2024: CHAINS…ROPES…OH MY!

As we venture in our journey of life, there are somethings that happen that are meant to set us free, while others are there to anchor us to the world we live in.

Like a ship that is docked, it has ropes that keep it tied to the pier. That way it does not drift away in the night. When the ship is ready to set sail the lines are cast off and soon, it is on a path to places over the horizon on a course set by the ship’s captain. 

The anchor is attached to a chain and when the ship is ready to temporarily stop, it drops anchor. When it is time to move on, hoist the anchor, and soon back on course to places over the horizon.

Do you see a pattern there? If not, that’s ok. I am going to explain it anyway.

Ships are built to head to the high seas. Ships are built to withstand rough seas. Ships are built to not only move from point A to point B but are also built to stay afloat, to stay above water.

As a Self-Leader you are also built to keep moving. You are NOT built to stay docked at any port for too long. You are also not built to stay anchored anywhere for too long. What does that mean?
It means that you are built to continue to grow, to develop, to become better than you are now.
 

While all this might sound like something I have said over and over before, it is because I have said it over and over. I believe in what I say. I stand by what I say. I have this passion for people to step up and be the leaders they know they can be and are. I stick to my passion because the message I share is that important. 

Over the decades I have been on this planet, I have witnessed good and bad. Good things, Bad Things. Good People and Bad People. Though it would be easy to say that I have seen just about all there is to see when it comes to Good and Bad. I promise you I have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Of what I have witnessed, rest assured it still surprises me to the levels of Good and Bad people can and do go to.
That’s ok, I know that as a human being I am capable of going to those extremes. I opt out of that. No one is, no matter how much they try to kid themselves, no one is perfect. I am not perfect.

Sure, people can claim they live a pious life but are they really? A pious person would never verbally proclaim their piety for a truly pious person lets their actions and behaviors do all the talking for them.
On the other hand, there are individuals that revel in their unabashed devious behavior. The boasting and bragging of their deceit are certainly not something to be proud of or to be used as a tool to make others fear them. The pious and the deceitful have one thing in common.

They have their chains and ropes tying them down. Tying them down to live the braggadocios life they have chosen to use as a facade to mask their inability to cast off their lines and hoist their anchor to live a life they can freely choose to live. While some may argue that the pious or the deceitful are living the life they choose but at what cost? This argument can quickly become a circular argument thus, I offer 

this advice or words of warning:
As we venture in our journey of life, while there is no set time to cast off the ropes and hoist your anchor. You will know when the time comes. Only you will know when the time comes to set yourself free, especially when there are others trying to anchor you down or keep you tied to the dock in the name of keeping you safe. The world is not a safe harbor. The world we live in has rough seas as well as smooth swells all of which you are more than capable of handling.

Get to work! 

Thank you,
David Guerra

P.S. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

P.P.S. To order your copy of Great To Follow: Amazon paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble paperback
To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

2024 - DAILY JOURNALING (REVISITED)

 It is now the middle of September 2024. In a few days FALL will officially begin and you know what that means! That’s right, the start of the 2024 HOLIDAY SEASON will be well underway. Pay no mind that our local Wal-Mart Supercenter already has their Christmas section in full effect. Sadly, almost as quickly as it starts, the holiday season is over. POOF! In an instant we sit with a new year ahead of us.

Another year with an empty calendar of 365 days and loaded with promises of better days. However, as reality starts to set in we recognize that there will be good times along with the bad. It is just life. That is why we must make the best of the time we have for life is very brief..

To make the best of the time we have, it is good to track our journey across the days, months, and years. It is good to look back at what life was like last year, three years ago, and even further back, if possible. However, we should journal to reflect and share emotions, actions, and events but we must not journal to linger on the past.

So, if you have not started journaling monthly, weekly, or ultimately daily, why not start now? I have been journaling through most of my adult life. I do wish I had caught the habit much sooner. In my youth I did log things but nothing formal or recurring or habitual. Nothing to the level or caliber I am doing now. That is OK as I have NO REGRETS.

Remember, no matter how hard we try, we cannot change the past. But we can change our future. Using the tools of the past we can build a better future. Not just for ourselves but for our legacy. Imagine the following situation:

Today, you have a sudden health scare. Nothing major but if left unchecked it can turn into something very debilitating. You look back on recent journal entries and you begin to spot a trend that led to the situation you find yourself in. Soon you take that information to your practitioner and your health is soon back on the right track. Now, fast forward two to three generations down the road, someone is reading your journal (someone will) and they soon discover they are on track to encounter the same health scare you once found yourself in. There is no guarantee it is the same thing that you had but, hey, genetics are funny that way.

Crisis Averted? Maybe! At least, what you journal today can help open someone’s eyes later or at best, save a life.

Again, just something to think about. There are countless possibilities and future uses for your journaling now. Who knows someone might just make a movie about your life. It has happened before. 

The thing is to get started. So, get started now. Seriously, what is stopping you? Nothing! Absolutely, nothing is stopping you.

There is no need for a dedicated journal, it helps though. Heck, even one of those black and white composition books will do as does some 3x5 index cards. Just do not forget to date your entries.

As for the writing utensil, our great-grandparents had pencils, you can use a pencil. Remember, a BIC blue ink pen works just as well as a Waldmann Fountain Pen - Private Eye of Baker Street (Limited Edition) (MSRP $21,200.00USD).

Leaving your mark on a piece of paper is all that matters.

 Thank you for your time,
David Guerra 

P.S. Check out the link to the Waldmann Fountain Pen (it will take you to the Goulet Pens dot com website).

P.P.S. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

P.P.P.S. To order your copy of Great To Follow: Amazon paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble paperback
To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

2024: The Higher, The Fewer – part XXVII

For those that have been following my blog, you may remember the Bell Curve and the Chart that talks about finding yourself in a place better than most of the population. Well, let me take a moment or two of your time to help refresh your memory or to introduce you to what I called “The Higher, The Fewer.”

This comes from an episode of an old television show called Star Trek: The Next Generation. In an episode, there is a reference to obligations and what must be done (whether we like it or not) and what can be done (whether we like it or not). There is a line that at the time made no sense but over time and re-runs it started to make sense. That line was just four words: THE HIGHER, THE FEWER.

To take this literally, it means that while on the ground the place is crowded and as one changes elevation there are less things to get in the way. Picture the road at rush hour, crowded and packed and almost at a standstill. Now look up, in the sky. Not so crowded, is it?
Now look at it this way. You are starting out in life. You get a front line position, you are among many. I know this to be true. I was an Infantryman for the US Army. There were so many of us. Then again, as history has shown us time after time, there is always plenty of cannon fodder. However, all of us had a rank. The Army is funny that way. The rank helps keep things organized and it creates levels of operation, responsibility and a blame buffer between the top ranked individuals and the fodder down below.

While an Infantry platoon may consist of approximately 30 men, there are 4 squads, each with their own leader; Squad Leader. Then there is a Platoon Sergeant and a Platoon Leader. Moving up the ranks there is a Company First Sergeant and Company Commander. Moving up again, there is now the Sergeant Major and the one Battalion Commander. Up even further is the one Brigade Commander, one Division Commander, one Corps Commander and so on, all the way up to the one Commander in Chief. How’s that for a very brief overview the command structure of the US Army?

So, what does this have to do with THE HIGHER, THE FEWER?

As you move up the ranks there are fewer and fewer among you. Look at it like a triangle/pyramid. There is a wide base but as you climb up the available area becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually, when you get to the top there is only room for one. There can be only one.

The same principle applies in life, especially when it comes to those you surround yourself with. When we are young, everyone is your friend. You want to be liked. You want to be popular. Then as you get older and away from school you soon discover that it gets harder and harder to make friends, to be popular; why? Because now as you are older, no longer is charisma and good looks enough. Now it is all about what you bring to the table. What are your merits? Even then it might not be enough to bring into that “kaffeeklatsch” or get invited to the discussion round table or what not.

As you move up the line, you become more selective about who you hang around with. Others are doing the same. Now, you pick your battles wisely. You make decisions after careful deliberation and consideration. No longer is being carefree (and careless) enough. As you have grown, learned, and become more selective you realize the higher you have gone, there are fewer people like you are around you. There are even fewer that you find yourself wanting to be around. That is just human nature. Remember, it is not about being elite or being perceived as an elitist but more about self-preservation as those that call you an elitist are the same ones that bring nothing to a relationship with you. They just have not grown up. You on the other hand keep being you and the rest will take care of itself.

Remember, as Alexander Rozhenko said in Season 5, Episode 20 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Higher, The Fewer.”

Thank you,
David Guerra

P.S. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

P.P.S. To order your copy of Great To Follow: Amazon paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble paperback
To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

2024: What Is Your Message?

In a world overflowing with information, where is your message? 

Among all the noise, static, and attention seeking where is your message?

Do not forget to throw opinions into the mix...there lots and lots of opinions out there and where is your message?

Is your message being heard? Is your message being understood?

You have a message and that message must get through.

Folks, getting your message through is a struggle. Then to get your message understood is an uphill climb.

 If I may impart one tip on getting your message through and understood it is this: YOU MUST FIRST KNOW WHAT YOUR MESSAGE IS, THEN YOU CAN PROPERLY CONVEY IT TO OTHERS.

Yes, it does fall on YOU to know your message. Know your message from stem to stern. No exceptions and most importantly, NO SHORTCUTS!

To get to know your message you must first get to know yourself. 

It does not matter what your message is, what matters is you knowing that your message is an extension of who you are and what you stand for. FAILING THAT AND YOUR MESSAGE WILL GET LOST.

Again, it does not matter who you are or who you think you are, if you and your message do not align then you have NO MESSAGE. 

There is no HACK, no TRICK, no TIP, all there is, taking the time to get know yourself and your message will be realized. Do not rush it. Do not try to speed through the process to get your message. I guarantee you that if you go speeding through your message it will be nothing but a jumbled mess. 

It will join its rightful place among all the other jumbled, mixed up noise out in the ether. 

At that point, you have to ask yourself, why bother? 

Why bother, indeed? If no one is hearing let along understanding your message, then it is high time to make a change. CHANGE your message so that it can be easily understood. Then CHANGE the way you are delivering your message. 

Now you might not get it right the first time. Keep working at it. Keep Trying.

At the end of the day, there is only one question to ask and the answer will determine whether your message can be found (or not): What's Your Message?

Thank you,
David Guerra

P.S. I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

P.P.S. To order your copy of Great To Follow: Amazon paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble paperback
To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble