Encouraging the Heart through KUDOS

I’ve been thinking of the many people who work with youth. They need to be encouraged as it is always challenging. I’m also thinking of youth themselves who need encouragement for the journey ahead of them. Both of these people need Kudos. Kudos is a rarely used english word that simply means giving compliments to another. Maybe the rare use of the word signifies the need for more kudos. In an effort to contribute towards this, I would like to suggest a KUDOS formula for encouraging the heart.

Here’s the KUDOS formula:

K – Keep your focus on finding acts worthy of encouragement in people.

U – Underscore the vital necessity of a climate and culture of encouragement.

D – Discover the 101% principle (Find the 1 thing someone is good at and give 100% encouragement in this area).

O – Outline your expectations, knowing that people soar higher once encouraged.

S – Seek to encourage with a desire for the other person’s benefit, not your own.

Five Key Results of the KUDOS formula:

1. Increased productivity in service and results.

2. Generates motivation and keeps momentum going.

3. Cultivates energy for input of effort and hard work.

4. Maintains commitment as the personal power is unleashed.

5. Leverages the final outcome of a desired target or objective.

Give KUDOS today!

Owning the Future through Dreams and Vision

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. Dreams are born of hopes and desires while vision comes from foresight and passion. It is essential to have both because they work together in the manifestation of personal purpose and potential.Two Key Questions:

1. What is your dream?

What is your greatest hope or aspiration? What do you yearn for earnestly? What do you secretly wish for yourself and those around you?

Dreams really are the cornerstone of life. Without dreams, life is meaningless. Dreams give substance to existence. They allow us to go beyond mediocre living to living with a zest for life. Dreams activate within us a willingness to embrace higher ideals worth striving for. Dreams are the bedrock of life.

2. What is your vision?

What do you imagine when you think about the future? What do you see yourself capable of achieving? If you had all the resources you wanted in the world, what would you do?

Visions give structure to life. They give form to dreams. Without vision life lacks power. Visions provide us with a framework for accomplishment. They enable us to go beyond living with zest to having a zealous pursuit that delivers results. Visions allow us to go from activity to productivity. 

The Marriage of Dreams and Vision … is the birth of purpose!!

Dreams + Vision = Purpose!!

What’s your purpose in life? What is the reason for your existence? Can you clearly define that which you would give your all in order to realize in life?

The Offspring of Dreams and Vision … is pure potential!!

Dreams X Vision = Potential!!

Every human being has the potential for greatness. In order to uncover your true potential, you have to allow your dreams to flourish and pursue a solid vision with purpose. Go ahead,… own the future!

The Little Blog Post of Connectedness

Over the past couple of days I’ve been reading a content rich book that’s titled, Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way to RICH Relationships. It’s opened my eyes to so many aspects of connectedness that I’m beginning to apply in my personal life. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to develop a rich network of relationships – and that really should be all of us! Quite a plug, huh!

Anyway, connectedness changes lives. I was inspired late last year to develop a vision of what connectedness will look like for me in 2007. I’d like to reproduce it here as “The Little Blog Post of Connectedness“. Connectedness brings order and synergy to the people, things or events that are associated together in that relationship. My vision entails new thinking in terms of connectedness which will be the springboard for the advancement of greatness in people. In the past, many people have had a lot of disconnection in certain crucial components of their lives and my goal is to bring all these together as one complete package.

Here is what connectedness means to me in 2007: 

1. Connectedness to true spiritual roots

Spirit is essential in the pursuit of a better life. Our souls should prosper as we endeavor to help others develop their personal potential. Our first quest in connectedness should be a solid relationship with God. The winds of social change are blowing in all sorts of directions and it is impossible to navigate them without solid connectedness to true spiritual roots. Our entire intelligence, consciousness and sentience must be inspired by our spiritual development. This is the key to vibrant and effective living.

2. Connectedness to one another and to family

In December of 2003, my wife and I created what we call our nuptial values. These values were an off-shoot of our marriage vision statement. While we have encountered tremendous success based on this vision, we sense a need for even deeper connection as we pursue our ultimate family legacy. Human connection needs to go beyond the superficial to real community. Community starts with an individual and extends to the family, then to society.

3. Connectedness to our unique individual visions

In this day, we need to demonstrate a commitment to personal vision for life more than ever before. If you have never concretized a solid personal vision for life, this is the time to do it. Significance in life is a direct function of your personal vision for a better life.

4. Connectedness to our joint destiny and family legacy

We need a clearerer understanding and grasping of our place in the human family and its destiny. More than ever before, people want to engage in contributing at a higher level to the well-being of others, regardless of their individual differences. This is easily manifested in many facets like volunteering for greater causes, community activities, travel and many others.  

5. Connectedness to the people who matter in our lives

Great social and professional relationships are essential for the realization of one’s personal destiny. We need to associate with good thinkers, thought leaders and idealists with a passion for better life. Nothing is more joyful than productive gatherings of visionary thinkers at coffee houses, bookstores, city squares, college campuses and many other places. This is always a huge avenue for the development of robust ideas which greatly enhance the lives of so many people.

Get connected!

Actualize the Greatness Within You

We live in a day when many people are being inspired to reach for the greatness that is within them. A lot of credit goes to the self-improvement industry which has done a lot to expose people to their true potential. People are dreaming more and dreaming often. But still there are many who have not come to the point of making their dreams come true. How can dreams be pursued and realized?

In my book, The Road to Arrival, I have defined a dream as a strongly desired goal. Dreams can easily be realized when they are broken down into specific achievable goals. In The Road to Arrival, I discussed ten empowering principles for actualizing dreams: faith, associations, detachment, perseverance, faithfulness, character and integrity, diligence, the tongue, puruit and connection. In addition to this, I outlined nine key principles that identified the steps, levels, conditions, essentials, keys, phases, rules, laws and stages of actualization.

What’s your dream? Are you pursuing it? We are all waiting for your arrival in the land of your dreams. Capture your dreams and let your vision soar!

Desire + Decision X Determination = Destiny!

Imagine living the life of your dreams. Imagine doing what you’ve always dreamed of for a living. Imagine having the time to do the things you love to do with your family and friends. Now, here’s the formula to make that happen: Desire + Decision X Determination = Destiny!

What does this mean? Let us look at the three components of the formula:

Desire

In The Road to Arrival, I talked about desire and defined it as being an unsatisfied longing (p. 105). Dreams are the product of desire. The starting point of all accomplishment is desire. The fact that you can imagine a certain kind of lifestyle fro your self is a good indicator that you have a desire. A dream is simply a strongly desired goal. Desire is the key to motivation because it develops within us a passion to pursue that which we long for. Your desires, however, must be backed by good decision making.

Decision

Decision is the ignition key of progress because the instant one makes a solid decision, change will be automatic. It’s one thing to have good desires but it’s quite another to make a quality decision of getting up and pursuing those desires. Many people falter in this area because they do not want to make a commitment. Making a quality decision enables you to find the power of being commited towards your desires. Nothing ever changes until a man or woman makes a decision. Decision should lead to determination.

Determination

In Battling for your Prophetic Destiny, I talked about Abraham Lincoln and how he had many failures yet remained determined to pursue the dream of becoming America’s president (p. 33). Lincoln himself said, “Always remember that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing”. Once you make a decision to pursue a dream, there will be many obstacles and challenges to keep you form working towards your dream. You must be persistent.

The key to realizing your desired destiny is to make a decision to be determined as you pursue it. You can live the life of your dreams. You can reach all your goals and surpass them. Stay focused!

Discover your Strengths with Tom Rath and Gallup

I am seated here with this book that I feel has just become mine. After completing the assessment and creating the display on the front cover of the book, there was a sense of personalization that the book seemed to bring to me. At first I felt as if I was being anointed with new strengths because I have never really looked at myself as having the strengths that the assessment came up with. It’s really the first time I came across Gallup’s work, so I never took 1.0. Well, here are my top five:

Input
Futuristic
Achiever
Self-Assurance
Deliberative

I like it. It feels natural. I had looked over all the themes before I took the assessment and I initially thought that I would have different results. After completing the assessment and reading about my top five, I was like, “Hmm… This seems like me… I think they got it right”. I believe I still have the other strengths that I initially thought would be my top five but I’m not disappointed that they were not the top five. Great learning tool! Next step: NOW, focus on my STRENGTHS.

Turn off the Constant Negative News (CNN)

With the onslaught of major media, we live in a day when there’s too much negativity coming across all day. The only news coming through seems to be CNN – Constant Negative News. Everywhere you turn it’s negative news – in the newspapers, on theweb, on TV, on radio, at the mall, etc. Our only recourse in this day and age is to turn on what’s positive. Researchers have said that it takes one correct input to overcome eleven incorrect inputs. That basically means that for every negative bit of information that comes your way, you need eleven positive bits of information in order tocontinue progressing towards success in life.

How can the ordinary person then attain success given this situation? I think the most effective way to do so is to engage in a lot of positive self-talk. Learn to speak the good, the powerful, the positive to yourself as you go through the various activities of the day. It doesn’t have to be loud. This habit alone can guarantee you tremendous success in your daily life. Constant and consistent positive input is the key to realizing the fullness of your personal potential. You’ve got to feed yourself with material that will enhance your quality of life. Let’s turn off CNN – Constant Negative News.

Smart Insights on Personal Growth

Personal growth has always been a key topic when it comes to realizing personal potential. The truth is that if you don’t grow, you will go. Personal growth is a necessity in today’s world.  The secret to any person’s future is hidden in their level of commitment to personal growth and development. This is particularly true for leaders. It’s your “inner” growth which sets the pace for your “outer” leadership. Here are some principles which can generate a life of continued growth:

1. Have a personal growth plan

Growth is not automatic. You have to make a conscious effort to commit to a daily growth plan. This could include reading books that enhance your understanding of your chosen field, listening to tapes and audio-books that elevate your understanding and subscribing to websites or newsletters that enhance your insight. This has to be a personal commitment. There’s a proverb that goes, “You’ve got to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather is”. Make that commitment. Develop a personal growth plan.

2. Stay out of your comfort zone

There’s a quote I learnt in college that I really like. Ron Osbourne said, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow”. Many people get stuck in the rut of ”same old, same old”. You’ve got to stretch and expand yourself. Do something new. Do it in a different way. Some wag oce said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Stay out of that comfort zone. Comfort creates ease and ease is the greatest enemy of growth.

3. Grow for who you will be, not what you will get

You need a proper focus if your growth is to go the distance. You can’t just have the goal of acquiring stuff because once you acquire your motivation will wane. Growth should be geared towards becoming a better person, living a better life. Grow to become, not to have. Growth brings good things; good things don’t bring growth. It is more important to be a better person than to have better things. We win in life by being better people, not by having the biggest and the best of stuff. True success is really an intangible thing – it’s the quality of person that you are.

Becoming A Meaningful Specific

One of the quotes that had great impact on my life when I was in college was Zig Ziglar’s famous question, “Are you a meaningful specific or a wandering generality?” This quote came to mind as I was thinking about the ingredients that make a life of purpose, direction and productivity. A keen study of the lives of people who excel will reveal that the main ingredient for their success is usually one thing: passion. Their dedication to a cause, belief in people and commitment to living their best life come from their passion. They find the one thing they really enjoy doing, then do it with passion. Passion is the key ingredient to success. 

Where does passion come from? How can we use it to become meaningful specifics? Passion is born out of desire – having a dream, vision or longing to see something different from a current situation. What do you see in your future? What’s your dream? Martin Luther King Jnr. was a very passionate man because he had a dream for racial equality. Princess Diana had a passion for charity work because she wanted to see a better world. Your passion will enable you to soar from obscurity and into the limelight. Your passion will enable you to realize something greater than yourself. Your passion will enable you to be a meaningful specific. 

Passion is effective when it is birthed from the inside. You must be motivated intrinsically. You cannot exhibit passion on the outside when deep down you are shallow. You’ve got to cultivate it deep within yourself. That comes by immersing yourself wholeheartedly into pursuing your vision or dream. Here are two keys to help you birth passion: 

a). Relentless Dedication – In order to become a meaningful specific, you must be relentlessly dedicated to making your dream come true. What are you doing on a daily basis that is adding value to your ability to fully become who you were born to be? Are you being true to the voice within you that is calling you to perform at your optimum level?

b). Steady Focus – Steady Focus comes from always having your vision right in front of you. Think about why you have immense success driving every day – the windshield is right in front of you and you are always looking out through it! It’s the same thing with your dream. You must keep it right in front of you. There are many ways that you can do this. Write it down and recite it throughout the day. Design your environment to remind you of your vision every day.

Are you a meaningful specific?

The Key to Authenticity

I heard this quote the other day and really loved it: “The best way to be somebody is to be yourself”. I had never heard it said like that before. The best way to be original is to avoid being a cheap copy. This is the key to authenticity. People delight in knowing that they are associating with a real you instead of a cheap copy of someone else. Being yourself builds credibility and engenders respect from those who rub shoulders with you. When people experience the real you, they are left with an experience unlike any they have ever had before. Go on… be yourself! That’s the key to authenticity.