Who's Up For a Challenge?

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.

Do you have a passion for helping others?

Do you want to be a better leader?
Do you want to attract other leaders?

Then you want to read this book! I am reading it and am loving every page! I want to challenge you with a 21 day leadership challenge. I highly recommend reading the book as soon as you can but in the meantime each day for the next 21 days, make it your mission to practice one of the laws of leadership.

The 21 Day Leadership Challenge

1. The law of the lid. Every leader has a ceiling. Maybe you’re destined to be the supreme master of the universe or maybe you can’t even get your dog to come when you call him. Think about your leadership lid and what you can do to push it higher.
   
   
2. The law of influence. Leadership is not about your title or position. It’s about leading. Can you lead in a situation where your title or position don’t matter? Practice some anonymous leading.
   
   
3. The law of process. Leaders use a process whenever they build something. It makes your ventures repeatable and scalable. Build a step-by-step process for doing something.
   
   
4. The law of navigation. Setting goals is important. Navigation takes it one step further because you’re plotting a course of actions that take you to the goal. Define a goal for yourself and plot a course to reach it.
   
   
5. The law of E. F. Hutton. This law is taken from the old commercials “When E. F. Hutton speaks, people listen”. Find someone who’s a stronger leader than you are. Now just listen.
   
   
6. The law of solid ground. Leaders build trust. Spend some time today building or strengthening the trust that someone has in you.
   
   
7. The law of respect. Loyalty and respect take trust a step further. Think about who you would follow no matter where they wanted to go. And why.
   
   
8. The law of intuition. With experience, you’ll build great instincts. Leaders go with their gut many times because they need to make quick decisions. Practice making quick decisions using your intuition.
   
   
9. The law of magnetism. Leaders attract people like a magnet. And good leaders always attract the right people to get the job done. What kind of people do you need to attract? Figure out how you can do that.
   
   
10. The law of connection. Remember, without people there’s nothing there. Network and really connect with someone today.
    
    
11. The law of the inner circle. Every leader has an inner circle of people they trust and rely on. Inner circle people have great talents and vision of their own. Better than yours in some things. Start building your inner circle.
    
    
12. The law of empowerment. To build a team, you have to give other people ownership of what they’re doing. You have to let them lead. Empower someone else and let them lead.
    
    
13. The law of reproduction. Leaders create followers. Great leaders create other leaders. Start being a leadership mentor to someone today.
    
    
14. The law of buy-in. You believe in someone’s ideas after you already believe in the person. Practice selling YOU instead of just your ideas.
    
    
15. The law of victory. When something doesn’t work out, you learn something new. But it’s important not to start with that idea or else you might give in to it. Strive for nothing less than total victory today.
    
    
16. The law of the big mo. Momentum is capital. With every success, you build momentum that makes the next success easier. Take something small and use its success to do something bigger.
    
    
17. The law of priorities. Leaders are busy. And some things are more important than other things. Put together a list of everything you have to do and prioritize it from most important to least.
    
    
18. The law of sacrifice. You have more responsibilities to other people and other things as a leader. Sometimes, you have to give something up to take care of those responsibilities. Sacrifice something you care about for someone else today.
    
    
19. The law of timing. Opportunities are everywhere. One of the big things that makes something a good opportunity is timing. Recognize an opportunity and pounce on it right away.
    
    
20. The law of explosive growth. To grow, you need to lead everyone in the right direction. To create explosive growth, you need to lead other leaders in the right direction. Reach out and start leading other leaders today.
    
    
21. The law of legacy. Eventually, someone else will do what you’re doing right now. More than building other leaders, more than being a mentor, you have to build the leader that can take care of and do everything you can do. Start building a leader you can pass the baton to.
    
    
    It’s a big challenge. Have some fun with it.
    
    
    

Get Some Ants in Your Pants

Thanks to Pamela Crim at the Smokin Hot Mama Club for this post!

I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy. Here is the first part: ants never quit. That’s a good philosophy. If they’re headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they’ll look for another way. They’ll climb over, they’ll climb under, they’ll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you’re supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That’s an important perspective. You can’t be so naïve as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer.

The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, “this won’t last long – we’ll soon be out of here.” And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they’ll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can’t wait to get out.

And here’s the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the “all –you-possibly-can” philosophy.

Wow, what a great philosophy to have – the ant philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.

These are the incredible words of one of my role models, Jim Rohn.

"The REAL Secret to Success" By Azam Corry

Many people are constantly searching for the secret to online
success. Most never find it. Some go broke trying. Yet each year
the resources spent in pursuit of the 'holy grail' of Internet
Marketing continue to grow.

This 'secret' is touted in thousands of places, in thousands of
guises. The hype surrounding the subject is almost impenetrable,
so dense that even the experienced can succumb. If you are just
starting out online, chances are that you, too, will be sucked in.
To save you from wasting much time and energy, and maybe money, too,
Let me share the truth with you.

The REAL secret to your success is ...

YOU!

The most important criteria as to whether you 'make it' or not,
is simply YOUR ATTITUDE. All other factors are secondary.

It's all about making it happen. And not giving up until it does.

You must be determined to succeed; believing that you can, and
will do so. By it's very nature, such determination makes light
of hard work, and enables you to tap into resources you perhaps
hadn't realized you posses. You only fail when you stop trying.

There is no other secret. There is no magic formula.

There will never be a universal method of making money online
that will work for everyone. Conversely however, believing in
some of the myths propagated is guaranteed to bring nothing but
fatigue. Anyone seeking instant rewards, or seriously expecting
to make 'easy money' for doing almost nothing will get nowhere.
without a change of attitude, they are doomed to failure.

Why?

A) Because such things don't exist in the real world. While you
might meet people who appear to be getting money for nothing,
the reality is that at some time, somewhere, they have labored -
and probably very hard - for the fruits they now enjoy.

And

B) Because these people don't want to succeed. Not *really*, not
with all their heart. If they did, nothing else would matter.
They would be happy to work hard and make sacrifices. They would
feel their goal *worth* devoting all of their energy to, instead
of always seeking a 'comfortable' way.

People often say things like "I'd do anything to be able to live
like him (or her)," in reference to somebody successful. In
truth, most who make such claims aren't prepared to do much at
all. They'd love to eat the cake, but don't like the idea of
going into the kitchen and baking it.

Successful people are driven by the desire for positive results.
They focus on their goals, not the process of attaining them.
failures are willing to accept poor or mediocre results, so long
as what they do to achieve them is easy or enjoyable.

Successful men and women invest in their future, rather than
wasting precious time looking for shortcuts or a free ride. And
by 'invest,' I don't necessarily mean money. Having more cash to
spend won't in itself bring you success. The recent dot-com
failures are testament to that. Most spent millions before
folding.

Starting out with little money simply means you have to work
harder, and for longer, before you see noticeable results. Think
of it like savings at the bank: the smaller the initial deposit,
the slower it's growth will be. But it still grows.

Nor is your success dependent on knowledge. It's undeniable that
the more relevant knowledge you have, the faster your progress
should be. However, knowledge must be accompanied with the right
attitude to be of real use. And if you have that, you can attain
the same success starting from ground zero, learning as you go.

Being armed with the right knowledge is like traveling on the
highway. You have the opportunity to put your foot down and
proceed directly to your destination in the shortest time.

Not possessing that knowledge forces you to take the small and
winding back roads. Progress is slower, and you might make a
wrong turn or two along the way. However, as long as you focus on
your goal and keep moving, you will still reach your objective.
and you'll be wiser, too.

The only formula for success online or anywhere else is
determination, hard work and persistence. No matter how many
obstacles, setbacks, or downright failures you may face along the
way. (just have that "quitting is NOT an option" attitude, and you WILL succeed! Just have a blast along the way!)

Realize that only a minority succeed, and that therefore the
majority must be doing something wrong. Don't follow them. To
succeed is to be different. Do the things failures don't like to
do and success will come to you!!!!

Quotes and Words to Live By

These quotes are from speakers, authors, friends and some are from unknown sources.
They have been a great encouragement to me.
I hope you will find one you like and put it somewhere you can see it and let it
remind you to be inspired!

• The 3 C's of life...Choice, Chance and Change.
 You must make the Choice to take the Chance if you want anything to Change!
  
  
• Someone's opinion of you doesn't have to become your reality!
  
  
• Decide to have a great day. Smile. Be positive. Assume the best of others.
  
  
• Success is overcoming failure over and over and over
.
  
  
• Character is who you are when no one is watching.
  

• Run your day by the clock and your life by your vision.
  
  
• Once you become a mother you stop being the picture and you start being the frame.
  
  
• It’s all possible . . . If you dream it and believe it, why not start walking in that direction today? Gain the knowledge, study it, take action, and enjoy the journey. You are more than capable, you are remarkable!
  
  
• Instead of building a business that will give us the life we want, we need to determine the kind of life we want and build a business to support it.
  
  
• You can't reach for a dream and remain safely mediocre at the same time. The two are incompatible.
  
  
• It's never right to do wrong to do right.
  
  
• Your input determines your outlook, Your outlook determines your output and Your output determines your future.
  
  
• Whatever it is you do, enjoy it and you will get better faster

  
  
• You are good enough, BELIEVE it

  
  
• People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care

DO YOU HAVE PASSION?

I think its easy to agree that having passion in your life is important. Passion is what helps us to excel and become all we can. It is what really gets our hearts racing with excitement. Passion comes from deep inside each of us and it is what sets us on fire. I think you’ll agree that a lamp without a bulb has no purpose. Its the same as a person without passion. We all need passion in our lives because it creates enthusiasm and excitement.

We have accomplished great things in life as humans. These great things were accomplished with passion and behind every victory lies passion. This is a choice we all make in life. Its the choice to devote ourselves to a better life.

How do we build more passion in life?

1. Take Responsibility ~ It's your life so choose. Do you want to stay where you are? Or do you want to have passion in your life that will enable you to accomplish all you can? Everything in life is a choice and you must make the choice to better yourself. Own up to it and figure out what it is you want and then take responsibility and OWN IT!
2. Find What you Seek ~ When we have a positive mindset we begin to attract more positive things in life. The Law of Attraction. Its been around forever and many people have used the Law of Attraction. Successful people did not get where they are in life today by being pessimistic. No, they got where they are because they believed in something and they knew if they wanted it, it would come to them.
3. Have a Plan ~ Once you know what it is that you want you’ll need a plan. When an architect builds something as wonderful as the Taj Mahal he doesn’t just pick up and begin building. There are plans that need to be made to ensure the beauty and safety of the structure.
4. Take Action ~ We don’t get anywhere in life without action. It takes action to get a reaction and so to accomplish great things we will need to take action on the plan we’ve put in place.

A football team doesn’t begin the season with a Super Bowl Ring in hand. They first begin with a plan and then they take consistent action. Along their journey they will have victories and they will have setbacks. But its how we react to the setbacks that will determine the passion we have in life for our success.

Room for Cream

Marybeth Whalen

“The thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 (NIV)

“Shall I leave room for cream?” the smiling barista asks me as I place my coffee order.

I smile back at her and nod, anticipating receiving my cup full of dark liquid so I can carry it over to the doctoring station and customize it with a generous splash of cream and two sweeteners.

As I wait in line to create my comfort in a cup, I ponder the barista’s question. I think about the idea of leaving room for cream—not just in my cup, but in my life. I always leave room for cream in my coffee, but I can’t honestly say I always leave room for cream in my life.

Cream sweetens and lightens and richens. How do I leave room in my life for the things that sweeten and lighten and richen? As I pour and stir, my thoughts drift to the last week. I’ve done the have-to’s: laundry, carpool, dishes, exercise. But it’s harder to think of those little extras that fill my cup to the brim… sweet, light, rich extras.

Sweet: Time with friends just laughing and enjoying each other. Turning on a favorite song and dancing in the kitchen. Listening to my children when they talk. Taking the extra time to hear their hearts. Putting fun things I look forward to on the calendar. Turning the pages of a novel just for the joy of experiencing a great story. Pushing pause on my life so I can rest and recharge.

Light: Time in God’s Word, which the Bible says is a light for our path in life. Journaling what He’s telling me and what I’m learning about life. Time to pour my worries and anxieties out to Him, then leave them at His feet. Time to press into Him so I can hear His voice above all the others in this loud, busy world. Stepping out of the rat race and worshiping Him with abandon lightens my load.

Rich: Giving of myself through my time and talent. Tithing regularly to my church. Finding people who need a meal, a donation, a word of encouragement and then making the effort to actually give it to them and not just think it’s a good idea. Surrendering myself to God’s will instead of holding fast to my own.

All of these are things that bring me great joy, that help me reach that place of abundance I believe Jesus wanted us to live in now. Abundance, I am finding, does not come from merely wanting it. It comes from intentionally reaching for it—a result that requires action. It requires leaving room in my life for these things—not packing my life so full of have-to’s that the cup is already full.

When that happens, I can try to add the cream but it will only spill over, wasted. It starts when I leave room from the beginning or take a moment to pour out what is already too full. With a little thought and a little effort I can learn to hear Jesus ask me, “Did you leave room for cream?”

And I can smile back at Him and say, “You better believe I did!”

**Thanks to Proverbs 31 Ministries for this blog post!

The 4 Steps to Successful Goal-Setting

Successful people have always had clear, focused goals that guide them to greatness.

It took Thomas Edison thousands of attempts and thousands of failures over many years to invent the electric light bulb, but he new exactly what he wanted, and his goal kept him going until he achieved it The rest, as they say, is history.

Michelle Kwan had a goal to be the best skater in the world. Oprah Winfrey was an abused child who determined to make a better life for herself.

Successful people always have clear goals. Great musicians, great athletes, successful salespeople and inspiring leaders know what they want in life, and they go after it. Great parents work at it. No one becomes an astronaut by accident!

And yet the great bulk of people continue to drift through life with no goals at all, or with only vague dreams, hopes and wishes. No wonder we achieve so much less than we could!

For those who have not yet experienced the joy of setting and achieving magnificent goals, here is a powerful set of principles that have worked for thousands of my clients. They will work for you, too. I call them The 4 Steps to Successful Goal-Setting:

1. Decide what you want. Decide if you would rather have money in the bank, or that new car. Choose the life you prefer! You can’t have everything in life; but you can have anything you choose, if you will focus, pay the price, and pursue it with all your heart.

2. Clarify your values. Too often, people choose goals that are inconsistent with their priorities and daily behaviors. Do you value health, or comfort? Is financial independence a priority, or merely a wish? In a clash between your values and your wishes, your values will win every time. Be certain your goals are consistent with your most important values.

3. Write them down! Have the courage to put your intentions on paper, in your own words. Be specific and describe your goals in detail. When will you achieve them? What will success look like? Write down the details and read your goals every day, even take a moment to summarize them every morning. Stay focused.

4. Take ACTION! To run a marathon, you must jog every day. Building a business requires that you make sales, every day. A loving marriage or happy kids require your time, your attention and your love, every day. Your daily actions need not be profound or heroic, but they must be consistent and persistent. Every day!

Success does not “just happen”. It is built like a work of art. First, it is imagined, then the skills, tools and materials are gathered, and the artist sets about creating a thing of beauty. It takes time. It requires skill, determination, persistence and faith.

Just as an artist will make preliminary sketches and work out the details in her mind, so your success requires written goals, careful choices, clear commitments and daily persistence. You can do this. Make something magnificent of your life!