Are you focused on Motivation or Inspiration?
Happy Friday, Brew Nation !
Grab your favorite coffee cup, sit back, relax, and get ready to sip on some enriching and thought-provoking content that will equip you to thrive in all areas of your life:
- Think Positively – I have seen this poem posted on a couple Instagram accounts recently and decided to look it up for the origin and found that it was from Pastor Keith Craft. No other commentary needed, just wanted to start your Friday off with some positive thoughts:
Today’s the Day!
Today’s the Day…God has ordained for you
Old things are passed away, behold all things are made new.
Today’s a reminder that yesterday is gone and tomorrow is out of sight.
Today’s the Day…where all wrongs, will be made right.
Today’s the Day…to start again.
Today’s the Day…that YOU will win!
No matter how many times, you’ve lost in the past,
God has a future for you that is bright and vast!
It’s time to look forward and go in the direction of your dreams.
To do the impossible, no matter how hard it seems.
Today’s the Day…to keep doing what you know to do.
Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.
Disappointments, rejection, fear and a broken heart.
God is going to use those real life things, to give u a brand new start.
Today’s the Day…to BELIEVE you CAN.
Do all things thru Christ who EMPOWERS you to fulfill His plan.
Don’t look to your left, don’t look to your right,
Today walk by faith and don’t be distracted by sight!
Today’s the Day…for your dreams to come true.
Say it and believe it…Its your Father God’s good pleasure to give His Kingdom to you!
Are you aware that The Champions Brew explores various topics that I frequently coach and consult on with other leaders and organizations? If you or someone you know is seeking to elevate their business or personal life from underperforming to uncommon, I would love to connect with you and discuss 1:1 or group coaching, as well as performance consulting. In fact, click the following link to schedule a FREE CALL to explore how coaching could benefit you and your team. Let’s work together to unleash your full potential and achieve your goals!
- Stay Strong – Last weekend, I attended my nephew’s baseball game. That was a great opportunity to make some memories (see the Brew cover photo this week!) with family. I also had eight hours in the car, which gave me an opportunity to get caught up on a few podcasts and I heard some good ones. One of them was a two part podcast by Craig Groeschel titled, The 8 Habits of Great Leaders. While I may summarize all 8 in a future Champions Brew, I was especially impacted by one he described that he called “The Habit of Fueling the Fire”. He said, “If you want to inspire others, you need to inspire yourself first.” He went on to discuss the importance of focusing on inspiration, NOT motivation. I appreciated how he distinguished between the two:
- If you do what you do out of MOTIVATION, you will work until someone removes the external motivating factor.
- If you do what you do out of INSPIRATION, no one will be able to talk you out of that passion.
Motivation will keep you going for a little while, but INSPIRATION will keep you going for the long term. When you understand your ‘why’, your purpose for doing what you do, you have a better chance to develop the disciplines and habits required to reach that purpose.
- Read More –We are halfway through The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication – Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message. Each week, I travel with you through a chapter of this book. This week we review Law # 8 of 16:
Law # 8 – The Law of Leverage
Good Communicators Lead with Their Strengths and Use Them Often
“If you want to grow as a communicator, you must learn your natural primary strengths and use them when you speak.” When I see or hear a speaker that grabs my attention or inspires me, I tend to emulate how they communicate. Admittedly, I have worked to emulate John Maxwell’s speaking habits over the years. I do believe that I am just now really starting to understand MY strengths, though, and leverage those in my communication. In this chapter, John Maxwell discussed the four primary connection points of communication:
1) Heart
2) Help
3) Humor
4) Hope
Maxwell’s advice is to lead with your best connecting strength 99 percent of the time and return to it when you speak. Hard not to agree with him. First, let’s define each of the four:
1) Heart is an emotional connection. It is vulnerable and open. It is encouraging.
2) Help adds value to people by giving them practical tools that can improve their lives. It means equipping people to change what they see, how they think and what they do.
3) Humor – Humor is seeing the funny side of life. It is the most difficult to ‘learn’. Steve Harvey has the gift of humor. I am sure you can think of others who do as well. I, on the other hand, do not. I sometimes use self-deprecation as humor, but that is probably more to get empathy from the audience than it is to use humor. If humor is not your strength, NEVER try to open a talk with a joke or try to force laughter.
4) Hope – Hope is showing people possibilities, inspiring them to believe in those possibilities and assisting them in reaching for those possibilities.
As you read those definitions, I am sure there are one or more that perhaps come to mind as strengths that you have. If not, you can ask yourself these questions to help:
- Which one of the four comes most easily to you? For me, Help comes the most easily to me.
- Which one of the four creates the most traction when you communicate? I believe that help creates the most traction for me as well. The template for the Champions Brew outlines this point with 2 to 3 summaries of things I have read or heard recently, ending with a ‘call to action’. I am hopeful that one point each week may drive you to try a new habit to help you grow.
- Which of the four to people most affirm after you speak? While Help is likely my biggest strength, I think Heart is most affirmed after I do a talk or speech. “Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.”
- Which of the four are you using when you experience “magic moments” on stage? Magic moments occur, though, when individuals are inspired, or given hope to reach higher levels in their leadership and performance.
My mission is to inspire, equip, and encourage. (Note that it does not say that my mission is to make you laugh!). No comedy cabana for me! I will stick with karaoke – only three minutes of pain for your ears!!
To become a good communicator, discover your strengths, lean on those strengths, leverage those strengths – that is the Law of Leverage.
Quote of the week:
“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” – Angela Duckworth
What You Need to Do:
Call to Action: You have the power to change your habits and your life for good. What is your biggest barrier to living out the habits you need to live out to be Uncommon in business and life? What is one thing you can do this week to break down that barrier?
It’s an honor to be your trusted “Friday Coffee Guy”. Each week, I’m excited to provide yet another round of curated content that I’ve been reading, listening to, watching, or thinking over. The purpose of the Champions Brew is to inspire, equip and encourage you to become the uncommon leader you were designed to be. I am so grateful for your decision to invest a few moments with me! I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew. If you did, I would appreciate it if you would share it with someone who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week.
Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!
P.S. – Are you a podcast fan? Maybe the Uncommon Leader podcast is for you. Are you interested in being a guest on the Uncommon Leader Podcast? Do you have a story to tell? Email me [email protected] and let’s have a chat and set something up!!
