Eternal Vigilance

 Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. These words warm my heart! To keep ones liberty one must enter into a never ending fight to protect those very liberties. John Philpot Curran said in his speech upon the Right of Election in 1790, "It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt". 

As people of a free nation we have a duty and responsibility to do something! We can’t sit idle and expect someone to fix it. One might think," I don’t know where to start, I don’t know what direction to go".  Can you talk to your neighbor, can you study the constitution, can you read the federalist papers? Learn and teach!!! Gain a following and bring them before your local government. Remind the elected officials that they swore by oath or affirmation that they would uphold the constitution of the United States of America and protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. Promise the officials that you will make it your life’s mission to get them out of office if they do not represent the Constitution and our Bill of Rights . 

The Constitution is for both sides of the isle and the rights where given by God and revealed by man. Both sides need to understand the if we separate we will loose all our rights. The union of the states is what created the government of the union or in other words the Federal government. Don't forget that each state still has it sovereignty and the true power lies within the states. Building strong local governments will build strong state governments. Thomas Jefferson wrote," We in America do not have government by the majority...We have government by the majority who participate... All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. 

Please open you mouth and break the silence. I believe it is time for the true American's to rise up and let their voices be heard. Give me liberty or give me death! Vigilance to the end my American Brother’s and Sister’s!

The Fortress

A fortress is a place of exceptional security or stronghold. Imagine a fortress with thick rock walls, weapons to guard the entrance, a large one foot thick solid wood door with fortified iron hinges and multiple huge dead bolts to lock access trough that door. 

During times of distress a fortress is on high alert and its access points are bolted tight with all soldiers at their post ready for this incoming threat. It makes perfect sense that a fortress would need to be built considering the tyrannical leaders this world has seen.

In my experience I have found that the majority of people have built personal fortresses around their hearts. Thick walls, Dead bolts, fortified hinges and weapons of war. The human spirits are wondering around in their fortresses trying to find someone to share the space of understanding. 

The BIG question. Is there anyone in this world that cares enough about me that will spend some time to understand me? Did you know that even the closest people in your life are hold back about 60% of their cooperation because they don't feel understood? If the people we love are holding back imagine the people we work with and the ones that pass us by each day. 

Og Mandino said that love can melt the hardest heart like the suns rays that softens the coldest clay. I will quote Tina Turner and say what's love got to do with it? Well if you are a follower of Christ remember the woman that was caught up in adultery that was about to get stoned to death.(A true act of love)! If you are a follower of Buddha's teaching remember this, "Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.”  Truly inspired people that left us something to ponder! 

Steven Covey said that understanding to the soul is what air is to the body. So if you want cooperation from people then follow the principle being taught. listen and you will find open doors. Next time you hear someone say "boy I am tired", that is the sound of an open door. Instead of thinking how you feel ask a question like, "why are you so tired'? You will notice that they are surprised that you asked. Could you imagine the internal dialog going on in that persons's head? I bet alarms are going off and they are thinking what the heck, this person actually cares enough to ask why to my comment.  

It is sad that people are wondering around looking for someone that understands them or care to truly listen to them without thinking how to respond. Most people are mired in this prison and don't realize that the keys are within a question away. Seek to ask questions with love in your heart and be astonish as to how people will show up in your life ready to cooperate.

The human fortress is not so fortified after all, listen for doors and you will have your mind blown as to how many fortresses have their doors wide open. There are millions of fortresses sending out signals like the radio operator in a one person is left on the earth SCI-FY. Is there a receiver out there that is powered up ready to hear what is being broadcast-ed? Seek to hear the doors and join the 1% of the people that experience the highest levels of relationships and cooperation. 

Cutomer Service

World Class Customer Service:

While talking to a coworker I realized great things come from listening. The 7 Habits of highly effective people has a habit that states "seek first to understand then be understood". Being open to listen and learn, the following questions came up.

1. What do we have to do to become a world class customer service Organization?
2. What is your corporate objective in regards to customer service?
3. Can you honestly say that if you were to ask your work team members they know what the corporate objective is?
4. What is leaderships roll when it comes to the objective?

A world class team is focuses on a clear Objective not personal recognition. All world class teams have world class leadership. How can you tell if a leadership is world class? This is a very easy question to answer. Now in all Caps for emphasis " A WORLD CLASS TEAM ALWAYS FOCUSES ON THE CLEAR OBJECTIVE NOT PERSONAL RECOGNITION"! This goes for the team as well as the team leaders. This was revealed to me at young age but I did not have the wisdom truly understand it. Christ thought his follower in simplistic but eloquent ways, which in itself is a principle. Principles govern everything regardless if we choose to believe it or not.

The by-product of action taken is recognition. Recognition is defined as The acknowledgement of achievement, service or merit. Service, achievement and merit are things that come from action. So what action needs to be taken to achieve the objective? It is better to focus on the work and let the byproduct come when it comes.

At times it seams insurmountable to get a team pulling in the same direction. My question to any leadership team is, are you clearly defining the direction for your team. In the very word leadership is the word lead! Have you ever noticed that at the end of a race there is always a clearly defined finish line? It is actually easy to lead a team if the leaders are crystal clear as to where the organization is going. Clearly defined guild lines are the road map to a world class organization. A very large ship/organization can be benefited by a small helm in the time of a storm by keeping the ship/organization work ways against the wind and the waves.

Every interaction with the team should be accompanied with an overview of the objective? This principle is defined in the 7 Habits of highly effective people as beginning with the end in mind. Keeping the end in mind at the fore front of the organization will keep the team running in the same direction at all times. Remember if the littlest person in the organization is not clear about what the objective is, then the definition is not clear enough.

World class and simple go hand and hand and world class loves clearly defined road maps! Keep it simple and clear and the objective will be realized.

Go In Cold!

I have been away from this blog for quite some time now. I realized the other day that I used to enjoy writing in it. So here I am again writing in the blog.

For the past 5 years, I have been traveling the nation for work. I have seen a ton of great things from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and everything in between. Below is a picture of the places I have been in the last five years and believe me I did not mark them all.

Ok, now that I have shown off a little I want to get to the going in cold point of this blog. Every place I have gone on this map I have faced the same fears and the same concerns. The night before each customer meeting, I would stress about what issue the customer was going to hit me with and how I would articulate myself as to how we are going to fix the issue brought to my attention. Catastrophizing over and over and over again to exhaustion. The majority of the meetings I would go into with about 3 to 4 hours of sleep because I was tossing and turning all night mowing over all the scenarios.     

Then I got a new Team Leader that showed me a few things that changed my work life forever. When I first met this Team leader we went to one of my customer's facilities. Before we got out of the rental car he stopped me and said: "before you exit this car sit for a minute and watch the employee's entering into this office". After about 3 minutes of watching the employees enter the building,  he asked me: "what do you see"? I told him that it seems like no one is happy. He said correct but there is a cause to the unhappiness. He said look at the manager in the suit notice, pay attention as to how he is fixing his hair a making sure his suit cote is on just perfect? That is what I call an empty suit! He proceeded to tell me" if become an empty suit I will fire you". He also said " I can tell you a worried and you need to stop worrying and practice going into your customers cold". 

1.  Worry about your team, not the way you look to the leadership team! 

•  This is the symptom and cause scenario. Looking good to your leadership is a symptom of being a good leader that has a great team. So fix the cause and the symptom will come. Focus on building a great team and leadership will see you. Dr's make this mistake all the time. They treat symptoms, not causes.   

2. GO IN COLD!!!!

• Save your mental energy for the interaction with the customer. You will never be able to see the future and know exactly how the meeting will go. So prepare by making sure you know the detail of where the customer is but don't anticipate how the meeting will go. Going in cold gives you the ability to have a clear mind for the interaction that is ahead. 
• Habit 5 of 7 habits of highly effective people is Seek First to Understand Then Be Understood. Steven R. Covey Said that understanding to the soul is what air is to the body. So go in cold and let the customer talk, let them be understood. Once you understand them you can build with them a clear objective to move forward on.    

In summary:

Don't be an empty suit! 

Og Mandino said love is my weapon, and muscle can split a shield and even destroy life but only the unseen power of love can soften the hardest heart like the sun's ray can soften the coldest clay! Worry not how you look, worry about the team you have stewardship over and how they look instead. Seek to understand your team their strengths and weaknesses and give them the tools to succeed.   When they look good you look good! 

Go in cold! 

Imagine for a second that all the air in the room you are in right now had all the air sucked out of it. Imagine what you would do without air. Would you worry about your family? NO! Would you worry about what is for dinner tonight? NO! The only thing that would be important is the ability to breathe. Understanding to the soul is like air to the body. So if that is the case go into all human interaction COLD and seek to understand. 

Experiment to Try:

Easy drop next time you are somewhere that you can overhear a conversation. Ask yourself are they really listening to each other? You will find that very seldom will you find a listener.

I need to work on this for sure!!!!!

   

Biscuit of the Day

Are you sick of  your wallet being empty? Does it seem that you can never get caught up or get some money saved? How does this make you feel? Have you spent a lot of time thinking about how tight things are or how you will make ends meet this month? There are a lot of people in this situation right now and I really believe there is a way out. I was reading in a book this morning and I came to a really cool realization.

If I am so worried about money all the time it will produce nothing. It is so easy to get carried away in the worry mentality  when there is not enough. I remember God saying don't you know that I know you need these things? God is aware of our needs but are we aware of what God needs us to do? Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold , the mysteries of God will be unfolded unto you. So can we seek wisdom with our minds clouded with all kinds of worries? I believe that we can not as worry forts us at every turn. Show me how to find wisdom? That is the best question to ask God. For people are asking for it now more than ever. Have you ever heard yourself say i am so sick of struggling? Or I wish I could just have a better life. If that is not a cry for wisdom than what is it?

Let us think for minutes about where money comes from. The last I looked it come from the Reserves to the banks and from the banks to the companies and from the companies to the wallets of the people. So where is the majority of the money? It is in the hands of the people. Not saying that it stays there all the time for most, but the people have control of the money. Some have more control and some have less control. 

So how do I get to control more money? Let us go back a little. Seek wisdom and you shall receive riches. Right now more then ever people want wisdom but they know not where to find it. I am not talking about wisdom we find at school but the kind of wisdom that only come through inspiration and experience. Kind of sounds like the majority of the people are stuck in the worry mind set. And believe me it takes one to know one.  

How can I serve the people is the question I will ask myself. God please send me people I can serve and I promise when they come I will serve them. I will seek wisdom and knowledge and I will be ready to serve the people. The more people I serve the more people I come in contact with that have control over a small part of the money. Money is a byproduct and it comes from serving others. Focus on the people and their needs. Find away to teach them how to break free from the worry mentality and money will come into your life. With that money that comes into your life you can build something larger that will reach more people. It is a cycle.

God does not want his people to be broke and worried all the time. God wants them to experience joy. Men are that they might have joy. MIGHT is the key word so some action is required.. And Christ showed us the way. He spent his entire life in ACTION through servicing others and in the pursuit of wisdom. And his joy was made full. We can seek this joy through the service of others and we can experience wealth by teaching other how to break free from the worries the bind them. It starts in our own homes. Men serve you wife and Women serve your husband.  By teaching others we in return learn more. And when we learn more we have more to teach. God needs a wealthy people to go out and teach. Without wealth how can we go everywhere to teach. It is so much harder to influence more people to break free with out wealth. If you don't have it start by clearing out your mind so you can receive inspiration.  So get out of your head and choose today to live in the present where joy can only be experienced. Joy is not something that can be experienced unless we are present to experience it. 

I learned some really great stuff on how to get out of that place and into the here and now by attending a class recently.  It is called  Master of Influence, 3 days of training and an incredible teacher at the helm of the class. So much info that it was hard to take it all in so I attended it more than once. There are great resources out there that help people to learn how to break free. For example 7 Habits of Highly Effective People had to be inspired by God, that kind of training does not come out of nowhere. The Six Advisers inspired, The Mind of Steal inspired, The Greatest Salesmen inspired and Master of Influence inspired. These training's are from people that have went through so much pondering, focusing and seeking to receive inspiration. By their fruits you shall know them. 

Breaking  free does not only mean money issues it also means relationship issues and so much more. Learn from the good books is what the Bible says. there are so many bad books and teachings out there. Tap into the network of inspiration and also create some of  your own.  I loved what I learned so much at the Master of Influence that I joined the team I am now spreading the word. I can not stay quiet because I made a promise to share.  Freedom starts from within and if I want things to change I must change and if I want things to get better I must get better (learned from Master of Influence). I have made huge changes from within myself by finding inspiration in many different places.

Enjoy 

William Henderson   

480-275-1899

wjhenderson6@gmail.com

Biscuit of the Day

I went to a training last night with Amy Walker with 3 Key Elements. What a cool training, it opened up my eyes to some new things! This picture above is from the notes that I took. This is the cycle that everyone goes through. We first have a thought that may be positive or negative. Then we feel an emotion from that thought. Then we take action because of the emotion we feel. Last but not least we get a result that leads to a thought and the cycle starts all over again.

Is there away to stop the cycle while it is in progress? Try this out for size! I look at my bank account and I notice that it is really low. Right at that point after I freak out, I need to take a time out and think of a better thought. For example say to myself out loud I know my bank account is low and I always have enough and more. The brain will make comments telling you that this statement is not true but we are thought evolved beings that can fire our old negative thoughts and hire new ones. When you hear a negative thought yell at it and say "you are fired"! And hire new thoughts to take place of those old evil self deprecating thoughts. 

I hope this helps you the way it helps me. 

Thank you 

William Henderson  

Biscuit of The Day

William Clark said, " Faith dares the soul to go farther then it can see".

What is keeping me from moving to the next level? Do I have enough faith to press forward? I heard that a mustard seed is very small and it can grow into something really large. Og Mandino wrote, " I am like a grain of wheat which faces one of three futures. The wheat can be placed in a sack and dumped in a stall stall until it is fed to swine. Or it can be ground to flower and made into bread. Or it can be placed in the earth and allowed to grow until its golden head divides and produces a thousand grains from the one.

God created me from the dust of the earth and he gave me the breath of life. I am of the earth and I am governed by the same principles and laws as every living thing on the earth. Studying the earth can helps me see what direction I need to go. If I align myself with the governing principles and laws then I will grow. A seed lives the higher law and follows exactly what it was designed to do. Now I need to do exactly what I was designed to do.

I recently learned why there is so much depression in this world right now. It is a simple equation.

 Inspiration + No expression = Depression

I receive inspiration everyday and I usually don't act upon it. I would say that inspiration is the spirit pressing on me to act. If I do not act it places weight on my soul and it causes a depression or and indentation. The earth is govern by the same law. When someone presses their bare foot on the sand it leaves an indentation or a depression in the sand. How does the earth take care of the foot print? The earth uses the waves to wash it away. Acting on inspiration removes the Depression that is placed on my soul.
 
So have faith to travel farther than your soul can see by acting on the inspiration that is given. We never know what the outcome will be when we are inspired to visit that neighbor or take a left turn instead of a right. If you feel you need to compliment someone do it. If you feel you need to tell someone they look great, tell them. If you feel you need to bring cookies to the neighbor, fire of the stove right then. Like Og Mandino wrote  I WILL ACT NOW!

Enjoy

William Henderson