it that you do well? What is it that comes naturally to you that makes a difference? Are you good with people? Are you good with your hands? Are you an idea person? Are you a teacher? Are you artistic? Are you a motivator? Are you a listener? You get the point‌you have to start identifying your gifts and develop them. Don't underestimate the way in which you are wired. Use your uniqueness and believe in your gifts.
3. Believe in your IMPACT
You can make a difference. You are signifi-
cant in what you offer this world. It doesn't matter how loud you are or how quiet you are, you have an impact to make in others. Life is about adding value and worth to those around us. It is about lifting others up and making a difference. Let me tell you that you are a difference maker, don't ever think you have nothing to offer this world. You were created with the ability to change the world for the good. We ALL have a part to play to impact the lives of others. You have to believe in your impact and know
what you do makes a difference, as small as it is, or as big as it may be. Be faithful with the little things and you will grow into greater things for the future. Do not undermine and belittle yourself.
4. Believe in your PLAN
We have all heard the statement...if you fail to
plan, you might as well plan to fail. Most people spend more time planning their vacation than they do their future. They spend more time planning their grocery list than they do the direction of their life. If I were to sit down with you and ask you, “What is your life plan,” how would you respond? Do you have one? Have you taken the time to set out a plan for your life? Most people never get to where they want to go in life because they haven’t taken the time to chart the course. Planning is about leading your life in the direction it needs to go. Anyone can SIMPLY live life and exist but it takes someone who can CHART a course to get the MOST out of life.
We have a GPS in our car that I use all the
time. I love the fact that I don't have to think about all the turns I have to make, I can just punch in the address and follow the directions. When our daughter, Allie, was three year old, she would always remind us to turn on the "calculator" when we got into the car. She called the GPS a calculator because when I missed my turn (which happened frequently, I hate to admit, even with a GPS) a voice would say..."recalculating." I can't remember what it was like before the GPS. We actually had to map out our course and look out for road signs!
I think a lot of people are living life without a
GPS. They are "driving around" without any real sense of where to go or how to get there. We as humans have such a desire for our lives to end up with purpose and meaning, yet many are living their lives frustrated with the feeling of going round and round in circles only to end up back where they started. They don't want to "pay the price" for a system that would help them. Don't be like many people who
are just taking a drive and wasting gas, be intentional and missional in all that you do. Get a plan and live that plan out daily!
Never let the past determine the future. Cre-
ate a better future by letting go of the past and grabbing ahold of the present!
Way #2 Never Let Comfort Take The Place Of Purpose
The two greatest days are the day you were
born and the day you find out why. Purpose is all about your why. When you find your why you find
purpose. But if we are not careful comfort can be the thief of our purpose. Comfort tempts us to settle and it can lead to a limiting future. Purpose calls us to explore. It opens up the possibilities of a greater future! But when our comfort becomes more important than our purpose we can start to lose the innovative spirit within us. We are wired for purpose and designed with an internal drive to always be, do, and have more. But all of us battle limiting beliefs about ourselves. Even the most positive of people have their moments of self-doubt. Limiting beliefs put a roof on our potential and our purpose. It causes us to settle underneath the possibility of greatness. If there is one thing that we have in this life, and I mean everyone, it is purpose. But we cannot allow negative thoughts we have about ourselves to become our worst enemy. Most people face doubts, fears, and limiting beliefs at some point in their life. Usually these thoughts sneak up on us when we are about to do something out of our comfort zone or step out into uncharted territory in our life. It's ironic, or maybe should I say strategic, for
the enemy of our soul to rise up when we are stepping out onto something that could be a break through for us.
Whenever you step out of your comfort zone
into uncharted territory there is always the potential to discover new lands and new possibilities. The problem is we are tempted to be settlers rather than pioneers, entranced with familiarity rather than exploring greater things. We are designed to be pioneers. Every great invention we have in life is a result of someone that pioneered. Without pioneers we wouldn't have the type of life that we live today. Pioneers blaze new trails and discover new and greater possibilities. Settlers manage what they have. They are content with what is in their control. They may have a sense of security but they will never experience the joy of discovery. They will cap out and put a limit on their future. Over time that lid will become a prison that they will be too afraid to step out of. Comfort can easily trump the desire of purpose.
When we settle we surrender our potential.
When we surrender our potential we lose possibility. When we lose possibility we become purposeless. When we become purposeless we tend to give up. We are designed to explore, we are designed to step out, we are designed to live life to the fullest. We are pioneers, that have the gift of discovery and hidden treasure within.
Here are a few tips to make your purpose
more important than your comfort‌
1. Never Settle
Don't put a lid on yourself. Don't settle for
where you are and what you currently can do. Press on for greater things. Believe that ALL you need is within you, you just have to mine it out. Never allow your negative thoughts to become who you are. You were created for so much more than you could ask, think, or imagine. You have purpose and a destiny. Don't allow others to steal it away, and don't steal it
from yourself either. Rise up and break through the trap of comfort. Comfort builds up a fort around you forming a barricade that blocks growth.
2. Never Sit
Don't get lazy. Keep yourself growing and
exploring. Live a life that makes a difference, doing things that make a difference. Don't sit around waiting for someone to blaze the trail for you. Go where others are not willing to go. Don't let apathy and indecision control your life. Do something everyday that hacks down more obstacles so that you are one step closer to your goals and mission. An Aid group is South Africa wrote to missionary & explorer David Livingston. It said, “Have you found a good road to where you are? Livingston replied, “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.” Never sit on the bus waiting for someone to take you somewhere, pull out the tools you have and start to make a path.
3. Never Surrender
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
said it best when he said, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
Endure to the end and follow through. Don't
stop short of your journey. Fight the good fight, finish the race. Endurance means you are living life as a marathon, not a short sprint. Don't let obstacles or others derail you from your mission. Outlast your critics and show them they are wrong, not by words, but by action and dedication. Little by little, day by day, is how you make great leaps. Don't give up on your dreams and your goals. No matter what age you are, where you came from, or what obstacles stand in your way, always blaze new trails towards your destiny. If you fall down, get back up, brush off the dust, and get going again.
When we let comfort control us we become a reservoir instead of a mighty river. Rivers flow and have a current to them. RESERVOIRS are stagnant and just collect debris. I think that in order for us to live life with purpose we must have a current to where we are going. When we are caught in the current of our purpose and dreams we will go somewhere. It is when we get comfortable in the RESERVOIR that we get stale and boring. Too many people are living a RESERVOIR-type life. They are just floating out there not really going anywhere with their life. They are trapped by their time and their lack of motivation. It is time for us to become like a RIVER that flows with passion and purpose.
There are 2 different Mind-Sets between
RIVER People & RESERVOIR People... RESERVOIR People... • Ask Can I? • Don't Have Enough Time • Do What Is Expected Of Them
• Lift Up Themselves • Take Something Big And Make It Small • Hope Their Successful • Their Attitude Controls Them • Wait For Motivation To Start • Manage Their Life RIVER People... • Ask How Can I? • Make Enough Time • Do More Than Expected Of Them • Lift Others Above Themselves • Take Something Small And Make It Big • Work Towards Success • They Control Their Attitude • Start Then Get Motivation • Lead Their Life
River type people allow purpose to flow
through them. When you allow purpose to flow through you it will not only fulfill your life, but it will help others fulfill their life. The greatest good any
one could ever do, is to lift someone else up to a higher level. When you help others there is nothing else that compares. The higher you lift others up the higher you go in life. The more you lift up others up the more you too will be lifted up. There is something supernatural and powerful that happens when we help others. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, "The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." That is a quote I want to live my life by. A life that helps others see the potential and purpose within them. My life has been given to that ever since I was a freshman in high school. I made a decision in South Carolina at a summer church camp that forever changed me. I made a commitment one night during a powerful service to give my life to helping others see their purpose, as I had seen mine. My life changed that night. I wasn't perfect, as a matter fact I did a lot of stupid things after that, but I never lost sight of the purpose God had for my life. To this day I try to live my life in a way that
adds value to others by inspiring them to live their purpose.
There are many ways we can help others in
life. Sometimes it may come through finances. Sometimes it comes through a helping hand. Other times it may come through caring for them. And many times it comes through simply talking to them and encouraging them along their journey. Serving others takes on many different forms. Whatever your strength is use it to help others. Whatever your skills are, use them to help others. The more you help and serve others through your strengths the more you will develop your strengths. So however you are wired and gifted use it to serve others. No matter how you serve remember this universal truth about how to S.E.R.V.E. Make It... S = Simple
Don't make it hard to serve others. Don't
wait to do everything before you do something. Just
start with what you have and step out. It is not always the big things that make the biggest differences sometimes it is the simple small things that have a greater impact. I heard of a study that proved Termites do more physical damage than all natural disasters combined. It is the small things that sometimes make the greatest impact. E = Exciting
Don't serve with a frown and bad attitude.
Nothing is worse than someone who is helping but doesn't really want to, just GO HOME! If you are going to serve others be excited about the opportunity to lift others up. Don't walk around complaining when you get an opportunity to serve. Find the purpose it what you are doing and keep your eyes on the bigger picture. Scrubbing toilets doesn't sound like the most fun job, but providing a clean environment for people to be healthy and clean is a great thing! R = Random
Just step out when you see a need. Random
means there is no organized process, just spontaneous acts of kindness. Serve others when they are least expecting it and when you are least expecting it. It means a lot when someone drops what they are doing to randomly help you, so return the favor. If you see a need fill it, don't wait for someone else to come along, just do what you can. Pick random times to serve your family, friends, co-workers, etc... Have fun with it and follow the previous step (make it exciting). V = Voluntary
You can't be forced to serve or it is not serv-
ing. Be the one to step up and take the initiative to serve. Don't wait to be asked to do something just do it. If you have kids you know how amazing it is when they do something to help out even when you didn't ask them to. Forcing someone to do something takes the serving part out of it doesn't it? Volunteer your time, talent, or treasure to help others
out. You will never have time to serve if you don't voluntarily make time to serve others. E = Enduring
Don't stop serving. I have met many people
that felt they have "paid their dues" and no longer need to serve. They think they have somehow grown out of serving. But you never move beyond serving others, it is not something we do for a season and then move out of. Serving is FOREVER. It is about living a life-style of meeting the needs of others not just an event. Don't grow weary when you serve. Serving is a lot of work and will require blood, sweat, and tears at times, but don't stop because of the hard work. The payoff from serving far outweighs the process of surrendering. And it takes work to surrender your selfishness and energy. No doubt we need to pace ourselves and be careful of those that "use" us, but I would rather lean on the side of serving than the side of selfishness.
Make it a point to serve someone everyday
and you will find a great purpose! We don’t go to our destiny as though it is waiting for us somewhere, we grow into our destiny by living with purpose daily!
Way #3 Never Let Failure Keep You Down
The only way we truly fail is if we fail to
learn from our failure. You see failure can be a beautiful thing. It is actually a growth lesson that can quickly teach us what not to do. Most people have the wrong perception of failure. They see it as
something to be avoided rather than something to be leveraged. Every failure can be one step closer to success. Robert Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
My mentor Dr. John C. Maxwell taught me
that if you aren’t making any mistakes, it’s a sure sign you’re playing it too safe. Failure is a component of success. It is part of the learning process to a greater future. We should never try to fail intentionally, but we must learn how to embrace the lessons failure teaches us. The road to success is paved with failures.
Understand that though we may fail, that
does not make us a failure. Though we may mess up, that doesn’t make us a mess up. Though we may have lost, that doesn’t make us a loser. It simply means that we have failed, messed up, and may have lost for the moment. There is always a tomorrow. Another day to shake off the dust and get back up. Disappointments are part of life, but they are not
forever. Every one of us will fail at some point. We will miss the mark and fall short of our intended results. Think about these household names… •
Babe Ruth, who had the record for most home-runs, also had the record for most strikeouts.
•
Michael Jordan was cut from the high school basketball team.
•
Walt Disney went bankrupt seven times. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, “He lacked imagination and had no good ideas."
•
Star Wars received this review from a movie critic, “Dull new world, as exciting as last year's wether report.”
•
World famous artist Van Gogh sold one painting in his lifetime.
•
Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school and applied to attend film school three times but was unsuccessful due to his C grade average.
•
Theodor Seuss Giesel, Dr. Seuss, gave us Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. At f i r s t m a ny d i d n’t t h i n k h e w o u l d succeed. Twenty seven different publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book “To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.”
•
The Beatles were rejected by many record labels. In a famous rejection, the label said, “Guitar groups are on the way out” and “The Beatles have no future in show business.”
•
Henry Ford forgot to put reverse in his first automobile, but it didn't stop him from building cars.
•
Daniel Boone was once asked by a reporter if he had ever been lost in the wilderness. Boone thought for a moment and replied, "No, but I was once bewildered for about three days."
All of the people listed above could have
considered themselves failures, but they kept going!
The key to a successful future is to keep your eyes forward. Everyone has, is, or will face failures in their life. The question is not, “Will I ever fail?” The question is, “How will I respond to failure?” If you allow it to keep you down for the count, you will miss out on a greater future. I love how motivational speaker Les Brown puts it, “When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.” Building on failure is how we are able to reach high enough to become successful in what we do. Thomas J. Watson, the former chairman of IBM said, “If you want to succeed double your failure rate.”
Don't seek out failure, but don't be afraid of
it either! Make sure you have the right perspective of failure. Many people get out of focus when they make a mistake. I remember the first time I purchased my glasses and put them on, I never knew how out of focus my eyes had become. It was amazing how things became crystal clear, and I could actually see vibrant colors when I looked through the
lenses! What happens when we fail is that we begin to see everything through the lens of that failure. Instead of seeing possibilities, we see a blurry road ahead. It seems impossible to know what to do and how to recover when you have failed. However, we need to regain our focus when we mess up. When failure rattles our life our vision can get jared out of focus.
Remember the old transparency machines
from the old school days? Before the days of projectors and computers you had to use the transparency machines with the clear transparency paper in order to project images and text. When the machine was turned on you had to focus the lens in on the paper. I will always remember the clarity of the image coming into focus as someone would turn the little wheel during my early school days. Just like the transparency machine had to get into focus to become clear so we need to refocus our life when we fall down. We have to see our failure through the right eyes of learning. Many people see their failure
as a bad thing. They look at it as a negative. Now understand I am not talking about moral failure, that is something we always want to avoid at all cost, rather I am talking about failing and missing the mark with life circumstances we face each day. The reality is that we need to fail in order to grow.
Childhood behavioral studies have shown us
that a child only learns to walk when they have failed to walk. Without the failure of falling they will never learn how to gain their balance. Now we could try to keep them from failure and tell a child over and over how the muscle dexterity works, how to move the knee cap in the proper direction, etc... but that would not make sense to them? A child learns to walk because they are learning how not to walk. After many lessons on how not to walk they eventually begin to understand how to walk. It is in their failure that they learn how to succeed.
We need to get focus on our failure. Failure
is not fatal unless we allow it to be. Failure is freeing
if we view it the right way. It is our response to failure that determines our ability to succeed. We can be afraid of failure or embrace failure depending on where our focus is. If we focus on the negative, concerning failure, we will run from it. However, if we view failure in a positive way, we will learn more from it than we think. It’s all about focus and perspective. When you fail, understand that your outlook must get back into focus. We have to see failure as a tool that can get us to where we need to be. So let your outlook about failure change from a negative to a positive. Get into focus and understand that failure can be the greatest thing that has happened to you. Don’t allow failure to knock you down and keep you from enduring on. When failure tempts us to quit we must remain steadfast. Philosopher Thomas Carlyle said, "Endurance is patience concentrated."
The ability to "hang in there" is one of the
toughest yet rewarding traits to have. Our impatience can cause us to plow ahead and damage what
could have been if we had only been more patient. It is like the Captain who ran too far ahead of the Calvary and was mistaken for an Indian, it didn't turn out too well for him! Don't rush your life. Make sure you stay the course. Just because you are not seeing results immediately does not mean it is not working! All things will unfold in time!
How do you endure when failure has oc-
curred?
1. Stay Determined
You do not get to the top without determina-
tion. You do not climb a significant mountain without an unwavering sense of commitment to the journey. Only climbing when you "feel like it" will never take you to the heights. You only get to the top by hard work and endurance. "Feeling like it" may get you started but it won't keep you going. You have to determine within yourself that NOTHING will hold you back from your dream to make it to the top. Too many people give up short of their
dreams because the terrain gets too rough for them. When faced with obstacles and challenges they are tempted to quit. But in order to reach the top we have to fight through the set-backs and unforeseen challenges. Always remember this...you cannot climb a smooth mountain. It is the rocky places that we can use to become better and stronger in life.
2. Stay Encouraged
Don't let discouragement set in and steal
your joy. Do not be terrified of the circumstances you go through, rather be strong and courageous. Encouragement is about being courageous, so let courage rise up in within you. Quit being your worst critic! The last person on the earth you need to be sabotaged by is...YOU! Instead of being your worst enemy how about becoming your best friend? The person you will talk to more than anyone else in your life is yourself ! The truth is you will either encourage yourself or discourage yourself, it is one or the other. At all times you have the ability to make the choice to either lift yourself up or tear yourself
down. It is hard to get ahead in life if you are always degrading yourself. People tend to live up to the expectation they set on themselves. If you view yourself as a failure, you will probably begin to manifest that perception.
3. Stay Focused
Stay focused and committed on your mis-
sion. Don’t be like the kamikaze pilot on his 40th mission. Commitment is more than words, it is action that follows through at all cost. Joan of Arc knew her purpose at an early age. When she was seventeen she led 3,000 French Knights in battle. Once she told a military general, "I will lead the way over the wall." The general replied, "Not a man will follow you." To this Joan of Arc said, "I won't be looking back to see if they're following me." When you are focused nothing distracts you, your eyes are on the prize. Failure tempts us to quit and give up, but when we stay focused we will eventually reach our goal! Always refocus yourself when failure occurs.
Never fear failure, embrace it in order to be-
come the best you can be. Your future will be dependent upon your ability to fail, learn from it, and get back up stronger than you were before. Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.�
Way #4 Never Let Time Slip Away
Over the years of traveling, speaking, and coaching I have had the opportunity to speak in front of thousands of people. It has been a great honor to inspire others and bring insight to many different topics. My passion is to see people lifted up and challenged to become the best they can be for
themselves and for others. I have seen so many individuals experience life-change as they embrace the principles that lead them to their best life! Being a certified coach on the John Maxwell Team has also opened the door for me to help build people's lives as well as their businesses. One of the practices of being a leadership coach is to eliminate the limiting factors that clients are facing. To do this I have to get to the root of what is holding back the progress of doing greater things. Within the coaching process and my interaction with people I have found two issues that seem to hold back greatness; two factors that seem to drag people back down into the pit. Unfortunately, these two disheartening things are common statements that a majority of people say and come to believe. When they come to believe these statements they tend to live under the lid of the “cages” these statements build. I use the term “cages” to drive the point home that they trap people in a limited life-
style. These two statements transcend race, region, and religion. They are a common denominator that those dealing with limitation seem to face. Here they are… 1. I don’t have enough TIME. 2. I don’t have enough MONEY. This book will be focusing mainly on the first excuse, time. The problem of not having enough time plagues most people. It is one of the fiercest enemies of our fulfillment. It is the empty feeling of never being able to do everything you want to do, because you are too busy doing all of the things that you have to do! Many people feel like an octopus on roller skates; there is a lot of commotion in their lives without a lot of forward-moving progress!
For the sake of our current discussion, allow
me the liberty of simplifying our complex life. Be-
cause when you boil it all down, living a fulfilled life is simply about time. Time is the measurable use of one’s life.
The CURRENCY of life is MADE with time.
Benjamin Franklin said, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
Life is about how we spend our TIME! Time
is everything! Time determines the course of our life. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “He who gains time gains everything.”
How we spend our time determines how we
spend our life. We will never reach our potential and live life to the fullest without truly understanding time!
What we do with the time we have been given
determines what we will get out of it. Think of time like money. Time has a R.O.I. (Return On Invest-
ment). We can either spend our time or invest our time. If we simply spend our time, we will never get it back. What we see is what we get. There is no more and no less. “It is what it is,” as my Father-inLaw says. However, when you invest your time you receive compounded interest from it. What is the compounded interest? A fulfilled life! How you USE your time will determine the QUALITY of the life you live.
When we learn to make the best use of our
time, we learn how to live life to the fullest. We must live carefully with the time we have been given or we will be in danger of missing incredible opportunities. When we are not making the best use of our time we become foolish and ignorant of how important time really is. Author Michael LeBoeuf said, “Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life.”
I have found that their are 3 types of people
when it comes to time... A Victim Of Their Time
These are the people that are being beaten up
and knocked out by their schedule. They have the inability to say, "NO" so therefore they are consumed with "STUFF" that clutters their life. These people have no defense against the time stealers that are robbing them of productivity. They overschedule and over-commit themselves to more than they can handle. Victims have to stand up and defend their time or they will be slaughtered by it. A Manager Of Their Time
These people are simply keeping their head
above water, treading back and forth. They are not getting ahead in life, they are just maintaining what they have. Managers usually just keep their life from getting too crazy. Their focus is on keeping the ship afloat, so they are doing their best to throw any extra water that gets in the boat back out. Managers of
their time are stressed out trying to keep from being overwhelmed by the daily demands of life. Most people feel that if they manage their time they are doing well. But they never really feel like they have time to do the things they want to do, because the immediate sucks up every ounce of energy. They are left with little to no room to up their productivity. A Leader Of Their Time
These are the people who make time work for
them. They control their time, their time doesn't control them. They are focused on getting the things done that REALLY matter and will yield a fruitful harvest from their labor. They do not waste their time on good things, they spend most of their time on the BEST things that only they can do. They delegate the rest to others or surrender it up altogether. Leaders of their time do things that they feel "called" to do, and things that they are "purposed" to do.
Everyday counts, so make the most of it and
aspire to be a LEADER of your time. Know Where Your Time Is Going “Today I will do what others won't so tomorrow I can do what others can't.” I loved to watch G.I. Joe as a child. At the very end of the cartoon was a public safety message. These messages were comprised of a G.I. Joe character acting out an important safety situation, i.e. looking both ways before crossing the street. At the end of each public safety message the character would say, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” Well, G.I. Joe hit it on the head. Knowing IS half the battle! When it comes to time, you have to know where your time is going or you will never be able to get a hold of it.
What you do today will determine the quality
of your life tomorrow. The time you invest today will purchase tomorrow's productivity. The greater
the price you pay today the greater the reward tomorrow! The less of a price you pay today the less you will be able to do tomorrow.
So many people have a desire to get their
dream projects finished but never get around to it. WHY? Well, they claim they don’t have enough time. However, I am not sure it is a matter of not having enough time as much as it’s a matter of not using their time wisely. You see, we all have the same amount of time in a day. No one gets more, no one gets less. As a matter fact, every human that has ever been on the planet throughout all of history has had the same amount of time each day‌ 86,400 seconds to be exact. We ALL live within the same parameters. You can't earn more time and you can't buy more time. So why is it that some people seem to have ALL the time in the world and some seem to have NO time at all? Why can someone get 100 things done in a day and others struggle to get 5 things done? Why do some people seem to multiply their time and others can't seem to even find their
time? Is it because some people have found the secret to making more time? Were they blessed with more hours in the day? Or did they find time lying around somewhere hidden? No, the truth is they used their time very wisely. They made time be the slave to their priorities.
It's ALL about our approach to the day. There
are 2 ways you can approach the day… 1. Say, "Good morning Lord!" 2. Say, "Good Lord, it's morning?”
Our day is DETERMINED by how we AP-
PROACH it. How do you act when the alarm sounds in the morning? I love what Zig Ziglar said about the alarm clock. He said negative people call it an alarm clock, positive people call it an opportunity clock! How we approach the day determines our daily agenda. Our daily agenda determines our productivity. Our productivity determines our direction. Our direction determines our destination.
Don't let the days pass by waiting for tomor-
row to bring you something better. Use today to its maximum potential. What are you going to do today to get move you further along tomorrow? Don't let tomorrow show up and not be ready for it. "Remember, life is nothing more than the sum total of many successful years: a successful year is nothing more than the sum total of many successful months: a successful month is nothing more than the sum total of many successful weeks: a successful week is nothing more than the sum total of many successful days. That's why practicing successful habits day in and day out is the most certain way to win over the long term." ~ Robert Ringer
I often get asked how I have time to write
books, write blogs, write songs, create artwork and teach others how to do so, hold leadership coaching sessions, read, study, meet with people, teach, speak,
enjoy family, have personal time, and everything else I like to do. My response is, "I will sleep when I die." The truth is, I am on the journey of learning how to make the most of my days just like everyone else. I decided years ago that I would live life to the fullest by making the most of it. I figured that if God gave me the gift of life I should give Him the gift of making the best of it! I thrive off of doing everything that is in my heart to do, and yes I do sleep, I actually enjoy it at times! I do not have a secret formula that others do not have, I simply don't sit around and DO NOTHING! Wait, did you hear that? I don't sit around and DO NOTHING! Sure, there are times I take it easy and rest like anyone else, but I figure life is about living not sitting. When others are sitting around thinking about what they would love to do, I just do it! I don't sit around thinking about writing a book one day, I start writing it. I don't sit around hoping to teach leadership to others, I pursue opportunities to speak. I don’t talk myself out of it, I JUST DO IT!
Most people get stuck because they want to
start on the level of amazing, but nothing starts amazing, things only get amazing with hard work and practice. No one starts by being a master, they start by being a rookie. When it comes to my life I don't talk myself out of acting and I don't make excuses to not start! Indecision is the MURDERER of productivity! And PROCRASTINATION is its weapon of choice!
Nothing will make you feel more unfulfilled
than wasted time! Always know what you are doing with your time, at all times. If you don’t know where your time is going you will never be able to use it to its fullest potential.
I have some deep wisdom for you…are you
ready? Here it is…You will NEVER finish something you never START!
So while others are waiting to start, just
START! I have never seen someone complete a project they never started. I have never seen someone sit around thinking about doing something and it magically happen without any effort. Procrastination and wishing never get anyone anywhere! So instead of wasting the precious days God has given us, I say life is about making the best use of them. Financial author Robert Kiwosaki said, "The difference between poor people and rich people is the use of their time."Â
It is not about how much time you have, it is
about how you use the time you have that makes the difference. When we learn to number our days we realize that life is a game of math - counting the cost of each day and every moment. Why do we have to wait for a funeral or a near death experience to shock us into the importance of each and every day we have on earth?
Too many people are barely surviving when it
comes to their time. They do not have any to spare and the feeling of treading water to stay afloat consumes them. But life is about moving forward and becoming ALL that we can be.
When we come to the end of our life we will
not wish we had watched more TV, slept more, or spent more time daydreaming. We will wish that we had stepped out and spent our lives doing the things that mattered the most! Author Francis Chan said, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.”
Time is the most VALUABLE thing we have
on this earth, we have to learn to use it wisely…your future depend on it!
Way #5 Never Let Unhappiness Steal Your Joy
I can remember singing, “If you’re happy and
you know it, clap your hands” when I was a child. That song always seemed to make sense to me. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a happy person. I wanted to approach life with excitement and passion, but I remember going to school and seeing other kids who were unhappy. Sometimes I thought I should be unhappier, like them, but then realized there was no fun in that. Most of my friends were just a product of their environment, like a thermometer. I couldn’t blame them entirely, they just reflected what their environment was at home. However, I knew that if I wanted to be in
control of my happiness, I had better choose to be happy. So I decided to live life by making the most of it. I knew certain circumstances would happen that I had no control over, but I knew I had control over me. I chose to make sure that whatever happened in me was what I wanted it to be. I determined that I had to master my own emotions. It never set well with me that I would allow others to control my happiness, so I simply took responsibility for my own well being. Life is too short and too full of opportunity to be unhappy. The future never gets better when we let unhappiness steal our joy.
Here are some simple tips to have a joyful fu-
ture‌
1) Have an ATTITUDE of gratitude
Staying grateful and appreciative is one of the
greatest ways to keep yourself in line. When we let our attitude be one of thanksgiving, we tend to be much happier. It is when we feel we deserve something that we are in danger of being ungrateful.
Ungratefulness turns into selfishness, and selfishness turns into pride. Pride keeps us from our fullest potential. Having an attitude of gratitude ensures we are on the road to success.
Your attitude can be your greatest asset or
your worst liability. It can be a great asset because it can sustain you when things aren't going well. It can cause you to lift yourself up as well as those around you when things seem to be negative. Attitude can keep you going when you want to give up. It can increase your influence as it grows your like-ability factor.
But attitude can also be a liability that can cost
you. It can cost you relationships. It can cost you a job. A bad attitude can get you into serious trouble. It can cause people to build up walls around you in fear of the way you might act.
Attitude determines a lot about the quality of
someone's life. I don't buy that circumstances de-
termine your attitude, I believe your attitude determines your circumstances. Attitude precedes action. Whatever attitude you have will determine what you do. If you are having a negative attitude, then you will not perform at your highest level. Your attitude precedes your action. But if you have a winning attitude, your actions will demonstrate that belief. People are not a product of their environment, they are a product of their attitude.
2) Change your PERSPECTIVE
The word STRESSED is just DESSERTS
spelled backwards. Change your perspective and you change the meaning. Life is about having perspective. When you lose perspective you lose reason.
Instead of allowing negativity to set in, we first
need to step back and look at the whole situation we are facing. We need to get perspective. Perspective can change everything. Remember the popular hologram pictures? When you stood just in the right place, an abstract picture would change before your
very eyes to a beautiful scene. You had to get the exact perspective in order for the image to become clear and brilliant.
Life works the same way. Many times we see
situations out of focus. The choices we need to make become blurry and we lose perspective in the moment. This happens when we have a knee-jerk reaction out of emotion that is blurring our judgement. We need to see the whole picture and repercussions of our actions, we need to step back and get a better perspective. Someone says something that makes us angry and we react out of that anger. We then have to go back and apologize because we realize we should not have acted in such a poor way.
Perspective allows us to SEE things that we
otherwise wouldn’t be ABLE to see. Looking up from where you are now, your view would be limited by the obstacles in front of you. However, if you were to climb up a tree, you would have a bird’s eye
view far above the obstacles. You would be able to see everything around you and have a clear perspective of the choices ahead.
3) DO what you love
I find it amazing that people live a life doing
what they hate to do. They are unhappy with their job, unhappy with where they live, unhappy with this and that...yet they never do anything about it. Some people view work like a prison. They are trapped and can never get out alive. I have a crazy idea for these people...quit and move! When I am coaching people in this situation, I tell them this and they look at me as if I just presented the most outrageous idea on the planet.
Why would someone work a job they hate,
live in a house they despise, and be surrounded by an environment that is limiting them? They are not in a prison. They don’t have to live trapped by life. All they need to do is change the situation. Get a plan and live the plan. It may take some time to
change jobs, it may take time to sell their house and look for another, it may take time to save money, but at least they are moving forward in their life. Sometimes I want to scream, “STOP living a nightmare and start living your dream!” Will Rogers said, “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.”
I love the milk commercial years ago that
said, “Happy cows make happy milk.” Well the same is true...happy people make happy lives. I have never met someone who loved what they did and were unhappy. However, I have met thousands of people that hate what they do and are unhappy.
When you find what you love to do and you
do it, you are going to find joy. It is when we force ourselves to do things we aren’t wired for, that we lose purpose. You will never see someone full of purpose that is living a miserable life. Here is a simple rule to follow...
Do WHAT you love, and LOVE what you
do. Many people are unhappy in life because they never take the steps towards their dreams. They get stuck in maintenance mode and they never venture out into greatness. Always remember life is too short to waste it!.Live the life you were created to live! What you are going to do to start doing the things you love to do?
4) Get Around The Right People
The people you hang around is who you will
become like. The old line, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future" has much truth in it. You will only become as passionate as the people you hang out with. If you surround yourself with stone cold people you will become stone cold over time. If you surround yourselves with fired up people then you will become fired up as well. There are three kinds of people in life: Lifters, Sifters, and Drifters. LIFTERS
Lifters are the ones who lift us up and chal-
lenge us to become better. They are the ones who are looking out for us and encourage us. The famous evangelist John Wesley was once asked how he got so many people to come watch him preach at his revivals. He said, “I light myself on fire and people come watch me burn.” There is a man who was a lifter. Many consider John Wesley to be one of the greatest evangelists in history. Why? Because he challenged others through his passion. I remember as I was growing up playing sports and the famous line was, “If you want to be the best then you have to be around the best.” I believe the same is true in our lives if we want to become the best then we have to get around people that will challenge us to become the best. Who are your Lifters? Write down a few names of those you consider your litters. Now make it a point to learn from them and let them challenge you. If you do not have any litters in your life begin to identify those around you that can mentor you.
SIFTERS
Sifters are the ones that just let us fall
through the cracks and sift us out to the bottom. They don’t care what we do as long as it doesn’t interfere with their plans. They are the ones that don’t challenge us to do anything, they don’t really care what happens. They are usually negative about most things and there is really nothing good that comes from being around them. They are a negative influence trying to pull us down. They will tell you that you are too serious, too picky, and try to get you back to their reality of average. Sifters shrink from challenges and make things smaller than they are. They try to get by with as little work as possible and say things like, "It's not that big of a deal." And, "It's not worth it." Or, “No one really cares that much. It's a waste of time." Be careful of Sifters they can really mess you up. DRIFTERS
Drifters aren't going anywhere. They have
given up on their dreams, hopes, and
ambitions. They are the ones content to never change. With a dark cloud over them, they just want to stay alive and make it through another day. Drifters won't sift you but they sure won't lift you. You usually walk away from Drifters with a tired and apathetic outlook. Drifters can have good a good heart and do not mean any harm, but they will not be able to help light the fire within you. Make sure that you are reaching out to Drifters but don't get caught in their dark clouds. Bring an umbrella and rain coat for them, but don't allow them to steal your joy and passion. Drifters can be like the sirens in the Odyssey, lulling us to waste time and watch our fire burn out while other "things" occupy us.
Get around the lifters, help the drifters, but
beware of the sifters. Make sure those around you bring you joy and that you bring joy to those around you. Do not let people suck the happiness out of your life. Choose to forgive, forget, and forge ahead. Living a joyful life will fill you with the fuel you need
for the journey before you. Life was meant to be enjoyed not just endured. Remember to always create the future you want with the things that truly matter. At the end of our lives we will not look back worried about the small things. We will want to look back and know we spent our lives doing the things that made a difference. Make significance greater than your success and you will create a great future!
About John Barrett John was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on Valentine's Day, February 14th, 1980. His family moved to Brown County, Indiana where John grew up. After his graduation, John was accepted into a handson internship program at a large organization in New Albany, IN that set his journey into leadership development. John has been personally mentored by world-class leaders such as Dr. John C. Maxwell,
Paul Martinelli, Christian Simpson and other leaders that are coaching Fortune 500 companies. John has been living and teaching leadership for 14 years. His experience and ability to communicate have led John to teach leadership development in the business community, government agencies, churches, schools, and various organizations across the country as well as international speaking. He is a certified coach, speaker, and trainer with Dr. John C. Maxwell. John has a passion to help people DISCOVER their gifts, DEVELOP their potential, and DO great things. John met his beautiful wife, Erin, in high school where they worked together for a few weeks at a local restaurant. In 2003 they were married and started their journey together. John and Erin have 2 beautiful daughters, Zion & Allie. John is a gifted speaker, writer, musician, artist, blogger, and leadership coach. Most importantly though, he is a husband & father to his amazing family.
www.johnbarrettleadership.com
Resourcing Leaders Blogs, Books, Tips, Resources, & More