AFTERWORD

 

AFTERWORD

By: David G. Anthony, Ed.D. 

Former Superintendent of Cypress-Fairbanks (Cy-Fair) Independent School District (ISD)

Former CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas

When Jordan originally invited me to review an 802-page manuscript of a previous version of the SAL Life Leadership textbook, I balked a bit, wondering when I would possibly have time to review such a tome. It is interesting to note how some of life's most important, rewarding, and ultimately enjoyable tasks initially appear so uninviting. 

In the end, I opted to set myself to the task, and I am so glad that I did. 

As I poured through the pages, my mind soon became flooded with memories, thoughts, and experiences from my 40-plus year career as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and CEO. From then on, there was no way to put the work aside. As I reflected further on Jordan's Pedagogy of Personal Leadership and Character Development, I found myself wishing I had enjoyed access to the book when I was a 21-year-old teacher working with high school seniors, and when I was a 25-year-old principal working with teachers and students. 

As I continued to read, clichés like, Leaders are born, not made, were removed from my gray matter and discarded. Instead, I thought of Shakespeare's To thine own self be true and discretion is the greater part of valor.

Shakespeare got it. 

Furthermore, my mother's admonition of: How do you ever expect to be loved by others if you don't love yourself, could just have easily been: How can you expect to lead others if you can't even lead yourself?

In short, Jordan has eloquently articulated the need for, and importance of, leadership, character, and life-skill education in schools, businesses, and homes. More importantly, he has outlined an explicit theory, model, and pedagogy to provide leaders, educators, parents, and individuals with a realistic roadmap and tangible toolbox for immediate application. 

As I delved deeper into Jordan's book, the passages called up a memory of an interview where I was asked, "What are the most important things you hope your students learn?" I was Principal of a school at the time, and I said: "My hope is that all of our students are highly literate and numerate and understand the importance of self-discipline, responsibilities, and consequences. Then, no matter what goals they set, they will have the recipe for success." 

I was under 30 years of age at the time and my comments were crude compared to Dr. Jensen's polished presentation, but not considerably off target.  

If Jordan's career had preceded mine and I could have used this textbook as a teacher, principal, and superintendent, I would have positively impacted more students and teachers during my 37-year career in education by providing them with a key to potential success and significance. 

It is highly encouraging to see that this book has now been written for a new generation of leaders, educators, professionals, parents, and students to use as a guide to their personal leadership and character development. It is even more encouraging to know that its author exemplifies the principles he promotes.  

I thank Jordan for inviting me to read this work. He has earned my endorsement. Reading this textbook may be the most worthwhile thing you do this year. I hope the message of Self-Action Leadership makes its way into the minds and hearts of students, parents, and business professionals everywhere.

Its presence in the literature is a service to our country—and world.  

—Dr. David G. Anthony

About David G. Anthony, Ed.D. 

David Anthony grew up in rural Louisiana (Florien) USA. He graduated from high school in 1970 and then attended college at Panola College in Carthage, Texas, where he played on the basketball team. He later completed a bachelor's degree in English and history at East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, Texas. In 1977, he earned a master's degree in secondary education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. 

From there, Anthony got his first job as a Principal of a K-12 school in Converse, Louisiana, where he began a 9-year journey that included leading his school from "worst-to-first" in a variety of metrics. Along the way, Anthony earned his Doctorate of Education in Administration, also from Northwestern State, in 1986, prior to landing his first job as a Superintendent.

His initial stops as Superintendent included smaller districts in High Island, Texas; Mount Pleasant, Texas; and Texas City, Texas. From there, he was hired to lead McKinney ISD (suburban Dallas), where he headed up a period of significant growth (nearly doubling the student body from 9,800 to 18,000) during his five-and-a-half years of service.

Anthony's successes in McKinney caught the attention of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in northwest Houston, where he was hired in 2004. With over 110,000 students, Cy-Fair ISD was (and still is) the third largest school district in the State of Texas and ranks among the top 25 largest school districts in the United States.  

Anthony served at the helm of Cy-Fair ISD for seven (7) years before stepping down to accept a new position as the CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas, a non-profit educational advocacy organization working to strengthen public education by training public school leaders to lead transformational campus-level changes. It also advocates for public policies aimed at improving the education of all Texas students.

Anthony served in this position from 2011-2016. 

After leaving Raise Your Hand Texas, Anthony served as a consultant for FutureSpark, where he was involved in leadership development, coaching, and school improvement. He then served as the Director of the East Texas Center for School Based Research and Instruction at the University of Texas at Tyler.

Anthony is a graduate of the Aspen Institute and Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. A husband, father, and grandfather, Anthony resides in Tyler, Texas.  

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 513th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 297th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.   

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 512 FF Blog Articles

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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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Freedom Focused and FLORIDA Forever

The Jensen Family the day we crossed the State Line
en route to our new home in South Florida.

Well, my friends, Freedom Focused and the Jensen Family have made it to the 1-year mark in our new headquarters in Palm Beach County, Florida.

It has been a WONDERFUL year!

Anyone well acquainted with me knows how much I love the glorious Sunshine State of FLORIDA.

#FLORIDAFOREVER

How incredibly blessed I was back in 2006 to meet one of Florida's finest females with whom I forthwith fell in love... and how much more fortunate I was that Lina somehow, someway managed to fall in love with me... although it understandably took a little longer on her end of things than it did on mine.

Today's post tells the backstory of Freedom Focused's nearly 20-year journey, including how our organization ended up in the best state in the Union (our unbiased opinion), and why Lina and I hope to remain here FOREVER... or at least as long as we serve as the leaders of Freedom Focused.

The story below includes some fascinating details about how God, Nature, Instincts, The Universe, Coincidence, Luck—whatever you choose to call the Serendipity that seems so intricately involved in our lives and careers—planted the seeds of my love of Florida a dozen (12) years before I first crossed the Florida State line, and a full 30 years before I finally relocated to the Sunshine State.

Life is fascinating that way!   

Instead of starting at the beginning and going forward, let's begin at the present and travel backwards in time as follows...  

Before moving to Florida last year in March 2021, we spent just shy of a year in the American Southwest on a unique, 10-month adventure in New Mexico.

Our time in the State of New Mexico—also known as the Land of Enchantment—proved to be a special, unique, and truly adventurous slice of our life. New Mexico is a beautiful state full of wondrous natural variety. From camping in the mountains and hiking in the desert to swimming in lakes and tubing down a river, our family actively took advantage of the opportunity we had to experience something new, fresh, and exciting in a place we had never before lived. And just for the record... Carlsbad Caverns is INCREDIBLE. If it is not on your bucket list, I highly recommend you add it thereto. 

My two oldest kids at play at White Sands National Park
near Alamogordo, New Mexico

In the words of a much-admired Uncle of mine—who lived in New Mexico with his family for a decade...

"New Mexico builds Character!" 

Uncle Steve is right... and his words are especially accurate if you spend time there during a global pandemic. This is true in part because the constraints of a pandemic motivate you to spend even more time in the wondrous outdoors than you otherwise might. Considering we were there for less than a year, it's actually rather remarkable how much of the state—the fifth largest in the U.S.—my family and I saw either walking, hiking, running, biking, tubing, swimming, or driving. 

Character Fortified!

          Mission Accomplished! 

Statue of Sam Houston near Huntsville—
Everything really is bigger in TEXAS!

Prior to moving to Carlsbad, New Mexico, Freedom Focused was headquartered in Conroe (Houston), Texas for nearly a decade. Our time in Texas was very special and important in large part because it was in the Lone Star State that all three of our precious children were born.

There's a saying in Texas employed by emigrants like us and it goes like this:

"I wasn't born here,

but I got here as quick as I could!" 

That's precisely the way I felt about our move to Texas, and I feel the same way about Florida.

In our eyes, Texas is as special as it is BIG, and we will always consider ourselves to be adopted sons and daughters of the largest and proudest state in the Lower 48. You know that citizens are proud of their State when they have their own pledge of allegiance. 

That's right... Texas has its own pledge of allegiance, separate from the United State's pledge. It is something I became quite familiar with because I taught ninth grade English at a high school in Houston during the 2009-2010 school year and students were required to recite it each day after the National Pledge.

I love saying the U.S. pledge of allegiance. Getting to say the Texas pledge in conjunction with the national pledge was a huge honor for a proud Texan and avid Texas Army battle re-enactor like me. Thus, getting to say BOTH pledges of allegiance was one of my favorite parts of each school day. As such, is won't surprise you to hear that one of my life and career goals is to incorporate the same tradition here in Florida... down the road a ways. 

Honor the Florida Flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Florida, one State, under God, one and indivisible. 

You guessed it: it's the Texas pledge—verbatim—with just one word changed!

I don't currently have close connections to the Florida Governor or State Legislature. But someday, when I do, I'm gonna get the ball rolling on that initiative. I imagine that by 2030 or so, Florida students will be following the good example of their Texan brothers and sisters by repeating the Florida State pledge of allegiance each school day following the United States' pledge. Just like early citizens of the United States, it is a good, positive, and productive thing to have pride in one's state as well as one's nation. The only difference today is that we believe national loyalty should ultimately trump state loyalty, not the other way around.

Why?

It's pretty basic, really... because the only way to avoid another round of succession and/or a second civil war is for a majority of the citizenry to put the country's welfare first and their state's welfare second—always within a framework of the national interest. Don't get the wrong idea... Freedom Focused is crazy happy—and very proud—about being located in the Great Sunshine State of Florida—just like we were thrilled to have once been part of the Great State of Texas! We are also very proud of our Southern roots and relish the opportunity to be a Southern Company located in the South. But most of all, we are proud to be an American company. It is, after all, the United States Constitution that serves as a principled template for our own Corporate Constitution.  

At Freedom Focused, we believe that the order of one's patriotic priorities matters. 

God Bless the USA!!!!!

     God Bless the South!!!!

              God Bless FLORIDA!!!

                God Bless Palm Beach County!!  

                     God Bless Palm Beach Gardens!

We refer to this prioritized patriotic practice as the Patriotism Principle.

Newfoundland: One of North America's most beautiful and
best-kept secrets, where Lina and I did a lot of hiking.

To learn more about the PATRIOTISM PRINCIPLE, click HERE. 

We invite citizens everywhere to similarly practice patriotism in this prioritized pattern—no matter what country or state in which you happen to live.

Prior to moving to Texas and starting our family, Lina and I spent a couple of adventurous and magical years in St. Johns, Newfoundland, CANADA. Our move to "The Rock," as locals call their island home, was a result of a work transfer of Lina's. For me, the move provided an academic sabbatical giving me time to work on my doctoral degree in Education. It was in Newfoundland that I began writing my doctoral dissertation—which is where I further developed the Self-Action Leadership Theory, Model, and Philosophy.

Newfoundland is one of the more remote areas of the Western Hemisphere and is essentially the "Ireland of North America." Like Ireland, it is an island gem boasting some of the most picturesque coastal vistas in the world.

Our time in "The ATL" was a wonderful adventure in romance.

Before Newfoundland, we lived in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Peach State was an especially important part of Lina's and my journey because it is where we met, dated, and decided to marry. At our wedding reception, we danced to "Georgia on My Mind." That song will always be a symbol of the special and romantic memories we created together in the Peach State—memories we will forever cherish.

Prior to Georgia, Lina resided in South Florida (Homestead) where she grew up and lived until she graduated from high school.

Before moving to Georgia, I lived in Northern Utah, where I attended college and received my bachelor's degree in English from Utah Valley University in 2003. Freedom Focused was officially founded (and formally incorporated) a couple years later in 2005—in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

I was born in Monticello, Utah, in 1979. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Mesa, Arizona, where I lived for the next seven years, until 1993. It was in Mesa that the seeds of my love for FLORIDA were first planted. Part of my growing fascination with the Sunshine State was spawned by my interest in College Football. Aside from my fascination with national powerhouse programs of the 1980s and 90s such as the Miami Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles, and Florida Gators, I was further enamored by the annual Orange Bowl played each January in Miami. 

My 5th Grade Chapter Book Cover

Then, in fifth grade, something particularly portentous occurred. 

My fifth grade teacher—Mrs. Bridget Owens—assigned my classmates and I to write a "Chapter Book" consisting of an original story of our own concoction. With the limited experiences and perspectives of a fifth grader, I predictably gleaned a plot from my limited frame of reference.

I have four older brothers whom I all but worshipped growing up. They are between 8-12 years my senior and were all very good and kind to me—making them more like guardian angels or mentoring uncles than brothers. 

Two of my brothers, nine-years my senior, were twins. As a little boy, I often wished I had been born a twin myself, and would sometimes imagine one of my best friends from my elementary school years—Eric Driggs—as my twin brother. Drawing from this conflation of reality and daydreaming, I decided to write a story about twin brothers who decided to play a trick on their teachers and classmates by switching classes. The story chronicles the adventures and consequences that ensued from their petty deception.

From Chapter 1: The Lesson of Two Twins. Copyright 1991

I entitled my story: The Lesson of Two Twins. For the setting, I chose:

Drumroll...   

          West Palm Beach, FLORIDA! 

                    Why West Palm Beach?  

                              Good Question!

I had never been to the State of Florida, much less to the city of West Palm Beach. I knew nothing about West Palm Beach—other than my reasonable assumption that it was near a beach, which painted lovely pictures in my childlike imagination. I did not have any family members, friends, or any other acquaintance in West Palm Beach, or in any of Florida for that matter. I don't even remember where I first heard the words: "West Palm Beach," although it was most likely from reading or watching television, because none of my family or friends had any connections to this locale. 

Publication Date                &                    Dedication

Nonetheless, there was something about the words WEST... PALM... BEACH that were absolutely enchanting to me, leading me to believe that such a place—thousands of miles away from the Arizona desert where I lived—surely must be the coolest and most glorious place in all of America, if not the world.

A South Florida East Coast Beach near West Palm

Little did I know as a fifth grader at Hermosa Vista Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona—in 1991—that 17 years later, I would find myself in West Palm Beach teaching a professional seminar—and floating relaxedly on my back in the glorious aqua-blue waters of the majestic Atlantic Ocean. Nor did I have any idea that I would someday marry a woman who grew up just two hours south of West Palm Beach. Lastly, I was completely unaware that 30 years in the future, my family and I would relocate to South Florida where we would buy a home just blocks away from the north municipal border of West Palm Beach—and that I would raise my children in the shadows of this city. 

Talk about a very long-held DREAM come majestically TRUE!  

Dreams can come TRUE
through SAL and Serendipity

Dreams really can—and do—come true. I am a living witness of this fact and reality in both my life and career. Not only am I married to a woman better than the woman of my dreams and living in the precise location I most want to live, but I am getting to raise my kids as a stay-at-home Dad while pursuing my dream career one-blog-post-at-a-time.

Could a man be any more blessed than I am? 

I do not mention these things to impress you or to brag about how great my life is... although my life really is FANTASTIC. I mention it merely to impress upon you the power that Self-Action Leadership—synergized with Serendipity—has wielded in my life and career over long periods of time.

Indeed, I can say with perfect integrity that over the course of my 42 years in this world, SAL and SERENDIPITY have never failed me. Sometimes they have made me wait an awful long time and suffer a great deal before granting me my reward in full, but make no mistake: S&S always comes through eventually... as long as I endure with the proper mixture of persistence and patience.  

In short, I am who—and where—I am (and with whom) because of Self-Action Leadership and Serendipity. It really is that SIMPLE—not to be confused with easy. 

There is enormous POWER in these two elements and forces of life, the first of which (SAL) YOU and I have an enormous degree of control and influence over. If YOU will but take advantage of the personal power you have been given in your life through SAL, I know that everyone can potentially have a WONDERFUL LIFE—regardless of the adversity, challenges, and difficulty that may come their way due to the obviously imperfect and mortal world in which we now reside.

Everyone faces difficulties in their lives. Everyone experiences PAIN and FAILURE and REJECTION. That is inevitable. But it does not mean that any of us is consigned to an unending misery over which we have no control. Thus, as the famous saying goes: Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.

Pain is INEVITABLE, but misery is optional.

I know from countless first-hand experiences that this statement is true. As I have amply chronicled in previous blog posts, articles, and books, I have suffered my share (if not much more than my share) of pain, suffering, disappointment, failure, rejection, disillusionment, physical sickness, and mental illness in my life and career. But as a self-action leader, I know that I also possess the power to transcend it all through SAL and Serendipity—if only I will. 

And I have... and I WILL continue to do so until my dying day—and beyond!  

          The question is... will YOU?  

      

—Dr. JJ

March 16, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 256th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 255 FF Blog Articles.  

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Sweet Southern Hospitality

State Seal of the State of Florida
Centerpiece of the Florida State Flag

I am pleased to announce that Freedom Focused is moving from the Great State of Texas to the Sunshine State of...

FLORIDA!

And we are EXCITED about it!

This week's blog post chronicles my lifelong love of the Sunshine State, and the seeds that have been germinating for a quarter century that recently sprang up into the fruit of this exciting and welcomed step in my personal and professional life.   

When I was a little boy, age 11, my dad, grandpa, and older sister and I took a cross-country road trip from the Intermountain West to the eastern United States and back. It was the first time I had ever been east of the Mississippi, and the first time I ever saw the Atlantic Ocean. 

On the Mississippi River with my dad,
older sister, and Grandpa in 1991

One of the most memorable events of that trip involved eating supper one evening at a diner deep in the heart of Kentucky. Our waitress was one of the kindest, sweetest, and most friendly people I had ever met.

And that accent....

          Wow!

I may hail from Southern Utah, which is like the South in some ways, but I had never heard anything like that Kentucky woman's country drawl! The experience left an indelible impression on my little 11-year old mind and heart.

Dad explained to me that muggy August night back in 1991 that the waitress's attitude and demeanor was emblematic of "Southern Hospitality." As far as I can remember, that was the first time I had ever heard the term Southern Hospitality; and I would never forget it!

For many years thereafter, I began developing romantic notions about the Southern States. As a result, I deeply desired to go exploring beyond just Kentucky.

Years later, immediately after graduating from college, I fulfilled my dream to visit—and relocate to—the American South. My intentions were to spend a period of time there, "seek my fortunes," hopefully find love along the way, and perhaps remain until the day I died.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made because it was there—in Atlanta, Georgia—deep in the heart of the South that I met my beautiful, intelligent, and talented wife, Lina, who was from even farther south... in the Miami, Florida area. Lina was living in Atlanta at the time to study mechanical engineering at The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).  

Getting to live in the South and meeting Lina have been two of the greatest blessings of my life to date. And I've been blissfully enjoying lovely "Green Christmases" in South Florida ever since!

I have visited and traveled extensively throughout every Southern State, and the whole region has a special place in my heart. Georgia, in particular, will always be "On my Mind" because it was in the Peach State that I met my best friend, the love of my life, and the mother of our three (3) children. 

If you include Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern Utah—a college professor of mine once rightly remarked that Utah is, in some ways, a displaced Southern State—I have lived in the Southern States for most of my life and therefore have a pretty good understanding of what Southern Hospitality is all about.  

More recently, I experienced an outgrowth of this phenomenon in my outreaches to leaders and coaches in college athletics.

To illustrate, check out a few stats...

In the spring of 2020, I sent marketing inquiries to over 5,000 coaches and leaders at approximately 150 colleges and universities in all 50 States. In response, 15 coaches and leaders replied back to request review copies of the SAL Textbooks. Eleven (11) of the 15 coaches — a whopping 73% — of them were from Southern States (east and west).

Then, of the five major football programs I contacted (Florida, LSU, Texas, and two northern schools that will go unnamed), I received nice letters back from either a Head Coach or Athletic Director from ALL THREE (3) southern schools.

The first letter I received—and arguably the most impressive—came from Head Coach Ed Orgeron. What made Orgeron's reply so singular and special was that it arrived only a few weeks after his team won the 2019 National Championship against Clemson at the Mercedez-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on January 13, 2020.

Despite being the most famous college football coach on the planet (at that point in time), Orgeron still found time to reach out to little ole' me—a complete stranger he had absolutely no formal obligation to acknowledge, much less communicate with. I'll never forget the kindness, courtesy, and respect of Coach O's thoughtful outreach.

What a guy!  

Wearing my new Gators hat from
AD Scott Stricklin.  Go Gators!

The second letter came from Head Coach Tom Herman at The University of Texas, and the third was sent by Scott Stricklin, Athletic Director at The University of Florida. Both letters were respectful of my work and thanked me for reaching out. Stricklin generously went a step further and included a gratis Florida Gator hat as a gift to me.

I was impressed!

You can guess, of course, which schools I heard crickets from.  

That's right... the two northern schools.

I sent 13 hard copy letters to one northern school's Head Coach, yet never received so much as a syllable in return. I must confess that I had a good time pestering ole' -------, and so had to just chuckle at the fact that he was even more determined not to respond than I was determined to reach out to him. 

I was less humored by another northern team's snub. The reason for my chagrin was two-fold.

First, I used to be an enthusiastic and passionate fan of this particular team up north. I would talk up their football coaches, leaders, and players to anyone who would listen.

Second, in addition to sending dozens of combined letters and emails to coaches and leaders at this school over the course of the entire year (2020), I also sent FOUR of my SAL Textbooks, which set my own wallet back several hundred dollars.

Textbooks aren't cheap!

And the SAL Textbooks are no exception. Despite these gratis gifts and numerous hard copy letters and emails, I never heard back from a head coach or athletic director at either university up north.

Interesting, isn't it?

And even more fascinating is the fact that one northern coach actually sent me a nice card in response to a previous query I had sent him back in 2006 during his time coaching at a different school that was deep in the South, yet he failed to extend the same courtesy after moving north to coach a different team.

Uncanny, isn't it? It sometimes seems as though the hospitality in the North mirrors Midwest mercury in January!  

One of the things I have learned through my entrepreneurial experiences is that getting rejected is preferable to getting ignored.

Why?

Because a rejection still acknowledges your existence; but getting ignored makes you feel like a non-entity, which is a viscerally demeaning and enervating experience. Consequently, I'd rather be rejected than ignored. While getting rejected is never fun, getting ignored feels a whole lot worse.   

Now... I'm sure those coaches and leaders in the North who snubbed me are all "good guys" who love their families. And their capacity and accomplishments as coaches and leaders are noteworthy. That's a big part of what led me to follow them in the first place. Moreover, I recognize I am a NOBODY in their eyes.

But... I am ostensibly just a nobody to the coaches at LSU, Texas, and Florida also; so why the difference in courtesy and respect in response to my written queries?

Southern Hospitality is a Warm & Welcoming Phenomenon
It Makes People Feel Comfortable, Capable, and Confident

It's gotta be Southern Hospitality!  

Perhaps character plays a bit of a role as well. After all, one of the most important SAL lessons I've ever learned is that a person's character is best unveiled not by how they treat a romantic interest, superior, celebrity, or other VIP, but by how they treat a subordinate, service worker, homeless person, or a nobody—like me!

The good news about Self-Action Leadership is that Southern Hospitality doesn't have to remain exclusively in the South. It can travel anywhere human beings choose to embrace the SAL attributes of kindness, cheerfulness, courtesy, warmth, and respect. 

The Boys from the North aren't the first high profile persons to ignore or reject written requests of mine, and they won't be the last. Rejection (and getting ignored) is just part of being an entrepreneur.

I accept this reality.

          I don't like it.

                    But I accept it.  

If you can't deal with getting criticized, doubted, dismissed, rejected, ignored, misunderstood, underestimated, mocked, or made fun of, you won't make much of an entrepreneur. For me, all of these things have actually been a hugely positive force in my life, career, and relationships.

Why?

Because instead of discouraging me, it always accomplishes the exact opposite: it provides a turbo boost of added fuel to my desire and motivation, which then doubles, or even triples my determination to succeed. It seems, in fact, that the more I fail to succeed in the short run, the more spectacularly I end up succeeding in the long-run. Such a course is admittedly not an easy pathway to tread; but it is certainly rewarding in the end—making it a journey entirely worth pursuing.      

Furthermore, when it comes to that very natural, human urge to seek "revenge" on an opponent who has disrespected, rejected, ignored, or beaten you, there is no greater revenge than success.  

Success is the Greatest Revenge

I learned this lesson years ago, after being rejected 130 times by 80 different women over the course of 13 long years of interesting and adventurous, but largely deflating dating experiences. At age 28, I finally won the heart of a woman—from Florida, no less—who is better than the woman of my dreams.

That ONE success was worth all of the pain, suffering, and wait that accompanied the seemingly endless failures. In the words of Country Music Band, Rascal Flatts: "God [really did bless] the broken road, that led me straight to [Lina]."  

Click HERE to read details of Dr. Jensen's ROCKY ROAD OF ROMANCE

I didn't like getting rejected or ignored romantically. In fact, I liked it even less than I like getting ignored or rejected professionally. Yet the pain of those rejections fueled my eventual success with Lina. 

Click HERE to read details of Dr. Jensen's CAREER CRUCIBLES

Some of the greatest pain I've ever experienced came in the realms of romance, or, in the words of the Immortal Bard, in the throes of "despised love" (Hamlet)—a circumstance which became frustratingly familiar to me between the years 1995 and 2008. Yet out of that pain and rejection came an unquenchable desire, motivation, and determination to succeed... and not just in romance; but in every area of my life.

I eventually did succeed in romance and marriage, and have, for the past twelve years, enjoyed one of the greatest single blessings of my life to date—the flowering and maturation of a deep and growing relationship anchored by an eternal commitment to my beloved Lina. Second only to Almighty God, I owe everything to Lina. Aside from being a better man because of Lina, she has, more than any other person on the planet, made possible my own greatest hopes and dreams. I will love her forever for her goodness, kindness, companionship, selflessness, generosity, faith, and love.

Truly, Lina is one in ten million—at the very least.

And the COOL thing about having kids together is that I get to see Lina and all of her wonderful qualities in each of my children every time I see them. It is an incredibly bonding and binding phenomenon the purity and majesty of which I—wordsmith though I am—remain completely incapable of adequately explicating.  

And now... I'm gonna do something a little jr. highish, but I'm not above taking a cue out of my teenage playbook when the right moment calls for it, so here goes...

I'd like to dedicate a couple of songs—written by a couple of smooth Southerners—to my wonderful wife and best friend, Lina Marie Jensen. Mr. Moore and Bentley say it even better than I can. And they sing it far better than I can.     

Click HERE to watch the music video of Kip Moore's Hey Pretty Girl

Click HERE to watch the music video of Dierks Bentley's Woman, Amen

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I don't believe in "revenge" in the negative sense of hurting my opponent. I don't want my opponent to fall or fail. I merely want to succeed myself, and help others do the same, including my opponent (if my opponent wants my help). Thus, the best way to get revenge on my opponents is to succeed myself, and hopefully inspire them—and others—to do the same along the way.    

Statue of Mohandas Gandhi
in Mumbai, India

I've written previously about some of the "healthy discontents" (Emerson) I harbor about human beings and organizations in this world. I have likewise written about how these discontents have continually driven me on a lifelong quest to heed Gandhi's advice to: "Be the change I wish to see in the world."

My experiences with rejection and getting ignored are good examples of this. And while I myself sometimes have to say "no" to individuals and organizations who are not a good fit for my inner or outer personal and professional circles, my goal is to always treat others better than I was treated along the way. This includes respectfully rejecting (when necessary) and never ignoring people or failing to acknowledge them—even if I choose not to embrace their requests.

There are consequences for failing to acknowledge the existence of others, or otherwise treating human beings (no matter who they are) disrespectfully or dismissively. For example, I used to be an avid fan of a team up north and would sing their praises to anyone who would listen.

I don't do that anymore.

Instead of cheering for that team up north, I now cheer for Coach O's LSU Tigers deep down in the blessed bayou. He gave me a reason to cheer for him beyond the football field and training room. In the process, he earned a new fan, and I now talk him up whenever an opportunity arises.   

Coach O treated me with kindness, consideration, and respect. And I rewarded him with my loyalty as a fan. Coaches ------- and ------- and ------- were completely dismissive of my work and me. Consequently, they have lost an avid fan and enthusiastic advocate on their behalf.

Now... I recognize that losing little ole' me as a fan isn't going to hurt either team up north; moreover, my desire is not to hurt them. I don't seek after the kind of revenge that hurts others. I seek revenge borne of personal success myself. And I also seek to help others along my way. But sour the minds and hearts of enough people with arrogant and condescending attitudes or behaviors, and it just might have a noticeable impact over time. And while I'm certainly not perfect, this fact is something of which I continually remind myself.

Bottom line: The way you treat people matters. And as self-action leaders, we really do reap as we sow over time. 

I can't control the way others treat me; but I can control how I treat other people. As a result, I can learn from the omissions, commissions, and missteps of others and strive to avoid making the same mistakes myself.

Southern Hospitality and Winning

Geaux Tigers!

          GO GATORS!!    

                    Hook 'em Horns!!!   

Another fascinating phenomenon is that there seems to be a connection between Southern Hospitality and WINNING. After all, LSU, Texas, and Florida have won SIX (6) National Championships in football over the past two decades, while ALL the teams up north combined have accounted for only ONE (1) National Championship in that same time period (Ohio State in 2014).

Southern Schools Dominate
Collegiate Athletics

Of the past 60 National Champions in Football, Baseball, and Men's Track & Field, 48 of them—an astounding 80% of the gold medalists—were Southern Schools, mostly from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) or BIG-12 Conference. In other words, the recent contest between North and South at the highest level of collegiate competition is not even close. And a similar pattern emerges in a number of other sports as well.  

Just two nights ago, a Southern School (Alabama)—the program that has won more National Championships in football than any other NCAA team in the modern era—crushed (by a score of 52-24) the great northern school (Ohio State) in the College Football National Championship. And if you go back to the year 2005, guess who has won 15 out of the last 16 National Championships (94%) in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision's (FBS) most prominent sport (football)?

You guessed it: Southern Schools!  

It's pretty remarkable when you start taking a close look at the facts and stats on this subject.

So, to all you good-ole' Southern boys and girls, I want to say "Thank You" for treating me—a nobody as far as you are concerned—with so much courtesy and respect. I really appreciate it! It does not go unnoticed. And it means all the more because you are so successful yourselves. I always remember these sorts of things, and I believe karma will be kind to you in the long run for your character and courtesy.    

Now...  I am nobody's fool. I have traveled to all 50 U.S. States over the course of my life and career to date. So I know from first-hand experience that there are all sorts of people (the good, the bad, and the ugly)  everywhere you go. The South does not have a monopoly on kindness, cheerfulness, courtesy, friendliness, respect, or athletic success—even if it comes close in that last category (SMILE). Moreover, we all know that nice guys don't always finish first.

Nevertheless, I've also experienced enough of the patterns shared above to know that given the choice, I will always choose to live and work (first) in the American South! And apparently 11 out of the 15 coaches and leaders currently reviewing the SAL Textbooks feel the same way!  

God bless the Sunbelt!

I am pleased beyond all description to announce that in just a few weeks' time, my wife, family, and I are off to the great southern State of Florida, which is where we will establish Freedom Focused headquarters for the next two decades, and where my eventual successors will likely continue operating from into the foreseeable future beyond that.

The fruit of our upcoming move to Florida began as tiny seeds planted long ago.

When I was a little boy in elementary school, I developed a fascinating fixation and fun-filled fantasy about South Florida. What makes it fascinating is that my daydream was both triggered and cultivated independent of any family members, friends, or teachers. No one in my inner or outer circle (at that time) had any connection to South Florida. Part of this growing fixation stemmed from my love of College Football and the famous Orange Bowl, played every year in Miami since 1935.

In fifth grade, we were assigned to write a unique fictional story. After we finished our stories, our teacher and other adult volunteers helped us bind our books in a makeshift manner to look as if we had created our own, published children's book.

My story was called "The Tale of Two Twins" and was the first "book" I ever wrote and "published." It was a story about two twins (inspired by my older twin brothers whom I greatly admired). From somewhere I cannot recall, I had heard the name of a city in South Florida that absolutely entranced me. The city was "West Palm Beach," and was therefore the city I chose for the setting of my story. I had never been to West Palm Beach before. Nor did I know anything about it, other than my (correct) assumption that it was close to a beautiful beach. Despite this fact, a very real metaphysical pull towards that part of the country began tugging on me like a magnet. 

Fifteen (15) years later, that same magnetic pull led me to marry a woman who grew up just two hours south of West Palm Beach. And seventeen (17) years later I would find myself on West Palm Beach itself one evening basking in the refreshing waters of the gorgeous Atlantic prior to teaching a professional seminar in West Palm Beach the following day.

Jordan & Lina Jensen Family
Homestead, Florida
December 2020

In coming weeks, my family and I will be moving to within a few miles of West Palm Beach, where we will set up Freedom Focused headquarters in the Sunshine State for GOOD!

We can hardly wait to get back to the South, bask amidst the blissful beaches and other natural beauties and bounties of the Sunshine State, and then do our best to spread the felicitous, infectious, and positive personality and cultural traits emblematic of Southern Hospitality in every other direction possible and as far and wide as we have opportunity to do so throughout the rest of our lives.   

Through my work with Freedom Focused, I am hopeful and determined to make Southern Hospitality more contagious throughout other parts of the country and world. 

Perhaps someday, "The South" will even be synonymous with Self-Action Leadership.   

I thank "The South" and its wonderful citizens for teaching me the art of these noble human characteristics and virtues, and pledge my everlasting commitment to share that kindness, caring, courtesy, hospitality, and respect with others wherever I go and to otherwise give my all to "be the change I wish to see in the world."

And now... back to my jr. high playbook for one final dedication. This time to The South herself! 

Click HERE to listen to Buddy Jewel's Sweet Southern Comfort.  

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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.

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 buy the SAL Textbook Volume I

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbook Volume II

Profiles in Courage, Part 2

Last week's blog post dealt with one of the most important virtues and characteristics a self-action leader can develop: COURAGE. 

If you missed that article, and would like to read Part 1 before you read Part 2, then click HERE.  

This week's article continues this theme.

One of the most courageous things any of us can do in any circumstance is to say, do, or pursue a course we know to be right, even—and especially—when it is unpopular to do so. And perhaps the most courageous thing one can say or do is to engage in right actions when the consequences of doing so will be negative, harmful, or even deadly—as is the case in soldiering and other, related occupations and endeavors.   

Such courage was highlighted in a famous book entitled, Profiles in Courage, written by then Senator John F. Kennedy—shortly prior to his ascendancy to the Presidency.

In the book, Kennedy chronicles specific instances from history where seven different United States Senators took a stand for conscience when it was politically unpopular—and in some cases politically disastrous—to do so.

These senators, who placed "their convictions ahead of their careers" (p. 192) included the famously circumspect John Quincy Adams, in addition to Daniel Webster, Sam Houston, Edmund Ross, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, George W. Norris, and Robert A. Taft.

Senator, and later President
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee

In a chapter that shares additional anecdotes of courage, Kennedy recounts an incident in 1860 involving Senator Andrew Johnson from Tennessee. Johnson, along with Sam Houston, was one of only two Southern Senators who remained loyal to the Union following Confederate secession in 1860-61.

As you can imagine, taking that stand south of the Mason-Dixon Line in 1860 took enormous courage. 

To illustrate, after courageously casting his lot with the Union in 1860, Johnson was assaulted, beaten, and nearly hung by an angry Confederate mob in Lynchburg, Virginia, during a train trip en route to his home in Tennessee. If that wasn't bad enough, he was then "hissed, hooted, and hanged in effigy" (p. 194) by citizens throughout his home State. Despite all this abuse, public derision, and scorn, Johnson remained true to his Union convictions, stating: "I am a citizen of the South and of the state of Tennessee....[But] I am also a citizen of the United States" (p. 194).

Johnson was later richly rewarded for his courageous loyalty to the Union when, in 1864, Abraham Lincoln asked him to serve as his running mate for a second term—an opportunity that led to his ascension to the Presidency itself upon Lincoln's assassination in 1865.

General Sam Houston
Congressman from Tennessee
Governor of Tennessee
President of the Republic of Texas
Senator from the State of Texas
Governor of the State of Texas

Like Johnson, Sam Houston of Texas similarly risked his career on the cause of the Union, albeit with far more grievous consequences. In a speech delivered at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on September 22, 1860, Houston—then Governor of Texas—courageously declared to his overwhelmingly pro-Confederate colleagues and constituency:

"It has been my misfortune to peril my all for the Union. So indissolubly connected is my life, my history, my hopes, my fortunes, with it, that when it falls, I would ask that with it might close my career, that I might not survive the destruction of the shrine that I had been taught to regard as holy and inviolable, since my boyhood. I have beheld it, the fairest fabric of Government God ever vouchsafed to man, more than a half century. May it never be my fate to stand sadly gazing on its ruins! To be deprived of it, after enjoying it so long, would be a calamity, such as no people yet have endured."

Sadly, Houston saw his beloved Union dissolved only a few short months following his speech. With its fall, he was also forced from his position as Governor of Texas. He died two years later at his home in Huntsville, Texas, on July 26, 1863—a true, proud, and willing Union Patriot living deep within the confines of the fledgling Confederacy.

Fortunately, the story does not end tragically, with Houston's and the Nation's death. A few weeks previous to his passing, the Union's Army of the Potomac defeated the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia in the epic Battle of Gettysburg, fought on July 1-3, in Southern Pennsylvania. Later, this battle would become famous not only for being the bloodiest battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere, but also for the role it played as a key turning point in America's devastating civil conflict that would eventually preserve the Union and end slavery in the United States. So, while Houston's vindication did not come fully in his lifetime, it did eventually come, demonstrating that karma is kind to the courageous.

At what points of your life have you taken the high road to courageously say or do the right thing—even when it was unpopular, or even risky or dangerous to do so? At what points have you taken the coward's pathway instead? Do you have any regrets for demonstrating courage? What about cowardice? If so, why? 

As you quietly query your own mind, heart, and conscience with the questions above, I challenge you to be more courageous in the future, regardless of the consequences. In the words of a favorite Christian hymn of mine, whose lyrical author is unknown:

"Do what it right; let the consequence follow. Battle for freedom in spirit and might. And with stout hearts look ye forth til tomorrow. God will protect you; then do what is right!"

Such a course is infinitely easier said than done. But I can say with confidence—and from personal experience—that it is worth it to embrace courage and eschew cowardice. Not only because of the personal esteem and confidence it builds within your mind, heart, and soul, but because as previously stated, Karma is Kind to the Courageous!  

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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.

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 buy the SAL Textbooks