Books On Purpose

Shoremates, 

In today's episode, we are excited to cover John Maxwell's 13th principle: mentoring.  

The premise behind this is that you can only go so far by yourself.  When John started, he read books, created action plans in the front covers, and intentionally grew until he was able to meet with men who could mentor him.  That helped his growth drastically. 

Throughout this episode, we cover the benefits that a mentor could provide you with, and also a few "take caution" notes when you decide to approach someone to ask their help.

If you like today's episode, and absolutely love delicious tea, check out our podcast sponsors at www.nauticalteas.com

Always, always remember...

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Today we are excited to continue with law 12 from John C. Maxwell's legendary book, the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.  Law 12, curiosity, is one that the most successful in the world have harnessed. 

In this episode, we go through a "curiosity belief stack." If you employ these to your service, no matter how low your curiosity levels are, they will rise. These 10 different points will not only help you to live in a more curious state, but will help you to live a more fulfilled life that is significantly more enjoyable. 

Action Items

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your curiosity? 
2. No matter where you are on the scale, what would life start to look like if you started to live by the 10 points?  Where you enjoyed your life, lived outside of the box, didn’t worry about looking stupid or finding one right answer, and you accept that failure is a part of the road to success?  
3. Do something today to learn something new in an area that you know nothing.

Always, always remember....

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates, 

Welcome back to a review of John Maxwell's legendary book, the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.  Law 11 is the law of trade offs.

The whole premise behind this law is simple....if you want to get something amazing, you're going to have to give something up as well. 

In this episode, we go over the truths for trade offs, to include a section designated for some trade offs never being worth the price.   After that, we cover the trade offs that John things are worth making.

If you have loved today's episode and delicious tea, please support this podcast's sponsor at www.nauticalteas.com

Action Items: 

1. Are you facing any trade off decisions right now?
2. If so, list the pluses and the minuses of each choice, along with the potential cost and the potential gains.
3. What is it that you’re ultimately trying to achieve in life?
4. What are the nonnegotiable in life that you are not willing to sacrifice in the pursuit?
5. Take action.  Make a decision today to bring you one step closer to your goals. 

Always, always remember,

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to Mind Your Helm, where we will be talking about Law 10 in John Maxwell's legendary book, the 15 invaluable laws of growth.  

Law 10 is the law of the rubber band.  The whole premise behind this law is that in order to grow and develop in life, we need to stretch out of our comfort zone.

Throughout this chapter, John talks about many areas that he has had to learn how to be comfortable stretching, and then he talks about the benefits of having this tension in your life.

If you liked this episode, be sure to thank our sponsor by picking up some delicious, loose leaf tea at www.nauticalteas.com

Action Steps

1. Many times in front of audiences, John asks the following questions “how many have dreams.”  Almost every hand is raised. Then, “how many are pursuing their dreams.”  About half the hands remain.  Finally, “how many are achieving their dreams”. Only a few hands remain.  Which are you?  Do you have a dream, are you pursuing it, or are you achieving it?
2. Reflect on what your dream is, and write it down. After that, write, what does achieving this dream look like?  Then, how it would feel to work towards achieving it.  Remember, life is about the journey, not the destination.  If you work towards achieving the dream every day, it’ll help you feel more alive inside.

I hope that today’s episode has added value to you today, and always, always remember,

You’ve got this!

-J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome back to Law 9 from John C. Maxwell's book, the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.   If you love this podcast, be sure to check out our sponsor at www.nauticalteas.com for absolutely delicious loose leaf and handcrafted teas.

In this episode, we cover the law of the ladder in regards to character growth.  For the past several decades, John has had 5 specific rungs to the character growth ladder that he constructed for himself to live by.  His belief is that any success or failure that we head towards will be directly related to whatever our character is.  If we work on our characters, we will walk towards success.   If we do not, we will fall into failure.

Action steps: 

1. Up to now, have you been focusing on your outside appearance: your clothes, the car you drive, the house you live in, your career, or have you been focusing on growing your character?
2. If you’re like most of us, we’ve never heard of intentionally growing our character.  If your answer was the outside experience from action step 1, how can you implement John Maxwell’s 5 rungs to character development in your life?
3. If you struggle with humility, spend time brainstorming ways you can help others, without expecting anything in return.

I hope that today’s episode has added value to you today, and always, always remember.

You’ve got this!

-J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

In today's episode, we are continuing with Law 8 in John Maxwell's legendary book, "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth."

Law 8 is the law of pain.  No one actually "likes" pain.  By very definition, it hurts! However, it is through these painful experiences that we can actually learn the most....if we let it.

In this episode, we talk about the foundation of bad experiences, how to turn pain into gain, and finish up with action items you can use today.  

Action Items:

1. Have you been ignoring the painful things that have happened to you in your life?
2. From these painful things, what lessons can you learn to turn the pain into a growth opportunity?
3. Resolve to no matter what, take responsibility for your life.  When you do this, you’ll transfer from being powerless to powerful.  From the victim, to the victor.

I hope this served you well, and always, always remember...You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

In today's episode, we are continuing with Law 7 in John Maxwell's legendary book, "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth."

Law 7 is the law of design.  John Maxwell is incredibly intentional in everything he does, to the point that his favorite time of year is the week after Christmas, because he gets to analyze how well he planned out the previous year!

There are a few reasons John does this, and they boil down to 3 main life lessons that we speak on.  Later, we talk about Bronnie Ware's study in what the top 5 common regrets of the dying are. This is important, as we can negate them and turn each statement into the following. 

(1) I can, I will, I must have the courage to live a life true to myself. Not what others expect of me.
(2) I can, I will, I must work the necessary amount to live a fulfilling lifestyle, but will place a far greater emphasis on relationships over extra hours at the office.
(3) I can, I will, I must have the courage to express my feelings.
(4) I can, I will, I must stay in touch with my friends.
(5) I can, I will, and I absolutely must allow myself to be happier, as happiness is a choice. 

Action Items:

1.  Have you ever thought about the kind of life you want to live?  No kidding, how much would it cost to live that kind of life?  Have you been making unnecessary sacrifices along the journey?
2. What systems do you need in your life?
3. Think about the top 5 regrets of the dying, and when you go about your day ask if you would choose a different decision with the following regrets:

I hope this served you well, and always, always remember...You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,
 
In today's episode, we are continuing with Law 6 in John Maxwell's legendary book, "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.” 
 
Law 6 is Environment.  In this episode, we walk through 6 choices that John describes in whether we are using this law to our maximum value.  Remember, each of these choices are going to depend on the individual, their goals, their desired lifestyles, and what exactly they want to accomplish in their life.  This disclaimer is because someone who wants a 9-5 and 2 kids is going to differ drastically in their goals from someone who wants to own their own company.

This law is incredibly powerful, as Jim Rohn famously stated, “you are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with.”  At Mind Your Helm, we encourage you to spend time thinking about this, and to either buy this book or borrow it from your local library to go more in-depth. 

Action Items for today:

1. What kind of an environment are you in?  Are you the smartest person in the room and just feel instictively that you need to change?  If you were a metal poker, would you be hot from the environment, or cold?  
2. Do you need to associate with different people?  If so, what kinds of people do you need to associate with?  In order for those kind of people to associate with you, what kind of person do you need to start becoming?  Remember, it is a 2 way street.
3. What do you need to take action on today?  Remember, all we have is right now.

Shoremates, I hope this episode served you well.

Always, always remember.
 
 You've got this!
 
 -J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

In today's episode, we are continuing with Law 5 in John Maxwell's legendary book, "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth." 

Law 5 is consistency.  It is one of the least glamorous, yet most reliable laws.  Said another way, it is the consistency in our daily actions which lead to our habits which lead to a lifestyle.  Want a different life? Change what you are consistent on.

In this episode, we cover 8 tips that John covers in Law 5, along with a questionnaire that will help you know immediately if your "why" is strong enough.  

Action items for today are:

1. What is your personality type? Are you sanguine, choleric, melancholy, or phlegmatic?  
2. From this, go back into the podcast and note what the natural strength, weakness, and how to break the weakness is
3. What do you truly want to accomplish in life?  How do you break that into daily habits?
4. What is your why?  What is a strong emotional reason that you can picture to your core that explains why you want to accomplish it?

Shoremates, I hope this episode served you well.

Always, always remember.

You've got this!

-J.D. Elliott

Shoremates, 

Welcome back to the 4th law from John Maxwell's The 15 Invaluable Laws of Leadership.

The 4th Law, Self Reflection, is the one law which could radically change your life at a faster pace than you can imagine. 

The big point from this, to quote John himself, is "Reflection turns experience into insight."

In this episode, we cover 10 incredibly important questions to ask yourself, along with 4 "I's"  when you take time to pause.  This episode is a bit shorter today, as the "take action today" items will take time!

Action item 1:
 
Where in your house or apartment can you create a “Stop and Think” place?  No matter where it is, it is good to have one of these places.

Action item 2:

Spend time going through John’s 10 questions for self awareness.  This will take time, but it is well worth it.  During these moments, it is important to write down the question, write down the answers, and to be brutally honest.  If this is uncomfortable for you, I applaud you for moving out of your comfort zone. I hope you are one of the 1% who takes action on this.

Always Remember, you've got this!

J.D. Elliott