What We Do Everyday is What We Believe, All the Rest is Just Talk

        Think about that statement. What we do everyday is what we believe, all the rest is just talk. What does that mean to you? What we do, our actions each and every day is what we truly believe. We can say what we want, but what we do is who we are.

Think about it this way. Imagine two circles. In your mind or on paper label one, words and the other, deeds. Our words are what we say we believe. We all say a lot. We love America, we’re Christians, Catholics, Jews, Atheists, Goths, we love our kids, our spouse, you name it. We tell people that is what or who we are. All those things go in the circle you labelled ‘words’.

Now each day we get up in the morning and we take action. We get up, interact with our household, go to work or school, come home, more interactions, recreation and we go to bed. All the actions you took that day comprise your behavior and result in what we’ll call your deeds. What you do everyday, your behavior, is your deeds. They go in the circle you labelled ‘deeds’.

Now you have two circles. One full of your words, the other full of your deeds. Your circle full of words is what you say you believe and probably intend, plan or would like to believe. The other circle, your deeds, are what you actually do everyday and when you act on something that is what you believe.

As you look at your circles how big is the gap? The gap is the difference between what you say you believe, your words, and what you actually believe, your deeds. How can we become better people? By bringing our circles together to the point that we have only one circle. When you look down at them they are one. When you do, your a person of integrity.

Apply the look in the mirror test. Think through one day in your life. What goes in the circle for words; what goes in the circle of deeds. Be honest. Look in the mirror and decide how far apart your circles currently are and make a commitment, day by day, to become a person of integrity. Become a person where your circles get closer and closer, your words and deeds are coming together, and one day, they’ll come closer and closer.

As you embark on this journey think it through. Lets look at a few examples. Say you call yourself a Christian. Do you have a church? If not why not? Don’t deal in excuses, deal in reality. Be who you say you are? There’s an old adage, ‘If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to prove it?’ Think about that. It applies to whatever you say you are.

Most people are employed, they have a job. That makes you an employee. Your paid to deliver a result everyday that makes your employer better, makes them money. If they make money they keep paying you and grow. Does your performance at work match what you tell your boss. Or do you spend time away from the boss talking trash about them or the company.

Words and deeds. We say, we do and then we should look in the mirror and decide. How did we do? Words and deeds. Make them match.

For a better tomorrow ...

The Power to Choose

Putting the Circle of Influence into Action

When I first heard of the Circle of Influence I was working for Frito Lay. I'd just taken a position that moved us from Dallas to northeast PA where I would be in charge of several logistics locations. One of our locations was based in south eastern New York State. It was a problem child for the company.

Before leaving Dallas for my new assignment my bosses bosses boss called me in for an early morning meeting to discuss the problem. He told me that the particular site in New York had been having union elections for the Teamsters every year for the past four years. It was costing the company over a $100k a year to fend them off. His message was simple. "Kugler, I don't care what it costs me, never have another union election again". That was pretty straight forward.

My Dallas boss gave me some parting advice. He said, "Call Stephen Covey, he'll advise you on how to do that". At the time I hadn't heard of Stephen so I checked him out. At the time Stephen was getting $10k a day to come and advise so I opted for his number 2, the late Blaine Lee. He flew up to meet me the next week.

Over breakfast I explained my 'problem' and Blaine listened intently. At the end of breakfast he said, "Do you know what your problem is?" I said, "No, thats why you're here". He took out a new napkin from the table and looked at me, as if to say, 'hope you can take this?. He drew two circles. A large one and a smaller one inside the large one. Then a painful, life changing lesson began.

He looked me in the eye and asked, "tell me once again why you have union elections every year". So I began my littany of what were excuses. I said our rotten HR (Human Resources) department always rides in on their white horses and saves the day creating Pavlov's Dog for next year. I told him of HR's lack of support for logistics and their lack of interest in logistics until something happens. I went on and on and on as I had all during breakfast.

Each time I told him one of my many excuses he would put an X in the outside ring. After some time of my ranting he stopped and said, "You see these X's?" I said I did. He said all those problem you describe are interesting but not relevent. He taught me that while each of those things may be true, which he doubted, they weren't relevent because I had no control over them. I was not working within my circle of influence.

Then he forced me to answer for what I could do. What was in my circle of influence? I would answer and for some time there was another X in the outside cirlce. Finally at his urging as to what I could do to have a better relationship with our HR folks I said, "Eventhough they do not come to our driver meetings on Saturdays I could have minutes of the meeting and take them over, sit down and review them". I finally got an X in the inside box. I began that day to learn. It was a painful lesson.

Blaine said to me, "You're the problem". He meant just not me but prior logistics management at that location because we always saw the problem as being 'out there' and not in our control. That single lesson I took to heart. Over the next four years we did not have an election and my relationship with HR locally and in headquarters was changed completely. Where there was no trust there was high trust. And you know what, the only thing that changed was me!

Each of us needs to apply this lesson to our present circumstances. Each of us needs to look in the mirror and be honest about what we have been doing about America's problem. What role did we have to play in America's current demise. For instance, the fact that we have a Congress full of elitist who think they are above us ... is interesting, but not relevent. What is relevent is what we can do about it. What is in your circle of influence?

For starters did you vote in the last election for Congress? Did you support the opponent of the elitist in your area? Do you pray every day, morning noon and night for this great nation? Those are all things that are in your circle of influence where we can make a difference and not an excuse. If we want to be ready for the new America ... we must learn to operate every day within our circle of influence and become part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Remember, one person can make a difference. If it is to be ... it's up to me!

For a better tomorrow ...

We have the Power of Choice - Use it Wisely

          We've talked about being the change, we've talked about changing from either inspiration or desperation and we last talked about finding our burning platforms. In this post we're going to learn about the diagram below. This is another skill I learned from the late Stephen Covey. It is called the Circle of Influence - Circle of Concern.
           It is based on the idea that each of us are blessed with the power of choice. That means that we are not animals and bound by instinct; but people, born of God and blessed with a mind that can choose between one direction and another. So lets use a simple example. Say you plan an outing with your kids. You've been working hard, haven't done much with them or your spouse and you plan a big hike and camp out and everyone is excited. Friday comes and you hurry home, start packing and the downpour begins. Your spouse comes out and tells you its forecast that its raining and cold all weekend. You have a choice.
            Lets say you just go off. You're mad, the kids are clearing out and your spouse is trying to keep the peace. You decide without talking to your family the trip is off and you'll do it another time. You just let the kids down and lost several points with the spouse. In this example, look down to the bottom left corner, you're that little red circle in the middle. You are highly reactive and have little influence on your family or those around you at work or otherwise. Why? Because when you choose things you have influence over, the red area, you gain more influence in your life. When you choose things in the white area, circle of concern, that means choice in that area are things you're concerned about, the weather, over which you have no influence.
             Now lets see what happens when you take a totally different approach. The same situation happens and you come home, the spouse tells you the miserable forecast and with a smile on your face, you take the crew inside, explain whats happening and right on the spot you facilitate a discussion of other things you could do together, go away to a motel with a pool, they'll figure it out, and everyone is happy and impressed and your stress level is near zero. What's the difference?
          Look to diagram 4 in the bottom right. You become a person who recognizes that you have no influence over the weather, nothing but concern, but you do have influence over making new plans and making your family happy. You'll see that a person operating in diagram 4, bottom right, will continue to make their circle of influence larger and larger as you don't have fits, blame others for your problems or give up. You become a person of influence. You are proactive not reactive.
          The other two diagrams simply illustrate where the majority of people operate. Probably 10% of the people you meet are purely in diagram 3, really reactive. I'm guessing 40% of the people are in diagram 1, with some influence but not much. They are the followers. Then 40% of the people are in diagram 2, have a balance of choosing for themselves and complaining why the cannot get it done.
          If you want a life of less stress and more influence over where you end up, then you work to operate in diagram 4. Become a person of influence. Become a person who chooses their direction and doesn't just sit back and complain. We live in a world of whiners. We live in a world where people want anyone to solve their problems except the person they look at in the mirror everyday. When I learned this principle from Stephen, I went from diagram 1 to diagram 4 over the course of the next year. And I assure nothing changed except me. I will cover that change in detail in my next post in a few days.
           Really take this to heart as you contemplate exactly how you want to change to make America a better place. We can complain all we want about Congress, which had a single digit approval rating in the last election and we voted over 85% of them back into office. Somebody is saying one thing and doing another? If we are to hope to make a difference for America we must be proactive and not reactive. We must become the change we seek in the world.
          The next time you see your school, community or state making a decision that takes us further away from our nations founding fathers and our God centered values that made this country what it was, you need to work in your circle of influence and make a difference, make your voice heard not just by what you say but by how you live and what you do. This simple concept can change your entire life. Ponder it and pray about it and act on it. Become a proactive person. Become the positive change we need in the world.
          For a better tomorrow ...

You Want to Become Better? Discover Your Burning Platform

We've been talking about the need for change, now we need to get serious about it. We just experienced another terrorist attack on our land of America. As I write this post I just heard about the Canadians foiling a plot to blow up a train traveling from Toronto to New York. Is terrorism over as our President proclaims? You be the judge.
We've talked about change coming from inspiration or desperation. We learned that 80% of change comes from desperation. At this point in America's progression we still have a choice. The window of choice is rapidly closing. So what did you decide? What is your reason for change? Let me tell you a story.
The image below is a burning oil platform off the north shore of Europe. I first heard this story in a book by Daryl Conner called Managing at the Speed of Change. He was addressing why people change. As Conner told the story, there was an oil platform fire on the north shore in the dead of winter. When it was all over there was but one survivor.
He was being interviewed from his hospital bed he was asked why he jumped into the icy waters below. As it turns out a rescue boat had arrived but in the smoke and fog the survivor was unaware of its arrival. He thought he was all alone. Yet, he jumped from the burning oil platform to the icy waters below.
In answer to the interviewers question he said, "I looked at the fire and the fog below, knowing the waters were icy and I chose uncertain death (jumping into the fog covered ocean below) over certain death (staying on the burning platform)". Do you understand that choice? He did not know if he'd live by jumping but he knew he'd die by not jumping. He had to change.
We American's who believe in this country and God have to change. We as a society have behaved ourselves into this situation by turning our backs on God and being complacent about our freedoms. We have to change as individuals. We are on a burning platform and many American's don't even know it yet. If we do nothing we are just going to enjoy ourselves into oblivion. History shows us where our behavior takes us.
Decide now what your burning platform is ... we're moving on from here learning to become better people together. We can move on and change if our why is big enough.

For a better tomorrow ...

A Personal Example - Inspiration or Desperation?

With this post I want to hit the reason for your change again. Changing requires, well, change. Why do we change. Let me give you a real, live example of how I began to change in life.

In the 5th Grade I did a book report called, 'The Story of the US Marines'. From that time forward all I wanted to be in life was a Marine. In February of my senior year of high school I was sworn in as a United States Marine. They called it the early entry program. Two weeks after high school graduation I found myself in Parris Island, SC and was not happy about my decision.

While I detail this in my book, 'Dead Center - A Marine Snipers Two Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War', I'll share the short version here. I was raised in a small town by essentially four women. My older sister, my Aunt, my Grandmother and my Mother. They did not adequately prepare me for boot camp.

Within two weeks I'd disobeyed an order and wound up in a place at the end of the island called the Special Training Branch or STB. I was a member of the Corrective Custody Platoon, or more affectionately, a Shitbird. The Drill Instructor in charge was maniacal. There were no Officers around so he did what he pleased and it wasn't pleasing to us.

One day I decided to leave, go AWOL. I'd had it. I was apprehended at the main gate by a couple of military police, handcuffed and sure I was heading to the brig. I hadn't eaten in just over three days and drank swamp water the whole time. I had a scorpion bite and was sick. I was also sure I had ruined my young life because of my decisions. I was desperate.

I was taken to the brig, then surprisingly, after the MP's made some phone calls, I was put back in the truck and driven back to STB, at the end of the island. They were taking me back to my maniacal Drill Instructor. I was sure he would kill me on the spot.

He did take me before the others at STB and humiliate me, said I was a bright and shining example of what you look like when you try and get off 'his' island. He also had me confirm for everyone that Parris Island is indeed an 'island'. Which it is, I can confirm first hand. I had yet to learn to swim so thats how I ended up trying to do an end run around the main gate.

Them something strange happened. My crazy Drill Instructor took me into his office and threw me on the floor. As I sat in the corner facing him he said, "What the f___ is wrong with you kid?" Before I could answer he said, "You haven't eaten in three days. You lived off swamp water. Hell, I'm a Force Recon Marine and I don't do that!" He then became human.

He went on to tell me that I could do anything and he would show me how. If I would walk out that door and commit to following every single order he gave me he would stand up for me and I wouldn't go to the brig. In my despair I was inspired to change. Now I was also scared out of my mind by this guy, but he was the first guy who I felt cared about me in my life. It ignited a flame that burns to this day. I could do it. And I did. I went on to become a great Marine and lead scout-sniper teams for two years in the Vietnam War. I used everything I learned from my maniacal DI throughout my life.

I changed because of desperation. I saw my young life slipping down a dirty drain. Then events like the one I described changed me and ignited a fire in my that drives me to this day. As we look at America, at our relationship with God and for those who believe, Jesus Christ, what is our reason for change?

Throughout the coming week you think about what got us here and how you need to change. This step is critical ... none of us are perfect. We all need to repent daily. Then we need to recommit and go forth stronger than ever. What is your reason for change?

For a better tomorrow ...

Whats Your Reason for Becoming Better?

Last post we talked about becoming the change we wish to see in the world. In this post lets assume you want to change, you want to become better. That's great! Whats your reason for becoming better? All change is driven by a reason, whats yours?

There are only two reasons people or organizations change. One is inspiration, the other is desperation. You're either inspired to make changes in your life or, you're driven to change your life by the circumstances around you. The illustration above is a graphic of what I'm talking about. In image 1 on the left you see inspiration. In image 2 on the right you see desperation.

The dictionary says inspiration is a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul. Our founding fathers were inspired when they created America. There is much written on that subject. The sad thing today, based on my lifetime of changing and leading change in organizations, is that less than 20% of change is by inspiration.

The dictionary says desperation is the state of being desperate or of having the recklessness of despair. Have you ever felt despair or seen someone in a state of despair? Recklessness is a good word for how people act in the midst of desperation. Most personal change happens around events. Events like birth, death, divorce, weddings, new jobs and the list goes on. The event either wakes us up to the need for change, or forces us to change.

In America today, we are witnessing the implementation of someone else's vision that is very different from that of our founding fathers. Their vision has been permeating our society for many years. It has simply gained momentum in the past few years. It is also a vision that does not include God.

The reason someone else's vision is taking over is because you and I and millions of other Americans have been asleep at the wheel of freedom. Speaking personally, I've been off enjoying the American dream all the while it was being taken from me. How about you? Remember what I said in the last post. Look in the mirror and be honest. What can you do differently? If America turned its back on God, what role did you and I play? The answer for me is sobering.

If we're going to be ready for the New America coming or even hope to change it, we have to change. Before we can change we have to know why we are changing. I've heard it said, if the 'why' is big enough the 'how' is easy. Thats true. But I can tell you that the 'how' this time is not going to be easy, but we can be ready and make a difference, if our 'why' is big enough.

Right now someone else's vision of America has become our desperation. But in our desperation we'll find the seeds of change. We'll find those seeds in our commitment to this great Nation,  or perhaps our God, or even His Son, Jesus Christ, or all three. One of these three, or even better, all of these three, must be the fuel of your inspiration or you won't sustain your interest in becoming better.

In the bible, in Proverbs 29:18 it reads, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he". God made it clear we should be people of vision. People of vision lead their own lives, they don't follow others. They become the change they wish to see in the world. Our challenge right now is to decide how big of a problem we were in getting us to this state; then commit to be the change we wish to see and become part of the solution in getting ready.

For a better tomorrow ...