Meaningful Mondays - Arrows Out

We have God-given rights which bring with them obligations, which, when properly honored, become opportunities.

An indigenous elder of Cherokee descent, Stan Rushworth, reminded us of the difference between a Western settler mindset of "I have rights" and an indigenous mindset of "I have obligations." Instead of thinking, 'My rights entitle me,' what if we choose to think that we are born with obligations— not rights —to serve past, present, and future generations?

"Positivity attracts courage, solutions, and people who lift us higher. Who you believe yourself to be is who you become."
— Lee Brower

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
— Napoleon Hill

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
— Carl Jung

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”
— Denis Waitley

Here is a hint- it is not your decisions!

"Character is the ability to carry out a worthwhile decision long after the decision has passed."

"Our thoughts determine our actions, our actions determine our habits, our habits determine our character, and our character determines our eternal destiny."
- David O. McKay

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet."
— Bob Marley

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
— Chinese Proverb

"If you deeply lean into gratitude, the mental 'light' it produces makes it harder for negativity to fully occupy your awareness."
— Lee Brower

"Negativity is simply the absence of gratitude."
— Lee Brower

"Recreational Anxiety feels like motion, but it is just emotion with no direction." And it's silently training our children —and us — to be reactive rather than reflective. Distracted, not discerning. Noisy, instead of noticing.

biPas™ is your internal circuit breaker. It reconnects you to clarity, calmness, courage, and control.

Outwitting the Devil, by Napoleon Hill.

Going BIG so that we can go BIG'R. When we go BIG Begin In Gratitude), it allows us to create even big'r "R"ipples

Do you want to be in more control of yourself each day, each hour, each moment? Would you like to build new neural pathways- mental shortcuts that bypass (biPas™) the reactive brain? “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
—Viktor E. Frankl

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
—William James

The Belief Switch
Can you imagine living in a world where the only satisfaction you got was from blaming and complaining?

“The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences..."
-- Dr. Rick Hansen

MRI studies show that the more you complain, the more those neural pathways deepen— until your brain defaults to that behavior.
It shrinks your prefrontal cortex—your center for logic, reason, and problem solving. It literally makes you less equipped to find solutions.
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic dopamine production?

"Gratitude opens the heart. Self-belief turns the key."
-- Lee Brower
"Self-belief is gratitude in motion."
-- Lee Brower

"Communication isn't about what you say. Communication is the response you get."

"Anytime you use something that is 'true' to deceive, mislead, or be self-serving, it is a lie, not the TRUTH."

If people walk away confused, hurt, or misled- even if what we said was technically true- we failed as leaders (communicators).

"A reliable system turns guilt-driven ‘yeses’ into purpose-driven ‘no’s."
- Lee Brower

"Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not."
- Cal Newport, Deep Work.

"94% of all failures are the result of the system."
- W. Edwards Deming

When you say "yes" to something, what are you saying "no" to?

“Can I begin this day with the intentionality, confidence, and courage to say no—even to the very important—so that I can accomplish the essential yeses that move me closer to my most meaningful future?”

“This next year doesn’t have to be my best yet…it GETS to be.”

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard… Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
—Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

"Don’t just look back with gratitude. Look forward with expectant gratitude. Say no to the noise— So you can say 'yes' to what truly matters."