Do you want to make a difference?  Do want to contribute to society, provide more value to your business/occupation, to your community, to the society as a whole?

I suggest paying attention to the metaphor of the ant. 

The Army Ant

It is amazing that one of the smallest of God’s creature can become one of His Greatest teachers.  The lessons the ant teaches us can be summarized this way:

A – Attitude of Initiative

Ants don’t need a commander to tell them to get started.

N – Nature of Integrity

Ants work faithfully and need no outside accountability to keep them doing right.

T – Thirst for Industry

Ants work hard and will replace their anthill when it gets ruined.

S – Source of Insight

Ants store provisions in the summer. 

If we consider and learn from the ways and the life of the ant, we can grow wiser.
Summarized by John Maxwell from Proverbs 6:6-8

Decorations are peaking out of every nook and cranny.

Festive times with your ole grandpa and granny.

Cinnamon and spices in the air.

Christmas trees and lights brighten the sky.
Family and friends gather with gifts under trees.
Sharing, caring and laughter are near.

Decorations are nice but fade with the time and sometimes I have to reflect and ask

Great short video on understanding your power. 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest is fear is that we are powerful beyond measure!

Being focus on a goal is one thing.  Understanding your true power is another!  Thanks @CurtMaly for this reminder!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So I get Forbes magazine in the mail for FREE…. (for some reason I have no clue why I get it but I am ok with that : )) and this month’s issue was about Forbes Top 100 Celebrity List.   This list talks about not only the income that these celebrities make but also ranks them as the most powerful. 

It got me thinking about the book the Go Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  In this book the author talks about 5 Stratospheric Laws of Success and the Second Law is the Law of Compensation.

The Law of Compensation states that :  Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

If we look at the what the Law of Compensation tells us and then look at how many people the below Celebrity base serves then in my opinion, these people do deserve the money that they receive in payment for what they provide in service. 

Kobe Bryant

Take Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers for example : 

The 2010 NBA Finals featured a rematch of 2008 with a renewal of the classic rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics and proved to be a smash hit in the ratings. With the historic rivalry between the two most successful teams in the league being the marquee matchup once again and the Finals going seven games for the first time since 2005, the series achieved a 10.6 rating and an average of 18.1 million viewers, the highest numbers since 2004. This was a 26% increase from 2009 and a 14% increase from 2008, the last time the Lakers and the Celtics met.  The deciding Game 7 garnered an 18.2 rating and a tally of 28.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched NBA game since Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which had a 22.3 rating and drew 72 million viewers.  It just goes to show that when people provide massive value they get massive results.

To archive the original story directly from Forbes Magazine, click here:

See attached List on where your favorite Celebrity stacks up!

The Celebrity 100

OK so I have been very busy with you name it in working a business from the ground up and I honestly haven’t made time to blog lately but I am offically BACK!   I want to take a moment to talk about the difference between being proactive vs reactive and explain what I perceive are the benefits of having a proactive attitude.

•One of my favorite quotes is a quote by Michael Jordan, “Some people want it to happen, some people wish it could happen, others make it happen.”

Of course Michael Jordan wanted the ball at the end of the game, he wanted to be in a position to make things happen and win the game. I love sports related quotes because they can and do relate to everyone and every area of life, are you one those people that says I wish this or that would happen.  Or are you one those people that constantly desires and wants something to happen but never does anything about it. Finally do you make things happen, instead of just wishing and wanting. We all fall into one category or another.

This is where being proactive comes into play, you must begin to think, visualize and put a plan together to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.  Michael Jordan did not become the greatest basketball player ever over night, as a matter of fact when he started out in youth basketball he was not very good.  He came home and told his dad that he wanted to quit, and his dad said to him well Michael that’s fine quit but what did you learn today and Michael said ”I found out I hate to lose”.

So what do I do from here, how do I begin to take myself from just wishing and wanting to making things happen and can you be a Michael Jordon in your area of life? I submit that we can be the best at what we do and that we can have more success than failure if we would only plan for success. Simply put we must proactively plan to succeed and not just sit back and take whatever happens and then react to the situation.

•“Setting a goal is NOT the main thing, it is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”  Tom Landry

The funny thing about goals are they become the things we talk about rather than the things we do. So we talk, wish and want but we don’t proactively go about achieving our goals. Often our sales staff will tell us that the main reason for their success is luck and I am always quick to point out that it’s not luck but it’s when preparation meets opportunity. Just as Michael Jordan had to practice and prepare to take that last second shot, we must proactively plan and prepare to succeed at whatever our goal might be.

To me the difference between proactive and reactive, is not being satisfied with what might happen or could happen but turning the odds in my favor and being prepared for success.

Are you prepared for success?

Ok I don’t get super excited about reading… but I like to read.

But my biggest problem and why I don’t get super excited about reading is because I am on the go, constantly.  Always reading a couple of different books (at a time) and when I am mobile (which is all the time) I like to get a couple of chapters in between breaks and my work day.  Amazon just created an “app” for it and has an application that gives you the ability to not have to have a Kindle to get kindle books!  Awesome feature!  Especially since I will not stir away from a blackberry, this is a great feature to have for Blackberry’s as well.

Here are some of the features and benefits of the app:

The Best Reading Experience for Your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or BlackBerry

• Shop the Kindle Store for over 480,000 Kindle books, including 105 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, starting from $9.99. If you are a non-U.S. customer, book pricing and availability may vary.
• Read thousands of free books, including popular classics such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island.
• Get free book samples – read the first chapter for free before you decide to buy.
• Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across your devices.
• Adjust text size to make reading more comfortable.
• Download and read Kindle books – no Kindle required.

Happy Reading to you!

Had to step back on this one after watching………..

Thanks to a good friend, Kyle Henderson for sharing this with me the other day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Share it with others that need to a reminder that you are Powerful Beyond Measuure!

I found this short “Motivating Moment” and wanted to share it:  An elderly carpenter was ready to retire.  He told the employer, a building contractor, of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.  He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire.  They could get by.

His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor.  The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was no longer in his work.  He had lost his enthusiasm and had resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials.   It was an unfortunate way to end his career. 

When the carpenter finished his work and his boss came to inspect the new house, the contractor handed the front door key to the carpenter.  “This is your house”  he said.  “My gift to you”

What a SHOCK!  What a shame!  If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it so differently.  Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

The moral of the story:

So it is with us!  We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best.  At important points we do not give the job our best effort.  Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built for ourselves.  If we had realized, we have done it differently. 

Think of yourself as the carpenter.  This about your house.  each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or a wall. 

Build wisely.
It is the only life you will ever build of your own.  Even if you live it for only one day more, that deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity!  The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it yourself project.”  Who could say it more clearly?  Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past.  Your life tomorrow will be the result.

Author Unknown