10 Most common New Year’s resolutions 

1) Spend more time with family and friends

2)  Fit in fitness

3) Lose weight

4) Quit smoking

5) Enjoy life more

6) Quit drinking

7) Get out of debt

8) Learn something new 

9) Help others

10) Get organized

10 Commonly broken resolutions:

1)  Lose Weight and Get Fit

2) Quit Smoking

3) Learn Something New

4) Eat Healthier and Diet

5) Get Out of Debt and Save Money

6) Spend More Time with Family

7) Travel to New Places

8) Be Less Stressed

9) Volunteer

10) Drink Less

Best 2013 New Year’s Resolutions, not for a year but for life:

1) Resolve to find my Purpose

2) Resolve to grow my Character

3) Resolve to have a positive uplifting Attitude

4) Resolve to program my Subconscious Mind

5) Resolve to game Plan and Do

6) Resolve to Keep Score in life

7) Resolve to invest in long term Friendships

8) Resolved to improve in Financial Management

9)  Resolved to be great at Conflict Resolution

10) Resolve to develop my Adversity Quotient.

Be resolved to achieve progress in your life resolutions in 2013 and every year thereafter!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Brain Power

1) As humans we can greatly enhance our lives by going from a reactive to a proactive stance in life. It is all about how we experience and perceive our life events learning from and not being a victim of what happens to us.

2) Be open and reflective about your awareness and challenge your perceptions; illusions are traps we can get out of.

3) Our health state is determined by our internal reactions to the external environment. Our emotions produce chemical signals causing our genes to express our desires. How we think and feel impacts our genes’ expressions. We can transcend the limitation of our genetic makeup.

4) Our attitude is directly related to our expression of life. We project ourselves onto others. Our own thoughts can imprison or liberate us.

5) Our beliefs and perceptions determine where we end up in life. Our feelings are the end products of our experiences. We can choose where we end up in life. The environment should not hold you captive.

6) Emotional intelligent people know how to have the emotional experience then they let it go. Real change only starts when we realize we are part of the problem.

7) Remember that only mediocre people are at their best all the time. Great minds are constantly dealing with failures and inadequacies from breaking its limitations.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Take to Heart

Healthy thoughts to guide us in 2013 as we say goodbye to the old and hello to the New Year:

1) We grow in strength of our character by going through pressure, stress, adversity, and difficulties. Never ask for easy, only ask for worth it!

2) Our toughness is shown by how we respond to adversity. It is when things don’t go according to plan that tough men are really needed.

3) Never let a job be your identity; let your purpose define who you are.

4) Be disciplined to do what you need to do so you are allowed to do what you want to do.

5) Why keep doing what everyone else is doing when you know you were created for lot more?

6) You are far more valuable than you think you are. Think of all skills, abilities, and passions that are unique to you. 

7) Be careful what you put into you mind. Guard and protect your mind as if it were your most valuable asset, because it is.

May 2013 be the beginning of the rest of your life!

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Is Winning for You?

Don’t know who wrote this poem, but it is packed with truth on the power of commitment.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow—

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Poems are hard to write.

Here is the proof!

Work hard and it will be harder to surrender,

Involvement will not cut it, an ineffective bender,

No matter what comes each day stick to it all the way,

For the victory is closer than you think on that next day. (CF)

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Life in Community

1) Does your life have purpose, meaning and fulfillment?

2) Why not start today leaving a trail of positive memories in the lives of those around you?

3) Are you capable of learning without pain? The pain is what carries the lessons.

4) What is the expectancy of your community? The expectation of great lives is what defines great communities.

5) From where do you draw strength and direction for your life? Do you have the right source?

6) Ignore distractions and focus all your thoughts on the direction you are going.

7) Do you know the real value of failure? Failure is one of those dirty little secrets the most prefer not to talk about.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

2013 - On Sand or On Stone?

Some key questions for you to think while you are down, resting, recovering, recharging, re-energizing. 

1) Which big dream is coming true for you in 2013?

2) Have you realized yet that the freer you are from your ego the more effortless life becomes?

3) Is 2013 the year you will find out the true meaning of your life?

4) Did you know you can create the world you dream of with every choice you make?

5) Do you know the ways to express your natural gifts to the world?

6) Did you know that you have absolute freedom to choose in every instant of your life?

7) Do you take time to remember what is most important in your life?

Take time to be alone and listen! Make sure to follow through with your personal commitments. Carve your dreams on stone and draw your plans on sand since things will change for certain. 

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Trained or Educated?

 Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all - Aristotle

Training and instruction is necessary to make a living, education plus the former are necessary to make a life. We need both if we are to survive and thrive in the faced paced world we live in. People with educated hearts dare to live uncommon lives, lives of significance.

1) What happened? In the last century we moved from the classical education to the industrial age training and instruction. We focused on the logic more than the emotion and on the mind more than the heart and people bought into the idea of paying a lot of money to get a degree so later they could by a job and earn enough money to make a living. Logic has its place but it is emotions that take us where we end up in life. We are emotional beings using logic to justify our decisions.

2) Chase a career or a life? What defines you? Amazing how our jobs and professions ended up defining who we are. We were created to be much greater than our jobs. It made sense during the industrial revolution because there was a massive demand for industrial jobs. Good jobs today still require training; however to live a great life we all need an education. Problem is that it is hard to get the proper education in any University because the only true education is a self-education. The information is available, in excess actually. The challenge is to find the right information from the right sources.

3) Thinking is required to find our purpose? Chasing pleasures instead of purpose leads to a life of quiet desperation. The secular teachings steered us in the wrong direction. Why were we created? We were all created for the glory of our Creator. Imagine paying $60,000 for a college degree and having no idea what your purpose in life is. Imagine having instead a one-pager with a written purpose and plans for your life instead of just a diploma.

4) Are we spending too much for instruction and investing too little for a true education. It is important to have a good school counselor and a mentor, a great life coach. Make sure your life coach has the results in life you would like to have, the lifestyle you are looking for.

5) A true education helps us to move away from self-centeredness, helping us to become servants. Service rules in our highly interconnected world. Serving is all about people/soft skills. Heart skills are more necessary than ever.

6) Why move back to the classical education? A classical education is based on historical truths, on time tested principles. Information comes and goes but principles endure.

7) Where can you go to get started to be self-educated? I may be able to help you if you are willing to be different than the crowd, to go against the current. Remember that it is only by being different that we can make a difference. If we do what everyone does we end up getting what they get, and that is not what we need in order to leave a legacy.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Sick and tired

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? How do we get out of being sick and tired? Here are 7 things to think about.

1) We can get out of being sick and tired. We are the only ones that can change the state of our affairs. The answer is change. Change is painful. The pain is necessary to make the change stick so we don’t go back to our own old selves. As the old saying goes – we cannot take our old selves to a bright new future. Change is a must to if we aspire to live a meaningful life.

2) An attitude check is a great place to start. It is how we see things that matter. It is not what happens to us but how we internalize what happens to us. It starts with the right attitude, right in between the six inches that separates our two ears. We can change the circumstances that surround ourselves. Start thinking about thinking.

3) We imprison ourselves. We create walls around ourselves, sometime so thick everyone can see but ourselves. Self-deception is rational lies we tell ourselves. Self-talk can lead to self-destruction. Stop listening to the world and to yourself and start listening to the truth. It does feel like hell to be in prison. Tough to admit that we put ourselves there and only we can get ourselves out of that state of misery.

4) Get the right information from the right sources. The process of change start in a millionth of a second and it takes a tiny amount of energy. It is a personal decision. No one can do it for us. It takes courage to take the road less traveled. Dare to go through the unbeaten path.

5) Shut off the negativity channels coming in. The media bombards us with information that as a whole enslaves us. Listening to media is a form of addiction. Negativity sells. Pull the plug on all the garbage coming in. Why are we storing all that garbage into our precious and pristine storage space in our brains? Control what goes into your precious space.

6) Help someone in need. Change starts once we take the eyes off ourselves and start helping others. Count your blessings and you will find something good about yourself; something you feel strong about. Then you will go out and listen to the world with different ears. You will realize we are all messed up in some areas of our lives. Start loving yourself for who you are then you can love others for who they are. It is love for others that helps to heal our own wounds.

7) Chase significance and get joy. Life starts with purpose and ends with legacy. We were all created for a purpose. Start there! Be patient with yourself as this is a process and it takes time. Listen to the whispers coming from deep inside you. We all can go from the daily grind, to happiness to joy. We only start living the day we discover our purpose and start living it. A great life journey is like a big wheel. Purpose sets us in motion in the right direction. Eventually inertia and momentum take hold and things start to happen.

What is your legacy going to be?

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Spending time and money

The 7 Habits of Leaders

What do LEADERS stand for?

L-EARNING, E-NCOURAGING, A-CCEPTING,

D-UPPLICATING, E-DIFYING, R-ECOGNIZING, S-ERVING

We can tell a person’s habit by where they put their time and money. Since time is more important than money, true leaders spend their precious time in habits where they can get the biggest bang for their time and money. Leaders put their time and money in the following habits:

1) Leaders have the habit of learning. When we stop learning we start dying. Leaders associate with leaders. Leaders seek advice from mentors. Leaders invest 10% of their income in themselves. All great leaders are great readers. Leaders learn about life for life by being on a proven self-directed education system.

2) Leaders have the habit of encouraging those they lead to realize their potential. Leaders have the ability to recognize ability in others. Leaders understand that encouraging is more powerful than correcting others. Leaders are there when their followers fail.

3) Leaders have the habit of accepting others for who they are. Leaders approve others for their unique gifts and abilities they bring to whatever they do.

4) Leaders have the habit of duplicating themselves. Leaders blaze the trail for others to follow. Leaders know the power of leveraging the right information and the right time. Leaders know that anyone can be a leader. Leadership is a personal decision, a journey, with the humility to follow great leaders.

5) Leaders have the habit of edifying who they follow and who is following them. Leaders have the ability to find greatness in their mentors and those they serve. Leaders defend those that are not present and cannot defend themselves.

6) Leaders have the habit of recognizing achievement. Leaders value contributions and reward them accordingly.  Leaders value action and lessons learned above all else.

7) Leaders have the habit of serving who they follow and who is following them. The greatest leader is the greatest servant. Leaders orchestrate strategies to move their followers forward in the right direction.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Leading by duty

When example is not enough

1) People unwilling to accept responsibility for their actions soon join the mediocre. Mediocrity is boring and demoralizing. Will you join those marching against the current to extinguish mediocrity from our land?

2) How well do you know those you lead and what motivates them? What gets people moving is either a dream or a dread.

3) Are you accountable for the development of your team? Inspire others to be self-motivated for a worthy cause.

4) Leading by example is not enough anymore, we must lead by duty. The war on mediocrity requires men and women who see each battle as our duty to conquer, fortify and domesticate. Yes, wilderness,  it is a wild world out there!

5) How flexible inflexible are you? Bend the rules but never compromise the principles.

6) It is a waste of time to expect people to do the right thing when they know they can get away with mediocre performance or sub par integrity. Start attacking the systemic problems. Correct the system not the people.

7) People have become so self-absorbed, we must break that trend. Will you endure through the pain and suffering that is required to achieve excellence, something greater than yourself?

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

True Leadership

Are you a true leader? 

True leaders speak the truth, live the truth, are the truth. 

Leadership is influence in a positive vision driven direction. We have diluted the word leadership so much in the last few decades that it has become a jargon, meaningless, just as much as we have diluted Christianity. Isn't it time to get back to the fundamentals, back to understanding the basic of leadership? Being a true leader is not easy, yet very rewarding.

1) People flourish around true leaders. True leaders create great stories and use stories to teach those around them. True leaders genuinely love the people they serve.

2) True leaders set direction and charge up those they lead. True leaders also have the humility to learn from those they serve. True leaders create the necessary changes in the mist of chaos.

3) True leaders serve the few that are willing to raise the bar for themselves and their organizations. True leaders develop leaders, disciples that carry on the cause longer after they are gone. True leaders know how to stretch and secure. 

4) True leaders blaze the trail into uncharted territories. True leaders are willing to go where others don’t dare to go. They risk what they have and who they are so those they lead have a chance to have more and be more.

5) True leaders don’t waste time doing things that don’t build true relationships. True leaders know that everything rises and falls on leadership and that there is no leadership without strong relationships. There is no leadership without followership.

6) True leaders create a community where everyone rolls up their sleeves and get to work on what matters most towards worthy causes.

7) True leaders build on strengths of the people they serve. True leaders focus heavily on encouraging others and very little on correcting others.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)

Haw financially secure are you?

Financial security

Here is an interesting way to look at the US government economy. Here is the reality. Take 8 zeros from the government economy and imagine being you or your family.

Your family annual income is $23,000. You spend $38,000. Overspent by $15,000 and put it on credit, called short term debt. Your credit card debt is $164,000, $16,400,000,000,000 government debt. Amazing isn't it. Only in government can this happen. Your credit card company would already have cut your ability to borrow a long time ago. Well, our government goes to the Fed and continues to borrow money. The Fed is not Federal, private bank, with no reserves, therefore the Fed prints notes out of thin air and loans to the government at an interest. Who pays for that interest? We do. Now here comes the BIGGY. You already have a mortgage of $1,140,000. Could you get out of debt? The only answer is no. Well, neither can our government. Adding the 8 zeros back it gives $114,000,000,000,000 of government obligations like social security, Medicare, etc. The reality is that this is NOT sustainable and it will collapse during the current administration. Then the question is how prepared are you for the aftermath of the economic collapse? The government reports an inflation of 4%. The real inflation for most of us is running at about 15%. Is your income growing at 15% so you can keep up with inflation?

1) Where does financial security come from? Security comes from the speed of our learning, knowing and producing. Never waste a second and learn all that you can to protect you and your family.

2) Where does one find security in a volatile world? Invest all you can in you and those around you.

3) How financially secure are you? Security no longer is where it used to be, in a good job. Security today is in multiple streams of income like dividends, royalties, passive income, and profits from businesses that will prosper in an inflationary economy.

4) What are assets and liabilities? Assets put money in our pockets and liabilities take money away from our pockets. Invest in assets and reduce liabilities.

5) Where to invest for a secure future? Have enough short term cash. Have only debt you can service even in the worse economic scenario. Above all, have the ability to generate income from goods and services needed in the new economy.

6) What is your ability to generate income no matter the economic scenario? Be adaptable and continuously expand your entrepreneurial capabilities.

7) Prepare, prepare and prepare. Those prepared ones will prosper in an economic collapse. Economic collapses occur very fast. Those prepared are not surprised by it.

Belong to a community of people that are masters in survival skills. Have the ability to survive independent of economic scenarios.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others!

Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx

Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being a Great Follower)

Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of Reflection, Love, and Legacy)