Belief – Page 2 – Dave Glardon

Focus on the Outcome – The Way Will Present Itself

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

I guess by now, you all think I wake up each morning with thoughts racing through my brain, just waiting to be spilled out onto the keyboard. I wish that were the case, but more often than not, I sit at the computer with no real thought as to what I plan to write that morning. It just happens. Some days it’s not all that great, and other days make up for it. That seems to be the way life goes.

In my younger years, if you wanted to take a trip from one city to another, you either looked at a map beforehand or relied on directions from others. GPS was something for ships and transcontinental airliners. And if the route you were on was closed for some reason, you’d simply get off that road, pull in someplace and ask directions (ladies?), and keep driving until you got there.

For the record, yes … I have actually gone into a gas station or convenience store and asked for directions. If that means I have to hand in my “man card” so be it. I’ve also opened a second screen on my computer in the morning to look up a statistic or find out who was the first to offer a specific quote. If you thought all those facts just rattled around in my brain all day, think again.

In the days of Christopher Columbus, navigation was done mostly by dead-reckoning and looking at the stars. You would take a known starting point, head in a specific direction, estimate your speed, and hope the wind and waves weren’t blowing you too far off course. At night you relied on the stars to get you back on track. Except on stormy nights. Then you just hung on for dear life.

Of course, that approach relied on one critical factor – knowing where you were headed. According to historical folklore, Christopher Columbus had set off to prove the world was round by sailing west to India, a country that everybody knew was to the east. What he didn’t know was that there was this huge continent in the middle that stretched from the top of the globe almost to the bottom.

A lot of mornings as I write my post, I find myself in a similar situation. I think I know where I want to go, but end up someplace completely different. And sometimes the goal is simply to get a positive message online, one that will hit home with at least one or two people, with no real sense of how I’ll get there. If you couldn’t already tell, today is one of those days.

Sometimes, too much planning can get in the way. You have a goal and an idea of how you’ll achieve it. You formulate a plan and start working through the details. You decide ahead of time exactly how you’ll get there and how long you think it’ll take. And then you hit the road with blinders on, focused only on that pre-defined route.

But you’re missing all the scenery along the way. You blow right past the on-ramp to a newer and faster route because you’re stuck on plans made from a ten-year-old map. You miss opportunities not only to expedite the completion of your trip, but to enjoy it more along the way. And then comes the dreaded “Road Closed” sign. Now what do you do?

If the destination is known, all you have to do is keep moving in the right direction. And when the GPS says, “Recalculating,” you make a turn and get back on track. Sooner or later you’ll get there. Destinations don’t move. What changes is the means by which we get there.

We talked yesterday about faith, the belief in something you can’t prove. In this case, it’s the certainty in a final outcome you’ve not yet achieved. But if you know where you’re going, and you believe in your ability to get there, how you do it isn’t quite as important. You don’t have to plan everything to the nth degree. Focus on the goal and the means will present itself.

The key here is that you have to begin with the courage to take that first step. You have to be open to options along the way. You have to be willing to try something new – maybe something so radically different that it almost doesn’t make sense. If you stick to the path everybody else is on, you’ll end up exactly where they’re headed, two steps behind.

You achieve new things by trying new things. Focus on the destination and believe in the outcome. Take off the blinders and be open to new opportunities. The path to success may not look like anything you’d imagined. But what’s more important? The destination, or the color of the car that gets you there?

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Soar With the Faith of a Baby Bird

May 8, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning. It’s Hump Day! We’re halfway to the weekend. I hope your day is starting off well.

As I was shaving this morning, I heard the sound of birds outside greeting the new day. It’s been a long winter here in southern Ohio, so that’s a sound I haven’t heard in a while. Okay, there are some stubborn species that have never heard of flying south for the winter, but this is typically a sound we associate with springtime. It’s about time.

As I listened to them chirping at one another, two thoughts came to me. First, I’ve never seen or heard of a bird that wakes up in the morning with a scowl on its face, grumpy about the interruption in its sleep. They all seem to wake up happy and full of life, eager to face the new day. Seems to me we could learn a thing or two from that.

I also thought about the little ones taking their first flight. That has to be a scary experience. It’s hard enough to leave the nest for the first time, but that’s when they realize just how high in a tree the nest really is. “Thanks mom! You expect me to step out of this thing and just flap my wings. What if it doesn’t work???”

Years ago, I saw a picture of a baby bird staring over the side of the nest getting ready for that first flight. The caption read, “It can because it thinks it can.” Just as a small child sees its parents walk upright, a baby bird sees its mother fly in from the big blue sky with food for the whole family. There’s never any doubt in their mind that they can do the same thing. It just takes a leap of faith.

Faith is the unwavering belief in something for which we have no physical proof. It means to know something deep down inside that others may doubt. It’s the ability to see into the future and know the outcome before you take the first step. And, for a baby bird, it means flapping your wings just a little harder to turn that long drop to the ground into the miracle of flight.

A friend often asks, “What goals would you set for yourself if you knew you couldn’t fail?” I’ve quoted her before, because I think they’re powerful words. If a wizard waved a magic wand over you and told you that you could now accomplish anything and everything your heart desires, which of your dreams do you think you’d tackle first?

Sure, the first couple of times you might go into it with the mindset that this may work, and it may not. After all, our lives have mostly been a mixed bag of wins and losses. But, unlike a baseball game, we can step up to the plate as many times as we want, and when the game appears to be over, we can declare extra innings. It’s not over until we say it’s over. We just keep playing until we win.

I was listening to a motivational CD yesterday where the speaker said that every time a baseball player steps up to the plate, he expects to get a hit. He stands there because he knows the right pitch will come his way. He swings because he knows he can hit the ball. He never expects to strike out. Yet the Hall of Fame opens its doors for the player who can get a hit one time out of three.

That means the best players return to the bench seven times out of ten. And all they’re thinking about is their next time at bat, and that their own batting average proves they’ve got what it takes to hit the ball and get on base. They don’t step up to the plate knowing they’ll get a hit. They do it because they have faith in their ability to succeed.

You have the ability and the power to succeed at anything you set out to do. Okay, I don’t suggest jumping off a tree limb and flapping your arms, because there’s this thing called gravity that can mess up your day. But you get the idea. There are very few things in life that you can’t accomplish if you have the faith and courage of a baby bird.

So, again, what would your goals be if you knew you couldn’t fail? Would you keep doing what you’re doing today, or do you think you’d set your sights just a little higher? We all dream of things we’d like to have or goals we’d like to accomplish. They may seem a little far-fetched, and others may get a chuckle out of your ambitions. But the only thing holding you back is your own self-doubt.

Remove that doubt and all things become possible. All it takes is a little faith. You can do this!

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

When You Dream and Believe, Success is Inevitable

April 18, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

I’ve been meeting friends for the past couple of weeks, having lunch with a different person just about every day. The weather has finally gotten a little nicer, so we’re not as prone to just sitting inside all day. And it’s been great catching up with people I don’t get to see as much as I’d like. We should all do that more often.

We sit and talk about any of a number of things. Invariably, we’ll share some of our visions for the year, especially in terms of vacations. Nothing gets people excited more than the prospect of some time away from work, relaxing and seeing something they normally don’t get to see. And let me tell you, some of these people are really adventuresome! I need to hang out with them a little more.

In my business, that’s what we do. We talk with people. We find out what they do, we talk about family, and we share dreams. You may think you know the things somebody wants, until they look at you and say, “I want to sell my house and move to Switzerland.” Okay, I didn’t see that one coming.

For each of us, there are different things that motivate us. And, here’s a concept we don’t often talk about. Money is not a motivator – we may believe we get up each day and work for money, but what we’re working for are the things money can buy. Food, shelter, security, health, and the ability to enjoy a little more of what this world has to offer.

I have a friend who was giving a presentation in Mexico years ago and, through a translator, he told his audience they should put a picture of their dream on their refrigerator. All at once, a woman in the back jumped up and started yelling excitedly. He asked the translator what she was saying, and he replied, “She has a dream! She wants … a refrigerator!” Sometimes, you just never know.

But regardless of whether our dream is to take a European vacation, a beachfront home, or to simply own a refrigerator, it’s something that feeds our hope of a better future. The problem for many of us is that we allow our dreams to simply exist in the back of our mind, and only bring them to the surface when a nosy friend asks about them over lunch. The rest of the time, they just sit there.

I’ve quoted Napoleon Hill before in these posts, but in ten words, he says everything I’m writing about here this morning. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Those are powerful words. It means if you can dream it up, and believe in yourself enough to go after it, your brain will find the way to make it happen.

I wish our schools would spend a little more time teaching positive reinforcement to our kids. Okay, I wish more parents would do that. When they’re little, we encourage every dream they have and celebrate every accomplishment. But somewhere in the teenage years, when family bonds mean all so much to them (insert sarcasm emoji here), that positive reinforcement seems to fade.

And that’s why it’s important as adults that we find a way to get it back. I don’t care how young or old you are, there is no point in your life when you should stop believing in yourself because there is no point in your life when you can’t begin to achieve whatever your heart desires. Success is simply a dream, belief, and a plan, repeated daily until the goal is achieved.

Dreams can get you up in the morning and make you do things you might not otherwise have done to achieve them. If your boss called you in tomorrow and said, “Give me an extra seven hours a week for the next two years, and I’ll buy you that beachfront home,” would you do it?

Then why not put in a few extra hours each week building something that will allow you to buy any home you want? To have something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. That may be putting in extra hours, going to a new church, starting a business, or simply having lunch with a different friend every day. Those little changes can be the start of something big.

Dream. Find something that makes you want to get up every morning. Then believe in yourself enough to work for it. Feed your brain with positive thoughts. Be willing to try something you’ve never done before. And, in those quiet moments of the day, listen to your mind. It’ll tell you what to do next.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Build Dreams on a Foundation of Possibilities

April 10, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is starting off well.

Last week, my wife and I took our grandson out to dinner. It’s been a while since we were able to share some special time with just him, and we enjoyed it. Besides, being new to living on his own, I’m pretty sure his diet consists of whatever junk food he can get his hands on, and not very much of that. So, we wanted to make sure he got at least one good meal.

During dinner, he began to share some of his dreams. He wants to buy a new car, or better still, a truck. Not just a truck, but a big one that sits up high enough to drive over Toyotas without even flinching. He wants to move from his apartment into a house. And he wants to do all this in the next three months.

There’s nothing wrong with those goals. In fact, they’re pretty impressive. Especially for a 19-year-old with less than $10 in his bank account. I said the goals are impressive, not that they’re overly realistic. But, instead of shooting them down, we offered him some alternatives. Maybe move into a little bigger apartment and fix the car he’s got until he can save for something a little newer.

I remember those days all too well. Actually, it’s easy for me because I still have visions of things I can’t afford today and a lifestyle that’s above my current means. I used to draw pictures of boats I’d own someday. People say you should find pictures of the things you want because our minds think in pictures. Well, let me tell you, nothing is more detailed than a picture you draw from scratch.

My dad would let me go off into La-La Land for a while before he felt the need to pull be back down to reality. “Boy, you’re a dreamer!” If I had a dollar for every time I heard those words, I’d have all those boats. In fact, it got to be such a comical thing to me that I started naming them – Dreamer. Why not? I think most people would get it. In fact, it may even inspire a few others to dream.

I talk about dreams a lot in these posts, and for good reason. They’re important. They’re a part of our very being and, whether we’ll admit it or not, we all have dreams. There’s something every one of us wants. People like to say, “Just give me a close family and good health and that’s all I need.” That may be true. But there are still things they want. We all do.

When kids are little, we listen to their dreams and tell them, “You can do anything you want to do!” It’s important to instill that belief in them at a young age. But at some point between childhood and young adulthood, we begin to take those dreams away. And worst of all, we do it in the name of love. We hurt them to keep them from getting hurt.

I’ve never fully understood that, but I have to admit, I’m as guilty of it as anybody reading this. We see somebody with their head just a little too high in the clouds and feel some kind of responsibility to assist gravity in bringing them back down. And sometimes, it’s necessary. But it can become a habit to the point that, instead of looking for possibilities, we look for pitfalls.

When somebody shares a dream with you, there’s a reason. It’s not because they’re bragging or because they don’t have a grip on reality. They know reality – they live it every day. What they want is for you to build their enthusiasm a little and help them figure out how to do it. They want you to believe in them, just like you want others to believe in you.

And here’s the cool thing – when you believe in somebody else, you’re sharing that same belief in yourself. When you share possibilities, you begin to see possibilities. When you help somebody else succeed, you uncover the path to your own success. You can’t find the good in somebody else’s dreams without seeing the good in your own. It’s inevitable.

When somebody comes to you with a dream, humor them. Feel honored that they chose to share it with you. Instead of looking for barriers, look for possibilities. It takes the same amount of creative thought, but the results can be so much better.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Wishbones and Backbones

December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a nice start.

Yesterday, I was reading a post where the writer quoted a long list of things we should teach our sons. I agreed with just about every one of them, because I’ve always believed we need to do a better job of passing strong values on to our kids.

One particular item on the list stood out, because of its sheer simplicity. “Don’t grow a wishbone where the backbone is supposed to go.” I did a little research and found that this quote originated from a writer named Clementine Paddleford, and it was written for daughters, not sons. “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.”

It’s not uncommon for sentiments such as this to be misquoted, or even re-directed. Still, I think the message remains strong, whether we’re talking about sons, daughters, or even ourselves. But, like many other such quotes, it’s easy to take it out of context and miss the meaning entirely.

“Don’t grow a wishbone.” Those four words, taken by themselves, have some pretty strong implications that fly in the face of what I’ve been promoting all this time. I talk about the importance of dreaming, and how it drives us to bigger and better things. And the closing words, “where the backbone ought to be,” could be misinterpreted as well. It would be easy to read this entire statement as, “Don’t dream of the things you want – stand up and demand them!”

And, to be honest, there are people in this world who live by that mantra. If you want something, take it. To the victor go the spoils, and everybody else can just live with their loss or grow a backbone of their own. We’ve all met people like this.

And, the problem with that line of thinking is that it assumes every gain in life must be balanced by a corresponding loss. I’ve been in business a few different times, and something I’ve never understood is the concept of a balance sheet. I guess for accountants, it’s pretty simple. But the notion that assets and liabilities must always balance out to a sum total of $0 is beyond my comprehension.

I read another post this morning, in a comedy forum of all places, that said “A rising tide raises all boats.” Now, there’s something I can understand. And, we’ve talked about this before – the concept that, by elevating those around us, we elevate ourselves as well. When the collective total increases, so does the individual average.

In accounting, balance sheets make sense (I guess). But in life, dreams are not a limited resource, nor are the things that enable our dreams. Money is a renewable resource. So are fancy homes, boats, airplanes, RVs, vacation packages, and just about anything else you can imagine. Winning yours doesn’t mean somebody else has to lose. There’s more than enough to go around.

So, let’s assume Ms. Paddleford wasn’t suggesting we don’t dream, or that we should “grow a backbone” and take what we want. I think the statement goes much deeper than that. To me, it says don’t let your ability to dream overcome your will to achieve. If there’s something you want in life, and you want it badly enough to wish for it, then have the guts to pursue that dream.

In terms of dreams, having a backbone means standing in the face of adversity and saying, “You can make things tough on me, but you can’t make me quit. I’ll stand against you day after day until you give up or just move on to somebody else, because I have already decided this shall be, and there’s no turning back. So, give it your best shot. I’ve got this.”

I doubt you can point to very many things in life that you achieved without any resistance whatsoever. Okay, people who have won the lottery may not agree, but that aside, just about every worthwhile thing you’ve accomplished in life came with some challenges. But determination and commitment carried you to the goal. Simply stated – you didn’t quit.

Should we grow a wishbone? Absolutely! And, unlike the one that comes with our Thanksgiving turkey, we need to make sure our own wishbone isn’t quite so brittle. It needs to be strong and resilient, something that can be bent, but never broken.

And that, my friends, takes commitment. It takes an unwavering belief in our ability to reach the goal, and a determination that nothing will stand in our way. Starting to sound a little like a backbone? I like the way you think!

A wishbone by itself can’t accomplish anything except pipe dreams. A backbone by itself can’t accomplish anything except standing in the way. But when you make the two work together, there’s nothing you can’t do, no goal you can’t achieve. At that point, the world is your playground, just waiting for you to enjoy whatever your heart desires.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!