A life-changing 3 minutes

We are on our way to a celebration today.
We are celebrating the life of my wife’s mother.
She was a strong woman, a warrior’s wife.
She raised four children as he fought for us.
He was a career military lawyer and fighter pilot.
She was a warrior, too.
She kept the home fires going.
She lived 90 full years before God called her home.
Those were 90 successful years as a great role model.
She taught me more than she ever realized.
She and her husband were suspicious of me at first.
I was a newspaper editor - cause for concern.
Most mainstream media is and was super liberal.
They worried who their daughter had brought home.
Over time we became comfortable with each other.
They found I was not some two-headed monster.
We shared similar values and beliefs.
We were proud and grateful to be Americans.
I was thinking of her when I received a video today.
It was excerpted from “The Strangest Secret”.
Many of us know about Earl Nightingle who wrote it.
Earl and his great voice were always inspiring.
This short video comes courtesy of Mac Anderson.
Mac calls his inspiring newsletter “Simple Truths”.
I’m writing to share it with you today.
It will take three minutes of your time.
Those three minutes just might change your life.
Think about and practice Earl’s message.
For Earl’s inspiring message, click here.

The price of freedom

I’ll bet you don’t know Memorial Day's origin?
That’s OK. Not a lot of us do.
To some it’s just another day to shop or play.
Historically, it was started by freed slaves.
They honored the Union troops who freed them.
The last Monday in May has become a holiday.
It is a time to reflect on the sacrifices of others.
Those who paid the price for our freedoms.

I recently visited Arlington Cemetery - again.
This time it was with 100 World War II veterans.
These men had made countless sacrifices for all of us.
It was a memorable experience.
Just listening to them talk about the war.
Seeing tears in their eyes for fallen comrades.

I watched a movie Sunday about World War I.
The story was from the German side of the lines.
Soldiers on both sides of any war pay high prices.
This should not put us in sympathy with the enemy.
The jihadists are determined to end our way of life.
To take our freedoms and impose their ways on us.
It should strengthen us to know they are only men.
Deceived men whose leaders mislead them.
That is their weakness and our strength.

You see what is going on in the Moslem world today.
The idea of freedom is stronger than ever.
Let us commit to preserve that idea, to nurture it.
That is my Memorial Day challenge to you.
Remind your friends why we are as free as we are.

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Making good decisions

Which direction
will you choose?

Some think conservatives are selfish.
That they do not care for others.
They are welcome to think what they want.
I am a realist and a proud conservative.
I am not selfish nor care only for myself.
Those who know me know that.
I do NOT believe in handouts to the poor.
I do NOT believe in making others dependent.
For their votes or for any ulterior motive.
Experience in charity work taught me a lot.
It taught me about the downside of handouts.
They tend to keep people dependent.
Some think that is an uncharitable attitude.
I cannot change minds. Think what you want.
But I have been hungry. I have been cold.
I have been down on my luck - and hated it.
I have done without because I was broke.
But I never looked for a handout.
I had too much pride to seek one.
I learned long ago about two kinds of decisions.
You can decide to be wealthy.
Or you can decide to be poor.
You can decide to be a victim and blame others.
Or you can decide to hold yourself accountable.
Poor decisions are easy to make.
They are very hard to live with.
Good decisions are harder to make.
But they are far easier to live with.
The decisions are yours to make.
Once made, you live with them - like it or not.
We discuss this in our latest book.
It’s “Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs”
For more about that, click here.

Passion and purpose

How to find your
life’s great purpose

A friend breaks a big sales rule.
He talks more than he listens.
That could be fatal. It works for him.
He's a quick study.
He reads prospects fast.
He seems to know what clients need.
He finds out what they want.
Wants may be stronger than needs.
He has answers to your questions.
Solutions to your problems.
Products that satisfy your needs and wants.
Even a few that will fulfill your dreams.

Here are three secrets of his success.
1. He is an amazingly generous man.
He’s generous with his time and his money.
He truly believes that giving comes before receiving.
That heightens his credibility with others.
2. He cares about others and their challenges.
He will go way out of his way to help his fellow man.
Someone like that is worthy of your trust.
Wouldn’t you rather buy from someone like that?
3. He drives himself mercilessly.
He is always in overdrive - 24/7/365.
He can do that because he loves what he does.
He takes care of business. He leaves nothing to chance.
You know if you deal with him everything will go well.
So what if he talks too much when he should listen.
It’s all about values, beliefs, purpose and trust.

If you value other people, they will value you.
If you believe in what you do, people will respect that.
We all appreciate that in others.
We trust those who have a clear and definite purpose.
Pursue your purpose with great passion.
It is the only way to get 100% out of life.
For more on this, click here.

Business’s Golden Rule

The Golden Rule works in business as well as in life.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
During the Recession, did you lay anyone off?
You may have been forced to.
You were protecting the jobs of everyone else.
You cut your own pay before you cut theirs.
You paid a greater price with their interests in mind.
You kept everyone on the payroll as long as you could.
When your employees know this, they respect you.
They will work that much harder to take up the slack.
But here is the paradox in this.
If they suspect you of base motives, they won’t respect you.
If you’re doing this only to get more out of them, watch out.
They will sense it. It will destroy your credibility.
The same is true with customers, clients and patients.
Operate in their best interest and they will trust you.
Operate in your interest only and you will lose their trust.
This does not mean you should not take care of business.
A healthy bottom line protects everyone’s job.
Profitable business owners can afford to be independent.
They can afford to do the right things. And they should.
Tell me what you did to weather the Recession.
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