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Showing posts from August, 2009

God's Man | Success Is Inevitable COACH...

As a Coach , as a Leader , you must constantly review “ Everything ” You are doing and get better! Never, Never stay put! Either you are Growing and Getting Better , or you are dying !

God's Man | Success is Inevitable IF

Your goals are NON-NEGOTIABLE If you don’t have what you said you wanted: You really didn’t want it bad enough, or You were attempting to negotiate the price. MAKE SURE YOUR GOALS ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE!

God's Man | Thought For Today...

Job 29 (Message) When your focus is on God it Changes Your Perspective.   1-6  Job now resumed his response: "Oh, how I long for the good old days,     when God took such very good care of me. He always held a lamp before me     and I walked through the dark by its light. Oh, how I miss those golden years     when God's friendship graced my home, When the Mighty One was still by my side     and my children were all around me, When everything was going my way,     and nothing seemed too difficult.  When Your Focus is on God it Increases Your Service.   7-20  "When I walked downtown     and sat with my friends in the public square, Young and old greeted me with respect;     I was honored by everyone in town. When I spoke, everyone listened;     they hung on my every word. People who knew me spoke well of me;     my reputation went ahead of me. I was known for helping people in trouble     and standing up for those who were down on their luck. The dying blessed me,     and t

5 Minute Drill | ProTips - Act Now, Create Precedents, Don't Blame...

When I was young I used to read a lot of video game magazines.  One of the magazines was called GamePro .  GamePro was full of reviews and guides for the games that I enjoyed but what I ignored the general guides and looked for what they called ProTips .  The ProTips were little nuggets or ideas that would kick your skills into high gear.  It was a trick that would shave time off of a race or the button combination that would result in a winning match.  So today I want to share some ProTips that I have given to clients and friends on how to make the changes below.   act now   60 Second Decisions   I will probably hear from my wife about sharing this with you.  She doesn't like these but they have served me well.  It requires that you be proactive and know what want in any given situation.   When confronted with a big decision boil all of your questions down into 4-5 yes or no questions.  After that find a person that can answer these yes or no questions.  W

30 Day Trial | Days 26- 30 | Finish Strong...

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Welcome to Day 30 - You Win... So here we are at the end of another 30 Day Trial Challenge. I am writing this message from a medicine-induced haze. I hurt my ankle a few days ago and had been fighting the pain as I walked. Finally it started to swell and so I went to the doctor and he prescribed some pain/swelling meds. They are helping but they leave me in this oofy state. I want to talk with you about finishing strong because I think a lot of times when we get close to the finish line we slow up and coast across with a smile. Is that really the best way to do it? Isn't it better to boost across the line removing all doubt that you put your all into it. No matter what you took on over the last 30 days, you need to press on with energy and passion. So time for a retrospective What Went Well I enjoyed taking on a bigger challenge. The daily tasks allowed me to focus on different positive changes (Stayed Fresh) Working out made my days go better What Needs To Be Changed No more

5 Minute Drill | Educate Yourself…

*** Ready Set Go *** Have I ever mentioned my secret? I am nerd. Not just any kind of nerd; I am a super nerd. Now here is another dirty little secret that I hold. I hate school. From start to “finish” I had been in school from age 18 mo to 21. The entire time I was bored to tears. Of course, as a kid I could never articulate my hatred of school. I just didn’t want to go. My parents being attentive made sure that I went, all the time. Skipping was never an option. However they couldn’t make me apply myself and my grades showed it. There were classes that I excelled in. However that was only because it was something that I was interested in. Computers, English, Physics, Math, and Art, those were classes that I enjoyed. It wasn’t until later in life that I understood why you need to get good grades. When I got ready for college I have very little scholarship potential. I learned that I they wanted high GPA’s and I did not have it. *** Timer Expired *** The point of the a

5 Minute Drill | Rock Out.

This video incorporates two of my favorite things.  Music and awesomeness!   Go Go Go

5 Minute Drill | Be Decisive...

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God does not give me the ability to make right decisions.  He gives me the ability to make a decision and the guidance to make it right.   Go Go GO

5 Minute Drill | Mentor Someone...

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Go Go Go

5 Minute Drill | Find Time…

*** Ready Set Go *** How do you find time? I would point you to the last message that I wrote on Doing Less. That is the easiest way to find the time necessary to get things done. Next is to start doing an inventory on how you are spending your time. I have noticed how much time I waste. MY pastor recommends doing a tome audit every 15 minutes. Check and see what have you been doing. Write it down and then examine it at the end of everyday. By doing this I am sure that you will identify time sinks that eat your day. After the audit do a time budget where you can plan out the important things you want to accomplish. Even plan out your leisure time. I know it is counter intuitive but if you know that you will be surfing the web from 1-1:30 it makes it easier to say no at other times of the day. Give it a try. It has worked wonders for me when I commit to it. Go Go Go *** Timer Expired ***

5 Minute Drill | Do Less…

*Ready Set Go* Are you doing too much? That is what I find with a lot of my clients. They usually have a good understanding of what they should be doing. They struggle with doining it with everything that they have on their plate. I am a fierce advocate of the word no. It is powerful. The more you can say no to even good things the more opportunity you have to yes to what is best! Go Go Go

5 Minute Drill | Be Brave…

***Ready Set Go*** Fear is such an empty emotion. It tells us that we can't do something, that it is too hard... But it is a lie. Today I saw fear in a very real way, in Isana's eyes. She wanted to try the monkey bars on the swing set. She was expecting our normal answer of no. I told her that I would have to remove the swings first. She watched me take each one off chain by chain. Finally it was clear and the ladder that we have watched her go up and down on seemed so tall. She decided she didn't want to do it anymore... Aren't we like that some times. We say, God open this door. But when the door is finally open we slink away because now we have to stretch. Like I said it could have ended there. But I wouldn't let Fear stop her growth. I told her to climb up those steps. Then she didn't want to reach for the overhead bars. It was too far she said. I told her she could do it but the fear wouldn't retreat. Even though she had grabbed the bars and was hanging

5 Minute Drill | Interpret Dreams…

***Ready Set Go*** I am a big believer in the meaning of dreams. I wrote this dream down one night in 2007. I share part of it with you as well as the specific questions that I asked God about it. People in the Dream: Me, Virginia Carter, my cousin "Cakes" Locations in the Dream: Virginia Carter's House, Villa Julie College (AC Building) Segment 2: Ginny and I, she ask me to her Ginny, are walking through the AC building at Villa Julie. I am showing her the classrooms and talking about what our team does here. Again the conversation seems light and fluffy. All style and no substance. We get about halfway down the hall and some people call to her from down the hall. She acknowledges them. I can't tell who they are as they are covered in shadows. We keep walking and talking but I start slowing my pace. I want to keep talking with Ginny. I want to talk about important things but we seem caught up in this banal conversation about my work.. We walk and talk and then, alm

5 Minute Drill | Actively Listen...

***Ready Set Go*** One of the skills that I encourage everyone to learn is being an active listener. It is so important to listen. It is one of those skills that should be taught in schools, by parents, and reinforced on the job. Listening will help you in all aspects of your life. From your career to your marriage being a good listener makes everything easier. Case in Point my bride and I have been having lots of discussions about our time commitments. Her points are valid as are mine but if we spent all of our time trying to argue our points nothing would ever get accomplished. The two of us have learned that we need to really listen to one another. Not just listen to prepare our next argument but listen to understand everything being said. Not just the argument but the emotion that is around it. This is where I struggle because I am a take it as it is kind of guy. If you say “this is what I will do” then I will take you at your word. If I ask, “if something is ok,” and you

30 Day Trial Day 25 | Take A Picture Daddy...

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This was the last request my smallest made before drifting off tonight. What do you value? Is it completing the task or enjoying the moment. This 30 Day Trial has been the most trying one I have ever done and I have been doing these, off and on, for several years. All I can say is... Go Go Go!!!

30 Day Trial Day 24 | Hershey Park Edition...

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Go Go Go

30 Day Trial Day 23| I'm Smiling. Are You?

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call someone Honestly I did not do this one today. I was stuck on who to call and I couldn't think of anyone. Now it is late and i do not want to disturb anyone. SO I am calling this one a failure today. Maybe I will attack it tomorrow so I can say I did it. take initiative Today I was a little more proactive than I usually am. I told my team members how to address issues rather than allowing them to come up with their own solutions. While I prefer letting my team learn through their issues there is something exciting about being in charge. experience nature The only nature that I experienced was the natural beauty of my bride. She has taken to wearing dresses and skirts again and for that I am thankful. Walking around the city and experiencing the people was also fun. I long for being a kid again, living in Matthews Town and walking barefoot in through my grandmother's garden. smile more Today was a day filled with laughter, even amongst the tears. My bride and I h

30 Day Trial Day 22 | Don't Worry...

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Welcome to Day 22 - Don't Worry... Today I am not living out my tasks. I have learned much from this failure but that doesn't make it any less bitter. Here is what I took a crack at today. plan ahead This has always been a struggle for me. I am a catch as catch can type of guy. I am the easy going one. I am very flexible and allow myself to be distracted. What I need to learn is that as a husband, father and leader I have to do more planning. I have to be prepared to explain why I do things. It is not enough to have made a decision to do one thing or another. I must be prepared to explain the why. I get frustrated by this when if I had just prepared/planned ahead I would not run into this. In what areas of you life can you plan ahead? don't worry My casual nature keeps me from worrying much so I thought this would be a very easy task. However as my workday began to end things began to get out of control. This caused me to worry about how successful we would be

30 Day Trial Day 21 - Stay Calm ...

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work hard My team has been operating at peak efficiency this sprint so I haven't been able to work for them as hard as I usually do so I decided to try pushing myself during my workout today. I swam 900 yards in the pool in less that one hour. This was awesome for me because I normally cheat and swim 400 yards. Thanks to my coach Glenn who stole my excuses when we went swimming last week. He is a triathlon wiz. I appreciate him immensely. What ways can you push yourself and work hard. You will be glad that you did. don’t apologize This is a hard one for me because I am almost always the first one to apologize. Even when I don't have too. Today I made an effort to not apologize needlessly. I held my ground and I noticed that people responded to me differently as a result. Do you back down sooner than you should? Make an effort to stand your ground tomorrow. embrace happiness This morning I made a point of telling people how excited I was to be going to work. I didn&

30 Day Trial Day 18-20 | Don't Quit...

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Thanks to everyone who sent me a message, checking up on me during my missed days.  I apologize for not being better prepared to continue my posting while we were finishing up the 1st phase of our new church build out.  It has been an eye opening experience.  Working almost every night until late and getting up for the day job left me with very little energy during the day for posting.  Several times I fell asleep trying to write my posts.  It is funny what your write when you are almost out.  So how are all of you doing?  Even though I have not been posting I have been trying to keep my eyes on my list of tasks.  Here is where I am.   be interesting I have gotten a lot of comments from friends who have commented on my twitter and facebook exploits.  Part of my sharing this challenge with all of you is to introduce people to my particular way of coaching.  I hope that folks are finding the nuggets I am sharing interesting.  Hopefully some new coaching clients may be a

30 Day Trial Day 20 | Picking Up The Pieces...

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Hi Everyone, 3 days without a post and I am most ashamed. I will update everyone on my progress tomorrow. Things have been moving at a fever pitch. I hope that you have been keeping up with your challenges because even in this frenzy I have been keeping my eye on Day 30. Go Go Go