Back in my basketball playing days I spent hours studying the art of shooting a basketball.  I had a couple of books I read inside out and would try my best to put into action what I read in those books.  After a few years of studying and practicing I was able to simplify my shooting technique to the point where I focused on three very basic but important elements of the shot.  My eyes needed to be focused on the goal, my hands (with the ball in them) needed to come through my body area prior to the shot and my feet needed to be aligned with the goal.  The execution of these three important aspects of my shot kept me balanced and aligned and usually led to good things.

Believe it or not, prayer and the results of prayer are much like shooting a basketball.  If our will is aligned with God’s will and we ask God for something in prayer according to His will then we can rest assured the results of our prayer are the results God intends for us to have–see 1 John above.

Just like learning how to be aligned with the basket in order to successfully make shots in basketball, it takes practice to be aligned with God’s will to a point where we know our prayer is always being answered even when the answer seems to be “no” or “let me get back with you.” 

The best way for me to know whether or not I am aligned with God’s will is to reflect on how well I respond to God’s “unanswered prayers.”  If I pray and I don’t get what I asked for and I get anxious…well it means I have some work, i.e. practice to do.  If I pray and don’t get what I asked for and I accept God’s will for me then I know all my work at studying the word and praying for God’s will is paying off.

Do you often find yourself at odds with the answers God is giving you to prayer?  Do you seem to be having to put way too much effort into handling life?  Do you often wish others would get it together so you can get it together?  These are but a few examples of emotions arising from a life run with too much self will involved; a life out of alignment with God’s will.

Some of God’s most powerful answers to my prayers have been no answers.  In times like that I know He has something He wants me to “grow through” and the “grow through” process requires me to just keep moving forward and staying aligned with Him, knowing an answer is always awaiting me. 

Kind of like successfully shooting a basketball…eyes on the GOAL and having our hands and feet aligned (doing what He calls us to do) with the GOAL.  When we do this we know good things will happen.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

(This blog thought came to me yesterday as I said “see you later” to my former basketball workout partner, life friend and most importantly a man aligned with God’s will; Skip Jackson.)

Living a “reactionary” life creates a life subject to others’ dreams and goals. Be proactive and create a life subject to your own dreams and goals.

This thought came to my mind as I was reflecting on a thought of the many people who have never taken the time to create a vision for their lives.  A vision creates focus and without focus a life has no direction.

Many years ago I created my own personal vision statement, “To make a difference in God’s world in all my roles and responsibilities.”  I then went on to list my roles and responsibilities (i.e. my priorities)…1.  My relationship with God,  2. My role as a Husband,  3. My role as a Dad,  4. My role as a Son,  5. My role as a Brother,  6. My role to my Extended Family,  7. My role a a Leader,  8. My role as a Friend.

Then for each of my priorities I listed 4 or 5 goals.  For example as a Dad I wanted my kids to have a foundation of faith in God, a college education, a solid work ethic, an appreciation of health and wellness and to treat others right.  I am not going to bore you with all of the other goals I had for my roles and responsibilities (priority issues) but I think you get the drift.

Please notice I did not list one of my roles as that of a worker or employee.  Even when I was a worker and an employee I knew I could be a Leader in my role as a worker.

It is that attitude and mentality that has allowed me to continuously work on my dreams and goals instead of someone else’s.

If you don’t take the time to work on your own life, you will be spending your life working on someone else’s and life is too short to miss out on the journey of chasing your dreams.

P.S.  Once you have your vision in place, take the time to review it periodically.  You will find your roles may change and your goals for your roles may change and/or you may need to add a role and/or delete a role.  For me I’m thinking someday I will get to add the role of that of a Grandpa…no hurry but just sayin’… 

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

One of my favorite quotes is “any belief worth having, must survive doubt.”  

In most anything we do, how we handle our doubt makes a huge difference in how well we execute in our various roles in life.  Doubt is a manifestion of the other “F” word; fear (see 10/29/10 blog) and is a place the devil loves us to go…and stay.  

During this time of year, 32 years ago, an epiphany took place in my life.  I was in my second year of playing college basketball and had gone from sixth man to last man.  Doubt had swept in and was on the verge of making me believe there was no use in continuing my basketball career.  A talk with my brother and coaches steered me away from quitting and I am so thankful because I would have missed out on an unbelievable career that included several team and individual accomplishments as well many important life lessons.  

When I made the decision to not quit I took a couple of days to take a look at what was really happening and why I had lost belief in my abilities to play basketball.    

I realized I let other people and my circumstances determine the quality of my play.  I was worrying about things I had no control over.  I was constantly comparing myself to my teammates.  I was constantly wanting something handed to me that I thought I was “entitled” to, (i.e. playing time).  I thought the coach didn’t like me.  I thought I wasn’t being treated fairly.  I probably had a dozen different excuses and thoughts I was constantly mulling over in my head and the fact of the matter was all of these thoughts had snuffed my belief of me and my abilities right out of me.  My play was dominated with doubt instead of confidence and because of all of this “stinking thinking,” doubt was about to take something I dearly loved away from me.  

Now here I am over 3 decades later blogging about what I now know is the devil’s best friend; doubt.  The devil loves to see us fail especially if it is because we’ve quit believing in our God-given gifts.  Doubt is nothing more than a self-imposed jail cell and when left unbridled will lead to a life of inaction…right where the devil wants us to be.  

The reason I came up with my P.E.A.C.E. acrostic years ago was to help me combat doubt.  Submitting your Plans to God while putting forth positive Effort and Attitude and seeking guidance from positive mentors from the Community around you, coupled with nourishing your mind and body with “good stuff” is a great way of eliminating negative and wasteful thoughts and in turn minimizing doubt while maximizing your confidence.  Each plan you achieve is just another milestone you’ve placed between you and your tendencies to doubt.  

Make 2011 the year of “Just Say No to Doubt.”  Make up your mind to stop letting other people and circumstances determine your “play.”  “Just say No” to the thoughts that bring on doubt (i.e. comparing yourself to others, blaming others for your lot in life, lusting after the gifts of others, thinking life is supposed to be fair, making excuses), and make up your mind to take control of what you can control and start P.E.A.C.E.ING your life together one plan at a time.   

I have no idea where I would be today if I would have allowed doubt to defeat me back in late 1978.  Obviously I wouldn’t be writing this blog but more importantly I know of two pictures that would not be on display in my office:   

One is a picture of my college basketball team from Ohio Northern University that defeated the University of Oklahoma at Oklahoma in 1980.  The other is a picture of me and my teammates celebrating by cutting down the nets after beating Northern Arizona and Portland University on back-to-back nights to win the Casaba Club Classic at the University of Pacific in 1981.   

For those of you that don’t understand the significance of these victories;  Ohio Northern is a small Division III school that does not give athletic scholarships whereas Oklahoma, Northern Arizona and Portland University are all Division I schools that give athletic scholarships to their players.   These three victories were huge ”upsets” and made national news.   These victories and the players on these teams are forever etched in the folklore of ONU basketball conversations.  And to think I almost let doubt prevent me from experiencing these victories… 

30 years ago...a bunch of misfits with alot of belief and no doubts...

Don’t let doubt prevent you from celebrating the victories God has in store for you this year…Just Say No to Doubt!  

Happy New Year!  

jay@eaglelaunch.com

My EagleLaunch-Thought For The Week, “Winners use the past to grow from, the future to grow towards and the present to grow,” came to me this morning as I was preparing for another big week in my “retirement” life.  I am as busy and growing more today as I’ve ever been and I’m loving every minute of it. 

I learned many years ago that life is about growth and if you aren’t growing and improving, you are losing in the game of life.  As indicated in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, God created us to have hope and a future, to grow and be winners.  Winning has nothing to do with age, health, prestige, reputation, money, looks or “things,” winning is about improving and growing a day at a time.  As we continue to grow we continue to win.   

My pains of my past when I lived the life of a loser (dependent upon other people, places and things for my happiness…most notably drugs and alcohol) continue to help me grow today.  My goals and plans for tomorrow motivate me to grow today.  So in essence, if we choose to learn and grow from our past, while choosing to grow towards our goals for the future; growing and winning in the present becomes a natural “God-given” by-product.  Let me simplify…Growing from past experiences and growing towards future hopes and dreams, gives us no choice but to grow in the here and now.  God’s amazing ways continue to amaze me.

Another thing to keep in mind; God gave us a memory and an imagination so we can grow and prosper and become everything he wants us to be (i.e. winners).  When our memory of the past and our imagination for the future is paralyzed by fear and manifests itself through guilt, shame, resentments, laziness, procrastination, addictions, gluttony, control issues, etc… we are unable to be everything God wired us to be and this is right where the devil likes us to stay.  

So what is the magic formula?  How do you let the past and future (memory and imagination) shape a “winning” today?  It is pretty simple and it all begins by declaring yourself a “loser” to God by surrendering your will to Him the first thing every single day.  If you believe the Bible is God’s word, then why wouldn’t you want to take a chance on it being the truth?  Jeremiah 29:11 is proof enough to me that the Father of all of us wants us to prosper.  A life fueled by God is a life destined for growth and winning, whereas a life fueled by self is destined for continuous struggles and ongoing losing. 

…and, oh yeah, a life fueled by God is also a life destined to live eternally…now that is a future worth living for.

(If you are scratching your head and wondering how we can have a God who wants us to win and prosper, also let bad things happen to friends and family, please check out my August 28, 2010 blog “Why Bad Things Happen.”)  Our finite thinking often takes away our ability to understand a God with infinite, wisdom, mercy and strength.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it.” 

A look at beauty through the top of a "narrow gate" on the Greek Isle of Santorini.

During my career as a high school and college basketball player I was quite lucky to have great coaches at both levels.  Although they coached in distinctly different ways (one was very offensive minded and the other was very defensive minded); both had a similar laser-like focus on execution and details.  They knew that proper execution and attention to details in practice would parlay into how we would execute in games. 

This unrelenting desire and focus on executing the basics led to victories, championships and individual accomplishments that to this day causes me  to scratch my head in disbelief.  Very simply stated, the high school and college basketball teams I played on were composed of ordinary players who were motivated to play at an extraordinary level by coaches who possessed an extraordinary focus to details.  In essence they taught us how to play on the “narrow road” that led to victories and championships. 

In the scripture above, Jesus (the ultimate life coach) details what it takes to win the championship of life.  And he draws our attention to the importance of having the ability to remain focused on Him (the narrow road) no matter what the circumstance.  Focusing on the small gate and the narrow path leads to eternal life (transformed in our current life, living with Him in our after life) and in-turn the ultimate championship. 

Although championships of the “world” require the same narrow and laser-like focus as gaining the championship of eternal life, there is a distinct difference.  Our worldly championships are transient and temporary whereas the championship of eternal life is…eternal. 

Start focusing your efforts on the eternal Coach today and begin experiencing “championships” now and forever. 

P.E.A.C.E. 

jay@eaglelaunch.com

There is a method behind my “narcissistic madness.”  

One of the great gifts God gives us is our ability to imagine and picture things.  I’ve always been a very visual person and have the ability to see the end much faster than the steps it will take to get there.   

All humans have the gift of imagination.  Some act on what they visualize and others don’t.  Some make unbelievable things happen in their lives and others don’t.  Some never have the time to sit on the fence, while others wear an athletic supporter (some with a cup) – 24 hours a day because they are afraid to act…as they just sit…on the fence.  (See 10/25/10 “Thought For The Week”).  

This first photo gallery is a “snapshot” of some images I envisioned in my mind years ago and now they’ve become reality.  

Ancient Pharmacy "Sign" located on the main street of old Ephesus, Turkey

The pictures of me speaking publicly, represent the ”pictures” I had of myself doing just that  in order to inspire others (hopefully) to go after their dreams no matter what their past was like. 

The pictures of me running, biking and swimming evolved from the pictures from my mind that first started happening over 25 years ago when I watched my good friend Mark Reynolds compete in triathlons (Mark is now a part of the USA National team…now 51 years old).  I believe a triathlon is the ultimate athletic test…and I like tests that don’t involve paper and pencil and I enjoy staying physically fit. 

The picture of me standing next to the wall of “Old Town” Dubrovnic, Croatia represents the many times I’ve pictured what it would be like to travel the world.  

The picture of me writing and working on my book represents a dream I’ve had ever since I got sober.  My book will be published in 2011.   

The picture of me actively coaching a businessman in my office is a dream I began to have about five years ago.  

The shot of me standing on my basketball court represents a vision I had as I pictured myself using the tools from the “good book” as well as  the tools I had acquired while chasing my dream of becoming a professional basketball player, into becoming a successful Pharmacist and businessman.   

The imagination is powerful.  The leadership guru, Paul Meyer once said, “the more actively you practice using your imagination, the more ability you will acquire.”   

One thing worth noting is the fact that timing plays a huge role in your “dreams into reality” pathway.  I had to wait to do what I am doing today because my responsibilities to my family required me to work hard at my day job so we could put our kids through college and I could be home for them.  But all the time while working my “day job” I was painting the picture of my future “job” in my head.     

Imagination is powerful and I have the pictures to prove it.   Keep painting your picture in your mind, and it too will become a reality.  

Oh yeah…a couple of important items to consider.  None of these pictures would have ever been taken if…  

1.  I didn’t get sober and stay sober, 

2. I hadn’t received a ton of help from others along the way and,   

3.  Most importantly asked God to guide my every step while on this journey.  

P.E.A.C.E  

jay@eaglelaunch.com

My EagleLaunch Thought For The Week; “Excellence is a dynamic, ever-evolving state created by those willing to continuously redefine and stretch their potential,” came to me as I was reading the October edition of “Success Magazine.”  The publisher of “Success,” Darren Hardy in his monthly Publisher’s Letter wrote that he believes the goal and purpose of life is living your potential.

I believe this is a great goal and purpose but something I would like to add is potential is not a static state; it continues to evolve as we continue to evolve as human beings. 

Many years ago a speaker at a basketball camp I was attending shared a quote with the group that has stuck with me throughout my entire life.  He said “good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is your best.” 

Whenever I speak with students I always share this quote as it has had and still is having a huge impact on my life.  I first practiced “good, better, best” when I was in the 7^th grade as I had a desire to become the best free throw shooter I could be as I worked on my dream of becoming a great basketball player.  I decided I would shoot at least 100 free throws every day, (rain, snow, clouds, sunshine or friends), all the way through high school.  Believe it or not, I followed through on this goal and the results taught me a huge lesson for life.

As I began my quest to perfect my free throw shooting at the age of 13 my “best” was making 75 out of 100 free throws attempted, my better was 70 and my good was 65.  As I practiced I soon reached a point where my good was 70 (my former better) my better was 75 (my former best) and my best was 80.  By the end of my high school career, this daily practice took me to a place where my good was 90, my better was 95 and my best was 100 made free throws out of 100 shots taken.  While in college it was nothing for me to hit 120-140 free throws in a row while practicing.

The key to my success as a free throw shooter….I NEVER stopped practicing because I was never satisfied with my “best” and in turn I never put a limit on my potential.

Ever since I got my life back on the right track several years ago, I’ve tried to practice good, better, best in all of my roles and responsibilities as a way of repaying God for saving my life (not a requirement for living a Godly life–as we can never outgive God–but a great thing to do).  What is so amazing when I look back, is what I once thought was excellent is not even close to being good today.  A commitment to always improving is a commitment to always redefining and stretching your potential and subsequent level of excellence.   

What is so crazy is it is your choice on how “excellent” you want to be.  For my obsessive compulsive friends…I am not talking about perfection where “what drives us will drive us insane.”  I am simply talking about striving to become the best you can be at everything you do.

Three keys to making your potential and level of excellence ever-evolving and dynamic is to first seek God’s help in this new way of living (he wants us to succeed and will help stretch our potential as Jesus states in Matthew 25:23 above), secondly-make a decision to no longer let the nightmares of the past cloud your possibilities to the future, and thirdly-surround yourself with people, books and magazines (that is why I read Success magazine) that preach, teach and live excellence.

Why settle for good or better when you can continue to redefine your best (i.e. excellence)?  Getting on the road to excellence only takes 2 steps…start and continue.

P.E.A.C.E.  (If you want to know what P.E.A.C.E. stands for go to the homepage and click “About Eaglelaunch”)

jay@eaglelaunch.com

Recently I had an interesting discussion via email with some friends as we openly debated an issue relevant to the Christian community worldwide.  It always amazes me how much can be learned from others through candid discussion.  After this exercise of point-counterpoint, I spent some time reflecting on why I always seem to find the positive side to everything or the fact that I seem to thoroughly enjoy countering those who are representing what I consider negative points of view.

I remember seeing this quote somewhere years ago; “Jesus came to tell us what we can do and not what we can’t do.”  In other words the law, although still a great resource to know right from wrong, was replaced by Jesus so we could have abundant life in the here and now as well as the afterlife.

By accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior we not only get this free gift of eternal life but we also reap the fruits of the Holy Spirit; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT)…if we try our best to follow Him. 

Jesus wants us to experience peace and joy no matter what the circumstance.  This is not easy, but once it becomes a habit, life becomes so much more enjoyable regardless of the situation.  I’ve experienced my own negativism being tranformed into positivism and possibilities over the past several years and it is a great way to not only live life but to enjoy life.  

As I reflect back on my career of coaching the teammates that worked for me at my business, I always painted a picture of “this is what the customer and you will have if we do these things.”  When I coached my kids’ AAU basketball teams I always talked about “this is what we need to do in order to win championships.”  During my kids formative years I always talked about “this is what can happen if you do these things.”  When I talk to others about Jesus I tell them “this is what you will gain by following Jesus’ instructions.”

Painting a picture of possibilities creates much more drive and determination in human beings than painting a picture of losses.  When you are able to look at situations and see possibilities and opportunities instead of losses and negative consequences you will win a lot more “games” in life than you lose.  

The Proverb above tells it all…positivity and cheerfulness is good medicine and creates a winning formula, negativism breaks the spirit and saps a person’s strength.

If you struggle with negativism and always see the cup as “half-empty”, challenge yourself to replace your can’t-do statements with can-do’s.  Choose to hang with and interact with other “can-do” people (this includes what you read as well as those you listen to on radio and watch on T.V.) and most importantly read, listen to, and follow the One who tells us what we can-do, and that One is Jesus.  

The debate I had with my friends the other day served as a way for me to not only broaden my knowledge on a subject matter, but also served as an opportunity to write a blog…now that’s what I’m talking about.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

As indicated in my previous posts, putting forth productive effort not only involves working hard and smart but we need to make sure we use our time effectively, avoid excuses, learn from our setbacks, and remain teachable.

I know people who do all of the above but are stuck in a work situation or are working for an organization or playing on a team where putting forth productive effort doesn’t seem to matter. No matter how hard they try or how productive they are, they never seem fulfilled because whatever they do is never enough.

In Ephesians chapter 6 above, Paul reminds us that our effort should never be dependent upon who we are working for in the flesh because no matter what we do, we are to serve wholeheartedly as if we are working for the Lord.

Something else to consider is the fact that God owns everything and at the end of the day we are always working for Him.

“To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14 NIV).

Therefore, we should always put forth our best effort no matter who our earthly “masters” are…that is if we are walking the Christian walk. What is even cooler is the fact we will be rewarded for doing this…“the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does whether he is slave or free.”

Once we understand Who we are working for, the final step in putting forth productive effort is to seek God’s guidance and direction with our work. If we do this, no matter how difficult the task or the task master, we will be rewarded and always succeed because God is one boss who always wants us to succeed.

I’ve sought God’s direction and help for the last 22 years of my business career and it has been nothing less than amazing because I had a Boss who wanted me to win.

Work hard, work smart, avoid time wasters, avoid excuses, know there will be setbacks and always remain teachable, but most importantly never forget who the Boss is and you will be blown away by the results of your effort.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

As I pointed out previously, putting forth productive effort takes more than hard work. In fact if we don’t avoid time wasters like excessive talk, excuses, setback paralysis and thinking we have all the answers, our work becomes hard and it becomes harder and harder to work hard…confused yet?

In other words if we don’t learn how to work smart we will never be able to reap the benefits of hard work which is paramount in generating productive effort and in turn generating productive results..

I’m sure you’ve all witnessed someone who works endlessly but never gets anything done. People who “work” like this become no more productive than the ‘sluggard” Solomon refers to in Proverb 13. The word “diligent” is used to counter “sluggard” in the Proverb above and diligent as defined in Webster’s means “steady, earnest, and energetic application and effort. It means working smart and working hard.

The legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said; “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” I’ve read some of Wooden’s books and he was the best at working efficiently and diligently. John Wooden was the best at working smart and this enabled him to work even harder. The results of John Wooden’s work in college basketball will most likely never be eclipsed. He is the greatest of all time. (Whether you like basketball or not, I suggest you read Wooden’s book “Wooden On Leadership.”)

We’ve all heard the cliches, “practice makes perfect,” “you get what you work for,” “no pain no gain.” Working hard is the key ingredient in creating productive effort. Combining working smart with working hard is the absolute formula for consistenly generating diligent work effort and productive results.

I became a pretty good basketball player because I was diligent in practicing daily. I am a pretty effective husband and dad because I work at it every day.

I got sober and stayed sober and have a recovery ministry today not only because of the love and grace of God but because of the work I put forth in staying sober. Back in late 1987, during my first 90 days of sobriety, I attended 120 AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings and went to 40 counseling sessions…amazing what a life and death proposition does to your work ethic. I continue to “work” my recovery program on a daily basis as I know my ability to work diligently and generate productive effort begins and ends with my sobriety. What is interesting to me is that during my addiction years I had a string of “bad luck” that I’ve never experienced again in my life. Of course the only thing I was working hard at in those days was staying high.

Putting forth productive effort is a process and not an event. The best way to see whether or not you are working diligently is to measure how smart and hard you are working.

Keep a log for a couple of weeks and document the time you spend in “time wasters” like nonsensical talk, web surfing, facebooking, T.V. watching etc… Write down everytime you verbalize an excuse or tell yourself you just can’t do it. Then keep track of how much time you spend learning and being teachable, and how much time you are “working” at whatever your goal is.

The combination of eliminating time wasters, excuses and procrastination caused by setbacks, with an attitude of teachability and a willingness to work, will not only generate productive effort and positive results but lots and lots of luck. Good Luck!

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com