More valuable than gold

Old Gold

Take these old golden nuggets and use them; only if you want to live a better life.

1.      Self-assessment. An honest self-assessment is the key to personal growth. Choose to get better.

2.      Self-deception. Self-deception is lethal to happiness. Be true to yourself.

3.      Responsibility. Accept full responsibility for your actions. Accept the consequences from your actions.

4.      Avoidance. Avoid being a prosperous fool. Chase the right goals and dreams.

5.      Prosperity. True prosperity is ruled by wisdom. Wealth offers no immunity to error and stupidity.

6.      Kindness. Acts of kindness are never wasted. They cost little and they are priceless for those receiving them.

7.      Self-indulgence. Self-indulgence and ego are dangerous propositions. Choose restraint.

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

Your Legacy

What is your legacy?

Leaders leave a legacy. What is your legacy going to be?

1.      Relationships. Leaders leave memories in the hearts of others for centuries to come.

2.      Significance. Leaders make a difference by improving the lives of others.

3.      Integrity. Leaders make their words come to life and remain whole their whole life.

4.      Inspiration. Leaders inspire and liberate others by encouraging them.

5.      Aspirations. Leaders have a vision and follow a proven process to realize their vision for the betterment of the community their serve.

6.      Courage. Leaders are known for their courageous actions.

7.      Communication. Leaders are communicators and connectors. Leaders let their lives speak. Leaders let their significance leave clues for their followers.

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

You choose

Significance or Mediocrity?

What are you chasing or settling for?

1.      The decision. It all starts with making a personal decision either to live a significant life or not to decide to live a mediocre life. Will you make the decision?

2.      The depth. Take a close look at what is going on beneath the surface of your living. What is the depth of your life?

3.      The truth. Face the truth by taking a self-assessment or inventory of you. Are you being self-deceived?

4.      The patterns. Look for patterns where you are spending your time, money, and energy. Are you converting or wasting your potential energy?

5.      The barriers. Find the barriers you created for yourself: lack of energy and passion, negativity, impatience, lack of depth in relationships, etc. Are you breaking through your own barriers?

6.      The purpose. The above will help to discover your purpose, the reason for living and using precious oxygen. Are you just sucking up oxygen because it is free?

7.      The changes. Remember that lasting changes require having a crystal clear purpose, facing the truth, and taking action based on correct knowledge. How are you dealing with change?

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

Deal with it

Deal with it

How well can you handle adversity?

1.      Dealt with conflict. How well can you handle conflicts in your life?

2.      Have courage. Do you have the intellectual and emotional intelligence and the will to handle adversity?

3.      Spiritual strength. Do you have the spiritual strength to handle stressful situations?

4.      Deal with stress. Get control of your life. Stress is not the enemy in our lives, the lack of energy is.

5.      Learn to recover. Are your stressful periods followed by periods of recovery to refill your energy reservoir?

6.      Welcome change. Change is difficult for all of us because we are creatures of habit.

7.      Tap into your own resources. Our most powerful resources are the will and the discipline to resolve conflict and handle adversity.

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 Champion

Think like a champion

1.      Turn rejection into positive energy. We have an unlimited amount of energy. Use your energy at the right time, the right place, for the right reason.

2.      Turn any relational pain into positive energy. Resolve the conflicts in your life. Take the lead to make the wrongs right even if you are not at fault. Give grace.

3.      Choose not to be offended. We all have the ability to rise above being offended.

4.      Believe you can be a champion. If another person has done something great so can you; if never done before, be the 1^st to do it.

5.      Make an art out of friendship. Success attracts enemies. Learn all you can from your opponents. Turn your enemies into friends.

6.      Be the first to apologize. Be the one to apologize the most.

7.      Pile up skills. All people skills required to live a great life can be learned. Lessons are repeated until lessons are learned. Only compare yourself with you. Get better every day in every way.

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

We reap what we sow

Today is the day

Today is the day we can start making our sowing greater than our reaping.

1.      God’s law.  The Parable of Sower can be found in Matthew 13. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

2.      Nature’s law. The law of the farm states that when we plant corn we have the potential to harvest corn. When we plant wheat we have the potential to harvest wheat. When we plant tomatoes we harvest tomatoes. We must plant before we can harvest. Nature has the capability to multiply our bounty when applied properly.

3.      The principles in the law. The principles in the natural law of the farm are sequenced and timed: perspective, planning, preparation, planting, prevention, protection, and performance. Violating these principles is asking for a poor harvest or no harvest at all.

4.      The application of the law. The law of the farm is a natural law from God. It applies in all that we do and all that we are. Think about the parable, you being the sower and the people around you being the ones where the seeds land.

5.      Delay gratification. Patience is a virtue. There is a time for everything. We certainly cannot reap before we sow, can we?

6.      Long term thinking. Save the best seeds. Never run out of seeds. It pays to invest in the best seeds.

7.      The Power of compounding. Each seed carries the genetic potential to produce a great harvest. Match the seed with the ground where the seed will grow.

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

Will you?

Got skills?

Are you converting your potential into results? How can we win in this crowed and competitive world? Turn abilities into skills. We are all endowed by our Creator with hundreds of abilities. Are you turning those abilities into skills? Here are a few reminders to get your juices flowing today. Drop me a note if you like these nuggets.

1.      Be more. In order to have more in life we must be more. What are you doing to learn and grow? Are you applying the truth what you already know?

2.      The greatest ability. A person greatest ability is to discover abilities in others. Are you discovering and helping to bring out the abilities in others?

3.      The thinking. Our thinking got us where we are today. Do you want to have more? Develop the thinking of professional champions.

4.      The giver. Be a giver in a world of takers. Be a producer in a world of exploiters.

5.      Master of one. Be a Jack of all trades but a master of one. What skill are you mastering?

6.      Value. Be a person of value. Give more than you take for what you provide to others.

7.      Legacy. What do you want to be remembered by? Are you measuring your life by the seeds you are planting or are you just plucking the fruit from someone else's tree? Are you eating the seeds you ought to be planting?

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