Big Is The New Small

If you want something great in life you must be willing to risk something.

Risk is defined as – exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a dangerous chance. To act in spite of the possibility of loss or undesirable outcome.

If you are not achieving greatness, reaching your dreams or failing, there is a high probability that you are not taking enough risks.  It’s time for you to reach your potential, it’s time for you to start taking some risks.

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.” ~Leo Buscaglia

Do you think there is a correlation between risk and success?  Share your thoughts on the unwillingness of people to take risks.

Posterized - A slang term depicting a play in basketball. In said play, a player dunks the ball over top or in front of another player, making a play so picturesque that it may appear on a poster, hence the term, posterized.  (Blake Griffin makes a living out of posertizing NBA players.)

For those of you that follow sports you know that @blakegriffin is a freak of nature and is an ESPN top 10 highlight reel waiting to happen.  I happen to know Blake and his family, as they attended the LifeChurch.tv Campus that I pastored for many years. (casual name drop)

Blake has always had an amazing knack for the rim and ability to finish with a power dunk.  With the recent addition of one of the best point guards and floor generals in the game, Chris Paul, it’s power dunk to the nth degree.  So much so that the LA Clippers arena is nicknamed Lob City because of what Chris Paul combined with DeaAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin can do with the alley-oop.

Recently Blake Griffin did a monster dunk on OKC Thunder Big Man, my man Kendrick Perkins. The dunk has received over 3 million views and counting on YouTube.  You can check it out here.  I personally have seen way more powerful dunks by Blake Griffin than the Kendrick Perkins contested dunk.

The next game after the Big Posterization dunk on Kendrick Perkins, Blake Griffin and the Clippers faced the Utah Jazz.  Every time Blake got close to the rim, players were scurrying like a bunch of scared mice, because they didn’t want to get posterized.  It’s not only happening with Blake Griffin, but often times you will see players vacate the scene because they don’t want to get posterized.

In life or in basketball, if you want to be successful and you want to be a winner you must be willing to get posterized.  Don’t back down from a challenge, a promotion, taking a risk, facing an opponent or contesting one of the most prolific dunkers in the game.  Go after em’, give it what you got and be willing to get posterized.  Kendrick Perkins’ response to the posterization sums up what I’m trying to say, “It happens… At the end of the day, if you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on.” At the end of the day if you give it all that you have in life, business, sports etc. you’re going to get dunked on.

The ones that will be successful in the end are the ones that are willing to take a risk, the ones that are willing to get posterized.  That poster is a symbol that you were willing to try and not run away like a scared coward.  I’d much rather have a guy like Kendrick Perkins on my team than these other guys who are running scared.  That timid business is just weak sauce…  no matter the task; give it all that you have.

Our 26th President Theodore Rooselvelt spoke about those that are not willing to get posterized,

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  ~Theodore Roosevelt

Why is this generation a generation that is unwilling to get posterized?  Share your thoughts on this new generation of cold timid souls.

en-tre-pre-neur: a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business,
usually with considerable initiative and risk.

Many people have a desire to become a flourishing entrepreneur; however only a small percentage are successful. Successful entrepreneurs exhibit 2 key characteristics: a.) They are willing to put forth considerable initiative  b.) They understand they can’t be successful without a willingness to take considerable risk.

Do you want to be a successful entrepreneur?  Get up, Step up, Show some initiative and be ready to take some considerable risk.

Is it really that simple?  Share your thoughts!

I’m a connector, and I love connecting people to people and people to opportunities.  What I mean by that is that I love connecting like-minded people to other like-minded people.  I also love connecting great people to mutually great opportunities.

I feel that we’re made to connect, as we are connecting beings.  Even introverts have a desire to connect with people; they just appreciate their time, space and alone time.

It’s important to be a connector of people, as these connections help the world go around.  Some people-connections lead to great job opportunities for others.  Other people-connections lead to college students choosing this university or that university.  Then you have those connections that lead to meaningful relationships that eventually turn into a marriage.

Some of the most meaningful people-connections are those connections that lead to people far from God visiting a friend’s church, or hearing a friend witness. Those connections ultimately lead to an intimate connection with Jesus and a life that’s forever transformed.

No matter how you slice it, connections matter — Be a connector.

Do You Think Being A People Connector Is Important?  Share your thoughts and experiences?

No matter how you slice it, encouragement means more than you know.  There are tons of success stories that were inspired by someone encouraging someone with simple words like this, “You have what it takes.”

I remember reading an article in Southwest Airline’s Spirit Magazine about Baltimore Ravens Offensive Tackle Michael Oher that brought truth and reality to this very thing.  Michael is the famous NFL player whose life inspired one of my favorite movies “The Blind Side.”

Michael mentioned how he remembered his 4^th grade teacher Ms. Logan saying, “Can’t never could and ain’t never would.”  He also said he remembered later on in his schooling times when he thought about giving up Miss Sue would say, “You can do it!”  Those simple words were empowering and still impact him today.

For as long as I can remember I have remembered my mom telling me, “Son, you can do absolutely anything.”  Each and every step of my life that I had questions, whether it be college, grad school, starting businesses, big-time leadership roles, being the youngest prison warden in the country…  When I had questions and doubts my mom never had doubts.  “Son, you can do absolutely anything.” 

Throughout the years I’ve had mentors that have said some version of the same thing.   This encouragement coupled with a genuine belief that God is saying, “Son, you can do anything” has made a believer out of me.

As a result, I always try to be a genuine believer in most everyone that I get to work closely with.  One of the pastors that I used to work with told me that I was “Barnabas” to him and that attribute of encouragement saved his career and ministry calling.

It’s pretty amazing how this simple cycle works – I believe in others and in return they believe in themselves.   I have been accused of believing in people too much and I’ll take that criticism any day.  Fortunately, I worship a God that believes in His children too much.

Encourage someone today…  It Means More Than You Know.

Do you make it a habit to encourage others?  Do you know someone that does a great job of encouraging?  Share your thoughts and experiences.

Life is all about the decisions that we make, as well as the decisions that we don’t make.  Unfortunately many people sit on the sidelines holding onto dreams that they have never attempted or have never even tried to put into play.

The bottom line is this, you were made for more; however you’ll never realize the more you were made to be by sitting idle.  You will not reach your potential if you don’t dream big and you simply settle for mediocrity.

The older I get and the more older, wiser and experienced people I talk to, the more I realize this statement to be true, “You will regret the things that you fail to try, way more than the things that you try and fail.”

“If you got a dream, you gotta protect it…  If you want something, go get it. Period!” ~Will Smith – Chris Gardner (Movie Pursuit of Happyness)

 Have you regretted things that you’ve failed to try?  Share your thoughts.

I have lots of thoughts each and every day, as a matter of fact all of us do.  There is varying research that suggests how many thoughts a day the average human has.  Some research indicates that 100 years ago the average number of thoughts was 5,000 a day and today humans think around 55,000 thoughts per day.  I guess we have a lot more to think about in this overly stimulating age and time.

I’m not sure what the accurate number of thoughts per day is, however I’d be inclined to think that I’m more aligned with the 55,000 thoughts a day number.  I would also say that many of the thoughts that I have are ideas, dreams, visions and more ideas.

As a consultant the general deliverables for my clients primarily deal with ideas, connecting those ideas to strategy and moving that strategy into reality.  The “always on” thinking works perfect for the way that I’m wired, because I’m a thinker and thinking is how I orient my world.  I literally had 10 different business ideas, strategies, thoughts and aha’s on my drive home today.  I got home did some research and realized that a couple of them didn’t make sense and I will pursue the others further.

That’s the beauty of having many thoughts is the fact that you weed out the ones that need to be weeded out and you act on the others.  The more ideas you have the greater opportunity for some of those ideas to be great ones.

The beauty an idea is the fact that it forces you to wrestle the question of, “Is this idea good, bad or indifferent?”  Often times a bad idea has as much value and opportunities for learning as a good one.  Ideas all have potential, it’s what you do with those ideas that determines whether or not the potential of a particular idea is realized.  Potential unrealized is just potential.

What Is An Idea Worth?  The idea itself is not worth much.  The strategy, thoughts, wrestling and process of massaging that idea into something special is worth lots, maybe even million$ or gazillion$.

There are tons of success stories that simply began with an idea that was developed into something very special.   What Is An Idea Worth?  It depends on what the person that has the idea is willing to do with it?

Got Ideas?  Share your thoughts.

I watched the game last night and so did many of you.  LSU got beat and The Alabama Crimson Tide Are The BCS Champions.  Other than who was the better team last night, below are 7 Life & Leadership Lessons From The BCS Championship Game.

• 1. Don’t live off of yesterday’s successes.
• 2. Nerves can positively and negatively affect your performance. (don’t get too nervous)
• 3. There is an advantage of being the hunter as opposed to the hunted.
• 4. Just because you get defeated doesn’t always mean your opponent is better.
• 5. There is always room for improvement in both coaches and players.
• 6. It’s not about X’s & O’s, it’s about Jim’s & Joe’s. (Coaches coach & Players play)
• 7. Sometimes your opponent is just downright better than you.

There is an old saying that defense wins championships…  Alabama confirmed that last night.

There is a new saying that I’m making up right now: bad offenses lose championships…  LSU confirmed that last night.

Share your thoughts on these 7 lessons.  Add some to the list or share your thoughts on the game.

As coach Les Miles was interviewed by Erin Andrews on his way off the field at halftime.  He was asked, what he’s going to do get his offense that’s not clicking going in the second half.  Les responded with the quote below:

“We had cadence issues, fumbled snaps, every possible mistake was made… What’s gotta happen at this point is we have gotta chunk that and do things that we came here to do.” ~Les Miles

I’m writing this post during half-time of the game where Alabama has just hit it’s 3rd field goal and lead Les Miles’ Bayou Bengals 9-0.  I don’t have any idea what the outcome will be; however I do know that Coach Miles’ advice doesn’t only apply to football, it’s the story of life.

When things are going wrong and every possible mistake is happening, you gotta chunk that stuff, get focused and do what you came to do.  A key element is during the interview Les Miles didn’t seemed to be worried and was as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Chunk it and do what you were created to do!

When it comes to opportunities, there are types of people – Waiters and Makers.  Not referring to waiter from the more traditional sense of waiting tables at a restaurant, but from the perspective of someone who sits around and waits.

Think about waiter from the early 14th century definition, where a waiter was a watchman or attendant and their primary duty was to sit around and watch.

Again, when it comes to understanding how people interact with the opportunities of life, there are two types of people - waiters and makers.

• Waiters – those who sit around and wait on the opportunities to come to them.
• Makers – those who create opportunities and make opportunities happen.

When opportunity knocks the waiter sits around waiting for someone else to open the door and that someone else is the maker whose ready to make things happen.  When opportunity knocks, answer the door.  If opportunity doesn’t knock, kick the door down.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ~Seneca

Seize the opportunity!

Are you a Waiter or a Maker?