Orrin Woodward's American Dream

Orrin Woodward shares a glimpse of his chidhood in this fascinating article on the American Dream. Every child grows up with dreams. Sadly, most are beaten out of the by the time they are 25 years old. Orrin, however, is different. He refused to give up his dream and because of that, many are accomplishing their goals and dreams within the LIFE Business. I encourage everyone to read Orrin's Top 100 Leadership book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE, if he or she desires to chase the dream. Here is the article.

The American Dream
When I was a young, growing up in the small town of Columbiaville, Michigan, I loved watching and competing in sports. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat taught me so many lessons that I applied to life. In fact, I believe the lessons I learned from watching, playing, and modeling my favorite athletes helped form who I am today. Furthermore, because of my sports heroes, I became an avid reader of sports biographies, learning many of their secrets to success.

I had no idea how instrumental the hundreds of books read of my sports heroes would affect me. In truth, it wasn’t until I began teaching leadership for a profession that I realized what an impact my early reading had on my life. The numerous stories of young men who dreamed, struggled, and persevered until they had their victory, taught me that anything is possible in life if one is willing to work hard enough and endure through the expected setbacks.

Perhaps I was naive and should have known better, but my meritocratic world-view was shaped by my playing, watching and reading about competitive sports – one of the last remaining bastions of a performance based meritocracy.  In other words, in the competitive arena of sports, no points are given because of your previous record, your family’s background, or your ability to talk smack. Each game has pre-defined rules, an impartial referee, and competitors who begin equal with the right to become unequal based upon their performance as individuals and as teams.

In high school, I suffered from severe low self-esteem, constantly viewing others as better than myself. In many ways they were better, however, I carried it to the extreme, typically defeating myself before the competition even began. It’s hard to hide from the scoreboard, especially when you are a runner and wrestler. All eyes are upon you and you cannot blame anyone else for a lackluster performance. The scoreboard provides the facts for both victories or defeats.

Although starting late in both endeavors (junior year), I rapidly improved through hard work, great coaching, and experience, ultimately receiving several awards – most improved wrestler my senior year  (losing 5-2 to the national record holder for pins in a high school career),  All-Genesee County in Cross-Country, and anchoring the 2 mile relay in track that set the school record.  I say all of this, not to relive high school sports, but to share a key principle learned. It’s only through the willingness to endure painful experiences, persistent practices, and constructive feedback that a person can separate himself from the crowd. Simply put, meritocracy demands performance.

With my foundational principles formed along with a Manufacturing Systems Engineering degree from GMI-EMI (now Kettering), I boldly entered into my professional career. I believed through the application of the same principles that had helped me achieve success in competitive sports, that I would quickly rise to the top at GM. However, nothing could have been further from the truth.

It’s not that my career didn’t start well enough. For in less than three years of working full time, I was awarded four patents, was in the process of winning a national technical benchmarking award and received a 19% raise. Additionally, my division committed to covering all my tuition expenses for the #2 nationally ranked MBA program though University of Michigan. I was living the life I had dreamed, being on the fast-track at General Motors and developing a tight relationship with the Director of Engineering of our multi-billion dollar Delphi division.

So What Went Wrong?
One of the most painful moments in a person’s life is when he realizes there is no port of call for his ship of dreams. In other words, even people who work hard, waiting for their ship to come in, will find they waited their life away. The old plan of working hard, getting good grades, going to college, and getting a good job with benefits is DEAD! In fact, it’s rotting corpse has been buried for years.

My personal realization of this fact came when Laurie was pregnant with our first child. Naively, I went to my boss and explained to him my dilemma. Laurie was working as an accountant, but we both wanted her to be a stay-at-home mother to raise our family. I asked my boss what I needed to do in order to be promoted to 8th level and receive a company car. I knew it would take this level of income to fulfill the plan of having Laurie home.

One can imagine my shock when I was told that I was only 25, and no matter how hard I worked, or what I accomplished, I would not be promoted until at least 30 years of age. Moreover, our division had over 100 extra 8th levels already so being promoted at 30 was a long shot. Talk about a bubble being burst! This was a blow below the belt that I was completely not expecting. I felt like a rat in the proverbial rat race, running around the maze as fast as I could with dead ends everywhere I looked. I vowed to get out of the rat race, no matter how difficult or painful.

John Wooden: Laboring Under Correct Knowledge

John Wooden was the greatest basketball coach in NCAA history. His teams were known for hustle, teamwork, and competition. LIFE Business Founder Orrin Woodward is known for similar qualities. He refuses to be outworked; he loves to work as part of a team; and, he loves honest competition. Orrin has said many times, true competition creates cooperation. What team are you part of? Perhaps, like John Wooden and Orrin Woodward, it's time for you to start playing to win.

On October 14, 1910, in Hall, Indiana, into a Dutch-Irish family, John Robert Wooden was born.  The farmhouse, where he grew up, had few of the modern day conveniences, like running water or electricity, but young John was given something much greater by his parents, an unbeatable work ethic.  In Wooden’s nugget filled book Wooden, written with Steve Jamison, he reveals the secret to his superhuman work ethic, “My dad, Joshua, had great influence on my own personal definition of success, . . . . one of the things that he tried to get across to me was that I should never try to be better than someone else.  Then he always added, ‘But Johnny, never cease trying to be the best you can be. That is under your control. The other isn’t.’ . . . . The concept that success is mine when I work my hardest to become my best and that I alone determine whether I do so, became central to my life and affected me in a most profound manner.”  Wooden may not have won every contest he entered, but he was rarely, if ever, outworked.  This legendary work ethic, one of the cornerstones of Wooden’s success, led a farm boy from the fields of Indiana, to UCLA, in Los Angeles, leading to ten NCAA titles in his last twelve years, including a record seven in a row.  There are many qualities that can be learned from John Wooden, but central to his philosophy and life was his mastery of his profession by the consistent and persistent work ethic over time.

As a player at Purdue University, Wooden was not blessed physically with a Michael Jordan frame, but he maximized what he was given, quickness and speed, through sheer determination and work ethic.  In fact, Piggy Lambert, Purdue’s coach for 29 years, said that Johnny was the best-conditioned athlete that he ever coached in any sport.  Strong words of praise from Lambert, who won 11 Big Ten basketball titles as head coach at Purdue. Wooden said, “Later, I applied the same philosophy to our teams: focus all your effort on what is within your power to control. Conditioning is one of these things. How your mind functions is another.”  Wooden’s legendary work ethic, led Purdue to the 1932 Helm’s Foundation unofficial national championship, and him into the college hall of fame.  But to Wooden, the fame of winning was secondary to the inner peace of knowing that one has done his personal best.  Wooden’s definition of success exemplifies this, “Success is the peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”  In other words, one can lose, but still win, if he did his personal best.  On the other hand, one can win, but still lose, if he didn’t do his personal best.  This philosophy imbued all of his teams with an unquenchable drive for excellence night in and night out.  Wooden believed that the external scoreboard was secondary to the internal scoreboard, where players competed more against themselves, rather than the competition, to reach their potential, he explained, “Championships were never the cake; they were the icing. Doing our best was the cake.”

Wooden coached high school basketball for eleven years before moving into the NCAA by accepting the head coaching position at Indiana State.  After two years there, in which Wooden led his Indian State team to the NAIB finals, Wooden, in 1948, accepted the head coaching position at UCLA.   He was led to believe that UCLA would soon have a state of the art basketball facility to support his efforts.  However, the promise wasn’t fulfilled until nearly seventeen years later, forcing his UCLA teams to practice under less than optimal conditions.  To say that the UCLA facilities were outdated would be an understatement, with many modern high schools having better training facilities. It’s hard to imagine, but Wooden’s future UCLA dynasty practiced basketball on the third floor of the old Mens Gymnasium, the same floor that both the gymnastic and wrestling programs used for their practices, many times simultaneously.  In fact, the place was infamously labeled the B.O. barn, from its lack of ventilation along with the inherent smells emanating from hard working athletes.   Wooden shares, “For sixteen years, I helped our managers sweep and mop the floor every day before practice because of the dust stirred up from the other activities. These were hardship conditions, not only for the basketball team, . . . You could have written a long list of excuses why UCLA shouldn’t have been able to develop a good basketball team there.  Nevertheless, the B.O. barn was where we built teams that won national championships in 1964 and 1965. You must take what is available and make the very most of it.”   When one studies Wooden, a recurring theme seems to be, that whatever the situation, by applying disciplined hard work, it will be conquered. Instead of waiting for conditions to improve, thus helping the team improve, Wooden focused on improving the team through a spirited effort that eventually led to improved surroundings.

Few recognize, that it took Wooden sixteen years to put all the puzzle pieces together, launching the dynasty in 1964 with UCLA’s first NCAA title.  Most people are too impatient with the success process, applying hard work for a day, a week, or maybe even a year, expecting to be a champion without the full 10,000 hour investment.  How many people are willing to invest sixteen years, with no titles, yet remain as committed, if not more so, at the start of year seventeen?  But Wooden, in his mind, viewed things differently, his teams were winning long before their 1964 NCAA title, because his teams strived to reach their full potential. Wooden, in his book, Wooden on Leadership, also written with Jamison, describes his philosophy, “There is a standard higher than merely winning the race: Effort is the ultimate measure of success. . . . When it’s over, I want your heads up. And there’s only one way your heads can be up – that’s to give it your best out there, everything you have. . . . To my way of thinking, when you give your total effort – everything you have – the score can never make you a loser. And when you do less, it can’t somehow magically turn you into a winner.”   For most champions, it’s that extra effort, when everyone else is out of gas, that makes the difference between victory and defeat.  Wooden tapped into the inner motivation of his players, helping them to fulfill their potential, leading to practices that were more intense than the majority of the games.

Over and over in life, one finds that hard work creates its own luck.  Examine the chain of events, leading to Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul Jabbar), one of the all-time most recruited collegiate athletes, attending UCLA.  Because Wooden instilled pride into his teams, expecting superior work ethic, regardless of the practice conditions at the B.O. barn, UCLA overcome the hardships, winning two consecutive championships.  Because they reached the finals, the games were aired on T.V. before a national audience.  One of the interested fans, who watched the games was a young Lew Alcindor, who became intrigued with the burgeoning UCLA dynasty.  Alcindor interest in UCLA led to a commitment from the athletic director, J. D. Morgan, to finish building the Pauley Pavilion by the fall of 1965, in time for the basketball season.  Another case of L.U.C.K. – Laboring Under Correct Knowledge striking again.

George Guzzardo: Natural Law

George Guzzardo continues to produce thought provoking content. He is a wonderful example of the self-directed educational model in the LIFE Business taught by Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady. Where else can you enjoy the benefits of the LIFE Business Compensation Plan while learning key nuggets on the importance of natural law? Members, in a word, earn while they learn! Here is George's article.

My association with Orrin Woodward and the LIFE business has brought out a striking revelation that our school curriculums no longer teach pertinent history to our culture.  Just try to have an educated discussion with most people. They have no interest in the subject because they cannot connect the relevance to our modern times or we have been sold a premise that the foundational principles do not apply in the age of relativism.  Is this a deliberate attempt to up root our culture? In the past, many Americans were well versed in republican (separation of power) principles.  In the past, College graduates had studied the history of the ancient republics, with a particular view toward the causes of their declines.  

The Founding Patriots turned to John Locke's writings about natural – law. John Locke wrote ‘Two Treatises of Government' published in 1690 that has been through about a hundred printings in at least fourteen languages. His main premise was that man lives under Natural Law and Liberty is interrelated with Private Property.  He felt that man is obliged by nature to live in society. His first principle was clear when he wrote, “God having made Man such a Creature that, in his own Judgment, it was not good for him to be alone.”  His second principle was that every man has property, which are his own person and his work.  “As much as man tills. plants, improves, cultivates, and can use the product of, so much is his Property.  “God has given us all things richly.”  Cato wrote, “To live securely, happily, and independently is the end and effect of Liberty… and real or fancied necessity alone makes Men the Servants, Followers, and Creatures of one another.  And therefore… Property is the best Support of Independency so passionately desired by all Men.” A combination of these values has led to our current state as a free and prosperous nation.  But, watching the current economic indicators, how long will our freedom last?

Thomas Jefferson warned, “When all Government, domestic and foreign, in little and great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one Government to another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.”  With the lack of understanding it appears that the people are being drawn to Washington for answers. Most of the Founders being self - educated in History warned of the implications of our ignorance to those principles that our country was founded on. The Framers of our Constitution were well versed in the history of ancient Greece and Rome, of confederations and republics.  Their sense was that history was legacy.  They looked at experience as their only guide. I often wonder how those men were so wise and knowledgeable and we with our extensive school system have no awareness of these timeless treasures.  Professor David Lutz and Professor Charles Hyneman studied the intellectual influences of the American Founding by reviewing 15,000 items from books, pamphlets, and newspaper articles written be the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.  Their references included: 34% from the Bible, 22% from Montesquieu, Locke and Hume, 18% from Bollingbrooke, Milton, and Sydney, 11% from Blackstone (British Common Law), and 8% from the classics that included Plutarch, Cicero, Aristotle, and Plato.

Today, it appears that Government is used as a problem solving device, rightfully so since we have not been taught the lessons of the past. When did we lose ownership of the words opportunity, responsibility and work ethic? We can learn from Theodore Roosevelt who said, “The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” Pick up a copy of ‘Leadership and Liberty’ from best selling authors Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady and let your journey toward understanding Historical principles begin.  God Bless George Guzzardo

Bob Rasmussen: PDCA to Success

Bob Rasmussen, LIFE leader, shares a heartwarming story of his daughter and Orrin Woodward's PDCA process. The beautiful thing about Orrin's Top 100 All-Time Leadership Book is its practicality. Every principle he teaches can be used immediately to improve. Bob shares an example from his daughter's life. The LIFE Business is filled with people who have changed their lives by applying LIFE principles to their life. Here's the article.

As I was reading ORRIN WOODWARDS most recent outstanding book “RESOLVED” I could not help but reflect on the power of the success principles taught within this masterpiece. I am sure all those who read and apply this book to their future will be forever changed for the good! This book has become the foundation of the LIFE education system and the recently released MENTAL FITNESS CHALLENGE which is experiencing explosive participation right out of the gates!!

I would like to share a short story of the power of getting and applying the right principles to life. I am in to my fourth read/study of the book and chapters 5-6 got me thinking of a very successful outcome from using a rather simple principle called PDCA or PLAN, DO, CHECK, ADJUST which came from the engineering world to systematize improvements in a given area. The genius of WOODWARD shines through as he teaches that this principle applies to all people as well and can be used in any area for positive change. I had the good fortune to be exposed to this LIFE changing information years ago through the TEAM leadership development company. The basic premise of the PDCA principle is that anything we would like to change or improve can be tackled with this proven method. Once the area is identified we simply, make a plan of action, do the plan, check our results, adjust the plan based on our results and continue to cycle this process until we hit the desired goal. Simple yes, easy no, let me illustrate. My daughter had been dabbling with horses for a couple years and decided that she would like to focus in this area and see if she really wanted to pursue this for her future. At the time we could call it a hobby at best and she had been riding an older horse that could win once in awhile regardless of who was riding it. She discovered that she had a love for everything about horses and wanted to go to the next level.

My wife and I knew that the PDCA process was the way to improve so we taught Jessie the principles and have watched her in amazement continue to improve almost daily. She started setting short term goals which lined up with a five year goal to win at the AQHA World Show and is actually ahead of schedule according to veterans and mentors in the field. Her long term goal is to become a world class trainer with her own facility so two years ago we adjusted the plan and were able to get her into a working world class ranch and around one of the best gurus in the field. It is important to note that Jessie has earned her dream through hard work, not being given an easy route from us which has also been a catalyst for growth. About three years ago she bought with her own money a $2500 horse that was 4 years old and had not been trained out of a pasture near our home. She then started  training hard with the PDCA process and their first year in the show ring was brutal. As with all change the process is uncomfortable and instant success is not a reality, so at the lower level shows she had difficulty even placing in her classes but she grasped what we were teaching her and continued on with the PDCA process. The next winter she worked as a stable hand and her mom worked at the ranch also for two months to earn mentoring and training in the clinics and private instruction from the best. Jessie then used deliberate focused practice to improve her horsemanship and starting getting results. In shows she could not place in the year before she was now dominating. We used the scorecard principle and tracked her progress to find that she was now getting “firsts’ in 67 % of her classes.

We knew through PDCA that it was vital to repeat the next winter at the ranch working sun-up to sundown getting more training and exposure to the dream she was now passionate about. Jessie is now almost 7500 hrs in the saddle on her way to the 10,000 hrs that Malcolm Gladwell teaches is necessary to master anything. This year we PDCAed to test the water at AQHA shows which was risky for her confidence and very intimidating.  Jessie had a slow start but did place at the “Major Leagues” of horsemanship. She knew the PDCA process required that we mentor from someone with results and use deliberate practice to adjust. A mentor with 50 years in and world titles gave her some free instruction because he likes her hunger and two days later she got her first blue ribbon with a $2500 dollar horse beating $50,000 to $100,000 dollar horses that were trained by professionals and ridden by girls who have been riding since they could walk!!!! This new coach turned to me and said ” that does not happen here, not at this level”.  Jessie has truly found her passion, this is not her hobby and her future is very bright, she truly has the potential to become great, and could literally sell this horse for a huge profit. This tells me she has discovered her purpose and I am so grateful we were exposed to the power of PDCA!

My point is this, anyone with a dream and some guts can still take LIFE changing information and apply it to live the the life you always wanted. Thank you ORRIN WOODWARD, TEAM LEADERSHIP, and the LIFE EDUCATION SYSTEM for giving my little girl the tools to make it happen!  God Bless, Bob

Clint Fix: Entrepreneur or Employee?

Clint Fix, in another phenomenal article, shares the difference between entrepreneurs and employees. Clint has become one of the best written communicators in the LIFE Business and his blog is enjoyable to read. Orrin Woodward's goal is to provide a platform for anyone who is hungry to grow into a leader and make a difference in the world. With the LIFE Business Compensation Plan backing his, and the rest of the PC's efforts, they will reach 1 million people. Here is Clint's article.

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” We’ve all heard this question, or perhaps even asked it numerous times, but have you ever considered what the question is asking? Typically, the question is really asking, “What do you want to do for a job?” A large portion of our society automatically assumes that you should pick something you want to do, go to college to learn how to do what you’ve picked, then go get a job in your chosen field.

To question this wisdom is near heresy, but that’s what I’m doing to do. Why? Because the results from the “go to school, get good grades, get a safe, secure job” advice are in, and they don’t look good.

Before I dive into the meat of the post, here’s a quick disclaimer: I am not against employment. There are many important roles. My reason for posting this post is to (hopefully) put a crack in the conventional wisdom that, whether consciously or unconsciously, seeks to push our youth into college and employment. This post is aimed at those that DO NOT have a passion for their job, which seems to be the vast majority of people.

An Employee’s Lifestyle

Since most people don’t think that there is any alternative to working until retirement/death, they never even question how much of their life that they are spending to make a buck. The reality is that most people spend a tremendous amount of their life doing something that they really don’t have a passion for just to make some money.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, the average employed American spends just over nine hours a day working and commuting, followed by sleeping at just under eight hours. Check out the graphic below to see how the average employed American’s spends their time.

The normal retirement age in the U.S. is 67. To be conservative, let’s assume that the normal person starts working full-time at 22 years of age. That’s 45 years! Based on the above time study, that means that the average employee will, assuming a 5 day work week, spend 107,640 hours working, 125,651 hours sleeping, and 96,725 hours doing essential things like grooming, cleaning, eating, grocery shopping, etc, which leaves just 64,184 hours of leisure (or time with your kids/family) left. Here’s how it breaks down:

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to work the best hours of the best years of my life for a paycheck, especially when the paycheck is rather weak.

The BLS also publishes median incomes by age. What you’ll see here is that for all that work, the effort does not pay off at the end.

Graphs like that make me wonder why retirement was ever called the golden years. It looks to me like they’re the tin-foil years at best.

Seeing information like this really just confirms the feeling of hopelessness that most of the working populous feels; the feeling of not being able to get ahead.

The good news is that this doesn’t have to be your reality. There are many ways out. The principles to follow that will get you onto the correct path are as simple as asking the question I started this post with in a different manner. Instead of picking our ‘Do’ first, we need to define the lifestyle that we want to have. How much of that leisure/family time do you want? How would you like your income to be at 35? 55? 75? Ask yourself, “What do I want my lifestyle to be like?” The next part is to find someone that has the lifestyle that you’d like. This step is perhaps the hardest, but is worth the effort. The last step is simply to ‘do’ what the person from the previous step coaches you to do. The best thing I’ve found to help people through all three steps is LIFE.

You will most likely find that to get results that are far different than the picture painted above, the coaching you’ll receive will have a foundation in three very important principles of wealth creation:

1. Delayed Gratification
2. Long Term Vision
3. Utilization of the power of compounding

If you follow those principles, find the right mentors and do the work required, you will live a life that most will never experience. You DO NOT have to work for someone else the rest of your life. You DO NOT have to work until you die to make ends meet. Freedom is yours for the taking.

You have the power to define your lifestyle, so start today!

God Bless,

Clint Fix

 

Oliver DeMille: Is America Losing the Economic Battle?

In this article, Oliver DeMille shares his thoughts on why America is losing the economic battle. Oliver is a good friend of both Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady. He has spoke on LIFE Business stages on freedom several times. What a great business where you can enjoy the LIFE Business Compensation Plan while learning about freedom, leadership, and life. Thank You Orrin Woodward for the ability to dream long! Here's the article.

Sometimes domestic politics can be so engaging that we miss the forest for the trees.

The Chinese government and government-run companies have been busy for a decade buying up oil, minerals and other natural resources in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia, while U.S. firms face massive amounts of red tape and regulations from Washington when they try to compete for world resources.

This is creating a new split between the haves and the have nots—China has resources and the rights to resources around the world, while the U.S. increasingly does not.

Free enterprise is a better system than state-owned, authoritarian economics, but in this case Washington isn’t allowing free enterprise.

It’s more like a statist, authoritarian economy in Beijing versus an over-regulating, short-sighted bureaucracy in Washington. And totalitarian dictatorships are notoriously more effective than bumbling bureaucracies.

There is an excellent article on the topic in Foreign Affairs (July/August 2012): “How to Succeed in Business: And Why Washington Should Really Try,” by Alexander Bernard.

Bernard notes that the motive behind China’s state-owned purchases of resources around the globe isn’t to make money, but rather to “fuel the country’s economic rise.”

Certainly military might and political clout will follow.

Nor is China the only nation in the game.

India, Brazil, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, among others, are far more aggressive in tying up the world’s resources and contracts than U.S. companies.

Again, Washington’s regulatory scheme makes a reversal of this trend unlikely.

When our own government shuts down free enterprise, our corporations can’t compete with the biggest governments in the world.

Bernard writes:

“Among its peers, the United States is by far the least aggressive in promoting commercial interests…. China has managed to plant its commercial flag even in countries that are U.S. allies.”

In all this, the future of American wealth, prosperity, investment and jobs is drastically impacted for the negative.

We are failing to reboot our domestic economy because of our addiction to high regulation and high taxation, and the same things are causing consistent failure for U.S. commercial interests abroad.

Free enterprise works, but American policy has turned against it.

We are losing the battle, but losing the war.

***********************************

 

George Guzzardo: A Republic to Keep

George Guzzardo has studied the history of freedom extensively. In this article, he shares his thoughts on the state of American freedoms. George is one of the founders of the LIFE Business that is teaching leadership and life principles directly to the people through books, cds, and seminars. Start with the Mental Fitness Challenge if you are new to this site. Orrin Woodward and the LIFE Business dream of changing the world one life at a time, similar to how it changed George's life.

The reason that the founders of America designed the government after a republic is because they realized that no democracy ever survived once the population discovered how to vote in their special interest.  This should be concerning to all of us who read and hear the media making the point that we live in a democracy.  It should also be a concern to us when we hear most of the elected polititions use the same points.  We need to understand that we live in a Republic.

I believe we are approaching a perfect storm in history. Influence from political parties, the school systems, and the media have developed a mind - set of new values.  The so - called progressive party (idea of a central planning) seized hold of our government around 1913 *.  Ludwig von Mises wrote, “No intelligent man could fail to recognize that what the socialists and planners were aiming at was the most radical abolition of the individuals freedom and the establishment of government omnipotence.”  From that point there was a concerted effort to influence the people to rely on the government instead of them selves.  This plan had to be manufactured with the help of the school system (which interestingly became federally funded).  Former teacher of the year, John Taylor Gatto wrote, “Education reformer Horace Mann, who was credited with making school attendance compulsory, was bankrolled by men of wealth who promised him Daniel Webster’s seat in congress.” Lastly, the media message had to get in line. 

Messages from dominant sources of information would become an efficient way of ensuring loyalty to certain ideas and attitudes.  All sources of media had to have the same messaging. Simultaneously, the roots of history had to become watered down to names and dates.  Our country’s founding principles would then become irrelevant. By doing this Benjamin Desraeli wrote, “All important events would be controlled by an invisible government of which the public was unaware.”  This is where we find ourselves today.

Author and educator Oilver DeMille wrote, “Preserving freedom requires a leadership education.” This would include a self - directed education targeted at not just learning the roots of our history but why those roots were there.  We need first to understand what is right (moral), then have the moral courage to act.  It takes moral courage to act on principle when it would be easier to vote for our selfish desires. A study of democracies eventually leads one to realize that voting in the rights of special interest groups leads to a downhill spiral. Throughout all history, no democracy ever survived when the populace learned to vote in its special interest.  This leads directly what we are hearing from our government officials and the media that mislead us into believing that we live in a democracy.  Entitlements spiraling out of control are one indicator of a tipping point in a republic. The ultimate end point leads to dependence and apathy. 

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.” An informed population who are willing to stand with moral courage will no longer be seduced by government candidate’s entitlements or main stream media propaganda. Strength of character is what led to the formation of this republic. The next time you hear about our government in gridlock and they can’t get anything done be thankful.  That is the very reason why our founders created a republic. This places the emphasis back on us if we have the courage to accept it.  Are we willing to accept the responsibility of self –governance?  If we do then a self –directed education will lead to a greater understanding of the foundational principles of a republic.  A republic is preserved only when people take on responsibilities of self – governance.  Courage to act is the antithesis to apathy and dependence is required.

There has never been a more important time than now to pursue your LIFE business.  We’ve been fortunate to meet great leaders of principle like Orrin Woodward, the Policy Council, and the Round Tables who have pioneered a leadership development model called compensated communities. As we approach the end of the year it’s not time to slow down and reflect, it’s time to speed up and commit.   As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “God grant that men of principle shall be our principle men.”  God Bless, George Guzzardo

 

The Joy and Pain in Relationships

Chris Brady shares some deep thoughts on the power of relationships to bring joy or pain into a person's life. Because of the importance of relationships, Orrin Woodward in his All-Time Top 100 Leadership Book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE, had chapters on both friendship and conflict resolution. Clearly, Orrin must feel this is an important part of a leaders success. Focus on building long-term relationships because all business is relationships; otherwise, a person will be dealing with the pain that Brady describes so well below.

 

Developing People Skills

Tim Marks has one of the best stories in the LIFE Business. Also, he has one of the best books in Voyage of a Viking. Tim's journey from a non-people oriented person to a great leader of men and women is impressive. Orrin Woodward believes Tim is the fastest in the LIFE community to go from problem identified to problem fixed,  this is due to his hunger to improve and win. Here is Tim's thoughts on people skills.

This last weekend, I was travelling up to Ontario, Canada, to deliver a speech to a large business group. My wife Amy and I decided to get a rental car in Detroit and drive the rest of the way. As we were crossing the border into Canada, the customs agent asked us the nature of our visit. I replied truthfully that we were going to a LIFE business seminar, and as the conversation progressed, I explained that we were not just attending the event.…We were the keynote speakers.

This young lady did not like my answer; in fact, she seemed downright ornery. I can’t imagine being a customs agent is a ‘fun’ job, and perhaps she hadn’t yet listened to a lot of positive attitude CDs that day. But it really seemed she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day. She proceeded to ask me what made me qualified to be the speaker and why an American had to give the presentation and not a Canadian! The conversation went downhill from there. She soon demanded written proof that we had been invited to speak in Canada and threatened to send us packing if we didn’t produce some sort of formal invitation. This was a serious problem because I had a thousand people counting on me to arrive and inspire their business teams!

Now, the Tim Marks of the old days would have responded very harshly when backed against the wall like this. The old Tim would have wanted to put her in her place and show her who’s boss. The old Tim would have wanted to prove that she was wrong and I was right. And the old Tim would have won the battle, lost the war, and been sent packing back to Florida! Thank goodness the (somewhat) “new and improved” Tim was at the border that day because I got to practice all the people skills I had ever learned.

First, I got to practice remaining calm. I knew that if I got my knickers in a twist, I would look and sound angry, and that wouldn’t help anything. Second, I realized she had total control over my situation, whether that seemed fair or not. So I let her be the boss. When she said, “Get me some proof,” I said “Yes, ma’am!” I agreed with her that I should have the documentation and that I would get busy finding it. I got on the phone with the TEAM office, and after much scrambling around on a Saturday afternoon, the great people at the office were able to produce sufficient documentation to calm her down. (Thanks, Kyle Nelson and Rob Hallstrand!)

Years ago, I read in an article that 88% of the reason of someone “being invited to leave” (read: getting fired from) his or her job was because of interpersonal problems…and that poor people skills are the root cause of relationship problems. Unfortunately, most of us have not read enough people skills books (or perhaps any!) to have mastered this critical ability. I remember reading Dale Carnegie’s timeless classic How to Win Friends and Influence People—probably the best people skills book ever written. It had been recommended to me by my mentor Orrin Woodward, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Launching a Leadership Revolution. It really impacted me. I remember feeling embarrassed because of my appalling lack of knowledge in this area. I was probably violating every principle in that book weekly, if not daily. I was in a managerial roll at my job as an engineer, and I wasn’t leading people; I was lording over them by intimidating and humiliating them. My nickname around the plant was “The Viking” because someone remarked once that if you needed to find Tim Marks, you just needed to follow the proverbial trail of blood and guts. I was a real jerk to my staff, and I was starting to realize it.

However, I also realized that I wasn’t stuck. I could change. I could make it a priority to become a gentler and kinder person and leader. So I dove into these sort of books and worked very hard over the years to sand off my rough edges. I still need a lot of improvement, but I am a lot better than I used to be! If I can do it, I know you can, too!

 

Oliver DeMille: The Four Lost American Ideals

Oliver DeMille has a great CD in the LIFE Business called The Four Lost American Ideals. It is an enlightening talk with many concepts that explain American history. In fact, Orrin Woodward said it was one of his favorite CDs. Learning while be rewarded with the LIFE Business Compensation Plan is a great package deal. Here is Oliver's thoughts on the Four Ideals.

Oliver DeMille draws from intensive study of the Founding generation to identify five defining ideals of Americanism:

1. Freedom
2. Georgics
3. Providence
4. Liber
5. Public Virtue

Although the first, freedom, has not yet been fully lost, it is steadily declining because of the loss of the other four. These four ideals permeated early American society but have largely been forgotten.

Georgics

The word “georgics” comes from the Greek “geo,” meaning earth, and “ergon,” meaning work. The literal translation, therefore, means to work, or farm the earth.

Translated to fit modern times, the essence of the word is “ownership.”

America was built on the backs of free and independent owners. The more owners we have, the more freedom we enjoy, and vice versa.

(*Note that Oliver inadvertently misspoke during the lecture and says the word “georgics” comes from the Latin.)

Providence

There are two aspects to the concept of providence: 1) there is a Higher Power, or God, and 2) God has a specific purpose — or mission — for every individual.

Those who believe in and submit to providence live virtuous and courageous lives of service and leave legacies. They work with passion and purpose. They live by design, rather than default.

Liber

“Liber” is a Latin word for tree bark. It’s also the root word of “library” and “liberty,” revealing the relationship between knowledge and freedom.

In the ancient world tree bark used to write on, and there were generally two groups of people: slaves and liber. To be “liber” meant that one could read, write and engage in contract.

Liber means much more than mere literacy — it means that you have the ability to think, learn and lead. It means being able to engage with the greatest thinkers, respond intelligently, and practically apply knowledge to improve the world.

Public Virtue

Public virtue means to voluntarily sacrifice personal benefit for the good of society.

Those who have lived the first three ideals (liberally educated owners engaged in personal mission) can apply public virtue to transform society when it matters most.