Coming soon!

I have been debating about what this blog will look like moving forward and I plan to revamp it into a video blog of sorts. I recently launched a new YouTube Channel that is linked on my new homepage at www.GregTroxell.com. On the channel will be a few different shows. I am currently developing one focused on leadership and then there will be another focused on ministry issues. The plan right now is to post the videos here as well. I may still write a few blogs here and there but most of them will be video.

Let me know how you like the new concept once it is in effect. Right now the only show I have up is My Road to WrestleMania which is really geared at readers of my Sports and Entertainment blog. Feel free to check it out at www.GregTroxell.com.

Also on my new homepage you can connect with me through Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Check it out when you get a chance.

Good vs Evil; What Does It Really Mean – part two

Here is part two of us looking at good vs evil.

Last time we talked about the definitions of good and evil and I challenged you to write down some things that were good and some things that were bad.

I had several things on my list as did many of my readers. It was cool seeing some of the lists in my email. But it was also cool to see the wide variety of what people see as good and bad.

On my list I had the New York Yankees. Here is the thing though, I am not a Yankees fan….not even a little. I am a Braves fan and really don’t even like the Yankees. So why you may ask are they on my good list? Well I know that the Yankees are good for baseball. Heck they are good for sports. They represent a true winner’s spirit. They do what it takes and second best is not good enough for them. So I place them in my good list.

You may wonder what does that have to do with anything and here it is…good and evil are really left up to the individual.

Let’s take it back to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. After they took the bite they determined what they thought was good and what they thought was evil. See God had just made everything that was good but then Adam and Eve chose to place things into categories. Thus humans determine good and evil.

Many people look at the exact same thing and one group says it is good and another group says it is evil. Look at Hitler. Many of us say he was evil but he had an entire army of people that thought he was good so to them he WAS good. So if those people thought he was good…was he?

The only definition that I can come up with is anything done outside of God’s word is evil.

However If God can take anything that was done for evil and use it for good so does that now make the evil good? Interesting thought huh?

Unfortunately we determine what is evil based on our own agenda. Republicans say Democrats are evil. Democrats think Republicans are evil. Unions hate management. Management hates unions. The Yankees and Red Sox think the other is just bad. It comes down to who believes like we do.

The solution is to immerse yourself in God’s Word and follow what He says. To often we want to follow man but we need to turn our attention to God. Live our lives according to Him and our definition of evil changes. We can then take the actions of this world and turn them into glory for God.

I Am a Hypocrite

Yes I am a hypocrite and you probably are as well.

At my son’s school they have a program called AR (accelerated reading) where the kids read books, log onto the computer, and take a test. As they pass these tests they get AR points. It is a cool system. There is a huge list of books that are eligible which makes it even better. For every test my son completes he gets two G-Dollars at home, G-Dollars are our incentive program. So we strongly encourage (make him) read books on a regular basis so he can achieve high levels on his AR ranking.

We all know reading is good but here is my issue and where I become a hypocrite. While I am ‘strongly encouraging’ him to read guess what I am doing? Yep watching tv or surfing the net. Not a good example. See I want my son to do something but the example I am setting ain’t all that great.

This got me thinking about other things we make our kids do that we stop doing as adults. Your know things like…
* read books
* study
* play outside
* not watch too much tv
* go to church
* be nice to others
* be respectful to others
* don’t get smart with their parents

Yeah I dont like the list either cause I am GUILTY as charged.

When was the last time you read a book? Did you do it where your kids could see you? I am starting to make an effort to read at the same time I ask Greg 2.0 and Ashley to read. Trying to set an example.

Study / homework may sound like something we no longer need to do but I beg to differ. We should always educate ourselves. Think about it we say to our kids to study and do well in school for a better future but then we don’t continue to educate ourselves for a better future. It doesn’t matter your age you can still learn and improve your future. I am not saying you have to go to school but you can read certain things, attend seminars, watch webinars, read blogs, etc.

Play outside is another one. When was the last time you went outside and and played? Yeah been a while for me too. It could beg a walk, a run (I ain’t running), tossing the football, shoot baskets, etc. We know it is good to get fresh air which is why we want our kids outside, which is why the NFL has a program called Play 60. Yet we as adults have determined that we can sit inside…why?

I know so many people that send their kids to church because they think it is right but they keep their butts at home. If your think it is good for them then it is good for you too. Yeah it may be hard to do at first but give it a chance cause it may not only enhance their lives but turn yours around as well.

Being respectful to others when we aren’t. Hey husbands when was the last time you got smart with your wife or spoke to her in a way that you know was wrong? Wouldn’t you totally flip out if you son talked to his mom that way? Yeah I have been seriously guilty there too.

This blog is a hard one to read cause I AM SO GUILTY of these things.

I am trying now to set a better example for my kids. I am not asking them to do anything I wouldn’t do. When I ask them to read, I read. When I say no more tv, I turn it off of me as well. When Greg 2.0 is doing homework I sit there and work on things too or try to help him study. When I get upset about how he talks to his mom I look at me and think about how I have spoken to her.

Yes I am a hypocrite but I am getting better. I am trying. The key is to be aware and pay attention to the examples we set. Too often their short comings are really our short comings.

What is Your Reality?

Last week many of us were returning to work after several days off for Christmas and New Years. Several of my friends updated their Facebook statuses about going back to work by referring to it as “back to reality”.

I saw these posts as a negative on the reality that stood in front of them. The reality they were speaking of were their jobs, careers, and school. It got me thinking about the fact that we create our own reality.

Yes we do. We create it by the choices we make. We are all at places in our lives due to those choices. Yeah it sucks sometimes but it is still the truth.

Think about it. The job you have, who accepted that job?

The friends you have, you made them your friends?

The marriage you have, who made it the way that it is?

The place you live, who moved there?

The attitude you have each day, who is responsible?

The weight you are at, who ate all those pies, cakes, and pizza?

Yeah that mirror is hard sometimes. The reflection is the hardest thing to accept.

Ultimately we choose our actions and more importantly we choose our reactions. We can choose each day what kind of attitude we will have. Our attitudes start to shape our everyday. As we shape that day we will influence others around us. That will lead to some stepping away from you and others will gravitate to you. Your surroundings will adjust.

You reality will start to shift.

If you don’t like your reality then I challenge you to adjust it.

If you don’t like your job change it. Now I know that may not be easy and may take time but it took time to get to where you are now at your job anyway. You can start taking steps today to improve your job situation. You can read books, go back to school, listen to educational or motivational recordings, read blogs, etc. You can look on Monster or Career Builder and apply for jobs. You have to first take steps to adjust your reality.

If you don’t like you friends, change them too. While this maybe hard it actually starts with you. You must first start to choose to change your attitude. Figure out what you want to be. Do you want to be a positive person? If so start choosing positive thoughts. Look at the positive side of things instead of talking about people. As you do this people will leave your life automatically while others come into your life. All of a sudden your circle of friends has changed.

If you have a relationship that is, shall we say challenged, then concentrate on your reactions to things. Don’t focus on your friend, family member, or spouse instead focus on you. Study how you react to things and then calmly discuss these situations with the other party. You will be shocked at what happens. Now this is really hard….I struggle with it all the time but the results are so much more positive then when I would blow up before.

I think you get the drift here. Your reality is what YOU make of it. It ain’t easy. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes risk. However the payoff is ridiculously high.

Go for it. Take it one day at a time. Choose how you react to things. Choose the positive path. Choose to make your reality everything you want it to be.

If you don’t like where you are today….change it.

Talent vs Desire

Recently I listened to several quotes from Will Smith (yes the Fresh Prince) about why he feels he is succesful.  The things that jumped out at me was the part where he plainly said he was never the best rapper but he would work he butt off until things were right. Then he stated he is not the best actor out there and doesn’t have the talent of many others but he would ”out work their asses any day of the week”.  So clearly here is one of the greatest entertainers of our time saying he ain’t the greatest by nature but has worked hard to get where he is.

There are many other example,es of people working crazy hard to get where they want to be while others rely on their talents alone.  Look at recent comments by Jerry Rice the former NFL wide receiver, who was known as one of the hardest working players of all time. He said Randy Moss was one of the most talented players to ever play the game but he did not have the desire nor the work effort to be the greatest.  Wow!

So is desire greater than talent? I say yes. Clearly!

Throughout my over 20 years in leadership I have seen many people have the talent to do whatever they decide too.  I have seen future team leads, managers, leaders, directors, vice presidents, and chairpersons that never achieved crap.  They stayed put for years all due to a lack of desire. 

I have personally tapped people as the ‘next big thing’ only to see them fizzle out. It is sad and frustrating to witness people with so much potential just waste it.  I have seen too many people just waste opportunity.  Instead of listening, they know the answers.  Instead of paying attention to the job at hand they sit around and socialize. Instead of reading books as suggested, they watch tv.  As time goes by they just fade away into the landscape of the office to never fulfill their abilities.

On the flip side I have seen people that test horribly, start out very slowly, and have no natural talent become great.  I have seen people take every piece of advice and apply it. Read every book they can and figure out how they can use the new learnings. I love seeing people ask questions about what they are learning or observing. I have seen these people bust it at the office and outside the office to succeed. It is a great feeling to see others to make it, to overachieve, to go beyond their natural talents.

I ask you this…
* Do you have talents that are being wasted?
* Are you living to your full potential?
* Are you reading books to enhance yourself or are you watching Jersey Shore?
* Are you asking questions or are you downing those that do?
* Do you know who John Maxwell, Zig Ziglar, Jim Collins, Anthony Robbins and Seth Godin are or are you more familiar with the Kardashians?
* Are you more interested in Beyonce’s baby or are you more interested in you and your family?

Desire will always outweigh talent. Talent can only get you so far. Sure you can be successful on talent alone but those that have desire will be successful for the long term. Deion Sandefs nice admitted the first few years of his career he could get by on talent alone but knew that he needed to outwork others to continue to be better and to be the best.

I challenge you to out work, out hustle, out desire everyone else. Can you do it? Yes you can but it is 100% up to YOU!!!

If You Could Have Lunch with One Person…Part Two

So here is part two of my post ‘If You Could Have Lunch with Anyone in the World, Who Would It Be?’

Yesterday I told you that the first time I was asked that question my answer was Bill Cosby.

My answer these days would be different however I would still love to have lunch with Mr. Cosby. However today I am in a different stage of life.

This is actually a very hard question when you sit down. To think about it. I mean of course my family ranks up there but for the purpose of this question I am taking them out of the equation. I am also removing Jesus from the possible answers.

So that leaves a different pool of people. In my kist I would have Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Tyra Banks, Donald Trump, Perry Noble, Andy Stanley, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Barrack Obama, Oprah, Rick Warren, Travis Pastrana, Hank Williams Jr., and John Force.

With all of them listed who would I want to sit with and have lunch? I think I would go with John C. Maxwell. I would love to talk to him about leadership and his journey through the years. I would like to talk to him about pastoring a church while influencing the secular world through his books and speaking. Plus I would like to just hang out and absorb the vast knowledge this man has about life in general.

So that is my choice, John C Maxwell. Who would you choose?

No Time to be a Success?

Do you ever set goals just to realize that you have no time to achieve them?

Or do you really have plenty of time to go for every goal and not just achieve that goal but exceed that goal?

It amazes me to see all of the tweets and Facebook updates that everyone was posting in the beginning of January. People stating that 2011 would be their year. How they have not just set resolutions but have set lofty goals for the year. How 2011 will be different. Yet those same people are already on pace for yet another year of underachievement.

Many of these people claim that they just don’t have time. That they just don’t have the resources. That they just can’t find the energy. Bottom line is they make excuses on top of excuses.

In the same conversations where they talk about having no time they can breakdown last nights television line up. They can tell you all about the games from the weekend. They can tell you all about the clubs they went to over the weekend or what level they are at in World of Warcraft. Yet they don’t have time.

Isn’t it about time that we realize the only way to reach the goals we have or to achieve our true potential is that we must make sacrifices. We may have to give up some video game time, give up some tv, give up a little bit of sleep, we may even have to adjust our diet to ensure we have the energy it takes to do what we know we should.

All too often we are the ones who hold us back from reaching our full potential. It is unfortunate that we allow things to get in the way of us possibly changing our neighborhood, our community, our city, or even the world.

So in December of this year when you start to reflect on the year that was 2011 and what was yet another 365 days wasted try checking the reflection in the mirror instead of placing blame elsewhere.

If You Could Have Lunch with One Person, Who Would it Be?

If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would it be?

I was asked that question several years ago as an icebreaker to a new job.

My answer at the time was Bill Cosby. I mean he is funny, entertaining, and not afraid to speak his mind. I just thought spending time with someone so successful would be fun while at the sometime he seems like a genuine dude. My answer today would probably be different but I will think about it an answer that tomorrow in part two of this post.

Today I wanted to share with you some of the answers I have heard over the years to this question. The most common answer has been family related. Many people say their kids. Some people say their parents or grandparents, especially if they are deceased. I have heard brother, sister, wife, and husband.

I have heard Oprah, the President, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Justin Timberlake, and many others.

The most interesting answer I heard was David Justice. The reason? The person wanted to find out what was wrong with Halle Berry. Personally in would have gone with lunch with Halle but to each his own.

So with that said if you could have lunch with anyone in the world who would you choose and why? Give it some thought and share it in the comments or via email.

Check back tomorrow to see who I would choose.

Time and How to Handle It – Part Two

Yesterday I talked about some strategies to handling my daily time that I have been implementing into my daily routine.  (if you missed it you can check it out here).  Today I want to talk about some things I plan to try this year.  I would be interesated in hearing your feedback on these either in the comments or via email.

• Scheduling 45 minute meetings instead of 60 minute meetings.  This enables you to have time between meetings to prepare for the next one.  In my world we have many back to back meetings.  What happens is about 50% of the participants are late due to previous meetings.
• Holding others accountable to their meeting START time.  If someone schedules a meeting to start at a specific time I expect it to start on time.  I have a new rule that if a meeting is not going within ten minutes of the scheduled time they will have to reschedule me.
• Holding others accountable to their meeting END time.  If someone schedules me for a 60 minute meeting I plan for 60 minutes, not 75 or 90 minutes.  going forward my goal is to leave the meeting even if it is still going.  I will let the meeting leader know that I have a hard stop at the end of the meeting and will excuse myself at the scheduled end time.  This one will be difficult but is a necessary one for me to get everything completed.
• Holding MYSELF accountable for start and end times.  I have to make sure I start meetings on time and end on time or early.  I can usually end them on time since I book at least 15 miutes longer than I think I need.  This way most of the time I can give the attendees time back instead of sucking up additional time.

These are just a few tips I have and that I plan to adopt.  Really most of this ‘time management’ is really about respecting people’s time.  If you want others to respect your time you must respect their time.

Try these things and let me know how it goes.

Time and How to Handle It – Part One

Last year I really worked on my time management skills and learned some really cool things.  One eye opener was you can’t manage time but you can manage your duties throughout the day.  The other is managing the peole who suck up your time like a Dyson. So with that said here are a few things I was able to put in place that has helped me.

• Schedule time to check email.  This was a hard one because we are so connected to email.  So step one was block my calendar each day with 15 minute tasks to check email.  I spaced these out ever wo to three hours.  One huge challenge is sticking to the schedule to only check the email during those appointed times.  When I have followed the rule I was amazed how much more I was completing each day.
• Keep my calendar up to date.  I make sure to schedule everything I can on my Outlook calendar.  I have many meetings each day and by keeping my calendar up to date people do not place meeetings on top of things I already have scheduled.  I have also started using the category feature to color code my appointments.  When scheduling things on Outlook do not forget lunch.
• Decline meetings.  I have started declining more meetings if it fall on top of something else.  Too many people are selfish with their time and they think you should adjust to them.  What I have seen is the less flexible I have become with my time the more respect I am getting and the meeting organizer has become more flexible with their time.  If someone wants to meet with you allow them to be the ones to work around you.  If you are scheduling time then of course you should be flexible to them.
• Block OT slots.  Lately we have had some alternate shifts to work due to expanded hours.  I now block the times I am not in the office.  Example when I work the late shift I block the time from when the office opens until the time I am scheduled to start.  This enables people to see a better picture of when you are/are not available.
• Go unavailable.  At our office we have instant messaging which can be more distracting than email.  If you are in a meeting or working on something put yourself in unavailable.  It is amazing how many questions are answered by the asker when you are not available.
• Put your back to the door.  I changed the configuration in my office to where my back is facing the door.  This has decreased the ‘drive by’ meetings that continuously happen with me.

These are just a few tips that I have implemented.  I am still trying to stay true to some of them but I have to concentrate to make the plan work.

Tomorrow I will share some more tips that I am in the process of putting to practice.