The LIFE TEAM just capped it best week in its history of community building.  We have had massive growth over the years to reach tens of thousands, but this week was number one in total numbers growth!  So many people are taking the leadership challenge themselves, listening and applying the principles being taught on our LIFE CD’s and changing their lives. LIFE teaches virtuous wisdom – applying the right principle at the right time in the right area for the right reason. What makes the LIFE opportunity so exciting to so many is the five points discussed below. This is the first time that a leadership company is focused on bringing the best in leadership at a price that is affordable to everyone. Currently, the LIFE TEAM is working on a site for customers and members to share testimonies of how the LIFE materials helped them improve in the 8F’s – Faith, Family, Fitness, Finances, Friends, Freedom, Fun, and Following. Don’t just exist in life, instead, thrive in LIFE. Here are the Five principles from an earlier post. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

First, Chris Brady and I wrote the Wall Street Journal and New York Times best seller Launching a Leadership Revolution. The book is used extensively by top corporate leaders. (I would gladly list their names and companies, however to protect them from being internet flamed, I won’t) I receive emails monthly from leaders who are teaching the book’s materials into corporate America. We realized that our leadership materials were world-class, not surprising, since we had to to build communities, despite the anchor of high-priced products. Since this book, both Chris and I have received numerous awards for our leadership blogs, twitter accounts, and online presence, recently commended as two of the Top 30 leadership gurus in the world. Indeed, LIFE is the only company with two Top 30 Leadership Gurus. For the first time in our Networking careers, we had products already in demand in the marketplace, since our leadership materials were selling briskly to customers already.

Second, by thoroughly reviewing the leadership field, we identified the pricing strategies of every major leadership supplier. Leadership CD’s ranged from a low of $12 to over $50 per CD on the high end. Because the TEAM is building and serving communities everyday, we are constantly learning and growing in the field of leadership, ensuring our information never becomes dated or out of touch. Simply stated, LIFE will be the lowest cost provider of the highest quality leadership material in the marketplace, period. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it. New members of LIFE can get started own their own business for under $150 which includes the first leadership materials. Through purchasing as little as $50 per month for personal development, he is fully qualified for bonuses. Instead of the $200, $300, sometimes as high as $600 a month in purchases, we are bringing Network Marketing to the people, at a price that they can afford. On top of this, if a member or even a customer, refers three other people as customers, his personal leadership subscription will be FREE! After LIFE launches, Network Marketing will be affordable for everyone. Where in the history of networking has a company launched with the proven top quality products, from recognized leaders in the field, all at the lowest price? Has this ever happened before? It will on November 1, 2011.

Third, by taking the best quality, lowest price, and adding the most lucrative compensation plan in the history of network marketing, one can quickly see why LIFE will be world-changing. With the benchmark compensation plans currently running around 50% of revenues, what would happen if a company, which was less concerned about it’s bottom line, and more concerned about helping people get financially free, were to release a marketing plan that started at 70% of every revenue dollar paid back to field leaders in bonuses. How is this possible? Simply put, each of the owners of LIFE has committed to make his money through leading communities, not by riding on his ownership shares. This is revolutionary because it brings field leadership to networking ownership with the goal to change people lives, not become billionaires. We studied leadership, because we experienced first hand the effects that leadership delivers into a person’s life, we intend to pay this blessing forward. In fact, a 70% payout is over twice as much money flowing to the community leaders as many of the top compensation plans in networking today. Don’t forget this is on top of MonaVie’s top notch compensation plan. As the LIFE business grows, I intend to go even higher. Can you imagine, receiving an un-promised and unexpected LIFE profit-sharing check for tens of thousand of dollars, all because LIFE is thriving financially? I can, and intend to make this vision a reality.

Fourth, the TEAM, with nearly 15,000 plus people attending seminars monthly, either live or through streaming video, is expanding its reach and scope monthly. LIFE Founders and leaders of the caliber of Chris Brady, Tim Marks, Claude Hamilton, George Guzzardo, Bill Lewis, and Dan Hawkins, each personally lead communities of thousands of people. If someone desires to learn leadership, I do not believe there is a better community to learn from anywhere in North America. Since 1999, we have been perfecting our craft, building numbers and building leaders. Because the Team is a performance-based culture, 100% of the profits remaining after expenses are flowed back to the field leaders who qualify as directors. Unlike most training companies, where a few keep all profits, we designed a fair system to reward the leadership team that builds the TEAM. No special deals period, everything is based upon numerical performance. What other training company can say that? Indeed, to my knowledge, TEAM is the only zero profit training company in the marketplace. Anyone who builds a community through serving others can become a Director, helping to train new leaders and be rewarded for doing so. In addition, thanks to the lucrative compensation plan associated with LIFE, the majority of a person’s income will come from the MLM, not the training system. The bigger the community the bigger the leader must be. Building large numbers requires grace, to love people where they are at, long enough for them to want to get better. However, no community is perfect. When issues arise, we have a culture that teaches conflict resolution, gaining “teachable moments,” from every issue, making each leader grow and improve. This is a TEAM difference.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone in Network Marketing. I have met some of my best friends in network marketing, as they are some of the hardest working, best attitude people on the planet.  In the West’s current leadership crisis, who knows but that some of the top networking leaders will stand up and do something about this mess. Many Americans and Canadians citizens are are wary of more Big Governments solutions to the problems facing us. Maybe it’s time for communities to grow large enough to solve these issues through social power, not State power. LIFE is a plan for citizens to join together, improving ourselves so we can improve our communities, ultimately improving the world. By combining world-class credibility, compensation, and community together, all at the lowest cost/price, we have designed the 4C’s for your success. If a person chooses to believe rumor, hearsay, and popular opinion, then all I can say is good luck and God bless you. But if a person is truly looking for an opportunity, an opportunity that the LIFE leaders invested millions to gain the freedom to offer, then your journey has ended. Welcome to the LIFE TEAM, and your destiny. It’s time to move on to 1 million people, what part will you play?

Here is a portion of the Friendship Resolution from the soon to be released book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions For LIFE. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

A trusted friend is loyal to his friends, in front of them, but more importantly, when they are not present. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Loyalty to a friendship doesn’t mean taking the friend’s side on any issue – right or wrong, but it does mean he is a friend right or wrong. Friends must defend the other’s character, honor and reputation as far as truth allows, while helping to resolve any issue privately and promptly. Lincoln said, “A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have,” which is true as long as truth is on the side of one’s friend. The key principle to follow is, “Loyalty to the Absent,” protecting the character of those not present to protect themselves. For example, if a person isn’t willing to say something with the person in the room, then why is he saying it when the person isn’t in the room? Sadly, when this principle is abused, a person quickly gains the reputation as a gossiping tale-bearer, who can no longer be respected or trusted as a person’s true friend.  But what if two friends fall into conflict, placing their mutual friends in the middle of unresolved conflict?  In this situation, a true friend would bring them together in a spirit of reconciliation. Both parties must follow the conflict resolution principles (to be covered in Conflict Resolution), but if either side refuses to follow the guidelines, then he has violated the trust of all parties involved. What good is it to have principles, if they are not followed when needed?  Self-deception can blind a friend, as Maxwell writes, “If you are not honest with yourself, you will not be capable of honesty with others. Self-deception is the enemy of relationships. It also undermines personal growth. If a person does not admit his shortcomings, he cannot improve.” At this point, a friend must be addressed privately and promptly, hoping to point out his blind spot error, praying that he returns to the principles espoused by virtue and expected by all true friends. Friends are loyal to one another, only abandoning a friendship when the friend refuses, after numerous attempts to return to the principles of virtue and honor. Simply put, loyalty to a friend only ends where untruth begins. Even in this sad situation, former friends should maintain confidences where possible, holding onto the hope that in the future, restoration is possible when principles of virtue are restored to the lost individual.  Loyalty, fidelity and honor are seldom used in today’s society, but life-long friendships are founded upon them. Next to truth itself, loyalty is the most valued principle for friendship, forming the glue that holds friendships together during the storms of life.

Summary
True friendship is a lost art in today’s “Me” generation, but that only increases the value of a friend when he is found. The best way to find friends of this caliber is to be one, which is why friendship is one of the 13 resolutions. If someone dies having had several friends of this quality, then he is a blessed man.  Make a commitment to give more to each relationship than one receives. Although simple in theory, this is much tougher to do in practice, especially with true friends. Friendship brings so much joy and fun into life, that it should be cultivated as a fine art.  Conversely, damaged relationships bring so much pain into life, that conflict should be resolved promptly. Resolve the issues, not dissolve the friendship, if at all possible. The real wealth in life isn’t in a person’s net worth, but in his relationships with God, family, and friends.  No amount of money can mend damaged relationship or purchase the joy and happiness experienced within a true friendship. Regardless of the fickleness and fecklessness witnessed in the world, resolve today to give others the fidelity and faithfulness of a true friend.

In the journey of life, a person has three choices before him. Does he quit, camp or climb? The answer to this question directs the rest of his outcomes. Here is a portion of my new book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE. Which of the three choices have you picked? Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

Doctor Paul Stoltz describes three types of people. All of them begin in the valley staring  up at the mountain of life with the inborn urge to climb. The three types are:  Quitters, Campers and Climbers.  There are billions of people in the world who are made for the climb, and yet the mountaintop remains practically empty. What happens to all of life’s mountain climbers? Most of them end up compromising what they truly want for what is immediately available, unwilling to endure the painful climb, becoming given-ups, instead of grownups.

Quitters see the mountain with its jagged cliffs, threatening storms and endless paths as dangerous, deciding to pass on the climb entirely, avoiding the PDCA process rather than risk failure. But through denying their God-given urge to climb they make major compromises in their life. Quitters are typically people who entertain themselves to death, escaping into drugs, sex, or other non-contributing time consuming activities.  They keep themselves busy doing mindless activities in order not to confront the mountain they are doing everything to avoid climbing.  Regrettably, they suffer the worst pain of all—the pain of regret – for a life spent in a service to self, not others.  Quitters lead compromised lives, selling out convictions for conveniences. However, when confronted with the truth of their pitiable lives, they obfuscate the facts, attempting to justify the unjustifiable: a completely wasted life. The worst quitters, those having no remaining conscience, actually solicit others to join their lamentable condition.

Campers, on the other hand, start climbing the mountain through using the PDCA process. They are excited about the opportunities present on the mountainside, beginning life’s climb enthusiastically. However, at some point, through a combination of success already achieved and the pain associated with further climbing, they cease the PDCA process, compromising their ideals, and selling out their courage for the comfort of camp. They may achieve a nice mountain view, but their best days are behind them, surrendering their future for doing “pretty good”.  Although campers know the price of the climb, they are unwilling to pay it any longer. They may convince themselves that they are only resting for a season, but few will ever break camp again. Some of the most talented people are content in camp having achieved a good lifestyle, fooling themselves that this is more important than their purpose. Don’t misread this, everyone needs a break once in awhile to refresh, but not one for the rest of his life. Take a vacation when needed, but a person should never compromise his calling for his comforts. Vacations end, but one’s purpose only ends with his life.

Lastly is the group of Climbers. These are people who refuse to compromise their calling and convictions deciding to press on with their PDCA processes as far as they can go no matter how painful the climb. They know they were called to climb the mountain and are willing to do the work in order to accomplish it. Climbers are a rare breed since they understand that life isn’t about obtaining the best spot in camp or gathering the most items into the tent. Life is about purpose; it’s about the climb. Climbers have learned one of the keys to a happy life is fulfilling one’s purpose, becoming who he was intended to be, not necessarily through reaching the top, but through the constant effort to improve.  A true climber battles his mountain, and in the process, he conquers himself.  A climber’s journey leaves a path for others to follow in pursuit of their purpose, and it allows the climber to teach others the lessons he has learned through life’s mountain climb.

Each person must make his own decision while staring at life’s mountain. Will he quit, camp, or climb? If he chooses to climb, the PDCA process will be an invaluable aid in his journey to improve, helping him to learn life’s lessons, so that he can pass them onto others. This is what true success in life is all about.

What separates those who achieve greatness in life from those who seem to just get by? More pointedly, what separates those who just get by from those who blame others for their sorry existence? The answer to both questions relates to the level of commitment made to live by one’s resolutions. I am excited to announce the release of RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE on November 1, 2011. It is a perfect match to go with the launch of LIFE. Get ready for an exciting future. Here is a portion of the introduction from the new book. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

In the early eighteenth century, three young colonial Americans resolved to build lives of virtue through the study and application of daily resolutions. Each made his life count, creating a legacy of selfless thoughts, words, and deeds. The first, through tireless sacrificial leadership, against indescribable odds, defeated the mighty British Empire with his ragtag group of colonial volunteers. The second, through his growing international fame, sterling character and endless tact, became America’s leading diplomat, forming international alliances that secured war funding, without which, the colonial’s cause was doomed. The third, by his overwhelming intellectual and spiritual gifts, became colonial America’s greatest minister, who by his preaching and writing, fanned the flames of the Great Awakening; a spiritual renewal in colonial America, that led to further political and economic freedoms after the American Revolution. These men, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Jonathan Edwards, transformed themselves through the diligent study and application of their resolutions, creating an enduring legacy, not just through what they did, but more importantly through who they were. George Washington developed into a man of character whose love of principles surpassed his love for power; Ben Franklin developed into a man of tact whose desire for influence surpassed his need for recognition; and Jonathan Edwards developed into a spiritual giant whose humility surpassed his need for human advancement. All three developed wisdom by overcoming self. Through developing, studying, and consistently applying their resolutions, these men changed not only themselves, but also the world.

But if three of the greatest Americans utilized resolutions to develop wisdom and virtue, why isn’t this practice taught in every family, school and church around the world? Stephen Covey suggests an answer, “As my study took me back through 200 years of writing about success, I noticed a startling pattern emerging in the content of literature. . . I began to feel more and more that much of the success literature of the past 50 years was superficial. It was filled with social image consciousness, techniques and quick fixes – with social band-aids and aspirin that addressed acute problems and sometimes appeared to solve them temporarily, but left the underlying chronic problems untouched to fester and resurface time and again.” Society it seems, values image over integrity, commercialism over character, and fame over foundations, but what a high price has been paid for these errors. Jose Ortega y Gassett, in his book, Revolt of the Masses, describes the dichotomy, “The most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits it into two classes of creatures: those who make great demands on themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be every moment what they already are, without imposing upon themselves any effort towards perfection; mere buoys that float on the waves.”

Washington, Franklin, and Edwards achieved lasting greatness then, not as floating buoys, but by swimming against the current. Resolving to be different, they nurtured themselves on principles not personalities, seeking the true greatness of character, not the false friendship of fame. Author Jim Black wrote, “For most of our history, Americans placed greater stock in a man’s character than in his possessions. The American Dream held that, by hard work and self-discipline we could achieve success. And success was not measured in material possessions alone…The common wisdom of the day taught that greed, luxury, and self-indulgence were the passions of weak character. And the frugal nature of the pioneers taught that the treasures to be valued most were the virtues of honesty, good character, and moral strength.” Covey describes America’s founding success literature similarly, writing, “The first 150 years or so focused on what could be called the Character Ethic as the foundation of success – things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule.” Without character, in other words, one can never be truly successful because the foundation of all long-term success isn’t what a person owns, but who a person is. Regretfully, society seems to have forgotten this commonsense principle, probably because commonsense isn’t so common today.

One of the TEAM differences is our culture of conflict resolution. When leaders have issues with one another (a given in our fallen world) we teach a 5 step process of conflict resolution. This process works every time two leaders of character practice the process. Indeed, the only time I have seen this process fail is when one or both leaders lack the courage to follow it. For when they refuse to follow the conflict resolution process, communication triangulation results, leaving friendships and communities to suffer the consequences from the alleged leaders lack of humility. This is a portion of the chapter on conflict resolution in my upcoming book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE. If anyone has an issue with me or TEAM, there is an email help line similar to Amazon’s help desk. All reasonable concerns are addressed promptly as always. This is the only way to build tens of thousands into communities. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

Communication Triangulation


When dealing with conflict, don’t fall victim to communication triangulation, a vile process where people attempt to draw others into gossip from their unresolved conflict.  As Joseph Stowell writes, “The ‘juicy morsels’ stay with us, permanently staining our perceptions of and appreciation for those about whom we are hearing. The vicious chain of gossip continues until it finally comes up against someone willing to stop spreading information about feuding factions and start praying. Only then will the fire die down.” Why would anyone willingly choose to help assassinate one of his friends by listening to gossip? Unless a person is asking another to help mediate a resolution, in which the mediator hears both sides of the story, the person is simply gossiping, no matter what the gossiper’s claimed intentions. Instead of falling victim to this sickness, follow the process described by Kibbie Ruth and Karen McClintock, of Alban.org, keeping the focus on resolving conflict, not furthering gossiping and taking sides:

While people often suggest that venting is good for the soul, it is actually not very productive. Venting to someone about a third person is simply an avoidance technique that creates what is known in counseling theory as a relationship triangle, or triangulation. Triangulation is talking about feelings, opinions, or personal issues regarding some person or group with a third party instead of with the person or group actually concerned. Relationship triangles usually involve three people who each take one of three roles: victim, persecutor, and rescuer. Once in a triangle, people change places among its three points. The only way to stop the triangulation is for each person to communicate his or her feelings, concerns, or opinions directly to the other.

Of course, the best communication strategy is to avoid being recruited into a triangle in the first place. But so often well-intentioned faith leaders and congregants listen to another person’s concerns, feelings, or opinions, then realize they inadvertently let themselves be co-opted into involvement, sometimes even taking sides. Once in a triangle, escape may take some courage and clarity but is possible. The triangulated person can redirect the other person straight to the appropriate individual or committee—the one actually involved in the personal issues or the one that can address the concern or mend the relationship. A three-way conversation sometimes helps, but only if the third party facilitates without taking sides or having an agenda, without speaking for one of the other parties, and without adding to the emotional drama.

The gossiper quickly learns that communication triangulation isn’t condoned in the community, and that if the gossiper refuses to go directly to the person he has gossiped about then he will be called out by being quoted. This does two key things. First, it let’s everyone know that one isn’t a gossiper. Second, by protecting the party not present, one builds trust throughout the organization, as others know that one will do the same for them when needed.  Through these actions a person displays his scorn for gossipers, refusing to be drawn in to a foolish losing triangulation game. Only through addressing conflict directly does the merry-go-round of gossip and lies end. Organizations cannot thrive in a negative environment, therefore, the gossiping garbage must be cleaned out of, not cultivated within, one’s community.

Orrin Woodward loves systems. Thats right, I love them. As a boy, being mathematically inclined, I develop statistical permutations to simulate a baseball game with my baseball cards. In fact, I realized years later, in my Statistics class at GMI, that I was being taught similar techniques to the ones that I developed when I was 12 years old. I LOVE SYSTEMS!

When I went to GMI-EMI (now Kettering), my bachelor of science was in Manufacturing Systems. I learned so much about manufacturing processing, theory of constraints, and cost analysis to become dangerous in the systems field. Becoming an engineer was one of the better decisions I made, helping me to think systematically when challenges arose.

Now I am a leader and networker, but I still love systems. Indeed, if it weren’t for my systems background, I would have never accomplished the result in networking that I have. To date, I have been blessed with 12 separate teams that gather over 300 people (some many more) at seminars monthly. How can anyone have that many organizations growing at the same time? Simply put, through systems.

On the last day of my all expenses paid trip to Hawaii courtesy of MonaVie, Dallin Larsen presented me with a $300,000 bonus. What for do you ask? For simply repeating the Presidential rank. Last year, Dallin announced that he would pay a one time cash award for anyone in North America who repeats or advances their rank. Laurie and I were the highest ranking distributors in MonaVie to repeat rank. How did we do it? Again, through systems thinking and the great group of leaders developed through the TEAM system. I know, I know, many people had written the TEAM off, like they always do, but lacking in systems thinking, their predictions consistently fail.

While amateurs, who have no systems training rail against systems, those in the know seem hungry to learn the secret of systematic success. In my former company, several of the top distributors with the largest businesses, sat down with me for hours at a time, seeking to learn how to run duplicatable processes and systems within networking. I was more than happy to help as I believe a rising tide lifts all ships. A person either builds a system to do the heavy lifting in networking or he becomes the system until he falters through sheer exhaustion. Building leaders and building systems has been, and will always be the path that I choose to build networks. In reality, there simply is not other way to build a long-term sustainable business, regardless of how many failed non-systematic networkers believe otherwise.

One of the systems gurus of the 20th century is a man named Buckminster Fuller. When Fuller was a young man he initially felt he had wasted his life. When he was 32, his only daughter died leaving him severely depressed. Soon afterwards, alone at an ocean beach, Fuller waded further and further from shore contemplating ending his life. But at the point of surrender he realized he hadn’t really given life a chance. From the brink of suicide, he resolved to spend all of his energy discovering what a single human life could achieve. In a 1972 interview, Fuller explained the power a single human life had to change the direction of the world:

Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary — the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there’s a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab. It’s a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trim tab. Society thinks it’s going right by you, that it’s left you altogether. But if you’re doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go. So I said, call me Trim Tab.

LIFE is the Trim Tab for Network Marketing, taking systems thinking to the next level. I am so excited to help more people than ever accomplish their dreams through a systems mindset. If a person chooses to be a student, then get ready for the best year of your life. With that said, I have neither the time, nor the inclination, to convince people against their will. If a person doesn’t see value in our system, then quit. If he doesn’t enjoy the CD’s, then quit. If he doesn’t like me, then quit. But even if one chooses to do so, you have no right to criticize someone more courageous than yourself.  You, in other words, are not God and your perception of the facts is not valid for all. Since 15,000 people plus are enjoying the benefits of the TEAM system perhaps your opinion is wrong. Is anyone truthfully saying they are smarter than the combined intellectual firepower and leadership capabilities of 15,000 people? This doesn’t even account for the over 100 plus businesses buying thousands of LLR CD’s yearly. Free Enterprise means that people and companies are free to choose or free not to choose. LIFE certainly isn’t for everyone as it takes a dream, courage, guts, determination, and drive to fulfill one’s destiny. My goal is not to sponsor the world, but only the people who are sick and tired of being sick and tired by what the world has to offer.

My son (Jordan) turned 18 last week. He was given the free choice to either choose the business path, building his own business and setting himself financially free or the employee path through attending university. I explained to him that if he chose the 5% path, then he can self-educate himself as many leaders on the TEAM have. However, if he chose the 95% path, then he needs copious amounts of educational training through respected universities in order to advance through Corporate America. In fact, I told him that we would give him one year to display either his hunger to build a business or its off to 95% university training. Life passes by those who are not committed, and, in my opinion, too few people make and keep commitments. My son has chosen the path of entrepreneurship. Now let the dreams, struggle, and work begin to achieve his victory. Jordan asked me what it would take to succeed, and I told him he needed to find a job or conventional business to invest in books, CD’s, attending seminars, and showing the plan to earn his freedom. Sound familiar? I hope so. No one gets a special deal on the TEAM, no one, not even the founders son. In a nutshell, I told him he had to master systems! It never changes. I love systems.

I believe that if a new person were to ask for and listen to any random ten Launching a Leadership Revolution CD’s, that he would quickly realize why LIFE is going to be so huge. Indeed, each person ought to listen to 10 CDs as quickly as possible to decide for himself the value of the system. Remember, a man with the facts is never at the mercy of a man with an opinion. No organization has married so many of the correct principles of a systems mindset together in one place as LIFE will on November 1, 2011. The only question is: are you ready to work for your dream. If you are, then welcome to your destiny. If you are not, then you are already fulfilling your destiny. Destiny is not in the stars, it’s not even in the circumstances, but it’s definitely in the decisions that you make and keep. I decided years ago to master systems, it has made all the difference for me, my family and the TEAM. Perhaps is time you revamped your life, making LIFE the Trim Tab that changes everything. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

Adversity Quotient (AQ) is the ability to persevere through numerous setbacks in order to achieve one’s dreams. Everyone has the ability to develop AQ, but winners through pupose, vision, and perseverance develop it, while the rest do not. The LIFE community is a great way to start learning AQ. Here is a portion of the Adversity Quotient chapter from RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE. Enjoy. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

Another compromise that leads to failure and despair is an improper response to the pain inherent in the process of growth.  There are actually two types of pain: one comes from the inside due to the change process; the other comes from the outside due to criticism from those unwilling to make the same changes. Hope is the only fuel capable of burning through both types of pain.  Without hope, either of the pain versions will trump one’s willingness to endure, instead choosing to stop the pain by quitting the journey.  Author Robert Grudin writes, “One might reply that most people who surrender simply lack the ability to get very far.  But it is more accurate to say that ability and intelligence, rightly understood, include a readiness to face pain, while those characteristics which we loosely term ‘inadequacy’ and ‘ignorance’ are typically associated with the avoidance of pain.” When the pain reaches a certain threshold, everything inside of a person screams for relief, but champions, people with high AQ, persevere. Pain is overcome through the continuous focus on one’s purpose. Moreover, achieving greatness will require a faith that can move mountains, an AQ to endure the rising pain in the process, eventually reaching levels of success that more timid souls refuse to believe possible.

Grudin elaborates on the outside pain given to achievers as an unjust reward for their quest for personal excellence:

Modern society has evolved an idiomatic defense of non-achievement so subtle and elegant that it almost makes failure attractive.  We can equivocate with failure by saying that we could not stand “the pressure”. We can inflate mediocrity by calling cow colleges universities, by naming herds of middle-level executives vice presidents or partners, and by a thousand other sorts of venal hype.  We can invert the moral standard by defending a fellow non-achiever as being too sensitive or even too good for the chosen arena. This double rejection of pain—a surrender sanctified by a euphemism—has in our time achieved institutional status.  Because it includes its own anti-morality, it can be passed on with pride from generation to generation.  Other ages may have been as full of non-achievers as ours, but no other age, I believe, has developed so comprehensive a rhetoric of failure. To conclude, then:  those people in quest of intellectual dignity and independence in the late twentieth century must act in a cultural context that has done its best to annul or camouflage one of the key elements in the quest, the challenge of pain.  For this reason such people currently labor under a double burden: they must face the pains inherent in their task, and they must do so in a culture that has little appreciation for their suffering.

Today’s achievers then, handle not only the traditional pain associated with excellence, but the additional pain associated with the envious prattle of today’s internet age non-achievers. Champions understand that it’s better to be mocked and criticized by non-achievers, than to become a non-achiever themselves.

AQ can be developed, but only through discarding excuses, rejecting compromises, and choosing to feed one’s faith, not one’s fears. In order to achieve dreams, people must willingly surrender who they are, to become who they dream to be. One cannot have his cake and eat it too. AQ refuses to surrender personal responsibility (what one desires) to an impersonal environment (what is offered). Bestselling author Chris Brady, in his book Rascal, articulates what it takes to break free the herd, “It takes character to be different. It takes character to stand apart from the masses for legitimate, purposeful reasons. It takes character to be who God called you to be without succumbing to the pressures of others and their ideas of who you should be and how you should live. For those who embody this concept and live a truly authentic life, we will assign the name of Rascal.” People with AQ are Rascals, refusing to be lulled to sleep by comfort, choosing instead, to pursue their convictions over conveniences.  Rascals pay the temporary price of pain for success, rather than pay the permanent price of regret for failure.

Here is a portion of the systems chapter in the new upcoming book, RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE.  Anyone who learns to think in systems will increase their ability to lead. Leadership is the new frontier and LIFE is on the leading edge, showing the way. Committed leaders do make a difference. Why sit around and be part of the problem when you can lead and be part of the solution. LIFE is forming a community of the latter group, those who want to be part of the solution. Enjoy. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect, a part of the Chaos Theory, confirms the massive results that slight changes can have when applied to a leverage point within a system. The butterfly effect is such that a butterfly flapping its wings has the capacity to change the initial atmospheric conditions enough to trigger a series of changes that compound into a hurricane on the other side of the world.  The same effect applies to human affairs in that subtle adjustments in initial conditions can create profound differences in results. In fact, according to the University of Bath, it was through studying weather patterns that the Butterfly Effect was first expounded:

In 1960 a meteorologist named Edward Lorenz was researching into the possibilities of long term weather prediction. He created a basic computer program using mathematical equations which could theoretically predict what the weather might be. One day he wanted to run a particular sequence again, and to save time he started it from the middle of the sequence. After letting the sequence run he returned to find that the sequence had evolved completely different from the original. At first he couldn’t comprehend such different results but then realized that he had started the sequence with his recorded results to 3 decimal places, whereas the computer had recorded them to 6 decimal places. As this program was theoretically deterministic we would expect a sequence very close to the original, however this tiny difference in initial conditions had given him completely different results.

Lorenz’s findings teach that slight changes running through complex systems compound over time, creating significant differences in results. For leaders who understand systems, a little extra “flapping of the wings” at key points of leverage can multiply with time creating major changes in the long-term outcomes.  Although no one can predict the results in complex systems omnisciently (as in weather forecasting), leaders know that small variances in initial conditions can produce big differences in the finished products. History is filled with examples of how little incidences impacted the destiny of civilizations. The Great Courses series, taught by historian J. Rufus Fears, dramatizes this point:

January 10, 49 B.C.: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon River into Rome, igniting a civil war that leads to the birth of the world’s greatest ancient civilization.

October 12, 1492: The Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, weary after months at sea, finally drops anchor at the island of San Salvador and takes Europe’s first steps into the New World.

September 11, 2001: On a calm Tuesday morning, a series of terrorist attacks on the United States of America ignites a global war on terrorism that continues to this day.

History is made and defined by landmark events such as these—moments that irrevocably changed the course of human civilization. While many of us are taught that anonymous social, political, and economic forces are the driving factors behind events of the past, acclaimed historian and award-winning Professor J. Rufus Fears believes that it’s individuals, acting alone or together, who alter the course of history. These events have given us

* spiritual and political ideas,
* catastrophic battles and wars,
* scientific and technological advances,
* world leaders both influential and monstrous, and
* cultural works of unparalleled beauty.

Without them, human history as we know it today would be shockingly unfamiliar. It’s because of these events that our world will never be the same again.