Tag: skills

Posted on

Make sure you have a Goal

Imagine you are playing in a basketball game and the score is tied at halftime. You and your team make some adjustments and you are going to go out and execute better in the second half and win the game. Big problem, someone has taken down the rim from your goal. The other team still has their rim but you only have a backboard. What would happen? Would your team finish the game?

Life is not a game. It is very serious.  The basketball analogy is silly, but it can be very meaningful. Our time is designed to be used while we are alive. Just as playing a game of basketball with no rim will not work; neither will a life without meaningful goals. In order for activity to useful in any matter, it has to be used to accomplish something of value.

For most things we do, we use default goals that have been ingrained in us as children. Most people do not talk about these goals but without them, life would be very confusing.

Common Goals:

Eat 3 times a day
Go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning
Go to work in the morning and return at quitting time
Watch a television show from the start and expect to complete it
playing games(like basketball) where getting the most points makes you the winner

If you did not have these goals, it would be hard to live a balanced life. Imagine going to work and always wondering when you were going to get to go home. Imagine only going to work when you feel like it. What if you just watched five minutes of every television show?

Valuable Goals

What would it be like if you really did play a game of basketball with no rim? You’re just running around getting sweaty and shooting the ball at the backboard. You are being guarded for no reason. It is impossible to score an actual, tangible, visible goal.

Now that you understand you are actually quite good at setting goals, please understand that you can set more advanced goals towards meaningful activity. A more successful use of time is completing small medium and large goals on a consistent basis.

If you are working on valuable goals, they will require valuable activity. If your actions are valuable, you will be elevating value.

Carlin

Posted on

When is it time to Start?

By: Carlin Day

Here is another example of farming without the farm. See my first post on farming without the farm here.

When should a person start?

A new farmer is planning on having the best crop ever. He wants everything to be perfect. He does all the research on what seeds to use. He prepares the soil with rich fertilizer and cultivates the soil getting rid of all the weeds. He finds out all the chemicals to spray to get the best results once the plant is up. He creates a chart with how much sunshine and rain he will need. He even goes out and buys all the right harvest equipment so he is ready to bring in the bumper crop. After all the research, it is time to plant.

The land is to dry and the temperature is too cool. His perfect chart says it is the time to plant but he knows there is not enough water for the seeds to sprout. The farmer checks the forecast and finds out that the weather is expected to be ideal next week. Next week comes and it has rained and it is now too wet. The next week comes and it is now too cool. As time passes, the days get shorter, the rains begin to fall daily and, by now, it is too late to plant. This year’s crop is a failure and it was never even planted. It never had a chance!

The perfect crop has turned into a failure. As the farmer drives around, he realizes that the land around him has plants coming up all in a row. The other farmers land is producing? What happened? How could they have planted in all the rain? How could they have planted when it was too dry?

How to Start

In the example of the new farmer who wanted to make the best crop, he would have been better just asking when to plant and plant the crop. The crop would have grown just like his neighbors. Instead of planting, he focused on perfection and found all kinds of reasons it was not the right time. Just like on the farm, there are so many ways we see this in life.

When to be kind – all the time, not only when people are kind to you

When to lose weight – all the time meaning eat healthy and live healthy

When to give money – all the time, be generous, regardless of circumstances

When to start your business – start now, just don’t start the perfect business

When to start running –  in about 20 or 30 feet you can get to running speed. That will be a start.

Focus on Value

If you can focus on value, you can start today. If you are focused on important things, you will be elevating value. If you begin working on things that matter, you will be growing, and this is the start that will end in valuable results.

Just like farming, in everything you do, plant today, harvest in the future. Planting daily has great results. Trying to find perfect harvests is much harder than planting.  Plant and the harvest will come. Don’t be like the farmer who waited and now sees everyone with a successful crop. Plant today!! Start Today!!

 

Posted on

The Ladder to Success

Ladder

by: Carlin Day

Ladders are created to take you places higher than you can reach on your own. I recently came across a ladder that can improve listening skills. John Maxwell uses the following ladder to increase the listening skills of a leader.

L -Look at the speaker

A– Ask questions

D – Don’t interrupt

D – Don’t change the subject

E – Check your emotions

R – Responsive listening

Not everyone is a great listener. This includes me. I am trying to be a better listener. At my house, we have kids who are not the best listeners. They prove to me that the LADDER acronym can improve listening skills.

L – Looking

When my kids do not want to listen, they always look away

A- Ask questions

 If they are listening, they always ask questions. Why, Why, Why, Why, Why, Why, Why, What, etc.

D – Don’t Interrupt

My kids always interrupt. It is really hard for them to not interrupt. If they do not interrupt soon, another kid will interrupt and steal their chance

D- Don’t change the subject

It is hard for kids to not change the subject because they really want to tell me about the latest episode of puppy dog pals. Bingo and Rolly are always up to something.

E- check your emotions

If you are crying about something off subject, it needs to be checked. My kids have a hard time not crying about snacks or drinks!

R- Responsive listening 

My kids will show excitement if I am sharing some great news. Otherwise their response is usually negative because it is something they do not want to hear. It is much more fun to share news to kids who are excited. Example: (Hey guys, remember in Puppy Dog Pals when Bob lost his favorite shirt at the dry cleaners?)

The LADDER acronym will help anyone get better at the habit of listening. Lets all become better listeners. Listening is a skill and skills are necessary in Elevating value.

Important info from post:

Puppy Dog Pals is a show that my boys like

Great post sent to me by a friend about habits. check it out here:

The Guide to Making Good Daily Habits and Breaking Bad Ones