Growing or Dying?

Growing or Dying?

Growth is the only evidence that we are truly living. Our growth comes from our daily choices. We are either green and growing or ripe and dying. If you are at a dead end you can rise up and start living. I often hear people, specially baby boomers, say "I only have x years before I can retire." They can't wait for the retirement day. What a sad state of mind that is. Then what? Watch out, the golden years can become copper years. I have been blessed to see the lives of many retirees years after retirement. Many live selfish lives, purely for themselves. They will tell you they are happy yet it is written all over their faces they aren't. Let alone the evidence of what they say convicts them.
Here are 7 signs that we are still growing and prospering:

1.      We accept who we are. Allow the growth to begin!

2.      We accept others as they are and where they are. Allow others to grow at their own pace. Love them where they are at.

3.      We appreciate and value the simple things in life. Take the time to smell the roses, and then water them!

4.      We have a sense of humor. Humor lightens up the load we carry.

5.      We enjoy the present. Life is made up by little moments of joy. Never forget that there is no joy without some pain preceding it! Help others through their pain.

6.      We look forward to every new day. Have the expectancy great things will happen and they will. Think of a future bigger than your past.

7.      We accept responsibility instead of placing blame. The secret of a great life is found in the seconds between stimulus and response. Be response-able!

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

Toughen Up

Toughen Up

1.      The best way to celebrate life is by living intentionally for excellence. Dealing with reality is part of growing up. Getting old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

2.      A mentor is the most trusted person in your life. The time a mentor invests in you is truly a PRICELESS gift. Take a mentor’s counsel seriously.

3.      Give up the convenient to have the sacred. Do what others are unwilling to do so you can have what they will never have. Be defined by who you are and not by what you do!

4.      You have nothing to prove anyone if you are running away from the masses. If you do what others do you will get what they get, not much. Are you getting trained to be dependent on someone else or on your ability to take responsibility?

5.      Best time is in your life occurs between a great idea and when the world recognizes it. The world is full of great ideas. Are you willing to immerse into your idea like your life depended on it?

6.      Learn and grow and help others do the same. Meet people where they are at. However, love them enough to tell them the truth the right way.

7.      Live a transparent life so others can be transformed by seeing through you. If you want to lead others be who you really are. Be human!

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)

Lead by Duty

Lead by Duty

This coming from Mr. Positivity?

We arrived at a point in America we need to lead by duty. Leading by example is no longer enough! We have the duty to protect and preserve our nation for future generations. This is the first time in our history where our children will inherit a country much weaker than we found economically, morally, spiritually, and politically. The current must change!

Wouldn't you like to think the best days for America are ahead and not behind us?

Are we another imploding Roman Empire? The enemy is definitely within. The enemy is big brother that keeps getting bigger and bigger and enslaving little brothers. We can notice the mediocrity that has purposely spread across the land!

1.      All of us have been called to serve. Have you felt compelled to lead yet, to do something to change the current of mediocrity swapping the land?

2.      Learn how to choose great leaders and follow them. Who are you following? Do they have the character, the results, and are they willing to invest in you?

3.      A true leader is armed with love and truth. How much ammunition do you have? Will your ammunition to the job?

4.      Emulate the character, conduct, mannerism of your leader. What traits are you seeking for yourself? Can you easily see them in your leaders?

5.      Spend time with leaders, listen, and follow their counsel. What percent of your time are you investing in your leadership? What tools are you using to learn, grow, and apply what you learn?

6.      Stand up and stand behind your leader. Are you willing to take the bullets when they start flying? Is your leader willing to take the bullets for you?

7.      The enemy is ready to attack. We must step up and out and start doing something significant with our lives. Are you willing to stand out of the crowd? Are you willing to go against the current and persist until the current changes in your favor?

No matter whom you are. You can make a difference, a big difference, if you lead by duty like our armed forces have done and our founding fathers did.

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)

Freedom or Bondage

Freedom or Bondage

1.      Producers lead a society to freedom. Be a producer. America needs you now more than ever. We need more grasshoppers jumping over the status quo.

2.      Exploiters lead a society to bondage and slavery. Be a contributor. Do it by duty.

3.      Success involves risk. Take calculated risk. There is no safety in security.

4.      Failure involves pain. Think of pain as an opportunity to grow. No pain no gain.

5.      Managers want authority, leaders take responsibility. Take responsibility. Be a problems solver.

6.      Best way to fight fear is to grow in faith. Grow in your faith. Without faith we are nothing.

7.      Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself. Tell positive things to yourself. Nothing positive ever comes out of negativity.

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)

The Information Age

The Information Age

The main problem with the information age is too much information, the excess crud. The most valuable lesson from the information age is the high value of the right information. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to find the right information in the midst of so much noise. The right information is becoming rare. And because it is rare it is valuable; therefore, worth paying for it.  Yet most people want great information for free. So why pay for good information? The reason is simply because it is worth it. The right information starts a chain reaction. Here are the chain reactions:

1.      The right information leads to the right thinking. Another way to state it - the right thinking comes from the right information. Are you getting the right information from the right sources? If not, check your sources and get information from those that have the right thinking.

2.      The right thinking leads to the right actions. Another way to state it - the right actions come from the right thinking. Are your actions coming from the right thinking? If not, go back a step and change your thinking.

3.      The right actions lead to the right results. The right results come from the right actions. Are your results coming from the right actions? If not, go back a step and take the right actions.

4.      The right results lead to the right habits. The right habits come from the right results. Are your habits coming from your results? If not, go back a step and until you get the right results.

5.      The right habits lead to the right character. The right character comes from the right habits. Is your character coming from the right habits? If not, go back a step and develop the right habits.

6.      The right character leads to the right destiny. The right destiny comes from the right character. Is your destiny coming from your character? If not, go back a step and work on your character.

7.      The right destiny leads to the right legacy. Our destiny is our legacy. The right legacy comes from the right destiny. A great legacy leaves a positive ripple effect. Is your legacy coming from your destiny? If not, go a step back and work on you destiny.

We are leaving the information age and have entered into the conceptual age, the entrepreneurial age or the entrepreneurial community age. If we ignore the new economic age, because we are close-minded or unwilling to change, then wealth will most definitely ignore us. No wonder so few people get to the end of the chain. What step are you at? There is no short cut to leaving a legacy!

What is your legacy? What do you want to be remembered by?

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)

Greatest Fear

1. Our greatest ought to be we will succeed at something it does not matter.
2. It takes courage to succeed at something that matters.
3. Courage is earned.
4. Courage is built one experience at a time.
5. We become products of our own courage.
6. We only do what we believe we can.
7. Choose to be courageously happy.

Blessings,
Carlos Fontana

Minding Business Not Busyness

Mind Business Not Busyness

Are you minding your business or your busyness?

Many people are busy; well, so are the ants and the bees. The question is what are you so busy about? How productive are we? We Americans are so obsessed with being busy. 

Busyness gives a false sense of importance. Ask yourself, am I getting the results I want by being so darn busy? Many people don’t know why they are so busy. Do you? 

Here are a few nuggets to turn busyness into productivity, to stop minding your busyness and start minding your business.

1.      Live by your priorities instead of your obligations. Set your priorities based on your dreams and goals not your obligations. Is entertainment and pleasures eating up your time?

2.      Busyness often leads to stress and stress leads to ineffectiveness. What are you so busy about? Focus on the important instead of all the urgent things. Remember the urgent yells while the important only whispers at you. Oh, and books don't ring.

3.      Shut down the media noise. Constant Negative News (CNN) is just noise you can live without. Unplug tube or even the cable attached to it and plug into great books. How useful is to know the things you have no control over?

4.      Take control of your schedule. Guard your time because it is the most valuable thing you have. Who is controlling your schedule?

5.      Think gadgets as your slave and master them. Are you leveraging technology or is technology leveraging you? Are your gadgets your master or your slave?

6.      Kill distractions. Yes, kill them by being on guard since they are all around you just waiting to get your attention.

7.      Kill procrastination. Get the right things done right when they need to get done. Eat those big frogs first and stop delaying the most important things that need to get done.

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)