“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” ~ Max Lucado I have always loved this quote and I believe it, because I see so many people in leadership who spend a lot of time wanting to be “in the crowd” instead of leading the crowd. No doubt it is hard to turn our backs to the cheering crowd–it seems so fun to be in the middle of it all, but a man (or woman) who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. Why? Because leadership is strengthened when […]
If you’ve made mistakes and have scars to prove it – good for you!
In last week’s post, I encouraged you to keep on keeping on a while longer because too many people quit right before success is achieved. And my hope for you is that you will be strong enough to push yourself a bit more to find what is most likely waiting for you on the other side. I know that many people want assurances that what they have been working on will be rewarded, and I hope for your sake it happens, so don’t give up and don’t get discouraged. Now, of course, there may come a time in your personal […]
We have all been placed on this earth
We have all been placed on this earth to discover our own path, and we will never be happy if we live someone else’s idea of life. There is such joy in seeing happiness, contentment, and peace when someone finds their right path, their calling or their life’s work. There is no greater joy than seeing someone settle gently in the path of their God-given talents, skills and abilities. Now there is another side that I see and that is when someone is not following their dream. When they are following the dream of someone else, that makes for a […]
Every Positive Change
People often think that making changes in life (large or small) is just too difficult to do, so they procrastinate, and then they take such a long time to finally make a decision that they miss the opportunity, when all they really needed to do was to take the most basic step, and that is to start. My thought for the day is… Every positive change in your life begins with a clear, unequivocal decision that you are going to either do something or stop doing something. I don’t want to be a scold, and, frankly, that is not my […]
If the whole world was blind
If the whole world was blind, how many people would you impress? I travel a lot and I like to people-watch. I have this little ritual–as I walk through airports, I look at everyone running this way and that and at those sitting to make a flight or who are eating in the food court, and I think to myself that everyone in there has a mother. They may not have had a father (past the point of conception), but they all have or have had a mother. Then I usually think, my goodness, wouldn’t their mother be disappointed in […]
Don’t Give Up Now
“Don’t give up now. Chances are, your best kiss, your hardest laugh, and your greatest days are still yet to come.” ~ Author Unknown If there ever was a time not to give up, it is now. “Why?” You may ask. Because if you give up now, you will never know what might be waiting right around the corner. I know it seems so easy to say and so hard to do, but friends, you just can’t walk away when you are so close to the success of the dreams you’ve been working towards or the answers you’ve been praying for […]
Raise Your Words Not Your Voice
Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. Did you know that most people don’t learn many new words, read many books or stop and think about why their Public Speaking Skills are important? This is interesting tome since those are the three things I think about all the time. As a speaker I am always interested in words, not only for the meaning, but also for the interpretation. How do others hear certain words and how do they react to the word? And What about those words that have no meaning to them? […]
It doesn’t matter what others are doing
It doesn’t matter what others are doing. It matters what YOU are doing. I saw this poster a while back, and it hit me as such an obvious comment, that I almost laughed out loud at the simple message. Then, as life would have it, I did a double take and had to admit that I waste plenty of time wondering, questioning and thinking about what others are doing with their time and talent when I need to focus on what I should be doing. It’s not like our work is going to get done magically without us. No, we […]
You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do
You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do. I don’t know about you, but one thing in life that really chips me off is when people tell me they are going to do something and then never get around to it. Now I’m also preaching to myself today because a while back I made of list of things I had promised other people but never got around to. I had to go and make things right. Now some folks had moved on and when I didn’t keep my word they did other things, at that point I […]