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Who are you channeling?

It’s funny how things pop up, isn’t it? Some people call it coincidence, but I’m not one of them. I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe all things happen for a reason, whether we are privileged to peer behind the curtain and discover the reason or not, and a lot of energy is involved.

So, as I’m thinking about this a great deal lately, you might imagine the smile on my face when one of my mentors, Chet Scott’s latest blog post popped into my inbox. Here’s the link. 

I must be channeling Chet. To say that he’s often in my thoughts is an understatement. Chet has what I refer to as “clear vision.” He’s one of those people truly gifted at stepping outside what’s going on and cutting thru all the crap (Chet would simply say “shit”) to what’s really happening. I appreciate that about him, as well as in others when I see it demonstrated. Perhaps because I do it, as well (based on feedback from numerous sources over the years, not my own wishful thinking).

Everything in the universe is made of energy which continuously moves into and out of form; it cannot be created or destroyed…really, simply channeled. It flows between objects and people and between people and people.

So, other people’s energy affects how you navigate in the world. It truly does matter with whom you spend your time. This is why it’s so critical, especially when you are trying to effect change in your life, that you surround yourself with a like-minded community. Seth Godin would call it a tribe…those people who share your values, are on a similar path, passionate about some common idea or thing, and who lift you up, encourage, and support you, who complement you where you are weak.

Take inventory of those around you today. Determine if some of the people in your life have passed their “use by” date, and make the necessary changes you need to make in whom you surround yourself with. Your very future depends on it.

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Reflecting on life-changing decisions…Here’s one of mine

As part of the growth plan I am working my way through, I have recently spent some time reflecting on my association with the John Maxwell Team and the value it’s brought to my life.
Several people have told me they wished they could do some of what I’m doing and asked me about my experience with the John Maxwell Team. After returning from Guatemala my (already great) opinion about the JMT is at a new level. What we took part of in Guatemala was “Historic.” John’s Influence and his team at Equip ( his other company) along with two other organizations ( LaRed and Guatemala Prospera) are the reason this amazing Transformation has begun in Guatemala.
Think about this: Three people trained 150 of us coaches over two-and-a-half days. We were then deployed, along with a translator, to go out and teach four-hour work shops sitting in small circles with military, city and country government officials, faculties of schools, clergy, hospital administrators, doctors and nurses, business men and women, and community leaders; we taught them how to facilitate interactive roundtable discussions on the the topics of Laws of Growth and Values, like forgiveness, listening skills, and others.
Gua Natl Civil Police June13 sm  (Me with the National Civil Police, Guatemala City, Guatemala, June 2013, at the end of our session)
In three days we reached ~19,000 people and left them trained and equipped to facilitate a 30-week follow-up using this same process in their areas of influence and with their families.
It was an amazing, life-changing experience! I don’t know if you can imagine but each one of the participants (captains & generals of armies in uniform, city mayors, doctors, clergy, etc) had to get “real” and be “transparent” rating themselves from 1-10 on how they were at, for instance, “listening” or “forgiving others. ” Then they had to say aloud what specific action steps they were going to take in the coming week to improve their performance in that area.
I’ve never seen such transparency. The stories of what happened were crazy-awesome! When people get real and want to grow, TRANSFORMATION begins.
As of mid-August, 45,000 (yes, 45,000!) others were going through this transformation process in small groups led by the people we taught in June.
I’m still on ‘cloud nine’ about the whole thing. Our own country could so benefit from this process. Third world countries don’t have the distractions we have and they want help to bring hope to their future generations. From the president down to the young people, the whole country is in pursuit of hope. Although this was not a faith-based effort per se, all the principles, laws, and values we taught come directly from the wisdom found in the pages of the Bible.
If you are looking for a personal leadership growth track (speaking, coaching, teaching, etc…), want to move toward growing a business, or be a part of a transformational, powerful organization, you can make that a reality for yourself by joining the John Maxwell Team. Give me a call. I can walk you through the process for enrolling, the investment, and the amazing benefits of joining this team.
It truly is the best thing I’ve done for myself in at least 10 years!
I look forward to hearing from you.
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Intentional Leadership — D5, W2, M8 — Change

So, here we are, at Friday, again, and what an amazing week! Got a lot of things done; isn’t that often the case when we are pressed for time and have a lot to do? I don’t know about you, but if I have only one thing to do in a day, it takes me all day to do it; however, if I have 20 things to do in a day, you can count on me to complete most of them, or at least get them moving in the right direction if it’s not possible to complete them in a day.

But I digress, already! Today, I am in Orlando, Florida, with the John Maxwell Team for a week of training. Not just training, but reconnecting with folks I know, connecting with new members of the team (there are ~2,800 of us, and counting, from 90 countries around the globe!), refreshing some skills, learning from the Masters in the areas of coaching, speaking, leadership, communication philosophy, and Masterminding…exchanging ideas, swapping stories, getting re-energized. It will be another life-changing experience with this amazing group of people. At the end of it, I will be emotionally and spiritually recharged and excited about the future, and most likely, physically exhausted – but in a good way!

So, my weekend is full of connecting, communicating, learning, and putting the principles into practice. I will stay connected with family via email, phone, and text. I will sleep less than normal, but am committed to continuing my yoga practice.

The good news for me, in prepping for next week, is that my agenda has been defined, in many ways, by the JMT with the schedule for our learning while here in Orlando. I will, however, still lead my Empowerment Mentoring class next Tuesday, on Authentic Journaling. I can’t believe we’ve gone through the first 12 weeks of this program already (well, actually 13, as we skipped a week while I was in Guatemala). I will also meet with others engaged in Empowerment Mentoring, and with The Deeper Path Team.

I will spend time with John Maxwell, the Mentors (Paul Martinelli, Scott Fay, Roddy Galbraith, Ed DeCosta, Christian Simpson, and Melissa West), and will meet Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker and author of Life Without Limits), and reconnect with the fabulous Les Brown. What a week!

What are you up to this weekend? What have you planned that will allow you to rest, get required stuff done, nurture relationships, have fun, and set yourself up for success on Monday and in the coming weeks?

As we are focused on Change this month, what changes might you need to make in how you approach and move through your weekends that will better position you to attain what you want in your life?

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