By: gfesadmin on June 20, 2013
A few years back I was asked to speak at a Student Ministry Retreat in upstate New York. Now, for years I had done weekend retreats in similar settings but this one caught me off guard. Amidst the 2008 financial crisis, the camp in which the retreat center was being held at decided to cut…
By: gfesadmin on June 19, 2013
Anytime we are to speak in public and plan to communicate well, we realize just how hard a task it can be. This week I read the book “Reading Confessions of a Public Speaker” by Scott Berkum. So I listened to my last message, which you should never do if you are feeling down on…
By: gfesadmin on June 19, 2013
Imagining Naked People Doesn’t Work! Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Finishing Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun left me feeling justified. …
By: gfesadmin on June 18, 2013
My public speaking journey began on a shaky note. I was stationed in Ft. Yukon, Alaska for 10 months at a dew line radar site. There were about 80 individuals at the isolated remote site and there was little more than tundra for hundreds of miles in all directions. Only a few villages dotted the…
By: gfesadmin on June 15, 2013
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By: Joy Mindo on June 14, 2013
The words that ‘the dip is where success happens’ where I embrace the challenge. As I have been going through work transitions and it has been quite a task to try and make a decision. The book ‘The Dip’ by Seth Godin helped me see that the even though many people are afraid to…
By: gfesadmin on June 14, 2013
One of the issues with ‘quitting’ in the Indian culture is related saving face. Quitting is mostly equated with failure. Leaders quite often fall short of their accomplishments because they fail to quit or change direction. I must confess my own guilt in this regard. Much positive outcomes have been missed and wonderful opportunities lost…
By: gfesadmin on June 14, 2013
The following is an excerpt from Godin’s book, The Dip. It’s a true story. “Hannah Smith is a very lucky woman. She’s a law clerk at the Supreme Court. She’s the best in the world. Last year, more than forty-two thousand people graduated from law school in the United States. And thirty-seven of…
By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
I have wanted to quit many times. There was the first major time, when we had just arrived in Spain with a one year old, and were trying to find a place to live, without really knowing any of the language or culture, or where we should live. It was overwhelming, and we were completely…
By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
“Musical Dip” “When the pain gets so bad that you’re ready to quit, you’ve set yourself up as someone with nothing to lose. And someone with nothing to lose has quite a bit of power. You can go for broke. Challenge authority. Attempt unattempted alternatives. Lean into a problem; lean so far that you might…
By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
This week I read a book by Seth Godin called “The Dip – A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick).” The title already reveals what the book is about: Godin enfolds his simple advice: pursue excellence or quit now. In the beginning Godin postulates the hypothesis that everybody wants…
By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
I was fifteen and a freshman in high school facing my third two hour football practice of the day. They were called “three a days” and they lasted for about four weeks during the summer until school started. They were Hell! My coach at the time told me if I worked hard he felt I…
By: gfesadmin on June 13, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on June 11, 2013
This week I am reading and reflecting on “The Dip” by Seth Godin. Whenever a person wants to accomplish anything worthwhile they will experience the “Dip”. This is the challenge after the initial excitement. There comes a time when it becomes difficult and we are tempted to give up. This separates the exceptional from the…
By: gfesadmin on June 11, 2013
A number of times I have given a few minutes thought to quitting this Dmin program. Those thoughts could have lasted and perhaps they could have resulted in the decision to quit were it not for a few key realities. First and most importantly, I entered this program because I determined it was within God’s…
By: gfesadmin on June 7, 2013
Rath challenges the reader to use five strategies to fill the buckets of others and your own bucket with positive emotional strength. I compete in bench rest shooting matches. The bench rest shooting crowd is societally diverse in many ways, ethnically, economically, politically, and religiously. But there is one common thread that runs through most of the…
By: gfesadmin on June 5, 2013
This week, I read “How full is your Bucket” by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. The main thesis of the book is, that positive feedback and reinforcing support helps when interacting with people and leads to a more content life (in both sides). For this concept the authors use the image of a bucket…
By: gfesadmin on June 4, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on June 3, 2013
Various authors over the years have prescribed mantras for a happy, successful and fulfilling life like 5 easy steps, 3 simple techniques, 101 ways, or an edition for dummies. The list goes on. How Full is Your Bucket? by Rath and Clifton my latest read could have easily featured on that list with the five…
