Thoughts for the Day
"Courage is the capacity to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
---Winston Churchill
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
---Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
"I choose not to be a common man. Me, it's my right to be uncommon if I can. I'll seek opportunity, not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen-humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I'll refuse to live from hand to mouth. I'll prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence. The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any friend. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid, to think and act for myself and face the world boldly and say, "This I have done."
---President Theodore Roosevelt
"Everyone is born unique but most of us die copies."
---Les Brown
"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared."
---Whitney Young, Jr.
"Do not go where the path may lead, but go where there is no path, and leave a trail."
---Les Brown
"Oh, God, to reach the point of death only to realize you have never lived."
---Henry David Thoreau
"Whatever you accomplish in life is a manifestation not so much of what you do, as of what you believe deeply within yourself that you deserve."
---Les Brown
What Kind of Leader Are You?
By Jim Rohn
If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. I call leadership the greatest challenge of life.
All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:
- Learn to be strong but not rude. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It's not even a good substitute.
- Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake kindness for weakness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.
- Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, and discover the first sign of trouble.
- You've got to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can't get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we're part of the stars. So humility is a virtue; but timidity is a disease. Timidity is an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.
- Be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without being arrogant. In fact I believe the worst kind of arrogance is arrogance from ignorance. It's when you don't know that you don't know. Now that kind of arrogance is intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much to take.
- Develop humor without folly. That's important for a leader. In leadership, we learn that it's okay to be witty, but not silly. It's okay to be fun, but not foolish.
- Lastly, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I'd like to think it's unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It's fascinating. And I've found that the skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.
Are You Following Through?
What Prevents You From Following Through?
I had the opportunity to speak to several groups this past month. The majority of the audiences have been small business owners and salespeople. When posed with the question, "What prevents you from following through?" one answer was consistent: FEAR! Why do we fear what will bring us success? Is the fear real or imaginary? Most of the participants agreed that the fear is mental.
There was an anthropologist whose dream was to study and live among a tribe of African headhunters. He had great difficulty in developing a relationship with these isolated and highly suspicious people. His fears of them held him back. They were legitimate fears. It is wise to fear that a headhunter may take your head off. He worked for years without winning acceptance until he lay in bed one night and focused on his reasons for being there among those people. And he concluded that the worst thing they could do to him was take his life. He decided his dream was worth the risk, and he began the next morning with a much bolder and much more determined approach.
And as his boldness and confidence increased, he found that he was more accepted. He gained what he had so long been denied. When his colleagues asked him how he had overcome the cultural barriers, he replied, "When life can no longer threaten you with death, what else is there?"
There is nothing else. The majority of the fears that we have are not life-and-death fears. And yet we give them more power than they deserve and permit them to govern our lives.
If you find yourself submitting to your fears, stop and assess your situation. Have one of those inner conversations in which you ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that can happen to me here? Will it kill me? Why am I letting this dominate my thinking and my life? Am I the source of its power?"
What would your life be like if you decided to go after what you wanted so strongly that it propels you past your fears? You have the capacity to do that. We all do.
Why is it that so many people prefer known hells to unknown heavens? Because they can't see themselves doing any better. They have no view beyond their grasp of the moment.
There once was a soldier captured behind enemy lines. His captors told him that he had two choices. He could face the firing squad in the morning, or he could go through a door marked "Unknown Horrors." Which would you choose? A firing squad would be quick and easy. The other choice brings up visions of unfathomable tortures and long lasting pain.
The soldier chose the firing squad, and after he was executed, someone asked the leader of his captors what was behind the door. "Freedom," he said, "but very few people are willing to face their fear of the unknown."
Frightened people ask, "What will the future bring?" That answer is controlled by you. Are you working on yourself right now? Are you developing yourself? Are you preparing for the future?
Don't be fearful of the future. Work on developing your talents and skills. If you strive to grow continually, you will be part of the future. Maintain a winning spirit, regardless of any desperate circumstances. You must separate who you are from what happens to you. Who is that dream client that you fear? How can you overcome your fear and move yourself to follow through so you land the business you deserve? It is possible through a simple adjustment in mental attitude. Remember, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Challenge yourself to take action today. Overcome your fear that is holding you back and live your dreams!
Benchmark News
We are currently working at 3405 E. Overland Road finishing up the new and beautiful Silverstone branch of Home Federal Bank. There will be a 3-lane drive through and ATM that goes underneath the building for a fascinating customer experience.
