The Man in the Arena

I am excited to see the movie Invictus. In it Nelson Mandela gives Francois Pienaar a copy of the poem of the same title, but in actuality Mandela gave Pienaar a copy of Teddy Roosevelt's speech The Man in the Arena. The most quoted excerpt is below:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

As I prepare to write resolutions for 2010 I will reflect on the dust and sweat and blood of the last decade. When 1999 came to an end I was in a small apartment (we called them 'flats') in South Africa. We weren't sure if computers were going to crash and all mayhem break lose when Y2K hit, but we all made it through just fine. Over the past decade I have done a lot of things. I returned home to California in 2001, went back to school, bought a restaurant, got married, sold a restaurant, started a career in mortgage banking and real estate, started a family, invested in real estate (won some, lost some), moved a few times, graduated college, started a business or two, closed a business, made good friends, lost loved ones, went on a game show, traveled, and on and on. It's been a busy decade of my life, and I have learned much.

Sometimes in the arena of life we achieve greatness and are privileged to feel the thunderous applause of the crowd and other times we may stumble and be met with boos and disdain of onlookers. The approval of the crowd is a fickle friend and one who lives his life thus seeking will be met with an empty reward. As I prepare for this next decade I commit to live my life boldly and in the pursuits of worthy causes.

"The Soul's Captain"

In light of my post on the poem Invictus I now present another response written about 100 years ago.

"The Soul's Captain"
by Orson F. Whitney

Art thou in truth? Then what of Him
Who bought thee with His blood?
Who plunged into devouring seas
And snatched thee from the flood,

Who bore for all our fallen race
What none but Him could bear--
That God who died that man might live
And endless glory share.

Of what avail thy vaunted strength
Apart from His vast might?
Pray that His light may pierce the gloom
That thou mayest see aright.

Men are as bubbles on the wave,
As leaves upon the tree,
Thou, captain of thy soul! Forsooth,
Who gave that place to thee?

Free will is thine- free agency,
To wield for right or wrong;
But thou must answer unto Him
To whom all souls belong.

Bend to the dust that "head unbowed,"
Small part of life's great whole,
And see in Him and Him alone,
The captain of thy soul.

I am the captain of my soul

Merry Christmas! During this wonderful time of year I am reminded of who I have to thank for my unconquerable soul.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Elevating Your Influence

"Man radiates what he is, and that radiation affects to a greater or less[er] degree every person who comes within that radiation” - David O. McKay

This has long been one of my favorite quotes and is the thought that comes to mind whenever I consider personal development. We've all seen the fruits of this concept in our lives, the smiling waitress that cheers up a gloomy table in an instant, the charismatic friend who can change a rooms mood just by being present, and even the 'Debby Downer' who can suck the wind out of the fullest of sails in the bat of an eye.

Yesterday I visited the Newport Beach LDS Temple because I felt my own radiation lessening. I needed to reflect, repent and recharge. I had a wonderful experience and felt a renewed focus to live my life in a way where others benefit from being around me. As a mortal man I make mistakes and the past couple of years seem to have had an extra load of trials and tough experiences. I know, however, that these can be a source of growth and learning and that the choice is mine.

A good friend reminded me through his example the proper level of priority Temple worship should be to an LDS businessman. That same friend then shared this video on his blog today.



What a great example of elevating your influence in the world around you!

Organizing Chaos

"He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of life which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign."

The Richest Man In Babylon - Chapter 2 - The Richest Man In Babylon

Chapter two is the story of Arkad. Arkad was the average young man, born with no inherent physical advantage or silver spoon, who learned the secrets to becoming rich. Bansir and Kobbi from the inquire of Arkad as to his unsurpassed wealth.

"Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible... And, when I realized all this, I decided to myself that I would claim my share of the good things of life." - Arkad

I enjoyed the preceding quote because Arkad did not sound pretentious or arrogant. He talked about how with wealth one could build temples for the Gods and how it takes hard work to become wealthy.

Aha! moment #1

"I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you" - Algamish (Arkad's mentor)

This is where the saying that you hear at financial workshops comes from, "Pay yourself first."
"Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed." - Algamish

Algamish was a rich man whom Arkad struck a deal with to be mentored by. Algamish mentored Arkad slowly with one principle at a time.

The three laws of successfully handling wealth:

1. Pay yourself first (save a minimum of 1/10th your income) and live on less than you earn
2. Seek advice from those who were competent through their own experience to give it
3. Make your gold work for you. Invest your savings wisely.

Aha moment #2

"Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared." - Arkad

"Enjoy life while you are here. Do not overstrain or try to save too much." - Arkad

Arkad understood the importance of moderation. Living in Southern California there seem to be more people to the extreme of not saving enough than the contrary but Arkad reminds us that 'Life is good and rich with things worthwhile and things to enjoy.'

The Richest Man In Babylon - Chapter 1 - The Man Who Desired Gold

Many summaries and reviews have been written on this timeless classic. I will not be doing an exhaustive book report, but more sharing of my favorite quotes and perhaps my thoughts on the principles taught.

The first chapter of The Richest Man In Babylon is entitled The Man Who Desired Gold. The characters in the chapter are:

Bansir - a chariot builder who finds himself unhappy, poor and longing for a better life.
Kobbi - a musician and Basir's good friend. Also broke and wishing for better circumstances.
Arkad - The richest man in Babylon. A childhood friend of Bansir and Kobbi who had no more than them in their youth.

Bansir and Kobbi reflect upon their financial misery and decide to ask advice from their friend Arkad who was wealthy beyond all else.

Favorite quotes:

"A Man's wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it." - Kobbi

"It costs nothing to ask wise advice from a good friend..." - Bansir

"Thou makest me to realize the reason why we have never found any measure of wealth. We never sought it... In thos things toward which we exerted our best endeavors we succeeded." - Kobbi

The Richest Man In Babylon - Intro

I am in the middle of reading The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. I have heard this book spoken of and recommended for years and recently came across a copy. I am deeply enjoying the simple yet sound principles of financial success.

The following two paragraphs are from freewld.

The Richest Man in Babylon is a book by George Samuel Clason which dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. Through their experiences in business and managing household finance, the characters in the parables learn simple lessons in financial wisdom. By basing these parables in ancient times, but involving situations that modern people can understand and identify with, the author presents these lessons as timeless wisdom that is as relevant today as it was back then.

The book began in 1926 as a series of informational pamphlets. Banks and insurance companies began to distribute these pamphlets, and the most famous ones were eventually compiled into this book.

Over the next few days I will share my notes and thoughts from each chapter. I am hoping that by writing out my thoughts and sharing the principles the book teaches that not only will I become more committed to the tenants but that others may learn of them also.

In today's job market - make yourself useful

I was thinking today about how depressing the unemployment numbers are. Almost as sad are the number of people that are under employed or who are working well below their potential. Most bosses, at least the ones worth working for, don't enjoy letting people go. They especially don't like letting good employees go. I'm a member of a network on Forbes.com and this poll was on the sidebar today. The question was asked to a forum of CEO's.

How does this information give you the edge in being the most useful and valuable employee? Could acting on this information effectively potentially save your job?

For the record, I agreed with the majority of voters. I hate red tape.

Choice

Life gives to all the choice. You can satisfy yourself with mediocrity if you wish. You can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless, or you can channel your life so that it will be clean, vibrant, useful, progressive, colorful, and rich."
— Spencer W. Kimball

Kimball's personal motto was 'Do It!' I guess the 'just' Nike added to it made it a bit more marketable.