My Riffs

Get as many wins as early as possible. Small wins count.  Start with winning and you’ll set the path in a good direction.  Yes, finishing strong is important too. But if you start with wins, you can finish strong even easier. 

Fear renders us inoperable.  We become paralyzed by fear.  Fear can be used as a tool to teach us, caution us and help us.  But it has to be kept in check. Logic has to be applied against it. Fears are usually oversized in comparison to their truth.  Use fear and don’t let it use you. Control fear, don’t allow it to control you. 

Disappointed? Don’t stop.  Set backs? Don’t stop.  Plan changes? Don’t stop.  Criticism? Don’t stop.  A pause? Still don’t stop.  Barriers will come. But don’t let them stop you. Let the barrier be the way forward. 

Give your gifts freely.  It may be a creative gift, or maybe a technical gift. It may be a skill like speaking or encouraging.  Whatever your gift is, give it freely.  You’ll likely find your purpose there. 

Facing a challenge will tell you a lot about yourself.  Do you shrink back and complain? Or do you rise up and meet it regardless of how you feel? Your mettle is revealed in challenges. 

Listen to understand, not to react.  Respond, don’t react.  Let your interactions be like that and conflict will be reduced with those you don’t understand. 

Winning doesn’t actually look like a big bank account, fame or corporate success.  Really true winning looks like a healthy body and mind.  Purpose.  Great quality relationships. Peace.  That’s truly winning.  Set your sights on that type of success. 

Be ready.  Be ready for things to go as planned.  But.  Be ready for things to go differently.  Be prepared to adjust. 

Yesterday was about teaching, but today is about learning. To be a good teacher, we have to be an excellent learner. You can't teach better than you've learned. And you haven't truly learned something until you're knowledgeable enough to teach it. Do the due diligence of learning. It's a lot like work, but it's well worth the work.

It’s our job to teach the next generation. We can’t expect better results and behaviour than what we teach them.  Don’t expect things we don’t teach and model.  Be a good teacher and you’ll outlive your life 

We can spread good everywhere we go. It could be as simple as opening a door for someone. Or simply smiling and looking someone in the eye.  Spread good. People need the good you can give. Give to others and you will feel better yourself. 

Learn to be honest, but don't beat people over the head with honesty. It's a rare occasion someone needs to be hit with such a hard dose of honesty. If you need to deliver a truth, do it clearly but also kindly. Your honesty won't be received if it's delivered with an ill intent. The truth is powerful, so use it with wisdom.

How do we make a difference? Hatred in this world has escalated to a boiling point where we don't know the consequences of breaking the things we've broken. But how do I make a maximum contribution to good? It starts with getting my head right and my heart right. Everything flows out from there. I can't make positive changes in the world if I'm not right inside. So start internally and work out from there to your closest contacts. It will make an effect because everyone you touch will cause a ripple effect.

We're all becoming someone and something. Every day. I'm not the same person I was yesterday. I'm being formed and changed daily.  There's only two options too. You're either becoming a better person or a worse one. There's no neutral. Am I more patient, kind, forgiving and loving today? If the answer is yes than I just may be becoming a better person. If you can answer yes over a sustained period of time than you for sure are becoming a better person.

Community is so important because it’s what we end up reflecting.  Surround yourself with great community and you’ll be great.  Surround yourself and glean from them. 

Looking down shuts off the world.  When we look out and up our world enlarges.  Keep your eyes upward and outward. You’ll see possibilities, needs and things larger than yourself.  That gives us perspective and hope to grow and reach. 

Some days are heavier than others. In those moments we need to think more, feel more and be close to those who are important in our lives. And pray, pray like its the most important thing you can do.

Hatred is never the way to counter hatred.  Only love can drive out hate, as Dr Martin Luther King said. 

The best way to change things is to be the change.  Being an example and setting a vision are the catalysts for change. 

Keep the pedal down, don’t ease off.  Rest, relaxation and breaks are okay and even necessary.  But don’t let off the gas.  Sitting back gets you behind faster than you may think.  Stay on it, don’t let off and keep pushing! You’ll see the reward. 

Build yourself and branch out.  Don’t work on yourself to the point of making everything about yourself.  Work on yourself to the point where you can be effective in helping others. Take care of yourself but look to help others. Your own problems seem to diminish when you help others.  Work on you but don’t get stuck there. Work on you and then reach others. 

You know a good person by what they produce. Do they build others up or tear them down? Do they sharpen people or make them more dull? Be someone who sharpens other people. Be someone who makes others better. It's a much better endeavour to lift others up and make them better. Sharpen people, don't dull them.

You can unite or divide. Truth can divide but if it’s done in love it can unite.  So we don’t have to shy away from truth to unite.  Some people are divisive.  Some people are uniters.  The goal should be to unite. Being divisive doesn’t have a good end. Try to unite even if you have to speak hard truths. 

You learn something interesting when you push through something. The lesson often is simply, you can do it! It's usually easier than you think it's gonna be.  The real lesson is, what have we missed simply because we were scared to push through? Simply because we were scared to try? There's not as much to be afraid of as we we've grown up to think. The world is moldable, adaptable and usually fixable. Don't be afraid to try. Don't even be afraid to "fail". For true failure is giving up. Push through your fears. Push through those imagined barriers. There's something good on the other side.

You are what you do daily, not what you do occasionally.  Occasional habits don’t make up who you are. It’s something you occasionally do.  But who you are is what you do on the daily. 

How much mercy can you show for other people? It’s the amount of mercy you’ll receive.  Mercy doesn’t mean being taken advantage of. Mercy doesn’t mean being irresponsible or making bad decisions. But mercy means choosing kindness and wisdom instead of judgment and hatred. 

A new page is only ever a quick flip away.  A change of one day. Or a change of one hour or one minute.  We don’t have to wait for big changes to flip to a new page.  It just takes one small action to start a new page. Usually you can decide when you’d like it to happen.