Zig On…Failure

By Zig Ziglar

Failure is an event - it is not a person. Two of the most striking examples of this great truism are the stories of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The two men could not have been more different. Washington was an aristocrat - aloof and very serious. Lincoln, born in a log cabin, was folksy and had an incomparable sense of humor. Despite their differences, both men accomplished great things. They are recognized as America’s two greatest presidents. They shared the same moral and ethical values. Both were devoted to their country and the welfare of their fellow citizens. Both were religious. Both were models of honesty and integrity and each faced adversity, criticism and rejection. In Lincoln’s case, it was outright ridicule.

They also shared the trait of persistence and, despite defeats, their vision drove them onward and upward. In Lincoln’s case, twelve of the fifteen major events of his life were defeats. He failed in business, was defeated for the legislature, failed in business again, was elected to the legislature, his sweetheart died, he had a nervous breakdown, he was defeated for Speaker, defeated for elector, defeated for congress, elected to congress, defeated for congress, defeated for senate, defeated for vice president, defeated for senate and elected President of the United States.

George Washington won only two battles in the Revolutionary War, but he won the last battle and that’s the one that counts. The British drove Washington down through Long Island, into Brooklyn, across the East River, and up to Manhattan Island. They drove him on and on, but ultimately Washington was victorious. A few days later at Yorktown, General Cornwallis, the British General, surrendered to Washington. As he handed over his sword he said, “Sir, I salute you. Not only are you a great leader of men, but an indomitable Christian gentleman who wouldn’t give up.”

The message is clear. As long as we pursue our dreams, we will ultimately - if the cause is right - emerge the winner. Buy that idea and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Winners vs Losers

When a winner makes a mistake, he says, “I was wrong;”
When a loser makes a mistake, he says, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A winner works harder than a loser and has more time;
A loser is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.

A winner goes through a problem;
A loser goes around it, and never gets past it.

A winner makes commitments;
A loser makes promises.

A winner says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be;”
A loser says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

A winner listens;
A loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.

A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them;
A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find chinks in their armor.

A winner feels responsible for more than his job;
A loser says, “I only work here.”

A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it;”
A loser says, “That’s the way it’s always been done here.”

THOUGHTS ON TEACHING

Here are some good thoughts on "teaching" --

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth."
~Dan Rather

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.
~Jacques Barzun

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.
~Author Unknown

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.
~Horace Mann

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.
~Author Unknown

A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism.
~Louis A. Berman

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.
~Author Unknown

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.
~Karl Menninger

A HISTORY OF HOW WE VIEW OUR DADS

When I was ...

Four years old: My daddy can do anything.

Five years old: My daddy knows a whole lot.

Six years old: My dad is smarter than your dad.

Eight years old: My dad doesn't know exactly everything.

Ten years old: In the olden days, when my dad grew up, things were sure different.

Twelve years old: Oh, well, naturally, Dad doesn't know anything about that. He is too old to remember his childhood.

Fourteen years old: Don't pay any attention to my dad. He is so old-fashioned.

Twenty-one years old: Him? My Lord, he's hopelessly out of date.

Twenty-five years old: Dad knows about it, but then he should, because he has been around so long.

Thirty years old: Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks. After all, he's had a lot of experience.

Thirty-five years old: I'm not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad.

Forty years old: I wonder how Dad would have handled it. He was so wise.

Fifty years old: I'd give anything if Dad were here now so I could talk this over with him. Too bad I didn't appreciate how smart he was. I could have learned a lot from him.

-anonymous

Fireman Billy

The 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true.

She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"

"Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."

Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Ariz., where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.

Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at 7 o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat -- not a toy one -- with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."

Three days later, Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook-and-ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven.

There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program. Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically, and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the fire chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.

The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?”

About five minutes later, a hook-and-ladder truck arrived at the hospital, extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window, and 16 firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?"

"Billy, you are," the chief said.

With those words, Billy smiled and closed his eyes one last time.

8 Steps To Improving Your Program

Designed for coaches...but this simple philosophy can be applied to most areas.

1. Refuse to take any news tragically.
The most powerful leadership tool is to radiate hope in tough times. Avoid the “woe is me” syndrome. Handle tough news by saying: “Okay, what good can we learn from this.. and let’s do it.”

2. Attack the behavior, not the person.
Erase all negative criticism, finger pointing, and howling folks out for less than perfect work.

3. Give specific praise.
General comments are dismissed as insincere. “Thank you, Bill, for staying late last night to finish this project” instead of general praise carries a lot of weight.

4. Happy hello’s in the morning.
The first half hour of the work day sets the tone for the entire day.

5. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Poke fun at yourself in front of your employees at the appropriate times.

6. Make merry on the phone.
Answer phones with high positive energy.

7. Color your corner.
Decorate your office for informal openness.

8. Look for the right way, not your way.
A good idea is a good idea, regardless of who thought of it.

Credit: St. Mary’s University Basketball (via Creighton Burns)

EFFORT

EFFORT

Effort is the only one strictly underived and
Original contribution we make to this world.
Everything else is given to us.
Health, strength, talent, abilities of all sorts,
Whether spiritual or mental or physical.
Effort is the only element
we can add.

Message Transmitted

By Terri Kilroy, Meridian, Idaho

Ten o’clock and I’m still at the office, I thought. I’d been putting in a lot of extra hours lately. I barely had a moment to think, pray, talk to my friends—just to relax. Everyone else had left hours ago. I’d promised myself I would get home early tonight. So why was I still at work? Just one more fax, I told myself. Then I’ll leave.

I put the papers on the machine and punched in the number of a client in Los Angeles. Then I pressed the “send” button. An error message flashed on the display beside the number. I looked at it closely. Odd. That’s not the number I dialed. This one was a 714 area code. That’s Anaheim, I thought. Why would the fax machine be calling there? I tried again, carefully dialing my client’s number. The same thing happened.

Finally, I decided to call the mysterious 714 number. The phone rang a few times. Then a woman answered shakily, “Hello?”

I explained to her that I had been trying to send a fax.

“There’s no fax machine here,” she said. “This is a nursing home. You called an old lady.” I quickly apologized for bothering her so late at night.

“Oh, no, my dear, I’m glad you called. I hardly ever get any visitors. In fact, I was just sitting here asking the Lord for a friendly voice.”

The old woman and I chatted for a few minutes. Then a few more. She told me all about her life in the nursing home. I talked about my job. Before I knew it, we were talking about faith too.

“Thank you so much for calling, Dear,” the woman finally said. “You made my night.”

Now it was really late. But all the way home a good feeling stayed with me. I didn’t even think about the fax until the next day, when I got to work. Oh no, I forgot to send it! I called my client to apologize.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I got your fax late last night. It came in just after ten.”

The Rule of Three

The United States Marine Corps believes strongly in what they call “The Rule of Three.” They've found that implementing this rule saves lives, gets more done faster and more efficiently.

An article on The Corps in INC. magazine says, “The rule dictates that a person should limit his or her attention to three tasks or goals. When applied to strategizing, the rule prescribes boiling a world of infinite possibilities down to three alternative courses of action. Anything more and a marine can become overextended and confused. The marines experimented with a rule of four and found that effectiveness plummeted.”

I've always believed that three is a powerful number. We find it in some very significant places. The most powerful physical structure is a triangle or pyramid. In fact, it's the building block of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes and the Great Pyramids of Egypt. For Christians—it's the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And then, of course, we have Mind, Body, Spirit. Three is a powerful number metaphysically—a number of completion.

As we become immersed in the ocean of information, possibilities, directions and the like, it becomes even more important for us to focus on the things that are truly important to us—the things that will make a difference in the quality of our lives.

Three things can easily be remembered. Any more than that and retention suffers. We can all sharpen our focus and get better results by using the Rule of Three in our daily lives.

List the three most important values in your life. What's really important to you? If you make this list, you'll place yourself in the top one percent of all the people on the planet because very few ever do this. Your decisions will become infinitely easier because your values are clear.

What are your three primary missions? These are different than goals. Goals can be measured. They can be completed. A mission is your vision of something that you'll never say is done—at least not in this lifetime.

Make a list of your three most important goals. It's great to have lots of goals but which ones are worthy of your best attention and efforts? Remember, you can have anything you want in your life. You just can't have EVERYTHING you want.

What three things would you like to master? Three things at which you want to become an expert. Maybe it's speaking in public. Perhaps you want to learn another language. Or maybe you want to become a masterful parent. It's your life and you get to decide.

By making good use of the Rule of Three, you'll sharpen your focus, increase your effectiveness and experience greater fulfillment in all that you do.


“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world.
Someone to love, something to do and something to hope for.”
—Tom Bodett

Impossible is Nothing

Some people listen to themselves, rather than listen to what others say. These people don’t come along very often, but when they do they remind us that once you set out on a path even though critics may doubt you. It’s okay to believe there is no can’t, won’t or impossible. They remind us that it’s okay to believe.

“Impossible is Nothing” Muhammad Ali

Full Effort Is Full Victory

"Satisfaction lies in the effort,
not in the attainment.
Full effort is full victory."

A Dozen Things to Do Today

•Remember that some of the world's nicest joys are its most special people, and that you are definitely one of them.

•Take care of that special person.

•Climb one rung higher on the ladder to your stars.

•Imagine what the view will look like when you get where you're going.

•Stay in touch with your inner voice; it always speaks the truth.

•When you've been working too hard, give your batteries time to recharge.

•Remember that you are someone who is thought of - with friendship and with love.

•Keep a smile on that wonderful face of yours.

•Have a great day.

•And be happy!


--- Collin McCarty

How to Make Important Decisions

By Norman Vincent Peale

It is said that history turns on small hinges. So does a life. An accumulating series of decisions about large and small matters over a period of years make up your own history. But the catch is, you can never know when a seemingly small decision may prove to be from the prospect of later years, the biggest decision of your life.

Here are some simple steps which are designed to help you make right decisions.

1. Get quiet.

Only a quiet mind can think at efficiently. Find a quiet place, sit down and compose yourself.

2. Repeat this three times.

"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." (Psalm 73:24)

3. Imagine God's advice passing into your mind.

If you must have that advice today, you will get it. If you do not need it until next week, let us say Monday at eleven o'clock, you will have it then, if you believe that you will, and if you keep calm and continue to pray and think.

4. Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do in this decision?"

He would do the right thing, would he not? Right now, ask God to take all wrong and error out of your heart. Remember that right can never come out wrong. To get right answers, you have to be right.

5. Do not hurry.

Allow your problem to simmer in the mind. Never force a decision.

6. Thank God for giving you the right answer, for He is giving it to you.

Thank Him for the great happiness that is in your heart.

7. Having received your answer, trust it.

Take it with faith and thanksgiving. If you have sought God's counsel and prayed earnestly, your answer will come up as a clear, bright light burning in the mind. Trust it. God will see you through.