Author Archive

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 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 »

The Greeks: Freedom and Force

Posted by Orrin Woodward on June 1, 2016

This is Part 2. For Part 1, please click here.

Unfortunately, the Greek miracle does not have a happy ending, but it does have a huge lesson. For the same drive to compete that built Greek society also destroyed it when the positive life-lifting competition in arts, sciences, and sports, degenerated into negative death-delivering competition of military campaigns. Importantly, no one wins in war, certainly the losers don’t, but neither do the alleged winners. The defeated sacrifice many of their best leaders on the altar of a lost cause, not to mention the untold wealth, figuratively and literally, burnt to ashes, and finally the lost freedoms as the “winners” assume control over society. The winners, however, lose as we’ll because many of their best citizens were also sacrificed on the altar of war. Furthermore, they lost the hunger to produce wealth, for why build wealth when you can steal it, and the Five Laws of Decline secretes its poison into society. To add insult to injury, they also lose their liberties by denying others’ the right to enjoy theirs. Paradoxically, the winners must now set up a prisoner society where the defeated are closely viewed, supervised, and cajoled into obedience 24-7. The costs in time, money, and lifestyle lost by the oppressors outweighs the benefit of the oppression, but rare is the State who realizes this.

The Spartans and Helots

Indeed, Greek history is filled with many examples of this principle at work, where both the winners and losers pay greatly by going to war – the ultimate lose-lose vehicle. Perhaps the Peloponnesian war is the best example of lose-lose but there are many more. For instance, just a cursory look at the “victorious” Spartans in the Messenian War will reveal the Spartans lost as much as the defeated, for boys under 10 were forced to live in military barracks for the next twenty plus years, suffered under an oppressive form of socialism, and lived in a state of constant state of paranoia, fearing the Helots, who outnumbered the Spartans by as much as 20 to 1, would revolt. To deny freedom to others, in other words, one ends up destroying his own. Of course, if this was the fate of the winners, imagine how much worse the fate of the Messenian Helots. Unfortunately, no one seems to learn from history. This is why, although I support our national military, my dad was an elite Green Beret after all, its function should be defensive, protecting against foreign aggression, not offensive, expanding into foreign territories; otherwise, the same fate visited upon Sparta, Rome, and England, to name just a few, will knock on America’s door.

This leads to a strange twist in the battle between force and freedom. Whereas competition benefits in every life-lifting endeavor, it is a tragedy in death-delivering ones. When the the centralized State is eliminated, the void must be filled with mini-states to ensure order and not anarchy. If there is not a force strong enough to ensure the strong do not oppress the weak, rest assured they will. The mini-states maintain order while creating competition in the life-lifting activities, at the same time a limited central government ensures the mini-states do not compete in the death-delivering ones. The key to freedom is the limited central state is no longer is absolute within society; instead, it merely ensures the mini-states settle their disputes peacefully through adjudication and arbitration rather than through war.

The centralized body is now limited in its power, capable of enforcing judgments and protecting the mini-states political, economic, and religious freedoms without growing big enough to issue central commands in areas it does not belong. Limited funds are essential here, for anytime the State has access to unlimited funds, it quickly obtains unlimited power. Limited funds, in a word, for a limited State. Imagine the state of freedom if, in the USA, the centralized Federal government’s only funds came from a straight 10% import tax. This is plenty for the federal government to effectively arbitrate disputes amongst the fifty states and also defend our borders militarily – defense only. True, we would have to exit the over 140 nations where the USA presently has a military presence, but the improvement in society by the reduced money, time, and heartaches (lost loved ones from foreign wars) is worth the loss of empire. No longer would State bureaucrats have the power to send our children off to war to increase their need for power and glory.

Imagine the competition and cooperation that would result in the USA if the functions of government were moved from the monolithic Federal government to the local township/city levels. All the interactions between citizens and State could be achieved at the local level, ensuring a higher level of justice because those closest to the facts are the one’s addressing the issue. The locality would be responsible for the judicial and police functions to ensure justice while each locality would compete to outdo its rivals in life-giving functions just as the Greeks did originally. If they serve the customers they will prosper, if they don’t they will not. Moreover, because the locality receives its income from a 5% property tax, it will seek to serve its community because as it serves them well, the community will grow, and thus the tax base grows. Naturally, the reverse is true also, for if they don’t serve, the community doesn’t grow, and the tax base decreases. Welcome to State competition to serve the customers, namely, its citizens! What a concept.

The state governments would adjudicate disputes between localities/cities and be funded by a 5% state sales tax. Again, every state would compete to increase business because it would benefit from increased tax revenues as economic activity increase within the state. Further, the state leaders would select the next president from amongst the governors of the state. No longer would the Presidency be the democratic charade parade where those with the most power and money get elected. Instead, the governors of each state would select the governor with the best track record, his proven performance in balancing budgets and running a just government making the difference. The President would not be elected by the people at large, thus eliminating the media’s negative manipulation against anyone who threatens their power. Instead, governor peers, elected by the leaders of each locality, select the President, similar to how the founder originally intended the President to be elected. See Oliver DeMille and my New York Times bestseller LeaderShift for more details on these concepts.

Finally, as mentioned previously, the Federal government would survive on a 10% import tax and nothing else. Imagine, no more IRS needed! Of course, the ability to create money out of thin air (Federal Reserve) and the special deal fractional-reserve banking would be rescinded. The gold standard would be calibrated to the current money supply and only 100% reserve banking would be permitted by law from here forward. Think about it, the people would elect the local governments (those who know them the best) by returning to town hall meetings. The local leaders would elect the State leaders (governors) because they work with each other on a monthly basis to approve the state budgets. Cream rises to the top and the local leaders, from amongst their peers, will select the governor from among the most qualified. Finally, the state leaders will elect the federal President because they work with them monthly and approve the federal balanced budget. Yes, balanced budgets are a given or the irresponsible leader is immediately subject to recall and a new election. Mediocrity and poor leadership can no longer be tolerated by public servants, especially if they expect us to trust and follow them.

To restore freedom, we must end the control over money (no one should have centralized control over money creation), then follow it up by ending the monolithic control of the media (less than six corporations, all with interconnected boards, control what the people read and think), and only once these two are accomplished, will the controlled, centralized State be overturned and America launch a Freedom-shift. Numerous local governments are much more difficult to capture than on centralized government, especially when the centralist controllers already control the money and media.

Ok, my rant is done. Needless to say, what I propose is a huge dream and it’s going to take work, but only those who have a big dream can expect a big dream to come true. For the past twenty years, I have read extensively on leadership, liberty, and the State, and believe history supports my conclusions. The challenge, however, is the elites are not on the side of history, but rather on the side of force, and thus, centralization. In consequence, the Money Power rewards its media (TV, Newspapers, Magazines, Universities, and Foundations) for rewriting history, a history that makes the State the hero of the story and freedom the anti-hero. Pedictably, the “educated” (propagandized) people demand the State hero fix the challenges facing society while the noose tightens around freedom’s neck. This is why the elites will tolerate any change so long as the money system (what I have termed the Financial Matrix) is not changed.

As I said at the beginning of Part 1, freedom and force are in a battle to the death, and, dismally, freedom is the one dying. Is there anyone left who will, like our forefathers and foremothers, pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to resuscitate freedom?

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: LIFE Leadership Chairman of the Board

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, Orrin Woodward | 14 Comments »

Memorial Day Message: Freedom and Force

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 30, 2016

Since the dawn of civilization, freedom and force have fought for mastery in human societies. Freedom, to the liberty-lover, implies the ideal way to freely reward people for serving others. Each society is set up to follow the laws of the land (just laws that permit no person or group to receive a special deal), a society where the State’s role is like referee rather than a participant, ensuring a level playing field for all competitors. The ideal of ordered freedom is the best mankind can aspire to this side of heaven, or so the liberty-lovers claimed.

To Statist controllers, in contrast, freedom leads to chaos, greed, and an unholy desire to separate one’s self from the herd. Absolute force is the Statist’s answer to ensure society remains peaceful, compliant, and equal. Naturally, the State must be given this absolute power, a power entrusted to a group of ruling-elite, who will make decisions not based upon personal advantages but only for the good of society. The masses must simply trust and obey, or so the Statist controllers claimed.

Interestingly, the battle between liberty and force has a celebrated history. Force/Freedom battles between the Pharaoh vs. Moses, Caesar vs. Cicero, Jesus vs Pharisees, are just a few of the legendary conflicts that come to mind. In one sense, the history of the world can be viewed as a series of particular battles in the universal struggle between the State and Society to secure either force or freedom.

Ancient Greece Innovations

For most of human history, the controllers have had the upper hand. The Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians elites ruled absolutely as god-kings though centrally-controlled oppressive civilizations. Although there were flickers of freedom scattered throughout society, the flame was snuffed out before it could catch fire. Something, however, changed with the birth of Greek civilization, for the pendulum clearly moved towards liberty. While many explanations have been suggested for freedom’s growth, perhaps the most significant was the multitude of Greek city-states increased the number of competitors seeking centralized control over Greek society. Whereas in previous civilizations the State controlled vast swaths of territory extending for thousands of miles, the Greek landscape, mountainous with few inland rivers, made centralized control over the whole are extremely difficult.

As a result, smaller units of centralization, the city-state, prospered. Each city-state’s laws were only enforced within the confines of its territory, effectively creating hundreds of mini-states ruling over a fragmented Greek society. This was the dreaded conditions for chaos that the absolutist controllers feared. However, instead of collapsing into chaos, the competition amongst city-states for political, economic, and military power, created innovation and improvements like never seen before. The competition amongst the city-states led to cooperation within them.

Instead of the oppressive standardization experienced by cities within the former centralized tyrannical States, the fragmented, decentralized city-states, shockingly, through the competition for power and glory, created, as it were, a free market environment for State services – each city seeking to impress the other Greek city-states with its ability to solve the political, economic, and religious challenges better than its neighbors. Of course, this led to a significant increases in freedom for the people since ideas were favored, not because the bureaucratic representatives of the god-king issued it, but rather because the idea worked to solve the challenge it intended to address. The city-state that solved the most issues and served its people the best would rise in this free market environment against its rivals.

Talent, effort, and innovation became the buzz words that drove the Greeks forward in their mission to achieve their rational and aesthetic objectives. Practically every field of the arts and sciences saw levels of innovation and discovery never witnessed before as society’s cream rose to the top made possible by the increased societal freedom. The monolithic State no longer controlled every city, and thus, the brightest minds with the best ideas were rewarded as each city sought to outdo its competitors in the arts, sciences, and even the sporting events of its day.

The Greek miracle, according to historian Michael Grant, was accomplished by the work of less than 500 individuals. In other words, although millions lived and died in Greece, freedom enabled 500 people to use their gifts to bless everyone in the Greek communities. Where previously, talented individuals had lived and died in obscurity, the freedom allowed this cream to rise for the benefit of all. This created the world’s first Renaissance, not repeated until the Italian Renaissance over a millennia afterwards.

Perhaps the biggest lesson to learn from the Greek experience is the importance of competition, namely, when the number of competitors in any field increases, society benefits. Of course, the antithesis is true also – when the number of competitors is limited in any field, society is harmed. The monolithic State, not surprisingly, is the peak of reduced competition since there is no competition. The State, in a word, is like one contestant in a beauty contest, and she always takes first place. 🙂 This does not mean the author believes in anarchy; rather, the goal should be a fragmented state similar to the ancient Greeks. In fact, this is what Oliver DeMille and I proposed in our New York Times bestseller LeaderShift. Stay tuned for Part 2 where I unpack the fragmented state and how to protect against anarchy. Happy Memorial Day!

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward: LIFE Leadership Chairman of the Board

Posted in Freedom/Liberty, Leadership/Personal Development, Orrin Woodward | 13 Comments »

Financial Sovereignty: Aligning the Mind

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 29, 2016

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

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

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.

The 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

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

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

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

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

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 »

Financial Fitness – Offense

Posted by Orrin Woodward on April 1, 2016

The civilized world is the midst of a debt deluge; nonetheless, pessimism is not the answer. After all, although no one can control what governments or businesses do, everyone can stop being seduced into debt slavery. This alone would return 33% of the average person’s income back into his control and why defense is such an important part of financial literacy. Defense, simply stated, is spending less than one makes compounded over time. The difference between what one makes and what one spends is then applied to the current debt until all debts are eliminated. Amazing how simple it all sounds and also amazing how difficult it is to stop being seduced into slavery by the latest shiny object.

Interestingly, however, most financial literacy programs cover little, if anything, of the playing field and focus mainly on the defensive steps. While defense is good, no one can win a sports championship without offense also. Strangely, however, most programs are silent on the crucial aspect of the financial game. Hence, the typical financial education directs a person’s focus to his current reality. Naturally, this keeps his head down in the details and dirt of his current financial mess. The problem with financial mindset alone is it gets a person thinking so logically about scrimping today that he forgets to dream about a better tomorrow. In contrast, a proper financial plan should lead a person to look down into the details to develop today’s belt-tightening plan to be set into motion. Then, however, one must look up so he can get up. After all, the goal is not for a person to surrender all his dreams in order to live debt free. Rather the goal is for him to live below his means so he can begin investing, as Warren Buffett said, in his number one resource, namely, his personal development.

Indeed, developing personal and professional skills is essential for offense. Why this is not emphasized in a person’s financial plan is beyond me. Especially when one considers there are only two methods to increase the amount remaining between what one makes and one spends: either make more or spend less. As a result, both the make more (offense) and spend less (defense) are vital. To make more money, however, a person must dream for a better future and then invest in more skills. Did the reader catch the crucial distinction? The financial plan defense teaches to spend less while the offense teaches to invest more to develop marketable skills. Interestingly, the skills most highly prized are not the hard technical skills, but rather the soft people skills. For many gain the technical skills but lack the people skills to convey their ideas and work as part of a healthy team. Above all else, improved people skills is the fastest way to increase one’s income. For instance, Dale Carnegie once wrote, “…15 percent of one’s financial success is due to one’s technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering—to personality and the ability to lead people.”

Perhaps a person may believe that Carnegie’s quote, written back in 1936, is no longer valid in today’s highly technical age. However, if anything, people skills are more valued today than ever. For instance, even the technology giant, Google, realized that technical skills alone did not make for a good manager. According to Google Vice President Laszlo Bock, “In the Google context, we’d always believed that to be a manager, particularly on the engineering side, you needed to be as deep or deeper a technical expert than the people who work for you. It turns out that that’s absolutely the least important thing. It’s important, but pales in comparison. Much more important is just making that connection and being accessible.” This is the where the Financial Fitness Program shines above all others. For not only does it teach all the principles of defense, but also provides the best offense skills available through LIFE Leadership’s personal development library of products. The founders of LIFE have heard thousands of testimonies from people who have raised their incomes through increased commissions, job promotions, or improved effectiveness.

Be that as it may, this is still just the tip of the offense iceberg. The real secret of offense is to develop a burning desire. In contrast to getting buried in defensive details for the next 20 years, the Financial Fitness Program teaches a person how to dream and achieve. Perhaps there has never been a time in history where Napoleon Hill’s advice (he studied over 300 multi-millionaires before writing his classic Think and Grow Rich) is more needed than today: “There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Indeed, a burning desire turns fantasies into dreams and dreams into goals that are achievable. Unfortunately, most people live their lives as wandering generalities rather than one with specific intention. After all, success can be boiled down to three thoughts: 1) What do you want? 2) What’s it cost? 3) Pay it. The burning desire, needless to say, is what helps a person answer these three critical questions to help them live a life of purpose in an age of purposelessness. A burning desire turns a someday fantasy into a dream with a deadline through the power of goal setting set today. Success, like they said of Rome, isn’t built in a day, but it is built day by day.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, LIFE Leadership, Orrin Woodward | 15 Comments »

Financial Fitness Program

Posted by Orrin Woodward on March 30, 2016

Many people, when confronted with the reality of their financial positions respond like the ostrich hunted by a tiger and merely bury their heads in the sand. Others, in contrast, realize they must make some changes, but unfortunately, they get so mired in the defensive details that they lose the forest from studying the particular tree. Of course, both of these scenarios miss out on the true strength of the Financial Fitness Program (FFP). While many financial programs offer defensive strategies to get out of debt, only the FFP describes the playing field rules (Financial Matrix) and teaches how to win the financial game by combining defense and offense. After all, who wants to live on a financial diet the rest of their lives while sacrificing all their goals and dreams merely to be debt free? Is it possible to live debt free and still live the life of one’s dreams? This is EXACTLY why the FFP was created.

Financial Fitness Pack

First, the reader must understand the financial system is rigged against him. It’s not just a matter of the consumer lacking fiscal responsibility, although this certainly plays a part. In addition, however, the system itself is designed to profit the bankers at consumer expense. For example, whereas banks are allowed to create mortgage loans out of thin air (through the wonders of the fractional-reserve-banking system), people are expected to pay back this mortgage “money” by surrendering a portion of their productive labors over the course of the next thirty years or so. Of course, mortgage loans are just one of the avenues the banking system uses to secure its tentacles around a person’s pocketbook. Once student loans, car loans, car leases, credit cards, and consumer loans are added to the list, the amount of money going to service debt amounts to over 33% of a person’s take home income! Needless to say, paying 33% to the banking system for money created out of thin air seems like an unfair playing field.

Personal debt, however, is just one of the banking systems three-pronged approach to bilking society, for businesses and governments are also highly in debt to their eyeballs. In fact, the St. Louis Federal Reserve announced the total US debt (the combination of government, business, mortgage, and consumer debt) had increased from $2.2 trillion in 1972 (the year President Nixon took the dollar off the international gold standard) to nearly $59.4 trillion in the first quarter of 2014. That’s an unbelievable 27 times increase! Interestingly, the debt is split almost evenly among all three sectors with personal, business, and government debts totaling approximately$20 trillion each. Businesses cover their debt by raising prices while governments cover theirs by raising taxes; unfortunately, the consumer ends up footing the bill for both of these debts. No wonder citizens across the civilized world are struggling, for the compounding three-pronged parasitic debt attack does not rest.

Disastrously, even at just 5% interest, America’s interest on its debt today amounts to over $3 trillion. That’s 3,000,000,000,000 dollars! This interest money is siphoned off the top of the productive capacity of every American by the banking system that created it out of thin air. In other words, before anyone is allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labor, he is forced to service all debts (personal, business, and government). Like we said earlier, the game is rigged and participation in it only ensures financial failure in the long run. The authors termed this fixed game the Financial Matrix – a system of control designed to enslave people and profit the banking system. Unfortunately, the people’s lack of financial literacy allows the banking system to seduce the people into debt enslavement. The Financial Matrix, as a result, unlike earlier matrices of control based upon coercion like slavery or serfdom, is a matrix of control where people freely choose their own enslavement.

Perhaps 2016 is the year the reader decides to make changes for his financial future. LIFE Leadership‘s top selling product, the Financial Fitness Program, has already tracked nearly $6.5 million in debt reduction for its customers! The program and it will help the reader learn the defense, offense, and the playing field (Financial Matrix) for financial success.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted in Finances, Freedom/Liberty, LIFE Leadership | 19 Comments »

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The Lost Art of Action

The Greeks: Freedom and Force

Memorial Day Message: Freedom and Force

Financial Sovereignty: Aligning the Mind

Life Leadership: The Insiders’ Confession

LIFE Leadership: Financial Matrix Scam

Political Parties: America’s New Religion

Freedom and Force: The Leadership Challenge

Financial Fitness – Offense

Financial Fitness Program