“Encourages you to get wisdom, grow in wisdom, and give wisdom. To live life to the fullest and impact the world around you.”
Leah Amico three-time Olympic Gold Medalist
The 4 O's of Courage
Written by Jimmy & Dan
Thursday, 26 January 2012 14:04
Opportunities are followed by Opposition.
“One person with courage is a majority.” – Thomas Jefferson
As the NFL season races toward the Super Bowl, only two teams remain. They have four things in common: Opportunity, Opposition, Obedience and Outcome. Each team has an open door of opportunity to play for the most significant championship the game of football offers. Clearly, each team faces opposition that will do whatever it takes to stop them and take the Lombardi Trophy. There is obedience of the players to the coaching staff, the game plan and the execution of their role to the best of their ability. And there will be a clear outcome in two weeks! These are truly courageous competitors.
In life, there are Four “O’s”—Opportunities, Opposition, Obedience and Outcomes. When we understand this concept, we can live courageously despite the circumstances.
“The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.” - Brennan Manning
Looking without Being? Unfortunately, we all live by the “look without being” principle. This is when we value behavior over being. Performance-based living drives us to look good without being good. We want the appearance and don’t care about the reality. The goal is impress at a distance, but up close there is no transformation in our lives. Looking without being is plain old hypocrisy.
"Competition is won or lost on the six-inch playing field between the ears." - Gary Mack, Sports Psychologist
I was in the gym the other day and saw one of the most profound messages that I have ever seen on a t-shirt. It said, “Don’t believe everything you think.” I thought it was going to say, “Don’t believe everything you hear or read or see,” so I literally did a double-take. What does it mean, don’t believe everything you think?
The more I thought about it, the more meaningful the message became. I quickly realized that the real battle is in my mind. My thoughts affect how I feel; my feelings affect what I do and how I do it; and that affects everything in my life. Ultimately though, it all starts in my head.
"If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation." - Oswald Sanders
Lead Means Lead. Across the side of the truck in big, bold black letters, it read “SIT MEANS SIT.” The dog obedience business had a clever way to communicate their service. Basically, they wanted you to know that they get results. I laughed out loud when I read on the back of the truck as it drove by: “We don’t train husbands, wives or children!”
“Sit Means Sit” got me thinking. Could the same thing be said about leadership, “Lead Means Lead”? In today’s world, we spend too much time analyzing leadership, but when it comes down to it, we don’t lead. We talk about leadership, read about leadership and we train on leadership, but we don’t lead. We have a leadership problem: leadership experts who don’t know how to lead.
We are all leaders, but too few of us practice it.
