Dr. JJ's Rule #5: Never Insult or Contend

In a previous article, JJ's 13 Rules for Living were shared. This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's RULE #5, which states:

Never insult or contend.  Focus instead on facts, positive elements of a situation or circumstance, and common beliefs in a never-ending effort to teach true principles and lift others to see broader vistas and obtain firmer footholds along life's continually treacherous physical and metaphysical journeys.

From 1999 to 2001, I served a full-time proselytizing mission for my Church. As a boy and young man, I had been unusually studious and dedicated in my reading and study of the scriptures. As a result, one of my biggest strengths as a missionary was my doctrinal acumen and familiarity with Holy Writ.

This was a great strength.

Unfortunately, however, I too often used my knowledge of and experience with the scriptures to engage in conduct that was argumentative and unnecessarily defensive. We missionaries referred to such conduct as: "Bible Bashing." Such a term is self-descriptive and requires no additional explanation.

Guess where Bible Bashing got me?

          You guessed it...

                    Nowhere! 

In fact, Bible Bashing always did more harm than good. As a very passionate missionary with a somewhat mercurial disposition and hot-tempered personality, I naïvely believed at the time that my actions were necessary to defend my beliefs and stand up for what I thought was right. 

But I was wrong. 

Bible bashing never won me any friends, much less converts. Nor did it influence others in positive or productive ways. It was ultimately an ego-centric behavior that was motivated as much by my own selfish whims as it was a sincere desire to help other people discover and learn.

In hindsight, I never left a "Bible-Bashing" session with good feelings in my heart, and I certainly didn't leave any warm fuzzies with those with whom I had "bashed." Regardless how many metaphorical "punches" I may have landed on others, oratorically bloodying my "opponents" whom I was supposed to view as my "brothers" and "sisters" entirely missed the purpose of my calling as a missionary. I was sent out into the mission field to love, teach, serve, and spread peace; not debate, argue, contend, and wage verbal war. 

Over the years, experience and introspection has motivated me to soften my approach considerably—to my benefit and the blessing of others as well. Twenty years after returning from my mission, I have finally gotten to the point where I rarely raise my voice over issues of religion, politics, or other controversial subjects. I say rarely because I'm still not perfect in this regard; but thanks to Rule #5, I've come a LONG way!

It has been my experience that intelligent, experienced, savvy, secure, and confident self-action leaders simply don't raise their voices except in the case of a legitimate emergency or other unusual circumstance. They are always in control of themselves, and they avoid petty salvos that insult and contend.

They simply don't engage opportunities to insult or contend with others. 

At the same time, self-action leaders do not shy away from calmly, assertively, and confidently stating true facts and/or their own sincerely held positions. But instead of arguing and contending, they focus on facts, positive elements of a situation or circumstance, and common beliefs in a never-ending effort to teach true principles and lift others.    

Because they are so secure and confident, self-action leaders are unflappable in the face of being insulted themselves. In fact, being insulted not only doesn't bother them, it amuses them! And because they genuinely care about others—including their adversaries—they strive to lift, build, and nurture everyone with whom they contact or associate.

Do you, like me, have an inherent weakness to insult or contend with others? If so, I invite you to join me in my own lifelong quest to avoid contention and control your temper by learning to "School Your Feelings" and otherwise embrace SELF-DISCIPLINE.  

School they feelings, O my brother;
Train thy warm, impulsive soul.
Do not its emotions smother
But let wisdom's voice control.

— Charles W. Penrose

NOTE: This article is the 7th in a series of 22 articles on the subject of LIFE RULES.

Click HERE to access quick links to the other 21 articles.   

-Dr. JJ

October 27, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 236th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 235 FF Blog Articles.  

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan Jensen

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Dr. JJ's Rule #4: Learn from Small Mistakes

In a previous article, Dr. JJ's 13 Rules for Living were shared.

Click HERE to review JJ's 13 Rules.

This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's RULE #4, which states:

Avoid costly errors and gross iniquity by learning from small mistakes and petty sins.

Of all the human beings who live in this world, none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes; we all screw up from time-to-time; and we all fall short of perfection.

I know I do!

Despite this reality, Freedom Focused holds that committing costly errors or gross iniquity in our lives is by no means an inevitability. No matter how many others may find themselves wending down slippery slopes of salacity and other wrongdoing in our morally rudderless society, there is much we can do to break ranks from those listlessly lulled away by pied pipers of permissiveness. By learning from our small mistakes and petty sins, we can consciously create a variety of bulwarks and defense mechanisms capable of preventing our going too far in the direction of more serious indiscretions and transgressions.

As self-action leaders balance their lifelong pursuit of IDEALS with practical day-by-day methods aimed at gradual and incremental self-improvement, we can avoid costly errors and gross iniquity as we continually improve in more detailed and nuanced change efforts.

Specifically, I suggest three concrete actions we can repeatedly take in our lives to help in this balanced approach to continual personal improvement and the avoidance of major missteps.  

Preventative measures begin with good PLANNING

1. Readily admit (recognize & catch yourself) committing minor indiscretions.

2. Take concrete actions aimed at nipping small issues in the bud. 

3. Consciously determine "Red Lines" you absolutely will not cross.  

Let's address these items one-at-a-time.

1. Readily admit (recognize & catch yourself) committing minor indiscretions. 

Sometimes, it is both wise and good to "not sweat the small stuff" in life. However, there are other times when there is great value in "sweating the small stuff" if it enables you to avoid falling off a cliff with the BIG stuff. The reason people end up getting into big trouble in their lives or careers is invariably because they convinced (deceived) themselves that lesser indiscretions along the way were "no big deal." But if a lesser indiscretion leads to a greater indiscretion, then a viable argument can be made that lesser issues are, in fact, a very BIG deal. If you are continually recognizing and "catching" yourself when you mess up in small ways, then lesser vices are far less likely to grow into more serious issues.

Back in the 1990s, civic leaders in New York City were able to significantly curb serious crime by focusing on lesser crimes that had previously been ignored. These issues included such minor infractions as "turnstile jumping" on the subway system. In fact, one murderer was apprehended after he had been indicted for jumping a turnstile without paying for a ticket.

By focusing on the "small stuff," New York City's wave of serious crime dropped precipitously.** This same method and phenomenon can work in your own individual life.     

2. Take concrete actions aimed at nipping small issues in the bud. 

After acknowledging to yourself that a minor indiscretion has the potential to become a serious problem, it's time to DO something specific to address the issue before it gets worse. Examples of actions I have personally taken in an effort to stanch smaller issues before they get out of hand include: 

• Trying my best to solve the problem on my own through self-help strategies. These include reading, studying, and/or researching the issue at hand to gain further self-awareness and insight into possible change tactics and strategies. It also includes utilizing positive affirmations and other self-talk techniques aimed at behavioral change.
• Seeking out the help of others (e.g. leader, manager, teacher, mentor, family member, friend, counselor, medical professional, etc.).
• Religious and/or spiritual remedies, such as scripture study, prayer, meditation, solitude, and fasting.
• Continually reminding myself that even though an issue might be "small" or "minor," it still must be addressed, lest it morph into something more serious and destructive.

Self-Action Leaders know what and
where their "Red Lines" are.
Do You?

3. Consciously determine "Red Lines" you absolutely will not cross.

One of the most helpful self-strategies I have employed to prevent small issues from becoming large problems is to determine in advance things that I absolutely will not say or do under any circumstances—ever.

In conjunction with deciding what these "red-line" actions will be, I also fill my mind with clear, concrete, and compelling mental pictures of the awful consequences that are certain to arise were I to waver in my resolve to maintain my red lines as inviolable and sacrosanct. 

Envisioning dangerous real-life enticements in terms of negative

consequences that will arise from embracing temptation helps me to see

dangerous allurements for what they really are: poisonous snakes! 

Sometimes I imagine said consequences as they might really look and feel like in real life. Other times I envision consequences in a metaphorical manner. For example, in my imagination I will picture a given "Red Line" as a large, sinister-looking, and highly venomous snake that is about to sink its fangs into my flesh. I then mentally associate a given "Red Line" action with the imagined snake and its painful bite, poisonous venom, and awful lingering consequences.

I have found this imagined "Snake" example to be particularly helpful when confronting enticements that may, at least on the outside, appear visually or otherwise alluring. A temptation wouldn't be a temptation if there wasn't some vestige of attractiveness attached thereto. Envisioning a seductive temptation as a deadly snake can therefore help to jog us out of the stupors and spells cast upon us by temptations.

In conjunction with the mental tactic of the snake, I also remind myself continually that I'm never too strong to fall. After all, many strong people have fallen in the past. Consequently, I think it is a mistake to ever view myself above temptation. Remaining humble before temptation prepares me to resist whatever may come my way in the future.   

Despite being guilty of a variety of small mistakes and petty sins in my life, I can honestly say that I have never crossed any of my inviolable "Red Lines," nor do I ever have any intention of doing so. Having these "Red Lines" clearly and firmly rooted in my mind, heart, and spirit, has done wonders to keep me from getting too close to the edge of those high, treacherous, and deadly cliffs of temptation.

This is not to say that we should not concern ourselves with our small mistakes and petty sins.

We should be aware of, and continually work on, those as well.

After all, self-action Leaders are always aiming ultimately at perfection. While none of us will ever reach this elusive standard in any holistic manner during our mortal sojourn, Freedom Focused unapologetically upholds the inherent value of pursuing IDEALS. Aiming at anything less is a recipe for failure in the long-run.

At the same time, self-action leaders must also learn to practice disciplined SELF-COMPASSION as they imperfectly strive for improvement. In other words, constantly tearing oneself down is not a productive vehicle for positive personal change and self-growth.

Over twenty years ago, a wise leader and supervisor of mine gave me the following counsel:

"Be Good to Yourself!"

At that particular time in my life, I was an OCD-troubled "Stress Bomb"* of a human being, so this advice was exactly what I needed to hear. I have engaged this advice on countless occasions in my life and career since—to my great benefit. 

Click HERE to read about Dr. JJ's journey managing OCD and Depression.  

As self-action leaders, we need to believe in ourselves. We also need to strike a healthy balance between being appropriately hard on ourselves and compassionately good to ourselves, depending on what a given situation or circumstance may justifiably merit.  

Being good to oneself involves learning to forgive ourselves when we fall short. Likewise, it includes appropriately getting after ourselves when we know we need to change and improve. It also involves cultivating a positive and productive inner dialogue that consoles, builds, and encourages rather than condemns, tears down, and discourages.

Self-action leaders learn to be their own cheerleaders!

In other words, we need to practice being our OWN cheerleader!

When I make an error or otherwise fall short of a desired standard, I need to be able to love myself despite my weaknesses. But I also need to continually strive for improvement and cheer myself on all along the way. Lastly, while I must be persistent in my efforts to improve, I must concurrently be patient with backward steps that often accompany forward progress.

I have learned from the manifold mistakes I have made in my own life that the goal is not to never make a mistake. The goal is to always learn something from each mistake that will help us avoid similar mistakes in the future.  

Remember: although we are all imperfect and stumble repeatedly and diversely in our lives, there are ways to prevent ourselves from "going too far" down any terminally dangerous roads. By learning from small mistakes and petty sins, we can avoid costly errors and gross iniquity. As I have observed others who have fallen prey to serious blunders in their lives and careers, it has become clear to me that whatever I must do to avoid the same fate, it is worth it!  

"Never, Never, NEVER Give Up"
-Winston Churchill

What "small mistakes" and "petty sins" do you struggle with? What "costly errors" or "gross iniquity" might be in your future if you do not learn from "the small stuff" in your life?  

I encourage you to ponder on this subject and then introspectively develop a plan of attack that will empower you to perpetually learn from the small stuff in your life in order to prevent the big stuff from ever becoming a problem.  

And if, unfortunately, you already find yourself down a road laden with costly errors and gross iniquity, remember that there is a way out of deeper messes as well. Recovery and renewal will not come quickly or easily, but it is always possible.  

So remember that come what may, self-action leaders NEVER LOSE HOPE and they NEVER GIVE UP!  

NOTE: This article is the 6th in a series of 22 articles on the subject of LIFE RULES.

Click HERE to access quick links to the other 21 articles.   

-Dr. JJ

October 20, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 235th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 234 FF Blog Articles.  

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan Jensen

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Notes:

* "Stress Bomb" was a nickname given to me by one of my colleagues at the time.

** See Giuliani, R.W. (2004). Leadership. New York, NY: Miramax.

The Purpose of Life

Dr. JJ is a newly minted Cub Scout Den Leader

I recently became a Cub Scout Den Leader. 

I have never wanted to become a Cub Scout Den Leader. In fact, on my lifelong bucket list—which is LONG indeed—being a Cub Scout Den Leader ranks right down near the bottom next to scrubbing mildew in the shower, stubbing my toe, and banging my head against a concrete wall. 

This being the case, why on Earth would I accept an invitation to become a Cub Scout Den Leader if I don't have to? It's not like someone is forcing me to take on that added responsibility and duty in my life.   

Good Question!  

The rejoinder to this interrogatory is the subject of this week's blog post—and the answer is this...

Because I love my kids and it is the RIGHT thing for me to do at this particular time in my life—whether I feel like it or not.

In other words, the answer is: DUTY and LOVE—two words that self-action leaders uphold as a generalized, yet ultimate response to the piercing and perennial existential query: What is the purpose of life? Distilled down to its purest essence, Duty and Love do indeed serve as the most succinct statements articulating the Purpose of our Lives. 

We live in a world where duty and love too often take a back-seat to pleasure-seeking, instant gratification, and lust. The problem with these troubling trends is that disaster lurks in the shadows whenever and wherever the devils of our nature overtake the angels thereof.

You don't have to be religious (or even spiritual) to accede this highly practical and common-sense notion. It's just a mathematical reality, especially as judged over time.  

The ultimate goal of education should be to develop
good habits and learn to take personal responsibility.

Perhaps the single-most important lesson that self-action leaders ever learn is that the purpose of life is not primarily to do what you want to do. The primary purpose of life is to do what you ought to do when it needs doing for the long-term benefit of yourself and others—whether you feel like it in the moment, or not.

In articulating this fundamental SAL principle, I echo the inspired words of Thomas Huxley, who once wrote:

"The most valuable result of all education is to make you do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned. And however early a man [or woman's] training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he [or she] learns thoroughly." 

— Thomas Huxley

Simply stated, self-action leaders are selfless, responsible, and disciplined people. And not merely because being selfless, responsible, and disciplined are RIGHT things to do. Self-action leaders also practice these virtues because they understand that doing so is the best way of guaranteeing what they want most—which is positive, productive, and personally satisfying results in the LONG-RUN.

In the LONG-RUN I say! (1)  

Self-Action Leaders consistently make decisions by looking way down
the road to determine LONG-TERM consequences of those decisions.  

Don't get the wrong idea... self-action leaders are keenly aware of what they personally want most. In fact, I would argue that self-action leaders know better what they authentically want (in the long-run) than most other people—and they indefatigably pursue their deepest and most authentic wants until they eventually obtain them.

I know I do!

But they do so in a very particular way—a way that sets them on apart from most others. This way involves traversing the less traveled pathways of success, which, unlike the well-beaten pathways of mediocrity and failure, lead ultimately to the greatest achievements, pleasures, prosperity, joys, riches, and peace that life has to offer in the long-run.

In the LONG-RUN I say! (1)

Ahhhh!  What was I thinking?

Those who pursue the well-traveled pathways of pleasure-seeking, instant gratification, and lust, usually obtain at least a measure of what they seek in the short-run. But in the long run, they come to discover that whatever short-term payments they may have accrued in-the-moment are not only cankeringly temporary, but they also travel with much unwanted baggage in the form of negative consequences and painful regrets.

Even more tragically, said persons often end up like the bedeviled soul in the Screwtape Letters (Letter XII), who, at the end of his life tragically laments the cruel irony of his own ill-advised decisions, leading him to transparently confess: "I now see that I spent most of my life doing neither what I ought nor what I liked." (1a)

In other words, for his primal pursuit of pleasure, our hedonistic and otherwise unwise human was rewarded not only an eternal estate among the morally degenerate, but he ironically managed to accrue a mere modicum of pleasure along his journey through this world as well.

If such a deal sounds like a "Catch 22," that's because it is!  

How can we as self-action leaders avoid this pathetically sullen, yet surprisingly common (and deeply regrettable) state of being in our own lives? 

We all have duties in our lives and careers.

What are yours?  And are you faithful at attending

to them in a conscientious and timely manner?

We may do so by carefully balancing the prioritization of our personal wants with the existential duties incumbent upon all who grace this Planet in human form.

Stated more simply, we prioritize our existential duties over our personal desires. In other words, we develop the capacity to consistently do what is RIGHT even—and perhaps especially—when doing so is inconvenient or uncomfortable.    

To illustrate what this process looks like in real life, consider the following example from my own life...

Since I was just a teenager, I have had a deep-seated desire to travel the world teaching true principles of human thought, speech, and action. I am absolutely obsessed with such things and my greatest and most healthy outlet is to either write and speak or teach on related subjects. Attending this goal is an accompanying desire to be a successful author, leader, organizer, builder, and influential agent of change on a macro scale. 

To accomplish these important, life-long desires of mine, I have invested tens of thousands of hours of thought, reading, study, formal education, and practice over the course of more than 30 years. Suffice it to say, I have, for a very long period of time, paid a very high price to become the kind of person who is capable of realizing these deep, penetrating, and authentic desires of my heart. 

2015 Version of SAL Textbook

In the fall of 2015, I self-published a compilation of my life's work to date in a life leadership textbook that was nearly 700 pages long. It was the fifth (5th) iteration/edition of this present work. That means I had been working diligently since 2003 on the message contained in this comprehensive textbook.

After traveling the English-speaking world as a contract speaker and trainer for the better part of a decade, publishing several books and hundreds of articles in newspapers and other periodicals, earning an accredited doctoral degree, and investing a DOZEN years in creating the structure and substance of the SAL Theory & Model, it seemed to me that surely the time had come when I could finally begin to enter a place where I might begin traveling the world to teach and train others in the principles and practices to which I had so diligently dedicated my own life.

But it was not to be. 

          In fact, as it turned out, I was not even close!

Despite all my efforts and sacrifices over the years, and regardless of the punctiliousness, persistence, and perspiration involved in my painstaking preparation, I was not about to enter the full-flowering of my career as a speaker, writer, and leader back in 2015. 

I was about to become a full-time stay-at-home Dad!

To date, academe wants nothing to do with Self-Action Leadership.
In the meantime, the world burns as the "Powers-that-Be" continue to
turn a blind eye to the only REAL solution to the madness.
Fortunately, Freedom Focused is a patient organization.
We will simply wait and continue preparing until we are called upon.

And guess how I got things kicked off?

By getting rejected by 70 different colleges and universities for 100 different academic teaching/researching positions all over the world, thus guaranteeing that I would remain a stay-at-home dad for the foreseeable future.

Instead of becoming a bestselling author or entering the college classroom, I began changing diapers and babysitting a one-year old and a three-year old on a full-time basis. 

I'm not going to lie... that first year of full-time "Daddying" just about killed me, both emotionally and physically—not because it was so incredibly difficult (although it definitely was!) but because it was so fundamentally different from my previous life as a traveling contract trainer. The contrast I experienced moving from the world of being a traveling career professional to becoming a full-time stay-at-home parent was a profound shock to my entire system.        

My three- and one-year old in 2016.

I did not, of course, literally die from this experience. Because I refused to quit, things got easier over time, which is what always happens if you refuse to give up in the face of difficulty or adversity.   

Part of this easing process involved rounding the learning curve. Gaining knowledge and experience did not change the difficulty-at-hand, but it did change ME, which in-turn made my difficulties less challenging.

Thus it is that: "Nothing is really hard or easy; there is only your ability (or lack thereof) to do."

"Nothing is really hard or easy.  There is only your ability (or lack thereof) to do." 

— Dr. JJ      

Sketch of Thoreau's homebuilt cabin
near Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

And as the American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau once aptly put it: Things don't change; We change."

"Things don't change.  We change."

— Thoreau   

Another aspect of this gradual easing involved the natural change and growth processes occurring within my kids as I loved, cared for, nurtured, taught, and mentored them. Thus, after a couple of years, my one- and three-year-old became a three- and five-year-old, which provided a significantly different (and easier) parenting dynamic for me.

Then, in 2018, my wife and I decided to invite child number three into the world, thus begging the question: Am I a glutton for punishment or as committed to LOVE and DUTY as I claim to be?

I'll let YOU answer that question for yourself.

With my three kids, aged 6, 4, and <1 in 2019.

I must confess, despite nearly SIX (6) years of practice now, I have never become fully accustomed to my role as a full-time stay-at-home parent—nor do I think I ever will for that matter.

Despite all the plusses and perks—and there are a number of them (e.g. naps, deepened relationships with kids, trips to fun places and other wonderful memories, autonomy over my schedule, etc.)—I still find myself uncomfortable in my present role. Indeed, every single day brings difficulties and the whole deal remains well outside my comfort zone.  

Growing up, I never saw myself tending kids full-time. In fact, I rarely even envisioned myself as a parent—period. In the back of my mind, I always knew that I most likely would be a parent eventually, but I rarely thought about what the full job description would actually entail—particularly with me slotting unexpectedly into the starring role.

As a child, adolescent, and young adult, I thought continually about marriage, getting married, and my future wife. But it was a different matter when it came to kids. So you can imagine how surprising and challenging these unexpected life duties have been for me.

But they are my LIFE DUTIES, and in conjunction with my faith and wife, constitute the most important things in my life, so do I really have any choice but to faithfully attend to these duties if I want to be a person of integrity and desire long-term happiness for my family and myself?

The answer to this question is self-evident and therefore rhetorical. And while clearly comprehending this fact does not eradicate the difficulty of my daily duties, it does help me find joy in the process and much hope for the relational riches to come as blessed by that existential compound interest, which (good or bad), comes to all of us in the future based on the choices we make in the past and present. Thus it is that in the end, we really do reap more-or-less precisely what we sow.

"As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

— The Law of the Harvest 

(As explicated in The Good Book)

Why is it that life seems so determined to give us opportunities to do the very things we would naturally avoid? For example, I don't particularly like (much less relate to) teenagers. I didn't understand teenagers when I was a teenager myself. And as an adult, I don't feel much closer to the little brutes (bless their hearts)! 

Despite this fact, I've spent five years in classrooms of various kinds as a substitute and/or full-time teacher on the middle and high school levels. I've also been an early-morning seminary (religious) instructor of teenagers not once, but twice, in two different states!

I remember the second time I was called to serve as an early-morning religious instructor; this time in the Great State of Texas. The call came during the late summer of 2016, which also happened to be my first (and most) difficult year as a full-time stay-at-home parent. And that was just one of many other challenges my family and I faced that year. 

Ever felt like life itself was singling you out and laughing at YOU?

The early morning class I was invited to teach began at 6:00 a.m. and consisted entirely of tenth graders. Of all the things in this world that DO NOT come naturally to me, 6:00 a.m. and tenth graders are near the tippy-top of my list!

I recall the bitterness and frustration that filled my mind, heart, and soul for the first couple of weeks after I received that calling. It seemed as though life was playing a practical joke on me and fiendishly laughing in the process.

Indeed, it felt as if life itself was pointing a finger of scorn at me and saying aloud: "Ha, ha, Jordan... you wanted to travel the world and teach millions about SAL after the sun was high in the sky; how about you stay put in Texas and teach religion to a dozen teenagers before the sun comes up instead?" 

There's your reward for all that effort and hard work! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"   

My Great Aunt Dorothy was a "Mover
and a Shaker" in part because she
knew how to say: "No"

It's true that I could have said "No" to this invitation. 

An important lesson I learned from my Great Aunt Dorothy was that, and I quote: "You can always say 'No.'"

And there are times when I do say "No."

Click HERE to learn more about Life Lessons Dr. JJ learned from his Great Aunt Dorothy.  

In fact, after spending an entire year teaching seminary and feeling like an exhausted zombie each day as I sought to care for my two kids under the age of four, my wise wife convinced me it was time to ask for a release.

She didn't have to ask twice!

I immediately asked for, and was gratefully granted, an honorable release by those who had called me to serve. 

To those who are scratching their heads and asking: "JJ: why in the world did you accept the calling in the first place?"

Good question!

The ANSWER is: because I learned long ago that it is selfish, short-sighted, and unwise to turn down an opportunity to give and serve when you have the time, means, and capacity to do so. Turning down opportunities to teach or serve other people cheats others out of many blessings. It also cheats YOU out of a goldmine of personal growth and other riches in the form of unique life experiences and meaningful interpersonal relationships.

On the other hand, it is not necessary for a self-action leader to run faster or work harder than he or she is able. Thus, there are times when a declination is the best response—something I am not afraid to invoke when necessary.

While certainly not my favorite thing to do, my experience teaching early morning seminary predictably turned into a positive experience for both the students and me. The students learned and grew in their knowledge and faith; and I grew, progressed, and gained additional practice in pedagogy and religion in conjunction with obedience and humility—two vital SAL virtues. But the fact remains that it was a difficult calling for me, and I was greatly relieved when I was eventually released—just as I will be greatly relieved when I am eventually released as a Cub Scout Den Leader! 

Let that new challenge begin!   

A section of Auschwitz-Birkenau prison in Poland
where Viktor Frankl suffered, reflected,
and achieved extraordinary Existential Growth.

Viktor Frankl, that famous psychotherapist who survived the horrors of Nazi brutality in Auschwitz, once wrote:

"What [is] really needed [is] a fundamental change in our attitude[s] toward life. We [all need] to learn ... that it [doesn't] really matter what we expect... from life, but rather what life expect[s]... from us. We need... to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as ... being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist ... of right action and ... right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. 

These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from [person to person] and from moment to moment. ... Life does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete, just as life's tasks are also very real and concrete. They form [our] destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No [person] and no destiny can be compared with any other [person] or any other destiny. No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response. ... Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness, and there is always only one right answer to the problem posed by the situation at hand." (2)

Throughout my life, LIFE itself has asked me to do a whole host of different things that I felt disinclined to do. In many cases, the prospect of tackling certain tasks and undertakings that, while clearly MY DUTY to perform, nevertheless engendered no small amount of fear and even dread. In those instances, I had a choice to make. Would I humbly and obediently submit myself to life's urgent, important, and compelling requests, or would I shrink away by pridefully and selfishly refusing said opportunities?

Robert Frost
(1874-1963)
Poet and author of "The Road Not Taken"

While I am far from perfect in practicing what I preach in regards to fully meeting the demands of both DUTY and LOVE in my life and career, I can say with a clear conscience that in the main, I have consistently and proactively chosen the Road Less Traveled in both my life and career.

And as Frost so perfectly and poetically put it: "That has made all the difference." (3). And the blessings and favors that have followed this pathway have been unspeakably lavish.

And it is only the beginning.  

In the short run, doing one's duty is often difficult and unpleasant. That is an absolutely omnipresent fact of life. But in the long-run, the rewards of doing so are so exorbitantly rich and plentiful that it is hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would ever choose any other pathway, no matter how adverse or challenging.  

For example, could there be anything more valuable than the depth and strength of my earned relationships with my wife and children because I have spent so much time serving and loving them since retiring as a contract trainer nearly SIX (6) years ago?

Or what about the positive and productive contribution I made to the lives of the hundreds of students I have influenced over the years? For most people, the answer to these questions are self-evident and therefore rhetorical. And so it is for me as well.

Thus, I have no regrets. 

Nevertheless, a lingering question still begs, as follows: Will my hoped-for and envisioned "day-in-the-sun" eventually arrive as a writer and speaker?

Perhaps?

     Probably?

          Fairly likely?

               Almost certainly?

                    Without any doubt or question? 

I might be envied by a King...  Cuz I'm a Family Man

If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the last possibility; but that's just because I am, and always will be, a hope-filled optimist in my long-term outlook on everything in my life and career. 

Nevertheless, even if it doesn't turn out quite that way, I am—and am well positioned to remain—a very rich man. 

Why am I rich? 

Because I have deep, intimate, and richly satisfying family relationships. And I have the added luxury of being able to lay my head down upon my pillow each night with a clear conscience before God, man, and myself knowing that I have consistently striven to the best of my imperfect ability to faithfully attend to my DUTY while seeking sincerely to LOVE my fellowmen.

No personal or professional opportunity, accomplishment, remuneration, or reward can even begin to rival that kind of residual income-infused GOLDMINE.  

Whatever my future might bring, I am grateful that I recognize the profound truth that in the end, whatever I may personally want out of my life and career is far less important that what life itself wants out of me on a daily, even hourly basis throughout my life. Thus, in the end, my success will not be measured in books sold, dollars earned, employees hired, or miles traveled. It will be measured in the extent to which I did my duty and strove to do the RIGHT things every day of my life.

And that is what Self-Action Leadership is all about! 

Immanuel Kant
1724-1804
German Philosopher

I believe that accomplishing that is also what Immanuel Kant intended when he introduced his famous concept—the Categorical Imperative—into the lexicon of Western philosophy. 

In Kant's view, the most valuable and worthy human attribute is not talent, ability, wealth, power, luck, or good looks. The ultimate good for Kant is constituted in what he called a "Good Will" whereby an individual autonomously choose to align one's thoughts, speech, and behaviors with Universal Laws of Right Conduct even—and especially—when we DON'T feel like it. For those who align their conduct with Kantian categorical imperatives, "Joy is [truly] duty and Love is [truly] Law." (4)

In my personal and professional experiences, conscientiously and consistently attending to my DUTY, LOVING my fellowmen, and otherwise doing the RIGHT thing to the best of my imperfect ability—however difficult and time-consuming—is the best way to live in the long run.

Nay; that is too weak. Let's put it a little more strongly: it is the only way to live in the long run. This is because doing so is the only way to obtain the best possible results over time—for oneself and others. 

As human beings, we all know "that every[one] is free, to choose his life and what he'll be" (5). This liberty extends to making a wide array of choices that are wrong, foolish, selfish, short-sighted, etc. And in the short-term, said choices may bring about moments of enjoyment or escape. But if we are interested in lasting joy and peace of mind, there is only one pathway that leads thereto. And that pathway is The Road Less Traveled, which is marked by duty, responsibility, and right thinking, speaking, and doing.

THERE   IS  NO  OTHER  WAY.

In what ways are you currently being selfish or foolish in your own personal or professional thoughts, speech, or conduct? In what ways are your actions aimed at short-term fun, pleasure, or escape at the expense of long-term achievement, joy, and peace of mind? 

What is the current strength of your own Kantian Good Will? Are you in the habit of doing what is right even—and especially—when you don't feel like it, or when doing so is difficult or unpopular? Or are you apt to just give into selfish inclinations or momentary whims—you know, in taking the "easy way out"? 

Doing difficult things brings about a cornucopia of rewards.

Over time, we all eventually discover through our own experiences that "the easy way" out is, in reality, the hardest pathway to tread in the long-run. 

Likewise, the more difficult pathway up front typically leads us to an easier (and certainly more desirable) state of feeling and being in the long-run. In the words of Jerzy Gregorek: "Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life."

"Easy choices, hard life.

               Hard choices, easy life." 

— Jerzey Gregorek      

I invite you to take some time TODAY to ponder on the unique Purpose of YOUR OWN Life within a framework of the general purpose of all of our lives (Duty & Love). In so doing, I encourage you to be honest with yourself about your current habits of thought, speech, and action. Are these habits helping or hurting you and those you profess to care the most about?

Lastly, what is ONE thing you could begin doing TODAY to start re-charting a better, wiser, and more selfless course for your family, career, and life that will bring about the richest possible rewards in the END?

There's a little buffet of thought for you.

          Now get "eating"!    

  

-Dr. JJ

October 13, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 234th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 233 FF Blog Articles.  

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

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Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Notes:

1. Frankl, V. (2006). Man's Search for Meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Page xv.

1a. Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. New York, NY: Bantam. Page 36

2. Ibid. Page 76.

3. Frost, R. The Road Not Taken (poem). 

4. Whittier, J.G. Maud Muller (poem). 

5. Miller, R.L. Know This, That Every Soul is Free (hymn).

Finding Fun, Fruit, and Freedom in Fantasy

Daydreaming can be good or bad;
It all depends on its application.

Our world is filled with men, women, and children who spend too much time in VIRTUAL and other fantasy-lands and not enough time in the REAL world. Doing so can not only be artificial and superficial, but dangerous as well. To illustrate, consider the myriad of present-day horror stories surrounding the undisciplined use of the Internet and social media platforms.

It is a modern-day nightmare! 

One does not need technological devices to daydream or fantasize. People throughout history have engaged these activities for both good and ill. Like so many other vehicles or "TOOLS," fantasy and daydreaming are not inherently good or bad. It all depends on how you utilize them. The purpose of today's article is to help self-action leaders avoid the negative consequences of undisciplined daydreaming while capitalizing on the positive fruit that can germinate from productive fantasy.  

Og Mandino—that famous self-help guru of the 1970s—once wrote that:

"A burning desire to succeed is not enough [to win in real life]. ... There are two types of burning desire . . . and the one type is phony and hypocritical. This phony type of burning desire is found in the person who is constantly telling his [spouse], his boss, and (worst of all) himself, that he really wants to succeed. [She] reads all the self-help books published and [she] gets her "kicks" from reading about others succeeding just as there are individuals who get their "kicks" from reading pornographic books. Unfortunately for our friends who read either types of these books they never get into action. They live their lives vicariously through their imagined participation in the lives and activities of others. Tomorrow, to this type of dreamer, will be a great day. [The problem is that] tomorrow never comes."*

As he so often was, Og is right!  

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790
Co-author and signer of the
Declaration of Independence

Mandino's words remind me of a couple of quotes from Benjamin Franklin:

"Big talkers, little doers."

         "None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing." 

— Benjamin Franklin   

"Big talkers" and "little doers" are annoying, even anathema, to authentic self-action leaders.

For a self-ACTION leader, the essence of one's very existence involves conscious, focused, and proactive ACTION aimed at the continual betterment of oneself and others throughout the entirety of one's life and career journey.

Few things are more unattractive to self-action leaders than a day-dreamer or fantasizer who never bothers to do anything about one's hopes, dreams, and goals, or those who spend all their time creating and/or inhabiting inauthentic—or worse, divisive and dangerous—virtual worlds online and on social media platforms when they could be taking tangible action to make the REAL world a better place.  

This does not mean, however, that all daydreaming and fantasy are bad. Quite to the contrary, if properly directed, utilized, and self-disciplined, a great many mental exercises—including fantasy and daydreaming—can not only be beneficial, but vital to the construction of positive and productive outcomes in any life or career arena.     

Blueprint of building exterior

Dr. Stephen R. Covey teaches that a mental or spiritual creation always precedes the physical creation of anything.** Similarly, any serious construction project always begins with blueprints on paper.

I have discovered the truth of this mental, spiritual, or paper creation in my own life. I sometimes reflect back on the early 2000s when I was working on my first book: I Am Sovereign: The Power of Personal Leadership. Throughout the process of creating that book, I would often lie awake in bed at night—or sit awake at my desk during the day—imagining in great detail what that book would look and feel like. Later, in the spring of 2006, I enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing and holding the first REAL copy of the book I had spent so much time imagining in my mind. 

Our Engagement Photo (2008)
A TON of mental and physical
exertion went into wooing my wife.

Consider another example involving a romantic relationship...

Prior to meeting, dating, and marrying my wonderful wife, Lina, I spent countless hours envisioning the kind of woman I wanted to someday marry. But I did not stop there. I also wrote dozens of love letters to my "Future wife" and created a scrapbook with images and words that painted a mental image of what I someday desired in a best friend, intimate confidant, and romantic spouse. In addition to these mental exercises, I also went out on a lot of REAL dates with different women—100 to be exact. Lina was the magic number #101.

Click HERE to read about Dr. JJ's Rocky Road of Romance.  

All these actions served as important steps along Rascal Flatts' proverbial "broken road that led me straight to [her]." And while Lina did not always match perfectly every one of my mental creations, she is, in so many ways, even better! That's why I often refer to her as "better than the woman of my dreams."  

Click HERE to read a Special Tribute to my wife, Lina.

Athletics is another arena where positive and vivid mental imagery, working in concert with positive affirmations, helped me to accomplish significant goals in my life. As a junior in high school, I won an individual and team State Championship title by coupling focused mental strategies with disciplined and vigorous physical workouts.

Newspaper article reporting my State title victory in 1996.

My talents and skills as a writer, speaker, and communicator have additionally been aided by a great deal of mental work accompanied by tens of thousands of hours of practice.

For example, over-and-over-and-over again in a thousand different ways, I have pictured myself for many years as the "William Shakespeare of English prose"—and a decent poet to boot!

Click HERE to buy Dr. JJ's personal anthology of Poetry.  

To some, such an audacious internal supposition may come across as arrogant—and if employed out-loud in careless or undisciplined ways that tear others down, it would be arrogant. But I can both honestly and humbly say that mental exercises such as these have unquestionably aided my growth and progress as an author.

If it works and blesses my life and the lives of others, why not employ such a tactic? After all, should we not all strive to be the very best we can possibly be in every area of our lives? For self-action leaders, the answer to this question is an unyielding and never-ending "YES!"

The Immortal Bard
1566-1616
With crystalline vividness and audacious clarity
and precision, self-action leaders enthusiastically
envision exactly what they eventually want to become.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I am the William Shakespeare of English prose. Other people can decide for themselves the quality (or lack thereof) of my pennings, be they prosaic or prosodic. I'm merely saying that continually picturing myself as a writer with elite natural talent and hard-won, consciously-developed skill has been a key ingredient in my long-term progress in the art and science of written composition. And diligently picturing YOURSELF where you most want to be and what you most want to accomplish will similarly aid your personal and professional initiatives, whatever they might be.          

Thus it is that day-dreaming and fantasizing is not in-and-of itself bad. After all, do not all great oak trees (meaningful accomplishments) begin as tiny acorns (ideas, hopes, daydreams, or fantasies)?

The answer to this question is self-evident and therefore rhetorical. A place does and should exist for the mental component of tangible actions and palpable achievements, for that is where all productive accomplishments have their genesis. Again in the words of Dr. Covey, a mental or spiritual creation always precedes the physical creation of anything.

As long as it is balanced with appropriate and continual ACTION, daydreaming, fantasy, and all sorts of other mental activities serve as vital components of learning and growth processes. This is why pilot trainees spend significant amounts of time in flight simulators. It is why EMT's-in-training practice CPR on dummies in preparation to save real lives. It is also why professional, corporate, and educational athletes employ various exercises in mental imagery to continually improve and hone their performances in arenas of practice and competition. 

We always see ourselves accomplishing
something before we actually achieve it.

As described above, I personally utilize positive mental imagery all the time in an on-going effort to become the best writer, speaker, teacher, leader, coach, husband, father, friend, et cetera that I can possibly be. I also spend time in specific activities and endeavors aimed at preparing me for the real stage of leadership and life. One of the most salient and prominent examples of such an exercise is my intentional and enthusiastic participation as a FANTASY baseball manager. 

For those unfamiliar with fantasy sports, it is a game played online with friends, colleagues, or competitors and allows one to manage a "Fantasy" team in an array of different sports. The purpose of the game is to simulate being a REAL manager of a professional athletic team. 

Fantasy leagues begin on a pre-determined "Draft Day" whereby you and your fellow competitors draft a team of 26 professional baseball players to play on your fantasy team prior to the start of the season. Then, once the REAL baseball season begins, real stats accrued by real players score points for those drafted (or traded) onto your fantasy roster. 

Baseball is a WONDERFUL sport. As a friend of mine once noted, baseball is boring to the uninitiated. But for those who understand the game, baseball is fascinating, multi-layered, and richly complex; in short, it is a marvelous game with endless connections to real life.

This is part of the reason I prefer fantasy baseball to other fantasy sports. I further love it because it has by far the longest season (162 games from the first of April to the beginning of October) of any other sport. Consequently, it allows me to make decisions on a daily basis throughout the entire season, as opposed to every second, third, fourth, or seventh day as would be the case with others sports such as basketball, hockey, or football. The regularity of fantasy baseball's unrelenting schedule helps keep me interested in and focused on leading my team to championships.  

I have played fantasy baseball for 11 years now as part of a league of ten managers called the Noodle Armed Knuckle Ballers. Along the way, my teams (Houston Heat and Florida Freedom) have won three (3) league championships and a number of records and other achievements.

My most recent Fantasy Baseball Title.
My team is called Florida Freedom

I do not play-for-pay. My friends and I just compete for fun. Yet along the way, I have discovered a cornucopia of positive real-life payments (benefits) from playing this game—and particularly as it relates to my lifelong desires to be an elite writer and influential leader. Consequently, the game serves a myriad of positive and productive purposes that extend well beyond the mere enjoyment of the game.  

Consider the following life lessons gleaned from playing this unique game.

Fantasy Baseball has: 

• Enabled me to develop quality friendships.
• Nurtured and deepened my desire for excellence and achievement. 
• Honed my critical thinking skills as a manager and leader.
• Helped me to create my own luck through commitment, focus, and hard work.
• Enhanced my focus, discipline, and determination as a manager and leader.
• Provided valuable practice at managing my emotional and social responses to losing and winning.

Let's now take these five items one-at-a-time.

1. Enabled me to develop quality friendships.

Some of my best friends play with me on our league. In most cases, we did not end up in the same league because we were best friends, but rather we become friends because we have spent a lot of time communicating with and competing with each other in our league.  

2. Nurtured and deepened my desire for excellence and achievement.

Excelling at any activity is usually FUN. When my efforts as a fantasy baseball manager bear fruit in the form of stellar stats, championship titles, and records set or broken, it motivates me to build upon my achievements to become even better in the future. Failure similarly motivates me, albeit for different emotional reasons (e.g. losing hurts). Even though my fantasy baseball team and league is something I do "just for fun," I still take pride in doing my best and rising as far and high as I can. Such desires, intentions, and goals inevitably spill-over into other, real-world endeavors.   

3. Honed my critical thinking skills as a manager and leader.

There is a lot of critical thinking involved in making decisions as a leader or manager. The same is true for a fantasy baseball manager. Success in fantasy baseball—or any other career or life undertaking—requires that I intake a lot of information and then effectively synthesize it with a host of different variables and potential variables at play. I must then analyze that synthesis in ways that empower me to make savvy decisions for both the short-term and the long-run. Fantasy baseball has provided me with an incredible opportunity to practice this input ~ synthesis ~ analysis ~ decision-making process. I can then apply the lessons I learn to REAL life situations and circumstances.  

4. Helped me to create my own luck through commitment, focus, and hard work.

With my good friend and fierce competitor,
Kent Pratt, and his beautiful family in Alberta (2019).

While a certain degree of luck is involved in just about every game or undertaking in life, the reality is that successful leaders and people find a way to create their own luck through focus, hard work, vision, discipline, commitment, and determination.

For example, the "luckiest" player in the history of our league is my good friend, Kent Pratt of Alberta, Canada. Kent has won FIVE (5) of the 11 championship titles to-date in our league—two (2) more than anybody else. I place the word "luckiest" in parentheses to emphasize a well-known fact about our league: Nobody (including me) invests more focus, hard work, vision, discipline, commitment, and determination in his team than Kent Pratt.

Is it any wonder then that he is also the "luckiest"?  

There is an old saying: "The harder you work, the luckier you get." Truer words have rarely been spoken. While fantasy baseball teams undoubtedly face days, weeks, or even months of legitimate "good luck" or "bad luck," the reality is that managers who consistently make good decisions all season long are usually the managers who end up winning the most statistical categories and championships.

In a 162-game season, there is no such thing as 162 games of all "good luck" or all "bad luck." Everyone is going to get some of both, and the managers who make the wisest decisions most consistently will usually come out on top. And it is no secret that this same principle holds true for every other endeavor in life.  

5. Enhanced my focus, discipline, and determination as a manager and leader.

I have learned a variety of different lessons as a fantasy baseball manager that translate directly to issues of focus, discipline, and determination as a manager, leader, and self-action leader in the REAL world.

Perhaps that most important of these lessons involves the value of playing hard every single day. Managers who carefully analyze their rosters every game of a 162-game season are usually the managers who finish high-up in the standings at year's end. One-hundred and sixty-two (162) games is a lot of games! If you are not careful, it can be easy to forget to check on your roster once-in-a-while. Too-oft repeated, this negligence can turn into a bad habit that extends into several days, a week, or even a month, which can prove costly to your chances of finishing strong at the end of the season. While it is possible for even the most diligent managers to have an off-season, I know of no committed and consistent manager in our league who has ever fallen into the bottom-half of the league in overall performance as measured over multiple years. To illustrate this point, I once finished as low as 7th place out of 10 managers in a single season. Yet overall, I have more championship titles and all-time records than any other player except the mighty Kent Pratt.  

By applying this same consistent, even daily effort, both Kent and I have enjoyed a lot of success, combining to win eight (8) out of the 11 league titles since we began playing in 2011. This year, I took first place and Kent took second place. And guess who had the most waiver-wire roster pickups and drops of all the managers in our league? You guessed it: Jordan and Kent. While number of roster pickups and drops does not always correspond to victory, it does shed some insight into the passion and consistency of a manager when one's waiver change-number is high.   

Learning to self-regulate and otherwise manage the emotions
surrounding both winning and losing is an essential
component of management, leadership, and SAL.

6. Provided valuable practice at managing my emotional and social responses to losing and winning.

Winning is FUN. It also brings a lot of relief after the pressure of a difficult project or lengthy season has concluded. On the other hand, losing sucks! However, losing is a part of sports, careers, and lives. As such, successful leaders, managers, and individual competitors must learn how to practice good sportsmanship (win or lose) and learn how to manage the emotional ups-and-downs of winning and losing.

I have been able to win quite a bit in my fantasy baseball league, and that has been very satisfying and fun. However, I have lost more often than I have won. Even Kent Pratt—our resident league legend (I personally refer to him as the "Nick Saban" of our league)—has lost more than he has won. Neither Kent nor I like to lose, because let's face it: losing sucks! But... it is part of the game of fantasy baseball—just like it is part of one's career and life. The better we are at gracefully handling both winning and losing, the more effective we become as managers in the future, and the more people will respect and like us.  

You typically learn more when you lose than when you win. In the words of Anthony Robbins: "When you succeed, you tend to party; but when you fail, you tend to ponder."

 

"When you succeed, you tend to party; but when you fail, you tend to ponder." 

— Anthony Robbins   

To date, I have done a lot more pondering than partying in my life. Doing so has blessed my personal and professional pathways immeasurably. It has also led to increasing success in both life arenas over time.

Successful managers never let a loss go to waste; they always learn from it and become more successful in the future as a result. On the other hand, winning can also be very motivating to future performances. As someone once said: "Nothing succeeds like success," and "the rich tend to get richer."

Win or lose in the present, future successes depend on how you choose to respond to both winning and losing. Positive and productive responses to losing keep you from falling into depression over your losses and generate a host of positive and productive lessons you can apply to future competition. On the other hand, positive and productive responses to winning keep you from becoming arrogant and maintain (or even expand) your motivation to build upon present wins to construct follow-up successes in the future.

Suffice it to say, there are many lessons gleaned from my experiences playing Fantasy Baseball that can easily translate and be applied to any other career or life endeavor. For this reason—and because it is so much fun—I continue to play this wonderful game with my good friends and fierce competitors year-after-year-after-year. As a result, though another 162-game season has just ended, I can hardly wait for Draft Day to arrive next March!  

What kinds of mental strategies or fantasy undertakings might you engage to help further educate and prepare you for maximum success as a self-action leader, manager, leader, friend, spouse, parent, et cetera? I invite you to ponder on this question and take advantage of appropriate opportunities as they arise in your life.   

-Dr. JJ

October 6, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 233rd Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 232 FF Blog Articles.  

.........................

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan Jensen

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Notes:

* Mandino, O. (1972). The Greatest Secret in the World. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Pages 2-3

** Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY: Fireside. See pages 99-100, 129-131, 134, and 146-47.