Quote: Build a Ship

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Quote: Desire is Destiny

You are what your deep, driving desire is.

As your desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

–Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5

Quote: The Price of Discipline

The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret

–Nido Qubein (quoted by Robin Sharma)

Free John Maxwell MP3s

(c) Heritage Christian University

John Maxwell is a preacher, motivational speaker and leadership guru. The following websites appear to host free MP3s of his material:

• http://www.vitalifefitness.com/audio/by/artist/john_maxwell
• http://server.firefighters.org/2002catalog.asp
• http://freebiesforlife.blogspot.com/2008/01/free-download-john-maxwells-favorite.html
• http://odeo.com/episodes/11396763-Dr-Bill-Bright-and-John-C-Maxwell-Episode-26
• http://gochristfellowship.com/grow-deep/sermon-archives/

You can also download MP4 videos here:

• http://www.cbn.com/media/index.aspx?s=/vod/JohnMaxwell_091307&title=The%20700%20Club&prgm=700club
• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4983057899447761685

There are more videos here, some of which are for online viewing only:

• http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=John+Maxwell+&emb=0#

If anyone has any more links, let me know and I will add them.

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Moments of Alive in my Life

The following are specific examples of ‘come alive’ times in my life:

1. Key-holding in a soup kitchen.
2. The 3-strong IT team of which I was a member was rated highest in my organisation, and my organisation was rated best of its kind in the UK.
3. On my Psychology degree course, doing statistical and conceptual analysis of results following practical work.
4. Making obstacle courses for other children.
5. Building a mechanism to configure PCs in a hot-desking environment.
6. Building with Lego.
7. Explaining aspects of object oriented programming to colleagues.
8. Teaching a boy the difference between odd numbers and even numbers.
9. Inspiring a nursery class to use construction toys after I built rockets and satellites myself.
10. Reading stories to classes, my wife, my son.
11. Figuring out how stage magic is done.
12. Leading other children to explore the woods by my senior school.
13. Handling several crises as best man to a friend.
14. Writing stories.
15. Solving Rubik’s-type puzzles.
16. Helping my wife with her dissertation.
17. Analysing a housing rents system.
18. Figuring out and then explaining the principles of a counselling technique.
19. Encouraging small children to act out the story of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
20. Seeing the bigger picture in a meeting about organisational change, where everyone else was concerned with just their own areas of work.
21. Creating a welcome screen that is displayed before PCs were logged in.

Mission Statement: Second Attempt

I recently wrote about my first attempt to write a personal mission statement. Here is my second attempt:

With God’s help, to become excellent in:

• Leadership
• Relationship 
• Stewardship

And to support others in the development of these same qualities.

Mission Statement: First Attempt

Some years ago, I wrote a mission statement for mysef – then put it in a drawer and forgot about it. Having recently attended a 7 habits course, I have developed a new interest in the idea of seeking God and reflecting on my life so I can develop a better idea of the purpose of my life. It will be interesting to see if a new mission statement emerges from this process. In the mean time, here is my original mission statement. Clearly, it needs a lot of work.

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With God’s help:

To invest myself first and foremost in my wife and children and children’s children. Then to friends, my church, my colleagues. To value all people, regardless of their social standing – especially those who are least valued and most unwanted. To offer kindness and to practice hospitality. To listen first, then to speak. To be truthful but also practice gentleness. To take the lead through supporting others. To teach through being teachable. To give comfort, encouragement and hope. To treat people with respect. To be diligent in work – a man of integrity and ability – always striving for excellence (but not too hard!). To be a good steward of: my body, mind and spirit; my time; my financial and material goods; and my talents – trusting God for my prosperity – enjoying the good things that God had given me – and sharing them with others.

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References

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Need Demotivation?

I have a new blog at demotiv8.wordpress.com (I’ll still be writing here, too). Demotiv8 is intended to be a parody of all sites good and bad that talk about:

• Personal development
• Motivation
• Self actualization
• Spiritual growth
• Self leadership
• GTD
• etc.

The Power to Stop Speeding Bullets

Superman puts up his hand, and stops a speeding bullet mid-flight.

Jesus stretches out his hands, and stops a speeding bullet before it is fired.

Bankrupt without Love

No matter how lofty the words, if I have no love, it is all just empty noise.

If I forsee the future, if I am privy to deep mysteries and hidden knowledge, and if I have it within my power to shake the very earth, but have no love, I am just a feeble, empty-headed fool.

If I pay the price, with all the riches I possess, giving even my very flesh, but have no love, then I gain nothing, and am forever truly bankrupt.

For the greatest of all things – is love.