Sunday, 07. June 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Teachers and philosophers throughout history have affirmed that a person’s thoughts and faith directly determine the level of success they eventually experience. For example:
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” – King Solomon
“According to your faith, so will it be done unto you.” – Jesus
“Life consists of what a man is thinking about all day.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts” – John Locke
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” – James Allen
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” – The Apostle Paul
“Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts.” – Benjamin Disraeli
“People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
As you study individuals who courageously pursued a dream, you will find that they came from a variety of cultures, backgrounds, economic privileges, and had various intellectual abilities. But they all had one thing in common. They all understood the critical importance of actively controlling and edifying their thoughts as they journeyed toward their dreams. Those who courageously pursue their dreams understand that in order to change their lives,
they must first change their thinking.
Our thoughts are important because they directly influence our behaviors and emotions, and it is our daily behaviors and emotions which determines the level of success we eventually achieve.
Every day, your thinking directly impacts the words you use; whether you choose to get out of bed in the morning to exercise; if you exhibit patience with your spouse; if you spend quality time with your children; if you believe God cares; if you stay on your diet; and how you treat the family pet.
Every day of your life is directly impacted by the thoughts you allow to flow through your mind. This is a foundational truth we must understand if we are going to successfully pursue our dreams and ambitions.
** What kind of thoughts have you allowed to run through your brain lately?.
Tuesday, 19. May 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Here are a few quotes from legendary coach Lou Holtz. The application of these principles to your own life and development are self-evident:
Choices Count: “When you accept the fact that you are in your present condition, good or bad, because of the choices you have made - you will then find yourself capable of changing your situation by making better choices in the future.”
Respect: “What I didn’t realize was that authority comes with the job: respect was what I needed to earn, and you earn respect only by proving yourself as a leader.”
Faith: “Before joining the Notre Dame family, I heard a lot about the spirit of Notre Dame, but I wasn’t sure what that meant. The people were spiritual, and the leaders of the university were driven by the Holy Spirit, of that I had no doubt. But I wasn’t convinced the campus itself held anything spiritual.
Then, in my first year, I made an interesting observation. I realized that if you don’t believe in the omnipresent spirit of Notre Dame, you never feel it. I made up my mind that I was going to believe in this spirit. The moment I started believing, I started feeling it. And the feeling never left.”
Team Members: “My philosophy is to recruit attitude over athleticism, and an aptitude for hard work over natural ability.”
Personal Responsibility: “Before you start blaming others, look at yourself. You will find you need to look no further for the cause of the problem.”
Problems: “Don’t tell your problems to people – eighty percent don’t care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.”
Adversity: “Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.”
Personal Change: “The only thing that’s going to change you from where you are now to where you’ll be five years from now are the books you read, the people you meet, and the dreams you dream.”
Sunday, 10. May 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Leading From A Healthy “Center”
In our busy world, too often individuals, as well as leaders, loose contact with the source of their existence and become strangers to their own self. We tend to run around trying to solve the problems of our world while anxiously avoiding confronting that reality where many of our problems find their deepest roots: in our own selves.
In many ways, we are like that busy person who walked up to a flower and said: “What are you doing here? Can’t you get busy in some way?” – and then finds himself unable to understand the flower’s confident response: “I am sorry sir, but I am just here to be beautiful.”
Effective leaders take regular time to re-center themselves emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. For a life without a strong, yet “quiet center”, can easily start to become destructive – for we can start to believe that what we “do” creates our identity, not who we “are.” Without a strong and healthy “center” our words can quickly loose their meaning, our speaking no longer provide meaningful direction, and authentic closeness with others not occur.
The wise leader regularly takes time to disengage for times of quiet reflection. From this posture of thoughtful solitude, a leader can carefully rebalance their silence and words, withdrawal and involvement, distance and closeness, solitude and community.
Gentleness, wisdom, prospective, life-balance, and inner freedom are nurtured in solitude. Thus times of reflective solitude should be the subject of a leader’s most personal attention.
CHALLENGE: Lets keep returning to our “center” by returning to times of solitude – returning to the wisdom of the flower – nurturing the truth that our “being” is more important than our “doing.”
Thursday, 30. April 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Stephen Covey writes,
“The truth is, … we are all off track most of the time, all of us – every individual, family, organization or international flight to Rome. Just realizing this is a significant step. But for many of us, the feeling of being off track brings with it discouragement and despair. It needn’t and shouldn’t be so depressing. Knowing we’re off track is really an invitation to realign ourselves with true north (principles) and recommit ourselves to our destination.”
Sustaining a healthy emotional life (as a leader and individual) requires that we embrace a certain degree of tension in our lives. Specifically, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish – or the “gap” between who one currently is, and who one should be.
As a leader we want to help followers understand and embrace this healthy tension. To embrace this “gap.” To help them clarify their potential, and embrace their responsibility to actively move toward that potential.
One of the best ways for a leader to do this is to role model this type of courageous attitude. To allow our followers to observe how we are admitting where this “gap” exists in our own lives, and then display how we are taking specifics steps to close this gap between who we currently are – and who we should be, and what we still could accomplish.
Then… after a good bit of role modeling - we should not hesitate to challenge others to move toward their own potential or goals. To help them clarify, and then fulfill, their own personal meaning in life. To challenge them not to pursue some “tensionless” state, but to enter into a journey leading toward a freely chosen and worthwhile destination.
** I would say a person either chooses to embrace this tension – or choose instead to be bored.
Are you feeling that positive tension – or just feeling bored?
“The tension between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ between ‘I can’ and ‘I cannot,’ makes us feel that, in so many instances, human life is an interminable debate with one’s self.”
- Anatole Broyard
Saturday, 25. April 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
This is an inscription on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abbey:
“When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits,
I dreamed of changing the world.
As I grew older and wiser I discovered the world would not change -
So I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country,
But it too seemed immovable.
As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt,
I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me,
But alas, they would have none of it.
And now I realize as I lie on my deathbed, if I had only changed myself first,
Then by example I might have changed my family,
From their inspiration and encouragement I would
then have been able to better my country,
And who knows,
I might have even changed the world.”
Friday, 03. April 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” is one of the greatest books of our time. Psychiatrist Victor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with descriptions of his time in various Nazi death camps during World War II – with lessons for spiritual survival. In the book, Victor wanted to convey, by way of a concrete example, that life holds a potential for meaning under any condition, even the most miserable one.
Our quest for meaning in life will inevitably lead us into a serious of courageous choices. In the preface of the book, Victor tells about a courageous choice he was led to make:
“Someone may ask me why I did not try to escape what was in store for me after Hitler had occupied Austria. Let me answer with the following true story: Shortly before the United States entered World War II, I received an invitation to come to the American Consulate in Vienna to pick up my immigration visa to the United States. My old parents were overjoyed because they expected that I would soon be allowed to leave Austria. I suddenly hesitated, however. The question beset me: Could I really afford to leave my parents alone to face their fate, to be sent, sooner or later, to a concentration camp, or even to a so-called extermination camp? Where did my responsibility lie? Should I foster my brain child, “logotherapy”, by emigrating to fertile soil where I could write my books on this theory? Or should I concentrate on my duties as a real child, the child of my parents who had to do whatever he could to protect them? I pondered the problem this way and could not arrive at a solution; this was the type of dilemma that made one wish for “a hint from Heaven,” as the phrase goes.
“It was then I noticed a piece of marble laying on a table at home. When I asked my father about it, he explained that he had found it on the site where the National Socialists had burned down the largest Viennese synagogue. He had taken the piece home because it was a part of the tablets on which the TEN COMMANDMENTS were inscribed. One gilded Hebrew letter was engraved on the piece; my father explained that this letter stood for one of the Commandments. Eagerly I asked, “Which one?” He answered, “Honor thy father and they mother that thy days may be long upon the land.” At that moment I decided to stay with my father and my mother upon the land, and to let the American visa lapse.”
Victor E. Frankl
Vienna, 1992
** What Courageous Choice Do You Need To Make?
Monday, 09. March 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
“Persistence is having the same goal over and over.” - Seth Godin
Anything worth achieving in life requires constant effort. Just having a meaningful goal is not enough, we need to continuously take action toward that goal.
Persistence is necessary because our meaningful goals will not come to us easy. There will be days when we will feel like giving up, days when it seems we are not making any progress. It is during times like this, that sheer determination and persistence is all that we have left. That is why persistence is the personal trait that separates many successful people from those who never quite reach their potential and dreams.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” - Calvin Coolidge
To reach any meaningful goal will require gutsy persistence. It will be our persistence that keeps us moving forward, into the unknown - but toward what we know in our heart is a worthy ambition.
“If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. No one would have remembered him either.” – Unknown
In the face of challenge, persistence beckons us to continue taking action towards the goals and dreams that are waiting to be realized.
“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance.” - H. Jackson Brown
Monday, 02. March 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
Four Barriers to Reaching Our Potential:
1) Lack of Belief. Many people do not believe they can achieve, or become more
”successful” (in whatever way they define the term.) Many individuals do not believe they can expand their capabilities and capacity much more - and if they do not believe it, they will not set out to do it.
2) Lack of Knowledge. Knowledge is a key ingredient to reaching our potential in life, yet what keeps some people from learning is they no longer access new types of knowledge. Such new knowledge can come from a variety of
experiences, books, people, and other
“knowledge dispensers” - but we must regularly tap into those sources of knowledge.
3) Lack of Desire. Some people simply do not have a desire to continue their growth. They have become lazy, or may not see the positive impact that continued learning could have on their life and future. They have killed their passion to grow and learn.
4) Lack of Hard Work and Self Discipline. Reaching our potential is hard work and takes a lifetime to master/achieve. It is an ongoing discipline that is never fully completed.
** Are you doing the hard work, and exhibiting the discipline, needed to grow in the various areas of your life? Are you doing the hard work to expand your mind and skills? It is easy to get lazy and coast in life - but instead we must love and master the challenge of continual growth.
Wednesday, 18. February 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
“He who is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” - Benjamin Franklin
As I have pondered the life of Jesus lately, it suddenly hit me that we have no record of Him ever making an excuse. He never made an excuse about why something happened, or did not happen. Though he struggled with the same fears and temptations we all face – he never complained, or created reasons to explain something away.
Then, when I read the first few pages of the Old Testament – when I look at the very first conversation ever recorded – I find possibly the first excuse ever made. When God confronted Adam regarding why he had eaten the forbidden fruit – Adam responds, “The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:12) And then when God turned to Eve and asked why she had eaten the fruit, she gives a simliar response, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
While excuse making is nothing new, High Level Leaders do not have a habit of reverting to this type of mindset. Go deep into your study of people…you will find the more successful the person, the less inclined they are to make excuses. “People with mediocre accomplishments are quick to explain why they haven’t, why they don’t, why then can’t, and why they aren’t. Successful people could make these excuses, but they don’t.” (Dr. David Schwartz)
While high level leaders may be temped to make an excuse to alleviate some responsibility, they instead choose remain accountable to the truth. They remain courageous and face up to their responsibility, while honestly assessing the events around why something did, or did not, happen.
** Think of the last excuse you made – What fear or issue caused you to go there?
Tuesday, 10. February 2009 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.
How to Age Well.
**8 Marks of a Mature Individual/Leader:
1) They have made the “shift” from Mistrust to Trust.
When building a team, sustaining relationships, or establishing long-term clients – the ability to build mutual trust is critical. Mature individuals are able to develop and maintain trust. While not blind to issues, they trust others, teammates, staff, systems, …
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to be what? (Control Freaks – instead of building trust, they try to control others.)
2) They have made the shift from Controlling to Self-Control.
Immature people have a need to control others and situations (relates to their inability to trust) – while the mature have developed a strong sense of self-control and autonomy. Mature leaders instead focus on controlling themselves – their passions, desires, frustrations, health, …
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to do what? (Make Excuses)
3) They have made the shift from Waiting to Taking Initiative.
Mature leaders do not wait their “ship to come in.” Instead they have chosen to swim out to meet it. The courage to consistently take initiative is the sign of a maturing leader and person. They have begun to master their fears, and have done away with a victim’s mentality.
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to do what? (Complain – they are such the victim.)
4) They have made the shift from Self-doubt to Self-Confidence.
Everyone struggles with self-doubt. No one is an exception – but maturing individuals are self-aware, and have come to peace with who they are, and how they have been created by God. They understand their strengths and weaknesses; are at peace with what they have found – and have found ways to leverage who they are to help them succeed in life (however they define the term.)
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to do what? (Believe the glass is half empty.)
5) They have made the shift from Confusion to Clarity.
Related to the last point, mature individuals know who they are – and know who they are not. If asked, they can quickly answer the questions: What are your strengths? What are your dreams? What are your values? Immature people only have a vague answer to “deep” questions like these. They may have some ideas, and wishes, yet mature people have concrete clarity regarding who they are, and what they want to do.
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to? (Be followers)
6) They have made the shift from Isolation to Intimacy.
The ability of an individual to authentically care for another person (with no strings attached) is a clear sign of maturity. Individuals who have not acquired the ability to move past their fears and pride to experience (non-sexual) intimacy will always feel alone in this world. The ability to build authentic and intimate relationships with key individuals is one of the major deterrents against loneliness and depression.
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to? (Wear a mask)
7) They have made the shift from Self-Centeredness to Wholeness.
Immature people are preoccupied with their own needs and comforts – as opposed to being concerned about the wellbeing of others (who are NOT in their immediate circle of friends and family.) Mature people care. They care not only for those closest to them, but also for the hurting and needy as well.
Q: People who have not developed this trait tend to be? (Defensive)
8) They have made the shift from being influenced by their Passions to their Integrity.
Integrity can only be built over time… but can be lost in a minute. Maturity is developed when an individual can maneuver through the difficulties of life while consistently doing the right things. Immature individuals too often give into their passions and vices. They much too often take the easy way out.
Q: People who have not developed this trait are forced to? (Hide)
