One of my heroes is the late, great Gerald Mann. In one of his sermons, he told the following story:
Many years ago, in a small village in Eastern Europe, an altar boy was assisting a priest at a Catholic Mass. At a critical moment in the service, the little boy dropped the crewet of wine, and the glass shattered all over the floor. The priest cuffed that little boy across the ear and told him, “Leave here and never come back!”
Treading water is what a swimmer does in a vertical position to keep his/her head above the surface of the water. Sometimes, a Client will reach out to me because he/she has been treading water (metaphorically speaking), and often, has transitioned to “gulping” water. Things can and do happen in life, and in business, that will cause us to plunge into deep, dark waters – some of them are out of our control, while others are self-inflicted.
Many good people hire a coach, because they want “things” to change, but are either unwilling to address the defects of character that cause them to struggle, and/or they are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.
What we need to understand is that unless we are willing to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves, a coach is not going to have any positive impact in our lives.
Never assume that Coaches are “above it all.” The truth of the matter is that we are all susceptible to stepping over the line – of engaging in behavior that lacks a moral compass. They, like all of us, need people in their lives who hold them accountable.
Too often, we give no credence to the fact that love is a verb – it is our behavior that is the finest yardstick with which to measure love.
Fear is one of the primary weapons that “the enemy” wields against humanity – it is oftentimes an agonizing burden. And many of us struggle mightily with a consistent lump of anxiety in the pit of the solar plexus. Fear manifests in our lives in many ways; it strangles us emotionally, and disempowers us at a core level.
We men strive mightily to coney to the world that we are rugged individuals; the “lone ranger” archetype. We wear this mask like a badge of honor, and we believe that we must confront the trials and tribulations of life alone.
A dose of information, motivation and inspiration.
