Your Champions Brew for Friday, March 17, 2023 – Have Fun, Eat Healthy (or not!) and Read More

Top O’ the morning, Brew Nation!   It’s an honor to be back as your trusted “Friday Coffee Guy” I’m thrilled 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 an uncommon leader. I am so grateful for your decision to invest a few moments with me!

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!

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:

• Have Fun –Have you ever wondered why St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17?  Here are a few things I dug up (h/t – IrishCentral.com):
  • As it turns out, Ireland’s national holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, is celebrated on March 17 because that is the day Saint Patrick himself died.
  • The man who brought Christianity to Ireland is believed to have died in 461 AD, supposedly at the grand old age of 122!
  • The date was only officially enshrined in canon law as a holy day by the Vatican in 1631 and was supposedly first celebrated on American shores in 1737 when wealthy members of Boston’s Irish community threw a party to welcome newly arrived Irish immigrants.
  • Over the years, St. Patrick’s Day has grown from a solemn feast day when pubs shut in Ireland to the global celebration of Irish culture and heritage we know today.

Happy St Patrick’s Day! 

• Eat Healthy – I am currently embarking on a transformative journey with the “40-Day Fitness Challenge” from Jeremy Scott Fitness (available on the Playbook app), and I’m about 25% of the way through! The challenge comprises of 10 “guidelines” that are specifically designed to aid in the transformation of both body and mindset. One of the most interesting guidelines is to indulge in a single ‘cheat meal’ per week, which allows me to exceed my daily caloric intake goal without feeling guilty. My usual calorie intake target is around 2,000 calories per day, while a cheat meal may take me up to 2,800-3,000 calories.

Jeremy suggests a few additional guidelines for the cheat meal, such as only eating at a restaurant to avoid temptations at home, limiting the meal to just one hour to avoid turning it into a cheat ‘day’, and making sure that nothing is taken home. I must admit, I don’t always follow these rules outside of the challenge, as I’m someone who thoroughly enjoys eating. However, I’ve learned to discipline myself over the years to stay within my calorie range.

During this transformation, I’ve had the opportunity to indulge in a couple meals that I would typically only have on rare occasions. For instance, last Saturday, I relished a mouthwatering bacon jalapeno cheeseburger with a side of French fries. It was my only complete meal of the day, but it was so delicious that I couldn’t resist.

• Read More – I have truly enjoyed reviewing one law per week from John Maxwell’s 25^th anniversary edition of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  I really hope you have found these helpful.  For me, going back through this read for the third time has been truly fruitful.  This week’s law is the final law of the book!  :

Law # 21 – The Law of Legacy

A Leader’s Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession

Legacy is a vital outcome of a  life well-lived. As I pore over this chapter for the third time in the last 25 years, it resonates with me now more than ever before. As I look back on my initial reading in 1998, I am quite sure that my focus on ‘succession’ revolved around grooming my replacement in the workplace. However, as a 54-year-old in 2023, my understanding of this concept has significantly evolved. My primary objective now is to equip, encourage, and inspire leaders to grow themselves and, in turn, foster new leaders – Champion leaders.  One way that I aim to achieve this is by sharing my insights and experiences, curating valuable resources, and offering guidance on leadership development. To me, this is what ‘succession’ truly means.

There were so many fabulous takeaways in this chapter on Legacy:

• “Legacy is not leaving something for people.  Legacy is leaving something in people.

• If you want to create a legacy, you need to live it first.  You must become what you desire to give and see in others.
  • “We have made at least a start in discovering the meaning in human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit.” – Elton Trueblood
  • “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson
  • There is a natural progression to how leaders develop in the area of legacy, starting with the desire to achieve:
    • Achievement comes when leaders do big things themselves.
    • Success comes when they empower followers to do big things for them.
    • Significance comes when they develop leaders to do great things with them.
    • Legacy comes when they put leaders in positions to do great things without them.

I hope that you have enjoyed journeying with me through the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  It is my intention to continue this book review segment of the Champions Brew.  John has a new book coming out this month titled, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication.  I expect this will be another gem.  Won’t you walk through this one with me?  Get yourself a copy of the book and let’s mark it up together each week!!

Quote

“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular; it is why he does it.  The motive is everything.  Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.” – A.W. Tozer

What You Need to Do:

Call to Action:  Someday people will summarize your life in a single sentence.  John Maxwell’s advice: pick it now!  No, really, I mean pick it now.  Take some time to think about your legacy.  At this point in my journey, my sentence goes a little like this: “My primary purpose is to equip, inspire and encourage others to grow intentionally, and, in turn, grow new leaders – Champion leaders.”

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, Have Fun, Eat Healthy (but, unhealthy once in a while!), Read More, 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!!