5 Frogs Deciding...What I REALLY think

This is the kick-off to a series where I share my reaction to quotes, comments, or statements from things I’ve read in magazines, newspapers, books and on the internet.  

• These reactions, for better or worse, are the kinds of things you’d likely hear me saying if we actually spent much time together. Since that’s unlikely, unless you like to go on skiing, golfing, or hunting trips, this is the best option.  
• A lot of my learning has been on the fly, spending times with extremely successful people and hearing their unvarnished opinions on a wide variety of subjects and their reaction to things written or said by others.  
• A lot of the best insights I’ve picked up one piece at a time and would never have come from just reading books. That's why I chose this format ...so I could cover a lot of material quickly.
• You won’t be seeing these comments posted on Social Media, where they can be taken out of context, considered politically incorrect, or Heaven forbid, negative. I’m just posting them here for my friends...and again, they are just opinions.

1. "Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

Answer: five.  Why? Because there's a difference between deciding and doing."
—Mark L. Feldman & Michael F. Spratt 

...Great point. There is absolutely too much time wasted trying to figure out, should we or should we not?  The only issue I have with this is the word decide. The reason is if you decide to do it and you don’t do it, did you really decide to do it? I don't think so. Unless you decide to do it NOW, you are deciding to do it NEVER. That’s the big trick people play on themselves when there’s something they know they need to do but they don’t want to actually have to make the effort. They tell themselves they'll do it later, but they never do.  

2. "I have learned that people will forget what you said; people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." —Maya Angelou
...True. Important. This falls into the category of “it’s not good enough to be right.” It’s always important to be thinking about who you’re talking to and what’s going on in their mind. If you do or say the right thing in the wrong way or at the wrong time, you may make your point but create bad feelings in the process. Result is you made the situation worse not better. If you hurt their feelings or offend them they won’t forget it.  

3. "It's not what we don't know that hurts us, people say. It's what we believe is true that isn't that does the damage." —Melody Beattie
…Maybe so but it makes my head hurt to even think about it. If I could force myself to think about it I’d wonder who to figure out what I think is true but isn’t. This seems like a great “dog chasing his tail” activity to try and figure this one out. I recommend this for a time you want to torture yourself for nothing.

4. "Self-love is born out of love of another." —Harville and Helen LaKelly Hunt
…What? You’ve got to be kidding.  I’m sure the Hunts are making an incredibly important point here, I just have no clue what it is. These kind of statements seem to belong in poetry. I never was any good at poetry.

5. "Wisdom is the ability to acquire knowledge and analyze it both logically and emotionally." —Vivian Clayton
…That’s part of it for sure. But, more importantly, wisdom is the ability to know when and how to use knowledge. The wisest man of all time was Solomon. At age 21, God asked him what gift he would ask for and he asked for wisdom. Obviously the young man had a great deal of it already, otherwise he would have asked for a bunch of money and beautiful women. One of the greatest things you can do regularly is to read his book of wisdom, the Book Of Proverbs. Make this effort and you will receive insight that will elevate every area of your life.  

So now it’s your chance to tell me how I got it all wrong. That’s how I keep learning. Enjoy!

Look for more “What I REALLY Think” posts soon!

What Alabama Beating LSU Means for You

Some great lessons for competing in 2012

Many were shocked when Alabama shut out LSU in BCS Championship game January 9. It wasn’t that they won but how they won. LSU was unbeaten. LSU was frighteningly talented. LSU was powerful at every position.

They had even beaten Alabama previously at Alabama. This time the game was to be played in New Orleans just down the road from Baton Rouge. It was essentially a home game for LSU.  

That’s what so great about competition
It didn’t matter that the odds were in LSU’s favor. Once the game began it was all about who was going to get the job done then! None of the past mattered—beyond the fact that it put them in position to do well. For some reason, maybe it was the ferocity of the Alabama players who wanted to redeem themselves, LSU was uncharacteristically jittery as they started the game. They were stumbling, fumbling, and out of rhythm. They certainly weren’t relaxed, confident, and aggressive.

Alabama sensed their hesitation and indecision and kept the pressure on. They were so effective the unthinkable happened, LSU not only got beat, they didn’t even score! They have no moral victories to take out of the game. They didn’t end on a high note. The decision was totally in Alabama’s favor. Alabama won big!  

What does that mean for you in 2012?
You can win big in 2012! You can win decisively in 2012! Things that have stood in your way in the past can be beaten. It doesn’t matter what has happened beforehand. It doesn’t matter what people think. It doesn’t matter how the odds may be stacked against you if you’re willing to compete you can still win.  

Alabama’s huge win over LSU is a loud message to all of us that if we’ll fight and compete we can win in 2012.