Pep Talk: "Expanding Opportunities"

Who doesn’t like Fridays, right? We’ve reached, for most, the end of the work and eagerly look ahead to respite from the daily grind and, let’s hope, a little weekend fun. 

Fridays, at least for this simple dude from Missouri, also mean gathering, eight o’clock in the morning, in a room full of knuckleheads. We challenge, encourage and cajole one another to strengthen our faith. 

This past week about a dozen of us were pondering the following question: “What are you holding onto that needs to be poured out so others can have their vision of God expanded?” While the conversation flowed back and forth around me, I couldn’t get my mind removed from altering the question a bit. Cranium was fixated on this: “What am I holding onto that needs to be poured out so I can have my vision of life’s possibilities expanded?”

What holds us back? Personally, I believe the biggest barrier is the six inches between our ears. Last week I wrote about Harlan “Colonel” Sanders and his recipe for success. He just wouldn’t give up. It wasn’t until the Indiana native was 65-years-old and had endured several setbacks - childhood beatings, divorce, business failure to name a few - before Kentucky Fried Chicken was born and prospered. Sanders didn’t hang on to past disappointments and their offspring: fear and self doubt.

When given the joy and honor of speaking to others about effectively handling adversity, sharing the importance of letting go of fear and self doubt and allowing courage and wonderment to win, is always explored. The words of Shakespeare come to mind: “Our doubts are traitors that make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

I have a favorite keepsake a friend gave me years ago that states: “Don’t let fear get in the way of your dreams. Instead, remember courage is the soul of your dreams.” Amen to that.

As I write this Pep Talk, it’s a Saturday morning about 20 minutes before departure to join other men and women for a robust 12-minute workout at a Maximized Living location in the Denver metro area. In partnership with three doctors and their locations in the area, Victory Productions is encouraging others, and ourselves, to maximize life and live like champions. Part of that mission is weekend workouts devoted to fitness, nutrition and wellness. I so admire the participants who are letting go of past unproductive habits. They’re inspiring me to do the same. Like-minded people, gathering together and giving hope and confidence to one another in healthy and productive ways - rarely a bad thing, right?

What about you? Where is it time to ask the question: “What am I holding onto that needs to be poured out so I can have my vision of life’s possibilities expanded?” Perhaps it’s centered on something physical, emotional or spiritual? An issue at home, work or elsewhere? The venues and circumstances don’t matter nearly as much as our attitude toward them.

For me, answering the above question means having the guts to continue to figure out a way to earn a living centered on what truly warms the marrow and is Victory’s mission: exalting, inquiring and encouraging others to play like champions - home, work and elsewhere. When a marketing client is lost, speaking opportunities become sporadic, book sales slow to a trickle, an inner voice - fear - does try and dominate the self chatter with something like, “Go get a real job knucklehead!”

But then, usually, there will be a sign. These days it seems, I’ll be driving around town and lo and behold, I’ll see a billboard - a sign - advertising Kentucky Fried Chicken. I’ll see the Colonel’s smiling face and receive a powerful reminder of a fellow human being who rose above the fray, despite great hardship, and refused to relinquish a dream. He remained joyful for the present, optimistic about the future and courageous despite the past.

Joyful, optimistic and courageous. Let’s pour that terrific trio into life this week and see if it expands our opportunities. Trust me, the effort will not harm us.

Pep Talk: "The Recipe"

How do we overcome fear and self-doubt? How do we muster courage to fight off debilitating feelings that drag our souls through muck and mire? Fear and self-doubt might permeate from a tough battle with cancer; struggles to build a successful small business, marriage or long-term relationship. The angst might have genesis in a constant battle with health issues or becoming physically fit. The challenges of life arrive, often unexpected and unwanted, in a variety of ways. The critical question becomes, how do we deal with them? Do we become victims of the circumstances of life, or students of the experiences?

The above mentioned facts of life were running through my head this past week as I slid behind the wheel of darling girlfriend’s luxury sports utility vehicle. The backseat flips down easily making it perfect for hauling stuff, and I was headed on a short, five minute, trip to Home Depot to fetch material for a home project.

With mind too fixated on the above issues affecting my life, or the lives of those dearly loved, little attention was given to what station, or content, the car radio provided. My mind was tuned, ominously, to the trials and tribulations darkening the journey like storm clouds brewing on the horizon.

Then, at exactly the right moment, words from a radio commentator’s mouth, summoned a burst of sunlight piercing the, perceived, oncoming storm and bringing hope to the soul. Hope is always a good thing. Lucky me. I hope, in reading this Pep Talk, lucky you too.

The commentator, never identified, in a calm but inspirational manner, was telling the story of a man who had endured hardship, adversity and bad luck through much of life: constant beatings from an abusive stepfather; the Indiana native quit school and left home at the age of 12; falsified birth records and used a persuasive personality to gain entrance into the U.S. Army at 15, serving honorably and completing service as a mule handler in Cuba. 

Time went on and the teenager moved south, to Alabama, and held many jobs including: steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, railroad fireman and farmer. He married, started a family, but his wife left, taking three kids and leaving this note, “I had no business marrying a no-good fellow like you who can’t hold down a job.” Ouch.

The year was 1930, the average cost of an America home was $7,000, a gallon of gas just a dime, and the now 40-year old moved to Kentucky, opened a service station where he also cooked meals for customers. The business thrived, critics praised the country fare and wondered about the secret recipe. Life was good for almost 25 years. Heck, Kentucky’s governor bestowed upon him the honorary title of “Colonel.”

But storm clouds, no fault of his own, were brewing: America’s love of the automobile and the fledging interstate highway system re-routed traffic away from the thriving business. It withered and died. The same could not be said about the now 65-year-old’s spirit.

He cooked up a bunch of his tasty chicken dishes and hit the road offering franchise opportunities to anybody who would listen. Legend has it that 1,009 folks said, “No thanks.” He persevered, continually putting fear and self-doubt aside and, finally, found a kindred spirit.

As we like to say, “The rest is history.” Kentucky Fried Chicken was born. Harlan “Colonel” Sanders with his, by now, distinctive all-white attire, hair and beard never gave up on himself and life. We shouldn’t either.

A quick trip in somebody else’s car, listening to the radio tuned to another’s person station of choice, delivered, at just the right moment, an incredible reminder to the recipe, it ain’t secret, to success in life: Hang in there!

We all have our story. We all have our struggles. This week, when the crap seems overwhelming and, while in the boxing ring we call life, temptation to throw in the surrender towel seems like the best option, pull this little reminder from the perseverance bucket. Heck, in honor of Sanders, who died in 1980 at the age of 90, order a family-size portion and share it with others considering it’s finger-lickin’ good.

Pep Talk: "Resist Zero Gravity"

A while ago, I was flying to Tampa, Florida for a speaking engagement. I’m reading a book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It’s a delightful gem where author Mark Batterson expresses views about many things, including adversity.

The Oxford American dictionary defines the word as: misfortune, trouble. That’s it. While it is simple to define the word, we know from personal experiences, misfortune and trouble can appear in many different forms: a marriage or relationship falls apart; a job is lost because of economic conditions or poor performance; a loved one’s, perhaps your own, health is jeopardized because of illness or injury.

Three examples of twists and turns arriving – unexpected and unwanted – in our lives that must be dealt with. They deliver adversity forcing us to change direction and chart a different course. Effectively dealing with change, a real key in leading a successful life, right? It’s not that we have to LIKE the change, but we must keep a healthy attitude toward it. We must be determined not to become a victim of the circumstance bringing misfortune and trouble into our lives, instead becoming a student of the experience. We learn from, and become better, because of it.

Batterson, in talking about the same premise, offers an analogy of astronauts and what they face when returning from space. While in orbit these men and women operate in zero gravity – there is no resistance. That’s not good for the human body. Long-term exposure to zero gravity leads to loss of muscle mass, bone density and accelerates heart rates to dangerous levels. In other words, resistance, synonymous with adversity, is a necessary component of life. Another analogy he used was good too. It’s rare for someone to break a bone in the same place because that particular bone usually grows back STRONGER after the misfortune or trouble that led to the initial break.

Could we apply the same logic to our lives? We all have misfortune and trouble – that’s life. Sure, we often think we’d love to experience life without any problems, zero gravity. But if we realize the opportunities adversity presents to help us grow stronger, perhaps we could face change, and its challenges, with a different attitude?

It’s not easy. But the effort to learn from, not become a victim of, adversity will help us one day at that roller coaster ride we call life. Promise.