The Best in You

My unofficial mentor is Jim Rohn.  He's 'unofficial' because he passed away last year, and we never met while he was alive.  I call him Mentor because of the wealth of wisdom and valuable advice he amassed, and passed along, during his professional career.  Wisdom and advice I have leaned upon as I construct a new life in pursuit of my passion for communicating.

Steven R. Covey, famed author of The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, and numerous other works of practical wisdom and insight, has likewise affected how I view the world and my place in it.  When I finally committed to read 'Seven Habits' I found I couldn't put it down.  Timing is everything, so they say, and my time for his landmark work had come.  It became foundational.

What do Alice Walker and James Fenimore Cooper have in common?  Me!  I count, The Color Purple and Last of the Mohicans among my all-time favorite reads.  The Color Purple may be the magnum opus of Ms. Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning career.  Told through the eyes and voice of Celie, The Color Purple is a wonderful read.

I love the breadth, the scope, and the cinematography of Michael Mann's screen adaptation of Last of the Mohicans.  In major ways it is completely unlike the book, but if you agree with me about the movie, you must read the book.  Immerse yourself in the grand scope of one of the all-time classics, Last of the Mohicans.

I am sure you agree that life comes at us from all angles with challenges, obstacles, and opportunities.  From these we craft victories, suffer defeats, endure, shut down, cry, shout, laugh, mourn, or just sit in wonderment that we are still alive.  I have chosen to be victorious though I have suffered defeats (bankruptcy and foreclosure to name two); to shout frustrations as well as great praises to God, to laugh often, and to mourn those who have passed into God's presence before me.

I still sit in wonderment that I am alive some days, and I thank God for His mercy and faithfulness to have preserved me thus far for the work yet to be done.  Today that work consists of encouraging you, the readers of this blog, to find a mentor you can trust to challenge you to raise your game to the stars.  Find a book that will reorganize your thinking in such a way as to re-shape how you do business (and how you do 'personal').  Finally, make the time to lose yourself in a really good novel at least once a month.

Seek the best around you and within you, not the average.  Then ask yourself the questions that Jim Rohn asked, "Why wouldn't you push to the best you can be?  To make all the money you can?  To read all the great books you can?  To learn all you can?  To be the best spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, or friend you can? Why wouldn't you?

Andrew Carnegie said, "The man unable to motivate himself will never rise above mediocrity no matter his talent or his giftings."  Make the best in you, the daily you.

Fearlessly,
JD

Motivate Through Quotes

A worthwhile and even historic path to motivation can be found through reading the noted quotes of the famous and not-to-famous.  As I have embarked upon this new business model of communication one quote stays with me from Andrew Carnegie. 

You may or may not know the name Andrew Carnegie, and if you do you may not know much more than he was a very wealthy man. He founded the company which became United States Steel, but historically is perhaps now better known as one of the foremost philanthropists the U.S. has ever produced.

Mr. Carnegie was instrumental in the establishment of more than 2,600 public libraries.  He was convinced that information should be readily available to any who would make use of it.  It is one of his quotes that, when blended with my own mantra (be better than you’ve been, do more than you’ve done), drives me each day.

Andrew Carnegie said, and I will paraphrase, “The man unable to motivate himself will not rise above mediocrity no matter his talents or giftings.”  This quote is an ever-present driver if I feel like ignoring my social media marketing for a day, or taking a day off from working on either of the books I am currently writing, or prospecting for speaking gigs, or publishing, etc., etc.

It gets me on track if my Bible study is neglected, or continuing to digest fresh insights isn’t maintained.  There is so much that goes into one’s own enterprise that, at times, it can be absolutely overwhelming.  Having owned a home renovation biz some years ago, I am well aware of how daunting a task business ownership is.  Being back in the game, so to speak, I appreciate this nugget from one of the best businessmen of all time.

Search on the internet, or in your local library (Bartlett’s Quotations), for great quotations and find your own sparks of inspiration.  I can heartily recommend George Washington Carver, Billy Graham, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Bill Gates for different outlooks on success, life, and diligence.  You will no doubt discover your own wealth of quote resources, and hopefully be as encouraged as I by the success of others.

Fearlessly,

JD