It's Story Time...
Now that the SAL Theory and Model have been introduced, outlined, and thoroughly explicated, it's time to take a closer look at what Self-Action Leadership looks like in real life.
The purpose of BOOK the SIXTH is to illuminate the personification of SAL by sharing a variety of examples of REAL people who have exemplified SAL over long periods of time in their own lives.
How true these words have proven to be in my own life and successes as a self-action leader!
My decision to incorporate a narrative approach in teaching Self-Action Leadership is rooted in the reality that PERSONAL STORIES are an incredibly powerful way to teach and inspire others. The broad appeal of stories is the primary reason we read books, go to movies and plays, listen to music, and view art.
This appeal is, I believe, greatly enhanced when the story is TRUE.
As such, I have gone to great efforts to retell the stories as they really happened—and have avoided any exaggerations or embellishments. The stories I share in this book really happened—just as I relate them in the following narratives.
 |
No matter our diversity and uniqueness,
human beings are still more alike than different. |
Real-life stories help us to better understand the differences we share as human beings.
More importantly, they illuminate our many similarities, which ultimately outnumber and overshadow our differences.
Consider, for example, eight (8) of the fundamental similarities we all share as human beings:
- We are all members of the same race — the human race.
- We all entered this world in the same way, and we will all eventually die.
- We have all faced, or will yet face, significant challenges and difficulties in our lives.
- We all have hopes and dreams for the future and desire to live happy, successful, and prosperous lives.
- We all desire Inner Peace of heart, mind, and spirit.
- We all have to work hard, follow the rules, and rely on Serendipity to earn whatever level of Existential Growth we aspire to attain.
- We all want our lives to matter.
- When we someday pass away from this world, we all want to leave behind a legacy that is both positive and lasting.
Despite these and other commonalities we share, no two human beings have the exact same fingerprints or genetic coding, and no two self-action leaders walk a carbon-copied pathway in life. Moreover, each person suffers a measure of naturally allotted and self-inflicted pain and suffering.
In light of this extraordinary reality, we would be wise to avoid comparing ourselves and our individual struggles to others, because, as Viktor Frankl—a Nazi concentration camp survivor—points out, all suffering is relative.
"A man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore, the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative." (2)
In light of Frankl's astute observation, we at Freedom Focused encourage YOU to refrain from judging, or attempting to compare your life's challenges and journey with mine or anyone else's. Instead, we invite you to remain laser-focused on your own journey and on the SAL principles and practices in this book that can help you succeed and grow—no matter what may have happened in your past, what problems you may face in the present, or how hard you future journey may yet prove to be.
And never forget that YOU are SOVEREIGN over your own decisions; and decision are what will determine your destiny.
Truly, YOU are FREE to be the kind of man or woman you wish to be.
In the words of a beloved hymn: know this that every soul is free, to choose his life, and what he'll be.
"Know this that every soul is free; to choose his life and what he'll be."
—Anonymous
I am No Dr. Phil
In Chapter One of BOOK the FIRST, I mentioned that I am no Dr. Phil.
This is a true statement.
I am not an expert at helping people solve their problems, nor do I aspire to be such.
My expertise lies in helping myself to solve my own problems with the aid of Serendipity and the assistance of other people (where necessary). My goal in writing this book, therefore, is to share my experiences and insights in hopes of inspiring YOU to become increasingly capable and self-reliant in solving your own problems, also with the aid of Serendipity and the assistance of other people (where necessary).
In presenting my personal narratives, I avoid comparing and contrasting my challenges with anyone else's because everyone's challenges are singularly unique. Thus, in the final analysis, there is no such thing as a perfect "Apples-to-Apples" human comparison.
Instead, I focus on how all of us can better bear up underneath the individual burdens we each must shoulder in a never-ending effort to emerge stronger and more capable, compassionate, and wiser individuals than we were before.
No matter how different my journey may be from yours, I invite you to search the forthcoming anecdotes—from my own life and the lives of other self-action leaders—for insights that can benefit your life, career, and relationships.
Along the way, I hope and pray that you might discover the enormous liberty you possess to increase your individual freedom over time, and by so doing to design your personal world and ultimate shape your destiny.
Footsteps and Sculpting
In the opening lines of Chapter Three of his classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote: "A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
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Charles Dickens
1809-1870 |
It is true that in this life and world, I will never be able to perfectly understand the holistic totality of your background, experiences, and challenges; nor will you be able to perfectly comprehend mine.
I am confident, however, that by sharing our experiences we can gain powerful insights into each other's journey that will benefit our own—and that of others. This wisdom can empower us to better discern and appreciate each other's lives as we attempt to solve the extraordinary dilemmas and puzzles of our own.
Perhaps sharing intimate details from my life, career, and relationships might, in some small way, aid you in your own quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement. And perhaps, as you observe my own footprints in the sands of life, you might draw added strength to press through your own daunting crucibles.
 |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807-1882 |
In the eloquent poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time,—
Footprints that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again. (3)
When I reflect on the impact that Self-Action Leadership has had on my life, career, and relationships, my heart echoes the hopeful and inspiring words of the American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, which, though shared in the previous chapter, bears reiteration here:
 |
| Henry David Thoreau |
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." (4) |
I cherish the fact that Thoreau refers to "Self-Help" and "Personal Development" efforts as the Highest of Arts because while I consider myself first and foremost to be a teacher and a writer, I also view myself as being an ARTIST—and not merely in a dramatic, literary, oratorical, or rhetorical sense; but also in the sense of being a creator, composer, and sculptor of my own character and life's story and destiny.
For me, the greatest liberty and opportunity I possess is the chance to design and then build or sculpt my life, career, and relationships over time. This freedom to direct the drama and influence the outcome of our own destiny is among the greatest gifts that Life and Serendipity have endowed us with, and serve as a source of enormous opportunity, possibility, adventure, excitement, satisfaction, fulfillment, inner peace, and perhaps most importantly—HOPE.
It is my sincere hope and prayer that the SAL Theory and Model—and the stories that accompany them here in BOOK the SIXTH—will inspire you to more fully exercise this liberty wherewith you may, in-turn, expand your freedom indefinitely.
In the process, I pray and hope that you develop a deeper, greater, and more animated hope for your own future. As you do so, may you one day behold your own version of the vision experienced by the "Sculptor Boy."
Life Sculpture
Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy With his marble block before him.
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o'er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven's own light the sculpture shone—
He'd caught that angel-vision.
Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God's command,
Our life-dream shall pass o'er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision. (5)
—George Washington Doane
"As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow,
as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives."
—Buddha
In the end, no matter who you are or what crosses you are called upon to bear, it is YOU—and only you—that determines who the VICTOR in your life will be. Others can help and encourage, but no one can live your life for you, nor can Serendipity alone carry the day without your willing assent.
In this sense, YOU really are the lone sovereign ruler of your individual life and world.
"Every one of us has in himself a continent of undiscovered character.
Happy is he who acts the Columbus to his own soul."
—Sir J. Stevens
—Dr. JJ
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Author's Note: This is the 480th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 270th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
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Chapter 1 Notes
1. Hill, N. (1960). Think & Grow Rich. New York, NY: Fawcett Crest. Page 39.
2. Frankl, Viktor. Man’s Search for Meaning. 2006. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Page 44.
3. Longfellow, H. W. (1912). The Poetical Works of
Longfellow. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Page 3.
4. Thoreau, H.D. (2001). Walden and Other Writings. New York, NY: MetroBooks. Pages 74-75.
5. Doane, G. W. (1920). Life Sculpture. In R. J. Cook, Ed., One-Hundred and one
Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement. Google Books version. Chicago, IL:
The Cable Company. Page 136.
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