The Power of Beauty

The Power of Beauty

We can never have enough of nature. Fill your brain with beauty and your life will be changed forever. Thanks to Dan and Tara Cramer we were able to fill our brains with beauty this past Thursday when they graciously allowed us (yours and my nephew Lucas) to be with them for one hour touring their gorgeous greenhouse Country View Showplace, located at 8778 E H Ave, Kalamazoo Township, MI 49048. 

Take a look at the pictures and you will see what I mean. I highly encourage you to visit their Greenhouse to fill your brain with beauty. You will find the most beautiful hanging baskets, flower pots, and even the right plants for the 4^th of July celebration.

Here are today’s 7 daily nuggets:

1.      Have the courage to change the things you can.

2.      Accept the things you cannot change.

3.      It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretations of their significance.

4.      Our utmost ideal is to harmonize our will with nature.

5.      Stop scaring yourself with rash notions, reactive impressions of the way things are.

6.      Things and people are what they are, not the way we wish them to be.

7.      The only power we have is our attitude towards what happens in our lives.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Think about it!

We Become What We Think

We are the product of our own thinking.

1.      Challenges. Difficulties present us with opportunities to turn inward and use our inner resources.

2.      Wisdom. Wisdom is to match inner resources to each incident happening to you.

3.      Purpose. Never allow diversions and amusement to override your true purpose.

4.      Diligence. There is no such thing as vicarious merit, it take diligent work.

5.      Worry. Never be concerned who is watching us or what they are thinking.

6.      Work. We have been given our own work to do so let’s get to it and do our best.

7.      Grow. Who cares what other people think of us. Most people aren’t thinking anyway.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Self Questioning

Great questions to ask ourselves

1.      Why do I worry about things outside my control?

2.      Why don’t I focus entirely on what is truly my concern?

3.      Why don’t I improve the contents of my character?

4.      Why adopt the affairs of others as my own if I don’t like being frustrated, anxious, and a fault-finding person?

5.      Why don’t I master my skills and abilities, perform my duties and learn to think about myself and the relationships within my community?

6.      Why don’t I pursue greatness since it is an equal opportunity, available to me at any time?

7.      Why don’t I focus on what matters most so I can become person of dignity living a noble life?

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Meaningful Living

Purposeful Living

Here are a few things for us to live a meaningful life:

1.      Get rid of the trash. Let’s notice the trash in our lives and get rid of it.

2.      Have the right attitude. There is no barrier too high when we have the right attitude.

3.      Get out of mental bankruptcy. Being bankrupt outside is not as bad as being bankrupt inside.

4.      Have the right measure of success. Measure success by the seeds sowed and not just by the harvest reaped.

5.      Get the right information. The right information acquired from great books and audio immersion therapy applied over time results in a meaningful life.

6.      Think abundance. Abundance can be similar to bankruptcy; gradual at first, then all of a sudden.

7.      Create a culture. Problems get solved when people smell success.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Peace Within

Peace Within

1.      We can only begin to have a meaningful life now. We all can draw a line and start living the life we always wanted right now. Choose to live a life of no regrets.

2.      The principles of living a meaningful life are all learnable and available to anyone. Principles have endured the test of time.

3.      We can only help someone else when we meet them where they are at as equals. Choose empathy over sympathy.

4.      Now is the only time there is. Savor the moments that life brings to you.

5.      Peace is only found within us. It takes self-discipline to go deep within us to find it.

6.      Everyone can be free by exercising free will. We all have the capacity to rise above our circumstances.

7.      Fear is an invitation for us to rise to a higher level of freedom. Never let your fears keep you in bondage.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Humility to Greatness

Humility to Peace

Help is always available if you just ask. It takes humility to recognize we need help. Humility is the hallmark of all great minds.

1.      Don’t react, respond. Do you respond with class or react with rudeness?

2.      I can’t teach you anything. I can only inspire you to ask the right questions to yourself. Can you imagine applying what you know to be true?

3.      We are all responsible for what we see. What lenses are you looking through?

4.      Ask for the right things. Everything that happened to us, in some form or another, we asked for it.

5.      Only complete forgiveness brings us peace within. Are we willing to forgive the wrong done onto us?

6.      We can choose to change all thoughts that are hurting us. Thoughts are real and they make all the difference in our lives.

7.      No form of fear is justified; fear is false evidence appearing real. Why fear what is likely not going to happen anyway?

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

How Free Are We

Freedom is PRICELESS

1.      Our freedoms come from retraining our minds. We all need to unlearn and relearn. How often are you cleansing your mind from obnoxious viruses?

2.      Our minds are capable beyond anything imaginable. Our subconscious mind is two million times more powerful than our conscious mind. Do you know how to connect the two minds?

3.      Our potential is locked behind closed doors that can only be opened by us. What is ahead of us pales in comparison to what lies inside us. Are you developing your skills and abilities?

4.      The only barriers to our happiness are self-imposed. We are the only ones who imprison ourselves. Why be a prisoner of our own circumstances?

5.      Our attitudes determine whether we experience peace or fear and freedom or imprisonment. Our attitudes determine our altitudes. What attitudes are we choosing on a daily basis?

6.      The truth repeats itself. Lessons are repeated until lessons are learned. Why not accept the truth so we start experiencing freedom?

7.      Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself. If you have not achieved the level of success you think you deserve then stop listening to yourself. Why not start listening to those with the results in life you would like to have?

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Psychology of Selling - Part Two

The Psychology of Selling

Part Two

1.      Forget your selling needs, focus on the buyer needs. It’s all about the buyer.

2.      Ask the right questions. Learn all you can about the needs of the buyer.

3.      Make friends. People buy from people they trust.

4.      Detect the buyer needs. Lead by asking the right questions.

5.      Seek incremental agreement along the way. A string of yeses leads to the final YES.

6.      Match the need to the product. No clear need, no sales.

7.      Win/win or no deal. Deliver and serve the customer.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

The Psychology of Selling

The Psychology of Selling

Part One

1.      We all like to buy; none of us likes to be sold. Learn to sell the right product to the right people at the right time.

2.      We don’t like selling yet we are all in sales. Why not get good at the art and science of selling.

3.      Selling is the most misunderstood profession in the world. Learn the basics of the selling process; asking the right questions.

4.      People waste a lot of money because they dislike selling. Selling is all about them, the buyers, not you, the salesman.

5.      Learn and apply the psychology of selling and you will love sales. Selling is all about people and numbers; get good at improving your people skills and the sales numbers will improve.

6.      Everyone can sell because everyone can serve. Selling is meeting the needs of others.

7.      Selling is a process. Reverse the selling process. Great salesmen don’t sell, people buy from them.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

Successful Pros

7 Traits of Successful Professionals

The big rewards always go to the top professionals. Choose your endeavor well and be a pro; put the necessary time in to be one. There are no shortcuts to greatness.

1.      They love what they do. They make us think that it is easy to do what they do. It seems so natural and simple to the untrained eye. They make challenges a game and they have fun playing the games they play.

2.      They have big dreams. All they do feeds their big dreams and goals. They know obstacles are part the game they play. They never quit their big dreams.

3.      They know their purpose. They detected their purpose and learned how to live on the edge, where few dare to go. They exert and release energy for the world to see.

4.      They are masters of their craft. They paid their dues and took the time to become uncommon. They are enthusiastic about getting better and better. They love to compete.

5.      They are tenacious. They are persistent and practice their craft outside the battlefield. They break barriers and go beyond their own limitations. They know that winners never quit.

6.      They are servants. They are always willing to help others to improve. They use their blessings to bless others.

7.      They are surrounded by winners. They have coaches and mentors to help them get ahead. They learn from other professionals but know where they are unique.

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to 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

More to Life

More to Life

Yes, there is more to life than the day to day grind. There is more to life than to chasing the buck, spending our precious time in the pursuit of material things. We all start life with the pursuit of money and/or fame and the few that get plenty of it realize that life is not about money and/or fame. Don’t believe it? Look at the tail end of the lives of many actors, athletes, lottery winners, and even CEOs. The next level of living is to seek recognition and respect from those we respect and trust, typical of career driven individuals. The highest level of living is to live our God-given purpose and to leave a legacy for the betterment of others. Yes, the glory ought to go to those pursuing and living their calling. Here are a few thoughts on more to life:

1.       More than a job. How about doing meaning work? What are you giving in exchange for the money you are receiving?

2.       More than a career. How about fulfilling your purpose? What are you giving up by going up that proverbial corporate ladder?

3.       More than materialism. How about using money as a tool to help others live better lives? Are you leaving the places you go better than you found them?

4.       More than being on the front page. How about leaving the front page for those that do real work? Are you giving credit to those helping you to succeed?

5.       More than being entertained. How about being educated? Are you leveraging your experiences and the experiences of others to become wise?

6.       More than pleasures. How about educating others? Are you willing to exchange those pleasure filled trips with educational trips?

7.       More than being served. How about being the servant?  Are you willing to serve those that the world has forgotten?

Will you join my cause to fight mediocrity in the world? Pass these nuggets on to others.