Category: Choice

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Weekend Challenge 03 (02/08.20): HOW AM I DOING?

you weekend challenge has arrived

Remember, we are supposed to be learning from out past. The choice we made can never be undone but those choices also serve to shape our future. For every action we take there is an outcome we may or may not like.

However, when we make what we perceive to be rational and sound choices then no matter the outcome we feel we made the right choice. Whether the outcome was what we expected or not. It is when we make hasty and rash decisions that are not worth the risk that…well we get what we deserve: a hasty, rash and unsound outcome. To avoid the outcomes that are not in our favor or not exactly what we expected we have to focus on being intentional with our decision making and be prepared to deliver on a decision that may sometimes not give us what we expect or want.

One way to be intentional in our future decision making is to review our past decisions. Please read carefully: TO REVIEW OUR PAST DECISIONS and NOT TO DWELL ON THOSE DECISIONS AND THEIR OUTCOMES.

Sadly, as I write this I know there are individuals that are going to only read the last seven words of the previous sentence and all that I am writing will go to waste (on them).

Good thing, you are not one of those that dwells on past decisions only to repeat making the decisions that CONTINUE to deliver the outcomes and expectations that are NOT what you expected or anticipated. As leaders, the only common thread to decision making is ensuring that whatever the decision it is something you will learn from and become better as a leader but also as a human being.

REVIEW YOUR DECISIONS
The weekend, is the perfect time to pour yourself a cup of coffee or a cuppa tea or a snifter of warm brandy or whatever you choose to drink, and reflect on the past seven (7) days.

Use this weekend to review the following and be HONEST with yourself:

  • What decisions were made?
  • What decisions did you not make?
  • Which decisions could have been better with more info?
  • Which decisions were made in haste?
  • Which decisions were made as a form of revenge (for example, I’ll show them)?
  • Which decisions changed your life for the better?
  • Which decisions changed your life for the worse?
  • How were your relationships made better by your decisions?
  • How were your relationships strained by your decisions?
  • Did the decisions you made have a negative impact on others?
  • Did the decisions you made have a lasting and positive impact on others?
  • NOW REALLY BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF: Did the decisions you made have a negative impact on YOU?

These questions are to be used solely to IMPROVE your future. The answers are yours and yours alone, you do not have to share them with anyone but you do have to think about them but not for too long. Thinking too long is where the dwelling begins and that is NOT a good thing.

In the answers, see what needs improvement, what needs to be removed, what needs to be modified and most importantly what needs to remain. However, this will only work if you are willing to be HONEST and TRUTHFUL with yourself. It can be difficult because there are far too many individuals that truly believe they do not need to improve but everyone around them does.

Thus, I challenge you to get rid of the bad, the nastiness, the bitterness, the sadness, the distrust, the anger, the destructive, scarcity mindset and yes WE all have them to some degree or another. In case you FAILED to read that right, I wrote WE which INCLUDES ME.

I Challenge You to be better, do better, because as an adult and leader, you already KNOW better.

I Challenge You to let the good, happiness, growth and the abundance mindset in, take root and grow inside you.

I Challenge You to find the way to let the best in you coming shining through. To be the best version of you that you can be.

This Decision Review Challenge is one that you must repeat every week. Repeat it so that you are constantly improving. This challenge is actually quite simple on the complexity scale of 1 to 10. I give this a 5. Five in that, it may be a bitter pill to swallow, at first, but once you find yourself asking and honestly answering these questions it will get better. I promise it will get better and you will become better. You become better because you are aware of your actions and behaviors.

You are better because YOU WANT TO BECOME BETTER.

Well there it is, YOUR WEEKEND CHALLENGE, now get to work!

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Positive Thinking; Just Start Doing by David Guerra (04/100)

positive thinking just startStill in that New Year, New You mindset? If you are good for you! If not, well that’s alright. You can still get back up on that horse. That “New Year, New You” mindset, is short lived. Some say it does not even last a full two weeks. It is my understanding that by the evening of the 12th of January the resolutions are out the window.

 

It happens. It happens to the best of us. It has happened to me and it has happened to you. If not yet then it is a matter of time before it does. Remember, as with most things it is not a matter if but when. However, there is one thing you can keep working for you: Positive Thinking.

 

Positive Thinking?

 

Yes, Positive Thinking. An optimistic attitude. Fostering optimism. Seeing the positive in everything and everyone around you is not just a good idea. It is good for you, all over. It is good for your body, mind and spirit. The power of positivity and being optimistic can make things happen. In his book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill wrote, “What your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Therefore, if it can conceive and believe positivity and optimism, then it will come to be.

 

When can you start Positive Thinking?

 

You can start right here, right now. There is no rule that says you have to start the next time something good happens. There is no rule at all, there are no restrictions, not prohibited in all fifty states and no purchase necessary. Yep, you start right now and it is free.

 

My recommendation is to start small. Then gradually increase your level of positive thinking. How you ask? Simple, start with one thing. One thing that you have historically been on the fence about, then move on to the next. It may take time but then again anything worth doing, maintaining and sustaining is worth doing in an intentional and deliberate manner. That will make sticking to it easier when things start to wane.

 

Then come the naysayers. There are always a few naysayers along the way. First off, forget the naysayers. You may have been one or under the thumb of one or two over the course of your life. Oh, don’t worry there will be more in your. Their negativity is not the way life should be. Know, whatever the reason for the negative baggage it is NOT yours to carry. So when others offer it, just look them in the eye and make sure it is coming from your heart when you say, “No, Thank you.”

 

Saying no to the negative and the negativity mindset of others means you are growing. Growing, in that you are recognizing that your priorities matter. Your priorities are being reshaped, redefined, especially when others have been imposing their priorities on you.

 

By taking those intentional and deliberate steps to increase your level of positive thinking, you are going to start doing and creating an environment of positivity. Eventually, like the negativity, your positive mindset will become contagious. As you are visibly seen achieving more based on the positivity you have created. Isn’t that what a “New Year, New You” is all about? I say it is.

 

Get started and stay started, all the while you are growing and improving. Kind of makes you wonder what “New Year, New You” will be all about in 2021 or if you will need it at all?

 

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Thank you,
David G. Guerra, MBA
email: dave@daveguerra.com
twitter: @daveguerra
instagram: dave_guerra
facebook: thedavidguerra

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My Six Goals For 2020 by David Guerra

My 6 Goals For 2020

Happy New Year. Happy New 2020. Depending on how you look at it we are now beginning the third decade of the 21st Century. As is the case with most new year’s, they usually begin with resolutions. The kind of resolutions people tend to ignore the first working day of the new year, then by the 12th day of January they are on the way out. Soon they memory of those resolutions are chuckled away at the next family gathering, which is around Super Bowl weekend.

I have not had any kind of New Year’s resolutions for the past several years. This year, I took a different route. I set goals. Goals the kind that are attainable and can be broken down into bite sized action items. Those bite size actions can be further broken down into nibbles, and so on.

Do you see where I am going with this? Any goal can be broken down to its most rudimentary elements in order for it to be worked on and ultimately achieved.

Unlike, a resolution which is a statement. As an example, the old “I will lose weight this year” standard is a worthless resolution. It is worthless as it does not share with how much or over how long both of which are certainly good things to know especially before you begin any kind of undertaking.

As an Infantryman, I know how important it is to clear and concise actionable information before launching any kind of operation. Thus, a goal such as “I will lose 25 pounds of weight in a healthy, well-planned and well executed manner” gives you everything you need to lose those 25 pounds. Sure it does not give you a specific time lime but you have to figure out what it is going to take to lose that weight in a “healthy, well-planned and well-executed manner.”

This past holiday season, I took some time, after Thanksgiving and before the start of the last two weeks of December, to work on what I want to do in 2020. Thus, I came up with six (6) goals that I want to accomplish before 11:59pm on December 31, 2020.

Goal #1 Finish Writing “WE THE TEAM”, book number three in the Walking Leader trilogy

The second book in the Walking Leader trilogy, Great To Follow, was published in 2015. Since then I have been working on the third book but never got serious about closing this one out. This year the goal is finish writing it.

Goal #2 Lose 25 pounds of weight in a healthy, well-planned well executed manner.

Like many of us, I can stand to lose a few pounds. For far too long I have been carrying a little extra weight, thus losing 25 pounds is a good amount. Good in that once I lose that amount I am on track for losing more. The plan is to lose the weight is in a well-planned and quite deliberate manner. This means it will take time. Hell, I have just under 365 days to do so, but I do not plan to take that long, I am looking at taking about 5 months which means losing five pounds a month. I will keep you posted on this one.

Goal #3 Walk at least 30 minutes a day. It is good for the body, mind, & spirit.

Jogging and Running are one thing but there is something to be said for taking a walk in woods, at the shore, or neighborhood sidewalk. It does not matter where. What matter is you get out there and do it. Walking gives you an opportunity to spend time by yourself. An opportunity to clear your mind. You get my meaning. Besides it is good for the cardiovascular system, especially for those that spend most of their day sitting.

Goal #4. Write one new Historical Fiction book for my Occupied Berlin series.

For those that do not know, the Occupied Berlin series is a ten part series of fictional stories set in West Berlin, Germany from 1945 to 1989. The view is from the front line troops, the INFANTRYMEN assigned to the US Army Berlin Command, US Army Berlin, US Army Berlin Brigade. The last book I wrote in that series is “The Taking of Sergeant Gonzalez” and published last February (2019). This story like all ten in the series have been outlined since the inception of the idea of the series. So, this means the story needs to be written.

Goal #5 Run a 10K in average time for my age. It is somewhere around a 9 minute mile. YIKES

Over the years, I have run many 10Ks. I still remember my very first road race, 10K Gatow Road Race at RAF Gatow in West Berlin, Germany back in 1986. My last one was over five years ago. I am overdue for one more. The training has started, now all I have to do is work on time, speed, and stamina. But, most of all I need to work on my stretching because now is not the time to be sidelined by strained muscles. I will keep you posted on this one, as well.

Goal #6 Continue to improve myself and in turn help to improve the lives of others.

As a lifelong learner, I will continue to work on myself. My motto is “Always be better today than I was yesterday.” To be better today, I have to constantly be at work. Working on improving myself, whether it be by reading, writing, learning something new, trying something new, and of course reflecting on past mistakes and learning from them. Then in turn taking all that I am learning and sharing it with others. All in hopes, that others can learn from my past mistakes as well as the mistakes of others to make new mistakes (not repeating past ones) and then passing on those lessons to future mistake makers. For those that don’t get it; learning from our mistakes and the mistakes of others is good for life and business.

So, there they are. Six goals and the reasons why. Some will agree but most will disagree with my goals and why I am doing them. Some may say that this is strictly self- centered especially when he puts helping others at the end. I say, if I cannot help myself first how am I expected to help others now, later or ever?

Now, if you will please excuse me, I have some work to do.

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Thank you,
David G. Guerra, MBA
email: dave@daveguerra.com
twitter: @daveguerra
instagram: dave_guerra
facebook: thedavidguerra