Character Creates Courage

A legend from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear...until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger - so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse." Sound familiar?



How many people do you know who have built a formidable exterior, only to tremble inside with fear? We face our fears with force…or we stockpile wealth. We seek security in things. We cultivate fame and seek status. But do these approaches work? Courage is an outgrowth of who we are. Exterior supports may temporarily sustain, but only inward character creates courage.



Max Lucado, best-selling author.

We are in a FOUR-DAY Series on "Creating a Healthy TEAM Environment," by Dr. John C. Maxwell Today: Part TWO of FOUR
Three Ways to Create a Healthy Team Environment #1 Encourage a Spirit of Togetherness
The true measure of a successful leader is not getting people to work. Nor is it getting people to work hard. The true measure of a successful leader is getting people to work hard together.



Leaders have to create an environment in which people see themselves as a single unit, the team, rather than as a collection of individuals. Building a team culture means stressing that mutual success matters far more than personal brilliance. For a leader, the goal is to instill an attitude of "we" rather than "me."



Given the nature of athletic competition, coaches have a special appreciation for the value of teamwork. Red Auerbach, while at the helm of the Boston Celtics, shared an insight about his team's success. After winning back-to-back championships in the NBA, Auerbach said, "When I first started coaching, people told me to put my five best players on the court. But I learned early on that this was not the key to success. It wasn't putting the five best players on the court that was going to cause us to win. It was putting the five players on the court who could work together the best. We won championships because we put people together. They weren't always our best players."



Like a good chef, Coach Auerbach understood that ingredients are limited on their own. The magic comes in how the ingredients are combined.



Tomorrow: Part THREE of FOUR: The second of "Three Ways to Create a Healthy Team Environment."

Alabama Wrangles the Gators 32-13!!!

Alabama has returned to #1 in the AP poll for the first time in the post season since 1973. The Georgia Dome was rockin' and rollin' with Gator and Tide fans from all around that SEC and abroad. In what was to be Tim Tebow's final SEC matchup and a rematch of last year's SEC Championship the Number 1 and 2 teams in College Football squared off in dramatic fashion. Alabama's defense held the Gator's rushing attack to a minimal. Offensively led by first-year quarterback McElroy, the Tide offense was clicking on all cylinders in rushing and passing offense.
Alabama now prepares to play Texas in the BCS championship game while Florida regroups to face a hot Cincinnati Bearcat team in the Orange Bowl.
Can the Tide regain their momentum their momentum and steer in the the Longhorns for a long-awaited National Championship or will they settle for a SEC Championship as this year's crown? Stay tuned!

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! Gators vs Tide

The Top 2 College Football teams in the Nation, Florida and Alabama, go head-to-head tomorrow in Atlanta. Stay tuned as Destinee brings you highlights and live commentary.

Entitled to What?

The American ideal of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps seems to have gotten lost in our recent economic turmoil. In these days of dependency, welfare, 401K's, and government bailouts have replaced personal accountability. Noted in their book, Who Are They Anyway? authors Gallagher & Ventura , reveal the most important words of personal responsibility are as follows:

The 10 most important words:
I won't wait for others to take the first step.
The 9 most important words:
If it is to be, it's up to me.
The 8 most important words:
If not me, who? If not now, when?
The 7 most important words:
Let me take a shot at it.
The 6 most important words:
I will not pass the buck.
The 5 most important words:
You can count on me.
The 4 most important words:
It IS my job!
The 3 most important words:
Just do it!
The 2 most important words:
I will.
The most important word:
Me

10 Questions for Entrepreneurs

Many of you may remember an earlier posting of the 10 questions for aspiring entrepreneurs as taken from the Wall Street Journal's Feb. 23, 2009, edition. (see Feb 25 and March 1, 2009 et al posts.) Today's post includes a reprint of the the ten questions for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Considering today's economic climate, many people are tossing their names in the entrepreneurial hat and taking their shot a being in business for themselves. And rightfully so. With all the doom and gloom propagated throughout the media today, America's workforce is left feeling powerless and vulnerable. There are countless home-based business opportunities that, in most instances, enable a person to "start a business" with only a few hundred dollars in start-up capital and little, if any, training. Those looking to start a business are usually doing so to get ahead financially. There are only two basic ways to get ahead financially, simply put: lower expenses and make more money. A business is about making a profit, period. Many of these so-called "opportunities" have little to do with business ownership and merely appeal to the desire to get rich. Most are predicated on people paying a start-up fee to sell products with premium-packed pricing. And its from these premiums, the salesperson ("business owner") is paid a commission. Without addressing the specific criteria to be considered when investing in a business, here are ten questions that need be addressed when embarking on the journey of entrepreneurship.

1. Are You Willing and Able to Bear Great Financial Risk?

2. Are You Willing To Sacrifice Your Lifestyle For Potentially Many Years?

3. Is Your Significant Other On Board?

4. Do You Like All Aspects of Running a Business?

5. Are You Comfortable Making Decisions On the Fly With No Playbook?

6.What's Your Track Record on Executing Ideas?

7. How Persuasive and Well-Spoken Are You?

8. Do You Have A Concept You're Passionate About?

9.Are You A Self-Starter?

10. Do You Have A Business Partner?

The $25,000 Idea

Think About This: In 1912 efficiency expert Ivy Lee met with his prospective client, Charles Schwab who was President of Bethlehem Steel, and outlined how his organization could benefit the company. Lee ended his presentation by saying: "With our service, you'll know how to manage better." Schwab then stated: "We don't need more 'knowing' but need more 'doing.' If you can give us something to help us do the things we already know we ought to do, I'll gladly pay you anything within reason you ask." "I can give you something in twenty minutes that will step up your doing at least fifty percent," Lee answered. "Okay", Schwab said, "show me." Lee then handed Schwab a blank sheet of paper and said: "Write down the six most important tasks you have to do tomorrow in order of their importance. The first thing tomorrow morning look as item one and start working on it until it is finished." "Then tackle item two in the same way; and so on. Do this until quitting time. Don't be concerned if you have only finished one or two. Take care of emergencies, but then get back to working on the most important items. The others can wait." "Make this a habit every working day. Pass it on to those under you. Try it as long as you like, then send me your check for what you think it's worth." In a few weeks, Schwab sent Lee a check for $25,000 (over $500,000 in today’s dollars) with a letter stating that he learned a profitable lesson. After five years this plan was largely responsible for turning the unknown Bethlehem Steel Company into the nation’s largest independent steel producer. Schwab purportedly made a hundred million dollars and became the best known steel man in the world. ~ Author Unknown ~

Plant with Integrity

Think About This: A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over his business. He called his executives together and said, "It's time for me to step down and choose a replacement." "I am going to give you each a seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."
A man named Jim was there that day, and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it, but nothing ever grew.
A year went by and all the executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim didn't want to take his empty pot. But his wife urged him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When he arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes.
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room. Then he spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. The CEO asked Jim what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story. He looked at Jim, and then announced, "Behold your new CEO! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it.
Then the CEO explained, "One year ago today, I gave a seed to each of you. I told you take the seed plant it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"
Be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Dream Big

Think About This: "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."- Walt Disney
"Walt Disney was truly the dreamer of all dreamers, but he was no different than you or me. We're dreamers. I would say we are really big dreamers. He believed enough in his dreams to make sure they became reality. He got out and pursued them. Can you imagine a world without Disneyland? Me neither.
Think about a boat sitting in the harbor. Although it's a safe place to be, is that what it was built to do? Just sit there in the harbor. No, it was made to get out there and see the world, carry its cargo from one place to another to fulfill its purpose. Just like you.
So many people sit and dream and that's as far as they go. They play it safe; afraid of what might be out there if they really accomplished their dream. But there is a price that is paid when we do not fulfill our dreams. We cheat the world out of what could have been. We cheat ourselves out who we could have been. We cheat others whose lives we could have changed.
We make a difference when we pursue our dreams. We change people's lives and our own. We affect the world in a positive way by putting out the energy of doing, of dreaming! We inspire others to do the same. How exciting to think of an empty harbor and a packed ocean.
Be more than a dreamer; be courageous and turn your dreams into reality!"
Contributing writer: Director Julia Johnson, Lake Forest, California.

People Development

Think About This: Developing Your Most Appreciable Asset: PEOPLE
"No one will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit for doing it." Dale Carnegie
Before we share five principles for people development I want to share with you the definition of the word, "develop." Meditate on it and then read the principles below.
develop: a: to set forth or make clear by degrees or in detail; b: to make visible or manifest to subject (exposed photograph material) especially to chemicals in order to produce a visible image; also: to make visible by such a method; c: to elaborate (a musical idea) by the working out of rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme; d: to work out the possibilities of; e: to create or produce especially by deliberate effort over time; f: to make active or promote the growth of.
FIVE Principles for People Development Your success in developing others will depend on your...
1) Value of people. This is an issue of your attitude.
2) Commitment to people. This is an issue of your time.
3) Integrity with people. This is an issue of your character.
4) Standard for people. This is an issue of your vision.
5) Influence of people. This is an issue of your leadership.
People tend to become what the most important people in their lives think they will become.
From: "Developing the Leader Within You," by John Maxwell. Contributing writer: YTB VP and Chief Operating Officer Duane Vancil.

Who Packs Your Parachute?

Think About This: Captain Charles Plumb, after 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam, was shot down. He parachuted to safety, but was captured, tortured and spent 2,103 days in a small cell. After surviving the ordeal, Plumb received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and two Purple Hearts. He returned home and spoke to many groups about his experience and how it compared to the challenges of everyday life. After coming home, while Charlie and his wife were sitting in a restaurant a man walked over and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" Charlie responded, "How in the world did you know that?" The man replied, "I packed your parachute." The man shook his hand, gave a thumbs-up and said, "I guess it worked!" Charlie assured him, "It most certainly did work. If it had not worked, I would not be here today." Charlie continued thinking about the man. He thought of the hours the sailor had spent bending over a long wooden table in the bottom of the ship, folding the silks and weaving the chute, each time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn't know. Plumb realized that along with the physical parachute, he needed mental, emotional and spiritual parachutes. He called on all these supports during his ordeal. How many times each day do we have the opportunity to thank those people around us: family, friends, and teammates who are "packing our parachutes?" Contributing writers, Don and Judy Kay Avera, Missouri City, Texas, from Aim For the Heart, by Tom Mathews.

Happy or Miserable?

Think About This: Are you Miserable or Happy? When you ask a miserable person, "What's new?" they say, "Nothing." Miserable people haven't done anything new in years. Happy people love to try new things. And when they encounter a problem they think of it as an adventure. If they get lost on their way somewhere, they say, "All right; an adventure!"
When the power goes out during a storm, happy people gather flashlights and tell stories on the couch, or do shadow puppets on the wall. If they are caught in a cloudburst, they sing and dance in the puddles. Miserable people, on the other hand, don't see an opportunity for adventure; they just think they're being picked on. They will ask themselves, "What did I do to deserve this?" or, "Why does this always happen to me?" Happy people turn adversities into big adventures. What type of person are you?

Reflect, Renew, Restore

Think About This: A carpenter's job is to build and restore. In doing so, they bring prosperity. They build up faith and belief. They keep their eyes on the mission at hand, even through setbacks, lack, and disappointment. What is the lesson here?
Each of us possesses what it takes to succeed at reaching our goals in life. Remember that the journey you must take to reach your success will be not always be an easy road to travel. There will be times that you question if you've made the correct choices and wonder if you should have taken a different course because of disappointment. Your mission has to be bigger than the disappointment at hand. Take a moment, if needed, and reflect back on all that has taken place. Then, after the good has outweighed the bad, pick up the hammer and start building, restoring, and taking prosperity to those around you.

10. Do You Have A Business Partner?

If you don't have all the traits you need to run the show, it's not necessarily a hopeless endeavor. Finding a business partner who compensates for your shortcomings -- and has equal enthusiasm for the business concept -- can help mitigate the risks and even boost the odds of success.

David Gage, co-founder of BMC Associates, an Arlington, Va., business-mediation practice, points to a Marquette University study of 2,000 businesses. The researchers found that partner-run businesses are far more likely to become high-growth ventures than those started by solo entrepreneurs.

The key, Mr. Gage says, is finding a partner who prefers handling different aspects of the business, so you're complementing each other -- and not constantly at each other's throats.
Someone who likes to take risks and be in the spotlight, for instance, might choose a cautious partner who prefers to work in the back room. "If they're willing to work with that person, and not just look at them as a wet blanket, then it can be great," Mr. Gage says.

But taking on a partner isn't a light decision. Many partnerships split due to conflicts over everything from attitudes about money to miscommunication and contrasting work ethics. Mr. Gage recommends that potential partners spend several days hashing out the specifics of the business and how the arrangement will work to see if they're compatible.

Question 9: Are You A Self-Starter?

Entrepreneurs face lots of discouragement. Potential buyers don't return calls, business sours or you face repeated rejection. It takes willpower and an almost unwavering optimism to overcome these constant obstacles.

John Gartner, an assistant clinical-psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of the book "The Hypomaniac Edge," theorizes that many well-known entrepreneurs have a temperament called hypomania. They're highly creative, energetic, impatient and very persistent -- traits that help them persevere even when others lose faith.

"One of the things about having this kind of confidence is they're kind of risk-blind because they don't think they could fail," Prof. Gartner says. And, he adds, "if they fail, they're not down for that long, and after a while they're energized by a whole new idea."

You don't have to be as driven as, say, Steve Jobs to succeed. But somebody who gets deterred easily, or too upset when things go wrong, won't last.

Question 8: Do You Have A Concept You're Passionate About?

Every morning you want to jump out of bed eager to get to work. If you're not that exuberant about how you'll be spending your time -- or the business concept itself -- running a business is going to be a rough ride.

Ms. Ettenson of the Association of Small Business Development Centers has coached many prospective entrepreneurs about their chosen business. She always asks why they're doing it. If they suggest it's mostly for the prospect of making a lot of money or because they're tired of working for someone else, she steers them toward something more in line with their interests or avoiding self-employment altogether.

"If you hate doing paperwork, the last thing you want to do is become a bookkeeper," Ms. Ettenson says. "If you'd rather be outside taking people into the wilderness, then that's the type of business you should be in."

But it's also usually wise to find a business in an industry you are very familiar with; it will be much harder to succeed if you know little about the field. Mr. Fishback at Kauffman says he has steered a doctor and other professionals away from starting restaurants because they often don't grasp how difficult and risky restaurant ownership is. And they'd be competing against restaurateurs with years of experience.

Question 7: How Pursuasive and Well-Spoken Are You?

Nearly every step of the way, entrepreneurship relies on selling. You'll have to sell your idea to lenders or investors. You must sell your mission and vision to your employees. And you'll ultimately have to sell your product or service to your customers. You'll need strong communication and interpersonal skills so you can get people to believe in your vision as much as you do.

If you don't think you're very convincing or have difficulty communicating your ideas, you might want to reconsider starting your own company -- or think about getting some help.

In 2007, Brad Price left a $135,000-a-year job as an associate at a Baltimore law firm to purchase a PuroClean Emergency Restoration Services franchise, which cleans up property damage such as mold and flooded basements. A former Naval officer, Mr. Price felt he was very self-motivated and a good leader. But he was less comfortable cold-calling and striking deals -- something he'd never had to do in previous jobs.

"There's a big difference in waiting for the phone to ring and getting an assignment and having to make the phone ring," says the 33-year-old Mr. Price.
Mr. Price says he now has his wife handle the marketing and networking. "My wife is very good at that, 'Hey, next time a call comes in, how about you give it to us?' " he says.

Question 6: What's Your Track Record on Executing Ideas?

One of the biggest differences between successful entrepreneurs and everyone else is their ability to implement their ideas, says Prof. Bygrave of Babson College. You might have a wonderful concept, but that doesn't mean you possess that special mix of drive, persuasiveness, leadership skills and keen intuition to actually turn the idea into a lucrative business.

So, examine your past objectively to see whether you have assumed leadership roles or initiated solo projects -- anything that might suggest you're good at executing ideas. "Were you senior class president? Did you play varsity sports?" Prof. Bygrave suggests asking.

You might even find clues back in your childhood, he adds: "A lot of successful entrepreneurs were starting businesses when they were still kids."

5. Are You Comfortable Making Decisions On the Fly With No Playbook?

With a new business, you're calling all the shots -- and there are a lot of decisions to be made without any guidance. You might not be used to that if you've spent years working in corporate America, says Bill Wagner, author of "The Entrepreneur Next Door," a book that lays out the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
"For most entrepreneurial ventures, there's no structure," he says. "You're going into a business, and nobody has told you how to be successful."
Mr. Wagner has surveyed more than 10,000 entrepreneurs to find out what traits distinguish successful start-up founders from less-successful ones. Among other things, most entrepreneurs he interviewed said they liked making decisions. He doesn't rule out the idea that less-decisive people could become better at the leadership role. It's just that they will have to work a lot harder at it.

4. Do You Like All Aspects of Running a Business?

You better. In the early stages of a business, founders are often expected to handle everything from billing customers to hiring employees to writing marketing materials. Some new entrepreneurs become annoyed that they're spending the majority of their time on administration when they'd rather be focused on the part of the job they enjoy, says Donna Ettenson, vice president of the Association of Small Business Development Centers in Burke, Va.
"All of a sudden, they have to think about all these things they never had to think about before," she says.
Jeromy Stallings, the 33-year-old founder of Ninthlink Inc., a San Diego interactive-marketing firm with 15 employees, always felt he had plenty of passion for entrepreneurship and self-motivation. But when starting his agency in 2003 and hiring his first couple of employees, he realized he wasn't prepared for the day-to-day challenges of managing other people.
Mr. Stallings had assumed his passion would rub off on employees and they would do their jobs as enthusiastically as he did. But some clients started calling him directly, complaining that his employees weren't returning phone calls or that projects were behind schedule.
"My clients were saying, 'We love your passion, we love your skill, we're just having a really hard time with your management style,' " he says.
So, Mr. Stallings turned to peers, mentors and guidebooks for help. He realized he needed to work more closely with employees and create a more structured project-management system. "I didn't really have a plan in place for how they spend their time," he says.

3. Is Your Significant Other On Board?

Don't ignore the toll running a business will take on your loved ones. Failed ventures frequently break up marriages, and even successful ones can cause lots of stress, because entrepreneurs devote so much time and money to the business."I'm always surprised at the number of husbands who start a business and don't tell their wives," says Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
You can avoid the heartache by talking at length with your spouse and family about how the business will affect home life, including the time commitment, changes in daily schedules and chores, financial risks and sacrifices. They must also understand the huge financial gamble they're making with you.

2. Are You Willing To Sacrifice Your Lifestyle For Potentially Many Years?

If you're used to steady paychecks, four weeks' paid vacation and employer-sponsored health benefits, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Creating a successful start-up often entails putting in workweeks of 60 hours or more and funneling any revenue you can spare back into the business. Entrepreneurs frequently won't pay themselves a livable salary in the early years and will forgo real vacations until their business is financially sound. That can often take eight years or longer, says William Bygrave, a professor emeritus of entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.
Even if you can steal away, it's hard to find somebody who can fill in for you. Many entrepreneurs must tow along their cellphone and laptop, so they can be available to answer questions from clients or employees.
Jennifer Walzer learned those lessons the hard way. In 2002, after being laid off from a $100,000 consulting job when the company closed, she started Backup My Info! Inc., which sells online data-backup services to businesses.
For the first year, the New York-based company brought in just $29,000 in gross revenue. Ms. Walzer didn't pay herself a salary until the third year, and even then it was a slim $30,000. She could have taken more out, but she wanted to shovel as much money into the business as possible to keep it financially sound.
Having no income for two years meant that Ms. Walzer had to be extremely frugal; she virtually never ate out or went on vacations or clothes-shopping trips. Twenty-nine years old at the time, she says, "I got very jealous of my girlfriends who got home at 5 o'clock every night and could go out gallivanting and pretty much do whatever they pleased." She'd occasionally meet friends for coffee instead of drinks, since coffee was less expensive.
Now that her business generates about $2 million in annual revenue, the tables have turned. Ms. Walzer says she earns more from the business than she did as a consultant, and "I have friends who are struggling to keep their jobs because they have bosses."

1. Are You Willing and Able to Bear Great Financial Risk?

Many calls came in after last week's posting of the 10 questions for entrepreneurs. So this week's posting will include excerpts for each question as taken from the Wall Street Journal's Feb. 23, 2009, edition. So we begin with question 1: "Are you willing and able to bear great financial risk?"

Roughly half of all start-ups close within five years, so you must be realistic about the financial risks that come with owning a business -- and realize that you could very well lose a sizable chunk of your net worth.
Consider how much you'll have to ante up and how losing it would affect your other financial goals, such as having a sound retirement or paying your kids' college tuition. Weigh the importance of starting a business against the sacrifices you might face.
Entrepreneurs should be sure that "if they lose this capital, it either won't destroy their financial situation, or they can accept the concept of bankruptcy," says Scott Shane, an entrepreneurship professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "Some people thrive on the financial risk; others are devastated by the thought of losing even $10,000."
And don't assume you'll be able to lower your risk substantially by finding investors. Less than 10% of start-up financing comes from venture capitalists, angel investors and loans from friends and family combined, Prof. Shane says. And that's true even in good economic times. Banks, meanwhile, often won't lend to start-up founders without a proven track record. When they do, they generally require the founders to guarantee the loan or credit line with their personal savings or home -- an incredibly risky proposition.

10 Questions for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

1. Are you willing and able to bear the great financial risk?

2. Are you willing to sacrifice your lifestyle for potentially many years?

3. Is your significant other on board?

4. Do you like all aspects of running a business?

5. Are you comfortable making decisions on the fly with no playbook?

6. What's your track record of executing your ideas?

7. How persuasive and well-spoken are you?

8. Do you have a concept you're passionate about?

9. Are you a self-starter?

10. Do you have a business partner?

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intution. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." --Steve Jobs

Hope is believing in tomorrow because we have learned to see with our hearts.

Courage is standing up and doing the right thing, speaking out on the behalf of others and making a committment to excellence in the face of adversity or the absence of support

High Expectations is believing others can be successful, then telling them so and praising their accomplishments.

Brotherhood/Sisterhood reaches beyond comfortable relationships to extend welcome to those who may be different from oneself.

Friendship binds people together when they take pleasure in each other's company, listen, laugh, and share in good and bad times.

Dependability/Responsibility is being there for others through all the times of their lives, a steady influence making tomorrow a welcome event - showing and encouraging a personal committment to each task.

Nurturing Attitude is characterized by unselfish caring, supportiveness and a willingness to share time.

The Values that Bind

The theme this week is: The Values that Bind Strong Families and Communities

Shine Your Light

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” --Marianne Williamson (often mis-credited to Nelson Mandela)

No Faith, No Substance?

"A spiritual renaissance is what is needed among young African-American people. Any attempt at building racial and cultural institutions in our communities without a spiritual renaissance - a vibrant embrace of faith - will produce symbols but not substance." --Anthony A. Parker

See What You Believe!

"Reality has changed chameleonlike before my eyes so many times that I have learned or am learning, to trust almost anything except what appears to be so."
--Maya Angelou

Full of Purpose

"In my life, if you have a purpose in which you can believe, there's no end to the amount of things you can accomplish." --Marian Anderson

Resources of Time

"In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines our success or failure." --Malcolm X

Happyness with a "Y"

"Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." --Helen Keller

Freedom "Rider" or Freedom "Supporter"?

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine

Time Broke?

"It often happens that men pull in a certain political, social, or familiar harness simply because they never have the time to ask themselves whether the position they stand in and the work they accomplish are right; whether their occupations really suit their inner desires and capacities and give them the satisfaction which every one has the right to expect from his work. Active men are especially liable to find themselves in such position. Every day brings with it a fresh batch of work, and a man throws himself into his bed late at night without having completed what he expected to do; then in the morning he hurries to the unfinished task of the previous day. Life goes on and there in no time left to think, no time to consider the direction one's life is taking. So it is with me." -- Peter Kropotkin

Reading... a Sin???

"Reading is nothing more than a substitute for thought of one's own ... A man should read only when his own thoughts stagnate at their source, which will happen often enough even with the best of minds. On the other hand, to take up a book for the purpose of scaring away one's own original thoughts is sin against the Holy Spirit. It is like running away from Nature to look at a musuem of dried plants or gaze at a landscape in copper plate. --Arthur Schopenhauer, The Art of Literature

Talent vs. Genius

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genuis hits a target no one else can see." --Arthur Schopenhauer

Enthusiasm is the Source

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire first." --Reggie Leach

Each One, Teach One...to Teach One... to Teach One....

"Nothing in education needs more explaining than this, that a teacher may be neither a professor, nor an educator, that a professor may mature to the age of retirement without teaching or educating, and that an educator, without loss of reputation may profess nothing, and never face a class.
A teacher is one who shows his fellow man how to do something, who imparts an active skill, and who kindles the desire to acquire this skill and to use it. In all creatures, there is a natural ambition to live, which necessarily includes an ambition to learn, but even a natural ambition will need encouragement. The cow teaches the newborn calf to walk, the mother bird teaches her young to fly,
though neither cow nor bird, so far as we know, has a teacher's diploma, or the equivalent, from a normal school. If the calf is reluctant to stand up, the cow gets behind and under, and gives a boost. If the fledgling recoils from the unsolid air, the mother bird pushes it overboard. That is teaching, of no mean sort." --John Erskine, My Life as a Teacher

Change Is Constant

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." --Charles Darwin

"Tomorrow! It is a period nowhere to be found in all the hoary registers of time, unless per chance in the fool's calendar. Wisdom disclaims the word, nor holds society with those that own it. 'Tis fancy's child and folly is its father; wrought on such stuff as dreams are; and baseless as the fantastic visions of the evening." Visions of Verse, Nathaniel Cotton

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do You!

“My mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the Pope.' Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” -- Pablo Picasso

Oft times in life, our experiences lend more evidence to who we are not versus who we truly are. The Picasso quote above may raise a brow to the you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be-mantra, but the truth of the matter is, in being our natural selves -- you can only be you, I can only be me, we can only be us. There may be traits, labels, titles and roles that we embrace in the process of becoming, but we may find consolation in knowing that we are not our experiences. So, in all that you do, pour in a splash of you and inevitably, the truth of you will shine through and through.


success is a Journey.... choose yours!

Pump Your Gas!

"I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them." -- George Bernard Shaw

Business behavior is changing. Remember full-service gas stations? Actually they were called Service Stations because service was all they were about. You (or for many of you reading this, your parents, perhaps) pull into the gas station and before the familiar 'ding ding' signals your arrival, outta nowhere appears a young man wearing a green starched shirt with a red star over the pocket. You roll down your window and instruct him to, "Fill 'er up." He pops your hood to check the oil and fluid levels, whips a tire gauge out of his front pocket to check tire pressure, and before pulling off, your front windshield is cleaned to a squeak (unlike today's 'to a streak'). As gas prices jumped, some stations began offering "self-service" pumps to save on costs or cut overhead and the self-serve gas was priced lower as an enticement for customers. As full-service pumps became more scarce, people made the shift to self-service. Consider the fact that today, many of us never see an attendant at the gas station. Pull up, swipe the card, fill-up and drive off.

What you may not know is that, as a result of the service-station shift, a legal uproar ensued. Lawsuits were filed and legal bans were introduced to save jobs from being cut. As a matter of fact, even today, self-service stations are prohibited in New Jersey and Oregon.

We are halfway through the first month of the ninth year of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Time is flying! And business is changing! The social and economic frontiers before us today present a plethora of unknowns, dark and vast. The question is, "How have you positioned yourself and your families on this Superhighway of Change?" Are you clutching the steering wheel of 'security' with clenched, blood-drained fists cruising at a safe 55 mph? Or maybe you've pulled off the road to allow this convoy of uncertainty to pass until the "good 'ole days" return. Though dark and dreary to some, others see the forthcoming vistas bursting with meadows of opportunity. Is the glass half-empty or half-full? The next time you stop to fuel up, take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror. Look at your loved one in the passenger seats. Look into the eyes of your child in the backseat. And ask yourself, "Why am I waiting, and what am I waiting for?". Whatever your answer, you have to take action. Either by choice... or by default. Because unless we're in New Jersey or Oregon, we gotta get out of our car.... and pump our own gas.



Success is a journey... choose yours!

Welcome to ChoiceJourneys 101!!!

Finally, the next phase in the evolution of ChoiceJourneys. Welcome to ChoiceJourneys 101 , where the roots, cores, and seeds of living life are boiled, mashed and sauteed in a gumbo of essentials to nourish and nurture. We invite each of you to leverage the leadership and wealth of resources blooming in this blog and encourage your personal, professional, and spiritual participation. Let us commune in this journey by sharing posts and submissions for our daily motiquotes (motivational quotes) and embrace the accountability that knowledge commands upon us. Share, care and bear with us on this embarkment and forget not to smile along the way.... (no promises are made that any future blogs will be as eloquent as this one)



Success is a Journey.... Choose yours!