Orrin Woodward on LIFE & Leadership

Inc Magazine Top 20 Leader shares his personal, professional, and financial secrets.

  • Orrin Woodward

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    Former Guinness World Record Holder for largest book signing ever, Orrin Woodward is a NY Times bestselling author of And Justice For All along with RESOLVED & coauthor of LeaderShift and Launching a Leadership Revolution. His books have sold over one million copies in the financial, leadership and liberty fields. RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions For LIFE made the Top 100 All-Time Best Leadership Books and the 13 Resolutions are the framework for the top selling Mental Fitness Challenge personal development program.

    Orrin made the Top 20 Inc. Magazine Leadership list & has co-founded two multi-million dollar leadership companies. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of the LIFE. He has a B.S. degree from GMI-EMI (now Kettering University) in manufacturing systems engineering. He holds four U.S. patents, and won an exclusive National Technical Benchmarking Award.

    This blog is an Alltop selection and ranked in HR's Top 100 Blogs for Management & Leadership.

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Archive for the ‘LIFE Leadership’ Category

LIFE Leadership educates the world on the 8F’s of personal and professional change.

Trim Tabs, Tug-of-Wars, and Ocean Ships

Posted by Orrin Woodward on March 31, 2017

To ensure the safety of the passengers and cargo, the captain of the ship must somehow steer his vessel, a vessel that can weigh upwards of 150,000 metric tons, to ensure it stays in deep water. For this reason, every large ocean going ship has a steering system, consisting of several parts working within a system, including a Trim Tab, designed as a rudder for the rudder which then turns the craft.  The Trim Tab is designed to allow the captain to do systematically what is impossible to do physically, apply enough force to turn the megaton ships and fulfill his role efficiently and effectively in a predictable fashion.After all, not only is the amount of force it would take to turn one of the large ships beyond the strength of the strongest person, even the force to turn the rudder of one of these ships is beyond his strength. And yet, due to the leverage of systems, the ship turns on the Captain’s command.  

In a similar vein, every successful business applies a Trim Tab designed to produce results systematically that are impossible individually. As discussed more fully in the systems chapter of RESOLVED, the concept of Trim Tabs allows what appears to be unbelievable to become predictable, if not even mundane.  In LIFE, for instance, the leader (captain) steers his ship by growing numbers, numbers that expand by running the play that scores every time (Power Player), a play made possible by the leaders building depth. If no depth is built, however, no one goes Power Player, and thus, numbers do not grow within the community.  A non-depth building leader, referring back to the ship analogy, is like a non-steering captain of a ship, practically worthless because the craft is beached somewhere in the shallows going nowhere.

In consequence, the true objective in any profession is to determine the Trim Tab activities and master them. To be sure, the captain could have many other great qualities, friendly, loyal, and a communication skills, but he will still run the ship aground if he does not use the trim tab to turn the rudder to steer the ship. Indeed, this is why I disagree with the statement, “Don’t sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff,” for this is a recipe for disaster. Instead, I suggest, “Don’t sweat the small stuff, but sweat every detail of the important stuff (the Trim Tab actions).” Success hinges upon nothing less than identifying and mastering the Tim Tab activities.

Several months back, I did a talk where I explained depth building to be like pulling the rope in a tug-of-war – the winning side must want it so bad that he/she will do everything legally, morally, and ethically, to obtain victory. Then, last week, a video surfaced from a tug-of-war contest that highlighted the importance of knowing the Trim Tab behaviors (pulling the rope) and staying focused. There was a young boy who simply refused to surrender, encouraging his whole team by his example to keep fighting and stay focused regardless of the setbacks and later exhaustion. This is impressive Trim Tab tenacity, to say the least.

Where is this type of focus, determination, and drive today that this young boy displays? Why do so many people, even those who know the proper Trim Tab activities, simply give up when the going gets tough? Laziness is not the proper response when one’s dreams are on the line; unfortunately, in contrast to the young boys persistence, quitting seems to be the most popular response in today’s pampered age. Nevertheless, as the video teaches, there is a point in every person’s life where he has to determine whether he will do whatever it takes to win or simply be content with losing.

Perhaps this is why basketball great, Kobe Bryant, minced no words when he stated, “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.”  The Green Box community has declared war on lazy (lazy habits, lazy excuses, lazy thinking) and replaced it with winning habits, winning reasons, and winning thinking. I simply cannot comprehend why a person would make excuses when others are counting on him. While the movie Bleed is mediocre at best, near the end it had one of the best lines on success I have ever heard. Below is the dialog between the reporter and the three-time world boxing champ, Vinny Pazienza, on the biggest lie ever told about success:

Reporter: So what would you say the biggest deception was? What was the biggest lie you were told?

Vinny Pazienza: It is not that simple.

Reporter: Why not?

Vinny Pazienza: No that is the biggest lie I was ever told.” It is not that simple” and it is a lie they tell you over and over again.

Reporter: What is not simple?

Vinny Pazienza: Any of it. All of it. It is how they get you to give up, they say, “It is not that simple”

Reporter: So what is the truth?

Vinny Pazienza: That it is. That if you just do the thing that they tell you “you cannot” then it is done. and you realize it is that simple and that it always was.

This is IT! Vinny, in a nutshell, is saying find the Trim Tab and do it regardless of how many failed captains, the ones who refuse to steer their ships, tell you bad advice. When Laurie and I discovered the Trim Tab we simply did it – we did it when everyone told us we were crazy; we did it when we physically didn’t feel like it; we did it when no one else believed. We simply did what others said could not be done and then realized how much easier doing it was than thinking about doing it while justifying why it wasn’t working.

The difference between winners and wannabes is captured in the two quotes above, namely, quit listening to those who haven’t gone where you are going and then start (and never stop) walking while everyone else is talking. No wonder why my favorite action quote is, “When all is said and done, much more is said than is ever done.” 🙂

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 27 Comments »

Casa della Vita & Dream Builder Yacht

Posted by Orrin Woodward on October 28, 2016

Casa della Vita is one of the ways that LIFE lives its motto of Have Fun, Make Money, and Make a Difference. Top performers qualify to enjoy three days and three nights on nearly nine acres at Casa della Vita with a private chef, access to two fishing boats and the Dream Builder Yacht. Nothing expands the vision of what is possible like an all-expenses paid vacation to Casa della Vita. From the moment an achiever arrives, he will be treated to first class accommodations and service by the Casa della Vita staff.

Before I started building communities, I used to spend Saturday mornings watching fishing on TV, dreaming about catching the big ones in the ocean. Now, through the Casa della Vita rewards program, business builders can experience it first hand. Some of the best fishing in the world is minutes from Casa della Vita resort in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Further, a private chef can prepare your catch as an appetizer for your next meal. LIFE doesn’t ask where a person started in life, only if he is willing to grow and change to become all that God intended him to be.

Laurie and I dreamed of creating a retreat to reward top performers for their impressive results. Thanks to the excellent estate management of Mike Oppenheiser, the amazing interior design work of Anna Huber, and the experienced fishing skills of Captain Bill Howard, the dream has come true for all with the courage to act. Up to nine couples per team can spends three days of fellowship together while enjoying separate bedrooms and bathrooms at night. All of the above, of course, is paid for by LIFE as a reward for business achievement. LIFE provides the vehicle for a person to live the life he’s always wanted by eliminating the debt he’s never needed, through learning the defense, offense, and playing field of finances.

In addition, when Laurie and I are in town, our goal is to crash Casa della Vita on Surf and Turf night! Our hope is our generous and relaxed neighbors will be so kind as to share their private chef with their hungry neighbors. 🙂 We have had several groups down so far and the night with our neighbors has been nothing less than amazing. What a great way to get to know the teams better in an island-time atmosphere. Case della Vita is another dream come true where Laurie and I can bless others with the many blessings God has given to us. Come join the dream by setting your goal to be here next year. Get with your support team to determine how you can qualify and we will see you on surf and turf night! 

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: LIFE Chairman of the Board

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Fun, LIFE Leadership | 10 Comments »

Leadership Culture and Cognitive Dissonance

Posted by Orrin Woodward on July 13, 2016

There is nothing more important, its proper implementation determining the destiny of nations, companies, charities, and families, than the creation of culture. Culture, a system of beliefs, values, and customs a community follows, cannot be seen, but it influences every behavior within the community.  Interestingly, despite nearly every leader expressing the need for right culture to produce right results,  few seem to build culture with specific intent. This, I believe, is one of the biggest leadership mistakes.

In other words, every community must get intentional about culture or suffer the grave consequences. Just over a year ago, in a conversation with Chris Brady, he boiled down influence within a company to the three R’s – require, recognize, or reward it. Although we weren’t specifically talking culture at the time, it didn’t take me long for me to realize Brady had just summed up the different methods one can create culture within a community. Ever since, I have thought deeply on how to create a culture that requires, recognizes, and rewards the right behaviors.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance

Needless to say, this is much more difficult to do than it sounds, for most companies suffer from cognitive dissonance – a malady where the organization promotes one thing while rewarding another. Cognitive dissonance is perhaps the biggest failure-mode for most communities because it involves a misalignment between the culture and the longterm vision. This misalignment creates cultural inertia that, left to itself, will divide the community and blur the vision. Dissonance, in a word, destroys unity.

Accordingly, great leaders must identify the purpose and vision of the community; then develop the culture of requiring, recognizing, and rewarding to ensure the proper behaviors are performed to accomplish the vision. Moreover, if the leader realizes the 3 R’s currently instituted will not achieve the stated purpose and vision, he must have the courage to make the needed adjustments. In fact, this is what makes the leader the leader, namely, the courage to create the culture in order to achieve the community’s purpose. Any leader not willing to do this, is not truly a leader, for he merely follows the current culture rather than building the proper culture. 

In essence, leaders are responsible for eliminating cognitive dissonance out of the culture to ensure the actions of the organization move it towards its purpose and vision. After all, nothing validates the leader’s value so much as his/her ability to move the cultural current in the proper direction. It doesn’t matter if it’s easy; it doesn’t matter if it’s convenient; it doesn’t even matter if it’s popular, but what does matters is whether the community can accomplish its reason for existing with the current culture. Thus, if there is cognitive dissonance, the culture must change.

When an organization is suffering in the throes of cognitive dissonance, the leader’s responsibility is to charge to the front lines and resist the improper cultural current, converting the dissonance into resonance by aligning the 3 Rs to the purpose and vision. Indeed, when the cultural current is flowing smoothly, the requirements, recognition, and rewards align the people win personally and professionally when the company wins purposefully. Proper leadership, therefore, creates the culture and the culture creates the results.

What is the purpose for your company? What is the culture of your company? Do the culture’s results aligned with the purpose of the company? If so, then the community will win. If not, then the leader must get to the front and lead, for as Harry Truman once said about leadership, “the buck stops here”.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Leadership/Personal Development, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 38 Comments »

A Tribute to Denny Smith

Posted by Orrin Woodward on June 27, 2016

Today, Laurie and I headed up to Pennsylvania to see some of our best friends and to celebrate Denny Smith’s life. I first met Denny speaking at a conference back in 2006, his hunger to learn was evident from our first conversation, a conversation that would turn into a lifelong friendship. 

Rhino Leaders

Denny, Greg, Orrin, & Tony

Denny soon became a trusted confidante, one who could be relied upon to do the right thing because it was the right thing. He modeled the character, tasks, and relationships necessary for great leadership, leadership strengthened by mentoring with Greg Johnson. In many ways, the relationship these two formed reminded me of the partnership I have enjoyed with Chris Brady, built upon respect, trust, and loyalty.

Greg and Denny joined forces when neither one of them had a nickel to their name. Nonetheless, through the power of dreams, work-ethic, and persistence, these two forged an amazing lifestyle for their families. Denny, the muscular Marine, and Greg, the intellectual Ivy Leaguer, may have started in different fields, but they quickly united around the principles of the American Dream, a dream focused on life, liberty, and the pursuit of their goals and dreams.

These two men accomplished so much and their example has inspired thousands of others to do similarly. Needless to say, I am one of those countless others and one of my greatest joys was spending time with these two men, hearing their crazy stories of how they persisted, despite the pain of the process, to achieve their dreams. Between globetrotting around the world, living in beautiful mansions, and enjoying the time/money to spend with friends and family, these two experienced life like few others. 

Dreams, however, this side of heaven, do not last forever. For every person, whether rich or poor, is appointed to die. Death, in a word, is the great equalizer. Perhaps, no single event turns a person’s perspective from this life to the next faster than the loss of a loved one. Denny’s cancer and death caught all of us by surprise. To say we are going to miss him is a huge understatement. Thankfully, Denny was a Christian who knew his Lord and Savior and even though he enjoyed this life, he also prepared for the next one. I will miss Denny greatly, but I rest in the fact that I will meet him again. This is why I am going up to Pennsylvania, not to mourn, but rather to celebrate Denny’s life.

Denny seemed the picture of health, not only was he the poster-child of positivity, but he also regularly exercised and lived a moral life. Last year, however, he simply could not shake off a bad cough. I remember the day Denny and Donna picked me up in Philadelphia because we had scheduled a morning tour through Independence Hall. Denny and I both loved liberty and history so we did what we always did when we hung out – we laughed and learned. In reality, this was true anytime Laurie and I spent time with Denny and Donna, for both of these two loved to learn and laugh. This is what made them so special to so many.

Denny and Donna Smith

Denny and Donna Smith

Still, something was amiss, I couldn’t help but notice that Denny’s laugh ended in coughing fits. Finally, after practically prying it out of him – Denny never like to talk negatively about anything, especially himself – he admitted he was having difficulty shaking this “cold”. Donna said she had been on him to go to the doctor for over a month, but Denny, the tough Marine, believed he would beat it on his own. I took Donna’s side and asked Denny to get this checked out immediately. Denny agreed and we resumed enjoying the rest of the day.

Several weeks later, I received a call from Denny. He said the doctor had run test confirmed his cough was from an aggressive form of lung cancer and the odds did not look good. Denny’s attitude through all of this was amazing. He spent most of the phone call encouraging me! This is the type of man Denny was. He received bad news and yet he called to encourage me? Who does this? I asked Denny how he was doing and he said he was going to fight with everything he had. I told him if anyone could beat this, it would be Denny Smith, the tough as nails Marine. We prayed together and asked God to intervene for His Glory, no matter what the outcome. Denny then began the fight for his life, knowing, through his faith in Jesus Christ, he would win either way.

I have many great people in our leadership community, but what Denny accomplished the last 6 months of his life is amazing. Despite investing time to catch up with friends and family, undergoing exhausting chemo-therapy session, and endless hours researching lung cancer, Denny grew his community. Incredibly, while fighting for his life, he went CAB Coordinator, qualified for Operation Advance, and the prestigious Fun-in-the-Sun trip. In fact, the day before he passed away, he was in our hotel suite with 25 other guys. I asked Greg Johnson to give Denny a proper introduction because many of the younger leaders did not know his story. Greg’s introduction made many of them tear up as they realized what Denny had overcome to be there. Not surprisingly, Denny, although short of breath, proceeded to build the dream like few people can. He encouraged everyone to dream bigger and chase down the dream within the time each of us is allotted. 

In my mind, this moment perfectly encapsulated Denny Smith, the quintessential dreamer and doer, who refused to give up. He didn’t wait for life to happen but rather went out and made it happen. One may wonder why a man, so close to death, would share about the power of the dream, but I knew what Denny was doing and I couldn’t help but notice the juxtaposition.  While most people breathe without difficulty, they struggle to dream; Denny, in contrast, struggled to breathe, but dreamed without difficulty. Denny never stopped dreaming. This is his enduring legacy – Denny dreamed while others slept, worked while others recreated, and accomplished while others excused.

Later that day, he was admitted to the Cape Coral hospital and the following day Denny went home to be with the Lord. I know I speak for the tens of thousands of people Denny touched when I say – thank you, Denny, for teaching us how press toward the mark and leave it all on the field even to the last second. And I do mean the last second, for as the doctors hooked Denny’s body up to a breathing ventilator, his lungs shutting down from his lost war against cancer, Denny looked at his friends and family one more time and gave them a thumbs up. What a man and leader. Only a person who was sure of his destiny would, even at this crucial juncture, still maintain his love for others over himself.

This is why I love Denny Smith and this is why Laurie and I are traveling up to Pennsylvania to celebrate his life. If you knew or heard Denny Smith share the dream, I would love to hear how he touched your heart.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Faith, Family, Freedom/Liberty, LIFE Leadership | 37 Comments »

The Lost Art of Action

Posted by Orrin Woodward on June 20, 2016

One of my all-time favorite quotes, a quote I first heard from a professor at GMI-EMI (now Kettering University), a thunderbolt of wisdom that changed my perspective, is, “When all is said and done, much more is said than is ever done.” Perhaps, the reason it struck me so profoundly, back in the day, was the financial strain I was under. Having moved out of my parent’s house on my 19th birthday and completely oblivious to living expenses, I was so broke that I could not even afford to pay attention. 🙂 Seriously, I lived on one hot dog and one potato per night, kept the heat at 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the winter, and still didn’t have enough money for bills and school. Tuition alone costs more than I made as a Co-Op student at AC Spark Plug, forcing me to borrow $17,500 just to continue my education.

Picture of Farah's Market One Block From Apartment

Picture of Farah’s Market One Block From Apartment on Third Avenue – Flint, Michigan

Although hopelessly naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world, I vowed to make it without having to run to mommy and daddy for help. Of course, this wasn’t easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. I lived in a dangerous neighborhood in the most wretched of conditions, renting the bottom half of a varmint-infested house, a house condemned less than a year after I moved out. Nonetheless, I was not depressed or even fearful, for I had a dream, a plan, and the motivation to escape my poverty and live my dreams. I quickly realized the key to making the dream come true was massive action! Without this, I would be out of college, out of a job, and practically out of options. Needless to say, my back was against the proverbial wall; however, I believed that if I walked my talk by implementing the game plan, busting my butt at work, and graduating as an engineer, my life would improve. 

Reflecting back, I believe the lack of options was a blessing because it narrowed my focus and helped me apply massive action on the one plan I had in front of me.  I simply didn’t have the time or money to even entertain other options? This is how I was blessed with FOCUS! 🙂 To me, the process boiled down to three things: 1) What do you want? 2) What does it cost? and 3) Pay it. Strangely, however, while the first two question are talked about incessantly, the third step, the action one, is rarely applied. What gives? Why, in other words, would perfectly capable people, who know what they want and know what it’s going to take to achieve it, refuse to do the actions necessary to accomplish it? I believe this is one of the biggest leadership paradoxes facing people moving from the performer lens (I can do this) to the leadership lens (we can do this).

After all, true leaders are not people who coax people into doing something they DON’T want to accomplish, for that would be manipulation. Rather, leadership is about inspiring people perform the actions necessary to accomplish what they DO want. Over the next decade, in the process of building leadership communities, I realized just how rare the person who does what he says actually is. For instance, if I had a dollar for everyone who said they were going to become a top leader, I would be a millionaire all over again. It reminds me of my friend Chris Brady, whose dad told him repeatedly, “Talk is cheap, but it takes money to buy whiskey.” Likewise, talk is cheap, but it takes action to buy one’s dreams.”

The reason I am sharing this is to emphasize to my readers the importance of ACTION! Quit waiting for conditions to be right, for they rarely are; quit waiting for others to lead, for they rarely do; finally, quit waiting for inspiration and focus on perspiration! So many, in other words, wait to feel right before acting right. I have learned, over the years, that a person must start acting right, then he will feel right about it. If you have a dream, then act on it, regardless of feelings. Shamefully, most people wait their whole life and accomplish little of substance. This reminds me of the old Chinese proverb which stated, “Man who stands on side of mountain waiting for roasted duck to fly into his mouth waits a long time.” 🙂

Although many seem to think there are hundreds of ways to become a Financial Sovereign (ethically, morally, and honorably), this simply isn’t the case. Most careers pay just enough to keep someone comfortably (or uncomfortably) stuck in the Financial Matrix. Bottom line is: If you have a vehicle to win, then develop a plan, determine its price, and pay it by applying massive action! Everyone wants to live his dreams, but only those who plan and work ever truly will. My accounting professor at GMI-EMI gave me a priceless nugget and now I am passing it onto you, “When all is said and done, much more is said than is ever done.”

The world is filled with talkers, but everything Laurie and I have accomplished as leaders is based upon dreaming a big dream, creating a culture that separates the talkers from the walkers, and learning to love the talkers while leading the walkers. Indeed, the art and science of leadership is nothing more or less than modeling the right behaviors, messaging the right behaviors, and then mentoring those who ACT on the right behaviors. This is the culture of execution that every great leader in every field develops to create lasting success.

Well, the article is done and this is the point where everyone talks, but I think it’s time to take action. Why not leave a comment and state: 1) What do you want? 2) What will it cost? 3) Whether you are ready to pay the price? Nine out of ten of the people reading this will not comment and instead will just talk about their dreams, but the one out of ten will comment and ACT their way to their dreams! I encourage you to be part of the ten percent because that’s what leaders do. 🙂

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: LIFE Leadership – Chairman of the Board

Posted in Leadership/Personal Development, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 72 Comments »

Financial Sovereignty: Aligning the Mind

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 29, 2016

Financial Matrix Quadrants

Financial Matrix Quadrants

Financial Sovereignty, a lifestyle where people enjoy ownership and choices, one lived by less than 1% of North Americans, is created when people align their conscious (logical mind) with their subconscious (emotional mind).

Whereas the conscious mind stimulates 2,000 neurons per second when thinking with logic, the subconscious mind stimulates 4,000,000,000 per second when visualizing with emotion! The subconscious mind, in other words,  the one that thinks in images and emotions, engages two million times more brain power per second than the conscious mind. As a result, the tip of the iceberg metaphor is outdated, as Dr. Timothy Wilson pointed out when he noted, “Freud’s view that consciousness is the tip of the mental iceberg, was short of the mark … it may be more the size of a snowball on top of that iceberg” 

Interestingly, began calling the conscious mind the ant and the subconscious mind the elephant to represent the vast disparity in processing power of the two minds. Moreover, Olympic Gold Medalist, Vince Poscente even wrote a book called the Ant and the Elephant, emphasizing the importance of aligning the conscious and subconscious mind  to achieve mastery in any field of human achievement. 

Conscious and Subconscious Mind

Conscious and Subconscious Mind

Unfortunately, despite the research and popular books, few people have any idea how important it is to learn how to align the Ant and the Elephant mind. Instead, their minds are in a state of constant turmoil, a civil war brewing between the logical mind and the emotional mind, a battle that destroys all hope for united mental action. Of course, without mental alignment, the person burns all his energy in internal battles and has little left for the external battles necessary for all success. This is success suicide, for every high-achiever must utilize his logical and emotional mind to achieve success? 

Accordingly, three out of the four quadrants in the Financial Matrix have sub-optimized their success because they have not aligned the Ant and The Elephant. First, the Financial Subject shuts down the logical mind (refusing to ponder how foolish it is to subjugate himself to debt merely for a temporary emotional purchase buzz) and allows the emotional mind to take charge. The Financial Subject, as a result, experiences the short-term joy of counterfeit dreams (choices) and the longterm pain of compounding personal debt (no ownership). How insane!

Second, the Financial Serf, in contrast, does the opposite. He shuts down his emotional mind (refusing to dream because he hates debt) and allows the rational mind to take control. While commendably owning most of his assets, he also has rationalizes away his dreams (no choices) and lives a settle-for life, resisting anyone or anything that attempts to get him dreaming again. Dismally, through an impressive act of will, the Financial Serf forces himself to live below his means, killing his debt by killing his dreams.  How sad!

The worst case, however, is the Financial Slave, who has no ownership or choices. Indeed, he has completely submitted himself to the Financial Matrix, his Ant and Elephant minds both disengaged from reality while his debts increase and his dreams decrease. The Financial Slave has surrendered his dreams, no longer a grown up dreamer but a given up debtor. His debt crushes his ability to think, so he simply works to pay his bills and live another day.  How inhuman!

Needless to say, none of these quadrants permit people to live their dreams because they haven’t aligned the Ant and the Elephant and ended the mental civil war. This is what make the Financial Sovereign quadrant so unique, for it is the only one to end the civil war. The person in this quadrant enjoys both the ownership of assets and the liberty of choices because he uses his rational mind to play defense and his emotional mind to dream. How liberating!

In the video below, I describe how Laurie and I, starting with little skills, money, or time, built the life we always wanted. This certainly wasn’t easy in the beginning, but then again, failing financially isn’t easy in the beginning, the middle, or the end. 🙂 What did we do? Well, in a nutshell, we ended the civil war, aligning our Ant and the Elephant minds through reading, listening, and associating with other successful minds who had already terminated their civil war.

That is to say, the fastest way to to end your civil war, is to learn from others who have already done so. Like my friend Larry VanBuskirk once said, “If you are unhappy with the results you are producing in life, perhaps it’s time to STOP taking your own advice” 🙂 This explains the importance of LIFE Leadership seminars, namely, to expose the people who are failing financially (because of the ongoing mental civil war) to people who are winning financially (because the mental civil war is over) to help everyone move ahead. 

 The Financial Fitness Program teaches people about the Financial Matrix playing field, the Ant-mode Defense (logical plan), and the Elephant-mode Offense (emotional reason). A person will not escape the Financial Matrix until he first understands what it is and how the web of debt captured him; then, he must use his Ant mind to develop a logical plan to spend less than he makes; finally, he must picture his future clearly, for thoughts are things, and get to work to turn the thoughts into reality.

Please share which Financial Matrix Quadrant you were in when you started your escape?

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: LIFE Leadership Chairman of the Board

Posted in Finances, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 14 Comments »

Life Leadership: The Insiders’ Confession

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 27, 2016

Socialism is Equal Sharing of Misery

Socialism is Equal Sharing of Misery

LIFE Leadership insiders have confessed! In this video, viewers will learn the many reasons why someone should not join LIFE Leadership, or any other business for that matter. According to Chairman of the Board  Orrin Woodward and CEO Chris Brady, success takes focus, hard work, and perseverance, traits that take time to develop – who has time for that? 🙂

People looking for get-rich-quick schemes, people looking for something-for-nothing and people looking for a hand-out rather than a hand-up, will NOT be happy after watching this video. LIFE Leadership has the temerity to encourage people to learn, grow, and change! As stated previously, who has time for that? 🙂

Then again, practically all successful people express that the person they become is more important than the money they make, but what do they know? In this exclusive video, we have captured Orrin and Chris spilling the beans on LIFE Leadership, a company that clearly refuses to lower the bar, even when so many are demanding it. Undoubtedly, LIFE isn’t for everyone! 🙂

Then again, it may be for you.

Posted in Fun, Leadership/Personal Development, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 17 Comments »

LIFE Leadership: Financial Matrix Scam

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 23, 2016

Did you know that fifty percent of all American workers are Financial Slaves! Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you, I could hardly believe it myself until I started doing my own

Financial Fitness Pack

research. According to the latest data reported on Economist.com, over half of all Americans over 18 have no net worth, not even a penny. Let that sink in for a moment. Imagine all the hours husbands and wives work every year and over half of the households have NOTHING to show for it? The Broke Quadrant has no ownership and no choices, which is simply slavery under a different name.

Furthermore, over 80% of Americans over age 18 are in debt, a debt trapping them into financial status. For if the typical family loses one of its jobs, be it by downsizing or medial challenge, the family boat is capsized. This makes the family subject to the whims of employers and health – not a good position to be in.  Is this really the American Dream we imagined growing for people living in the home of the brave and the land of the free? BTW, for the Canadians reading  this, the data is very similar and the Financial Matrix has trapped your nation as well.

Financial Matrix TrapThe two groups getting hammered by the Financial Matrix Scam are the Financial Slaves (no net worth) and the Financial Status (servicing debt to survive). The other sub-optimized quadrant is the Tightwad quadrant, where people live within their means by saying no to their dreams for decades. Who wants to do that? Indeed, the only quadrants that allows you to live your dreams without debt in a reasonable time-frame is the Financially Free quadrant, those who play Defense and Offense to escapt the Financial Matrix.

Escaping the Financial Matrix, in other words, isn’t a little deal. Instead, its one of the greatest accomplishments a person can achieve financially. The Financial Matrix is siphoning trillions of dollars from unsuspecting debtors at the household, businesses and government levels.  In the video below, I share how to move from suboptimized quadrants and to Financial Freedom through applying the principles in the Green Box, The Financial Fitness Program. Only the Financially Free citizens have both ownership and the choices to live their dreams.

Although everyone can be free by learning how to play defense and offense to escape the Financial Matrix, it takes discipline to do so. This is where the Green Box community comes in, for it teaches people how to hold themselves accountable to their goals and dreams through Association, Accountability, and Acclamation. Community, in other words, is the key to the Green Box Revolution!

Watch the video below and determine where you fit within the Financial Matrix Quadrants and what your plan is to escape is.  If you don’t have a workable plan, perhaps the Financial Fitness Program can help. 

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: Life Chairman of the Board

 

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 29 Comments »

Political Parties: America’s New Religion

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 12, 2016

Modern society is not as irreligious as it claims to be. In fact, today’s most popular religion arguably has more true believers, as the numbers attending its “worship” services reveal, than any other American faith. With its own variety of high-priests, shamans, and bishops, not to mention excommunicated heretics, the new faith feeds on people’s hunger to believe in unbelievable times. While faith in God has waned, a substitute faith, for nature abhors a vacuum, has filled the space. These pseudo-religious political parties, whether in its Democrat or Republican variety, have, over the last one hundred years, eclipsed the older faiths. Today, people no longer go to church and trust in the promised Messiah, but rather go to political rallies and trust in the promises of the latest  “political messiah”.

In the Middle Ages, the priest was the divinely commissioned agent and the State merely the divinely tolerated power to enforce God’s rule. Unfortunately, shortly after the Protestant Reformation, Luther’s friend Melanchthon, among others, denied the church had authority to make laws the bound the conscience, claiming only the State had that power. Naturally, the State leaders readily agreed and subsequently seized the moral power from the naive church leaders. The doctrine of the divine right of kings originated from this sequence of events, embodied by kings claiming their power derived not from the Pope, as in earlier days, but instead directly from God himself.

The divine right of kings, in effect, was the king’s declaration of independence from the church’s authority. Interestingly enough, the reformation, although arguably a return to Biblical doctrines, was a mixed blessing. For the various protest disintegrated the Church and integrated the State. This culminated in King James I boldly proclaiming complete independence of the State from church interference. To add insult to injury, the Religious Peace of Augsburg dealt an even more destructive blow to the ancient claim of the church as the universal moral influence within society. Among other things, it was agreed that the citizen of each state must adopt the religion of his sovereign. Cuius regio eius religio. Instead of religious liberty, this was the supreme assertion of State power over society.

Harold MacMillan

Harold MacMillan

Whereas previously one of the roles of the church was to protect society’s members from overzealous kings, the door was now open for the State’s absolute control over morality and law. Although  people today claim the State does not regulate morals, nothing could be further from the truth. All law is merely the culture’s value-system enforced by State Power. In fact, the only real difference between law in the Middle-Ages and today’s law is the value-system is developed independently from Biblical influences. For instance, the State still has portions of the Ten Commandments code in its law (murder and stealing come to mind), but as time passes the State drifts further from Biblical law into political law.  Shockingly, as I study the  historical events, the State’s increase in power comes with the church’s decrease. The unintended consequence of the reformers efforts to purify the church resulted in the splintering of the only entity strong enough to resist the State’s desire for absolute power. The avenue was now open for the birth of the absolute State, a world-order that would have been entirely incomprehensible to the men who labored during the age of faith.

To be sure, the divine right of kings philosophy no longer influences the State, but what has replaced it (the divine right of the people), judging merely its results, is even worse.  For the increase in the people’s power has not actually helped the people; instead, it has allowed the money elites, through their control of the media, to sway the masses into signing away their birthright.  The absolute State can exist in monarchies, aristocracies, and democracies, but the money elites love democracies the best.  Because man in mass is the predictable, in a democracy, all the elites have to do is purchase enough votes by promising government handouts and applying liberal layers of media propaganda. The predictable outcome is the mass of people dance to the paid piper’s tune. Monarchies and aristocracies, in contrast, might stand up to the elites manipulation, and why run that risk when the people are so gullible? Simply by telling the people they have the power, the people will defend the system that ensures their own enslavement, not thinking to actually examine if liberty has increased or decreased since the divine rights of people has allegedly reigned supreme.

John Adams

John Adams

Be that as it may, the State democracies have led to absolute power without any moral checks upon it. The State has become God to modern man. For example, the State God controls its subjects in ways that kings from yesterday could only dream of, including: the power to tax incomes, the power to draft society’s young, the power to educate, the power to define morals, the power to create money, and even the power to punish peaceable dissent. Dismally, despite modern democracies boast of maximum liberty with equality, the actual differences between democracies, fascists, and communists is one of a few degrees. In contrast, the difference between the Middle Age State, with its moral check from the Church, and today’s absolute State, with no moral checks, is night and day.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting a return to the Middle Ages, but I do believe we can learn much from our political heritage. For instance, just because the church is no longer influencing the State does not mean the State is not being influence. Rather, it just ensures the older faiths have been replaced by today political religions. In other words, as the formal faiths fade, the void is filled with the hype and rhetoric of the latest “political messiah”, proclaiming his/her prophecies of the future in front of thousands of the faithful.

James Madison

James Madison

Perhaps some will think I am pessimistic, but actually I am very confident in the future. Injustice is always punished by God Almighty and I believe the Financial Matrix will ultimately damage society to the point where it can no longer deny the obvious, namely, that the State cannot have absolute power. The reason the Financial Matrix seeks to have the people genuflect to the latest political puppet is this ensures the underlying systemic causes of the mess are ignored. Yes, I am all for good leadership, but until I hear someone speak truthfully on the injustice of anyone controlling society’s money and media, I know the Financial Matrix has just applied new lipstick on an old pig. 🙂 Think about it for a minute. So long as money and media are in the hands of the elites, why would anyone be shocked the candidates (whether of the Democratic or Republican religion) are merely obedient puppets? After all, it takes hundreds of millions of dollars and constant media coverage to get elected and who controls both of these? Accordingly, State control is a foregone conclusion until money and media are set free from the elite’s grip. The Money, Media, and Military trifecta, a trifecta that has liberty in a death grip, must be broken before liberty can breathe freely again.

Alright, I will step down from my Cassandran (see Homer’s Iliad) soap box and return to my work. This year’s religious processions have inspired the faithful and my non-participation is not hurting anyone. The media can whip up that lost feeling of hope for the masses one more time as they paradoxically struggle to pay their bills in the richest society in history of mankind. I guess I am now officially a heretic of the State religion for I do not believe this religion has, nor ever will, deliver the goods. Indeed, no matter how many services the faithful attend; no matter of how many sincere prayers are offered up; and no matter how many candidates are propped up; the truth is, until the Financial Matrix ends, the people lose. Its a rigged game – heads,the elites win; tails, and the people lose.

Mass Movements Driving Change

Mass Movements Driving Change

Thankfully, the road to victory begins the moment we turn from our false religion. Instead of bowing before the political puppets, what if millions of men and women restored their conscience and character by bowing before the real Messiah? What if we admitted our addiction to debt and materialism and turned from the false idols. What if, in other words, we played defense to wipe out our debt and then offense to create the life we’ve always wanted debt-free? Then, as Financial Sovereigns, we could address the Financial Matrix and restore freedom for the next-generation.

Sure, this is an ambitious task, but what’s the point of leadership if we are just playing it safe. Some will say, people trapped in ignorance and apathy don’t know and don’t care. Nevertheless, I know I care and I know you care, for you wouldn’t have read this far if you didn’t. The Financial Fitness Program from LIFE Leadership is designed to help people help themselves and then others. Are you ready to be part of the solution? I don’t promise easy, but I do promise worth it.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 22 Comments »

Freedom and Force: The Leadership Challenge

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 8, 2016

If we look beneath the surface of leadership, we can discern one fundamental fact of influence, namely:  to whom much is given, much is required. This is a fact that should interest all true students of leadership. He has only a secondary or derived interest in matters like character, relationship, honor, loyalty, vision and similar items of influence that fill the pages of books, magazines, and speeches of leadership gurus. All of these can be run up under one head. They have an immediate and temporary importance, and for this reason they monopolize attention, but they all come to the same thing; which is, an increase in responsibilities the higher one climbs in leadership.

It is unfortunately none too well understood that in a free society leadership is freely given by followers, not physically coerced by the leader. All the alleged power of the leader, is in fact merely the display of confidence the community has in his ability to take them where they want to go. Therefore, any attempt to physically control the community, whatever else it may be called, should certainly not be labeled leadership. In effect, influence is something a leader earns through his character and competence whereas coercion is the non-leader’s substitute for the lack of the aforementioned qualities.

Moreover, it follows that as coercion increases, true leadership decreases. After all, if the alleged leader actually had the community’s buy-in, then why would force need to be applied at all? Unfortunately, communities across the globe have become so inured to the use of force by positional leadership that the difference between influence and intimidation has been blurred beyond recognition. Bureaucratic exercise of force has been applied so steadily, that most people are unaware of any other approach to achieving the communities goals.

Nonetheless, there is a better way. In fact, it’s the only way that deserves the noble title of leadership. While neglected and abused by its ersatz replacements, true leadership is the art and science of influence without coercion. In a word, servant leadership. Under the auspices of the industrial revolution, however, servant leadership was replaced with the command and control structures modeled upon national militaries. Indeed, Big Government, Big Banks, and Big Corporations (aka: Big Bureaucracies) have all defaulted to coercion, rather than service, as the ruling modus operandi. Students of politics, naturally, recognize this trend for what it is, namely a continuation of what James Madison called “the old trick of turning every contingency into a resource for accumulating force in the government”. Needless to say, the effect all of this has upon the balance between force (coercion) and freedom (service) upon leadership cannot be overstated.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

For these reasons, among many others, Chris Brady and I wrote Launching a Leadership Revolution. The force tide must be checked before the freedom tide will return. This, however, will not occur until people free themselves from the addiction to debt, for debt is cancerous to freedom. Imagine how many people would happily exit Big  Bureaucracies command and control structures were they financial capable of doing so to pursue their purpose rather than a paycheck. Not surprisingly, the longer a person is addicted to pleasure and debt, the more difficult it is to break the paycheck dependency.   In other words, debt addiction not only leads to craven obedience to commands, but also atrophies the ability to think and act independently.

Accordingly, the Financial Fitness Program is an essential first step in returning to freedom and servant-based leadership. After all, only when a person is financially independent can he afford to act upon his own opinions rather than simply obeying his superiors mandates. The question boils down to how important is freedom to the reader? Strangely, some of the most vociferous supporters of societal freedom do not seem to recognize the cognitive dissonance inherent in selling themselves into debt slavery.

Thankfully, the LIFE Leadership community has identified debt as the biggest roadblock to freedom in the developed world. To put it bluntly, I simply do not believe our forefathers intended to sacrifice so much for freedom so we could be debt-slaves.  The thought is ludicrous! Unlike most of the talking pundits, however, we are not just going to bewail our current situation. Instead, we are going to do something about it, namely, declare our debt independence and write our personal Emancipation Proclamation.  Then, and only then, will true leadership rise again as free people make free choices to follow servant-based leaders.

And this has brought us back to where we began.  We must maintain the torch of liberty handed to us by the sacrifice of our ancestors, for to whom much is given, much is required. 

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 20 Comments »