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Free yourself

God gave you a choice. You have your own free will to make all the decisions in your life, so choose wisely.

There are a lot of great people in this world, but there are not very many truly good people. Ethics is the fine line between good and great. In this case, “good” takes the mantle of purity. What I mean by this, is that many people get what they want, but didn’t do the right thing to get it. If you do not feel good about your success when you attain it, then it’s not worth it. Strive to be good — and great. Do the right thing to achieve greatness.

Be a spirit of virtue. Virtue is defined as “behavior showing high moral standards.” While you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, develop your character through defending your stance on what you believe is right. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll stand for anything.

#BeAble

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Own your own survivorship

Survivorship is just like playing a game of chess. You think about all of your pieces on the board. Each one of these pieces can move in different ways and can affect your upcoming moves. You should always think at least five steps ahead of where you are going. This requires brainpower and a complex approach to decision making.

Just as in chess, you have to be careful with where you move, consider your opponent (or risk) from all angles, make your decision and then make your move. This forces you to think about yourself and your surroundings. This makes you run scenarios in your head in order to arrive at the best possible outcome.

Success is not easy. There is no exact path to success. It can be achieved in multiple different ways. The more you practice, though, the better you get at overcoming obstacles. Keep in mind that if you never try, you will never experience success.

#BeAble

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Realize what you really, really want

National Society of Leadership and Success – Interview with J. Reese Lasley

I am really excited about a recent interview I had with the National Society of Leadership and Success as part of my launch of my book “The Abilities – Realize the Power within You.” The NSLS is near and dear to my heart and been a guiding force for me since being at Colorado State University. Preview the interview by listening to the audio clip or request to stream the full interview below:

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The pain is always there, but suffering is a choice

It is not the obstacle, or trial, or tribulation, or hardship, or setback, or challenge that determines your character. It’s how you handle it — and move forward — that determines your character.

It’s not always easy. No matter who you are, where you go or what you do, you will be faced with adversity at some juncture. You are only as good as the amount of adversity that you can handle.

Just keep in mind, that the pain is always there, but suffering is a choice.

#BeAble

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How are you living?

Beware of stagnation. If you stop moving, absorbing, flowing and thirsting, you will become lifeless. The essence of a good quality of life is newness, production and cultivation. A barren desert is to a meandering river as stagnation is to excellence.

Excellence is not being the best; it is always doing your best and trying your hardest to be a better you. There is a significant difference between knowing excellence and doing excellence. You can recognize when someone is excellent, but being the person who is excellent is a different story. Do excellence.

There are two superlative words that depict excellence: kaizen and auspicious.
Kaizen: A Japanese philosophy meaning “continuous improvement”
Auspicious: Characterized by success
Challenge yourself to not live by the confines of the status quo. Be better. I call this having the case of the “ers”. Bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, longer, happier, wealthier, healthier… whatever is better. Learn to raise the bar and then raise it again. Keep breaking records, continually discover, overturn the next rock, measure and analyze, find innovative solutions, create value, modify techniques and push your limits.

#BeAble

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Embrace your abilities. Then live the excitement, the joy, the passion, the revelation of that ability.

It’s a bit overwhelming going into your newfound desire with all the unknowns and change, and thinking about who you are going to be, and what you are going to do. Fear of the unknown is a common reality. Take a deep breath! You’re going to be okay! Just hold on to your passion and take that truth into your journey. There is never a wrong journey, only a journey that is never taken. And God will take care of you. No journey is wrong, so take the journey. The majority of people try to avoid change because it makes them feel uncomfortable. People become stagnant through all the knowns, rituals and similarities. While it is good to find what rings true to your heart and what you like, I challenge you to get out of your box as well. Build on top of the things that you hold onto and experience the blessing of newness.

You need to believe in yourself. Believe that you can do it and believe that you deserve it. Your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them. Let your choices be driven by your hopes, not your fears.

Overcoming your fear of change offers many blessings, the greatest of which is learning. You should try to learn something new every day. The only thing constant in this world is change. If you embrace that, you will come to realize that dynamics are healthy and a necessary ingredient of success.

Eventually, you will reach your goal, and the revelation of your new life will be a blessing.

#BeAble

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Live in the truth.

Live in the truth. I cannot stress this enough. Many people get stuck between a rock and a hard place and feel like they need to lie to get out of it. Sometimes it works, but it is very risky. When you live in deceit, you risk relationships and trust.

Integrity is doing what you say you will do, and doing what is right, even if that means sacrifice. The point of having integrity is building trust. Trust is a must. You must live in the truth — every day.

Lack of integrity can be detrimental to your reputation. Your good name is everything. Lack of integrity also can make you doubt yourself. If you do what you know is wrong, then you will become upset with yourself and start to believe lies. You need to look within and find your peace with the situation, even if it isn’t the easiest thing to do. Follow what is good. You know what is right in your heart of hearts.

#BeAble

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The mind, body and spirit can sharpen or fade. You need to cherish and honor all three.

There is a strong connection between being balanced and being healthy. In other words, having a good quality of life and being healthy are one in the same. It is the wellspring to living a purposeful life. The greatest wealth is health. It is a priceless possession, so take good care of it. It is an all-encompassing ability that enables you to achieve further abilities. Health embraces the mind, body and spirit. The mind, body and spirit can sharpen or fade. You need to cherish and honor all three. They each can impact the others.

We are imperfect beings. Illness can happen because of what we do and because of what happens to us. You need to do everything and anything you can to stay healthy, prevent illness and continually heal. That can mean eating right, praying, meditating, exercising, laughing, avoiding drugs, reading, being happy, feeling peace, brushing your gums, cleaning out your belly button, you name it. Unhealthy habits will catchup to you and you will regret it. They will prohibit your ability to succeed in one way, shape, form or another. Don’t become enslaved and addicted to injurious behaviors that prohibit your freedom. It is also important to live in moderation; too much of one thing could be detrimental to your purpose.

#BeAble

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Just as reproduction is the key to life, so is re-creation to success.

Remarkably, there is only one thing that is actually more rewarding than the reward itself — and that’s giving back. Just as reproduction is the key to life, so is re-creation to success. Imagine yourself as an apple tree. When you start your journey you plant your seed. Overtime, as you grow, your roots spread and you built your groundwork. You find your nutrients and eventually you sprout with substance. You grow more, experience your environment and when the season was right, you begin to bloom. Eventually, you produce fruit. These fruits and blessings give you the ability of mission and purpose from which the world (and also you) can benefit from.

There are many different types of trees and many different types of fruits. Different trees offer different blessings. Every one is unique. Gifts are wonderful. Gifts are positive. They are recognized by peace, happiness, growth, patience, kindness, gentleness and love. So, I ask you, what fruit do you bear and how are you identified by it? How do you contribute value to the world? How can you (and do you) give back? Just because you nail an apple to a fencepost, doesn’t mean that it is a fruit tree. Even though it meets the requirements of wood in the ground and it is holding up fruit, it is missing one important thing — the ability to reproduce. The continuance of giving is necessary to your growth and your growth is necessary to your giving.

#BeAble