Sheep are stupid animals. Did you know that sheep will only eat what is literally right in front of them? They don’t even look around to see where the best food is! Shepherds have an important task of making sure their sheep don’t just wander off and have cleverly discovered that by putting a bell around one sheep’s neck, the…
I passed a hearse today while driving on the highway in my Jeep Wrangler and it got me thinking about death. Now granted, as a former Navy SEAL, I have probably thought about death more than the average 39-year-old. Each SEAL operator has to come to terms with what death looks like and the possibility that each mission could be…
We live in a day and age where most people talk about what they are “against” not what they’re “for”. For the most part, we are a culture that blazes the “I don’t like ___” trail while giving very little consideration to what we do like. This adversarial approach tends to pit us against others and stirs up unnecessary conflict.…
In my last post, I talked about a breathing exercise we can all use to reduce stress. In this post, I want to give one more example called Progressive Relaxation. Here’s how: Sit in a comfortable position, with your head supported. Start breathing slowly and deeply. Let your entire body relax. Release all tension and try to visualize your body…
Over the last month I have talked about positive affect and optimism, but what good is talk without something practical to “do” about it? First, I want to challenge you to think of at least three things you do to minimize stress in your life (walking, working out, or other appropriate distractions). Practice these often. But I also want to…
In my last blog post, I talked about the benefits of being a positive person and the personality trait called: positive affect. Optimism is a close cousin to positive affect. Optimism is the expectation that good things will happen in the future and bad things will not. If you agree with statements such as, “I tend to expect the best…
Have you ever wondered why some people survive in the face of great stress (personal tragedies, demanding jobs, or an abusive home life) while others do not? These survivors share a personality trait called “positive affect.” Positive affect is what happens when a person experiences and expresses positive emotions, including feelings of happiness, joy, enthusiasm, and contentment when faced with challenges. Interestingly,…
Often, we find ourselves needing a fresh start. As kids, our fresh starts would come in the form of “do-overs,” and sometimes we even get them as adults. Unfortunately, though, when given second chances, we often end up repeating the same mistakes we’ve made in the past. One of the key elements of starting over is to learn from our…
I have spoken before about conflict resolution and how we can leverage conflict to help us grow stronger together. I love the quote from Chuck Swindoll that says, “If we confront someone, we should have one goal in mind: restoration, not embarrassment.” As leaders, our job is to empower those we lead and build them up – not stifle them.…
Are you frozen? Chances are pretty good that someone has “frozen” you out at some point in time or that you have chosen to freeze someone else. Not literally, but figuratively. Many times, we choose to freeze people by only remembering them by their mistakes. By doing this, we never grant them the opportunity to change. No one needs to…
