JUNE 2019

Business Tips:

15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

Our management is doing a new study on the John Maxwell curriculum with the book called the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. We recommend you pick up a copy or listen to it online if you have the technology to do so. We will be exploring these laws as a team this year.

              The goal in the study is to help each of us learn how to grow and develop ourselves so we have the best chance of becoming the person we were created to be.

~ The Law of Design ~

              If you don’t design your own life’s plan, chances are that you fall into someone else’s plan. You need a system. A system is a process of predictively achieving a goal based on a logical and specific set of how-to principles. Why is it so crucial? Systems permit ordinary people to predictively achieve extraordinary results. Systems lever your time, money, and ability.

              There is no correlation in the time you spend in the profession and the performance level achieved. Just because you practice something doesn’t mean that it is going to help. Unless you understand systems and are deliberate in the practice you will not progress.

SYSTEMS FOR DESIGN

1.       Big picture – you have to read a lot if you want to grow, put systems in place to grow

2.       Priorities – there are times in the day that we work better than others, prioritize those times and use those times to leverage that time for your return

3.       Measurement – last week of every year review (look at hourly, daily, weekly, monthly – reflection of past year, categorize your time), reflection turns experience into insight

4.       Application – when you learn something – 3 questions: when and where can I use this and who needs to know it

5.       Organization - # 1 time waster is looking for things that are lost, why? Didn’t have a place to put them in the first place

6.       Consistency – systems allow you to think things through, consistency allows you to follow through

             

Personal Tips:

~ Resolution 7: ~

RESOLVE TO DEVELOP THE ART & SCIENCE OF FRIENDSHIP:

I know that everyone needs a true friend to lighten the load when life gets heavy. True friends give the most when they receive the least. The quality and quantity of friendship, according to the 2006 study of the American Sociological Review, is declining. In a survey among 1,467 people, data was collected and compared to a survey from nineteen years earlier. The findings revealed that the average number of people with whom Americans can discuss matters of importance had dropped by nearly one-third, from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004. One of the researchers, Lynn Smith-Lovin, a professor of sociology at Duke University, commented, “The evidence shows that Americans have fewer confidants and those ties are also more family-based than they used to be. This change indicates something that’s not good for our society.

The Eight Principles of True Friendship

1. True friends form around a shared insight, interest, or taste, enjoying the common bond uniting them.

2. True friends accept one another, loving each other despite their human imperfections.

3. True friends approve of one another, protecting each other’s weaknesses while enhancing each other’s strengths.

4. True friends appreciate one another, encouraging, serving, and believing in one another’s gifts and talents.

5. True friends listen with empathy, learning the hopes, dreams, fears, and struggles of each other.

6. True friends celebrate one another’s success, proud of each other’s accomplishments without a hint of envy.

7. True friends are trustworthy, maintaining all confidences shared with unimpeachable honor and self-respect, knowing that gossip separates the best of friends.

8. True friends are loyal, respecting and defending one another’s character, reputation, and motives, as far as truth allows, while addressing any issues or concerns between them promptly and privately, ensuring misunderstandings never fester.

True friendship is a lost art in today’s “me” generation, and this increases the value of a friend. The best way to find friends of such caliber is to be one, which is why friendship is one of the thirteen resolutions. If someone dies having had several true friends, then he is a blessed man. A person must make a commitment to give to each of his relationships more than he receives. Although simple in theory, this is much tougher in practice, especially with true friends. A friendship brings so much joy and fun into one’s life that it should be cultivated as a fine art. Conversely, damaged relationships bring so much pain into one’s life that conflicts should be resolved promptly. Resolve the issues rather than dissolve the friendship, if at all possible. A person’s real wealth isn’t his net worth but his relationships with God, his family, and his friends. No amount of money can mend a damaged relationship or purchase the joy and happiness experienced in a true friendship. Regardless of the fickleness and fecklessness witnessed in the world, resolve today to give others

Woodward, Orrin. RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE

Life Skills:

Faith, Family, Fitness, Finances, Friends, Fun, Following, Freedom; we call these the 8F’s in life.

Many of these categories can tell one where their priorities are in life by measuring the time one would spend in one of the above categories. I know we don’t have it all figured out, but we have a lot of great sources that speak into these items and we welcome your comments. Please feel free to drop us a line concerning any of them.

THE DAILY DOZEN - WONDER

This year we are going to use this concept to explain 1 word per month that if made into a habit, we believe your life will, no doubt, improve.

Stop & Think. I have a little plaque on more than 1 of my desks that say, “think”. Dream the improbable.

Notable quotes: They are italicized above.

Something I want you to know:

Design your life, surround yourself with true friends, and engage wonder!