You Tell on Yourself

As human beings, we are all OPEN BOOKS that continually

provide clues to others about who we are and what we value

based on what we choose to think about, say, and do in our lives.

Today's post features a cherished SAL poem from days of yore, which is, of course, where most of my favorite poems come from! 

Before I share this wonderful poem, I'd like to ask you a question:

Did you know that you are always TELLING on YOURSELF?

That's right... 

Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are continually spilling the beans about who and what you really are to everyone with whom you meet and associate. Everything you say and do—and everything you don't say and do—provides clues to others about your background, education, personality, character, desires, opinions, viewpoints, etc.    

And did you know that your attitude and actions speak more clearly, cogently, and concisely—in other words, more accurately and authentically—about YOU than your words could ever hope or dream to do—even for the slyest of silver-tongued wordsmiths? 

In other words, whether you know it or not and whether you like it or not, you are a relatively OPEN BOOK for others to read, peruse, study, and scrutinize at their leisure. And other people are always reading, perusing, studying, and or sizing-you-up from their own unique frames of reference. 

It is also true, of course, that the vantage points of others come packaged in varying degrees of accuracy based on the extent and integrity of their own unique experiences, education, and character; which is why self-action leaders are cautious and disciplined in determining whose vantage points they choose to care about and heed. They understand that YOU end up becoming like those people whose opinion you care about most!  

Who are the five people whose opinion and view of you do YOU care about most?  

This simple question is an introspective SAL query worth pondering.  

Are you more committed to a virtual (fictional) reality
about your life and career than you are to reality itself?

My purpose in exposing these truths today is not to induce within you a panic attack, or to dissuade you from ever going out into public again (SMILE). My objective is simply to encourage you to reflect upon this REALITY and then consider whether the story your current attitude and actions is telling is the tale you want to be told. 

After all, one of the single most telling hallmarks of self-action leaders is their determined and continual dedication to REALITY—no matter what. Such dedication is a strong indicator of common sense, self-security, and mental hygiene. As M. Scott Peck, M.D. so incisively declared: Mental health is dedication to reality at all costs. (1)  

"Mental health is dedication to reality at all costs."

—M. Scott Peck, M.D.  

My Grandfather Smith holding my mother,

circa 1948. Hyrum W. Smith, co-founder of

FranklinCovey Company, my Mom's older

brother, is the little boy in the bottom right.

When my mother was growing up, her father (my maternal grandfather) had a saying he used to repeat to his seven children, and it went like this:

"Don't judge other people; but remember that they will always judge you."

One of my favorite poems from yesteryear further captures and articulates this principle. This poem is sometimes labeled as "Anonymous," although Marie Losavio has also been cited as its author.  

It goes like this: 

You Tell on Yourself

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,
    By the very manner in which you speak,

By the way you employ your leisure time,

    By the use you make of dollar and dime,

You tell what you are by the things you wear,

   By the spirit in which your burdens you bear,

By the kinds of things at which you laugh,

    By the records you play on the phonograph,

You show what you are by the way you walk,

    By the things of which you delight to talk,

By the manner in which you bear defeat,

    By so simple a thing as how you eat,

By the books you choose from the well-filled shelf:

    In these ways and more, you tell on yourself.

So, there really is no particle of sense,

    In an effort to keep up false pretense.

Despite the TRUTH and REALITY contained in this insightful and playful poem, it never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to try and hide the truth and cultivate pretenses in an effort to mask reality— instead of owning up to and then dealing with it.

However temporarily painful it may be to fess up—and face up—to reality and the truth, my life's experiences have taught me that it is infinitely preferable to the disastrous long-term consequences of continually dealing in deceit or sticking your head in the sand. Moreover, the achievements, growth, and joy that accompany a complete dedication to reality and truth are worth more than any monetary price you could possibly attach thereto.  

Freedom Focused is eternally dedicated to TRUTH & REALITY—about ourselves and everything else in the world and universe. The sooner we choose to dedicate ourselves more fully to such things, the sooner we can progress along our way to higher levels of Existential Growth, which is where we can access the greatest degrees of real FREEDOM.   

How dedicated are you to REALITY and the TRUTH? 

I invite you to consider this question and ponder the honest answers thereto. As you do so, I further invite you to be courageous in identifying where you may be dealing in deceit or putting your head in the sand in your own life and/or career—and what deleterious consequences you are suffering (or may yet suffer) as a result. Finally, I invite you to consider how you might make one, small, but important step towards a fuller embrace of reality and truth in your life and career—TODAY.    

I promise you will not regret making such efforts, but will rather reap the delicious fruit borne of your willingness to live more fully according to the way things really are.   

—Dr. JJ

November 30, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 294th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 123rd consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 293 FF Blog Articles.  

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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.

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Notes:

1.  Peck, M.S. (1978). The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth. New York, NY: Touchstone. Page 289. 

A NextGen 7 Habits and Road Less Traveled

Two score and three years ago, M. Scott Peck, M.D., wrote one of the greatest books that has ever been written on the subjects of human cognition and behavioral regulation as it relates to personal CHANGE and GROWTH.  

The book is called, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth.

Peck's book is not religious scripture, nor is it an ideological, political, or philosophical treatise. Rather, it is a practical, common sense exploration in psychology, love, and personal growth based on Peck's own experience working with real patients as a clinical psychiatrist.

The Road Less Traveled was published in 1978, one year before I was born. For the following decade—throughout the 1980s—it was a huge bestseller, demonstrating that many human beings really do earnestly seek after real answers to real problems in their lives, even if it requires hard work, courage, and personal sacrifice.

Eleven years later, in 1989, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—Dr. Stephen R. Covey's famous book on essentially the same subject (Personal Change)—was published. Like Peck's The Road Less Traveled, Covey's 7 Habits was also a huge bestseller (selling nearly 20 million copies) demonstrating a generation later that, once again, many human beings really do ardently desire real solutions to real problems in their lives—even if those solutions require hard work, sacrifice, dedication, persistence, and patience on our part. 

These two books—The Road Less Traveled, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, influenced my thinking—and the development of the Self-Action Leadership Theory and Model—more than any other single texts. Other books by Covey and Peck, including: Principle Centered Leadership (1990), Further Along the Road Less Traveled (1993), First Things First (1994), and The Road Less Traveled and Beyond (1997) were similarly influential on my thinking and writing.

For you old timers who are wondering what the NextGen Road or 7 Habits is going to be, you don't have to wonder anymore. It has already been written and published!

The 1980s brought The Road
The 1990s and 2000s brought The 7 Habits
The 2020s now offers SAL

It's called: Self-Action Leadership, Volume I & II; and it builds upon The Road and The 7 Habits in creative and important ways. And the only significantly substantive difference between SAL and its two forerunners is that SAL hasn't yet sold millions of copies. 

But all in good time my friends; all in good time!

Or, in the words of Alexander Hamilton (of Hamilton the musical fame): "There's a million [copies I haven't sold], but just you wait; just you wait!" 

Peck famously opened The Road Less Traveled with a timeless truism summed up unforgettably in just three (3) simple words...

"Life is Difficult."

As seemingly self-evident and obvious as this statement may be, Peck went on to explain that a certain irony exists in the phrase as it relates to us humans.

In his own words: 

"Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly, about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief ... that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be and that has somehow been especially visited upon them, or upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race or even their species, and not upon others." (The Road Less Traveled. 1978, New York, NY: Touchstone. p. 15)

Peck then humbly confesses what most (if not all) of us might well echo:

"I know about this moaning because I have done my share" (p. 15).

If I'm honest, I must echo Peck's confession myself.

Life is indeed difficult—for everybody. And while it may often seem to be more difficult for some than for others, it is vital to remember that an individual's suffering, no matter who that person is or what they may face, is relative.

As Viktor Frankl—a Nazi concentration camp survivor, who knew a thing or two about intense suffering—so cogently articulated:

"A [person's] suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the 'size' of human suffering is absolutely relative." (Man's Search for Meaning. 2006. Beacon: Boston, MA, p. 44)

Given this reality of our human experiences, we would all do well to spend less time and effort judging others and comparing ourselves to others and instead reinvest that same energy in alleviating and managing our own suffering in an effort to grow personally and professionally—and then help others to do the same.

By so doing, we can inch steadily toward "gain[ing] ever greater levels of maturity" (Peck, 1978, p. 11). After all, GROWTH (personal and professional) is the entire purpose of the SAL Theory and Model.

Along the way, we have the opportunity to realize that high ideal set forth by the great Russian novelist, Dostoevski (and reiterated by Frankl), whereby we have the potential to become "worthy of [our] sufferings" (p. 66). In Frankl's view, being worthy of our sufferings qualifies as a "genuine inner achievement" (p. 67), which can, in-turn, lead us to a "spiritual freedom—which cannot be taken away—that makes life meaningful and purposeful" (p. 67). 

As we consider our options for responding to the inevitable difficulties of life, there are, generally speaking, only two kinds of choices to be made in any situation. One option is negative, reactive, combative, and therefore counterproductive. This choice invariably makes any situation worse than it was in the first place. The other possibility is a positive, proactive, cooperative, and therefore productive response. If pursued consistently and persistently, the latter option is bound to either solve the problem(s) at hand, or at very least, to mollify or ameliorate it/them over time.  

For thousands of years, civilizations around the globe developed and flourished on the wings of certain timeless aphorisms, mantras, and other simple statements of fundamental truth about the way things really are in this world in terms of their relation to human actions and interactions—and their concomitant consequences. 

Conversely, many of these same civilizations eventually atrophied into extinction by choosing actions that flouted goodness and truth as articulated in said aphorisms. The consequences of doing so led inevitably to disaster, destruction, and despair.

Such statements of "Truth" are rooted in science, religion, philosophy, politics, commerce, parenting, literature, and a wide range of other human endeavors. The authors of such statements—from Plato and Pericles to Caesar and Cicero; from Moses, Muhammad, and Jesus to Confucius, Siddhārtha Gautama, and Guru Nanek; from Franklin and Goethe to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.—are representative of all major civilizations, continents, cultures, creeds, races, and religions. When civilizations adhere to principles and practices contained in this diverse, yet largely harmonious, historical canon of "Wisdom Literature," positive long-term consequences ensue, both individually and collectively speaking. When this wisdom is disregarded, disasters always arise eventually, for both individuals and the body politic.   

This historical ebb and flow of circumspect adherence to common sense principles of successful human thought and behavior has, in the past half-century or so, wended deeply toward its latest ebbing (speaking collectively and not individually). This dramatic ebb explains why there is so much violence and unrest in the streets, so much fear, panic, and desolation in the lives of individuals and their families, communities, and organizations, and why the United States of America is so dramatically divided—or perhaps fractured would be a more accurate term—both politically and culturally. 

What is the answer to these deep, perplexing, and systemic problems? Wherein lies the key to our escape from the current moral ebb into a future ascent (hopefully) into the next flow of peace and prosperity? What will the next chapter in Western Civilization look like? And how in the world did we get here in the first place?

I would suggest that one of the biggest problems in the West today is our collective tendency to focus too much on the weaknesses and shortcomings of others while simultaneously failing to see, much less working to change, ourselves.

Quite frankly, ours is a sad, even pathetic, era marked by endless finger-pointing. According to politicians, professionals, and pundits everywhere, every problem under the sun is someone else's fault. It seems almost nobody in the spotlight is willing to take any real personal responsibility for anything. And even when a high profile person does "accept responsibility" their half-hearted admissions and forced apologies are usually "all talk" and "no action."

Sadly, in the midst of this ever-cycling blame-game, individuals everywhere fail to comprehend that every time they point a finger of blame at someone else, there are three other fingers pointing right back at themselves.

If you don't believe me, just try it! 

Point your index finger out at some imaginary someone else out in the distance, and then look closely at where your middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie are pointing.

Gotcha!  

It is very popular these days to talk in broad, sweeping strokes about serious and complex macro subjects that are important and require our attention and action.

The SAL question, however, is not "whose fault is it?" The SAL question is: what are YOU actually doing about macro problems in your own little micro world? If you are like most people, you probably talk about the problem and point the finger of blame at others a LOT more than you actually DO SOMETHING that will make a tangible difference in the lives of real people.    

Self-Action Leadership is all about individual ACTION and micro SELF-CHANGE. Why? Because I am the only person I can control; and you are the only person you can control. And because all real macro organizational or societal change begins in the minds and hearts of individuals.

This includes YOU; and it also includes ME—because we are individuals.  

The aim of SAL is to teach and inspire people to recognize that the only person on the planet they can truly control is oneself. As such, we should spend the majority of our time and effort focusing on what we need to think about, say, and do to be our best selves, rather than continually pointing out where others are falling short and must improve.

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment

In the words of Teddy Roosevelt, one of the most courageous, progressive, enthusiastic, and accomplished leaders in American history:

"There are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. ... It is not the critic who counts; not the [person] who points out how the strong [one] stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [person] who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends [oneself] in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [he or she] fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that [his or her] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Perhaps no one in American history is more qualified to talk about self-change and striving valiantly in the arena than Theodore Roosevelt. Growing up, Roosevelt had to focus intensely and work diligently for many years to overcome a devastating and breathtaking (literally) case of asthma at a time in history when medical treatments for the mysterious disease were limited and primitive.  

Then, a few short years before becoming the youngest President in U.S. history at age 42, Roosevelt was voluntarily charging up San Juan Hill at the head of a regiment of cavalrymen that he himself had organized and helped train. Many tried to persuade the 39-year old Roosevelt to stay in Washington where it was "safe." At the time he was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy—an excellent and entirely legitimate excuse to not join the fray on its front lines. But Roosevelt had the heart of a lion and could not remain caged on the sidelines when his Country needed his help in the arena.

Winston Churchill in middle age
circa the World War I era.

Eighteen years later, another lion-hearted leader—Winston Churchill—followed Roosevelt's example by accepting a field commission in the British Army after losing his prestigious and high-ranking post as First Lord of the Admiralty (aka: Secretary of the Navy in the U.S.) following the disastrous amphibious Allied landings at Gallipoli. Like Roosevelt in Cuba, the high profile Churchill spent several months alongside ordinary field soldiers in the dangerous trenches of the Western Front—perhaps as personal penance and to otherwise take personal responsibility for his unintentional, but nonetheless high profile and costly failure at Gallipoli.

Why would he do such a dangerous and courageous thing when he didn't have to? Because that is what principle-centered leaders do: they are proactive, courageous, and have integrity—and win or lose, they always take personal responsibility for their speech and actions.         

Like Churchill, Roosevelt was the author of many books and countless letters and speeches over the course of his incredibly energetic and productive life and career. He was also fearless when it came to putting his money (walk) where his mouth (talk) was. As a result, his life and legacy changed the course of American history in a variety of positive and productive ways. America needs more men and women, boys and girls with the heart, mind, conscience, and courage of Theodore Roosevelt.

Turn on the news or join in on most contemporary conversations about current events and you are almost certain to hear next-to-nothing about SELF-CHANGE. Instead, you will see and hear endless finger pointing. According to most politicians and pundits, all of the world's problems are somebody else's fault! According to present cultural conversations, all of America's problems are the fault of others, while oneself is perpetually postured as being highly virtuous and above reproach. And since none of us are perfect, hypocrisy obviously abounds in many of these conversations and reports.

It is a sad, childish, dishonest, and counterproductive state in which we find ourselves; but it is where our culture currently stands. 

This trend must change if things are going to get better. And the truth is that for any real, lasting, macro changes to occur, individuals must begin making real, lasting, micro changes within their own minds and hearts.    

SAL is all about looking in the mirror
in an effort to grow and improve personally.

Any truly honest and authentic person knows deep down in one's heart and soul that the only real solution to our deepest personal, relational, and civic problems is to look oneself straight in the mirror, accurately identify one's own personal (or organizational) foibles and flaws for what they really are, admit them candidly to oneself (and where necessary, to others), and then go to work courageously to do the most difficult thing in life: that is, to actually CHANGE.

Until that difficult but oh-so-necessary step occurs, things are only going to get worse, wending us further down a slippery slope to the utter desolation or destruction of individual lives, organizations, communities, states, and nations. 

It really is that simple (in theory). And it really is that difficult (in practice).

It is simple because the answer to all of our deepest and most distressing problems in American and beyond lies in right thinking, doing, and being—not from a political or cultural point of view, but from a behavioral, existential, and moral standpoint. And it is difficult because thinking, speaking, doing, and being right on a consistent basis is incredibly challenging; indeed, it is a lifelong struggle for even the most careful, conscientious, and circumspect among us. 

In the words of Peck:

"We cannot solve life's problems except by solving them. This statement may seem idiotic... or self-evident, yet it is seemingly beyond the comprehension of much of the human race. This is because we must accept responsibility for a problem before we can solve it. We cannot solve a problem by saying 'It's not my problem.' We cannot solve a problem by hoping that someone else will solve it for us. I can solve a problem only when I say 'This is my problem and it's up to me to solve it.' But many, so many, seek to avoid the pain of their problems by saying to themselves: 'This problem was caused me by other people, or by social circumstances beyond my control, and therefore it is up to other people or society to solve this problem for me. It is not really my personal problem. [And] the extent to which people will go psychologically to avoid assuming responsibility for personal problems, while always sad, is sometimes almost ludicrous." (p. 32-33) 

For those willing to put forth the enormous effort required, it all beings with an EDUCATION that is dedicated to truth and reality. After all, in the words of Peck, "truth is reality" (p. 44) and "we must [therefore] be totally dedicated to truth ... [and] must always hold truth ... to be more important, more vital to our self-interest, than our comfort" (p. 50).

In other words, SAL only works if YOU are willing to get out of your comfort zone and stay out of it for as long as true change and authentic growth demands.  

To illustrate the kind of education promoted at Freedom Focused, consider a story from the life of M. Scott Peck, M.D.

"I had the kind of grandfather every boy ought to have. He was not a particularly smart man, and his speech was seldom more than a series of clichés. He would say to me, "Don't cross your bridges until you come to them," or, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." Not all were admonishments; some were consoling, like, "It's often better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond," or, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." ... He was not above repeating himself ... [and] if I heard "All that glitters is not gold" once, I must have heard it a thousand times. But he loved me. ... [And] it was on ... walks with my grandfather ... that I was able to not only hear but to digest and absorb his proverbs, and their wisdom has stood me in very good stead over the years" (Further Along the Road Less Traveled. 1993. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 141-142).

Peck then goes on to say:

"I've often thought that it would be saving if we could develop some program of mental health education in our public schools, but I know we wouldn't get away with it. People would object to it. ... But ... [who could] possibly object to a program in our schools to teach the old proverbs to our children[?] ... So I hope someone will start instituting such a program. I also hope it will be done soon" (p. 143-144).

I will never forget reading these words back in 2011. I was high up in the air on an airplane en route to an eastern Canadian city where I was scheduled to teach some business seminars. I had known for nearly a decade already that my life's calling was to answer this call of Peck's, and had been anxiously engaged in striving to fulfill that mission since 2003. Peck's words therefore served to powerfully reinforce the mission in my own mind.

Unfortunately, though, Peck is right...  many people—including and perhaps especially those in positions of power capable of doing something about it—do object to it. And there is a chance that Freedom Focused won't "get away with it," just as Peck feared. But that won't stop us from making the attempt and giving our all in the process. Thus, if we do fail, it won't be for lack of effort or passion; it will merely be because those who needed it most chose to reject it.  

This article—and everything else that goes forth from the mouth of this organization—is part and parcel of that attempt. We will keep trying and won't ever give up until someone in a position of power finally does listen, and by-and-by grants us the opportunity to empower a growing number of others with the kind of saving education that all successful, happy, and self-actualized (Maslow, 1943) persons ultimately receive and apply—to their own benefit and the blessing of others.  

Freedom Focused has been around now for 17 years. The Self-Action Leadership TEXTBOOKS have existed (in one form or another) for 15 years. Sadly, its message of self-leadership, personal responsibility, education, truth, and a "dedication to reality" (Peck) has been almost entirely ignored for all those years.

As frustrating as this fact sometimes feels, it doesn't alter the quality of my life personally.

Nope.

I have a great life no matter what happens with Freedom Focused. 

How is that possible, you ask?

Simple: I have a healthy mind and body and a wonderful, loving family that is committed to SAL principles and practices. Moreover, my wife has been very successful in her career, so we don't need the money. 

What more could I possibly ask for?  

In other words, our lives are already FANTASTIC because we have lived this stuff ourselves for many decades now. It's just who we are; SAL is inextricably linked to our very souls and we practice what we teach, even though we admittedly do so imperfectly—just like all human beings. Yet, even with imperfect practice, the results speak for themselves in terms of the long-term happiness, success, unity, growth, love, and inner peace we have enjoyed. And those same patterns will continue in our lives as long as we remain committed to SAL principles and practices. After all, there is nothing special about us, per se, but everything is special about SAL principles and practices. Thus, other people—including YOU—can ultimately benefit from them as richly as we have if you are willing to pay the price demanded by natural law. 

Simply stated: if you are willing to put in the work, then SAL principles and practices will WORK for you, and serendipity will usually take care of the rest over time.   

Why? 

Self-Action Leadership works because it is rooted
in physical and metaphysical truisms.

Because SAL principles and practices are rooted in natural laws of physics and metaphysics. So they are scientifically sound and rooted in common sense. In other words, when rightly applied over time, they work! And they can work as well for YOU as they have for Lina and me. 

That doesn't mean our lives will mirror each other's exactly; and that is a good thing, because how boring would that be? Besides, SAL is not about comparisons. As our pal Teddy Roosevelt once wisely put it: Comparison is the thief of joy.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

— Theodore Roosevelt  

Self-action leaders do not spend their time unwisely comparing themselves to other people and their unique talents, attributes, accomplishments, or successes. Self-action leaders recognize and rejoice in the reality that unlimited happiness, success, unity, growth, and inner peace is as much a possibility for THEM in their lives as it is for me and my wife in our lives—or anyone else on the planet for that matter.  

I do confess that it saddens me that so many people who could be helped right now aren't being helped by the message of SAL because of a current lack of courageous, proactive, visionary, and principle-centered leaders who presently possess the power to begin bringing SAL into the lives of their students, children, subordinates, etc., but who, for whatever reasons, choose to ignore, reject, or delay.   

But I'm not worried.

Such leaders are in the process of being developed, and when the time is right (i.e. once they have gathered up their courage and are otherwise sufficiently prepared), I have no doubt they will rise to the occasion and help us change the world—one mind and heart at a time. In the meantime, I certainly can't complain about the myriad of blessings I enjoy both personally and professionally—thanks to a synergized amalgamation of serendipitous grace and my own conscientious dedication to SAL—so I am amply prepared to continue to work hard and wait patiently... for however long it takes.    

If you are a parent, educator, leader, politician, or just an ordinary citizen bereft of any formal title or organizational influence, I invite you to buy, read, and study the Self-Action Leadership textbooks—and complete the SAL Master Challenge along the way. If you discover the value and benefit of taking on that challenge yourself—as I did in my own extended, comprehensive journey throughout the past 34 years, I further invite you to help me spread the message of SAL far and wide, so that it can begin to influence, impact, and even transform the lives of others who, like all those readers of The Road Less Traveled in the 1980s-90s and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in the 1990s and 2000s, are desperately seeking for real solutions to real problems in their lives and careers.

Peck was spot on: Life is indeed difficult. 

          But that doesn't mean it isn't doable.  

With the power of SAL and the grace of serendipity in your corner, the sky is truly the limit—both personally and professionally.  

          What are you waiting for?

Click HERE to buy the Self-Action Leadership TEXTBOOKS   

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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.

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Our Vision & Mission at Freedom Focused

Sir Winston Churchill
Two-time Prime Minister of Great Britain

Winston Churchill Inspires a Young Man, Who, in-turn, Motivates a Mere Boy

At the tail end of his long life, Winston Churchill gave a speech in England.  In his address, he told his listeners how he had always been motivated by a compelling desire to make a difference in the world.

Sitting in Churchill's audience that day was a young American missionary in his early twenties named Hyrum W. Smith.

Deeply touched by the aging Churchill's words, Smith realized he felt the same burning desire to "make a difference."

Nearly 20 years later, Smith served as one of the key originators of the world famous Franklin Day Planning system.  Ten years after that, Smith's company, FranklinQuest, went public on the New York Stock Exchange.  In 1997, FranklinQuest acquired the Covey Leadership Center to form the world famous training company, FranklinCovey.    

Hyrum W. Smith
Co-Founder of FranklinCovey

While in England, Hyrum Smith met my Dad, who was also in Britain doing missionary work.  Later, after both had returned to the U.S. to attend college, Hyrum introduced my Dad to his little sister.  Romance blossomed, and in 1966, Rex Jensen married Pauline Smith.  Thirteen years later, I was born.

Just a few short years later, in 1983, Uncle Hyrum started the Franklin Institute.  Age age eight, I attended my first Franklin Day Planning seminar -- taught by Hyrum himself.

At ages 12 and 14, I worked as a manual laborer on Hyrum's Southwestern desert ranch.  From this obscure vantage point, I observed my uncle summit a significant pinnacle of success as one of the greatest time management and personal development gurus in the world.

Concurrently, I began to recognize with increased clarity that I possessed the same deep desire that had driven both Sir Winston and Hyrum.  This desire was further enflamed by a relatively unremarkable incident that occurred one day at Hyrum's ranch home in 1992 -- the same year FranklinQuest went public on the NYSE.    

One Sunday afternoon at the ranch, we ranch hands were eating Sunday dinner with the Smith family.  Hyrum was home for the weekend.  At the conclusion of a delicious taco dinner (the Smith's Sunday tradition), Hyrum elevated his powerful orator's voice several decibels to make an announcement everyone could hear, whereby he proclaimed: "All right everybody, I'm offering five dollars to anyone who will do the dishes."

Without blinking or thinking twice about the work involved or whether the amount was worth the time investment, I quickly volunteered before anyone else, to which Hyrum approvingly replied, "Jordan, you are an entrepreneur; you will be a wealthy man someday."  I was only 12 years old, but this experience left a lasting impression on me.  

Dr. Jordan R. Jensen
Founder & CEO of Freedom Focused

I doubt Hyrum remembers this exchange, or that he even thought much about it five seconds after he said it.  Nevertheless, that simple statement has deeply resonated within my being throughout intervening years.  I suppose that in a sense, it became something akin to Hyrum's own "Churchill" moment, where one great man unknowingly passes a torch to a young boy who has plenty of potential and ample "fire in the belly."

Becoming wealthy for wealth's sake is not a primary motivator for me.  Making a difference, however, and leaving a positive legacy emblazoned in what I believe is the noblest career ambition of all (education), has been an incessant -- even an obsessive -- driving force in my life the past two-and-a-half decades.  As such, it was my potential to make a difference, not merely to become wealthy, that really burned in my bosom that day at the Ranch when Hyrum spoke out loud about my possibilities.

Despite this and other powerful life influences along the way, it took me several more years to gain clarity about specifically how I intended to "make a difference" in the world.  But by the year 2003, I had a pretty clear vision of my how.  Ever since that time, I have been on a MISSION to actualize that VISION.

Today's blog post shares the vision and mission of Freedom Focused, both of which are anchored firmly in the principles set forth in the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model.

I invite anyone who believes in the importance of Leadership, Character, and Life-Skill Education to seriously read this article, and then share it with your personal and professional networks.   

Our Vision at Freedom Focused

What is a vision?  Simply stated, it is a clear picture of what the future looks like.  What does the future look like to us at Freedom Focused?

Let's begin with a story...

The widely read M. Scott Peck, M.D., (of The Road Less Traveled fame) once wrote about his relationship with his Grandfather.  His memories of this relationship consisted mostly of a monthly visit to his grandparent's home in New York that included three double-feature shows at the movie-house.  While going to-and-from these cinematic excursions, Peck's Granddad would often garnish their conversations by sprinkling in some of the wise old proverbs.  For example: "'Don't cross your bridges until you've come to them,'" or, "'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'" 

In Peck's own words, his Grandfather "was not a particularly smart man, and his speech was seldom more than a series of cliches."  Despite this, it was evident to Peck that his Grandpa loved him by virtue of all the time he was willing to spend with him, and in time, the old fellow's words ended up making a real difference in his life.  As Peck explains:

"It was on the walks with my grandfather, back and forth to the double features, that I was able not only to hear but to digest and absorb his proverbs, and their wisdom has stood me in very good stead over these years."  

As he reflected over the simple wisdom he gleaned from these very basic lessons learned from his grandfather, Peck lamented the loss of the old proverbs in today's educational processes (especially public education).  He further opines:

"I've often thought that it would be saving if we could develop some program of mental health education in our public schools ... [and] I hope someone will start instituting such a program [and] I hope it will be done soon.  For as my grandfather would have said, "'A stitch in time saves nine.'" (italics added) [1]

Years ago, I was in Eastern Canada on a small little plane flying to teach a seminar somewhere in New Brunswick.  It was during my flight that I first read these words.  As I did so, my heart was filled with a deep impression that I was that someone that Peck was talking about, or at very least, I was one of them.  Since then, I have been even more invigorated in my efforts to realize this hope held by Peck--and countless others throughout the last three generations.

The troubled period of time in America that began in the 1960s, and has been labeled historically as the "Postmodern Period," has been marked by dramatic departures from traditional educational approaches that focused as much effort on teaching and modeling principles of leadership, character, and life-skills as they do on 'reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic (and technological science).

Click HERE to learn more about postmodernists and the postmodern period.

Click HERE to learn more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that has begun to eclipse postmodernism in the 21st century.    

1858-1919

The Quality of the Individual Citizen is Supreme

In 1910, shortly after leaving office, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a famous address at a University in Paris, France (The Sorbonne).  In this speech, Roosevelt proclaimed that, "The quality of the individual citizen is supreme" when it comes to building strong, self-reliant, and collectively prosperous republics.  In this address, Roosevelt taught that:

"Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. ... But with ... us [as Americans] the case is different.  With ... us .. in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional cries which call for heroic virtues.  The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed.  The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation.  Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher."

Roosevelt went on to identify how to develop the kind of "quality citizens" of which he spoke.  His answer?  Education!  Again, in his own words:

"Let those who have, keep, [and] let those who have not, strive to attain, a high standard of cultivation and scholarship (education).  Yet let us remember that these stand second to certain other things.  There is need of a sound body, and even more of a sound mind.  But above mind and above body stands character -- the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man's force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor.  ... Education must contain much besides book-learning in order to be really good.  We must ever remember that no keenness and subtleness of intellect, no polish, no cleverness, in any way make up for the lack of the great solid qualities.  Self-restraint, self mastery, common sense, the power of accepting individual responsibility and yet of acting in conjunction with others, courage and resolution -- these are the qualities which mark a masterful people.  Without them no people can control itself, or save itself from being controlled from the outside. ... I pay all homage to intellect and to elaborate and specialized training of the intellect; and yet I know ... that more important still are the commonplace, every-day qualities and virtues."

At Freedom Focused, we share President Roosevelt's vision of a robust educational culture that embraces a concrete commitment to skillfully teaching and effectively modeling the weightier matters of leadership, character, and life-skill education in conjunction with typical core curricula.

As such, our vision of the future is that of a nation where many, if not most schools, explicitly offer -- and even require -- students to take courses in subjects such as: 

* Self-leadership, self-reliance, & self-control

* Emotional intelligence

* Interpersonal relationship management

* Personal financial management

* Mental health

* Character development 

* Leadership

* Life skills
* Positive Mental Attitude
* Persistence and Determination
* Endurance

You know exactly what I am talking about -- all of the things students really need to learn and develop if they are going to be authentically successful over the long run -- in conjunction with core academic competencies that are already taught.  

When I published my first book in 2005 (a personal leadership guide for high school and college students), an esteemed leadership guru named John H. "Jack" Zenger was kind enough to provide the following endorsement quote for my work:

"The old paradigm of separating core academic curriculum from leadership, character, and life-skill education in America's schools is gradually beginning to shift.  The time is coming when classes in leadership will be equally as important as those in mathematics, biology, or English; and from a career standpoint, possibly more important."

At Freedom Focused, our vision of the future is a society where the "shift" spoken of by Dr. Zenger has become a reality, with cultural mores and educational paradigms widely embracing explicit instruction in leadership, character, and life-skill education.

Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's groundbreaking speech entitled, A Twenty-First Century Vision of Education in America.  

The Mission Behind the Vision

At Freedom Focused, we comprehend the reality that this vision will be as difficult to realize as it is easy to conceptualize.  As such, where does one begin to tackle a task so monumental and daunting?

I have been asking myself this very question in great earnest since 2003.  In the intervening 12 years, I have spent literally tens of thousands of hours immersed in reading, pondering, studying, researching, collaborating, and writing (including doctoral level work), to develop "A CONCRETE PLAN" that can serve as a fundamental starting point for anyone and everyone interested and willing to engage processes that get us closer to realizing the grand vision of a character and leadership-based educational curriculum and culture.

This plan is outlined in the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model, both of which serve as universal constructs aimed at providing a firm foundation for any and all character-centric or leadership-based educational initiatives of any kind in any organization.   

What does the SAL Theory & Model offer to YOU?  In short, it means that whether you are a Civil Leader, Business Owner or Manager, Educational Administrator, Teacher, or Coach, Parent, or Individual seeking a curriculum or textbook offering a holistic range of fundamentals, it is now available.

In the words of Dr. Christopher P. Neck, an esteemed Associate Professor of Management at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University:

"Jensen has accomplished a task that is very difficult for any author to achieve, and that is to produce a single text that is highly relevant to multiple audiences at the same time. Because of the universal applicability of basic self-leadership principles, his message is germane ... to civic leaders, business professionals and workers of all kinds, educators, students, athletes, parents, and children—in short, to everyone. Indeed, I do believe that virtually anyone who reads this book will be able to take something away from it that will improve his or her life in a significant way. As an author myself, I am amazed at Jordan’s achievement in writing one book that carries the potential to reach such a wide variety of people—and that is the beauty of it."

Click HERE to read Dr. Neck's entire Foreword to Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom  

The Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Theory

The Self-Action Leadership Theory, or just "SAL Theory," for short, is rooted in an atmospheric and astronomical metaphor that compares an individual to a rocket ship seeking to travel throughout the dangerous and challenging levels of Earth's atmosphere into Outer Space and beyond.  The SAL Theory draws distinct and concrete analogues from the different layers of the atmosphere to the various "Stages" of personal growth we all must face and endure throughout our life's journey if we are to successfully realize our fullest potential both personally and professionally.  

The SAL Theory explains why other people often say and do things to make your journey more difficult, and what you can do to rise above the negative pressure exerted from these "Existential Crabs."  Furthermore, it prepares you mentally for difficulties that inevitably lie ahead of you as you traverse future adversity.  Perhaps most importantly, it awakens your awareness of the full extent of your personal and professional potential, opening up vistas of possibility you never dreamed existed.  

The 9 Levels (Layers) of Earth's Atmosphere.

The 9 Levels (Stages) of the SAL Theory

The Self-Action Leadership (SAL) Model

With the philosophical strength that comes with an understanding of the SAL Theory in tow, you are prepared to begin the incredibly exciting and engaging journey of designing and then constructing your own life and career as a self-action leader.

Rooted explicitly in a construction metaphor, the SAL Model shows you how to be the architect, builder, inspector, trouble-shooter, and fine-tuner of the metaphorical structure that is your own life and career.  

The Four Stages and 21 Sub-Steps in the Construction Process

The 4 Stages and 21 Sub-Steps in Building a Successful Life & Career

The excitement of the possibilities held in the SAL Model are perhaps best captured by the poet, George Washington Doane, who once eloquently penned:

Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy
With his marble block before him,
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o’er him.

He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own light the sculpture shone,—
He’d caught that angel-vision.

Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God’s command,
Our life-dream shall pass o’er us.

If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision. [2]

What are YOU going to do with the "Marble Block" of your own Existence?

My enthusiasm for creating something magnificent out of the "Marble Block" of my own life began in part while attending my Uncle Hyrum's time management seminar at age eight.  It grew steadily from that point on.  It was further bolstered when, as a freshman in college, I drafted a "Personal Leadership Statement" in a leadership course I was taking at Brigham Young University.

Utilizing the Genius of the Founding Fathers to
Realize Personal & Professional Success in YOUR Own Life

Unlike most assignments or projects you do in school and then quickly throw away and forget about, I kept working on my Personal Leadership Statement.

Over time, this statement of personal vision, mission, values, goals, etc., evolved into my "Self-Constitution," and "Self-Declaration of Independence," two vital documents that a self-action leader drafts during one's study of the SAL Model, and which have become key cornerstones of my present confidence and success.

Click HERE to watch Dr. Jensen teach the principle of writing a Self-Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution.  

The idea that I could become an "architect of [my own] fate" (Longfellow) has always intrigued me deeply.  It has motivated me to write down careful "blueprints" for my life in the form of a Self-Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution.  More importantly, these documents have served as a concrete impetus for successfully carrying out my plans.  Even though my life's journey remains imperfect, having carefully laid out plans (mission) complete with a clear and compelling goal (vision), has dramatically empowered my capacity to realize both.

The Builders [1]

By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

ALL are architects of Fate,

   Working in these walls of Time;

Some with massive deeds and great,

   Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;

   Each thing in its place is best;

And what seems but idle show

   Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise,

   Time is with materials filled;

Our to-days and yesterdays

   Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;

   Leave no yawning gaps between;

Think not, because no man sees,

   Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,

   Builders wrought with greatest care

Each minute and unseen part;

   For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well,

   Both the unseen and the seen;

Make the house, where Gods may dwell,

   Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,

   Standing in these walls of Time,

Broken stairways, where the feet

   Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure,

   With a firm and ample base;

And ascending and secure

   Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain
   To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
   And one boundless reach of sky.

“Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, [and] doubters do not achieve.”

~ Bryan Hinckley

Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom

The SAL Theory and Model are both outlined in great detail in my new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.  

Lee Ellis, Founder & President of Leadership Freedom is a former Colonel in the United States Air Force.  Colonel Ellis spent five years as a prisoner of war in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War.  Ellis provides the following endorsement of this comprehensive work on self-leadership:

"In Self Action Leadership, Jordan Jensen has assembled a leadership masterpiece anchored steadfastly in true principles of philosophy and human behavior. In wonderfully written prose, Jordan reminds us of who we are and what it takes to live and lead with honor. Moreover, he challenges us to live up to the high calling of being human beings with a special mission on this Earth. To accomplish our mission, we must do two major things: grow in our sense of personal responsibility, and in turn, care for others and help them to do the same. I grappled with these two areas in a primal way during more than five years as a POW in Vietnam. Now I’m thrilled to see how Jordan has laid out SAL by using the vehicle of story to illuminate his own, unique journey of transcending adversity. In so doing, he has inspired us all to become who we are capable of becoming. Bravo!”

~ Colonel Lee Ellis (retired)
U.S. Air Force, Vietnam POW Survivor (Hanoi Hilton), author of Leading With Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton, and President & Founder of Leadership Freedom LLC and FreedomStar Media

The express PURPOSE of this book is to serve as either a primary or supplementary textbook in any educational setting where leaders and teachers intend to teach any subjects related to leadership, character, and life-skill education.

In other words, all of you who share our vision, but feel frustrated because there don't seem to be any textbooks to serve your desired purposes, can now rest easy.  The textbook has been written!  All that is needed now are leaders and teachers to read it, become trained on it, and then use it to teach their own students/employees/constituents.

What will this book do for you and those you teach?  in the words of Dr. Christopher P. Neck:

"This book will do much more than just teach you about Self-Action Leadership. It will cause you to think deeply about how you are currently living your own life, and how you could better lead yourself to achieve the results you most desire in the long-run. More importantly, Jensen’s compelling story and courageous personal example, combined with his percipient ability to effectively teach the corresponding self-leadership principles, will inspire and motivate you to actually do something about what you will learn. In the process, it might even touch emotions in your heart that will move you to joy and tears. It takes a talented writer to do all of these things, so I know you’ll enjoy reading this book. More importantly, I know you’ll come away a wiser person with an increased motivation to begin taking action to realize your own Self-Action Leadership potential, an opportunity we can all take full advantage of, if only we will."

Click HERE to read what other experts are saying about Jordan Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership.

If you are a leader or teacher reading this article right now, you may be asking yourself, "How exactly do I use it?"  That is a good question, and  I will answer it in the next section.

How to Use the Self-Action Leadership Textbook

There are three basic steps to using the Self-Action Leadership Textbook for a given audience.  Depending on who you are and what your situation entails, you may choose to take one or more of the following steps, depending on your group or organization's individual needs.

STEP ONE: Read the Book YOURSELF

There is great danger in lazily judging a book by its cover, or by a blogpost--even if that blogpost seems really comprehensive (as I hope this one does).

There are over 700 pages in the SAL book.  If you don't actually take the time to read it for yourself, you will know very little about what is actually contained therein.  You will remain "in the dark" with regards to the mountains of golden educational nuggets you could be sharing with your audience and teaching to your employees/students.

We also encourage you to complete the SAL Master Challenge contained inside the book.  The SAL Master Challenge consists of 25 specific assignments that accompany your study of the material.

Experienced teachers and administrators may have already completed personal development homework analogous to the SAL Master Challenge.  If so, you may choose to focus your efforts on immediately challenging your employees or students to undertake the challenge and then supporting them as they work through this work-intensive and time-consuming, but wildly rewarding process.

Click HERE to download the SAL Master Challenge Requirements

Click HERE to download the 25 SAL Master Challenge Assignments/Exercises

STEP TWO: Get professionally trained on the SAL Theory & Model

While you will surely mine many wonderful nuggets of insight from reading and studying the book yourself, you will derive much additional benefit from being professionally trained on the SAL Theory and Model from Dr. Jordan Jensen himself.  Doing so allows you to both learn from and tap into the mind and heart of the educator who painstakingly developed the material himself--over the course of more than a decade of reading, researching, pondering, collaborating, and writing.

Click HERE to view the Self-Action Leadership Training Overview and Consider Seminar Options

STEP THREE: Imbed SAL concepts into your organizational culture through rote learning and continual training over time.    

Once you have read the book and been professionally trained, we strongly encourage you to continue to teach and reiterate the principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model to ALL of your employees and students (IN-HOUSE) in an effort to create an organizational culture over time that both understands and embraces the concepts contained in the SAL Theory & Model -- including the all-important concept of EXISTENTIAL GROWTH (holistic personal growth spanning the spiritual, mental, moral, physical, emotional, and social realms of each of our natures).

One of the most vital "Old Proverbs" to use Dr. Peck's terminology, is: "You get out of something what you put into it."  I have invested 12 years of my life to ensure the veracity and efficacy of the SAL Theory & Model, as well as to guarantee the quality of the corresponding training material.  Likewise, the return that YOU and your students/employees get out of the material will be commensurate to the time and effort you invest therein.

To maximize the value of the material, you must be willing to commit to interweaving the concepts into everything your organization does.  For those so willing, the results will be astronomically astounding.  I know because I have tested it out in the laboratory of my own life, career, and relationships, and the results have exceeded even my very high expectations.  As a result, my personal, professional, and relational lives are all in a highly desirable position -- with the best yet to come.  And the cool thing is that there is nothing inherently special about me or anyone else at Freedom Focused; but everything is special about SAL Principles.  As such, you and your colleagues, employees, and/or students will likewise reap growth and a myriad of other benefits commensurate to your desire and willingness to work hard to learn and apply the same principles.

To buy Jordan's Book, Self-Action Leadership, Click HERE.

To bring a SAL Seminar Training to your organization or school today, call 832-618-5451.   

To learn more about Freedom Focused and our Vision and Mission, visit:

www.freedomfocused.com

Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's Complete 1-hour Self-Action Leadership Seminar for FREE

Click HERE to view Dr. Jordan Jensen's groundbreaking speech entitled, A Twenty-First Century Vision of Education in America.

Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation.  As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures.  We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen.

Notes:

[1] Peck, M.S. (1993). Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Pages 141-144.
[2] Doane, G.W. (1920). Life Sculpture. In R.J. Cook, Ed., One-Hundred and one Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement. (Google Books version). Chicago, IL: The Cable Company. Page 136.
[3] Longfellow, H.W. The Day is Done, reprinted from The Poetical Works of Longfellow (1912). Henry Frowde, Oxford University    Press. Page 186.