Think back with me for a moment, way back.  Back when someone asked you
your age and you proudly announced you were 5 and ¼ or you were 7 and ½.
Our milestones were in days and weeks.  We crossed off the days to
Christmas like each day was a year.  We couldn’t wait to reach double
digits, become a teenager, drive a car, graduate from high school, and move
to ‘real” life!

Ah, real life!  Freedom!  No more school, no more chores, no one telling us
to make our bed, eat our vegetables, do our homework, turn off the
television, go to bed, or telling us what to do.

Ah, real life!  How real it becomes, real work, real bills, and real taxes.
But we are free to choose.

Freedom to choose!  At this point in our lives, we are a reflection of the
choices we have made.  Where we end up will be a reflection of the choices
that we make.  The greatest of all human freedoms is the freedom to choose.
Where ever we are at, what ever we might be doing, we are free to choose.
Every choice has a consequence or potential outcome but we are free to
choose.

Our goal must be to choose well!  William James, the American philosopher
wrote, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

As our world becomes more complex with the speed of information every
increasing and our connectivity to the world becoming more pronounced with
growing capability of wireless tools and technology, James century old
statement is a statement about choosing well and it is even more profound
today.

What we choose to focus on, what we choose to pay attention to, what we
choose to take action on will determine the quality of our life, our
relationships and our contributions.  An end-game that will certainly
reflect what we choose to overlook.  And what we choose to overlook is
growing more difficult every day because we are wired to our world.  A
world that has instant access to us and we have instant access to the
world.  A connectivity that makes everything look and feel important and
urgent.

Access and availability that is changing the essence of work!  You see the
essence of work has changed.  Why?  The speed of information has
accelerated and presence of competitive threat has exploded.  We have seen
organizations with clear chains of command and organizational hierarchy to
support the identification and delivery of clearly identified tasks and
objectives morph and shift to virtual organizations of high-performance
work teams operating in a constant state of corporate unrest and turmoil
driven by speed.

With an increasing focus on results we have lost sight of the need for
process and execution in achieving them.  We place incredible value on
action.  We applaud and celebrate being available 24/7.  The person who is
available and accessible is viewed as efficient.  Clicking off e-mails and
responding to voice-mails is impressive to say the least.  The thrill of
crossing off every item on our to-do list feels like work, looks like work
but is it work?

Our “to-do” list becomes a drug.  No matter how many items are on the list,
the daily goal is to cross them all off.  Each item on the list may have
varying degrees of importance or impact yet our goal is to get them all
done.  Nike built an entire marketing campaign around this theme of “Just
Do It”.  As we try to go faster and increase our efficiency we adopt
“multi-tasking” as a core strategy.  We think computers can do it and so
can I.

Interesting enough computers do not multi-task.  A computer lines up all of
the work as a series of tasks and completes them one at a time.  The
difference is that a computer can operate at lightning speed which makes it
appear that it is processing work simultaneously.  We are trying to do it
all and doing none of it very well.  Why can’t we multi-task effectively;
because our ability to maximize results comes with focus because that is
how the brain works.  We shouldn’t have to tell people do not send text
messages and drive at the same time.  We should have to tell people not to
read e-mails while they are engaged in a conversation.  We should not have
to tell people to put their blackberry down during dinner.

Enhancing and improving our quality of life and work begins with choosing
well.  If being wise is identifying what to overlook our choices have to
begin with knowing what is most important.  What are the most important
roles in your life?  What are the values and principles upon which my
decisions are going to stand?  What dreams and goals will contribute to my
most important roles?  And if you are a leader, coach, or parent help your
team with these important choices.

Where have we been?  Water under the bridge!  What has past is done.  Where
we end up will reflect our choices.  Choose well!  Overlook what does not
contribute to your most important roles.  Overlook what does not contribute
to your highest goals.  Let every decision reflect your high values and
principles.

Then what?  Ask yourself consistently, is what I am doing right now
contributing to my highest goals and supporting my most important roles.
This is the art of being wise in real life!  We all have the freedom to
choose.

Make it a great day,

Jim

Emotions of Execution?

1.  Choose well!
2.  Believe you can do it!
3.  Let nothing rob you of your passion!
4.  Embrace discipline!

These notes are written to share encouragement and support towards pursuing
personal and professional excellence.  Please feel free to share these
emails with your friends and family.

Copyright: James D. Akers

Q: Who is one of your personal heroes?

A: Mahatma Gandhi. Let me read you his personal mission statement:

 “Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
* I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
* I shall fear only God.
* I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
* I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

I listened to Gandhi’s grandson talk about his life. Her name was Arun Gandhi and this is some of what she said. “Ironically, if it hadn’t been for racism and prejudice, we may not have had a Gandhi. See, it was the challenge, the public need for the public victory that developed the private victory. He may have been just another successful lawyer who had made a lot of money. But, because of prejudice in South Africa, he was subjected to humiliation within a week of his arrival. He was thrown off a train because of the color of his skin. And it humiliated him so much that he sat on the platform of the station all night, wondering what he could do to gain justice. His first response was one of anger.
He was so angry that he wanted eye for eye justice. He wanted to respond violently to the people that humiliated him. But he stopped himself, and said ‘that’s not right.’ It was not going to bring him justice. It might make him feel good for the moment, but it wasn’t going to get him any justice.
From that point onward, he developed the philosophy of non-violence and practiced it in his life, as well as in his search for justice in South Africa. He ended up staying in that country for 22 years. And then he went and led the movement of India. And that movement ended up with an independent country, something that no one would have ever envisioned.”
And just think on this, he held no formal authority. No position. Most people think that leadership is a position. It isn’t. Leadership is influence. The key to influence is what we’re talking about. You can have influence without position. So don’t be so dependent upon position or formal authority, but use your moral authority, what you know is right. Gandhi changed over three hundred million people using this. Today there are one billion people in India.
I love going to India. It’s a tremendous place. And he achieved many significant goals, but he didn’t achieve all of his goals. But eventually, it became an independent country with its own constitution and they could deal with their own problems, instead of having some steward oversee what they were doing and making judgments and setting up rules and regulations.
He’s one of my favorite heroes.
But you know what he did? He learned synergy within himself. He learned to create a third alternative: non-violent action. He was not going to run away, and he wasn’t going to fight. That’s what animals do. They fight and they flight. That’s what people often do, they fight or they flight, they run away. He worked it within himself until he won the private victory and learned the philosophy of his life. Non-violent action; a third alternative.”

Starting up a new year setting goals and writing them down has always
been a characteristic of the most energetic entrepreneurs. A popular
story is told of Harvard’s Class of 1979 where researchers surveyed
the students and found 84 percent of the class did not set goals, 13
percent set goals without writing them down, and three percent both
set goals and wrote them down. The story goes that the 13 percent who
set goals without writing them down earned double the income of the 84
percent who had no goals, and that the three percent who both set and
wrote down goals earned 10 times more than the other
97 percent.

The moral of the story: write down goals! It seems obvious that if we
believe making progress is easier when it can be timed, checked, and
measured, then we should also believe in writing down our goals. And
yet, so many people don’t set aside the five minutes it would take to
sit down and write their goals!

In 1992, when I attended my first Anthony Robbins seminar, I initially
heard of that study of Harvard students. Mr. Robbins spoke about it
with such confidence and conviction that hearing it further validated
my belief that I needed to do a better job of visiting and revisiting
my written goals. Fifteen years later, I cannot begin to tell you how
much tremendous inspiration and resolve towards accomplishing my goals
I have obtained by seeing them in picture form and in writing. When I
turn to my journal and look at my goals over the years I find so many
of them I have accomplished; so many of my high-achieving friends
would testify of having the same experience!

So as we turn the page on 2007 and open the calendar to 2008, let us
all take some quality time to ponder and contemplate what we want to
accomplish in 2008. After writing down our goals and ambitions, let’s
then get after it with both a burning desire and a timetable on when
we want to achieve those things. That way, our focus will remain
steadfast and resolute on the actions and processes we must undertake
each and every day to get us closer to our desired result, our
all-important end-game, even our goals.

In May 10th, 1940, Winston Churchill, then age sixty-six, became Prime Minister of England. This was the time when the powerful German air force was making round-the-clock trips across the English Channel dumping planeload after planeload of bombs on England. No one knew whether the British would be able to hold out for another week or a month.

England had already been badly mauled by the conquering Germans. What General Weygand had called the “Battle of France” was over. The Continental countries had already fallen into German hands. Everyone knew the survival of Christian civilization depended upon the outcome of the furious Battle of Britain…

When the opportunity came with all of its mortal danger, Churchill was able to express the nation’s will to resist as no one else could. Even before that critical day of May 10th, everyone knew that there had to be some new blood in the government if the world was to be saved at all. They had to have someone who would stand up for the right instead of following the weak course of trying to appease criminals and making unsatisfactory deals with evil.

Winston Churchill was that man…

To him was given the job of nearly single handedly winning the war. How would you feel about such an assignment if it were placed upon your shoulders?

It might be inspiring to know how Winston Churchill felt…

Excerpted from Lessons From Great Lives by Dan McCormick & Sterling W. Sill…get the rest of Winston Churchill’s story at www.LessonsFromGreatLives.com

Few things could be more fascinating than to study the life of a great thinker. Van Wyck Brooks wrote an interesting study of the gifted American essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson that he titled, A Biography of an Inner Life. Mr. Brooks studied Emerson from every point of view possible. He examined his philosophy, his methods of communication, his problems, and his successes. With interesting clarity, he was able to look inside Emerson’s mind where the real reasons for
both success and failure are always found.

The biography gives a series of “portraits” of Emerson’s thinking, his spirit, his ttitudes, his motivations, and his nobility. The more we find out about greatness, the more we understand that it comes in response to some deliberate effort. The more we study other people, the more we discover that their problems often have a family resemblance to our own.

Excerpted from “Lessons From Great Lives” by Dan McCormick & Sterling W. Sill

One of his teachers George Warren Krall, was what we would call a health crank. The class laughed at his ideas. They went in one ear and came out the other. But George Warren Krall never let up. Then one day he seemed to single me out personally, says Danforth. With a flashing eye and in tones that I will never forget, he looked straight at me and said “I dare you to be the healthiest boy in the class!” “That single dare on that very day, changed my life”, so says William Danforth in the now infamous book, I Dare You!

Written in the late 30s and as the president of Ralston Purina, William Danforth set out to impact the lives of all those willing to take a dare. The dare, to take your life on ,the dare to be adventurous, the dare to be strong, the dare to think creatively, the dare to develop a magnetic personality, the dare to share, are only a few of the dares that William Danforth accepted and challenged all to take in his classic book!

In this magnificent, tiny little book that has been read by over a million people, I being one of them , I accepted the dare!

In January of 2007, as I set my goals, I felt comfortable in the goals that I aspired to accomplish. But not so much as to have the greatest
year of my life.

I had just made the decision to republish and rewrite the book that altered my life more than any other…Lessons From Great Lives by
Sterling W. Sill.( Strangley enough Sill and Danforth were great admirers of each other and regularly sent gifts back and forth).
The book had been out of print and unavailable to the masses for over 20 years. It was an awesome experience challenging me to be better than I had ever been, to be more accountable more proactive and more diligent, to literally take a quantum leap in my life.

As 2007 now winds down, I can point to the very moment in my life when I decided to take that dare! It’s written in my journal.

It was a Saturday morning February 10 just after completing the Millionaire Training Circle conference call that I host for one hour
each and every Saturday to teach principles, habits and reference points for many of the independent contractors that I work with. I just returned from a workout and while eating my breakfast I decided that I would watch the now famous movie The Secret for the second time.

Within 10 minutes of watching The Secret, I had to stop myself. I was not doing what I was teaching, I was not taking the action in my life that would give me the greatest reward.

I stopped the DVD and immediately went to my office and grab my journal, I rewound the DVD and began to watch intently I felt as there was a message specifically for me, and that message rung true as I began to write each and every quote from the wisest of individuals that have ever lived. I was particularly struck when Bob Proctor made the statement..If you really want to know then study the wise ones.

It hit me like a sledge hammer.

From that day forward I have not missed organizing my thoughts and ideas to what Sterling W. Sill taught me and is now called my idea bank!

What a thrilling experience to know and trust in the famous line from Bacon who said:

“Reading makes a man full, but writing makes him exact”.

I have gone on record many times on radio and on public conference calls and audiences I speak to and said that this has been the best year of my life.

Not because of the money that I have made or helped others make, while I find it exhilarating to earn seven-figure incomes and seeing associates do the same, it is what the famous wise ones have told us, go out and make $1 million but not for the money but for what it will make of you in the process.

I have been energized, more focused, read more books, documented more experiences, been more interested in more people in more subjects than I’ve ever been in my life.

When I began the year one of my words to study for the year was wisdom. How you get wisdom, the great King Solomon tells us in the book of Proverbs that it begins with humility.

As I have opened up the books from the wisest to ever live, and written down their thoughts that added my own experience, I now feel as though I have had the greatest year of my life. I have read almost the entire published and unpublished works of a man who was noted and celebrated as the number one recruiter and producer for the better part of 40 years at New York Life Insurance, Sterling W. Sill.

I have also read countless books numbering over 50 on the year including revisiting the seven habits of highly effective people, much of OG
Mandino’s work and Victor Frankl. I have enjoyed the remarkable life of Elbert Hubbard who spent 14 years studying 140 of the greatest people.

I’ve enjoyed my visit to the Hall of Fame for great Americans. Where 102 of the most celebrated Americans have been inducted for their
contribution to America.

I enjoyed the Leonardo da Vinci experience put on in Sacramento this year. And I enjoyed studying many of the great lives featured in the
book lessons from great lives learn to be rich in all areas of your life.

I was fortunate to speak on Wall Street, keynote at the DSA and attend and participate at many other outstanding functions.

And as Thomas Carlyle said “great men taken up in any way are very profitable company for we cannot so much look upon a great man without gaining something from him“.

All of this has had a cumulative effect in all areas of my life. A life that I didn’t know I could live. A life that I only saw this fulfilling
in others. Now, my cup runneth over!

So as I conclude this inaugural blog I ask you, are you willing to take a dare.You can do it, you can make it the greatest time in your life. To help you on the journey be sure to register for the free ecourse to assist you. Make 2008 the greatest year of your life!!

I DARE YOU!

Dan McCormick