Meaningful Mondays

Are you a trim tab? The Trim Tab Principle... if a person maintains their focus on what they know to be right, they might be able to move the world in a better direction, despite being just one small individual.

To make choices, a president must be ruthless in setting priorities and maintaining them, or risk being unprepared and delaying vital action. What about you?

You get to choose what is in your cup.

"Deliberate Living is the art of strategizing our choices before they happen." - Lee Brower

Imagine leading without the benefit of mistakes. Imagine leading without a clear vision of the future. Imagine leadership that takes responsibility and lifts where they stand.

"All that I ever am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." - Abraham Lincoln (and Lee Brower) "Aspiration"- one of the greatest gifts a "leader" can give.

Can animals make mistakes? "Knowing what I know now, what might I do differently in the future to achieve a better outcome?" The choices we make, make us. Yes and No lead in opposite directions and determine the course of our lives.

Gratitude unexpressed to others is gratitude gone to waste. True Gratitude is Gratitude IN Action. It must be given.

Balloons, Happiness, and Experiences. "Happiness is not something to be pursued. Happiness ensues." "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God." - Corrie Ten Boom

Crises expose leadership moments. Captured moments, when named and shared, will teach/inspire you and others to make better decisions in life.

"Pay attention to what you are paying attention to."  - Ameeta Dudani "Pain and suffering don't come from what happens to us. Pain and suffering come from the stories we tell ourselves." "Gratitude, when joined with consistent action, fills the heart with kindness, the mind with understanding, and the soul with peace and love."

"There is nothing in this life you can't learn from. Our most valuable learning comes from experiences we never sought. As we share with others, it actually becomes more valuable for all." - Lee Brower

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God." - Corrie Ten Boom

2 minutes of gratitude per day is a spark that can eliminate the darkness. The answer to this crisis is to get back to the virtues of good character in every part of this great nation. It starts with you!

"The very act of making choices of who you want to become requires setting aside, other choices you might have made. You do it willingly because the greater goal is worth the greater sacrifice." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

When we pay attention to the shameless purveyors of negativity and fear (i.e.) the politicians, etc., then we amplify the negative. And, while the media tries to focus us on what is wrong to get our attention, how can we focus on what is right and good?

Want to simplify your financial life? Check out these great quotes from Warren Buffet. My favorite? "Never test the water with both feet."

"Civility does not...mean the outward gentleness of speech cultivated for the occasion, but an inborn gentleness and desire to do the opponent good." -- Mahatma Gandi Gratitude is the beginning of civility, of decency and goodness, of a recognition that we cannot afford to be arrogant." -- Gordon B. Hinckley "Aspire to decency. Practice civility toward one another. Admire and emulate ethical behavior wherever you find it. Apply a rigid standard of morality to your lives; and if, periodically, you fail as you surely will, adjust your lives, not the standards." -- Ted Koppel

Kindness is as much about the future as it is the "now". "Anyone who says customers are #1 has lost their mind. Employees are #1. Employees are the source of all value creation." - Keith Cunningham (The Road Less Stupid).

Values versus Principles. Agreed upon principles make better decision-makers.