In Episode 20 of the Youniversalife Podcast, I discuss The 4 Pillars of Leadership. The foundational elements that must exists to create positive influence. 

Selfless

• Putting Others 1st
• Action without expectation of reward
• Unconditional Giving
• Set Ego Aside (Humble)
• Desire to impact the world
• See the big picture

Communication

• Trust
• Productivity
• Facilitates Problem Solving
• Boosts Morale
• Creates Quality Decision Making
• Builds Relationships

Loyalty

• Builds Trust
• Allows Delegation of Responsibility
• Cultivates Traditions
• Strong Relationships are Rooted in Loyalty.
• Strong Bonds
• Reinforcing Deposits
• Fosters Commitment
• Enhances Reputation

Action

• Establishes Direction & Goals
• Creates Calculated Risks
• Adaptable to Change
• Empowers Team Members
• Contagious
• Allows You to Create Momentum

I have created a list of 5 leadership qualities of my favorite educational leaders. I lay them out in the latest Youniversalife Podcast. 

Who are your favorite leaders in your personal and professional life?

Make a list of 5 things you love about their leadership style. 

Then, make a conscious effort to mirror their actions and words. 

This is a great way to discover your leadership principles.

Please like and leave a review. You can find additional content at http://youniversalife.com

Happy Hollidays and Keep Moving Forward!

Deion "Prime Time" Sanders was anointed as the Head Football Coach at the University of Colorado - Interview

Spiritual Movement - Trending in the right direction 

• Chris Pratt
• Dion Sanders
• Texas Long Horn QB (Quin Ewers)
• Dabo Swinney
• UFC Fighters

Youniversalife emphasis on Leadership & Performance

• There is a need for leadership development in our society today.
• There is a need for creativity & how to put those things into the world.

Who is talking about Leadership

• Jocko Willink
  • Echelon Front
  • Extreme Ownership
• Seth Godin
  • Marketing Savant
  • Great thinker of the 20th & 21st Century
  • Forcaster of trends in the world
• Shawn Ryan Show
• Rich Roll
• Dr. Andrew Huberman
• Presidential Candidates
  • Vivek Ramaswamy
    • Leading in a new generation of leadership
    • Forward-thinker
    • Regardless of what you think of policy
• I have dedicated my life to Leadership Development through:
  • Coaching
  • Teaching our high school students / next generation
  • Educational leadership degree
  • Building a leadership curriculum for my school
    • Tailored to our specific needs
    • Many concepts / most are transferable to other sectors
• What is Leadership?
  • "Leadership is the process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal." - Kevin Kruse - Forbes
• Leadership is Influence
  • For Good and Bad
• Why Should We Lead?
  • Families
  • Communities
  • Schools
  • The nation needs great leaders
  • Allows you to take ownership of your corner of the world
    • The possibility of bringing positive influence
  • Study mind and behavior
  • Creativity
    • Exploring the human experience
    • Implementing strategy
• We are all leaders
  • We all influence others in some way
  • We all can build our leadership strategy
• Youniversalife Leadership is here to help you achieve this and provoke leadership and performance thought

Thank you

• Like and share on all platforms (Call to Action)
• See you again next time

In today's episode, I take 4 minutes to discuss the Spoonbread Festival in Berea, Ky.

Most notably, my personal insight on balloon glows.

I then venture into my journey to Educational Leadership. More to come on this topic...

For more content & blog posts, head to youniversalife.com for the full YL experience.

Don't forget to support the show by Liking and Sharing. Leave a review for others to see. Thank you!

Keep Moving Forward! 

Confidence is knowing that you will do something. It is not knowing that you can do something. 

• Be a person of action and put forth the effort.
• Persistence is the way to achievement. It may never be perfect, but at least you've stepped into the arena.

Check out youniversalife.com for more episodes and a wide range of leadership and performance content

Ep. 15: Confidence Part 2

Weird is Good

• Embrace our weirdness.
• Take inventory of what we do that is unique. 
  • Be detailed
  • Weird should not get labeled personally as a stigma, but a strength.
• Weird usually brings new ideas and creativity to the world.
• Things that remain the same or fit the mold don’t move the world forward.
• A band you like that eventually everyone falls for.

Those that shame “weird” actions often times lack confidence and creativity

• They don’t want change and have significant interest in things remaining the same.
• How the world currently works for them.
• They may be threatened by change

To Embrace the Weird, We Must Build Our Confidence

• It increases as a result of our experiences.
• Stepping into the void and practicing
• Achieving mini wins & milestones
• Progress is progress

Those that have joy & those who struggle to find it

The Joy-us

• The Joyus find the process to be life giving
• They reflect back on the journey
• They are grateful for each experience
• They feel as if they have lived and are grateful for it
• Hardship is part of it (I’m Still Standing by Elton John)
• This approach helps confidence to row and manifest
• They know that the hard times are part of the overall equation that ultimately creaes the next better version of them.
• Lean into courage. I will go. I will move forward. Send me mentality

The Strugglers 

• Those who struggle to find joy only concentrate on the end product.
• Good will only come if I am able to complete it.
• The process is viewed as a struggle and their is a narrow view of its actual harvest 
• True healthy confidence is hard to obtain with this state of mind
• Hard to establish consistency because the confidence is always being undermined by the hardships.

Can You Be Both?

• Some aspects of my life I’m in the Joy-us state of mind. Some areas I struggle
• It is a battle between the light and darkness.
• I fight for the light. I fight for life.

Lean into the Joy-us and establish internal and external triggers that return you to it when struggling.

The Joy-us Athlete

• What does it look like to be a joyus athlete?
  • Find a role an embrace it
    • Stop comparing your role to those that are further down the road than you.
    • Small seat at the table

“Confidence is not knowing you have the ability to do something, but know you will try to do it.”

• Rob Bell

Check out additional content at Youniversalife.com

The best way you can support the show is to follow us on Spotify and Apply Podcast then leave a review. You can also share Youniversalife content on most Social Media Platforms. 

You can also purchase Youniversalife Merchandise at the Youniversalife Shop.

How to Build Confidence

What is confidence?

• To have confidence vs to lack confidence
• To be clear-headed or to have a clear mind w/ the belief that what you know is true.
• Unwavering action or quick to take action

Confidence comes from the Latin word "fidere" which means "to trust".

• Have trust in oneself or others

It is hard to develop confidence in our culture today

• social media
• media
• state of the world
• over consumption
• lack of direction
• purpose
• fragile belief systems

Extremely common in high school students/athletics

• self talk
• culture
• school environment
• social media

Lack of understanding of confidence fuels this

• Self-talk plays a pivotal role
• Establishing triggers or stop signs when we speak to ourselves negatively

Weird is good

• Embrace our weirdness
• Take inventory of what we do that is unique.  Be detailed!
• Weird should not get labeled personally as a stigma but as a strength.
• Weird usually brings new ideas & creativity to the world.
• Things that remain the same or fit the mold don't move the world forward.

Check out YOUNIVERSALIFE.COM for additional blog content.  I've also launched THE YOUNIVERSALIFE SHOP to help you support the show and rock a new style.  

Thanks for tuning in and keep moving forward!

Ben

Train the Mind

What are we feeding our minds?

• Read and gather beneficial information
• Surround yourself with positive people/influences
• Be appreciative
• Practice gratitude
• Avoid convenience.  Take the long road

Matthew 7:13-14

• “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

What version of yourself are you feeding?

• Your inward life should outperform your outward life.
• Continual quest for betterment
• Train it
• Protect it & stand guard
• Everyone is your teacher

Acceptance 

• "A  great maturity opens in the human mind when we accept that we can control our impulses by conditioning our thoughts and that we alone are responsible for our emotions and reactions in life." - Brendon Burchard

Those who embrace Fear

• Firefighter
• EMS
• Military Personnel
• Police
• The person asking for a pay raise
• The interview person
• Clutch players
• Idea people
• Public speakers
• People who  admit wrongs
• People who  say "No"

Standing Firm

• Do not compromise your moral code
• Swing your sword
  • Don't keep it in the sheath.  Pull it and go to work.  For good. Protect!
  • "Enemy occupied territory - that is what this world is." - C.S. Lewis
• Do not be passive
• Passivity is destructive to the inner self 
  • Do you wish you would have acted?
  • I have regrets about my inactivity.  I didn't step into the void.
  • To intervene or not to intervene?

Do I have what it takes?

• John Eldredge - Wild at Heart
• Every person's question
  • The player or athlete
  • Students
  • Protectors
  • New Parents
• What trials have I overcome to assure me that I confidently have what it takes?
  • I am seasoned
  • I have trained for this moment
  • Hard seasons of life callous me

Dallas Willard

• "How must energy, thought, motive, and consideration is fueling your becoming today?" 

"If a man cannot have order within him, he cannot  spread order about him." 
- Dallas Willard

Apparent in:

• Coaching
• Parenting
• Teaching
• Leading

Embrace the moment:

• "We are more alert to the sound of dogs barking than angels singing!" - Brendon Burchard
• Open your eyes to what is possible.
• Conversation with students about judgment & the 1 lap run.
  • Overcoming the social anxiety
• Find the good in the moments & remain there.
• Where is more life found on the backend?
• Don't allow small-minded ridicule to harness you.  Don't give anxiety a voice.

BestSelf Co.
From the Icebreaker Deck
"Would you rather be the star player on a losing football team or ride the bench on a winning one?"

"Fear is louder & more intense than our desire for Self Mastery." - Brendon Burchard

• Betterment
• Living with joy

Contribution to others

• Leadership
• Selfless Acts
• Volunteering
• Parenting

Conclusion

Episode 11 

Fear Part 2

Intro

Outside Forces

• “Fear is a great teacher!”  FALSE!!
• Coach the whole person.  Not just the athlete
• “We are fooled into believing fear is a positive emotion.” - Brendon Burchard in the Motivation Manifesto
• “Fear harms more people in life than those who benefit from it.” - Burchard
• “We have distorted fear into a tool for the ego's protection.” -  Burchard

Ego

• The drive to maintain or enhance good views of oneself or that of the inflated opinion.

Constructed Fear

• Not trying a new game
• Playing it cool
• Sitting passive

If I don’t go then I won't fail mentality

• Stuck in the void
• No skin in the game
• No learning takes place
• No joy is found
• No life-giving rewards achieved

The gravitational pull of this mentality

• The destroyer of good teams/culture
• The PE class with doers and the nondoers
• Friend circles
• Working culture

Organic positivity fertilizes organic positivity

Strategies for overcoming FEAR

• Tame the mind
• Look fear in the eye
• “Attempting to conceal fear as a friend is like forcing a wolf to be a pet.  Soon the pet will eat us alive.” Burchard
  • We will regret our inactions and this will have negative consequences on our confidence.
  • Confidence erosion through inaction
•  Triggers
  • Is what I’m telling myself a lie deep down?
  • On the Journey to Betterment mentality
• “A lot of good people have chosen the shallow end of history.  They never really made their mark in the deep end.” - Burchard
• Brandon Lilly +1 mentality