True Wealth

Money and Relationships

Most people struggle in these two fundamental areas of life: money and relationships.

Can you imagine a life with plenty of free time and money along with great relationships?  

How come only a small minority of people live such lives?

What is the secret to a wise way of living?

Today we shed some light into what has been no secret for thousands of years. Let’s look at what is missing from most people’s lives and what to do about it:

1.      People don’t lack intelligence, they lack will. Motivation comes from the will to succeed. The lack of will can come from a variety of sources: poor self-talk, poor attitude, lack of hunger, lack of discipline, lack of focus, lack of vision, lack of character, etc. Intelligence is no predictor of success, will is.

2.      People lack guidance from a coach. Get a coach and follow the advice. When the student is ready the teacher will appear. If Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have coaches who are we not to have one? They got to where they are because of following the advice of great coaches and doing what they suggested.

3.      Lack of purpose. Define what you want out of your life. The lack of will comes from the lack of purpose. Define your dreams and goals. Your purpose is found in the intersection of your passion, your potential, and your profit. Own and chase your dreams instead of being part of someone else’s dreams.

4.      People’s lather is leaning against the wrong wall. Master the right profession. Wrong vehicle, laziness, distractions, and comfort. Find the right lather to climb and do the work. Develop marketable skills. Invest in yourself all that you can.

5.      Lack of keeping score. Choose to live reality instead of an illusion. Why many people keep score for someone else and not for themselves? Face the scoreboard and make adjustments to get back on course.

6.      Lack of control in personal finances. Get control of personal finances. Make more than you spend. Spend less than you make. Simple, yet how many people live by these simple rules of money? Understand money and use the right money management tools.

7.      Train wreck in relationships. Take ownership for your relationships. Understand what builds trust in relationships and use the right tools to keep them tight.

What is plaguing you? Be accountable to yourself. Start fixing one thing at a time. In a few years you will be living the life you always wanted. Don’t look at others for comparison, look at your own self.

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

Knowing and not doing is not knowing!

1.      Do you know what you don’t know? There is so much we don’t know. Could what we don’t know be hurting us? Know what you don't know.

2.      Do you know what you need to know? Much of what we know is not so. Know what you don’t know.

3.      Do you know what you know? If you know and don’t do you don’t really know. Knowing and not doing is not knowing. Know what you do know.

4.      How much do you know that you don’t even know? Imagine knowing so much you don’t even know all that you know. Don't know what you know. The wise call this stage wisdom. 

5.      What are you doing to continuously educate yourself? Self-education is the only true education. Self-education is going to school majoring in life (living intentionally for excellence) to learn what matters most at the expense of what matters least.

6.      Are you consistently learning and leveraging a proven system of self-education?  If the system you are following is not working plug in one that does. Why not have wise people instead of credentialists choose the curriculum for our self-education?

7.      What separates the champions from the masses? Champions are voracious readers, independent thinkers, ingenious doers, and have the right scorecard to improve their performance. Everyone can be a champion in life. How many can be champions in sports?

Solutions rarely come from within the establishment!

Solutions come when we put:

1.      Brains over muscle,

2.      Wisdom over intellect,

3.      Freedom over security,

4.      Community over government,

5.      Entrepreneurship over employment,

6.      Work over jobs,

7.      Excellence over mediocrity.

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

Facing Obstacles?

Facing Obstacles?

At some point in our lives we all hit difficulties, obstacles, storms, and what seem unsurmountable at the time. Look beyond the obstacles, look on the other side of them, and you will see what you are looking for. Success only comes after failure. Success is always found on the other side of inconvenience. 

Never forget that spring comes after winter. 

The nuggets today offer hope through 7 words to reflect and act. Enjoy them!

1.      Lead. Pull, don’t push others.

2.      Rascal. Be the brain others rejected to become the brain they wished they kept.

3.      Value. What are you really offering the world?

4.      Vision. Hold on to your vision; it is the most valuable asset you have.

5.      Serve. The more you yield the more power you have.

6.      Persuade. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

7.      Influence. Influence is like love, the more you give the more you have.

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

Choosing the Destination

What is your destination?

What separates the few, the 1%, the great, from the mediocre?

The great have the right compass, the right GPS, to take them to the right destination. They take the road less travelled so they can learn and enjoy their journeys. The mediocre have no compass and no GPS so they are prone to arrive anywhere.

The great have a road filled with learning experiences; the mediocre with experiences unfortunately common to most mortals. 

Let’s look at the their journeys:

1.      Destination. The destination for the great is a town called Excellence so they plug it into their GPS. The destination for the mediocre is a town called Mediocrity where no GPS is needed to get there since there is one Mediocrity everywhere you go. It is very easy to find Mediocrity. At start the people going to Mediocrity often laugh at the people going to excellence. People going to excellence are crazy; why would anyone want to go there? It is a very small town, not many people there!

2.      Rest Area one. The great stop at a town named Dreams. The mediocre stop at a town named Wishes. The great feed their brain first, then their stomachs. The mediocre first feed their stomachs then there is no money left to feed their brains. As a matter of fact, people going to wishes, feel they don’t have enough time or money and don’t want to talk with others about going to Dreams.

3.      Rest Area Two. The great stop at a town named Goals. The great take a few minutes to visualize what it is going to be like the arrival at Excellence. The mediocre stop at a town named Distractions. People going to Goals read a chapter of a great book. People going to Distractions check their Facebook to see what their friends are up to.

4.      Rest Area Three. The great stop at a town named Strategy. The great make sure they know where they are going and how they are getting there. The mediocre stop at a town named Procrastination to get a few drinks. The hangover causes a little delay!

5.      Rest Area Four. The great stop at a town named Feedback to refuel, reframe, and look at their scorecards. The mediocre stop at a town named Entertainment to listen to their favorite band, to be social and to be seen. They post many pictures in Facebook and Pinterest.

6.      Rest Area Five. The great stop at a town named Success. They take a deep breath and thank God and all the people they met during the trip. The mediocre stop at a town named Failure to have a pity party with their friends. There are a few kegs waiting for the big party.

7.      Last Rest Area. The great stop at a town named Significance. They thank their Creator for the exhilarating journey. They love the arrival as they see their mentors and followers with welcoming banners and flags. The mediocre stop at a town named Insignificance to occupy the town and complain how unfair the people in Significance live in comparison with the people in Significance.

Here is a chart I like (from http://coachdayne.com/mediocrity-vs-excellence/)

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

For Aspiring Leaders

FOR ASPIRING LEADERS

Leaders are:

1.      Listeners. Leaders look, they observe with heart and feelings. 

2.      Emotional. Leaders bond, they recognize humanity in others.

3.      Aware. Leaders are situational, they question as they inspire others.

4.      Doers. Leaders are action-driven, flexible, humorous, role model for character as they do what they say.

5.      Empowering. Leaders are givers of feedback and tough love.

6.      Responsible. Leaders are resolute risk takers with conscious and a solid core.

7.      Synergistic. Leaders create their luck by synchronizing and attracting desired results from expressing their souls, their humanity.

How would you rate yourself in the seven qualities above? Give a 1 for not in me and a 10 for fully embedded in me for each of the seven qualities. Total is between 7 and 70. 

Which quality do you embody the most? Which one do you embody the least?

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

Date Your Dreams

True Fun

Can you imagine being able to see and having no vision?

We only start living when we can see clearly with our mind instead of our eyes.

Here are today's 7 daily nuggets. enjoy them!

1.      The heaviest weight is the weight of guilt. Tears help to clear a real man’s vision. Have you thought about unloading the weight you have been carrying?

2.      True fun is found where there is true love.  Love to live, love to learn, love to serve. Why are you here?

3.      Compassion is always present where there is kindness and forgiveness. Can you think of a situation where you demonstrated compassion? How did it feel?

4.      Respond to criticism with empathy. Hard to do but very effective. Have you tried it before?

5.      Never go back to your past to get advice for your future. Live forward instead of backwards. Go to those that have been where you want to go to get advice. They may tell you where the land mines are.  Did you know that live backwards is e-v-i-l?

6.      Always give more than you ask for. It’s called value. Why not be a person of value?

7.      Life without dreams becomes pretty mundane. Put a date to your dreams so they can turn into goals. Area your dreams clearly defined and dated? How can you date your dreams if your dreams don’t have a date?

You are free to share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

Choices!

Choices!

We are the product of our thinking, our decisions, and our choices.

Male by birth, man by choice! Where have all the men gone? Complacent no more!

Today, January 25, 2014, I do hereby declare, by the power conferred to me as a common citizen of this great land, Manhood Day. We had our feminist movement, is it time we choose to start a manhood movement?

1.      Choose dreaming over settling. The day we stop dreaming is the day we start dying!

2.      Choose freedom over security. The greatest risk is not taking risk!

3.      Choose education over training. Education gives you a life, training gives you a living!

4.      Choose investing over frivolous spending. The wealthy invest in assets, the poor spend in liabilities.  

5.    Choose being a producer over being an exploiter. Producers protect freedom, exploiters kill freedom!

6.      Choose excellence over mediocrity. Why mediocre minds attack the character of those pursuing excellence? Drop a comment if you know the answer.

7.      Choose faith over fear. We don’t lack intelligence we lack faith! Faith shrinks fear.

One individual can make a difference. History is full of examples.

If you are a man thank you for sharing these nuggets with other men in your social circles. Love your woman because she needs your love.

If you are a woman, support your man and please share these nuggets with other women in your network. Respect your man because he needs your respect. 

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.

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)

It is POSSIBLE

Take IM off the  IM-POSSIBLE

1.      If you want a great life seek help from those that have one and do the work to deserve it.

Are you humble enough to ask for help?

2.      Sacrifice without destination and purpose is pure punishment.

How can you be blessed without sacrificing for a worthy dream?

3.      When you sacrifice to help others get their dreams you get yours.

What is burning inside you?

4.      Belong to a community with a nurturing environment that promotes excellence. Why not step out of the current of mediocrity and chase something that matters?

5.      We get what God pictures for us by visualizing and going after it.

Have you earned what God has in store for you?

6.      You wake up today with the things you said thank you for yesterday.

Have you counted all your blessings today?

7.      Learn from your mentor enough to make you uncomfortable to take appropriate actions.

How uncomfortable are you?

Can you share the nuggets with others?

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. 

Be a giver in a world of takers!

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)