Today is Super Sunday as the most watched sporting event of the year takes place.  To be honest with you, I enjoy watching the game but even more enjoyable for me is reading the real life stories written about the athletes during the week prior to the big day.

One of my favorite sports columnists from The Dayton Daily News, Tom Archdecon wrote a great story about Greenville native and future hall of famer, Matt Light and the charitable work he does off the field.  I’ve always felt a connection to Matt as Greenville is but 12 miles from my home.  From the article it was easy for me to conclude Matt Light is an amazing human being; someone wise beyond his years.

Another article that caught my eye during “Super Week” was an article about Chad Ochocinco (aka, Chad Johnson).  Chad is the former Cincinnati Bengal turned New England Patriot.

I am a die hard Cincinnati Bengals fan…I know; the beginning of wisdom is coming to grips with one’s own stupidity.   But hey, we made it to the playoffs this year!

In Archdecon’s article about Chad I could see where the once flamboyant, self-promoter, self-focused, often disruptive to the team individual, had become quiet, soft spoken and focused on supporting his team, the New England Patriots, in hopes of becoming the world champions of professional football.

Although Chad was a disruptive force to the Bengals, I was a huge fan of his.  He was so talented and a master at self-marketing.  What Chad didn’t realize during his tenure with the Bengals is self-promotion is not in the formula for winning a Super Bowl Championship or any type of championship for that matter.

From Archdecon’s article it was easy to glean Chad had a peace about him I had never observed before.  He had a focus as well as a purpose.  It seemed as though Chad had grown, he seemed wiser from a football standpoint.  My take is he came to grips with his own stupidity and is now in line to win a Super Bowl Championship…during what has become his personal (from a statistics standpoint) worst season of his career!

How many “Super Life Experiences” have you missed out on because of your own stupidity?  How many times has your need for your own self importance gotten in the way of experiencing “Super Life Experiences?”  Do you have great personal statistics, but no “Life Championships” to be proud of?

If you want to begin experiencing a “Super Life” you will need to get over “stupid,” by covering yourself with “wise.”

It starts with prayer.  Ask God, the maker of the universe as well as the maker of your brain (where stupidity lives) to help you do what you need to do in order to become wise.  It continues with reading (the book of Proverbs is a great place to start) and it grows by hanging around others who are living “Super Lives.”  (By the way, Chad’s team, the New England Patriots are going after their 4th Super Bowl Championship in the last 10 years.  Champions breed Champions.)

It is pretty easy to detect “Super Livers.”  They are at peace with themselves and others and have nothing to prove.  Their wisdom shines most when they are able to admit their own stupidity.  They are always trying to learn and become wiser.  Their “we” mentality clearly outshines their “me” mentality (we all have selfish tendencies and at the root of selfishness is fear…see last Sunday’s blog).  They build and don’t destroy, they lift and try not to lean.

Most importantly they win championships whether it be in life or in a stupid game like football regardless of their personal statistics.

Choose to be a “Super Liver.”  Choose wisdom over stupidity!

.Go get ‘em Chad!

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Proverbs 4:5, “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.”

When I reflect on my business career I would guess we received 1 yes to every 20 no’s when it came to adding new accounts.  The unwillingness to allow the 20 no’s dictate our focus allowed the business to grow from 3 accounts within a 10 mile radius to over 200 accounts expanding a 300 mile radius over a 25 year period.  This growth equated into almost 200 new jobs and 100 fold growth in revenue.  This didn’t take place in a large urban area but instead in the cornfields of Covington, Ohio (pop. 2,500).

…all because we never stopped trying.

Do you get frustrated and give up too easily?

Success is often just one “try” away.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Joshua 1:9, “This is my command–be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  for the Lord your God is with you everywhere you go.”

Last year our pastor asked us on the day prior to the day someone predicted the world was supposed to end to reflect on what we would change if we knew what day the world, as we know it, would end.

I can remember thinking I had way too much in reserve.  I had stored up too much of my time, talent and treasure.

I’ve yet to hear news about anyone on their death bed wishing they had worked more, but I sure have heard stories of those wishing they had loved and given more.

My goal is to make sure the empire I am building is within God’s empire.  If I can do that I will know I will turn to dust with nothing left in reserve.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@Eaglelaunch

Luke 18:22, “There is still one thing you haven’t done.  Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

Character, plain and simple is one’s ability to handle the demands of reality.  Running from reality and/or creating your own reality is quite common in the addiction community…been there, done that.

It is also quite common in our “feel good” quick society.

There is no better way to get through something than to go right through it.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Romans 5:4,  “And endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

So we are one week into the new year and I must ask you; how are you doing with your New Year’s resolution(s)?  Hopefully you recall my January 1st blog about setting and achieving BHAG’S (Big Hairy Audacious Goals-from Built to Last, Porras and Collins), one year at a time.

The quote above, by Conrad Hilton, is a quote that hangs on my computer in my home office as it reminds me of the most important ingredient (next to God) in the success formula.  And that is to keep moving forward and don’t quit.

All things considered; if you are working the P.E.A.C.E acronym (e.g. with the help of God, you have a Plan, coupled with the willingness to put forth the right Effort and Attitude combined with drawing strength from the Community of people around you all while doing things that give your body Energy you will have a great chance of succeeding at achieving your BHAG’S and/or getting your house in order.

The question is, what happens when you have a bad day or two?  What happens when you fall off the wagon?  What happens when things aren’t going your way?  What happens when the attitude goes south or the effort is just not there?  What happens when you have a day or two of eating or spending “wrong?”  What happens when you get sucked into comparing yourself to others and you become derailed?  What happens when the spirit to keep moving forward begins to grow weak?  What happens when you begin second-guessing your dream?

…what happens?

If you are committed to achieving your BHAG(S), you simply need to keep moving forward with a commitment to do the next right thing with a refusal to give up…it works…I write from experience.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Romans 5:3-4. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

I don’t know if there is anything more difficult yet liberating than forgiveness.

It is quite draining and tiring to carry a back pack full of resentments and grudges every day.

Some acts against us are harder to forgive than others but Jesus calls us to forgive and if you proclaim  to be a Jesus follower yet do not forgive, where does that put you in the line at judgement day?

Forgiving the “unforgivable” takes work.  Try committing to a daily habit of praying for good things for whomever you do not want to forgive and pray to God for the willingness to forgive the “unforgivable;” he knows it can be done as he did it after watching his son experience the “unforgivable” for our sake.

Mark 11:25, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch

Knowing I need to get some gift certificates for a friend’s Christmas present, I figured it would be time-effective to sit at the bar of my friend’s favorite restaurant, woof down some chow and be in and out in less than 30 minutes with gift certificates in hand.

When I sit down at the bar I see a young lady coming my way and as I attempt to make eye contact with her to tell her I know what I want to order, she looks down and away.  So I’m thinking “the bar is obviously not her territory” and I wait for my server.

Here comes another young lady and once again just as I’m trying to make eye contact with her she looks back into the kitchen and tells the chef he messed up her order.

Then 5 seconds later a server who was waiting on her food from the kitchen turned and looked…right through me.

Then I see the manager coming with, I am assuming, a new trainee and as he is talking to the new trainee they walk right by me…once again looking right through me.

The cycle I just described didn’t happen once or twice but three times and after 7 minutes of this nonsense I got up and left.  I also did not buy any gift certificates.

So now I am hungry and angry (50% of the way to a place alcoholic and addicts need to stay away from), the other two are lonely and tired.  HALT=Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.  (I will save this acronym topic for another blog.)

As I’m pulling out of the parking lot of  the restaurant that could have cared less whether or not I was alive or not, I see the sign for another chain restaurant establishment known for their unbelievable customer service (at this particular location.)

So I stopped, ate, had a wonderful customer experience and was in and out in 17 minutes.  BTW…the manager was walking around with a set of reindeer antlers on his head and greeted me as soon as I walked through the door, he also asked me twice how I was doing during my meal and said “Merry Christmas” to me as I walked out the door and the restaurant was jam packed.

Back in my days of running a business the team and I lived, breathed and slept customer service.  I would stress over and over the importance of not only shipping the right product to the right place at the right time with the right price, but to do all of the “rights” with the right attitude.  “After all,” I would stress, “anyone can get the right product to the right place at the right time at the right price, but it takes a special organization to do all the rights  with the right attitude.”  Did we get all the rights-right all the time?  Absolutely not.  Did we try our best? Yes.  But even when we failed on the other rights, our attitude would help soften the impact we would feel from customer backlash.

I am not a Harvard MBA grad nor am I the brightest businessman in the world but I know enough to tell you customer service with the right attitude is and will always be the difference maker when it comes to any business that involves human beings.  Human beings like to be treated right.

It is also important to note customer service and the right attitude starts at the top of any organization and if you are at the top of your organization or department within your organization you need to look in the mirror at least once a day and ask yourself whether or not you have an attitude that can turn a craving for a Grilled Chicken Salad into a craving for Chilli-Cheese Coneys.

That is what my good friend and all of his teammates at Skyline Chilli did for me tonight all because of their right attitudes.

P.S. In the business world the customer’s perception of reality IS reality.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@EagleLaunch

1 John 5:5:, “Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (NIV)

As most of you know over a 12-13 year period in my life I slowly turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with life.   Eventually I became addicted and in essence, in a nonathletic sense, I was using PED’S (Performance Enhancing Drugs) before the acronym existed.

PED is an acronym most of us became aware of when the steroid scandal broke out in major league baseball years ago.  But let’s face it many women and men (including myself) have been using PED’S for thousands of years in order to handle life on life’s terms.

Years ago after deciding to turn my will and my life over to the care of God on a daily basis I noticed a change in my disposition and focus and with that change I became better at keeping the main thing the main thing and in turn this new focus and disposition would allow me to do things I once thought unattainable.  I had slowly but surely given up my PED’S for a PEG (Performance Enhancing God).

With all of that being said, this Tim Tebow thing does not surprise me one bit.  (If you don’t know who Tim Tebow is do a Google search on him.)

I can tell you God could give a crap whether or not Denver wins or loses and whether or not Tim Tebow completes a pass or not.  But I will tell you after every game when Tim Tebow gives all the credit for his accomplishments to God, I for one, do not see it as corny, fake or stupid.  I see a man giving credit where credit is due.

All the “experts” said Tebow would never make it in the NFL.  I thought he would.  I watched with amazement during his college days as he simply…WON.  It may not have been pretty and he may not have won football games in a conventional way but he won.  Then I started hearing about his faith and his commitment to God.  Great athletes talking God are a dime a dozen.  Great athletes walking God are rare and Tebow is one of them.

I now take you back to the beginning of this blog and the change in disposition and focus my faith walk has given me.  In my opinion and you can take it for what it is worth, Tim Tebow is experiencing the benefits of using  a Performance Enhancing God (PEG).

Through his commitment to his God (Jesus) Tim Tebow has an unbelievable focus and disposition that helps him overcome his unconventional and unorthodox way of executing as a quarterback.  His commitment to his faith gives him a peace which surpasses all understanding and that turns into a sharper focus in all aspects of his life including his profession.

Hmmm when you read about the ultimate winner…Jesus…he was considered a “bit” unconventional by the “experts” also.  In order to allow His people to experience the benefits of PEG (Holy Spirit) he lost his life for our sins and requires us to lose our life to Him on a daily basis.

A bit unconventional but a true winning formula.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

After a half-century of living and a decade and a half of “really believing” I can honestly say the best work I’ve ever done in my life was the work God did through me and  the worst work I’ve ever done in my life was the work I did through me.  I was reminded of this fact after reading the above scripture verse this morning.

Years ago, upon the suggestion of a fellow alcoholic, I began to turn all aspects of my life over to God one day at a time.  This was not easy as there were some things I wanted to keep and “handle” myself.  You may know what I’m talking about; “little things” like resentments, thoughts, gluttony, pity-pot parties, gossip, spending money and various other non-life threatening addictions.  It was like “here God you can help me with the big things and I will take care of the little things.”

If we choose to handle “the little things” they eventually outgrow the “big things.”  If we believe God is there to only help us with the “big things” then who do you think enjoys helping us with the “little things.”  Would it be….satan?

Giving God part of us is simply “fence living.” It is living a double life.  When we live this way God can only help us half the time and as I’ve said many times in the past, sitting on the fence is harmful to your crotch.

We are coming upon the New Year’s resolution time of year and if you are one of these who makes a resolution and never keeps it, try making a resolution to take God with you in all aspects of your life in 2012.  Surrender your life to Him in the morning and throughout the day.  A good check on how much you’ve giving God is to keep track of how much angst, anxiety and other fear-laden emotions you are dealing with.  Every time you get into these emotions…turn your life back over.  Turning all aspects of your life over to God doesn’t guarantee “challenge-free living.”  But it will allow you to more easily navigate through the challenges of life and also keep the devil out of your life.

It isn’t that difficult.  We simply need to understand “all means all” one day, hour or minute at a time.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

I came across the following recorded from the Chinese founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu.  What amazes me is he had these beliefs about 2500 years ago and as far as I am concerned not much has changed when it comes to leadership.

I have a wide range of EagleLaunch readers and if there is one thing I would hope each of you would understand is we can all choose to be a leader no matter what role we play in life.  We can lead our business, we can lead our family, we can lead our co-workers but most importantly, above all we need to be a leader with our individual lives.

The Tao of Leadership

The leader is best,

When people are hardly aware of his existence,

Not so good when people praise his government,

Less good when people stand in fear,

Worst, when people are contemptuous.

Fail to honor people, and they will fail to honor you.

But of a good leader, who speaks little

When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,

The people will say, “We did it ourselves.”

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com