Self-ORGANIZATION

    

 Chapter 8

Self-ORGANIZATION

Construction Stage 1.4   Obtaining Approvals and Permits

SAL Model Stage 1.2   Self-Organization

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790

"For every minute spent in organizing,

an hour is earned."

—Benjamin Franklin

Self-organization is the SAL equivalent of a construction company obtaining approvals and permits in the building process. Without proper municipal and other civic permissions, a skyscraper cannot legally be built.

Disorganized construction companies who fail to get their proverbial "ducks-in-a-row" with regards to these approvals and permits, may incur scheduling delays, lawsuits, tickets, fines, penalties, and other preventable obstacles. 

These approvals and permits are obtained from governing bodies, regulatory agencies, zoning boards, and other municipal and civic organizations. In preparation to secure these permits and approvals, information must be gathered about laws, regulations, permitting requirements, points of contact, and deadlines. 

Oftentimes, this process can be complicated and time-consuming. Completing it requires a high level of corporate cooperation and individual ORGANIZATION. Similarly, every other element of the construction process requires a high degree of organizational skills if the work is to be completed both effectively and efficiently.  

Likewise, an important part of building YOUR life as a self-action leader involves organizing your thoughts, speech, actions, personal space, relationships, values, vision, goals, etc. The more organized you are, the more efficient, effective, and focused you will be. 

With Benjamin Franklin's above-mentioned quote in mind, and despite any hyperbole involved in a literal interpretation of that quote, Franklin makes the important point that reserving time up-front to get organized can save you time—and by extension, effort, hassles, and headaches—later on. 

A key component of self-organization involves striving to develop the habits and patterns of thought, speech, and behavior that will bring about the positive, long-term benefits you are aiming at and striving toward in your life and career. 

It's relatively easy to brainstorm what you'd like to accomplish and who you'd like to eventually become. It's NOT so easy to actually realize those visions and goals. In coming chapters, we will provide you with some concrete tools that will assist and empower you in these brainstorming and self-organizing processes.

Organizing through Simplifying

Organizing your life as a self-action leader involves more than ridding your desktop (literal and virtual) and environment of clutter and disorder. It also goes beyond collating files, number- or color-coding records, and aligning other materials. Lastly, it extends past conscientious calendaring, task-list making, and note-taking.

While all of these exercises are beneficial and useful organizing techniques, organization as a self-action leader is a deeper and more holistic exercise that involves simplifying your life and career as a whole.

The purpose of this Life Leadership textbook is not so much to provide you with specific time management techniques or life organization tips. Our primary purpose, rather, is to teach sound principles that can serve as guides and touchstones to which you can then add specific organizational tools on your own, based on your unique individual needs.  

The idea of simplifying your life may sound simple; and in theory it is. But that does not necessarily make it easy in actual practice. The "Big Rocks" (1) involved in self-organization have little to do with tools and techniques and much more to do with direction, habits, patterns, relationships, standards, vision—and most importantly, True Principles rooted in Universal Laws. 

Simplifying all begins with gaining clarity of your long-term direction and pathway in life. 

We will provide you with some concrete tools to achieve this clarity and simplification in later chapters that discuss the drawing up of existential blueprints. 

The relationship component of the SAL Model was covered in Chapter 5, but it's worth adding here that simplifying your relationships involves knowing when to say "No"—and then doing so with courage and confidence. In more serious or toxic situations, you may need to cut off a relationship entirely and terminate it for good. 

Another element of getting personally organized through simplifying involves getting rid of unnecessary material things (aka: stuff). We live in a highly materialistic world where the acquisition of things can easily become a burden and induce preventable stress. Self-action leaders continually look for ways to simplify their lives by unburdening themselves of unnecessary stuff (literal and metaphorical). 

Don't get the wrong idea here...

Freedom Focused is not asking you to become an ascetic monk or hermit, move away to the mountains, and live off the land. Quite to the contrary, we encourage all self-action leaders to live in society where they can both benefit from and bless other people through mutual service and sociality.  

We simply encourage you seek to simplify your life in practical and reasonable ways by honestly evaluating what you currently have and balancing it with what you genuinely need and/or authentically want. As you do so, you may discover a variety of ways in which you could simplify your life that will actually enrich your life and relationships.

In the midst of this simplification process, you may even discover that less is often more when it comes to material possessions.

There are few better feelings in life or work than the feeling of being ORGANIZED.

Self-action leaders are organized people.   

So, start organizing your own relationships, schedule, and life today!

In Your Journal

• How organized are you in terms of your life's overall direction and pathway?

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?

• How organized are you in terms of simplifying your schedule and acquisition of material things?

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?

• How organized are you in terms of keeping a tidy and uncluttered work and living space and environment? 

• What is something you could do TODAY to be more organized in this area of your life?  

 

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 434th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 240th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 433 FF Blog Articles 

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES  

Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS   

Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection

Click HERE for a complete listing of Self-Action Leadership Articles

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Click HERE for a complete listing of Current Events, Cultural, Philosophical, & Miscellaneous Articles

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Chapter 8 Notes

1.  “Big Rocks” refer to the most important activities or objectives in your life, career, etc. The metaphor comes from a famous FrankinCovey object lesson where one attempts to fit as many rocks, gravel, pebbles, sand, and water into a jar as possible. The way to maximize the total capacity of the jar is to put the big rocks in first, followed by the gravel, pebbles, sand, and water. If you try to accomplish the same objective by reversing or otherwise reordering the steps, you won’t have enough room to fit all of your “Big Rocks” (main priorities).

Covey, S. R., Merrill, A. R., and Merrill, R.R. (1994). First Things First. New York, NY: Fireside. Page 88-90.

A Special Weekend with my "ONE"

All my dreams came true on 8-8-08,
the day I married Lina Tucker.

At Freedom Focused, we believe in the importance and power of BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS that stand the test of time and provide joy, meaning, and satisfaction in our lives and careers. After all, is there really anything more valuable in the end than the relationships we build, cultivate, nurture, and share with other people?

To this question we answer explicitly and emphatically: NO!

As Dr. Stephen R. Covey once queried: "In the end, what else is there but relationships?"  

Covey's rhetorical question comes quartered, of course, with a compelling and self-evident, albeit implicit declarative echoing the same precise point.

Simply Stated: Of all the things in our lives, RELATIONSHIPS  MATTER  MOST!   

My wife, Lina, and I were married on August 8, 2008, a unique date more commonly known as just 8-8-08. In addition to our wedding anniversary, Lina's and my birthdays are in August and September, respectively. That's three pretty big days that all fall within a seven-week period in late summer and early fall. 

Fort Lauderdale Beach; Fort Lauderdale, FLORIDA
Site of Lina's and My 14th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate these three events, and more especially our wedding anniversary, Lina and I are in the habit of scheduling a romantic weekend vacation getaway every year in August or September. This tradition is one of the highlights of the year for both of us and always serves to relax, refresh, and rejuvenate us both individually and as a married couple.  

This year, we celebrated on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about an hour south of our home in Palm Beach Gardens. My wife's parents were kind enough to take our three kids for the weekend so we could enjoy this special time together—alone.  

Knowing how vital relationships are to our lives and careers, self-action leaders go to great lengths to study and practice the science and art of initiating, building, cultivating, nurturing, sustaining, and where necessary, troubleshooting relationships.

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790

Relationships are so important to us, in fact, that we have developed an entire PRINCIPLE focused on relationship building and nurturance. This principle is based on a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin.

Said ole' Ben:     

"Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, and enemy to none."

—Benjamin Franklin

I LOVE this quote by Benjamin Franklin. 

In fact, I love it so much that most of the relationship building principle I've developed as part of our Freedom Focused curriculum is embedded within the confines of this single quote.

In the SAL Textbook, Volume 2, principles and practices of relationship building are covered. On pages 27-33, I introduce FIVE (5) different LEVELS (or tiers) of relationships in our lives. Four of these five levels directly relate to and harmonize with Ben Franklin's quote about relationships, as follows...

LEVEL ONE (1) Relationship

The relationship you share with your Source

LEVEL TWO (2) Relationship

The relationship you share with your Significant Other  (The ONE)

LEVEL THREE (3) Relationship

The relationships you share with your Inner Circle  (The Few)

LEVEL FOUR (4) Relationship

The relationships you share with your Outer Circle  (The Many)

LEVEL FIVE (5) Relationship

The relationships you share with Everyone Else  (The All)

One of the most important lessons I've ever learned about relationship building is that I do not have the time or energy to have thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of close, intimate friendships or other relationships. Doing so is simply untenable in this life and world so clearly marked by finite quantities of time and energy.

However hard you may try to paddle against the wake of this reality, I believe you will always end up coming to the same basic conclusion I have discovered. No matter how many people you might know or associate with, you simply don't have the energy or time to develop truly authentic relationships with a lot of people. As such, you must make decisions that prioritize different relationships into different categories that require more (or less) of that finite time and energy.  

I do, however, have the time and energy to be "civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, and enemy to none," as Franklin so wisely suggests. I have discovered through disciplined practice that this is a near-perfect recipe for cultivating a variety of different relationships with different people on different levels—the sum of which adds up to a beautiful and enriching life and career filled with a wide variety of different meaningful and rewarding personal and professional friendship and other relationships.

The five levels of relationships listed above represent a prioritized list of relational importance and begins with your SOURCE. Let's take some time now to flesh out this concept in more detail...

LEVEL ONE: Your Source

What is our ultimate SOURCE as human beings?  

Scientifically speaking, we don't know for certain. Although human beings have a variety of different beliefs concerning this subject.

I am one who firmly believes in the existence of an intelligent Creator—God—the literal Father (spiritually) of all mankind (His children). I believe this because of countless experiences I have had studying scriptural evidence and by having my own, personal, faith-promoting, spiritual experiences over the course of nearly four decades.     

At Freedom Focused, we do not ask or require you to be a believer. But we do encourage you to avoid being theologically lazy. In other words, don't be apathetic about BELIEF. Instead, choose to be curious about different beliefs you observe and find all around you. Study a variety of different viewpoints regarding what different human beings believe their Source is. Put in the time; complete your homework; and do your due diligence on the subject. Then, make your own decisions about what to believe (or not) based on your diligent homework and honest search rather than whatever might be the easiest—or most popular—thing to do at any given point in time. Pursuing this course will fortify your integrity and give you greater confidence in whatever you decide to believe in (or not). 

Once you have discovered what you believe your true SOURCE is, it is essential to cultivate an active, living, and vibrant relationship with Him/Her/It/Etc. For believers, this pathway is pursued through activities like study, prayer, obedience, practice, worship, service, emulation, and evangelism. For non-believers, this pathway is pursued through activities like study, meditation, service, activism, and education.

With my "ONE" prior to a date earlier this

year. Lina and I usually go on at least a

couple formal dates per month where we

hire a babysitter to watch our kids. The goal?

To nurture our friendship, enliven our romance,

and sustain our sanity!

LEVEL TWO: Significant Other

The ONE

Second only to your SOURCE, your significant other is—or at least ideally should (eventually) be—the most important relationship in your life. 

According to Franklin, this person should not only be your best friend, but in a sense, your only friend. This might sound strange or even extreme, but I assure you its seeming strangeness or extremeness is only a matter of framing and semantics.

Obviously it is okay—and even important—to have good friendships outside of your marriage or other serious, romantic relationship. When Franklin encourages us to have only ONE friend, I think what he is trying to say is that our friendship with our significant other ought to be singularly special in comparison with any of our other human relationships.

In other words, this vital relationship with our ONE ought to transcend and ultimately trump all other friendships and associations in terms of its closeness, connectedness, intimacy, and transparency.  If we are to follow the counsel of Franklin, we must therefore spend more time and effort cultivating and nurturing this preeminent friendship than we do for any other human connection.

For those who are not currently in an intimate relationship, your ONE could be a parent, sibling, or friend who you determine is your BEST friend and closest confidante until the time comes when you do have the opportunity to be part of an intimate relationship—a goal we encourage all self-action leaders to aim for. 

And as my avid readers all know, this particular goal and aim in life is not always easily achieved. In fact, it was one of the most difficult and time-consuming things I ever accomplished. But having embraced, endured, and conquered the struggle, I know for myself that it is entirely worth the effort and sacrifice and persistence that is usually required to find success in this often tricky and elusive area of life.  

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

LEVEL THREE: Inner Circle 

The Few

After your relationship with your Significant Other or other BEST friend is in good working order, you can begin to develop a relatively small circle of close friends, family members, colleagues, associates, neighbors, etc.

Relationships on this level are not as close as the relationship with your Significant Other, but are closer—and more important—than relationships on levels four and five.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, these are the relatively "FEW" individuals with whom you are "FAMILIAR."  

Individuals in your Inner Circle should be those to whom you can easily communicate about difficult issues and problems. They may include those to whom you seek out for help, advice, counsel, and encouragement during times of difficulty or special need.   

It has been said that you become like the five people you

spend the most time with. In other words, you become like

those who make up your Inner Circle. As such, you would be

wise to choose and cultivate your Inner Circle very carefully!

How many people should be a part of your "Inner Circle?" That is a question that only YOU can answer. However, I would suggest that any number that goes beyond single digits is probably too many. In other words, you should ideally aim for an Inner Circle that consists of nine (9) people or less. There is, of course, an exception to every rule; but remember: as human beings, we have finite time and energy, so "less is more" and the "simpler the better" when it comes to your Inner Circle.    

To illustrate my point in this matter, consider that my own Inner Circle currently consists of only four-to-six (4-6) people. While I can see it someday expanding to as many as eight (8) or nine (9) persons, I highly doubt my Inner Circle will ever expand beyond single digits. 

Again, there is usually an exception to every rule. YOU are ultimately in charge of making your own personal and professional decisions. The insight provided above is meant to guide you, not bind you, to any specific formula in the matter.  

LEVEL FOUR: Outer Circle

The Many

Your Outer Circle differs from your Inner Circle in several important ways. First, your Outer Circle will usually be much larger than your Inner Circle. Whereas your Inner Circle should ideally be kept to single digits, your Outer Circle may include dozens, scores, or in some cases even hundreds or thousands of people. 

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, these are the "MANY" individuals with whom you are "SOCIABLE."  

These are the people you usually see on a regular basis and are friendly with, but you generally do not communicate with on an intimate level. They may also include individuals with whom you only see occasionally, but remain relatively close with due to a closeness you once enjoyed in your past (i.e. a good friend from high school or college or a previous job who lives on the other side of the state or country from you).

Conversations with members of your Outer Circle will typically be more informal and social compared with conversations with members of your Inner Circle. Despite this fact, members of your Outer Circle will inevitably span out across an intimacy spectrum. In other words, some members will be closer to your Inner Circle whereby others will be closer to Level 5 (Everyone).  

While members of your Outer Circle may still be viewed as "Friends" they are usually not the FIRST people you would call if you needed help with something personal or otherwise important. 

To illustrate this principle, my own Outer Circle is made up of several hundred people. Some of those people are nearer to my Inner Circle and some of those people are nearer to Level 5 (Everyone). The rest fall somewhere in between on a spectrum of intimacy. I strategically make decisions regarding relationships with my Outer Circle based on where each person falls along that generalized intimacy spectrum.  

LEVEL FIVE:

Everyone Else

The All

Everyone Else falls within a framework of a Level Five (5) relationship.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, this balance of humanity includes everyone on the Planet, at least theoretically speaking. On a more practical basis, it includes anyone with whom you associate with in any way that is not already on one of the other four levels. 

Examples of people you share a Level Five (5) relationship with include passersby, store clerks, service staff, receptionists, etc. It also includes people who may know of YOU (or that you know of), but you do not actually know them (and vice versa). This group can range from a few people to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people in the case of certain celebrities and others in high-profile positions.

Ironically, human beings are often prone to being the kindest and most thoughtful of those they care the least about (Level 5 Relationships). If you don't believe me on this point, just think about the last time you cursed out a stranger on the street or someone who was serving you in a restaurant or hotel compared to the last time you spoke unkindly to someone who lives in your own house.

A ha?    

     GOTCHA!

Why is it that we humans so often save our best for
strangers and our worst for those we claim to love the most?

I know this is true because in all the traveling I've done throughout my career, I am hard pressed to remember many instances when some stranger was rude to me out of the blue—or when I was rude to them. But I've had a number of tiffs within my own home and family life during the same time period... instances where I ended up having to apologize for my own unkind comments or behavior!

We humans are funny that way... we sometimes have the mixed-up tendency to be kind to strangers and unkind to our most beloved. This pattern does not, of course, make any rational sense; yet this cultural phenomenon is deeply ingrained within most of us, when, in truth, it really ought to be the other way around!

While self-action leaders aim to treat EVERYONE with kindness, dignity, and respect, they understand it is important to prioritize their relationships so they save their best efforts and kindest overtures for those who are actually the most important in their lives, rather than for those who are the least important.

Peace is more precious than diamonds...
and it begins with YOU and ME.

So... if you feel like you just gotta be mean or rude to someone, be mean or rude to a stranger rather than your wife or kid or neighbor or colleague or friend! I'm kidding, of course... it's best to be nice to everyone, but if you have to choose—well, you get my drift!  

Enemy to None

While not an official level, per se, Franklin's wonderful quote is also a stirring reminder to avoid making enemies in our lives and careers by striving to end conflict as a peacemaker.

Self-action leaders love PEACE. They therefore eschew unnecessary conflict like the plague. And when conflict is inevitable, they always aim for a peaceful resolution.

In the process, they do whatever is necessary to mend (or end) conflicts that may arise in their lives or careers. In time, they come to comprehend that it is almost impossible to have enemies if they are unwilling to fuel conflict from their own end of a relationship. They understand that in the end, it's just not worth it to have enemies.

LIFE is so much better when it is marked by peace and peacemaking!      

So, remember the advice of ole' Ben Franklin, and you'll be on your way to creating wonderfully positive and meaningful relationships throughout your life. In the end, could anything be more valuable than that?

"Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, and enemy to none."

—Benjamin Franklin

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FOOD for THOUGHT...

• When was the last time you escaped for a romantic weekend getaway with your Significant Other? 

• Do you currently have too many people in your Inner Circle? If so, what steps might you take to draw a clearer line between your Inner and Outer Circle?

• Are you currently dealing with any conflicts or enemies at home or at work? What can YOU change to help mend (or end) said conflict(s)?

• In what other ways might you utilize the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote to organize your life around Freedom Focused's Five Levels of Relationships?  

 

—Dr. JJ

September 28, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 285th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 114th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 284 FF Blog Articles.  

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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:

Dr. JJ's Rule #12: The Wise Use of Time & Money

Your use of time & money
determines your CHARACTER

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 RULE #12, which states:

Spend all my TIME and MONEY on things that will either directly or indirectly contribute to the acquisition of wisdom and Existential Growth, the accumulation of worthy experiences, memories and relationships, and the proactive pursuit of meaningful service to others.  

Wisdom is the intelligent application of knowledge

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.  

—Proverbs 4:7

In the Good Book, it reads: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Another way to posture this principle is: "Where your treasure is, there will your time (and expenditures) be also."

The way you spend and/or save money speaks volumes about what and who is most important to YOU. It also says a lot about the value you place on the short-run versus the long-run of your life and career.  

You cannot save time. It is always on the move
You must constantly choose how you will spend it.

The same can be said about how you spend your TIME.  

Time is arguably the most valuable commodity to which any of us has access in this life. Time is also a great equalizer in the sense that each of us is allotted the exact same amount of time each day—24 hours—not a second more and not a second less. It doesn't matter who you are (or aren't), how much money you have (or don't have), or what other privileges you are blessed with (or not), EVERYONE gets the same amount of time to spend each day.

The question is not whether you have time; we all do. The question is: how are you choosing to spend your time?

America's first great time management expert—Benjamin Franklin—famously wrote: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of."

Benjamin Franklin—and Founding Father—of the United States
had many wise things to say about how to spend both time & money.

"Dost thou love life? 

Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." 

—Benjamin Franklin

To illustrate and illuminate the power and value of time, consider the following...

Everyone who has ever lived in this world has accomplished what they did and became who they were because of the way in which they chose to use their time. And while time expenditure alone is not the only variable impacting the results we obtain in life, it is, without any doubt or question, a key component and driving impetus for all RESULTS. Moreover, an argument can be made that it is, without any doubt or question, the most important variable in the sense that it is the only variable over which we have direct, significant, and lasting control.  

The use of time is akin to the use of money. The ways in which you choose to spend and invest money will determine the proliferation or atrophy of your financial portfolio over time. Similarly, the ways in which you choose to spend and invest your time will determine the proliferation or atrophy of your personal and professional happiness, peace, success, and growth over time. 

Consequently, self-action leaders are as careful and conscientious with their time as they are with their money—if not more so. They further recognize that their allotments of time in this life and world are finite—and that unlike money or other material possessions, lost (wasted) time can never be retrieved. As such, each moment really is precious.

Rule #12 is designed to serve as a personal cue to use my own time wisely. It further serves as a reminder of what matters most to me in my life, namely: the continual nurturance of positive interpersonal relationship and the never-ending quest after personal knowledge, wisdom, capacity, growth, and inner peace. Staying laser-focused on these life objectives empowers me to go where I want to go and become who and what I most desire in the long run.

Life and Career Management begin with Time Management

I invite you to read the following questions and then thoughtfully reflect on the answers as they relate to your own life and career.  

• How are you currently spending your time (and money)?

• Are your present expenditures of time (and money) consistently aligned with your deepest-held values and goals?

• In what ways is your current use of time (and money) contributing to future growth and happiness?

• In what ways is your current use of time (and money) contributing to preventable illness, calamity, and pain down the road?

• How is your current use of time (and money) helping your relationships?

• How is your current use of time (and money) hindering your relationships?

• In what ways do you waste time (and money)?

• What could you do beginning TODAY to start using your precious allotment of time (and money) more wisely?

NOTE: This article is the 14th 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

December 29, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 245thBlog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 244 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