Coaching The Bible

'The fact of being an underdog changes people in ways that we often fail to appreciate. It opens doors and creates opportunities and enlightens and permits things that might otherwise have seemed unthinkable.' 

– Malcolm Gladwell

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Hi all!

Happy Chanukah to all those celebrating with me this week!

Q: What do you get when you link the Moroccan World Cup Team, King David, a world-renown writer, the Hasmoneans, Joseph in the court of Pharoah, and Rocky Balboa?

A: Well, you get this week's episode of Coaching With The Bible!

Yes! This is Episode 119 (S3:E10)

Our topic this week: On Being The Underdog

So many people wrap themselves in the cloak of 'underdog' that you have to ask yourself 'why.'

^ What is it about the spirit of the underdog that is so appealing and connective to so many of us?

^ Is it that the underdog so rarely wins that we remember it more and therefore celebrate it?

^ Is it deeper and in some way connects to who we are or where we come from or how we see ourselves?

Those questions and so much more are in this week's episode! Take a Listen!

Happy Learning!

'A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.'

--Winston Churchill

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Hi all!

This is Episode 118 (S3:E9)

Our portion of the week is Vayeishev and our topic for this week: On Opportunity

We are often told that opportunity is everywhere... Did you see it? There went another one... 

But how do we really find opportunities in life?

Is there a method or a set of skills we need to have to see the opportunities that are 'right in front of us'?

I think it's super hard, but we can do better!

Some of us will see the thing' in front of us and think: 'OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME' and run toward it!

Yet some of us will see the same thing and think: 'RISK' 'THREAT' and run for the hills!

Same exact thing!

Why? What is happening at that moment?

Why is one person ready to attack and the other ready to run?

That's opportunity!

This week we will learn from Joseph and his brother Reuben. We'll encounter Aaron and Boaz along the way as well, along with a handful of famous entrepreneurs. 

Happy Learning!

and 

Happy Chanukah to those celebrating beginning on Sunday evening!

Quote of the Week:

'Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.' -Louis E. Boone

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Hi all!

This is Episode 117 (S3:E8)

Our topic of the week: On Fear

When we last discussed the story of the meeting between Jacob and Esau we focused on the possibility that Jacob was suffering through a crisis of confidence. I still that is true, though this year I'd like to direct our attention to Jacob's sense of dread and fear.

I'd like to suggest that everything Jacob does right up until he meets the mysterious man in the night is done out of fear, and from then on, not so. 

I think we can learn so many things about how we can better handle (manage?) the fears that we face each day.

Like so many of the other topics we've discussed, we all have fear. 

We fear all kinds of different things and it is quite different for each of us.

For the most part we try (and hard) to defeat it. 

I'd ask you this question:

^ Do you more often win or lose your battles with fear?

^ Is there a better way to deal with life's many fears?

I think so.

Take a listen and, as always, happy learning.

Quote of the Week:

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Hi all!

This is Episode 116 (S3:E7)

Our topic of the Week: On Dreaming

We all dream and we do so all the time.

So many of those dreams are forgotten and even among those that we do remember, well, we try to share them with others, they don't make any sense at all.

Why we dream is I think a truly interesting subject and one we start with this week, but our main focus is the famous dream of 'Jacob's Ladder.'

Here's the question:

^ What is Jacob dreaming about?

^ How does he take that dream and make it his reality?

^ Does his reality match the dream?

^ What about our dreams?

^ How are we acting (not acting?) upon the dreams we have all the time? 

--> Dreams about life, learning, growth, love, success...

^ Is there a method that we can implement that gets us there or close to our dreams?

Looking forward to diving in with you!

Happy Learning!

Quote of the Week:

'The victim mentality dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.'

- Steve Maraboli

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Hi all!

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating yesterday or today!

Happy Black Friday as well! (I know you're all celebrating that one!)

This is Episode 115 (S3:E6)

Our topic this week: On Playing The Victim

Let's begin by looking at the story of the brothers from the other perspective. 

3 Questions:

^ How does Esav (Esau) experience that moment? 

^ What happened to him? 

^ What is his response to that event?

1 Last One:

^ What do we learn from it? (I think we ask this one every week!)

Happy Learning and Enjoy!

Quote of the Week:

'If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.'

--Chinese Proverb

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Hi all!

This is Episode 114 (S3:E5)

Our topic this week: On Seeking Help

I think asking for help is one of the hardest things to do, regardless of the stakes.

It seems to me that there are so many reasons for so many people as to why they DON'T seek help and equally why they should! No judgment there, just a statement.

Yet, we also know that we can't do it alone with most things in life. We need help.

So let's talk about it!

Abraham, Isaac, Eliezer, Rebecca, and a few authors and PhDs come together this week to answer:

^ Why we don't seek help

^ Why we should seek help

^ How we can seek help

Happy Learning!

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Quote of the Week:

'Sometimes we are being tested, not to show our weaknesses, but to discover our strengths.'

- unknown

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Hi all!

This is episode 113 (S3:E4)

Our topic this week: On Being Tested

Abraham gets tested many times. So do all of us. Each day, each week, each month, and each year. It feels like it never stops. Especially the last number of years...

The question for me is:

^ How do we wrap our minds around the constant sense of being tested?

Which then leads to these questions:

^ Why is that the case?

^ Does it have to be that way?

^ What can we do about it?

^ How do we handle it?

So many questions, so little time!

Enjoy & Happy Learning!

Quote of the Week:

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”

― Helen Keller

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Hi all!

No time for a long intro, so here goes...

This is Episode 112 (S3:E3)

Recording live on location in NY as I am traveling this week for work and the chance to attend the wedding of the daughter of an old and good friend. Wh

This brings us to our topic of the week:

'On Friends'

Happy Learning!

If you get the opportunity to read the essay I posted earlier this week, please share your comments and feedback! It's the only way to grow and get better!

Quote of the Week:

'What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.' 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Hi all!

This is Episode 111 (S3:E2)

Our topic: On Comparison

We will talk about that famous comment of Rashi comparing Noah as an all-time great vs just in his generation and we will jump from there to dive into the topic of 'comparison'.

* Who do we compare ourselves to?

* When do we make these comparisons?

* Why do we make these comparisons?

* Is comparison ever a good thing?

We get into some Brene Brown (of course!) and also talk about doom-scrolling, retail therapy, and get into something known as 'Social Comparison Theory.'

Enjoy and Happy Learning!

Quote of the Week:

'Be happy… not because everything is good, But because you see the good in everything.'

-Unknown

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Hi all!

Season 3 is upon us!

This is episode 110, and our topic this week:

'On Choosing Good'

The focus of this week is the following:

* When life does not go the way you want or expect, what do you do next?

* What is your focus: do you dwell on the bad, sad, and disappointment or do you seek out the good in that situation?

The questions for us this week:

* How can we understand and develop a 'philosophy of good' in our day-to-day and how does that help?

* How does this make our minds and our lives better?

We'll meet a former Navy SEAL and a 2nd Century Scholar as we first dive into the idea that God always 'saw it for good.'

Happy Learning!