The Law of Solid Ground (6)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 6 - The Law of Solid Ground

Trust Is The Foundation of Leadership

Trust is the most important aspect of leadership.  You cannot lose trust and continue to have influence over others - they won't trust you!

Be sure that you are honest, trustworthy, and act with integrity in everything that you do.  Even in your mistakes, be as honesty and upfront as possible.  Your people know when you make mistakes, the real question is whether you're going to fess up.

When it comes to leadership, you can't just take shortcuts, no matter how long you've been leading your people.

A leader builds trust by consistently exemplifying competence, connection, and character.

People will forgive you for your occassional mistakes and they will give you time to connect, but they will not trust someone who has slips in character.  

Character makes trust possible.  And trust makes leadership possible.  That is the Law of Solid Ground.

Character Communicates Consistency

Consistency is a separator between being good and great.  Live out your values everyday, have integrity everyday, and never make a commitment unless you are going to keep it.

Character Communicates Potential

Poor character is like a time bomb ticking away; if you have poor character, you can't hide it forever.  "No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his own character."

How people treat you is a measure of your character.  How they communicate with you and the level of trust they put in you communicates their perception of your character.

You have to make an intentional effort to develop your character.  There are three main areas you can focus on: integrity, authenticity, and discipline.  To develop your integrity, make a commitment to yourself to be scrupulously honest.  Don't shave the truth, don't tell white lies, and don't fudge numbers.  Be truthful even when it hurts.  To develop authenticity, be yourself with everyone.  Don't play politics, role play, or pretend to be anything you're not.  To strengthen your discipline, do the right things every day regardless of how you feel.

The Law of Addition (5)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 5 - The Law of Serving Others

Leaders Add Value By Serving Others

A true leader is always looking for ways to grow the people he influences by serving them and making things better and easier for them.  The best leaders are more focused on adding value to people by serving them than on serving themselves or making themselves richer or more powerful.  When you add value and grow those around you, you will reap the benefits of that growth individually as well.  You going through the process of growing others will help you grow exponentially as well.

To consistently add value to those you influence, you must go out of your way to find and think about ways in which you can add value.  

"Seek always to do some good, somewhere.  Every man has to seek in his own to way to realize his true worth.  You must give some time to your fellow man.  For remember, you don't live in a world all your own.  Your brothers are here too."

- Albert Schweitzer - 

Understand that leadership and the influence that is the result of good leadership doesn't have to come from the top or the person in the 'leadership' position.  The best place for a leader is the place where he or she can serve the best and add the most value to other people.  

When you add value to people, you lift them up, help them advance, make them a part of something bigger than themselves, and assist them in becoming who they were made to be. 

We add value when we ...

- Truly value others - Intentionally seeks ways to help others and let them know you care

- Make ourselves more valuable to others - Intentionally have a growth plan for yourself

- Know and relate to what others value - Listen to what other people want and find ways to provide

- Do things that God values

Listen, Learn, and then Lead

It is important to have no unresolved relational conflict with other people.  Serving others allows you to really purify your motives and helps you gain perspective.  

The attitude of the leader affects the atmosphere of the office.

Make it a practice to perform small acts of service for others without seeking credit or recognition for them until you no longer resent doing them.  Also, know what the people closet to you value, and intentionally try to find ways to make adding value to them part of your everyday lifestyle.

The Law of Navigation (4)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 4 - The Law of Navigation

Anyone Can Steer The Ship, But It Takes A Leader To Chart the Course

Every leader has to have a vision for himself and the people he is leading.  In the Bible, it states that 'without a vision, the people will perish.'  A vision and an end goal is important to make sure that you are always on the right path toward success and so that you don't wake up one day and realize that your foundation is crumbling from underneath you and see that your world is falling apart.

As a leader, you have to realize that there are people relying on your ability to steer them in the right direction.  Other people are depending on you and your ability to chart a good course.  We all have the opportunity to control our lives and our direction.  When we have a good plan and stick diligently to it, we control our direction.  You having control over your direction is better than you being controlled by it.  Not only do you have to control the direction of your people, but you have to figure out what that direction is and how to get there.  You have to create the vision, you have to understand how to get there, and you have to know what it will take to get there.

The leader has to be able to see more than others see, see farther than others see, and see before others do.

To create the vision and keep your team on the right track, you have to:
- draw on past experiences
- look at your current conditions
- listen to others
- rely on both faith and fact

There will be obstacles throughout your journey, and the leader must be able to navigate through rough waters.  Having a well thought out plan will help you on your journey.   Preparation is the key to the law of Navigation.  When you prepare well, you convey confidence amd trust to people.  The preparation is everything.

To help yourself on this journey, make sure to practice reflection throughout your journey.  Set aside time every week to reflect on your experiences so that you can learn and grow from them.

The Law of Process (3)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 3 - The Law of Process

Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day

Becoming a leader is a process, much like finding real wealth in the stock market.  You are not going to find wealth or success in one day - this is a life long learning process.  Success comes from what you do day by day over a long period of time.

The secret of our success is found in our daily agenda." - Tag Short

When you look at someone's daily agenda, you see what they value and prioritize, whether its money, sports, family, TV, etc.  See what a person does every day, and you'll know who that person is and what he is becoming.

Leadership is not always born when a person is born, it is born out of the process of learning and improving on a collection of skills.  Many of the skills and factors that effective leadership requires are intangible, and because of that, leaders require a lot of seasoning to be effective.

"It's the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers." - Warren Bennis

Successful leaders are life-long learners and understand that the process of learning requires self-discipline and perseverance.  The problem, according to John Maxwell, is that people overestimate the importance of events and they underestimate the power of process.  Instead of patiently going through the process of compounding effect, we seek quick fixes.  Events can be very powerful, but if you want lasting improvement, if you want power, then rely on a process.  Leadership is developed daily; not in a day.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.  What a person does on a disciplined, consistent basis gets him ready, no matter what the goal.  Champions don't become champions in the ring - they are merely recognized there.

The Law of Influence (21 Laws of Leadership - Chapter 2)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 2 - The Law of Influence

The true measure of leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less

Leadership is about influence.   
Leadership is having enough influence to where people are willing to follow you.  There are factors that impact your level of influence on others, but at the core of leadership is your level of influence.

'He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.'

If you can't influence people, then they won't follow you.  And if people won't follow you, you are not a leader.

Leadership and influence is something that must be earned.  
You can't gain true influence simply through your position.  Leadership through your title is management; anybody can have influence when they are in a position of power and have leverage.  A true leader can influence others to act without having any leverage to hold over their heads.  The only thing a title can buy is a little time - either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.  It's not the position that makes the leader but the leader that makes the position.  A leader must not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.

A surefire way to measure leadership of someone is to see how they lead a volunteer group.  In this situation, there is no leverage as people are volunteering their time and energy to a cause. As psychologist Harry A. Overstreet stated,  "The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person to participate.

When leaders speak, people listen.  When they make a suggestion, people respect it.  When they lead, others follow.

Key Characteristics of Leadership Are:
Character
Relationships
Knowledge
Intuition
Experience
Past Success
Ability

It's always good to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses in terms of the key characteristics of leadership.  Try to grow and leverage your strengths and try to grow in your weakness so that you can become a complete leader who can success lead in all positions.

Law of The Lid (1)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 1 - The Law of The Lid 

Leadership Ability Determines A Person's Level of Effectiveness

Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person's level of effectiveness.  You can be individually great at what you do and provide a lot of value to your team, school, business, or organization, but without leadership ability, your level of effectiveness will always be limited to the immediate impact that you can make as opposed to the impact you can make as a result of the domino effect that occurs when you can positively influence and grow others around you.  

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The Law of the Lid is kind of like the old proverb about teaching somebody how to fish.  When you perform for somebody or for your team or organization, you will have a major impact, but that impact will be limited.  When you have leadership, you have the ability to help those around you grow in their own role, giving them the opportunity to impact even more people than you could, creating a ripple effect and blowing the lid off of your effectiveness and the number of people that you can impact. When you have leadership, you can see the areas in which your group can grow, you can create a vision for growth, you can create a plan for growth, and you can influence others to positively seek growth and stay on the path of growth when times get tough or motivation is lacking.  When you are a leader, you aren't a passenger on the ship, you are the captain, and you have the ability to steer the ship however you feel necessary.  You know how to get the best out of people around you everyday and help them grow in a way that helps them reach their individual goals and team goals.

Applying The Law Of The Lid

1 - List some of your 5 major goals.  Now identify which ones will require the participation or cooperation of other people.  For these activities, your leadership ability will greatly impact your effectiveness.

2 - Assess your leadership ability.

3 - Ask others to rate your leadership.

God Blesses You To Become a Blesser (Chapter 17 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

"The more our creator trusts us, the more He can trust us with."

The more people you help become successful, the more successful you become.  When you share your blessings with someone else, you are fulfilling your purpose in this world as a human being.  We are all here to help one another.  When you receive a measure of success, on whatever level it is, it's your obligation to teach that or share that with someone else.  With almost every successful person, the more money they give, the more God puts them in position to give more.  This is a principle that escapes far too many people.  It is not enough to have a big house on a hill and not show anyone else how to get a big house on a hill.  They you're up there by yourself - and that's no fun.

To whom much is given, much will be required.  If you don't adhere to the requirement part, then the giving part stops.  

Success is not just your ability to achieve, but also your ability to serve through sharing.  True success lives in our legacies.

Another key to true success is thankfulness and gratitude.  These emotions are demonstrated by hearing with others.  Your success shouldn't only be for you; it should also be a blessing for others.  

Matthew 25:23 says, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a  few things; I will put you in charge of many things."

When you master the 'few' things you get the 'many.'  When you really love your craft, you don't mind doing it for free or taking the time to mentor someone coming up in the ranks behind you.

Life's Magical Balance (Chapter 16 - Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success)

HOME + HEALTH + FINANCES = SUCCESS

Gaining life's riches is about more than just earning a paycheck - success is about truly being in the moment when you are with your family and having the energy and right frame of mind to continue to do the work that you love.

You have to have your priorities set and a strong foundation to stand on.  When you don't have all of your chips stacked properly, you might get good at hiding the truth from the public.  You have to have a life system that brings balance to all aspects of your world.

Healing Your Haters Through Success (Chapter 15 - Act Like a Success, Think Like A Success)

Become the positive energy that will be a light not just for yourself, but for those around you.  Your gift and your vision are relying on it.

The Bible says: Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

You are going to face opposition in your journey, and that opposition can take form in one of a few ways:

1) Situational 

2) Other people 

3) Internal

The only cure for enemies and opposition is success.  You can never take your foot off a ladder to kick at someone who is kicking at you.  When you do that, you will no longer be climbing.  While they are kicking, you should keep stepping.  They can kick only one time.  If you continue to climb, they would be left behind.  In trying to hurt you, to impede your progress, they would get left behind because they allowed themselves to get sidetracked from their agenda.

Real people of power, decision makers, power brokers, shakers and movers don't know that they don't even know the haters exist.  'Don't give 'em a pin to stick you with.'

You have to make the choice every day not to let anyone's negativity stop you from fully operating in you God-given gift.  You don't need anyone's validation to keep her vision moving forward.  

We have to make sure that we don't let anyone drag you down by stealing your energy, dreams, and success.  As a society, we have reduced positive messages about people's gifts and increase messages that make people feel entitled to things that are not for them.

Opposition doesn't always come from outside sources - they often come from within.  When you are your own worst enemy, you have to bring your own light.  You have to remember your worth and your value.  You have to get up every morning and affirm that talent that God has put inside you.  You cannot let your fears, doubts, and insecurities stop you from taking hold of your destiny.

Tale of The Tape (Chapter 12 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

In boxing, boxers know, going into the fight, all of the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.  In life, you should always know and be fully aware of all of your strengths and weaknesses as well.  You need to know all of your skills and you need to know what all of your potential advantages and disadvantages are.  

You want to always be able to perform at your best, and having an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses will allow you to play to your strengths while masking your weaknesses.  Throughout the process, you should also be working to grow and maximize your strengths while improving upon your witnesses.

Stepping Up Your Strengths

-  Be confident, not cocky

-  Stay fight ready

-  Develop or Die

Working On Your Weaknesses

-  Protect your weaknesses

-  Choose your weaknesses

-  Develop or Die

Identify you strength and weaknesses.  Know how to communicate and maximize your strengths and start to think of ways in which you can grow and improve your weaknesses.

There Is No Self-Made Man (Chapter 11 - Act Like a Success - Think Like a Success)

Yea, you can try to 'be your own man' and take on life by yourself, but you will have to work twice as hard to get half as much.  There are people who can and are willing to help you - they are like treasure chests waiting at strategic moments in your journey to provide you with what you need.  

Asking for what you want is the only key you need to open the chest and enjoy the treasure.

Everything we do in life that's worthy of note requires gifts that are beyond our own.  How we utilize the blessings of our relationships is the key to making it big.  You have to keep your eyes open for like-minded people, because those partnerships give you another person to bounce around ideas with, and they can help you see things from an angle that you didn't even consider.

Once you identify other like-minded people and you begin to connect with dreamers, you need to be bold enough to ask for assistance, guidance, or advice.  You have no idea of the number of successful people around you who are waiting for someone to come up and ask them for assistance or guidance. Don't be so occupied with your pride that you miss out by not asking for help.  

Our lives are a direct reflection of our communication.

Your gift is waiting for you to fight for what you want.  When you build a world that looks the way you want it to, you are giving your gift more room to grow.  You have come too far now to talk a good game about what you want without asking for what you want.

1 - Identify what you want that you have never asked for.
2 - Identify why you have not asked for those things.
3 - Identify three people you should ask something of.

Man on a Rope (Chapter 10 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

Every man [person] has a mountain to climb.  At the top of the mountain is the dream life that the man envisions early on in his journey.  All he has to do is know which mountain he wants to climb and to decide to start climbing.

However, that man does not travel alone; he has to carry a big, old wagon up that mountain with him. The wagon itself is heavy and hard to carry - it has the old wooden wheels that aren't the perfect circles that would be ideal for rolling up a steep mountain and the man has to drag this wagon by a big, thick, old rope that rips at his hands and tears at his shoulders as pushes and pulls along.

What makes the journey even more difficult is that every man has people who are along for the ride as well.  There are 3 types of people the man as to deal with while trudging up this mountain:

1)  Those who are there to assist him up the mountain
2)  Those who are there to make his journey tougher up the mountain
3)  Those who are just along for the ride

The first two types of people are easy to deal with: you keep the people around who are here to help you and you get rid of the people who are here to hurt you.  

The third type of person can be a lot harder to spot and to deal with.  You have to identify what their purpose is in your journey.  They might help or hurt you.  You must also identify whether or not they are temporary passengers in your journey or if their role is to see you to the top of your journey.  You might have to pick up and drop off passengers mid journey.

God has already lined up the people in your path to get you to your dreams and your visions; all you have to do is get rid of the wrong ones.  

Getting Ride of Dead Weight
You only want people who can propel your vision.  

Avoid People Who Are
- Always having a bad day
- Who have to be right all of the time
- Are procrastinators

Search For People Who Are
- Like-minded
- Service-oriented
- Grateful

You Have To See It To Believe It (Chapter 9 - Act Like A Success, Think Like a Success)

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”

- Albert Einstein

Key Concepts

-  Identify what you want to accomplish

-  Create a fist class vision

-  Let your imagination take over for your logic

-  Believe you can have it

-  Make a vision board to inspire you everyday

Your imagination is everything. If your focus is on where you are right now, then your right now becomes your forever. Until you change your focus and elevate your imagination, your present situation will define you.

It's important to make sure you have a first class vision for your life.  If you don’t think any higher of yourself, why should anyone else?  Believe in yourself and your worth, and your dreams can and will come true.

Make sure that you appreciate the blessings that you have right now.  How can you expect God to bless with you more if you are taking care of and taking advantage of what he has already given you? 

God bestowed upon you a gift and placed in you a vision for your gift that does not harm others, because he wants you to have your heart’s desire. Do not limit your vision because you don’t think you are in the right place or know the right people. The greatest thing about creating your vision is that it is as expansive as your imagination. You deserve a first-class future, and your vision should reflect this belief. Even if you had a past filled with failure, you can create a new vision now. Let go of the past and think toward the future. Leave a history of mistakes behind and dream of wonderful, successful tomorrows.

What you believe will come to pass. There will be some things that you know how to get and other things that you need to leave in God’s hands. People of faith often say, “Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct your path.” When you focus on your vision and connect it to your gift, you are on your way toward success.

The first step on your journey to success and living your gift is making the decision to live a life of success and doing what it takes to become successful.  The next step is to figure out exactly what your journey will be; what your path will be and to determine your vision.  This written expression of your vision for your life is a literal manifestation of the lifestyle you will attain.

The article that follows is a great way to create a vision for yourself and your life and how to focus your efforts on what it takes to make that vision a reality.

http://www.businessy.net/2014/11/warren-buffetts-25-5-rule-how-to-master.html

Climbing the Mountain To Reach Your Dreams (Chapter 8 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

"The steps of a good man [or woman] are ordered by the Lord.”

I interpreted this Scripture in my life to mean that walking into my destiny is a step-by-step process. I truly believe that God provides all of us with the right steps to get to the right place at the right time.

We all have dreams; some are willing to take a leap of faith to go after those dreams while others sit and wait on the sidelines.

Goals are the biggest difference between those who go after and reach their dreams and those who never do.  
Without goals, your dreams will remain a someday phenomenon instead of today’s reality.  Goals give you something specific to work towards and help you stay focused on your journey.

Setup and use your goals as your personal climb to the top of the mountain.   The long term,  overall vision of what you want to become may be overwhelming, but breaking down your goals into smaller, achievable stepping stones, can help you better manage the journey.  Your goals can give you realistic, measurable, and specific targets. They are necessary benchmarks that give you the energy, confidence, and assurance to keep moving in the right direction.

Goals are dreams with your feet on the ground.
Know what your dream is.  Have a vision for how you want to live your life.   Then, create goals for each dream and vision that you have that will help you navigate your way to the life you dreamed of.

Understanding the Makeup of You (Chapter 7 - Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success)

Be the kind of man you want to be by taking on the right makeup, which will make room for your gift.

In order for you to properly fuel your gift, you have to embody the proper makeup, and that sometimes requires change on your part.

You have to get the right caliber of traits together that will lead you to your biggest dreams.  Your makeup is the driving force behind the vehicle that you have attached yourself to that will lead you to success.

You first need to be the kind of person who attracts rather than repels others.  You have to be easy to work with, or at least be willing to create the atmosphere that makes it easy to work with you.

You must also recognize your shortcomings and be willing to improve on them.  You have to be willing to grow and to allow your failures to shape you.

Finally, you have to respect time - yours and others - by being punctual.  You have to be a person of integrity.  You have to be honorable and reliable by doing what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it.

Look In The Mirror and Be Honest
Go to a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and be honest with where you are right now in every aspect of your life.  If you are not happy with where you are, ask yourself what is the thing that keeps blocking you.  Look beyond your excuses and ask yourself, Why?  

Get Real
Replace your bad habits and characteristics, the things that are blocking you, with a strategy that will get you into action.  Make a commitment to get real and find positive and responsible replacement actions.

Get New Habits
Once you have identified the habits that are blocking your growth and success, replace them with positive habits.  Focus your energy on developing new habits.  Don't worry about the amount of time it may take to replace these habits; just take it one day at a time, one action at a time, one step at a time.

Write down your new habit actions and check them everyday when you wake up and every night before you go to sleep.  Every morning, plan how you are going to attack your new habits for the day, and every night, assess your success with your new habits for the day.

Growth In Integrity
When changing your makeup, you have to focus on becoming a more positive person with integrity to get the job done.  

As we grow in our integrity, one of the first pieces to focus on is learning how to lead.  We get too focused on looking to other people at times when the real answer lie inside of us.  We have to take the time to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses.  

The Blessings You Already Have
You have to make sure that your core makeup has the right balance.  You have to prioritize your life, and take care of the blessings that you already have.  How do you think that more blessings will come to you if you won't take care of the blessings you've already been given?

You can't get stuck in how you do things that you aren't open to seeing and doing things in a different way.  You must be ready for new opportunities.  Always be prepared to answer: What's next?  Knowing what's next is paramount to future success.

You're calling has to be stronger than your current circumstances to help your dream keep moving forward.

Catalog the Skills You Have and Identify the Skills You Need to Grow
If you aren't sure what traits you need to work on, think about the skills for which people give you the most compliments.  

Next take stock of the characteristics that people constantly tell you that you need to improve on.  Perfecting your character is as much a part of your development as executing your gift.

Be the kind of man you want to be by taking on the right makeup, which will make room for your gift.

Knowing Your Gift and Putting It Into The Right Vehicle (Chapter 6 - Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success)

Steve Jobs had a gift for seeing technology in ways that actually changed the way we live our lives.  The ability to innovate and transform technology.  This combination of using your gift and infusing it with your personal skills and talents is what I call your gift mark.

Similar to a trademark, your gift mark is the stamp that you leave on the world every time you use your God-given talents and skills at your highest capacity.  You know without a doubt what to expect every time you purchase a box with an Apple logo or sit behind the wheel of a car with that BMW insignia.  Your gift make should be what people come to expect every time they hire you or ask you to be part of their team.  Your gift mark is the flavor you add to your gift, showing the world that it has your DNA in it.  When you sit down at the table, people know that they will receive your gift in just the way that only you can deliver it.  

Once you uncover your gift, find that distinctive touch that will make your gift stand out and shine.  most people are just a few steps away from the start of turning what could have ben into what can be. 

Simply attach yourself to a vehicle that gets your gift into motion.  That means begin now, where you are.  Keep working, and when its time, catch another transfer.  Be aggressive learning how to drive, and do that by mastering your gift where you are.  Grow, learn, and make every mistake you can in the lemon before you get the coupe.

But, don't wait to long in the same vehicle and get stuck.  You must recognize that its about getting you to the next level, and not about taking you the whole way.  You have to take the time to test-drive as many options as you can for your gift.

Success Actions

1- Where is your final destination?

2 - Where is your next stop?

3 - Do you know how to operate this vehicle today just enough not to crash?

Is the vehicle out of your mastery, but controllable?  That's the drive you want.  It's challenging, fun, takes you out of your comfort zone, but ... you can make it work.  That's where you need to be.

Write down the kind of vehicles that you would like to use for your gift five to ten years from now.

Not What You Are Paid For, But What You Were Made For (Chapter 5 - Act Like a Success, Think Like A Success)

Everybody has a gift.  

Our creator, in his infinite wisdom, created every single should with a gift.  Your girt is completely unique.  No one can rob you of it.  You are the only one who can choose to use it or to ignore it.  You have the power to permit it to be used to enrich your life.

Your girt is the single thing that you do at your absolute best with the least amount of effort.

You all have a gift.  Its not what you are passionate about or what you hoped, dreamed, or wished for.  What do you do the absolute best with the least amount of effort?

Your job is not your gift.  Your gift is more than a job.  It may be one of the places where you can use your gift but you should be able to use your gift in your relationships, your communities, and throughout every aspect of your life.  Your gift is something that is connected to you where you are working or vacationing.

Passion is an emotion, but it will never be your gift.  Your talents are also not your gift.  What we do well often blocks us from finding out what we do great.  I think of talents as the lesser to one's gift.  Talents can be learned while a gift is inherent.  Your gift cannot be studied by another and then performed at the same proficiency.  

"Your gift will lake room for you and put you in the presence of great men."

Proverbs 18:16

After you identify your gift and decide to use it, your gift will lead to the fulfillment of your life's purpose and mission.  Present before you will be a wonderful opportunity to live a life of riches.  Your success will be tied to the gift that you were freely given on the day you were born.  Your gift will unlock all of the mysteries of your life.  Your mission, your purpose, and your destiny will all be tied to one thing - your gift.  I guarantee that your whole life will have new meaning and direction when you recognize your gift and decide upon the most valuable way to use it.

Success Actions:

1 - What is the absolute thing that you do at your absolute best with the least amount of effort?

2 - What is that one gift that other people associate with you?  Why?

3 - If you followed the advice of these other people, how have you utilized your gift?

The Dash Between Perishing and Sacrificing for Your Dream (Chapter 4 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

Proverbs 29:18 – “Where there is no vision, the people will perish.”

Perishing is the dangerous state of living in a mundane existence without even realizing it.  When you are living out your life doing the same jobs, doing the same thing over and over, again with no dreams or aspirations or hope for the future, you are slowly perishing with no direction.

Don’t allow yourself to wander aimlessly in circles, unclear about your purpose, while you are wasting your gift and destroying your promise.  Don’t go another day without a clear direction and focus for your life. 

Create a new vision for your life and commit to living that new promise.

When we are disconnected from a real vision, we perish through a slow and painful process, and not knowing or being aware will trick you into thinking that this is the way that things are supposed to be. 

You can be sure that you are in a state of perish if you have lazy tendencies or habits.  If you have the following characteristics, you might be perishing slowly:

-       - Procrastination

-       - Doing things halfway, improperly, or not at all

-       - Lack of enthusiasm

-       - Unreliability

-       - Un-trustworthy

-       - Negativity or any negative trait will derail you from your dreams

Dash Deposits

To help you start to live your dreams, everyday try to identify ‘Dash Deposits,” simple efforts you can make on a daily bases to reach your destiny and add to your legacy. 

Sometimes you have to live on a wing and a prayer.  At some point you are going to have to take a leap of faith and hope that you can fly.  Sometimes nobody will believe in you or what you are doing but you.  Nobody but you and God can see it, but you know your gift is in there.  To some, it might be nothing more than a useless hobby, but you know its more – you know it’s the key to your future.  If you don’t know and believe in your gift for yourself, you will never have the lift that God has destined for you. 

The only difference between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people know what their gift is and how to focus on it at all costs.  Once you know your gift, pursuing it becomes your sole focus.

When you are living off your gift, you just know it, you can feel it, and you won’t have to force it.  You will be in a space where your dream is no longer a question of who you are but the answer for everything you are meant to be.

When trying to move from a state of perishing into the Land of Promise, you have to step up and let the world see your gift.  You have to commit to taking the lid off your dreams everyday.  Blow the lid off of your dream every day and say to the world, “I might be in this place right now, paying my dues and mastering my craft, but my dreams are out of this world and I won’t be here for long!”

Take The Lid Off The Jar (Chapter 3 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

Don't allow anybody, including yourself, to put a limit on your life, your dreams, and your potential.

Have you ever looked at what happens to a flea when you put it in a jar?  The flea jumps only high enough so that its head no longer hits the lid.  Over time, the flea conditions itself to only jump as high as the lid.  Even when you remove the lid, the fleas still won't jump any higher than the lid; they don't even realize that they are free.  When the fleas have children, their offspring are also conditioned to jump no higher than the lid.

Just as the fleas were created to jump and fly much higher than the lid of a jar, we were clearly created and destined to climb, jump, and soar two hundred times our size and even greater.  We can't let the actions, experiences, and perceptions of those around us to stunt our own growth.  Don't get caught up in the trap of comparing yourself to someone else.  

We were designed to jump so high and so hard that we can literally break the lid off wherever we are.

Fear and Failure (Chapter 2 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success)

Fear and failure are both a part of success.  Even the most successful people feel fear.  They fear that even at their best, they may not be successful or they may not be accepted. 

Most people allow fear to paralyze them, but you have to make a decision:  “Am I going to face my fears and go see what my life can really be?”  or “Am I going to succumb to my fears and do exactly what I’ve always done?”

You have to go for it; at least try and attempt to win.  Don’t allow yourself to avoid getting things done simply because you fear what the outcome might be.

You have to teach yourself to go try something if there is even a remote possibility of something great happening for your life or your career.  You have to learn to convince yourself that the possibility of success is greater than the possibility of failure, and that the possibility of failure is always greater than doing nothing.  When you fail, at least you have tried to do something and at least now you know where you need to grow and how you can do better.

Warren Buffet said that he would not invest in any business where the owner hasn't failed at least twice.  Truly wealthy and successful people understand that failure is part of the process on the road to success.

Steve Jobs, during a commencement speech at a Stanford graduation, talked about how our lives are a series of dots that are constantly connecting and that all of our experiences and actions are intertwined and prepare us for moments to come.  We don't know when, where, or how our next big moment is going to show up, and its possible that God plans it that way because he knows that if we saw our big picture, it would be to much for us to grasp or handle.  Instead, we need to live with courage and faith that there is a great plan for us full of success and prosperity if we are willing to face our fears, learn from our failures, and grow into the people that we are designed to be.

We have to take the lids off our jars.

Steve Jobs - Connecting the Dots