Thursday, January 17, 2013
Leave a LIFE Legacy
George Guzzardo shares the importance of leaving a legacy in this well written article. So many people work hard just to get by when if they worked smart they could thrive. The LIFE Business gives this opportunity to everyone. Orrin Woodward dreamed of providing world-class information to the masses for a price they could afford so they could change their lives. LIFE has done just that. Here is George's thoughts on leaving a legacy.
What will move you into action this year? That which moves you to action is your motivation. In their best selling book ‘Launching a Leadership Revolution', Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady, describe the 3 levels of motivation. Some people will be moved to action because of material gain. It appears that the majority of people in our society are motivated because of money. It maintains a standard of living. What else would account for the majority of people who take the most precious time they have and devote it to receiving a paycheck? Others move to action because of recognition. This might come from what we call status or a title. Looking around the society today it is clear that the majority of the population are not motivated by a sense of what Orrin and Chris describe as a third level of motivation called ‘Legacy’. Legacy is your contribution. It’s what remains after you’re gone. It is what you will be remembered for. It is what will be recorded about you. It appears that the majority of people today are not motivated by a sense of destiny which reflects the dominant world - view. Destiny comes from a sense of purpose and there is no more powerful motivator than detecting your purpose.
Whatever moves you to action on a daily basis is what the mind views as the most important motive. I think that the subject of motivation is very appropriate for this time of year when many like to reflect on why people will do anything. Many of us who join the LIFE business and use the Team system to build ‘compensated communities’ become aware of even deeper qualities of motivation. Motivation does not come from nowhere to go somewhere. It must come from somewhere specific to go somewhere specific
The first step is to ask ourselves who we are, and what is important to us? The second step to this very important piece is to associate with others who are learning and growing in this area. Who in your current association do you spend time learning from? I have found the type of people who are in pursuit of leaving a legacy are in attendance at the Team open meetings and the LIFE seminars. I felt the most powerful sense of destiny when I attended the Team leadership conventions. I also notice an immediate impact on my thinking when I listen to the CD’s on a regular basis, which allows me to associate with the thinking of the leaders. The CD’s influenced my thoughts by pulling the weeds of my negative thinking. I remember when I had a job and was immersed in an environment where most people never discussed destiny or legacy. I began to look at my thinking as a garden. I needed to decide what I wanted to grow there. I have lots of weeds in there so I needed to counteract the effects of those weeds with CD’s and frequent association.
Bob Buford in his book ‘Halftime’ wrote, “I’m convinced that many people never make it to a life of significance because they’re trapped in a lifestyle that won’t let them.” Leadership and Legacy connects when you mobilize others to serve a purpose. That is what’s missing in the world today. Each of us has the opportunity to become a character in someone’s story this year. Is your story filled with purpose and destiny? If you’re starting your LIFE business then the story starts with how you treat each day! The Roman historian Seneca wrote, “for all of us, the time is short and the span of life is brief. On top of that, our real human problem is not just that the span of life is short but that we waste so much of it – so that life ceases for us, just when we are getting ready for it.” If your life is your story, how will you finish it? This year, stop worrying, take hold and write your story! God Bless, George Guzzardo
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 8:53 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, January 17, 2013 8:56 AM EST
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
LIFE Business Conventions
Dan Hawkins has become one of the top leadership bloggers in the country. His information and style are attracting notice. Dan is a product of the leadership training offered by the LIFE Business and now teaches tens of thousands across America and Canada. Orrin Woodward believes Dan Hawkins is one of the best dreamers and doers in the LIFE Community. Here is Dan's article on the upcoming majors.
We are now two weeks from the LIFE business leadership conference in Louisville,KY. The excitement is 
building, LIFE members are preparing and teams are running to take home the biggest awards of the quarter.
Every quarter people travel from every corner of North America to attend a LIFE/Team leadership conference. This is a powerful weekend filled with life changing information and moments. I have literally heard from thousands of people over the last few years on how weekends like this changed their lives. We, the founders of LIFE, are confident coming to a major leadership convention can change yours as well.
How can we be so confident? Because it has changed all of ours first. You see, the goal of LIFE is to help people become the best them so they can help others become their best.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
The LIFE business is creating a Leadershift by helping people around the world develop themselves. 2013 is going to be the biggest year in the history of the Team and we invite you to start off right and join us in this journey!
We cannot wait to see you there! Please find us and say hello so we can look in your eyes and welcome you to the Leadershift.
The staff at the LIFE business has put together an incredible video to capture the feeling of this life changing weekend, enjoy!
God bless,
Dan and Lisa Hawkins
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 8:32 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 8:38 AM EST
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Orrin Woodward: Leading People & Managing Numbers
The following article is from Orrin Woodward. He shares on the difference between leadership and management. Leaders lead people and manage numbers while non-leaders manage both. The LIFE Business rewards leadership, not management. Orrin learned early that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Leaders are tough.
Leadership, a subject that I have spoken and written about a length, is a necessary ingredient in all successful lives and companies. The problem is that many people confuse Leadership with the ability to call a meeting and pontificate to existing members on all they know about life & success, while real Leadership is lived on the front lines in making tough decisions, strategic planning, follow through with unhappy customers etc. Chris and I clearly stated that performance comes before leadership in our book New York Times best selling book, Launching a Leadership Revolution, but since performance is much tougher than pontification, most skip past performance and promote themselves to Grand Master Manager Level – a rank requiring no results, just a mouth that prefers to talk than act. I know that statement can sound a little harsh, but the amount of damage that managers, who will not lead, who feel successful when giving seminars on concepts they are not doing, cause by their inactivity is beyond the ability to measure. Meaning, you cannot measure leadership directly, but you can certainly measure the effects of leadership in the results of a group the leader is leading.
Measuring results reminds me of the Hawthorne Studies. In the early 20th century, studies were performed at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works that revealed an interesting correlation between measurements and results. Here is a description of the Hawthorne Effect:
In essence, the Hawthorne Effect, as it applies to the workplace, can be summarized as “Employees are more productive because the employees know they are being studied.” Elton Mayo’s experiments showed an increase in worker productivity was produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out, involved, and made to feel important.
Additionally, the act of measurement, itself, impacts the results of the measurement. Just as dipping a thermometer into a vial of liquid can affect the temperature of the liquid being measured, the act of collecting data, where none was collected before creates a situation that didn’t exist before, thereby affecting the results.
The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experiment employed, the production of the workers seemed to improve. One reasonable conclusion is that the workers were pleased to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in them. The study was only expected to last one year, but because the researchers were set back each time they tried to relate the manipulated physical conditions to the worker’s efficiency, the project extended out to five years.
I can sum this up by saying Leaders must lead themselves, lead others, and then manage the numbers. After leading yourself, the next best move is to expect others to lead themselves and teach them how to keep score. In order to manage the numbers, you must start tracking the numbers and learning to keep score to identify if you are winning or losing. Some people don’t want to keep score because they feel it would be negative, but nothing is more liberating than knowing the scoreboard so you can start the PDCA – Plan, Do, Check, Adjust process. When leaders start keeping score, an amazing thing happens, people start scoring more. If you are going to be in business, you might as well keep score so you can learn, grow and change. Life is not ultimately as much about winning and losing as it is about growing & changing through the wins and losses experienced in life.
No one would go to a football game and pay big money for seats only to find out that both teams decided not to keep score. The fans would demand a refund and feel cheated that professionals were playing the game, but not keeping score, but that is exactly what 90% of the people in America do everyday! Managers love to play the game and are even will to track other people’s score so long as they don’t have to track their own. Let’s agree that today, we will lead our teams, track our own scores, and only then, track the scores of our teams. I am not in business to expend effort, time, & resources without expecting to change where necessary to win; I hope you feel the same. Business is as good or as bad as you make it in your mind and actions. Let’s take business to the next level by tracking our numbers after leading ourselves, giving us the ability to help others track their scoreboard.
Some of the essentials in business to start keeping score are the following.
Profit margin
New growth
Lost customers
Profit per employee
Profit per employee cost
Total Revenue
Customer Complaints
There are certainly others, depending upon what business you are in. One thing I can tell you for certain, those who keep score will adjust quicker than people who do not keep score. If you run a company, identify the key variable necessary to track to understand whether you are winning or losing. Losing is a temporary situation if you are willing to change and fatal for those who deny reality. Learn, perform, lead, score, and repeat the process with others is the way to lead people and manage the numbers. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 9:37 AM EST
Updated: Sunday, January 13, 2013 9:40 AM EST
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Resolved for Humility
Jonathan Edwards was one of America's greatest men and minds. His faith and philsophy still resonates within American society. Orrin Woodward features him in his book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE. What have you resolved for 2013?
Jonathan Edwards was a preacher, theologian, a missionary to Native Americans, and shortly before his death, accepted the Presidency of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University).
Edwards “is widely acknowledged to be America’s most important and original philosophical theologian.”
Furthermore, Author George Marsden, writes,
“Edwards was extraordinary. By many estimates, he was the most acute early American philosopher and the most brilliant of all American theologians.At least three of his many works – Religious Affections, Freedom of the Will, and The Nature of True Virtue – stand as masterpieces in the larger history of Christian literature.”
But Edwards began his ministry with little advanced billing.
His first pastoral position in 1722, at 19 years of age, was far away from his Connecticut hometown, in New York City, then a thriving metropolis of 10,000 people.
Dr. Stephen Nichols, author of The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, writes of the young pastor,
“Amidst all of this uncertainty and flux, this young man, Jonathan Edwards, needed both a place to stand and a compass for some direction. So he took to writing. He kept a diary and he penned some guidelines, which he came to call his ‘Resolutions.’ These resolutions would supply both that place for him to stand and a compass to guide him as he made his way.”
A.C. McGiffert described Edward’s method of resolutions, “Deliberately he set about to temper his character into steel.”
Tempering is a process to “toughen” the metals, just as written resolutions “toughen” the internal person through study and course corrections.
The tempering process takes time, but the internal fortitude and self-mastery gained living one’s convictions, not one’s preferences, is worth any price.
Jonathan Edwards dutifully wrote out 70 Resolutions (see appendix) between 1722 and 1723.
Edwards committed to read the 70 Resolutions once per week for the rest of his life, and fulfilled that commitment, reading the resolutions more than 1,800 times over the next 35 years.
Here are two of his resolutions.
1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.
2. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this resolution.
Edwards would have many occasions to apply his resolutions.
After his pastoral service in New York, on February 15, 1727, Edwards joined his father-in-law, Solomon Stoddard’s congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts.
In 1729, Stoddard died, leaving Edwards the sole minister in charge of one of the largest, wealthiest and proudest congregations in the colony.
Stoddard, in his later years, had introduced several doctrinal changes not founded upon scriptures.
Edwards, being new, continued the innovations when he assumed pastoral leadership.
But, in 1749, after years of successful ministry and intensive biblical study, Edward’s conscience balked at the doctrinal errors, precipitating an angry response from church members.
The controversy concluded with Edward’s dismissal by the margin of one vote.
Many would have railed against the injustice, but Edwards, dignified as always, preached his farewell sermon with the truth, love and grace, exiting Northampton without rancor or bitterness.
Edwards was, as Randall Stewart wrote, “Not only the greatest of all American theologians and philosophers but the greatest of our pre-19th century writers as well,” making his gracious humble spirit even more impressive.
He didn’t fight for his rights; instead he merely accepted the ruling as God’s Will, taking a position as missionary to the frontier Indians.
Edwards consistently displayed a grace-filled spirit of forgiveness to his many detractors, some who, years later apologized for their involvement in the misinformation spread.
Can one imagine the infamy of being associated with the congregation that dismissed one of the best theologians and philosophers in American history?
But Edwards, in his final years, never missed a beat, writing several classics of Christian literature, leaving an enduring testament to the power of character-based resolutions to transform a person from the inside out.
Edwards faithfully lived his principles externally because that is who he had become internally.
Specifically, he didn’t just give lip service to his resolutions, he truly lived them.
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 7:58 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 8:00 PM EST
Friday, January 4, 2013
Interdependent Relationships
There are three leadership phases a person goes through - dependence, independence, and interdependence. The last, interdependence, is the best. Bill Lewis describes interdependence in the following article. Orrin Woodward, Claude Hamilton, George Guzzardo, and the rest of the LIFE Founders are interdependent upon one another to produce the longterm results they desire. The LIFE Business is producing longterm results.
One key point to remember when trying to succeed is that success always takes a team of people. The notion that someone is self-made is ridiculous. It took two other people just to get you on the planet. I can’t think of anything else on the planet that is less self-made than humans are. So, if we always need others to help us succeed, then we should probably think about how we treat other people. Now, I understand that people are people and are always doing special things. 
I am not saying that people won’t continue to bug us sometimes, but we need to have grace when dealing with humans because all of us are messt up. (I know that’s not a word, but it is appropriate here. Thanks for the grace.) The Magic of Thinking Big gives us four leadership principles to help in this area:
- Trade minds with the people you want to influence.
- Think: What is the human way to handle this?
- Think progress, believe in progress, and push for progress.
- Take time out to confer with yourself.
Let me give you an example of number one on the list. A lady was hired to be the assistant buyer for a low- to medium-priced department store. All of the things she purchased were great, but they were not selling well. Eventually, she was let go from her position. The reason was because she was purchasing items that she liked. She was raised in a well-off family that was used to purchasing high-quality items that naturally cost more. She was thinking everyone would love what she loved, but she never tried to mentally switch places with someone that had a tight budget. It is very important in business to always try to think from the other person’s point of view. How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People talks about the importance of moving to the other side of the table with someone—in other words, seeing the world from that person’s perspective or walking a mile in his shoes. The question to ask oneself is: How can I help that person based on where he is, what he sees, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, and what he dreams about and not what I think he should see, like, not like, or dream about?
Now if you are mentoring someone, you have to have the ability to see from the other person’s point of view and understand his position but also be able to see where he can be, rather than just where he is.
The human way to handle things actually seems like it is not natural to humans at all. I have seen people try to be the dictator and the letter-of-the-law person. The dictator sounds like this: “You will do it this way, or else!” That kind of attitude is really good for destroying relationships. Now, of course, most of us don’t approach it that way. We say things like, “Well, I am a so and so, and I think I know what I am talking about” or ”Why would you listen to that person?” We have all kinds of creative ways of saying, “I am the dictator” without actually saying those words.
The other big violator is the letter-of-the-law person. I saw this one tragically implemented one time. Our business team produced a CD that talked about the husband being responsible for the family finances. The letter-of-the-law people told all the males that they should be writing the checks and doing all of the budgeting. WOW! I have never seen so many couples’ monthly budgets get destroyed so quickly! The wife was the organized one, and the sanguine males started torturing themselves trying to do the budgets. The human way is to look from their shoes and implement the principle, not the details. The male could still be responsible for the month’s budget without having to do the technical work. Study anyone that has successful long-term relationships, and they have handled things in a human way instead of the dictator or letter-of-the-law way.
The third item of always seeking improvement can cover many areas, but let me try to boil it down to a few simple steps. First, be harder on yourself than you are on your team members. If you strive for excellence yourself, your team will always follow suit. Second, try to make all your goals revolve around helping others hit their goals. If you plan it that way, then by default, you are focusing on others but still striving for progress.
The last step from The Magic of Thinking Big is to confer with yourself. The number one job of the leader is to think. I believe it was Henry Ford who said, “The hardest work in life is thinking; that is why so few people engage in it.” If the leader is not mentally ahead of the followers, then that means he is mentally with the followers and, by default, cannot be leading. Leaders must have quiet moments in which they give themselves time to think through issues, game plan, and set goals. This should be a weekly habit, but then leaders also need some bigger (or longer) thought-processing moments. Bestselling author Chris Brady wrote a great book talking about that very subject called A Month of Italy.
God Bless
Bill Lewis
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 8:58 AM EST
Updated: Friday, January 4, 2013 9:03 AM EST
Thursday, December 27, 2012
RESOLVED For Character
In Orrin Woodward's book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE, his introduction contains descriptions of three early Americans - George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Jonathan Edwards. Each of these three men made resolutions to improve their lives. Orrin modeled this method in his own life and shares his 13 resolutions in the book. Indeed, the LIFE Business is a business modeled on the 13 Resolutions. The following is a section of Orrin's introduction.
By nature, young Washington had a fiery temper, but he developed an iron-willed discipline in order to check its excesses. Richard Norton Smith, in his book, Patriarch, said, “The adolescent Washington examined Seneca’s dialogues and laboriously copied from a London magazine one hundred and ten ‘rules of civility’ intended to buff a rude country boy into at least the first draft of a gentleman”. The French Jesuits had originally developed the 110 Rules as principles to live by, and Washington’s methodical writing process helped him to adopt many of these maxims as his personal resolutions for life. As Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father, wrote, “His manner and his morals kept his temperament under control. His commitment to ideas gave him guidance. Washington’s relation to ideas has been underestimated by almost everyone who wrote of him or knew him, and modern education has encouraged this neglect. . . His attention to courtesy and correct behavior anticipated his political philosophy. He was influenced by Roman notions of nobility, but he was even more deeply influenced by a list of table manners and rules for conversation by Jesuits.” Character and self-mastery were his goals through living his guiding ideals of fortitude, justice, moderation, and the dignity of every human being.
For Washington, life became a series of resolutions to live by. He wrote and studied many such maxims throughout his life. Here are two examples. (see appendix for more)
1. With me it has always been a maxim rather to let my designs appear from my works rather than by my expressions.
Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.
2. Washington developed and studied his maxims repeatedly, becoming convicted of the correctness of the maxims, teaching virtue over happiness and duty over rights, resolving to live based upon the principles implied within them.
Katherine Kersten, in George Washington’s Character, asks:
“What would Washington have accomplished if happiness, rather than integrity and service, had been his life-goal? Instead of suffering with his men through the snows of Valley Forge, he might have followed the example of Benedict Arnold, another Revolutionary War General. Though brave and talented, Arnold valued his own well-being and prosperity above all else. Out of self-interest, he plotted to betray West Point to the British, and died a traitor to his nation. What can we learn from Washington and his contemporaries about character-building? They teach us, most importantly, that “the soul can be schooled.” Exercising reason and will, we can mold ourselves into beings far nobler than nature made us.”
The ending quotation summarizes character-based training beautifully – “the soul can be schooled”. Washington attended this class daily on his way to developing the nobility of character needed to unite the American colonies. General Henry Knox spoke truthfully when he shared that it was the strength of Washington’s character, not the laws of the new Constitution, that held the young republic together. In a tribute to his friend, Congressman Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee eulogized Washington, saying, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting…Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues…Such was the man for whom our nation mourns.” Lee’s tribute testifies to Washington’s faithful application of his resolutions into his life, living his maxims both privately and publicly.
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 8:25 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, December 27, 2012 8:31 AM EST
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Viriathus: Warrior Leader
I don't know how Orrin Woodward finds the time to study history, leadership, economics, faith, and philosophy as much as he does, but I am not complaining. History was never this much fun in school! In this post, Orrin Woodward shares the story of Virathus, who resisted Roman domination in Roman Hispania - modern day Portugal. The LIFE Business is full of men and women learning and applying lessons from history, personal experiences, and each other. Here's the post.
In 160 BC, the the Roman praetor of Spain, Servius Sulspicius Galba, negotiated a peaceful surrender of 7,000 Lusitaninan (modern day Portugal) warriors. After disarming them, Galba ordered his soldiers to massacre the helpless men. Nearly all the Lusitanians died, but a few, including Viriathus, escaped into the woods. Through his bravery and first-hand account of the Romans misdeeds, Viriathus was chosen leader of his countrymen in the revolt against Roman rule of the their homeland. Galba sent the Roman commander Vetilius to capture the rebels, but Virathus had a surprise for his unsuspecting opponent. He lured the army further and further into the mountains, cut off their escape, and cut the Roman army to pieces.
Another Roman army of 4,000 men, shortly afterwards received the same treatment from the brilliant Viriathus and his desperate Lusitanian army. Indeed, for three years the Lusitanian leader overran Roman authorities, defeating legion after legion, charged with capturing the alleged outlaws. In 141 BC, Servilianus, the commander of Roman forces, was defeated and sued for peace, recognizing Lusitania as an independent state with Virathus as the Chief Magistrate. The Roman Senate was horrified and when Caepio, the brother of Servilanus, assumed command of the troops, he perfidiously broke the treaty. Not surprisingly to Viriathus, the Romans resumed hostilities against the signed treaty.
By 139 BC, Caepo, discovering he was just as helpless against the superior strategy and will of Virathus, resorted to treachery to accomplish his goal. During peace negotiations, Virathus sent his most trusted friends, Audax, Ditalco, and Minumsy, to negotiate with Caepo. Instead of negotiations, however, Caepo offered large gifts and bribes for the three men to sell out their leader. Sadly, the men chose prizes over principles and plotted the assassination of the only Spaniard to successfully withstand against Roman tyranny. Viriathus, always prepared, slept little and in his armor. In this way, when awaken, he could quickly lead his men into battle. Therefore, it was customary for his closest friends to enter his tent at night on pressing business. Audax and his associated entered the tent after Virathus fell asleep and stabbed him in the throat, the only part of his body not protected by armor. Thus, the fearless leader died, not from his Roman enemies, but from the treachery of his “friends.” Also dying were the hopes of Lusitanian freedom as the rebellion collapsed after Viriathus death and farther Spain bent its neck to the Roman yoke.
Death of Viriathus by Jose Madrazo
Why did I share this terrible story of bad character and ethics? Simply to point out that the prizes won by the traitors are long gone, but the disloyalty lives on in infamy. Never, I repeat never, accept temporary gain for permanent harm. In reality, the three traitors, sold out the freedom of their country, their people, and killed their leader for temporary trinkets. Indeed, a person ought to sell everything he has before he sells his character, for the things can be replaced, but the character cannot. Nonetheless, many do not follow this principles and sell out the permanent for the temporary. Imagine readers, if Virathus had sent you on the peace errand. How should leaders of character respond when offered personal gain to destroy others? Let everyone examine himself.
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 8:52 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 8:56 AM EST
Monday, December 17, 2012
Top 10 Reasons People Quit on Their Dreams
Chris Brady shares his top 10 reasons people quit worthy endeavors. Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady could have easily quit in the early days of learning leadership and community building; however, they didn't and the rest is, as they say, history in the making. The LIFE Business is the result of years of effort, hard work, and persistence to build the best compensation plan and leadership community in the profession. It will change your life. Here is Chris's article.
For nearly twenty years I've worked with people in an entrepreneurial setting, encouraging and coaching them to fulfill their dreams and goals. I've seen people come and I've seen people go, and through it all there emerges a pattern of behavior. I've often been asked, "What's the difference between those who 'make it' and those who don't?"
Giving this some thought recently resulted in what I'll call my "Top 10 Reasons People Quit Something Worthy." This isn't revelation from God, it's not infallible, and it's probably not even complete. But it is mine, and now it can be yours, too. I hope it helps!
10. Pride - uwilling to "look the fool" while going through the necessary failures along the way
9. Besetting Sin - an addiction or something destructive in their lifestyle that tears their life apart
8. Lack of Character - they have to take their "game" elsewhere because they've been "found out"
7. Distractions - men fail by "broken focus"
6. Comfort - the "lure of lesser things"
5. Dream Not Big Enough - without a powerful dream there is no focus, no passion, and no long term vision
4. Relational Challenges - can't get along with others
3. Unwillingness to Accept Personal Responsibility - blame others for lack of results
2. Self Doubt - can't see themselves having the big victory
1. No Mental Toughness - don't have the discipline and/or courage to hang in there when times get tough
Of course, we could debate the order of these items, and even add a few more to the list, but the point is to provide some thought starters you can use to hold up against your own life. Also, don't get me wrong. Part of success in life is knowing what to quit! You can't do everything, and in order to succeed mightily you must focus. So quitting "unworthy" or "lesser" things is actually a part of success. The situation to which I'm referring in the list above is when people quit something worthy, something central, something that has been their heart's desire, something into which they've poured hours and energy and hopes.
Now, a couple questions:
Are you chasing something great in your life?
Are you seeking to live a life of purpose and meaning?
I hope the answer to both is a hearty "yes," and if so, then perhaps this list can help you identify weaknesses you can shore up against failure. Figure out where you're susceptible and do something about it. It's these ten you'll have to beat if you're going to "make it."
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 11:23 AM EST
Updated: Monday, December 17, 2012 11:28 AM EST
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Build Dreams; Overlook Obstacles
George Guzzardo continues to share success wisdom on his blog. In this article, he teaches how to build dreams and overcome obstacles. Claude Hamilton whole life is an example of building dreams and overcoming obstacles. If you are tired of just getting by in life and want to accomplish bigger dreams, then perhaps the LIFE Business is for you. Any worthwhile dream will take sacrifice, like Orrin Woodward says, "We don't promise easy, but we do promise worth it." What dream would be worth sacrificing for in your life? What are you waiting for?
I was looking at the wall in my office and saw an old crumpled up yellow paper clipped on my bulletin board with the title ‘Build Dreams / Overlook Obstacles’. It’s been with me for years ever since Orrin Woodward asked me to describe the LIFE I’ve always wanted. I’ve recently added one more question, “What are three things or causes in your life that you’re passionate enough to cry over?”
Unlike a lottery ticket, the LIFE business is a vehicle that helps us think and act about which direction we want our life to move. Is it time to re - awaken the vision about where we want our life to go? That vision is the first step in moving toward your desired destination. Look around the world today. It’s not hard to see that most people are aimlessly wondering through life. The standard program is to have achieved a level of success after school and dig in for the long journey ahead. Sooner or later we find out that there is more to learning about life than school. What if there was a way to master the skills necessary to get you where you really wanted to go?
Some pieces must come together to begin the journey. Association is critical so find out how you can get around those who have made a commitment and are moving in the direction of their vision. You can find them at one of the weekly Team Opens. If someone is succeeding so can you. Find out who is making progress. You will typically find people who are called ‘power players’ at the LIFE monthly seminars. The second piece is to become humble enough to allow yourself to learn the necessary skills. By all means avoid contradictory beliefs like being powerless to change and being unworthy of the goal. You are now ready to take some steps toward your goal.
A few small steps can be taken to help get what is important to you. First, use visualization or imagery. Begin to tap into the power of the subconscious mind. Author Peter Senge wrote about great basketball star Bill Russell who said, “It’s not what the vision is, it’s what the vision does.” Visualization creates a tension between our current reality and our destination. If that tension is strong enough we will be willing to go through some learning, better known as mistakes. Vision transforms our view of mistakes into learning experiences. Mistakes simply become the gap between your current reality and your destination. Failure becomes the opportunity to learn. Also, learn how to fall in love with the practice. In sports you practice an unfamiliar movement until you get better at it and then you enjoy it. The master of any game is usually the master of practice. In their best selling book ‘Launching a Leadership Revolution', Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady describe the Tri – Lateral Leadership Ledger where one can measure progress in the area of relationships, character, and work ethic. Building these skills and developing a compensated community is a very satisfying experience. It’s worth honing these skills in each of these areas as we achieve our vision.
In the business of compensated communities you can measure movement toward your goal like showing the plan (having 15 conversations about your business) in a thirty - day time frame or following through (making a friend and finding a need). By understanding the overall purpose of the movement like showing the plan or following through you can then measure the reality of getting to your destination more clearly. For example, weekly activities should lead to monthly depth and Team system numbers growing.
Dr. Benjamin Bloom from the University of Chicago did a five year study and found clues of leading artists, athletes, scholars from various fields. He discovered that it was drive and determination – not talent – that led to success. As author Eddie Cantor said, “It takes twenty years to become an overnight success.” Chris Brady says in the CD ‘The Art of Promotion’, “The dream leads to the drive that leads to depth that leads to the results.” Remember it all begins with what Orrin Woodward says, “Vision is tomorrow’s reality expressed in an idea today.” The old Alchemists used their knowledge about chemistry to turn lead into gold. Like the Alchemists of old, it’s time to take the information that you learn from the LIFE business and the TEAM system and make those elements transform you toward your goal. Start the process and become the master of your life! God Bless, George Guzzardo
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 12:19 PM EST
Updated: Thursday, December 13, 2012 12:27 PM EST
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Ben Franklin's Residual Income Streams
Ben Franklin created passive income streams to allow himself the free time to live his legacy. So many today are so busy making a life that they have no time left to make a difference. The LIFE Business and LIFE Business Compensation Plan are changing that. Orrin Woodward dreamed of providing an opportunity for anyone willing to work hard to get ahead. Ben Franklin worked hard and smart and he got ahead, but not just for himself. Ben helped others run their own business just like LIFE Team. Here's the article.
Over 300 years ago, in the city of Boston, a port town in the burgeoning American colonies, a baby was born on the frontier edge of the British empire, whose impact on history boggles the imagination, named Benjamin Franklin, but later in life, praised as “the first great American.” With superhuman exploits in business, science, politics, diplomacy, and nation building, as a Founding Father, the fascination with Franklin will continue indefinitely, at least as long as history is written. Much has been written, and rewritten, on the achievements of this great man, but surprisingly, little has been written on his economic engine, that allowed this polymathic genius the leisure to dabble in his many areas of interest. It’s not too much to say, that Franklin’s greatest discovery personally, was a forerunner of today’s modern franchising, allowing him the financial independence that led to nearly all of his other discoveries. Without the freedom from toil, necessitated by the need to maintain life, Franklin would be remembered as little more than a colonial printer, but through his understanding of the principles of wealth, learned through countless years of self study, Franklin created a printing network that spanned throughout American colonies. It was this monumental achievement, arguably the first ever franchise model, that sparked Franklin’s meteoric rise to worldwide fame, displaying what a free man, one no longer bound by the enervating ennui of life, can achieve by investing his newly won freedom in the service of humanity. A cursory review of the highlights of Franklin’s life will serve as proof what free men can do with free time:
1. Set up the world’s first franchise type model, freeing himself from day to day work routine, typically necessary in order to make a living.
2. Developed systems for paving, cleaning and lighting city streets.
3. Introduced new trees, cereals and fertilizers to America.
4. Invented swim fins, improving swimming speeds and the famed Franklin Stove, improving the heat efficiency of wood fires.
5. Conceived and recruited the formation of a citizen’s fire brigade, reducing the damage incurred by fires.
6. The founding of an academy that later became the University of Pennsylvania.
7. The organization of city and province defenses during the Indian wars.
8. Conceived and founded America’s first public library.
9. Discovered electricity and its nature through countless experiments performed in his free time, making him a world renown scientific figure.
10. Invented bifocals, created concept of daylight savings, and charted the Gulf Stream temperatures of the Atlantic.
11. As an author, he wrote and published Poor Richard’s Almanac, one of the best selling publications in early American history. His autobiography has become a classic in literature, influencing millions of people with his message of personal improvement, public service, and philanthropy.
12. As postmaster general, he revolutionized the mail service delivery of the colonies, by implementing home delivery and one day service.
13. As a later revolutionary politician, he played an active part in the creation of nearly every major document, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the war alliance with France, and the peace treaty with England. In fact, he was the only party to sign all four.
14. Shortly before his death, Franklin accepted the presidency of a society formed to end the stain of slavery in America.
These achievements are enough to satisfy a dozen men of renown, but nearly unfathomable when one ponders that all of this was achieved by a run-away youth starting with no wealth in colonial America. The question is, how could anyone find the time to perform all of these activities, while excelling in every field? The answer is a combination of disciplined time management and a relentless pursuit of knowledge, and the freedom obtained through his franchising business model. Franklin learned early the multiplying effect of good leadership, leading himself through a rigorous program of self development, even, for a period of time, becoming a vegetarian in order save money to invests in more books. Franklin fed his brain before his belly. But he didn’t stop there, Franklin studied the greatest influencers of his age, seeking to develop the right mix of charm, posture, and tact to go along with his unquestioned character, becoming a leader of leaders. In fact, Franklin developed one of the first personal development programs, freely sharing his success system in his autobiography, and in his yearly Poor Richard’s Almanac, loaded with witty sayings, pearls of financial wisdom, and solid leadership thoughts. Franklin was a hungry student, studying principles of character, task and relationships to improve his leadership, writing, “Not a tenth part of wisdom was my own.” Franklin’s personal leadership program is conveyed best in Launching a Leadership Revolution, Chris Brady’s and the author’s Wall Street Journal number one best seller, “So Benjamin Franklin did what we have been discussing in this chapter: he deliberately set out upon a program of personal growth. He selected thirteen virtues he felt worthy of his attention and organized a demanding schedule of improvement and tracking. He would work on one virtue for four weeks at a time, recording his progress or lack thereof, then move on to the next virtue, repeating the cycle over and over throughout several years.” Even though Franklin had no formal education, he was one of the most educated men in America, teaching himself English, Italian, and French, displaying a voracious hunger to learn that he maintained his entire life. Franklin leadership training may have been the most significant development in his life, since all the other achievements flowed from his mastery of self and others, through leadership.
When Franklin was still a boy, he apprenticed with his elder brother, James, in a printing house. Learning the ins and outs of the newspaper and printing business, while actively educating himself with his free hours, many times, reading until late in the night. Several books, like Plutarch, Defoe, and Mather impacted him greatly. His world-view, developed from his readings, seeing history as the stage in which great men and women acted, included in this, was that virtuous men and women bettered societies, that individuals counted in the making of history, and that fortune favored the bold, at least on earth anyhow. Franklin set upon a course to become one of these great men, history would record that he was not disappointed in his quest. Franklin’s rise in business began at the early age of 16, when he ran away from his hometown of Boston, tired of the abuse from his older brother, starting work at a Philadelphia print shop. In less than three years, Franklin built a reputation in Philadelphia as a diligent worker with a witty pen, a man on the move up, becoming well known as a prominent printer in the young city. Franklin’s world-view is best displayed in his decision, at only 42 years of age, to hand over his successful printing enterprise in order to focus on his many areas of interests, including science, politics, and local community affairs, writing to his mother, “I would rather have it said, ‘He lived usefully,’ than ‘He died rich’.” Franklin received his wish, dying one of the most influential people of the 18th century, while never having to work another day in his life. Franklin used his new found time, not for personal laziness, but for public usefulness.
Franklin could afford his early retirement because he had conceived of an ingenious plan to aid journeyman printers, helping them to own their own businesses. In a true spirit of win-win, the 26 year old Franklin, in 1731, was offered the position of South Carolina’s official printer for its public records, an opportunity that he declined because he didn’t wish to leave Philadelphia. But, instead of rejecting the offer outright, Franklin suggested an alternative plan, proposing to the Charleston officials that they hire one of his journeyman, Thomas Whitmarsh. Franklin would sponsor the project, helping the journeyman with the press equipment, fonts, funds, not to mention mentorship, while Whitmarsh would run the day to day operations in Charleston. All parties profited by this unique arrangement. South Carolina received a top notch journeyman, trained under the tutelage of Franklin; Whitmarsh received capital and mentorship, both factors in short supply in the colonies, allowing him the opportunity to own a business; lastly, Franklin, received one third of the profits for six years, after which, Whitmarsh could either buy out Franklin’s ownership interest or continue with his current financial arrangement. Since Franklin had capital, but little time, while the journeymen had time, but little capital, this arrangement benefitted both sides of the partnership, providing to each other, what each on their own lacked, a true example of a win-win trade. Franklin’s franchise marketing program expanded across the colonial cities, he looked for hungry, sober, hard working journeyman to be his long distant proxies, helping to build many sister newspapers, that dotted the colonial landscape, following the leadership of his Pennsylvania Gazette masthead. Over time, Franklin’s expansive printing empire reached all the way from Hartford in the north, and as far south as Antigua, with Lancaster, New York, and New Haven, too mention just a few, in between the two poles of influence, an impressive accomplishment in this largely agrarian society. In fact, by 1755, eight of the fifteen newspapers printed in colonial America were part of Franklin’s powerful conglomerate. Although not all his partnerships made money, most of them prospered under his leadership. Franklin forged partnerships for over fifty years, creating a residual income stream that left him free to pursue his purpose, no longer enslaved to monetary want.
Posted by OrrinWoodward
at 7:13 AM EST
Updated: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 7:16 AM EST
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