Welcome back brew nation! As the “Friday Coffee Guy” I am excited each week to provide a weekly assembly of material I am reading, listening to, watching, or thinking about that is designed to equip and call you to uncommon leadership, and I am grateful you choose to spend a few minutes with me!
Here is your weekly sip of what I have been reading, listening to, or watching to equip me to:
- Exercise Daily – Recently, Ed Mylett interviewed Dr. Layne Norton, Doctor of Nutritional Sciences and National Champ Bodybuilder. The title was “No BS Health & Fit Guide”. I had a few takeaways from this interview that I thought were worthy of sharing:
1) If it’s not sustainable then it’s not attainable – Diets (Keto, intermittent fast, balanced, low-fat, etc.) will work. But to transform, you have to ask yourself, is this type of diet sustainable as a lifestyle? But if your goal is to stay on this diet until you get the weight off and then come off the diet at that point, the research is unequivocally clear that you will put the weight back on.
2) Change my life – No BS – If you want to transform your body, you cannot think of this as a ‘diet’. You have to think of this as ‘I’m going to change my life.’ What is the person you want to become? What do their daily habits look like? Start executing on that.
3) Fitness watch “precise vs. accurate’ – There is data that shows that fitness trackers OVER-ESTIMATE the calorie burn by 28-90%!!! It is just a surrogate measure. BUT, if the watch tells you that you burned 300 calories with a workout yesterday and 450 calories with a workout today, you had a better workout. relatively speaking, the watch is accurate(directionally correct), but not precise (exact).
All of these tips came within about a 4 minute stretch of an hour long podcast from around the 54:00 mark to 58:00 mark if you would like to go back and listen.
- Read More – I have committed to reviewing one law per week from John Maxwell’s 25th anniversary edition of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. This week’s law is:
Law # 13 – The Law of the Picture
People Do What People See
When leaders show the way with the right actions, their followers copy them, and they can succeed. One of the places I find inspiration is music. One of the places I find ‘stories’ with inspiration is often country music. When I re-read the Law of the Picture, there was a country song that came to mind by Rodney Atkins. The title of the song is “Watching You” – Watch the video (really… this is worth the 3 minute watch!) and/or read the words below to see the essence of the Law of the Picture
Watching You
Driving through town just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn’t have the toy
‘Till his nuggets were gone
… Green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath
His fries went a flying and his orange drink covered his lap
Well then my four year old said a four letter word
That started with “s” and I was concerned
So I said son now where’d you learn to talk like that?
… He said I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah we’re just alike, hey ain’t we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I’ve been watching you
… We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said lord please help me help my stupid self
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son’s scooby doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said son now where’d you learn to pray like that?
… He said I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama’s hand
Yeah we’re just alike, hey ain’t we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I’ve been watching you
… With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug
Said my little bear is growing up
And he said but when I’m big I’ll still know what to do
… Cause I’ve been watching you dad, ain’t that cool
I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
By then I’ll be as strong as superman
We’ll be just alike, hey won’t we dad
When I can do everything you do
Cause I’ve been watching you
Amen. That IS The Law of the Picture (mic drop)
So, as you strive to improve as an example to your followers, remember these four (4) things:
1) The people you lead are always watching what you do – Just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees watch their bosses.
2) It’s easier to Teach what’s right then Do what’s right – This is the difference between a travel agent who sends people to places the agent has never been, and a tour guide talking people places they have gone before. Be a tour guide!
3) We should work on changing ourselves before trying to improve others – The most important person to lead is yourself!
4) The most valuable gift a leader can give is being a good example – Leadership is more caught than taught
- Quote
“No written word nor spoken plea
Can teach our youth what they should be
Nor all the books on all the shelves
It’s what the teachers are themselves.”
Rudyard Kipling
What You Need to Do:
Call to Action: What are three things you wish your family, friends, or team members did better than they do now? Assess YOUR performance of each of those three things. If your scores are low, then you need to change yourself. If your scores are high, then be more intentional at modeling those things in front of those individuals!!
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, Exercise Daily, Read More, and Grow Champions!
P.S. – Are you a podcast fan? Maybe the Uncommon Leader podcast is for you. This past week I interviewed Jesse Eubanks, author of the soon to be release book, How We Relate, Understanding God, Yourself and Others through The Enneagram. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you consume your podcasts. 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!!
