Pro Verbs

When push comes to shove, what do you do?

The first natural reaction is to Freeze, while a response is chosen to Fight, or take Flight.

The decision to Fight is made with an affirmative answer to this question, “Big enough to matter and small enough to win?”

The decision to take Flight is, generally, made within the context of, “Run away to live another day.”

At the moment you’re scared silly, who cares the most about your life? Remember, the rest of us are busy slaying our own dragons and enjoying periods of calm between bouts. Does anyone else really care about your anxiety attacks?

People turn to the professionals. Surely, they have a magic wand to calm frayed nerves and to keep the monsters at bay. Nope. Sorry. Contract professionals are hired guns. They are paid to be very good in specific areas of expertise. They are not magicians.

So… we’re back to you and your choice. What do you do?

Within the question is the answer.

Let’s take a look at the simplicity:

You
Do
What
… ever, to create the life You want.

You become the Professional, the one who cares the most about your dreams, your goals, your vision, for YOU.

Once your arms are tightly wrapped around the reality that the world is what You make of it, the Pro is ready for Action.

Ready, Fire, Aim?

As a professional, you know better. Activity without purpose is dangerous. You are, definitely, Ready. Is your immediate Target crystal clear in your sights? If so, squeeze.

Will you miss the mark, at times? Yes. Will you FAIL (First Action In Learning)? Yes. Will you, eventually, waltz into a reality beyond your wildest imaginations? Yes!

There are few guarantees in life. This is one.

If you become a PRO in caring the most about the passion at the core of you and DO your best to share that with all in your sphere of influence, YOU will enjoy an abundant life.

You will be a person of action, a living example of a Verb: The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence in most languages.

In other words, YOU will be a Pro-Verb: A word or construction (creation) that takes the place of a verb or verb phrase, such as do in the sentence, “She likes ice cream and I do, too.”

YOU will become a PRO-fessional DO-er: someone skilled and confident in the daily practice of life. As you give your best in service to others, fear retreats and faith advances.

When push comes to shove, remember, you’re in good company. There’s a whole book dedicated to the brave men and women passionately committed to this discovery:

Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.

You guessed it. The name of that book…

Proverbs

www.kimfoard.com

Shepherd Heart

The surest way to enjoy the Future we want is to create it.

Otherwise, we’ll be living the dream of someone else.

Since we, individually, are as unique and temporary as snowflakes, it is impossible for the dream of one person to be the passionate desire of anyone else.

How powerful is passionate desire?

Recently, a story was published in the Billings Gazette of a devastating barn fire. The loss of possessions is always sad; the loss of life is tragic. The barn was full of ewe sheep and their lambs. The night of the fire, Sam and Nellie (the sheepdogs) were diligently doing their patrols outside the barn.

The next day, Sam looked all over for his sheep. He looked all over the place and cried and howled. You couldn’t believe the mournful way he howled that day. It broke our hearts. And in the middle of the afternoon, he laid down and died.

There’s a moral within this Story for each of us: Dreams, Goals, and our Purpose in life must include a dimension beyond the Stuff. Otherwise, if our possessions are lost, we’ll tip over and die, too. Animals operate on instinct. Humans are the only creatures of thought.

Whatever we Think about is, eventually, what we will Do.

The common belief is, “We came into this world with nothing and we’ll leave with nothing.”

That statement is partially correct; insomuch, that, there are no luggage-racks on hearses. Yet, we arrive naked and crying into this existence with the most valuable asset and greatest potential for building a legacy: A Mind.

Start with Nothing, Build Something

There are two ways to do that:

1.) Focus all of your early efforts on your own Business. Start with one Customer and carefully manage those early earnings by minimizing expenses and maximizing savings, until the Business can provide (extra) Time and Money for Personal pursuits.

2.) Establish yourself as a Get-‘er-Done person with a quality Company, which pays for performance, while you Learn and Save. Then, the path of Success might be to continue that Journey (of more Time and Money for Personal pursuits), or the Seed Money will be available to Start your own Company.

Either way, there is only one person responsible for your life: YOU.

I struggled with that for a long time, too. I thought if I worked hard and played by all of the rules, someday, somehow, somebody would notice and make me rich and famous. Doesn’t work that way. Individually: The world is what we make of it. Stated differently, in the first-person tense: If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me.

Recommendations:

1.) Write down, exactly, what you want your Future to be.

2.) Prepare your Mind and make Plans for your Future. When possible, grab your SmartPhone and Search on topics of interest. In other words, do the Research & Development required to move you one step closer to your Dream.

3.) When appropriate, share the image of your Future with others. That can only be done after you Commit to the Future of your choice. By sharing, you empower others to make choices which dovetail with yours. Those who care about you will hold you accountable to your Vision.

Money is important; those who say it isn’t will lie about other things, too. Financial resources are necessary to provide opportunities. In the same way that tools provide the opportunity for a craftsman to create, money is the leverage to build something special.

As mortals working within the physical realm, we can be proactive in asking this question of all within our sphere of influence, “How can I help you achieve your goals?” After carefully listening to their answer, we have the opportunity to respond with these very bold statements.

“I can do that. By serving your interests, I expect this to be a mutually rewarding long-term relationship.”

Beyond the monetary negotiations is the real reward, which waits, for those with the heart of a shepherd.

www.kimfoard.com

Less Is More

Much more dangerous than failure is success.

With success comes loss.

There is a loss of striving to reach the goal.

After the empire is built, then what?

Last week, in the course of a three-hour conversation with an empire builder, he was most proud of one story.

It was not about the treasures of the empire — it was about the joy of doing. The story epitomizes the essence of this Universal Principle: the fun is in the doing.

As his eyes danced back to the memory of a time long ago, he spoke of a harvest. Earlier in the conversation he had briefly mentioned the juggling act of doing the seeding — in and around the other duties, of caring for his cows. His first love is the livestock — he farms to care for them.

He smiled as he reminisced about an accomplishment only a few can appreciate. As a member of his club, I enjoyed the verbal portrait he presented. It was one of a cowboy, a combine (without a cab and with a 14’ header), a small straight truck, 320 acres of 20 bushel wheat, and 11 days.

Just imagine hot August days — with hardly a breath of air — sitting in the open on a bouncing seat, above the spinning reel of the header, as it sweeps the standing stalks into the cutting bar. The moving aprons catch the fallen individual stems — with heads of grain — and gently rolls them to the center of the combine.

This continuous river of wheat flows under the driver into the threshing cylinder at his back. More dust and more roar, as metal fingers pluck wheat kernels from heads of grain. A cowboy, a combine, and a cloud of dust creep back and forth through the field.

The field is 320 acres. That’s one mile long and half a mile wide. A mile is the equivalent of 5,280 feet. With the combine traveling at two miles per hour, two trips across the field can be made in one hour. Each swath measures 14’ across. Since the cowboy, the combine and a cloud of dust have 2,640 feet (one-half of a mile) to traverse, that’s about 200 trips back and forth across the field.

Two trips per hour, nine hours per day, for eleven days was the time required on a bouncing seat, in the heat of August, through a fog of chaff, for our cowboy to earn the right to tell his story. In addition to the time in the driver’s seat, effort was also required to grease, fuel, and repair the iron beast. That was done throughout the stops to unload each hopper of grain into the truck for transport to the bin.

Short story — long lesson: the fun is in the doing.

Really?! Eleven days of slogging through the discomfort of heat, dust and itch. Fun? Yes! Because, the accomplishment — of a harvest — is the “Ribbons and Bows” around the planning and preparation that transforms thought into action.

Actions accumulate into a manifestation of success — the treasures of an empire. The stuff will come and go. The legacy will last, forever.

The legacy is, simply, to say little and do much. A little bit of verbiage can be powerful — by speaking only the truth. Yet, actions speak so much louder than words.

By giving our best, each and every day, we honor those pioneers of long ago — and, encourage the beneficiaries of tomorrow, to discover their own path to destiny.

www.kimfoard.com

Coach

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

John Wooden,
Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach
~

All we do begins with a thought.

To achieve success, there must be: “The Want To” — That’s the thought.
Then, there must be: “The Want To, Do” — That’s the action.

Knowing and Doing are two very different aspects of life. One is passive. The other is active. One is a state of mind. The other is the motion of the body. One without the other is of little value.

Recently, a story about Coach Wooden grazed my consciousness. Then, it began to burrow deep into my soul. Now, that thought has become an action — to share my discovery with you.

From the book Great by Choice is a compelling narrative about Coach Wooden. He started each new college basketball season with the same comment, “We will begin by learning how to tie our shoes.”

Just imagine the freshman players thinking, “Why?!” The seniors eagerly participated in the lesson How to Tie Our Shoes, because they knew, “There was a way to do everything.”

In the words of one player, “By the time the games came along, they just became memorized exhibitions of brilliance.”

That high level of excellence was built — block by block — from the blueprint of Coach John Wooden. It was much more than a game plan. It is a philosophy of life and competition. As timely today, as it was for his century of performance, Coach appropriately named it a Pyramid of Success.

At the heart of everything I know about Coach Wooden, he was respectful of Time and Tone. Practices began and ended like clockwork (Time). He opened the first moments of practice in a quiet voice (Tone). The passion at his core produced Planning, Preparation, and Progress to reach Goals.

All we do begins with a thought.

The thought was to encourage the development of their best — from everyone within his sphere of influence (the Goal). The actions were focused on Planning (Pyramid of Success), Preparation (How to Tie Shoes), and Progress (National Championships).

Thought without action is worthless.
Action without thought is dangerous.

Time can be well invested by examining the Tone, at The Official Site of Coach John Wooden: http://www.coachwooden.com/

Be sure to click on Pyramid of Success, at the top of this page. Coach starts his building process, at the lower left corner. Industriousness is the first cornerstone in the foundation of the Pyramid of Success. The second cornerstone, to the far right, is Enthusiasm.

Click on each building block for the rest of the story.

In our daily conversations, with one another, we Talk about these principles. Funny, though, isn’t it? So easy to say — yet, so, very, hard to Do.

Coach simply inspires and encourages us to remember and do.

kimfoard.com

Up To and Through

In regards to four letter words, this phrase trumps all others: “When this, then …”

Social Media exchanges and Text messages are replete with a variety of abbreviations and acronyms. It seems WTF is used as frequently as LMAO to provide dramatic exclamation.

Cloaking the unpleasant behind a mask of letters to make the offensive, somehow, more acceptable seems to be the hieroglyphics of this era of time.

In the category of WMD is WTT: “When this, then …”

We’ve all heard friends say and do it; in those moments of complete honesty, we even ‘fess up and admit saying and doing it. “It” goes something like this, “When I reach this age of twenty-one, then I can enjoy the benefits of adulthood.” Or, “When I discover this gem of a special someone, then I can learn to build dynamic relationships.” Or, “When I produce this adoring child, then my life will have purpose.”

Excuse me while I string together all of the Capital Letter acronyms above to dramatically exclaim, “What a JOKE!”

Lives are wasted by waiting on the barometric pressure, alignment of planets, phase of the moon, price of computers, political parties, religious beliefs, and perfect people to all synchronize into a defining moment of wonderful splendor. It ain’t gonna happen folks!

Let me introduce the concept: Up To and Through.

As we begin, it is important to acknowledge the anticipation of events. Stated simply and eloquently, there is:

A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

It is natural and right to look forward to the seasons of life. Reaching goals is important. Resting to savor the success is one thing; thinking we have “arrived” is something entirely different.

The secret key to the hidden treasures of life is: Up To and Through.

Imagine a bicycle and the activity required to enjoy it. Since life is a journey, we need a mode of transportation, right? Setting aside the option of riding on the coattails of others, let’s continue the bicycle analogy. Hop on and let’s go for a ride.

Sure, we can ride in little circles around the neighborhood. Or, we can pick a farther destination. The universal principle is that we will begin with small circles and then move on to bigger ones. Unless we choose to remain in comfortable ruts, we will continue to pursue the challenges of the unknown.

We begin our bicycle tour by picking a spot for riding “up to.” As we reach that destination, we pedal “through” to another location, for the express purpose of continuing the fun.

Life is like that. The fun is in the doing.

And, doing; and, doing; and, doing, …

You get the idea: Up To and Through!

www.kimfoard.com

Super Will

Is it possible to be so strong that others perceive weakness; or, to project an image of strength, while actually being weak?

All words are understood, only, in the context of semantics; the individual definitions are gleaned from our personal, unique, educations and experiences. Words like “strong” and “weak” have an extra measure of value, because our feelings are associated with them.

We have memories of “strong” and “weak” people who influenced our lives. Over a period of time, those individuals “flew their flags” to display their true colors. Eventually, we came to understand what was at their core: From the abundance of their heart, by word and deed, they made it crystal clear.

The individuals of strong character were patient, kind, generous, honest, humble, happy, protective, trusting, hopeful, and eternally optimistic.

The individuals of weak character were jealous, envious, boastful, proud, rude, demanding, irritable, resentful, unforgiving, unjust, and generally pessimistic.

As we consider those two sets of words, the emotion of each is palpable. First set of feelings: Warm, fuzzy, soft and easy. Second set of feelings: Cold, prickly, inflexible and hard. A demonstrative epitome of the expression: Hard is easy; Easy is hard.

What is the secret of the strong individuals who offer their, very, best to all? Why are they the heroes of Steel and Velvet? On the outside, they give us the warm fuzzies all over; on the inside, they are of absolute resolve. Answer: At their core is the, sheer, power of will.

Want-To
Intelligence
Latitude
Longitude

Want-To

Beyond the day-dreaming and fantasies, which entertain us all, strong individuals know what they want, what they like, what they will allow, and what they need to do in reaching goals. For them, a goal achieved is just a platform to launch another endeavor. They adopt phrases like “Pedal-through” and “Step-by-step” to give homage to their conviction of constant innovation and growth.

Intelligence

This is much more than simple Mental intelligence. There are smart people, with a plethora of capital-letter abbreviations behind their names, who have little common sense. Strong individuals work to develop additional facets of wholeness: Physical intelligence of health and endurance; Emotional intelligence of awareness and insight; and, Spiritual intelligence of gratitude and openness.

Latitude

Go left, or right, far enough around our globe named Earth and a circle is made. Wherever we go, there we are. Strong individuals know themselves better than anyone else and welcome the uniqueness of others. They quickly move to meet and serve individuals at the point of opportunity. As masters of their crafts, they freely give of their wisdom. Knowing for a certainty, “What goes around comes around.”

Longitude

The cycles and seasons of life are offered in undulating waves of Up and Down. Strong individuals wrap their arms around the variety, which is the spice of life. The crest of a peak brings with it the down-hill coast to a valley and the opportunity for a pedal back up to the top. Through it all, they raise their eyes to the horizon and lift their spirits to the heavens for the inspiration to know the right things to do.

There is, always, more than meets the eye. Still waters run deep and it is impossible to judge books by their covers. Give people time to be heard and understood. Offer to them the, very, best in word and deed; so, they can hear and understand the real you.

What we see is less important than who we be!

At the exact spot of the intersecting lines of Longitude and Latitude will be individuals of supreme Intelligence with the Want-To of sharing their abundance with the universe!

www.kimfoard.com