Archive for April, 2012

Mental Fitness Challenge Rolled Out in Columbus

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 30, 2012

LIFE poured into Columbus for the launch of the Mental Fitness Challenge – the greatest personal development program created to help the average person achieve above-average results in life. What is the life you have always wanted to live? Learn the principles taught within the Mental Fitness Challenge and pursue your dreams. Here is a video explaining more!

The team has never had as powerful an event as what took place this weekend. Speaker after speaker stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park! If you attended the event, what was your key nugget or magic moment that you took away to implement into your life?

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Leadership/Personal Development, Orrin Woodward | Tagged: LIFE Major, Mental Fitness Challenge | 22 Comments »

Mental Fitness Challenge: 90 Days to Change Your Life

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 26, 2012

Mental Fitness Challenge

It is here – The Mental Fitness Challenge! The official release of the best systematically designed personal development program ever. I teamed up with NY Times best-selling author Chris Brady to conceptualize and develop a step-by-step process to grow personally from the inside out starting with private achievements, moving onto public achievements, then to leadership achievements, and eventually culminating in a legacy achievement. Anyone reading this who has the mind, heart, and desire to change can now achieve his or her destiny.

The Mental Fitness Challenge is based around my book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE. Each of the resolutions is focused on for one week, leading to a 13-week program designed to inculcate the 13 resolutions mindset into your life. I have never been happier with a personal development product, and I am excited to play a part in helping people fulfill their purposes. What is the life you have always wanted? Isn’t it time to pursue it today? Here is Chris’s short description of the Mental Fitness Challenge.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

The Mental Fitness Challenge, the product that has required more study, time, effort, input, design, and blood, sweat, and tears than anything the LIFE company or Team have ever come out with, is coming soon!

How soon? At the Spring Leadership Convention in Columbus, Ohio this coming weekend!

What is it? A life-changing package of information, including three best-selling books, a bunch of CDs, an online environment for tracking progress, a video library which accumulates for future viewing as videos stream in through email on a regular basis, a self-assessment test, unlimited 360 feedback, accountability partners, goal and tracking sheets, and more! This product encompasses years and years of learning how people change and maximize in their lives in all the 13 areas of resolutions from Orrin Woodward’s best seller RESOLVED.

Why is this such a great thing for LIFE members? Because it embodies an extremely low-priced, overall package of life improvement that can easily be sold to customers who want to “Live the Life They’ve Always Wanted to Live!”

There is so much more to tell you than we can possibly do in this little blog. Therefore, we’ll just have to put it all out there for you at this convention (One big reason, among about 100, that you need to be there!) You won’t believe what you will learn about this product and how it is especially designed to help your business (and your future) go viral!!!!

Posted in Leadership/Personal Development, Mental Fitness Challenge (MFC), Orrin Woodward | Tagged: chris brady life, Mental Fitness Challenge, Orrin Woodward LIFE | 16 Comments »

America – Conceived in Liberty: Died in Tyranny?

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 25, 2012

Murray Rothbard has struck again! Through reading his fascinating, albeit frustrating at times, history of America Conceived in Liberty, I stumbled across some shocking stories. Rothbard is the type of author that even when I disagree with him, I find myself laughing and thinking. I enjoy authors who make their readers think because so few do today. Since recorded history, governments have violated people’s inherent rights, but how these poor precedents proceed in perpetuity is astonishing. Has anyone studied the history of the English postal system? I certainly hadn’t! Let me quote from the irrepressible sacred cow buster Murray Rothbard:

Postal service began in the early American colonies as freely competitive private enterprises of varying forms and types. Letters between neighboring villages were sent by special messengers, who were often Indians. For longer journeys, letters were carried by travelers or regular merchants. Letters to or from England were carried by private ship captains, who often hung a bag in the local coffeehouse to receive letters for shipment. The price was generally a penny for a single letter and two pence for a double letter or parcel.

Unfortunately, English precedent held out little hope for the unhampered development of a freely competitive postal service. In 1591 the Crown had issued a proclamation granting itself the monopoly of all foreign mail, and in 1609 the Crown’s proclamation extended its own monopoly to all mail foreign or domestic. The purpose of this postal monopoly was quite simple: to enable governmental officials to read the letters of private citizens in order to discover and suppress “treason” and “sedition.”

Thus, when the Privy Council decided in 1627 to allow merchants to operate an independent foreign post, the king’s principal secretary of state wrote sternly: “Your lordship best knoweth what account we shall be able to give in our places of that which passeth by letters in or out of the land, if every man may convey letters under the course of merchants to whom and what place he pleaseth…how unfit a time this is to give liberty to every man to write and send what he list….” And in 1657 when the Commonwealth Parliament continued the English governmental postal monopoly, the preamble of the act stated a major objective: “to discover and prevent many dangerous and bigoted designs, which have been and are daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated, but by letter of script.”

The first government meddling in the postal service in America came as early as 1639 in Massachusetts. At that time the government appointed Richard Fairbanks to be a receiver and deliverer of foreign letters for the price of one penny; no monopoly privilege was granted, and no one was prevented from using other postal intermediaries. The Dutch government in New Netherland went far beyond this when in 1657 it awarded itself a compulsory monopoly of receipt of foreign mail; anyone presuming to board a vessel first to obtain his own mail was fined thirty guilders. Ship captains were fined heavily for carrying letters for anyone except the government postal monopolist.

In other words, America’s “snail mail” postal monopoly has nothing to do with efficiency (I guess we all knew that :)); it has nothing to do with the poor economics of this generation; and it has everything to do with the State’s desire to spy on people’s thoughts, plans, and actions. This, mind you, from our English forefathers, whose ideas of liberty were modeled in the creation of America. The postal system is one area where we shouldn’t have applied English principles. If government has the right to spy at will, where does this right end? If someone disagrees with the ruling power, does that person have the right to open letters, emails, tap phones, etc? England’s unethical precedent is still affecting America’s postal system to this day.

I love history, but this isn’t the type of lessons I learned in school and neither will you. Since Big Government funds the schools, no one should be shocked about this. Sadly, with today’s further government interventions like the Patriot Act, to name one among many, civil liberties are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Harry Truman, an avid reader, once paraphrased Solomon when he said, “There is nothing new under the sun, only the history you don’t know.” We must educate ourselves on real history and not the government fed history from our schools and other government-funded institutions.

The battles fought over freedom today may be different in detail but astonishingly similar in principle. Yes, America was conceived in liberty; I pray it doesn’t die in tyranny.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development | Tagged: Freedom/Liberty, liberty, Murray Rothbard | 12 Comments »

The Five Laws of Decline: The Greeks

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 23, 2012

I am studying the effects of the Five Laws of Decline throughout history, and I am shocked how predictable this historical and economic method is. Let me share one of the many examples. Perhaps the reader will see a correlation with today’s American Empire. 🙂 Thanks, Orrin Woodward

The Greek City States Alliances

The Greeks were a small band of city-states bound by racial ties, but without a coercive federal union. The Five Laws of Decline (FLD) were held in check by the divided sovereignties of the Greek city-states; however, this changed with the unifying effect of the war against Persia. Initially, Sparta and the Peloponnesian League led the Greek alliance, but after the Persian’s retreat from mainland Greece and the Greek’s counterattack and victory march into the Ionian (Greek) colonies of Asia Minor, the Persian War was effectively over.

The Spartans, to their credit, wanted to terminate the alliance and enjoy some peace and tranquility. Sadly, however, once the Greeks realized the capabilities inherent in united action, the divided sovereignty stage of Greek life ended, and the empire, along with the FLD, began. With the Spartans backing out of leadership, the Athenians, led by their commander Xanthippus, vowed that if no one else would protect the Ionians of Asia Minor, then the Athenians would, especially since Asia Minor, for the most part, originally consisted of colonies from Athens.

The Delian League

In 477 BC, on the island of Delos, the Athenians led a congress of over 150 states to create a new alliance called the Delian League to fight against the Persians. This league changed the character of the Greeks forever as it launched the ravages of FLD on a scale previously unknown. Without realizing the inherent dangers associated with FLD and empire building, the Greeks formed an offense-minded league to plunder gains from weaker enemies and replace their conventional defense-minded leagues of the past. Despite the noble official aim of the Delian League, “to avenge the wrongs they suffered by ravaging the territory of the king,” in actuality, the league existed to “utilize the burgeoning might of [the] new Athenian Empire to expropriate unjust gains from league members and various victims in surrounding areas.” 🙂

Basically, there were three main objectives of the Delian League: defend against further invasions by Persia, avenge Persia’s invasion, and divide the spoils of war gained by the allies. Each ally was given a choice to either offer armed services or pay a tax into the league treasury. Given the strength of the Athenian forces and the fear of the Persians, most of the states chose to pay the tax in lieu of providing men and ships. The FLD grew rapidly under this fertile field for plunder. As the Athenians realized the ability to reap profit without efforts, the taxes quickly increased, the alliance of friendly states turned into Athenian hegemony over its weaker brethren, and the Athenians ventured out with a funded, aggressive, and victorious military seeking further plunder.

Thucydides commented on the transformation of Athens from ally to empire builder:

Of all the causes of defection, that connected with arrears of tribute and vessels, and with failure of service, was the chief; for the Athenians were very severe and exacting, and made themselves offensive by applying the screw of necessity to men who were not used to and in fact not disposed for any continuous labor. In some other respects the Athenians were not the old popular rulers they had been at first; and if they had more than their fair share of service, it was correspondingly easy for them to reduce any that tried to leave the confederacy. The Athenians also arranged for the other members of the league to pay its share of the expense in money instead of in ships and men, and for this the subject city-states had themselves to blame, their wish to get out of giving service making most leave their homes. Thus while Athens was increasing her navy with the funds they contributed, a revolt always found itself without enough resources or experienced leaders for war.

The Five Laws of Decline (FLD)

By analyzing the behavior of Athens, one quickly identifies the FLD (discussed in my book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE in the Legacy chapter) at work helping to destroy Greek liberty.

First, because of Sturgeon’s Law, it was only a matter of time before the absolute power derived from the Athenian’s dictatorial position drew proto-Machiavellian operators into the leadership positions. The Delian League’s political structure would have required angels, not men, in order to limit the possibilities of aggrandizement inherent in the Delian League’s design.

Second, Bastiat’s Law bloomed when the Athenians realized that, since they were receiving the taxes (tributes) and providing the protection, they also could dictate the terms of the “alliance” because he who has the gold makes the rules. Naxos, was the first island to realize its error and challenge the Athenian political control by attempting to withdraw from the league. The Athenians (the former lovers of liberty) viciously attacked and defeated Naxos, forcing the inhabitants to tear down their wall, surrender their fleet, and lose their vote in the Delian League. Naxos, in other words, was no longer an ally in the Delian League, but rather a prisoner of the Athenian Empire. Other states quickly read the tea leaves, and Athens resorted to threats and attacks to subjugate any allies brave enough to question Athenian hegemony.

Third, Gresham’s Law reared its ugly head by driving any noble politicians of liberty underground. Consequently, the only politicians remaining played power politics games to run the coercive league for personal and professional gain. By 461, the conservative Greek Cimon was ostracized, leading to further influence from the democratic elements led by Ephialtes and Pericles. This signaled the end of the official alliance with Sparta and the beginning of preparations for war between the two rival factions of Greeks – Peloponnesian and Athenian. Easy gain and plunder drove out the character-based conservative leaders and replaced them with plunder-hungry Machiavellian war leaders who catered to the democratic masses.

Fourth, as the Delian League digressed from an alliance into an empire, the Athenians invested time into two plunderous activities: further empire building and continued repression of any “allies” who objected to the Athenian dictates. The Athenian League grew in size and repression. Therefore, the Law of Diminishing Returns (LDR) hindered its effectiveness. In addition, the fear of the Athenian League drew a multitude of rivals to unite under the equally strong Peloponnesian League. Guess what happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object? LDR drained the resources of the Athenian and Peloponnesian Leagues while they fought one another for decades in a dispute over greed, plunder, and power – all initiated thanks to the corrosive effects of FLD.

Fifth, the Law of Inertia ensured that the liberties enjoyed by the former independent Greek city states would be difficult, if not impossible, to revive. Each city was forced to choose between one league or the other, as the risk of facing either empire was too great on any one state’s meager resources in comparison with those of the empire. The era of independent city states was finished, and the inertia slammed the door on the previous liberties as powerful alliances were the only way to ensure protection against subjugation. Ironically, the independent city states, in other words, surrendered their independence for fear of losing their independence. 🙂

The subsequent Peloponnesian war weakened both leagues, leaving all of the Greeks prostrate before Macedonia and Alexander the Great. Liberty was snuffed out by innate desire for plunder caused by allowing the FLD to work unchecked. The Greek people would remain subjugated to the Greek, Roman, and eventually the Turkish Empire – their ignoble reward for ignoring the Five Laws of Decline.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, Orrin Woodward | Tagged: Delian League, Five Laws of Decline, RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE | 28 Comments »

LIFE Compensation Plan: Content & Commerce

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 20, 2012

Marc Militello describes the Content and Commerce aspects of the new LIFE business in this informative video. I listened to four CDs yesterday, and I am blown away by the quality of the information flowing into the Compensated Communities. With almost 30,000 people subscribing to LIFE materials (an almost 50% increase in 5 months), LIFE is great! Even for those who have no desire to be rewarded through community building, the information is still making a huge impact in their lives. I am receiving daily email, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Empire Avenue messages. The best way to share LIFE is to hand people a CD and allow them to see the value of the information for themselves. Find out for yourself why nearly 10,000 new subscriptions have been purchased since November 1, 2011. Here’s the video.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, Orrin Woodward | Tagged: LIFE Business, marc militello | 3 Comments »

Welfare Plus Warfare Equals Unfair

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 16, 2012

America’s leadership deficit may be the only thing bigger than Washington’s budget deficit. Since FDR took over the presidential helm back in 1932, every president has supported either the Welfare State or the Warfare State. In truth, most have supported both! Consequently, the GNP to national debt ratio has surged embarrassingly close to banana republic levels. It seems America is determined to follow the course of the Roman Empire; eschewing the need for external enemies, America is collapsing as Rome did from within, riding the waves of poorly planned and executed internal policies.

On one hand, the Welfare State feeds, clothes, and houses people, which seems like a noble gesture until one understands learned helplessness. Why should men and women marry when the government will provide for mother and child without the father’s involvement. Fathers are freed from the responsibilities of raising a family that are essential in transforming males into men. This isn’t hypothetical as the percentage of children being born to unwed mothers has skyrocketed since the government began providing “help.” Communities across America ought to plead with government to stop helping them into learned helplessness and allow them to help the real charity cases locally.

On the other hand, the Warfare State recruits, trains, and supplies a military, which seems like a proper role of government until one understands the empire building methods of our current governments. Governments should protect their citizens from foreign invasion, but our current military adventures – military bases in nearly 150 countries – no longer seem like protection, but rather empire building. I am thankful for America’s military, and my dad served as a Green Beret; however, we cannot afford to allow our government to volunteer America’s military as the world’s police force for free, especially when we are beyond broke!

Each country must provide for its own military protection, ending our “allies” learned helplessness served up by America’s government at the taxpayers’ expense. Is there any country that is threatening to invade America currently? In contrast, how many countries is America threatening to invade? Like the old saying goes, if the only tool you have is a hammer, then everyone looks like a nail. The Soviet Union – the bogeyman needed for a cold war – is no more, but America’s defense spending is alive and well. Despite trillions in deficits, our leaders feel the need to play empire at our country’s expense. Is there any sanity left in Washington, DC? Perhaps our current “leaders” ought to read George Washington’s thoughts on the principle of “entangling alliances.”

When one group provides for another that it is fully capable of providing for itself, both groups end up ruined – the first through increased spending and decreased productivity and the second through increased passivity and decreased productivity. This is the perfect lose/lose scenario, one in which our government specializes. 🙂 How long must we ignore common sense and the lessons of history? Simply put, the government’s welfare and warfare strategies are unfair and unsustainable. Wake up, America, before it’s too late!

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development | 15 Comments »

Chris Brady: LIFE Videos

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 10, 2012

In this excellent video, Chris Brady, my good friend and co-founder of LIFE, speaks on the importance of a person’s view of money. How a person views money determines the actions he takes toward it. Brady has mastered the principles of money management and financial success. Everyone learns from experience; however, it is much quicker to learn from others’ experience. Each reader has a choice; he can learn from his own financial mistakes, or he can learn from leaders who have experience in that area. Chris Brady has wisdom and experience when it comes to making and keeping money. Enjoy the video and develop the proper money view.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances | Tagged: chris brady life, Finance Pack | 9 Comments »

LIFE Island: Family & Friends

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 6, 2012

In 1998, I got this crazy dream. I had had many dreams that others thought were crazy at the time, but I had always believed they were fairly reasonable. Yet even I knew this particular dream was crazy! However, an important point about life is that if you’re not willing to dream crazy dreams, then crazy dreams will never come true for you.

Anyway, as an engineer at Delphi, a division of General Motors, I placed pictures on my cubicle wall of an in-house movie theater, houses on the lakes, properties with forests, and yachts, to name just a few. Each of the pictures was courageously pinned on the wall. I say courageously because when new engineers joined the Delphi division, they were given a tour of the facility. Without fail, one of the last stops was my cubicle to show them the crazy pictures I had on the wall. Sure they laughed at me while the tour guide explained again why engineers don’t live like this. I didn’t like it, but it only steeled my resolve. I figured that it was better for them to laugh at me while I kept my dreams than for them to stop laughing because I had surrendered my dreams.

As I reflect back, every single picture pinned on that wall came true. In fact, many of the PC members have accomplished the pictures today. Ok, there is one picture that still hasn’t been accomplished. It’s not that it hasn’t come true; it’s still just a work-in-progress. 🙂 Some of you may have already guessed what that dream is: LIFE Island. I remember hesitating when I placed the island picture on the wall; I didn’t take placing a picture lightly because I knew it was a commitment made to myself to follow through, and this island picture was a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, or BHAG (as Jim Collins calls it). Many times, I stared at that island dreaming of the day when a fleet of yachts would travel from Florida (yes, I had a Florida property on the wall) to the island.

There are two types of people reading this article. The first group will think I am crazy to dream a BHAG of this magnitude, believing there’s no way the LIFE community can achieve that. The ones in the second group, in contrast, will study the picture and feed their elephant minds. This group understands Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s proclamation, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” This article won’t teach a person how to build a LIFE business; instead, it is an expression of fourteen years of longing for an island to enjoy with my family and friends.

Can anyone else imagine the evening picnics at the beach park, cookouts, volleyball, horseshoes, and late-night conversation around the firepit all while enjoying the beautiful views and listening to the ocean surf behind us? Community and fellowship are essential for the picture I have envisioned. I can see the fleet of PC yachts making its way into the LIFE Island harbor. Laurie and I greet people as they disembark from their private yachts and ready themselves for several months of R&R on the island. As you step off your yacht, you realize that every plan, every challenge, every year was worth the effort required to achieve this victory.

The aroma of freshly grilled steaks, chicken, and fish permeates the air as you mingle among friends. Freshly squeezed fruit juices tease your taste buds as you recalibrate yourself to the island tempo. Imagine Chris Brady, Tim Marks, Claude Hamilton, George Guzzardo, Bill Lewis, Dan Hawkins, and their lovely brides looking you in the eyes and welcoming you to the dream-come-true LIFE Island. Later, many will walk the island trails for the first time—speechless as they realize that the dream they have yearned for, the dream they have worked for, the dream they have struggled for has finally come true.

I know; I know—I must be crazy. I have been hearing the same thing for years now. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about BHAGs, it’s that if it doesn’t take your breath away, then it’s not a BHAG at all. This dream has always (and still does) taken my breath away! Today, by posting this picture, I am officially launching the quest for LIFE Island. Consider this blog as my new office wall. Go ahead and look at the picture. Now that you have seen it, here is my question: Which group do you belong to? One group will laugh now but live with the pain of sacrificed dreams later; the other group will sacrifice now but live with friends on an island of dreams later.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Faith, Family, Finances, Freedom/Liberty, Life Training, Orrin Woodward | Tagged: BHAGS, LIFE Island | 75 Comments »

Lindsay Lohan – Vanity of Fame, Fortune, & Power

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 5, 2012

It was another typical morning; I wrapped up my Bible studies and sat down to briefly (all the news in five minutes or less) review today’s current events. However, today’s news really got me thinking. Yahoo had posted a video of child-star to troubled-teen to drugged-up-diva Lindsay Lohan. Watch the video and then let’s talk.

I don’t know her background. I don’t know her movies. But I couldn’t help but feel her pain. How many people must go through the same storyline before the world wakes up? All that glitters is not gold! Solomon said it most succinctly when he proclaimed, “All is vanity.” Do not be fooled by the world’s definitions of success; fame, fortune, and power do not satisfy. Examine the lives of Marilyn Monroe (fame), J. Paul Getty (fortune), and L.B. Johnson (power); they each had what others crave, yet they died alone, unhappy, and practically friendless. I could go on; anyone ever hear of Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, or Whitney Houston?

History is full of the vanity of fame, fortune, and power, and yet each year millions more chase the illusion. In my personal life, I have experienced my share of each of these “false gods” and I can speak from first-hand experience that all is vanity. Does this mean we shouldn’t strive for excellence, or that we should settle for mediocrity? Of course, it doesn’t. However, it does mean we should begin with the end in mind, and fame, fortune, and power are terrible ends with which to start.

Each of these “false gods” turns a person inward, making him focus more on himself, his needs, and his desires – a sure recipe for unhappiness. The saddest day in a star’s life is when he has accomplished everything he aimed for only to discover it is all vanity. The endless displays, divorces, and drugs are all attempts to mask the emptiness of the accomplishments. For most superstars, the results were not worth the investment; for in order to achieve the prize, the stars had to sacrifice themselves.

Fortunately, there is a path out of the dilemma. Jesus Christ stated the two greatest commandments were to:

1. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Love others as yourself.

In truth, a person finds his life when he loses it in a worthy cause. What, in other words, are you willing to sacrifice your life for? Every single day, you pay for the twenty-four hours provided to you by sacrificing another day of your life. In your life, has the investment been truly worth the sacrifice? If not, why do you continue in that direction?

The greatest return on investment is when a person fulfills God’s plan for his life. Serving God and others is the only path to true fulfillment. In RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE, I share the principles that helped me stop chasing an illusion and start living my destiny.

In this Easter season, Lindsay Lohan’s video reminded me how thankful I am that God saved a ruined sinner like me through the finished work of Jesus Christ. I pray that someone close to Lindsay Lohan can share the same message of grace, hope, and mercy with her.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Faith, Family, Finances, Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development | 23 Comments »

Truth & Tact: The Art of Loving People & Truth

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 1, 2012

Truth and tact are two concepts that rarely mix; however, when they do, one knows that he is in the presence of leadership greatness. On one side, the world is filled with blowhards who will bluntly state truth while influencing no one, and honestly, even annoying those who agree with them. On the other side, are the people who refuse to share the truth for fear of causing offense. These people would rather see someone run a car off a cliff than offend him by urging him to slow down. Both extremes are wrong but, unfortunately, ubiquitous.

Imagine the leadership revolution that would be possible if we learned to speak truth in love. I know this may only be a dream, but it’s one I am willing to pursue. My life through twenty-five years of age was moving from one disastrous incident of lack of tact to the next. I’m not exaggerating here; I was clueless when it came to tact and truth. Sadly, my cluelessness hurt those closest to me. Although I have certainly improved in this area, not a day passes without catching myself lacking tact in some conversation. Indeed, I would say tact, next to character, has been the biggest stumbling block for many potential leaders.

Chris Brady states, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and it wasn’t until I started reading, listening, and associating with leaders that I realized how tactless I truly was. Where do you fall in the truth-tact continuum? Anyone can change, but he must first begin with a clear perspective on the truth of his current condition. Read the following excellent essay from the 19th-century writer J. R. Miller and honestly confront your current level of tact. Would to God that more people would confront reality on their current level of tact and choose to change.

I guess what I am saying is: Imagine if more people applied the unvarnished truth (while committing to change, grow, and win) upon themselves and loving tact upon others, instead of the current method of applying loving tact upon themselves and unvarnished truth upon others. Now that would be a LIFE revolution worth participating in! 🙂

Sincerely,
Orrin Woodward

“Evil is wrought by lack of thought—as well as lack of heart.”

True tact—is sanctified common sense. It is Christian love doing its proper and legitimate work. It is that wisdom which our Lord commended so heartily to the disciples as they went out among enemies and into a hostile world. It is at the same time as harmless as a dove. No one can read the New Testament thoughtfully, without seeing how love moves everywhere as the queen of all the graces. Truth is everywhere clothed in the warm and radiant beauty of charity. Positive, strong and mighty, it is ever gentle as the touch of a child’s finger. Someone has said that whoever makes truth unpleasant, commits high treason against virtue. The remark needs a qualification. There are unpleasant truths that must cause pain when faithfully spoken. Yet truth itself is always lovely, and we are not loyal to it when we present it in any way that will make it appear repulsive.

Christian tact is wise and loving thoughtfulness. It is that charity which is wisely gentle to all, which bears all things, which seeks not her own, which thinks no evil. It has an instinctive desire to avoid giving pain. It seeks to please all men for their good. It knows very well, that the surest way not to do men good, is to antagonize them and excite their opposition and enmity; therefore, as far as possible, it avoids all direct attack upon the life and opinions of others. It shows respect for the views of those who differ in sentiment or belief.

A wise writer has said, “When we would show anyone that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject—for his view of it is generally right, on his side—and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment that he was not wrong in his judgment, though inadvertent in not looking at the whole of the case.” How much wiser and more effective this method, than that of violently assaulting the position of one who differs from us, as if we were infallible—and he and his opinions, were worthy only of our contempt! We can accomplish by indirection, what we could never do by direct methods.

In no class of work is this wise tact so much needed, as in trying to lead men to Christ. There is somewhere a ‘key to every heart’, and yet there are good and earnest men, to whom no heart opens. They have zeal without knowledge. Sanctified tact shows its skill in a thousand little ways, which no rules can mark out—but which win hearts and find acceptance for the living truth, and for the wondrous love of Christ. I believe it will be seen in the end, that many lives which might have been saved by the gentle methods which love teaches—have drifted away from Christ and been lost, through the unwisdom of workers.

Tact has a wonderful power in smoothing out tangled affairs. A pastor, with it, will harmonize a church composed of most discordant elements, and prevent a thousand strifes and quarrels, by saying the right word at the right time—and by quietly and wisely setting other influences to work to neutralize the discordant tendencies. A teacher possessed of this gift, can control the most unruly pupils and disarm mischief of its power to annoy and disturb the peace. In the home it is a most indispensable oil.

Quiet tact will always have the soft word, ready to speak in time to turn away anger. It knows how to avoid unsafe ground. It can put all parties into a good humor, when there is danger of difference or clashing. It is silent—when silence is better than speech.

Nothing else has so much to do with the success or failure of men in usefulness, as the possession or non-possession of tact. A man with great gifts and learning accomplishes nothing; while another, with not one-half of his natural powers or acquirements, far outstrips him in practical life. The difference lies in tact—in knowing the art of doing things. We need more than brains, and erudition. The talent of all which tells most effectively in life—is that which teaches us how to use the power we have. One person will do more good without learning—than another with his brain full of the knowledge of the ages.

Tact is no doubt largely a natural endowment—but it is also partly an art, and can be cultivated. The awkward man who is always swinging himself against someone, or treading down some tender flower—may acquire something of the grace of easy carriage. The harsh, brusque man may get a softer heart, and with it a softer manner. The man who is always saying the wrong word and paining someone, may at least learn to be silent on doubtful occasions. There is no better way to acquire this wonder-working tact—than by becoming filled with the spirit of Christ. Warm love in the heart for all men, unselfish, thoughtful, kind—will always find some beautiful way to perform its beneficent ministries.

A delicate kindness moves us—more than the sublimest exhibition of power. Gentleness is mightier than noise or force. The tiny flower growing high up on the cold, rugged mountain, amid ice and snow, impresses the beholder more than the great piles of granite that tower to the clouds. The soft shining of the sun can do more than the rude wintry blast—to make men unfasten their heavy garments and open their hearts to the influences of good.

Posted in Faith, Leadership/Personal Development | Tagged: Truth & Tact | 12 Comments »

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