Your Champions Brew for Friday, November 5, 2021

The  Champion’s Brew is a weekly assembly of material I am reading, listening to, or watching that is  designed to equip and call you to uncommon leadership.  I often add my own little spin based on my takeaways and would love your input as well.  Any of the points especially impact you?  Drop me a note at [email protected], or comment on the blog to keep the conversation going!  I believe you will discover that the format  is not only useful, but also that you can consume it within the time it takes you to enjoy your daily ‘brew’!  Become a member of the Champions Brew Nation by subscribing here!!

Here is your weekly drink of what I have been reading and experimenting with to help me to:

• Worry Less: Do you have trouble saying ‘no’ to requests? I often do. Some reasons that I own include:
  • I don’t want to upset someone that I care about
  • There may be a little ‘FOMO’ (Fear Of Missing Out) – I do like hang out with people that I like doing things that I like and saying ‘no’ even when I don’t have the time can be difficult.
  • The item may seem very important at the time.

Here are a few tips from a recent Harvard Business Review “Tip of the Day” when it comes to saying no: 

1. Don’t just say yes to an opportunity that’s in the distant future. When making a long-term decision,  ask yourself how you’d feel if it were happening tomorrow instead of…later. Would you still say yes?
2. Generously estimate the time required to do the job. Consider all the work that will be involved  before getting to the exciting parts of the opportunity — for example, the prep time before the speaking engagement. How much time will it take out of your regular schedule and routine responsibilities? Can you realistically fit the time commitment into  your schedule?
3. Adopt some hard rules about which opportunities you don’t want to take on. (e.g., “I don’t go out to dinner on a work night past 6:30”) This will help you set clear boundaries around the kinds of requests you’ll even consider.
4. When developing your own rules, consider your strengths and the type of activities that actually energize you.

• Read More:  I found this recent post by Noah Nelson to be intriguing.  The title is: 4 Ways Reading Has Transformed My Life.  You can click on the link for his detail, but the key points were:
  1. It made him a better conversationalist
  2. It made him a better writer
  3. It made him a better reader
  4. It made him a better person

The reason it intrigued me was that it got me to reflect on ways that reading has transformed my life.  My goal in 2021 is to read 12 books and read the entire bible.  As of this posting, I am on track and feeling really good about it.  How has reading transformed me this year?

1. It relaxes me – My daily routine is much improved.  Starting off my day reading gives me energy and gets my mind moving (and, Brew helps, too!)
2. It has made me a better leader – I choose to read books that would fall into the leadership development category and I am able to grow others by sharing short excerpts from those books – (if you read this far, than you are a recipient of some of that sharing!)
3. It has made me a better friend – I have shared more books this year as gifts than I have for a long time.
4. It has enhanced my podcast! – I have had no fewer than 5 published authors (and one aspiring author!) on my podcast thus far.
5. It has built my faith – There is no doubt that reading the entire Bible in a year has been both challenging and rewarding.  This book is simply life changing.

• Quote to Live Forever: ““A good book is like a good friend. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. When you first get to know it, it will give you excitement and adventure, and years later it will provide you with comfort and familiarity. And best of all, you can share it with your children or your grandchildren or anyone you love enough to let into its secrets.”– Charlie Lovett

What you need to do:

Call to Action:  So, what about you?  How has reading transformed your life?  Do you have a favorite book that stays with you?  Who needs to read that book?  Drop me a note with your thoughts on these questions – [email protected]

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew.  If you enjoyed it, I would appreciate it if you would share it with a friend who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week. 

Also, the Uncommon Leader podcast is growing!  Click HERE for a list of the episodes of interviews I have done with Uncommon leaders including some of those authors I spoke about above!.  It has been enjoyable for me and I know the guests will add value to you as well !

Until next time, go and Grow Champions!