3-6

As I was reading on Saturday I came across a quote I thought got me thinking. Philip Crosby, author of Quality is Free, writes, "There is a theory of human behavior that says people subconsciously retard their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on cliches and habits. Once they reach the age of their own personal comfort with the world, they stop learning and their minds run on idle for the rest of their days. They may progress organizationally, they may be ambitious and eager, and they may even work night and day. But they learn no more. The bigoted, the narrow-minded, the stubborn, and the perpetually optimistic have all stopped learning. " What gets me about this quote is that this describes exactly where I was a year ago. I was at a point in my life where I had created a small form of comfort with the world around me and I had stopped learning and growing. I was in a comfort zone of mediocrity and didn't really care to get outside of it. In April of '07 I meet a group of people who had been in the same place that I was and had decided they could no longer live the rest of their days with their mind running on idle. They stepped out of their comfort zone and by doing so forced themselves into a learning cycle. Once we reach a level of education that we feel comfortable with, most people stop learning. I have been amazed to realize how many people don't read another book after they graduate from college or high school. They just stop with their personal education. I began to realize that I was the same way. The only books I had read since college were related to the fantastical world of Harry Potter. Besides the going-ons of Harry and the gang, I also knew A LOT about shows on television and what was going on in movies. I spent so much time on filling my comfort zone with items that would maintain my level in life instead of stepping out of my comfort zone and raising my level in life. I began to see how by changing the things I was exposing my mind and heart to I could change the way I thought. My changed thoughts could drive changed actions and build new habits. If I worked diligently on my actions and habits I could someday come into a new way of life. But there are things to be careful about. As I step out of my comfort zone I have to be careful that I do not begin to build another one around myself again. I have to continually step out of what I am use to and be driven by a hunger to know more and to grow more. I have to keep myself slightly unsatisfied with what I know and how I live. Looking past my present situation to bigger and better tomorrow. At the end of the quote it describes a couple of types of people who are stuck in their comfort zone. I'm not so sure about that, but I do know that I was relying on cliches and old habits with my brain running on idle for the rest of my days. As I keep reading I am making a pledge to refuse to let my brain run on idle. A pledge to keep my motor running.

3-5

I am beginning to recognize a pattern in my blogging habit. I apparently wait until right before I drift off to sleep and then decide I'm going to write something. I guess I can work on that tomorrow. So, at church this morning the sermon was about the church as the body of Christ. Of all the points that were made one struck out at me. Uniformity is different then Unity. Uniformity is being forced into a mold that you don't fit. It is being told that you have to shape up or ship out. Stop thinking for yourself and listen to only those in command. Unity is about people having far reaching goals and dreams in common. Having a burning desire that pulls a group together despite their differences and creates an environment of safety and well being. Manipulators create groups filled with uniformity. Leaders create groups driven by unity. Unfortunatly, from the outside it is sometimes hard to see the difference. Escpecially when a group is so driven by their unity that those outside can only see uniformity. Groups that strive to create uniformity will grow stale hollow men and women who parrot the same things over and over. Breathing stuffy air from creating so many mouth-breathers living within the box. Groups who are full of unity will grow into a diverse garden of individuals seeking the best solution for the common goal. Sucking in the fresh air of the mountain tops and striving to go even higher.

3-4

A week ago I was introduced to two seemingly benign questions. Over the past week I have been able to ask these questions repeatedly and the answers seem to point to the way things are. The first questions is If you were to describe yourself, would you describe yourself as more outgoing or more reserved? This seems like a simple question, but some people seem to waver on which side of the fence they land on. And to tell the truth, most people have both in them. But, if you were to give an answer right now 51%/49% what would it be. The second questions sits on top of the first. If you were to describe your self, again if its difficult 51%/49% and you can change your answer, would you say you were more task oriented or relationship oriented. Wow, see two very simple questions. Except that when these two questions are used in tangent they actually begin to display a lot more about you then you might at first think. The answers to these questions splits people into four different personality groups. Outgoing-Task, Outgoing-Relationship, Reserved-Task, Reserved-Relationship. Of course, we all have a little of each quadrent in us. Sometimes we are more Reserved-Task to get something done in a very detailed fashion but other times we are more Outgoing-Relationship when at a party. The interesting part about these questions is that for the past week I have asked myself these questions about all the new people I met while I did on-site training for a company in Minneapolis. One of the employees what Outgoing-Relationship and he was boisterous and vibrant and a little crass. The other office employee was Reserved-Task and she definitly had a right way of doing things that was about to be completly turned topsy-turvy. Knowing the anwers to the two questions for these trainees I was able to mirror their attitudes and mode of communication in order to have the most effective training. It was a very real way to experience the different personality types and get a feel for working with two very different types. Oh, and with the Task/Relationship break they view building new relationships very different. The Task people feel that there must be trust before there can be relationship. The Relationship people are the exact opposite and feel that there must be some relationship before trust can be built.

3-3

I'm tired. Worn out even. Its late and I want to go to sleep. It seems like it would be a good idea to get into bed and close my eyes, but I think I'm going to put a little bit of thinking in before I pass out. The thing with thinking is that our imaginiations run away a lot of the time. I have that problem. I naturally go toward negative thinking. Most of the time I'm worying about things that don't even come to pass. As a matter of fact I have to say that all of the time I'm thinking about how things can go wrong. Even the most mundane things snowball into utter catastraphes in my mind. This drives a cycle in my life. Negative thoughts lead to negative actions which lead to negative results which fold back into proof for my negative thoughts. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I am successful or how many times I prove my negative thoughts wrong they are always there. I think this is what drives me to quit so many things in my life. I get excited about things and then I quit. I just let them go by the wayside and get dusty and then theres another thing I couldn't stick with. So, I'm working on positive self talk. Actually, the only reason I'm even writing this tonight is because I talked myself into it. There are so many things outside myself that are trying to get in my way of success, so why should I try to stop myself. Why should I believe the lies I tell myself. Starting a positive cycle of Thoughts/Action/Results is the best way to defeat myself. Getting bigger then the obsticles I have in my way. I can the just step over them and run into bigger obstacles. So, upperward and onward, and sleepward.

3-2

So, after my first day at the marina here things are going really well. We were able to get everything installed on all of their machines so tomorrow should be smooth sailing. I also like their merchant services. For the first time every it seems like this marina has a credit card processor who actually cares about them as a customer. I'm amazed. Normally it is worse then pulling teeth to get the cc stuff taken care of but it was so simple today. Then I had chinese food for dinner. Beef Lo-mein or something like that. Best egg roles I have had in a while.
Soooo, do you remember those vin-diagrams from when you were in school as a child. There were two things(ex. Wearing Pants and Being Happy) . Then the teacher would draw them up as circles and they would overlap(except in the example I just gave they don't really overlap). Anyway, This pas weekend I saw a vin-diagram that is part of a paradigm shift for me. In the first circle was Preperation and in the second circle was Opportunity. The part of the diagram where the two circles allign was shaded in and labled Success. The speaker went on to talk about how if the Preperation circle is too small then it doesn't matter how big the Opportunity circle is, they won't overlap to give you success. A revolution is what happens when a group of people are frustrated with the current situation. They are determined to thrash against the status quo to create ripples and tears in the rules others have setup to step out and create something new. It must be know that a revolution is going to be uncomfortable, sometimes down right painful, so get your whinning out first because when the firefight starts there is no time for complaining. You have started to rip free from standard that has been placed on you like a thick blanket. A revolution is not an overnight success. It takes time. It takes failure. It takes getting back up again. I'm reminded of Rocky Balboa. In the movies he failed round after round after round. Getting knocked down and bloodied up. People from the crowd yelled at him and told him to quit. If it was the previous champion, Mr. T, the russian or any other challenger, no one ever seemed to believe Rocky could win in the ring. But Rocky believed. He more then believed, he knew it was his destiny to walk out of that ring a champion, time and time again. He failed so many times during each round, getting knocked to the ground and beat to a pulp, but with all the technical mistakes he made he kept doing one thing right. He kept getting up. Any type of revolution, be personal, political, or economical, will take time to reach victory. The only way for a revolution to fail is for those fighting it to quit. I plan on finishing a marathon sometime this year and from what I hear there is a thing called a runners high. A point where the runners body kicks in and the endorphins take over. The runner begins to enjoy the pain and find it comforting because the body will release massive amounts of pain killers. The same is true of a revolution. As you get the hang of the changes being made you begin to enjoy the journey instead of worry about left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. You being to crave being outside your comfort zone. Those endorphines kick in and you are flying high. As you begin a revolution it is important to know that there will be critics telling you not to rock the boat. Telling you that you can't make the changes, that you can't make the difference. Be prepared for them to say things that cut deep, to your very heart even. Be prepared for critics to show up in the forms of firends and family. Be prepared to see a critic in the mirror looking back at you some mornings. It is not easy to fight a revolution. If the thought of critics turns you off then do nothing. Live the status quo life and don't break lose and soar high. Even though critics are trying to pull you down, don't worry you can still find the positive in them. If the things they are saying are true then check them out and fix what you need to and move on with your revolution. Don't stop running. The only way to lose is to quit. The only way to lose is to quit. The only way to lose is to quit. If the critics are spewing lies then ignore them. Let them fall to the wayside and strive forward toward the crown. As your revolution grabs hold in your everday life continue to learn. Growing your horizons so that your next level will never be enough. Learn to learn because that hunger will drive you to break through. Feel the hunger and grow your knowledge so that you are prepared for the oportunities that are going to show themself to you. You don't know what you don't know. So open your eyes and see the world in a whole new light as you step out and start the good fight.

3-1

This last weekend I went with my wife to St. Louis for three days. I know there are more the a couple people I know living there and I'm sorry that I didn't get an opportunity to see ya'll, but we spent the entire time at the Edward Jones Dome. So, if any of you were downtown this weekend and were suddenly swarmed by a lot of people wearing suits and red ties. Sorry about that. I ended up taking about half a legal pad worth of notes, which is less then usual, but I still think I got a lot of good information that I need to review.
I'm deciding to become a ferocious learner and this is the place where I'm going to try and work out the stuff I'm learning. For instance, this week I'm reading a book called Launching a Leadership Revolution. It sits pretty high on a couple of best seller lists and I have met the guys who wrote it. I read part of it once, but got distracted by other things in my life. So, this week on my business trip to Minneapolis I am going to read it all the way through. I'm also going to try and write about the stuff I'm reading so I can work it out on paper. A lot of the time my mind works things out that don't make sense but once I say them or write them out I realize how wrong the thoughts were.


P.S. The guys who wrote that book Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward have blogs at http://chrisbrady.typepad.com/ and http://orrinwoodward.blogharbor.com/ They have some really amazing stuff about leadership stuff and update their pages almost everyday.

2-4

Obligatory post so that I don't blow my attempt at posting everyday for the new year. Tomorrow is saturday so hopefully I will have some time to jot some things down.