Nature and Life

We can never learn enough from nature!

1) A family is like a tree – we grow in all different directions from the same roots.

2) Growth is an inside job and it occurs in spurts.

3) Darkness and sunshine are part of the growth process.

4) Withstand the storms that are sure to come and go.

5) The sun shines above all of us providing the energy to keep us alive.

6) We are all tested so we can know how strong we are; some stay down and rot, some get up and grow again, and some withstand whatever storms comes the way.

7) Pruning is done to produce better fruit.

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)

BE, DO, HAVE

You can be more, do more, and have more!

Start by travelling more! 

Be the strategy for action!

Today's photo from Costa Rica is the courtesy of Roy Hunter.

He who says “I have no time to read books” has not learned how to prioritize his time.

Here is a triple dose of nuggets, just in case you missed them last week:

1)      Live your commitments and intentions even if they are difficult.

2)      Your attitude shapes the attitudes and the culture of your community.

3)      Provide a positive experience for those you serve.

4)      A team of thoughtful individuals committed to a worthy cause can change the world.

5)      Leverage the powerful creativity of the individuals in around you.

6)      Your daily choices must be consistent with your vision or you are just wishful thinker.

7)      People resist change; help them to overcome the resistance to change.

8)      Allow others to share their frustrations and you will help them remove their roadblocks.

9)      Help people give up their rights as victims and take responsibility for their lives.

10)  Help others be more instead of just keeping doing more of the same.

11)  Help your protégés grow by encouraging them to use their strengths.

12)  Help others reflect, reframe, and realign their priorities.

13)  Help others to look inwards to unleash their personal power.

14)  Help others to commit to being who they say they are.

15)  Help others to see that “if it is up to be it is up to me” and that all changes start with me.

16)  We have no one else to blame for our failures but ourselves; let’s give credit to others for our success.

17)  Have meaningful conversations with those you love.

18)  We can only change our reality by changing our thinking.

19)  Pick up edification of others; drop gossiping, immediately.

20)  There is no comfort in the safe life; the comfortable man achieves nothing of significance.

21)  Stop listening to your automatic negative self-talk.

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)

Mental Toughness

Friends around the globe, the nuggets are back. Thank you so much for all your birthday wishes. Costa Rica was great. Dre and I had a wonderful vacation there. No phone or emails for one week by choice (tempting for a sanguine/choleric!). I got tons of photos and nuggets. You will see them in the next few weeks.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!

1)      Don’t give in. Never, ever surrender to mediocrity. Be on a quest to fight a good fight. Live up to your duties if you want to live to see your finest hour.

2)      Learn how to deal with fear, danger, and conflict. Yes, you have to be crazy to defeat the enemy, the enemy of being average.

3)      Overcome doubt, keep moving on. If you feel you are going through hell, keep going. You can be a warrior or a wimp, not both. Are your desires greater than the objections you are facing?

4)      Fight bravely; put everything on the line, your reputation, your human dignity. Are you willing to die so others can live?

5)      Be grateful for the troubles in your life. Seek out bigger and bigger challenges. Problem solvers are the ones that get rewarded. Deal with the challenges.

6)      Be bold; take a stand so others can be better for the experience. Do the things that scare you to do. Do the right things regardless of pain, fear, and even ridicule.

7)      Listen to the call to do something great. Learn from those that have lived lives of adventure and be inspired by their stories.

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)

Silence to Significance

Why is it that everyone seems to be so busy? Yet, most live lives of quiet desperation. 

We have become an enslaved society. It is a different form of slavery, dependence slavery. Dependence of materialism, dependence of approval of others, dependence of our government for survival  Many live an illusionary life being imprisoned in a cell they created from their own self-centered selfishness. How can one get out of the misery of living in one’s own prison? We all want to get out and be free, so why don’t we? Perhaps we just don’t know the process or don’t have the right tools.

Let’s get started!

1)      Silence leads to prayer. Why are we so afraid of silence? Why not have the time to reflect and look in the mirror to start finding solutions from a higher power. We become what we pray. Pray for who you are, pray for what you want to be. Ten minutes a day will do it! All of us can pray. 

2)      Prayer leads to faith. It is impossible to pray and not increase in faith. Prayers are like oxygen to our souls. The more we pray, the more we grow in faith. All of us can have faith.

3)      Faith leads to love. Faith is belief in action. When we show belief in those around us we demonstrate we love them. Our actions demonstrate that we care about them. We let others know they can count on us. All of us can love.

4)      Love leads to service. True love creates that burning desire in us to reach out and help those we love. All of us can serve.

5)      Service leads to peace. An overwhelming sense of peace comes when we extend the hand to others we know cannot pay us back. The universe is fully connected. In one way or another, we can all serve. All of us can have peace.

6)      Peace leads to freedom. Freedom is the most powerful force an individual and in a society. Let’s not take the freedom from granted. Think about our founding fathers. Think about what they had to go through to create a free nation. Let’s all do our part to preserve the precious freedoms we all take for granted. All of us can be free.

7)      Freedom leads to significance. There is no end to what a truly free person can accomplish in a lifetime. Prosperity always comes after freedom because freedom leads to prosperity. All of us can live a significant life.

  

Now you know the process you can use to be free and free others. Why don’t you start the 7-step process yourself? Share it with others. Talk about it with others. Above all, remember that eternity is a long time to be wrong!

I have fought many battles over my 57 years of living. The big battles I won, I fought them over my knees.

The world needs you to be a better you today!

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)

Mind Vision

Where there is no vision, people perish!

Vision is seeing with your mind. How big and afar can you see? Can clearly you see with your mind?

1)      A clear vision gives powerful messages to our purpose and focus to all that we do.

2)      A big and clear vision guides us in our daily decisions.

3)      A clear vision generates meaningful realities for those involved in our cause.

4)      Are you committed to 100% of your vision? 99% does not cut it!

5)      We can’t excuse ourselves from the responsibility of not knowing our purpose and the meaning of it.

6)      Our influence and significance comes from creating opportunities for others.

7)      A vision is the difference maker for the people we serve.

Do you love and celebrate the people around you? You can start today. The world needs you to be a better you now!

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)

Wishes to Realities

How about turning wishes into dreams

and dreams into realities?

1)      Learn how to talk with yourself. Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself.

2)      Plug into the right system of information. Systematic learning turns into actions, experiences and wisdom.

3)      Learn about love and miracles. Start with silence and go all the way to freedom. Silence leads to prayer. Prayer leads to faith. Faith leads to love. Love leads to service. Service leads to peace. Peace leads to freedom.

4)      Choose well what to start; finish what you started. Results boost our self-esteem. Choose to be a finisher in a world of starters and quitters.

5)      Have your goodness flow from your heart. Have your deeds match your intentions.

6)      Feel a higher power flowing through you. There is no limit on what you can accomplish when you tap into a divine source of power.

7)      Unleash the power that is dormant inside you. Resolve to apply what you already know. Write your own book of acts not the book of wishes.

The world needs you to be a better you now!

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)

Why Patience in the Time of Impatience?

More patience in the time of instant gratification?

Are we listening to? If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing it well. Measure twice, cut once. Read the instructions or follow the recipe.

Have you noticed how impatient we have all become? Above all, have you noticed the strong sense of urgency and rush we have become accustomed to? Patience is an important virtue, especially in times when it is so rare to see it being exercised. Stop, think, and reflect on why you have become so impatient. You probably will come to the same conclusion as I did.  Noisy lives!

There is a lot of power in patience. Here are 7 reasons why we should be more patient.

1)      Patience leads to health and wealth. Reduce blood pressure, adrenaline rushes, and build better relationships.

2)      Patience helps us to learn and grow. Become a better thinker and doer.

3)      Patience builds tolerance and empathy. Have a loving heart for people.

4)      Patience builds hope and faith. Love yourself and those around you.

5)      Patience helps us make better decisions. Think systematically and see the whole picture.

6)      Patience creates excellence. Patience compounds over time.

7)      Patience feeds our souls and spirits. Grow in humanity.

The secret of life is found in the seconds between stimulus and response. It takes patience to respond instead of reacting to the overwhelming amount of stimulus we are all exposed on a daily basis. Exercise patience and you will be better for it.

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)

PRODUCER OR EXPLOITER?

What do you bring to the world?

Here are 10 things you can bring to the world around you:

1.     Inspiration

2.     Wisdom

3.     Abilities and skills

4.     Confidence

5.     Authenticity

6.     Love

7.     Sharing

8.     Meaning

9.     Caring

10.  Gratitude

Last year I was blessed to be at a powerful talk given by MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo. Tom stated that the biggest problem with youth today is lack of self-evaluation. He went further to say that we, the audience, created the problem. The truth is sweet to our ears. The truth is just that, the truth, neither positive nor negative.

Self-deception is a killer disease, just a difficult to cure as excusitis is. With long term treatment, self-deception can be cured!

Why don’t you take a challenge and answer all the questions below? No rationalizing (telling yourself rational lies!). The first answer is the right answer in this case. Take no more than 10 seconds to jot down the answer to each question. Reflect on your answers. I can assure you will be glad you took the test.

1.      What is your identity?

2.      Are you a victor or victim?

3.      Are you identified by what you do or by who you are?

4.      What have you achieved so far in your life?

5.      Have your contributions been greater than your rewards?

6.      What are you going to be known for?

7.      What is your reputation?

8.      What are you known for?

9.      Are you a giver or a taker?

10.  Are you living a successful or a significant life?

11.  Are you accepting the good life when a great life is available?

12.  Are your comforts greater than your sacrifices?

13.  Where are you looking for security?

14.  How many lives are you positively influencing?

15.  How many people are you helping to lead better lives?

16.  What is your life scorecard revealing to you?

17.  Are you heading in the right direction in life?

18.  Are you just surviving or are you thriving in our fast changing world?

19.  When it is all said and done and your life is over, can you say you did your best?

20.  Are you relieving the suffering of others?

21.  What is your final destination and how many are you taking with you?

America needs you to be a better you now, not later!

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)

Self-Discipline Leads to Self-Mastery

The Power of Self-discipline

Self-discipline is the ability to do what we need to do, when we need to do, whether we feel like doing it or not! Self-discipline leads to self-mastery.

Here are 7 reasons why we need to have self-discipline:

To succeed. Self-discipline is a requirement to conquer ourselves. What does success means to you? Define success. What does the ideal life mean to you? Success is predictable.

To build character. Do what is right. Do what you say you are going to do. Do your deeds match your words?

To take responsibility. Let go of your baggage. Develop the attitude of being responsible in the areas of finance, solving your own problems, no blaming others, and above all controlling your emotions. Are you taking responsibility for your self-mastery?

To set goals and achieve them. Only 3% of people have clear written goals. Are you part of that 3%? Why not? We all have to work hard so why don’t we work hard towards something that matter?

To face the scorecard. What does your scorecard reveal about you? What direction are you going? Are you using your scorecard for planning, doing, checking and adjusting?

To exercise courage. Courage is the ability to face fears and act despite of fears. Fears tell us what we must do next. Most fears are unfounded; fear is false evidence appearing real.

To persist. Nothing takes place of persistence. Do setback energize you or make you crumble? How strong is your ability to respond? Persistence is a state of mind. Be resilient, be resolved!

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)

Individual Counseling

Powerful counsels from a champion

Quarterback Drew Brees’ Nuggets - Part IV

If we could sit down with Drew for a one on one session here is what he says he would say to us:

1) Find a mentor. We all need someone who can keep us grounded and speak truth into our lives. Find people with the results you would like to have in your life and be humble to learn from them.

2) Don’t give up and don’t be afraid to take a few steps back. Get up after every fall. Sometimes we all need to take a few steps backward before we can get momentum to jump over the chasm of life.

3) Turn your defeats into triumphs. Unleash the power within you and be a force for good. The greatest opportunities in life are the ones that test us the most.

4) Dream, be flexible and don’t spectate – be ready. When vision mixes with hard work and commitment, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish. Sometimes our timeline does not coincide with God’s timeline for us. God’s delays are not His denials. Too many of us are caught sleeping at life’s traffic lights. Prepare and your opportunity will come in due time.

5) Hope and see adversity as an opportunity. Believe in something bigger than yourself. In God we find hope. God can use everything in our lives for good, even though it does not seem doable or unfair at the time.

6) Remember who you are. Discover your purpose in life and live it. Be grounded in who you really are and keep doing the right things long enough and you will see the fruit of making the right decisions and sticking with them.

7) Finish strong. Keep things simple in every step and everything you do. Your greatest victories can come you’re your greatest defeats. Come back, come back stronger, and finish big and strong.

Imagine you taking the above counsels to heart? 
Imagine the quantity and quality of the fruit you can produce?

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)