Be a Pro

What separates a professional from an amateur?

Today’s nuggets come from an interview with a local professional. A great pro is the one who impresses us more by who she/he is than by what she/he does; the humility is greater than the amazing ability.

Here are the 7 nuggets we can learn from a professional:

1.      Have a mentor. Many pros start early in life discovering the value of a parent, a teacher or a coach. Remember that teacher or coach that encourage and believe in you more than you believed in yourself? They had faith in you. Becoming a pro can’t be by chance, it is always a choice.

2.      Surround and associate with people that help you to get better. Remember the buddy you had when you were playing a team sport? The one that could read your mind and you could read hers. A buddy or partner that values your strengths and complements your weaknesses has the power to propel you to new heights. As the old saying goes “iron sharpens iron”

3.      Know what you want to become. Know where you are going. Vision is powerful when associated with clear pictures from your destination. Pros has clear pictures for their whole self; their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual beings.

4.      Leverage the power of practice and repetition. Master the fundamentals of your profession. How many shots have Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan hit to become who they are? Analyze the results and be open to feedback. People that are different than you can provide insights to help you become what your vision calls you to be, where your target or aim is directing you. See yourself as others see you. Know the importance of small improvements over time. Learn from every failure and every victory. Make, remake, and refashion yourself continuously.

5.      Control your emotions or your emotions will get the best out of you. Be persistent and consistent. Tantrums have no place in the life of any professional. Keep self-esteem high by having results from serving others. As the medical pros say, mind those bedside manners or you will quickly get into trouble. 

6.      Know your customers, your clients; who you perform or serve. Make everything personal. Like the unlikables if you want to be surrounded by likables later in life. Be more and care more than your competition.

7.      Make the painful bearable. No pain no gain as far as you, not your customers, are concerned. Have that entrepreneurial mind and know that there are things that you don’t like to do that you still must do. Have that mental toughness that makes you cool and collected when under pressure.

A great professional is much greater than his/her profession. They always give back more than they receive. Pros value the intangibles more than the tangibles. True pros make their problems smaller because they are always bigger than any problem they encounter.

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 the Body, Feed the Mind

Only the right thinking gives us the things we fear losing!

Feeding our minds with the right foods is extremely important. There are as many misconceptions about wealthy as there are people lacking wealth. Here is some shocking truth about wealth. We attract the very same things we fear of not having. Yes, it is as simple as that. We fear lack of money, lack of time, lack of love, and lack of health. Therefore we attract our fears and end with no money, busy on frivolous things, with broken relationships, without true love, and with poor health. The key is to feed the mind with the truth to push out the untruth and change our broken thinking. Time for a mental shower?

If you want to eat for one year, invest in wheat. If you want to eat for twenty years invest in trees. If you want to eat for a lifetime, invest in yourself and in people.

From neck down we are worth minimum wage, then why do we spend most of our money there, in our bodies and not in our brains?

Healthy, wealthy and wise people invest a lot more to feed their minds than they spend to feed their bodies. The common denominator of wealthy people is that they invest in themselves and in people; they also give away what they would like to have.The first store to shop is the one with information to correct our broken thinking, perhaps to fix our broken and stinking thinking!

Why not take council from the wealthy if we want to be wealthy?

1.       Spend twice to feed the mind as you do to feed the body. Think of spending as an investment in your temple.

2.       First work for money then put the money to work for you by giving it away as a form of investing it.

3.       Don’t chase security, chase freedom instead. Financial free people have time, money, health, and great relationships. The way to lose the fear of lacking wealth is to give away the things we are lacking; they will come back to us multiplied. The way to be loved is to give love first; the way to have friends and relationships is to be a friend first by giving time to a friend. When we lose the fears of the things we are missing in our lives we end up attracting the same things we fear of losing. Sounds crazy, but it is absolutely true. Take time to reflect on this truth! Your wealth hinges on it.

4.       Wealthy people use leverage and the power of compounding, relying on the compounding of continuous small efforts over time.

5.       Wealthy people are long term thinkers and they exercise delayed gratification.

6.       Wealthy people created their wealth by helping others and being generous givers. They lost the fears of not having time, money, relationships and health by giving those things away first. It is by giving that we receive the things we fear of losing. Stop attracting your fears. Live life fully by being a generous giver.

7.       Wealthy people apply the laws of money to make money, use their time effectively, are masters of building relationships, and invest money continuously to keep their mind, body, soul, and spirit healthy. They conquered the fears of not having what they want by giving those same things away.

Thinking there is security in a job, pension, social security? Think again! Security is no longer where it used to be.

If we don’t like where we are in life, why don’t we stop listening to ourselves and start listening and leaning from people with bigger results than us? This truth had a loud ring in my ears!

Please let me know if the 7 daily nuggets is helping you. I would love to hear from the readers from the 50+ countries reading the nuggets. 

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)

Lessons from the Cross

Yes, He has risen and conquered death. 

There is life after death just like there is spring after winter.

What lessons can we learn from His life, especially during His last few days?

My mother used to tell me that we all have our own crosses to carry. Boy isn’t that the truth? The choice is ours to be victors or victims from our struggles in life. There is no victory without struggle. The next time you face something that seems unbearable, stop for a minute, reflect, get some perspective, it could be the biggest blessing preceding the biggest victory of your life.

Here are 7 lessons we can learn from what happened 2,000 years ago:

1.       Our problem today is not lack of information; our problem today is lack of mental fitness, lack of emotional strength to endure the valleys of life.

2.       True victories only come after struggles. It takes vision, faith, and courage to understand what is happening as we go through our own crucifixion.

3.       We will reap the harvest as long as we endure our struggles and don’t give up.

4.       Suffering is a divine favor. Carry your own cross with grace for there will be immense rewards at the end. Yes, you will be tempted to quit. Quitters never benefit from their struggles.

5.       A life full of struggles is preferred over a life full of half struggles, the life of a quitter . Have you seen a statue raised for a quitter?

6.       Allow yourself to be led or be a follower as you go through the struggles. He conquered death to give us strength to conquer our struggles. Stay the course and know that it is ok to ask for help to carry your cross. Christ needed help too.

7.       Never believe experts who have not carried their crosses yet. If they have not been in the valleys of life, they may have little you can learn from.

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)

Reflection to Wisdom

Those who take the time to reflect become wise. 

No better day to reflect than today, Holy Saturday.

No matter what religion you belong, we can all learn from reflecting on the life of Jesus Christ. His life, death and resurrection left a wealth of teachings for us to reflect on. As a kid I remember the Easter week being a time of reflection. I remember vividly one time taking a walk around the farm and thinking about why people would kill people. Negative thoughts would come along positive thoughts. I remember fighting negatives thoughts early on in my life. I also remember having such peaceful moments after reflection. Later in life I always reflection of the many mistakes I made throughout my over 50 years of living. Every time I came out with a few things I could do differently to learn, grow and live a better life. Reflection is a lost art in the fast paced world we live in today. Take a few minutes today to reflect on the life and death of Christ. You will undoubtedly learn a few things that can help you live a more meaningful life.

What can reflection do for you?

1.       Reflection gives a full perspective on our actions, behavior and life.

2.       Reflection gives us focus on the areas we need to improve.

3.       Reflection gives us a better foundation, a stronger platform for the future.

4.       Reflection is an action that helps us to take better actions in all we do.

5.       Reflection helps us to learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others.

6.       Reflection allows us to realize the good and courageous things we have already done in life.

7.       Reflection gives us the strength to go on and live a better life, a life modeled after Christ.

Have the courage to reflect a few minutes today, every day, and you will develop the habit of reflection. No better time to pick this habit up. We all need it, the world needs it more than ever. Reflection is truly PRICELESS. In my book you will find 22 simple, yet powerful stories of reflection that will help you reflect on your life and realize you too have stories worth reflecting and sharing with 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)

Microwaving Ourselves

Instant gratification is a lot more than lack of discipline. 

Instant gratification comes from the microwave thinking that there is a quick fix solution for everything, a pill solution, for every problem. It comes from the broken thinking that there is a quick fix for a complex problem. Get rid off your stress in 10 seconds!

Just look at the popularity of lotteries and casinos! Why do we buy lottery tickets? Research shows that 95% of lottery winners at worse off 10 years later than prior to winning the lottery. Why is that? The simple truth is that the winners do not have the proper thinking and understanding of money to go along with a large sum of money.

Albert Einstein wisely said that in order to solve problems we need a different level of thinking than when we created the problem. The inability to delay gratification causes enormous loss of energy and money and ultimately failures in every aspect of our lives. It also causes a lot of pain and consumption of pills and drugs without solving the underlying problems. We in fact become train wrecks. You know what I am talking about.

Let’s take a look at what made us such instant gratification seekers, quick fix junkies:

1.       Insatiable desire for quick fixes, from dieting to relationships due to our inability to see that work ethic, behind long term thinking, is the key for every long term, sustained solution.

2.       Hunger for money and power. Easy credit and low cost of technology has compounded the problem. We want it and we want it now mentality. Imagine mortgaging the future for a quick fix.

3.       Inability to learn from the past. Failing to learn from history is planning to fail. Expansion of faulty, broken thinking at a fast and ferocious pace.

4.       Increase of exploiting and decrease in earning and deserving. Increase of welfare and entitlements. Increase in size and centralization of governments. Popularization of the idols of mediocrity at the expense of education and sacrifice.

5.       Lack of reflection time from busyness without purpose and meaning.

6.       Desire to express the me and me, microwave thinking. Getting something for nothing. No wonder Facebook is so popular!

7.       The dumbing down and the lowering of standards in our society; the focus more on rights than responsibilities and the increase of pessimism, negativity, and cynicism.

Never accept an excuse as a reason for not delaying gratification and truly earning what your heart desires. There is an enormous opportunity to create wealth by moving from instant to delayed gratification. Long term thinking and strong work ethic is required!

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)

Commonly Uncommon

We can only make a difference by being different.

How can a person become uncommon in a common world?

What separates the common from the uncommon person?

How can a person live and uncommon life?

Here are 7 ways you can become uncommon:

1.       Consistently work on yourself.

2.       Set and achieve your goals.

3.       Chase freedom by chasing your dreams.

4.       Serve others and help them find and live their purpose, their cause.

5.       Love others for who they are and see greatness in them; they will match your expectation.

6.       Help others overcome the resistance to change and grow.

7.       Develop strong relationships and help others do the same.

The common man achieves little. 

There is no competition for a dream chaser and freedom fighter.

Be uncommon and leave a legacy for centuries to come.

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)

A Powerful Habit

Our thinking creates our habits. 

We are the product of our thinking. 

How about creating the habit of setting and achieving goals? 

Think you can and you will; think you can’t and you will not.

Goals are dreams with deadlines. 

Develop the habit of linking your goals to your dreams. Attach your dreams to your goals.

Brian Tracy has helped many people achieve their goals and dreams. 

Here is Brian Tracy’s Seven Step Process for Setting and Achieving Your Goals.

First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!

Second, write it down, clearly and in detail.

Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order.

 Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list.

Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority.

Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!

Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Now you know the necessary steps to set and achieve your goals and dreams. 

Follow a proven process to get the results so you too can live an uncommon and a significant life.

The life you always wanted to live is still possible. Go forth and live the life of your dreams.

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)