Dr. JJ's Rule #13: I Can't Do it Alone

Rule #13 is a reminder to be HUMBLE & REVERENT

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

Click HERE to access JJ's 13 Rules.

This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's last and final rule—RULE #13—which states:

Always remember that my own best efforts are insufficient to help me become all I am capable of becoming. I desperately need continual help from others and the omnipotent Power and Grace of the Almighty [SERENDIPITY for secularists] to fully engage the utmost existential transmutation of my body, mind, and spirit.   

Rule #13 is a reminder that no matter how wealthy, talented, skilled, fortunate, endowed, or lucky you might be, we all need the help of others to maximize our potential and be successful in our lives and careers. Rule #13 is also designed to help us remember that SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP—powerful as it is—remains an insufficient resource by itself to get us where we ultimately want to go and what we most want to become in our lives and careers.

This fact is very humbling because self-action leaders are inherently driven, motivated, and ambitious people; they are self-starters in every sense of the phrase. They also place a premium on self-reliance. Nevertheless, as Stephen Covey so incisively taught, Interdependence is a much higher state of being and living than Independence.* To maximize their potential, even self-action leaders must recognize, acknowledge, and embrace this great TRUTH about personal and professional GROWTH.    

John Donne
1572-1631

Perhaps the English poet, John Donne, said it best when he wrote:

"No Man is an Island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away from the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a Promontory were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends, or of thine own were; Any Mans [sic] death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."** 

A fascinating phenomenon of life and growth that I have been experiencing and observing for many years now is as follows... the older I get, and the more educated and experienced I become, the more I realize how much I don't know. 

"The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know!"

This recognition of my own relative ignorance is the seedbed of authentic humility. Similarly, the more capable I become in my own niche skill set, the more keenly I become aware of the manifold skill sets that exist which I do not yet possess. Likewise, the bigger my own family and career roles become, the more I come to recognize the infinitesimal minuteness of my own self and contributions to the world.

For example, 99.999999 percent of everything I enjoy in my life is a product of the talents, skill-sets, and contributions of others (past and present). And the same can be said of everyone else who lives in a modern, civilized, interdependent society.

From the clothes I wear to the cars I drive; from the house I live in to the food I eat; from the books I read to the news I consume; and from the marvels of modern medicine to the endless stream of technological wonders all around me—I enjoy all of it because of the efforts and intelligence of legions of other people, most of whom I do not know personally.  

Let's face it... almost everything you buy, utilize, and appreciate was created by the genius and hard work of somebody else. This fact alone should fill everyone's mind, heart, and soul with a profound sense of GRATITUDE for the contributions of others. It should also HUMBLE us all to reflect upon our own relative nothingness. 

Truth is usually Paradoxical

This factual reality should not lead to a diminution of your own worth, value, and importance to the whole. After all, the whole is nothing more than the sum (and synergy) of its parts. As such, every part has intrinsic worth and importance, and contributes varying degrees of value to the whole.

This includes YOU and ME!  

Thus, we are confronted with a paradox—which we usually are when dealing with any tenet of truth—and the paradox is this: while each of us holds an infinitesimally small place in the world and universe, each of us nonetheless holds limitless potential for individual progress, growth, and contribution to the whole.

Try to wrap your mind around that marvelous PARADOX! 

Moreover, I would suggest that the only way to fully maximize your personal progress, growth, and contribution is to accurately comprehend your relative nothingness. In other words, a self-action leader's humble recognition and contrite acknowledgement of one's own smallness paves the way for one's steady increase in influence, impact, and contribution. Thus, you'll never know how much you can accomplish until you recognize how much you cannot accomplish, and you'll never know how BIG you can become until you recognize and acknowledge how small you currently are. Perhaps that sounds like a concatenation of contradictions; that's because on its face, it is... hence the paradox!        

Self-action leaders are reverent people who strive to become authentically humble.

What does it mean to be authentically humble?  

Many people mistake outward displays of modesty with authentic inward states of humility. While modest behavior is undoubtedly a natural outgrowth of authentic humility, the two practices are not always mutually inclusive. In other words, it is possible to behave very modestly and still be quite prideful—prideful of your own supposed humility (or modest behavior) and a variety of other narcissistic-influenced states of mind.

It is also possible to be quite humble while exhibiting a strength and confidence that some might erringly misinterpret as arrogance. In fact, there are even times when the humblest thing you can possibly do is exercise the very kind of confidence and strength that may be misinterpreted (by some) as arrogance.

It is vital to remember that being humble has nothing to do with pretending you are not as good, smart, or gifted as you really are. Nor does it involve unnecessarily hiding your knowledge, talents, or skills so that you won't offend others. It has everything to do with maximizing the use of your knowledge, talents, and skills in kind, courteous, and respectful ways that build and encourage others to do the same.  

What then is the secret to being authentically humble?

The purpose of SAL is to help YOU to see things more as they
really were, are, and will be in your career, life, and the world at-large.

At Freedom Focused, we believe all authentic humility develops as an outgrowth of seeing things as they really were in the past, really are in the present, and really will be in the future—and then being completely honest with yourself and others about REALITY and your rightful role within a framework of that reality.

Accomplishing this feat is a daunting challenge and difficult undertaking. It does not come fast or easy for even the most conscientious and dedicated self-action leaders.

Moreover, it is not a one-time accomplishment. Self-action leaders do not automatically become humble at some arbitrary point in time. Rather, they gradually develop greater levels of humility over long periods of time as they become increasingly knowledgeable, experienced, and self-aware. Part of this process occurs naturally through the course of daily living. But most of it comes as a result of one's conscious and intentional focus and effort to better see and then accept REALITY as it really was, is, and really will be. After all, how can you effectively change the future until you have fully accepted the reality of the past and present?  

I still have a long way to go in terms of my own humility quotient. However, I've made enough progress in this area over the years to at least be able to detect genuine growth. This progress allows me to compare different periods of my own life and the humility (or lack thereof) that marked those periods.

For me personally, humility is an outgrowth of the closeness and strength of my relationship with Deity. For non-believers, there are other ways you can practice humility, such as continually reflecting upon your own weaknesses, shortcomings, and inadequacies—not to the extent of damaging your self-esteem, but simply as a wise reminder of the menagerie of vulnerabilities that we humans possess in our present state of being in this world, which is so obviously difficult, dangerous, and imperfect.

REMEMBER: Self-action leaders are NOT uninhibited optimists. They are optimistic REALISTS. But in order to be a positive realist, you must first be completely honest about any negative realities in your career or life. As Tony Robbins once put it, the goal is not to look at your garden and proclaim: "There are no weeds, there are no weeds, there are no weeds!" The goal is to identify the weeds in conjunction with the beauty—and then proactively invest the effort to remove the weeds.  

I have found at least THREE (3) significant benefits to practicing REVERENCE & HUMILITY in my life and career.

Humility helps us with Pacing

1.  Humility fuels ambition and achievement through proper pacing, thereby avoiding overextending myself, biting off more than I can chew, or burning out.

I am a very ambitious person.

     I want to succeed.

          I want to contribute.

               I want to be influential and make a difference.

                    And I want to win.

Nevertheless, I am very aware that I am not Batman, Ironman, Superman, or Jesus. By lucidly recognizing, acknowledging, and making plenty of headspace for my many weaknesses, shortcomings, and vulnerabilities, I can achieve an effective balance in my approach to my life and work that allows me to accomplish great (albeit realistic) things while avoiding preventable mistakes, sins, and failures along the way. And perhaps most importantly, it empowers me to enjoy the journey and find happiness, contentment, and inner peace along the way. This makes me a very RICH man, since, as Benjamin Franklin so aptly put it: "Who is Rich? He who rejoiceth in his portion."   Click HERE for Full Article on Life Riches.   

"Who is Rich?

                    "He that rejoiceth in his portion." 

                    —Benjamin Franklin

2. Humility helps me avoid preventable mistakes while learning from necessary, naturally-occurring mistakes. 

Many mistakes are preventable and precautionary measures should be taken to circumvent them. Others are not; they are a necessary and inevitable part of gaining experience in the laboratory of real life. By practicing REVERENCE and HUMILITY, I am empowered to avoid preventable mistakes because I am continually reminding myself of my own shortcomings and vulnerabilities. Moreover, when I do make a natural mistake as part of life's endless experiments, I can recover quickly because of my self-awareness of my own fallibility and my recognition that individual mistakes are an inevitable—and important—part of the process. This recognition empowers me to learn from my mistakes rather than being defined and/or labeled by them. Just as importantly, it erodes my fear of failure and empowers me to ambitiously seek after things I otherwise would avoid were I paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake.

Laws of Attraction govern many of the dynamics of
human relationships both at home and work.

3. Humility attracts others who similarly seek to develop authentic humility.   

One of the most important laws of the Universe that self-action leaders must understand is the Law of Attraction. It's a pretty basic law. It states that similar things—and people with similar desires—are naturally attracted to each other.

This is a beautiful concept to self-action leaders because they understand its potential power in their lives and careers. 

I love being around other people who are authentically humble and reverent. They are not only easy and pleasant to be around, but so inspiring as well!  

If you want a different (better) result, relationship, or series of events in your life, YOU must attract it by virtue of your own willingness to CHANGE. As Gandhi put it, "YOU must be the CHANGE you wish to see in the world." By changing yourself, you begin the process of naturally attracting the things (and people) you most want to be a part of your life. In the inspired words of Jim Rohn: "Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by CHANGE."

"Your life does not get better by chance.

                    It gets better by CHANGE." 

                    —Jim Rohn

And CHANGE and GROWTH are what Self-Action Leadership are all about. So...  are YOU humble enough to recognize your own needs for change and brave enough to do whatever is required to initiate real change in your life and career?

Tune in NEXT Wednesday for a special celebratory blog post commemorating our 250th published Blog Article. Included will be links to some of the most popular posts published since November 2013.     

  

NOTE: This article is the 15th 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

January 26, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 249th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 248 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:

* Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Fireside.  

** Booty, J. (1990). John Donne: Selections From Divine Poems, Sermons, Devotions, and Prayers. New York, NY: Paulist Press. Page 58. 

Who is Rich?

What is YOUR definition of Wealth?

Self-Action Leadership and Serendipity have made me a very RICH man. 

How rich am I?  

          GOOD QUESTION.

This article provides some answers to this question. In so doing, it also reframes the very idea of wealth.

When we think of wealth, is is natural for our brains to gravitate toward financial riches, or money; and that is certainly one way to be rich. But wealth involves sooooooo much more than just cash.

I have come a LONG way financially since being a broke bachelor who used to bounce checks before getting married. Of course my amazing wife Lina—who is our family CFO—deserves most of the credit for my financial turnaround and positive, new financial trajectory. Nevertheless, even with the material progress we have made over the course of our marriage, Lina and I are still a far cry from being one of the truly rich—what they refer to as a "one-percenter"—financially speaking. 

This being the case, on what basis do I make my own claim upon being RICH? 

Ben Franklin, who graces the U.S. hundred dollar bill,
knew a thing or two about financial riches and holistic wealth.

The answer may be found, at least in part, in one of my favorite quotes from Benjamin Franklin—a great man and leader to whom many SAL-oriented quotes are attributable.  

Franklin once asked a piercing question, as follows...

"WHO is RICH?"

He then answered his own question thusly: "HE that REJOICETH in his portion."

"Who is Rich?

                    "He that rejoiceth in his portion." 

                    —Benjamin Franklin

This quote suggests that your happiness—and even your ultimate wealth—is not contingent on acquiring an arbitrary amount of money or material possessions or achievements. Rather, it is determined by your ability to find happiness and contentment with whatever you may have at any given moment in time.

This may sound simple enough in theory. But countless human beings (including myself at a variety of junctures throughout my life) have found it difficult in actual practice. Nevertheless, the wisdom inherent in the statement remains self-evident and inspiring to self-action leaders, including myself.  

What is your definition of SUCCESS. 

I suppose everyone defines things like HAPPINESS and SUCCESS somewhat differently. Tony Robbins once spoke about an experience he had with a couple of people with whom he was acquainted. He asked both men to define success from their perspective. In other words: "What do you have to do or achieve in order to be successful? The first person had a very narrow and strict—albeit detailed—definition of success. It required him to achieve a lofty net worth and a slew of other time-consuming and hard-won objectives. Until he had accomplished everything on his list, he would not allow himself to feel successful.

The second man man, however, merely chuckled and said: "I am a success every single day I spend above ground!" 

Self-action leaders are never so fixated on
the destination that they fail to enjoy the journey.

The first fellow viewed success as a destination, whereas the second guy saw success as a journey or process that should not only be enjoyed all along the way, but that he felt very grateful to experience—period. 

Who do you think was happier? The first man or the second guy? Moreover, who do you think viewed himself as being more successful, regardless of his material acquisitions?  

While we instinctively see the wisdom in the second man's response, in truth, both fellows were extreme in their mode of thinking. Self-action leaders should set their sights on worthy objectives that are difficult to accomplish. Why? Because doing so leads to GROWTH, which is the ultimate aim of Self-Action Leadership.

However, self-action leaders should also practice the art of enjoying the journey all along the way. By so doing, they find themselves feeling happier and more successful along their journeys toward accomplishing significant and important goals and visions in life.

Let's return now to my initial statement about being wealthy....

I am indeed rich because I rejoice in the things which I have been allotted in my life. But I am also rich because I have truly been allotted a great deal. Part of this allotment is a direct payment for my own disciplined and dedicated exercise of Self-Action Leadership over long periods of time. And part of it is a direct blessing bestowed upon me by the Grace of God (or Serendipity, as the secular SAL Theory & Model term it).  

Too often, human beings equate wealth in a monolithic or one-dimensional manner with an overly magnified focus on the financial realm of riches. This is unfortunate because wealth encompasses so many other life arenas. Thus, while I am more wealthy financially now than I have ever been in the past, finances are just one component of the wealth Self-Action Leadership and Serendipity have empowered me to accrue. And that is the beauty of SAL: its principles and practices have the power to make you exceedingly RICH over time. I know this is true because in virtually every area of my life, I am much more wealthy now than I was thirty, twenty, ten, or even five years ago. In short, I know SAL works for one, simple, and incredibly compelling reason: because I have honestly and authentically paid the price it demands and have thereby accrued riches of all kinds over time.

That is why I am rich.

          Or perhaps a better way of framing it would be to say: that is why I am holistically wealthy. 

And the good news is that there is nothing inherently special about me. However, everything is special about SAL principles and practices. As such, YOU can also become holistically wealthy over time by studying SAL principles and applying SAL practices... just like I have.   

Other areas of my life where I am even more wealthy than the financial realm include the following: 

With my Precious Wife and Children
September 2021

FAMILY:  I adore my wife. She is lovely in every way. Truth be known, I probably like her even more than she likes me! To her credit she puts up with me—longsuffering soul that she is. Moreover, she is good at focusing on the positive aspects of our relationship, demonstrates patience with my shortcomings, and shows genuine gratitude for the role I play as a stay-at-home Dad. As for my kids, what can I say other than they are incredibly SMART, FUN, and CUTE—mostly thanks to Lina.

Beyond my immediate family, I have been blessed with an extended family full of kind and wise mentors and friends who have had a profoundly positive influence on my life. I have been further blessed by a rich and illustrious ancestry whose many and varied legacies continually inspire me to make the very most out of my own opportunities in life. 

HEALTH:  No one has perfect health, and I have faced my share of minor aches, pains, and other issues throughout the course of my life. Nevertheless, 42-years into my mortal journey, I have been extraordinarily fortunate to have circumvented serious illness and/or death. Much of this blessing is a by-product of my genes, which I cannot take credit for. And part of it is my commitment to fitness. Moreover, considering my weaknesses when it comes to nutrition, I acknowledge that I have also gotten away with a lot. This is due in part to my focus on fitness. However, as my recent blog on my weight loss goal attests, I have begun to pay the price for my nutritional sins, and there will always be room for repentance in that area of my life.

My Home Office Library demonstrates
the love I have for books and education.

EDUCATION:  I have been blessed to receive a magnificent education. Part of this education was made possible by the blessing of being born into a Country where free public education was readily available and accessible. Part of it was made possible by the financial resources of loving family members. But the greatest part of it materialized because of my own thirst for knowledge accompanied by my willingness to proactively seek out the best books for study and learning. As much as I value my two formal academic degrees (bachelors in English and doctoral in education) I value my informal (and ongoing) quest after knowledge even more.  

OPPORTUNITIES:  I have been blessed with many opportunities to make something interesting of my life and career, and I have never been shy about embracing—and proactively chasing down—those opportunities. Part of these blessings were made available through Serendipity. For example, for my senior year of high school, my oldest brother invited me to live with him and his wife in Spokane, Washington. That opportunity gave me the chance to compete at a much higher level as a runner than I had access to in my small school classification in Utah.

Many other opportunities materialized through my own, diligent, visionary, and proactive exercise of Self-Action Leadership. Just as we are ultimately responsible for our own happiness in life, we are likewise responsible to seek out and take advantage of our own opportunities in life. Self-action leaders do not sit down and wait for opportunity to simply walk up and knock on their door. Instead, they boldly and proactively walk outside their door to chase down the opportunities they most want in life. 

I have always been a visionary dreamer. But unlike Edwin Arlington Robinson's Miniver Cheevy, I am absolutely determined and obsessively committed to doing whatever is required to accomplish and realize my dreams and visions. For a self-action leader like me, it is not enough to merely dream or envision. I must take concrete action based on sound plans and procedures. Just as importantly, I must be flexible in my approach as I stick with worthy tasks, goals, and objectives and never give up until they have been satisfactorily completed.

Throughout my life, I have had the chance to associate with a range of people who were good at dreaming, passionate at envisioning, and eloquent in the articulation of their dreams and visions. Unfortunately, these same people were not always as good at following up with consistent, persistent, flexible, and smart ACTION. Despite the unfulfilled potential of said persons, their lives and careers have been very inspiring to me in the sense that they motivated me to avoid making similar errors. 

I am grateful for the LIBERTY I enjoy as an American.
Even more, I appreciate the FREEDOM I enjoy as a Self-Action Leader.

LIBERTY & FREEDOM:  As an American citizen, I deeply cherish the hard-earned liberties bequeathed to me by heroes from the past and present. Such liberties include: life, liberty, the opportunity to pursue happiness, opportunity, and success, and a variety of civil rights as delineated in the Bill of Rights section of the United States' Constitution.

But even more than my personal and civil liberties, I cherish my hard-earned personal freedoms that have developed over-time within a framework of those liberties. Such freedoms include: marrying an incredible woman of my choice, becoming highly educated, skilled, and capable in my field of work, and being able to travel and otherwise do many things I desire to do when I desire to do them.

No matter how much money you earn, or how many concrete achievements you obtain, or how "successful" you may become in the eyes of others, there will always be a temptation to "want more." This itch for more—that we as humans sometimes find so difficult to buck—can and should motivate us onward and upward on our journey through life. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "A healthy discontent is good."

Nevertheless, we should never allow our "healthy discontents" to prevent us from taking joy in the present moment for everything that is REAL and GOOD right now. Remember that the actual happiness and success you feel will depend more on cultivating an attitude of gratitude for what you actually possess and enjoy in your life, not on what you may eventually achieve or acquire in the future. This is why I include Rule #11—Take nothing for granted, and in all things give thanks—as one of my 13 Rules for Life. And it has been my experience that the better I follow this rule, the happier I am.  

"Most people are about as happy as
they make up their minds to be."
— Abraham Lincoln

You don't have to be financially rich to be happy. You can choose to be happy right now, no matter what may be going on in your life. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." There is, of course, a certain irony in this statement, which arises out of the fact that Abraham Lincoln dealt with severe depression throughout his life. This is a beautiful irony to me, however, because it demonstrates two parallel truths about life. The first is that life is difficult and all of us will face severe trials along our walk through life—no matter how positive our attitude may be.

This means that things like depression are real and we cannot always just wish (or positively affirm) such experiences out of existence. We must positively and productively confront our challenges with the right tools to overcome and/or manage them. However, it also means that as self-action leaders, we are free to make choices that will make the bad times better, and bolster the likelihood that good times will increase in the future. No one's life is perfect—no matter how efficient or effective a self-action leader one might be. Yet, much hope exists for all of us to experience brighter futures through the conscious, intentional, and proactive exercise of SAL. 

So... who is RICH?  

After reading this article, I hope you can honestly answer this question by saying: "I AM... but, I look forward to being so much richer in the future through SAL and Serendipity."  

—Dr. JJ

January 19, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 248th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 247 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:

The BEAUTY of EXCELLENCE

The beauty and excellence of a beach. 

 

 

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."* 

—John Keats

I love EXCELLENCE.

Just as there is beauty in nature, there is beauty in excellence... and human excellence is always beautiful.

For more than four hours Monday night, I had the privilege of watching a uniquely American brand of excellence on display at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana... and it was a beautiful thing.

The occasion was the College Football Playoff National Championship featuring the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs in the biggest game of the year, and arguably one of the biggest games of all time. 

Now I know what some of my readers are thinking right now. An article about College Football? Yeah! Sign me up! And I know what some others of my readers are thinking right now. Football? beautiful?? Are you kidding me???

I don't have to ask my football lovers to stay tuned for the rest of this article. As for the latter milieu, I merely ask you to give it a chance with the promise that this article will touch on more than just football.  

Football, and athletics in general, provide us
with endless opportunities to learn about life and SAL.

For me, the beauty of Monday night's game was not who was playing in it. As a FLORIDA Gator fan who married a GEORGIA TECH Yellow Jacket, I'm about as far away from being a Georgia fan as you can get. In fact, I once accompanied my beautiful Ramblin Wreck inside Bobby Dodd Stadium in downtown Atlanta where we both cheered enthusiastically against Georgia. 

As for the Alabama Crimson Tide, let's just say that I fully support the recently trending social media topic #NeverBama.

Nevertheless, I was able to transcend my typical aversion to both teams for this particular occasion for one very simple reason: In virtually every aspect of their respective programs, the 2021 Alabama and Georgia college football teams personify EXCELLENCE and everything that creates it (i.e. vision, focus, dedication, discipline, hard work, consistence, persistence, determination, etc.). And the stark reality—evinced by both team's convincing wins in their respective Playoff Semifinal Bowl Games—is that no other team currently comes even close.

Because of the veritable goldmine of knowledge and insight available therein, this Self-Action Leader guy has little choice but to pay attention to organizations like Alabama and Georgia Football, regardless of my personal affiliations or inclinations as a fan.  

What creates the kind and degree of EXCELLENCE presently on display in Athens and Tuscaloosa?    

Jeff Allen is the Head Athletic Trainer for Alabama Football. He has been with the Crimson Tide since the early days of legendary coach Nick Saban's tenure at Alabama, dating back to 2007. Allen says people often ask him what it is about COACH SABAN that has made Alabama so great, as if there was somehow ONE special ingredient to his mystical personality and magical formula that led him to be so much more successful than everybody else. But according to Allen, "It's not [just] one thing. It's a thousand little things. [Coach Saban's] in tune with the little things, not just the big things, and that's imbedded in our entire program."**

"It's not one thing.

It's a thousand little things."

—Jeff Allen

Head Athletic Trainer

Alabama Football

Those thousand little things are all part and parcel of what Saban refers to as "The Process"—an intentional and methodical formula that has steadily brought about his team's extended dominance over the past decade-and-a-half. That dominance has brought the Tide an unparalleled string of success that includes SIX (6) National Championships and three National Championship runners-up. That means in the past fifteen (15) years, there were only six years in which Alabama was not playing in the National Championship game. Such a string of success has never occurred in the sport, and few other sports can boast of an analogue.

Overcoming the daunting legacy of this unparalleled Goliath would prove no small feat for the Georgia Bulldogs, who had lost seven straight games to Alabama dating back 15 years to Nick Saban's first season (2007) in Tuscaloosa. But Georgia is no David. Nay, a Goliath in its own right, the Bulldogs program had been meticulously built by Kirby Smart—one of Coach Saban's former Assistant Coaches—after the Alabama model he himself had been a part of for eight years from 2007-2016.

After many years of painstaking planning and
unrelenting effort, Georgia finally hit the bullseye.

Despite having achieved this lofty status, which paralleled Alabama in many aspects, Saban had outdueled his protégé in all four previous attempts, including a last-second win in overtime in the 2018 National Championship Game. The pain of these losses increasingly smarted for Smart, who could not seem to get over that one, last, elusive hurdle preventing him from summiting the mountaintop. 

But Monday night, led by the most unlikely of heroes—walk-on quarterback and small-town journeyman Stetson Bennett—Georgia finally exorcised its demons against the Tide to win their first National Championship since 1980.

The game itself was not particularly beautiful, although it was highlighted at key moments by some very pretty plays on offense. For me, the BEAUTY of the game was ironically found in its defensive ugliness (effectiveness). 

Here were two teams who had mostly cake-walked their way through their respective schedules, dominating almost everyone they faced throughout the regular season—and even their semifinal games in the playoffs. Both teams averaged over 40 points per game throughout the season. Alabama's quarterback, Bryce Young, won the Heisman Trophy and set single season passing records as a freshman. Georgia's defense was touted as one of the best of all-time.

The Tide's only loss was a narrow slip-up on the road to SEC West rival, Texas A&M (Kyle Field is a hostile environment where victory does not come easily to visitors). Georgia's only loss was to none other than Alabama in the SEC Championship game—a poignant experience and wake-up call for the 12-0 Bulldogs that seemed to significantly influence their reversal of fortunes when it mattered most five weeks later in the Natty. With such sparkling offensive resumes, only the sky (and clock) had limited their ability to score against everyone else. But against each other, their otherwise prolific offenses were largely stymied by equally excellent defenses, leading to an astonishing single-digit score (9-6) nearly three-quarters through the game.

EXCELLENCE  is  BEAUTIFUL

"The Process" of the game was so incredibly ugly that it was, in fact, astonishingly beautiful. And the beauty arose in the remarkable determination and absolutely unrelenting effort, passion, and energy that every athlete insisted on investing up through the last seconds of the game. That kind of complete investment of one's heart, mind, and soul into a cause worth driving for is indeed a beautiful thing. I will never forget watching it. 

EXCELLENCE is and always will be BEAUTIFUL. 

That is why my wife Lina, who has always been physically stunning in my eyes, became far more beautiful to me as I learned about her incredible intellectual capacity, formidable academic achievements, emotional resiliency, social deftness, professional potential, and spiritual strength and faith.

That is why I get chills when I hear a polished musician create aural magic with her instrument or behold an experienced artist in the throes of his best performance. It is why we—like Stetson Bennet Monday night—tear up when an especially difficult obstacle is surmounted or an unusually monumental accomplishment is finally realized.

It is why we are inspired by that vigor of mind and vim of heart and soul that fuels greatness in every aspect of the human experience. And it is why we feel reverent when we are in the presence of those who have honestly achieved authentic greatness.    

That is why things like TRUTH, virtue, kindness, eloquence, polish, refinement, maturity, respect, honest achievement, and anything thereunto... are so incredibly BEAUTIFUL. Because EXCELLENCE is BEAUTY, and authentic beauty is always a form of excellence.  

This beautiful and precious little nugget makes me
want to be a better husband, father, and man.

It is also why my heart melts into joy as I gaze upon the adorably innocent perfection of my little boy as he slumbers peacefully in his bed... and then muse upon his limitless potential in life, a potential made possible through Grace (Serendipity) and the principles and practices of Self-Action Leadership.

In the words of Emerson: If eyes were meant for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.

"If eyes were meant for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thus it is that EXCELLENCE—in all of the beautiful forms that it takes—is beautiful indeed, and why authentic BEAUTY will always qualify as a form of excellence.  

As self-action leaders, we have the opportunity to strive after and towards EXCELLENCE in all that we do. We aren't perfect people, nor are we expected to be, at least not right away. But we are—and always will be—seekers after the BEST, and more importantly, after our BEST. Along the pathways of this ever-noble quest, may we continually draw and derive much inspiration from others who so majestically portray and personify it—like the 2021 Alabama and Georgia football teams. 

Congratulations to the Bulldog Nation!

And Go Gators... we (and everyone else in the SEC East) certainly have our work cut out for us in 2022 and beyond! 

—Dr. JJ

January 12, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 247th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 246 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:

* The opening line of John Keats' famous extended poem, Endymion.

** Lowe, C. 9 January 2022. ESPN Online. How Jeff Allen Became Invaluable to Nick Saban and Alabama Football. URL: https://www.espn.com.au/college-football/story/_/id/33019887/how-jeff-allen-became-invaluable-nick-saban-alabama-football

My ONE New Year's Resolution

When it comes to setting New Years' Resolutions—or goals in general—many people make one of two mistakes. 

The FIRST error is to just write the whole idea off as culturally cliché or otherwise lame and therefore justify one's decision to ditch the process entirely.

The reasoning for such an abdication of personal responsibility usually falls under the umbrella excuse of: "Well, New Years' Resolutions never last beyond January anyway, so why try when I am just going to fail?"

A long list of New Year's Resolutions
can prove counterproductive.

The SECOND mistake involves the opposite extreme. It occurs when someone ambitiously and energetically sets out to undertake an unrealistically long (or impossibly difficult) list of goals. No matter how dedicated someone might be in the beginning of such an undertaking, burn-out inevitably ensues, causing them to abandon their mammoth quest. Such eager beavers forget that there is really only one way to eat an elephant (i.e. accomplish any big goal) and that is: "One Bite at a Time"! 

As regular readers of the SAL blog are well aware, self-action leaders consciously eschew extremes in every area of their lives. Rather than embrace excesses or deficiencies, they are always aiming at the "Happy Medium" or Golden Mean—a philosophical principle of virtuous living taught by none other than the great Greek thinker, Aristotle.

How might Aristotle approach the issue of goal-setting or New Years' Resolutions? 

Aristotle
384-322 B.C.

While I cannot be sure of his exact answer, I feel pretty confident that it would go something like this: When setting goals, it is better to set easier, shorter, and fewer goals that you will realistically follow through on than it is to set harder, longer, or more goals that you are apt to give up on.  

This is one of the reasons I have chosen to set only ONE New Year's Resolution for 2022. There is nothing wrong with setting multiple goals at a time. However, the shorter—and the more focused—your list is, the most likely you are to effectively achieve your goals. As such, if you do want to set multiple New Year's Resolutions, I would encourage you to limit your goals to THREE (3) or less.

REMEMBER: One goal set and achieved is worth infinitely more than a hundred goals set and discarded.  

Truth be known, I have more weaknesses, shortcomings, imperfections and room for improvement than I can count on both hands and feet several times over. Like every other imperfect human being on this planet, I am a work-in-progress and will still have room to grow even if I live to be a hundred!

However, I know from personal experience—and from a lot of self-knowledge and self-awareness—that I don't have the time, energy, motivation, or desire to try and tackle everything (or even several things) at once. As such, I've thoughtfully considered what ONE area of my life could use the most help at this particular moment in time. 

The answer to that question involves my PHYSICAL HEALTH.

The SAL Textbook, Volume I, introduces the concept of an Existential Octathlete. The idea behind this concept involves eight (8) different key areas of life growth that contribute to our overall (existential) growth.  These eight life arenas include the following eight (8) domains of life:

• CONSTITUTIONAL (Personal and Familial Vision, Mission, Values, Standards, Goals, etc.)
• SPIRITUAL
• PHYSICAL
• MENTAL
• EMOTIONAL
• SOCIAL
• FINANCIAL
• MORAL     

Of all these areas, the PHYSICAL arena is the area of my life that needs the most work. 

While I go to the gym or otherwise workout an average of 4-6 times per week, I am still overweight.

I don't have a sweet tooth.  I have 32 sweet teeth!

I'm 6'1" with a small-boned, slender frame—an ectomorph and former semi-elite middle distance runner. My ideal weight range is #165 - #175 pounds. Right now, I am #200 pounds. I don't like the way I look or feel when I am twenty-five (25) pounds overweight. It is a drain on my energy and negatively impacts my self-image, personal identity as an athlete, and self-esteem as a professional who preaches Personal Leadership to his readers and trainees.  

What led to my undesired weight gain? It's pretty simple really: Fast food, soft drinks, chocolate, ice cream, candy, etc. 

The gap between where I want to be PHYSICALLY and where I actually am physically is as significant as it's ever been in my life. And as Hyrum W. Smith—author of The 3 Gaps principle and book—teaches, whenever there is a gap between where we are and where we want to be, we experience PAIN, and the only way to authentically alleviate that pain is to Close the Gap.*

My New Year's Resolution in 2022 is to lose #25 Pounds

Therefore, my goal in 2022 is simple, but it will not be fast or easy. My goal is to lose twenty-five (25) pounds by January 1, 2023. 

In the history of New Year's Resolutions, weight loss is perhaps the most common; it is probably also the most cliché in the sense that so many people so often fail in their resolution to actually lose the weight they desire to shed. In other words, I am in good company!  

In order to approach this goal in both a serious and pragmatic way — so as to not end up another weigh-loss casualty and cliché mired in failure — it is important to apply a specific, time-tested method.

What method would best be employed to maximize my success potential? 

The ANSWER to this question can be found in the SAL Textbook, Volume 2. It is an extension of the "SMART Goal" principle, and it is called SMARTIES Goals, or S.M.A.R.T.I.E.S. Goals. 

SMARTIES is an acronym that stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable (realistic) & Accountable

Relevant

Time-bound

In-competition primarily with yourself

Engaging

Sane 

If you are serious about accomplishing any goal, I highly recommend applying the SMARTIES method. To illustrate how this method is designed to work, let's put my own goal through the SMARTIES formula and see if it passes the test. 

SPECIFIC:  I specify the life arena I want to work on (PHYSICAL), precise area I seek to improve (smaller girth), and exact amount of weight I am aiming to lose (25 pounds). More importantly, I have a very specific plan that involves intermittent fasting.

This plan asks me to not eat after 4:00 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays during the week. I will then further fast (skip) breakfast and lunch on Sundays. This goal and plan is very specific.

MEASURABLE:  It's 25 pounds. Not 15, not 20, not 30. It's precise, mathematical, scientific, and measurable.

ATTAINABLE (Realistic):  This goal is attainable or realistic based on my successful loss of 20 pounds in the final three months of 2019 by utilizing a similar method of intermittent fasting as outlined above. I am actually giving myself a lot more time to accomplish a similar objective. This will allow me the flexibility to take things slowly at a pace I know I can handle.

At the height of my personal fitness as a young man running track in college, I weighed #150 pounds. I recognize it is unrealistic to expect to return to those kind of "glory days." Moreover, I don't think I would want to be that skinny again. On the other hand, finding a happy-medium balance between that former place and where I am now is very realistic.

Furthermore, I know from personal experience that it is not presently realistic (for me) to go on a traditional "DIET" or arbitrarily limit my intake of my favorite foods and beverages in an attempt to "white knuckle" my way to better nutritional habits. Experience has taught me that I am much more successful if I regularly apply principles of intermittent fasting while concurrently striving for a modicum of moderation in my choice and intake of calories. And the good news is that there are health benefits aplenty to intermittent fasting practices.

Click HERE to read 14 Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Click HERE to access scholarly articles on the manifold benefits of INTERMITTENT FASTING. 

ACCOUNTABLE:  Announcing this plan on my blog makes me accountable to all of my readers. I will report back in one year's time to announce the results of my efforts. 

SMARTIES Goals are Time-Bound

RELEVANT:  This goal is highly relevant to me personally. My physical fitness and health impacts every other area of my life. Losing weight will cause me to feel better about every other life arena. It will also provide me with the energy, motivation, and vigor required to be at my best.  

When setting your own goals, strive to make them highly relevant to your values and standards. Avoid setting arbitrary goals that add little value to issues of greater importance beyond the goal itself.  

TIME-BOUND:  This goal has a deadline of January 1, 2023 for its completion. This makes it time-bound.

In Competition Primarily with Myself:  This goal does not involve competition with others. While it is not wrong or bad to set interpersonal goals, self-action leaders are always primarily concerned with self-improvement, not with comparing their progress with other people. Thus, intrapersonal goals should be one's primary focus.     

ENGAGING:  This particular weight-loss goal is very engaging for me personally. I am motivated to regain a higher level of health, fitness, energy, and esteem. I know from past experience that all four elements of my life are bolstered and improved as I exercise the self-discipline, diligence, focus, determination, and endurance required to see this kind of goal through to fruition. 

SANE:  There is a saying: "The definition of INSANITY is: Doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results." If you want a different output (result), you must invest in a different input (action); that is just a mathematical reality.

Eating too many calories (and the wrong kind of calories) and then applying exercise alone does not get me the results I desire. Such has often been my approach in the past. I cannot keep perpetuating this negative cycle and expect to see different results. This goal is SANE because I am committing to a program that changes my current habits to different habits that past actions have proven will bring me more desirable results as I follow through. 

SAL Daily Task Tracker, available HERE

To help track my progress with this goal, I will utilize the SAL Daily Task Tracker as found in the SAL Textbook, Volume 2, or available on the Freedom Focused website (Books and Free Content section), or by clicking HERE. 

I am genuinely excited about this goal, and I am pleased to report that I have already lived true to my resolve by fasting after 4:00 p.m on both Monday and Tuesday of this week.  

Experience has taught me I will not be able to follow this well-laid out plan perfectly. For a variety of reasons (e.g. sickness, extenuating circumstances, the occasional "off" days that inevitably arise due to my own human weaknesses), I know I will fall short of my resolve on some (and perhaps even many) days moving forward. This is one of the reasons why I am giving myself an entire year to accomplish my goal, even though I know I could accomplish it in three months under ideal circumstances.

Life has taught me that rarely are circumstances ideal. Nevertheless, I am confident that if I remain committed to my goal, pick myself up each time I fall short and keep trying, and never give up, that on January first of next year (2023) I will be able to successfully report that I weight #175 pounds (or less) with all of the accompanying plusses of accomplishing that goal.  

Wish me luck!  

And now.....  it's YOUR turn!

I invite—nay, I challenge—YOU to to now undertake the same process I undertook above, but this time for YOURSELF. If you will take your time, be sincere and authentic in your approach, and commit fully to the SMARTIES Goal process, I am confident you can similarly determine the right GOAL for you to work steadily on this year, and then see your goal through to fruition at your own appointed deadline.  

—Dr. JJ

January 5, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 246th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 245 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:

* Smith, H.W. (2015) The 3 Gaps: Are You Making a Difference? San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.