Quote of the Day - Dwight D. Eisenhower

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

- Dwight Eisenhower

Where's Waldo?

Well chances are he's dead. And if he is around somewhere I would hate to meet him. I'm allergic to zombies. But on a serious note Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist who tried to transcend the norm of thinking. To believe in a higher sense of being. And he left us with many quotes. One of the ones that I found particularly interesting was this one....

"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Short and sweet right. But let me ask you do you follow the basic concept behind this quote? Do you march to the beat of your own drum despite what others do? And if you do explain. And if you don't explain as well. Tell me what you think its the logic behind the quote and do you think that many people follow this? Feel free to discuss

Quote of the Day - Booker T. Washington

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which have been overcome while trying to succeed.

- Booker T. Washington

Washington was much criticized and maligned for the postions he took in life concerning African-Americans fight for equality, but in this quote I think he catches something very important. He sets a different standard for what is success.

Now many people might disagree with this quote, and sometimes I probably agree with them. I would like to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment.

Taking a Walk

If you are feel you are leading but there is no one behind you, you are just taking a walk.

Who is following you? More important, where are you leading them?

Think about this today.

Quote of the Day - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Quote of the Day: "Where we stand is not as important as the direction in which we are moving." - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

In which direction is your life heading?

Quote of Day - Mark Twain

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up." Mark Twain

A simple one, but a good one.

Summer

Think about the summer... Think about all the time you have... I can think back to the countless hours of useless ESPN shows I watched during my summers in high school, it was usually some rerun of the World's Strongest Man. For some reason Magnus Van Magneson (or whatever his name was) was far more important than building relationships and possibly even learning something. I think I totaled some where near 0 books in all four of my high school summers combined. Now I worked, and I had summer missions trip for a week (so that was my excuse), but I had no desire to really better myself during the summer.

I had the mentality of learning is for the school year and summer is for forgetting. If I could go back now I would change that. I know very few high school students want to spend their whole summer reading and I don't think you should spend your whole summer reading either. Get outside, hang out with friends, go somewhere on vaction, do a summer camp, go on a missions trip, do something cool, but also try to set a goal to read at least one book. It could be on a topic in school you like, or leadership, or about faith. Second thing, try to invest in one relationship. Not just chasing after that cute boy or girl, but try to spend time with a friend or family member. Ask about their life, listen to them, see if you can help them with anything. Imagine what would happen at the end of 4 years of high school. You have four deep relationships, you have read 4 transformative books, and you were still able to forget most of the crap that was taught to you during the year. Sweet.

Ralph's Wisdom

So this dead old guy named Ralph Waldo Emerson tried to shake up things in the early-to-mid 1800's. He believed that living a life where your goal was to get the most stuff, was not a life worth living. So rejected that way of living and sought after a simplier life, finding truth in things other than things. A pretty radical idea at the time and even more radical today. He was writer and said something one time that strikes me as life changing and extraordinary. Here is what he said:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared with what lies within us."

Think about your day today. Were you focused on the past...something that happened yesterday or that was said to you. Were you focused on the future...what your going to do tomorrow or even 20 years from now.

This old dead guy (wasn't dead when he said the quote) is challenging me and you to use our days to deepen our character and our souls.

Are you deeper now than you were when you woke up?

There's time left.

Quote of the Day- Robert Greenleaf

Good leaders must first become good servants.

- Robert Greenleaf

Great Video

So I love this video because I see a guy who saw his ordinary life and thought, what can I do to be extraordinary.

The power of one of influence many.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

The First Question

So the first question you need to ask is this? What around me needs improvement? What at my school, in my home, in my community, or on my teams needs improvement? Find one thing that really needs improvement, and make a commitment.

Will you comit to making it better? Not for you own gain or glory, but to see something get better?

This is the small beginning to an extraordinary life.