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Updated on December 3, 2016December 3, 2016BLOG

The Law of Diminishing Intent – just do it

I’m not ready or it’s not the right time. Have you said something like this to yourself? Or have you ever convinced yourself you couldn’t do something but deep down you knew you could. Today’s lesson discusses the Law of Diminishing Intent. This law comes out of John C. Maxwell’s 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. This mindset is a gap that can hold you back from accomplishing something you know you can do.

American politician Frank Clark once said, “What great accomplishments we’d have in the world if everybody had done what they intended to do.” Most people don’t act as quickly as they should on things. They find themselves subject to the Law of Diminishing Intent, which says,

“The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.”

The reality is that you will never get much done unless you go ahead and do it before you are ready. If you’re not already intentionally growing, you need to get started today. If you don’t, you may reach some goals, which you can celebrate, but you will eventually plateau. Once you start growing intentionally, you can keep growing and keep asking “What’s next?”

If this video series has been helpful to you and you would like a free 30-minute coaching session, please contact me here. Or if you are looking for a speaker for your next event, please contact me.

November 30, 2016November 30, 2016BLOG

Creating Momentum

Creating momentum is important for growth regardless of the task you’re trying accomplish. I’ve learned as a leadership coach, speaker and trainer that momentum is a leader’s best friend. This is what John Maxwell refers to as the Law of the Big Mo in his 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Growth, success, opportunities don’t just happen, you have to be intentional about setting yourself up. You can’t remain dead in water and expect to go anywhere.

Here recently, I’ve been experiencing momentum and its been something I’ve had to created. But I’ve learned once you get it moving by stepping outside of your comfort zones, that’s when success and real growth begin to occur.

Like anything worth while, you’re going to face obstacles and you can’t just remain idle. Remaining idle is the opposite of growth and can be a very dangerous place to be.

Questions to ask yourself about momentum.

As leaders, how have you created momentum and benefited from it?
What about your followers or those around you? Can they benefit?
What would create momentum in your business, organization or life?

If these questions have helped you or you would like to learn more about how to create momentum in your life or business, contact me here and be sure to subscribe to my newsletter by visiting my website here.

Updated on November 16, 2016November 16, 2016BLOG

Are you a Servant Leader?

This past weekend was Veteran’s Day and I attended several Veteran’s Day events and ceremonies. I heard thank you for your service several times which I’m take a lot of pride and honor is wearing it. As a Veteran, we all have something in common – we all have served our country. But let me ask you, how do you define serving? What does that mean to you? What about your service as a leader in your community, team, or organization? As military service members, to serve means we are serving the greater good, we are serving the people of this nation and other nations as well, for the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon. We are serving others before serving ourselves and often times our families without expecting anything in return.

But once our time is done and we have hung up our uniforms, those characteristics and qualities of our servant hearts don’t go away. We seek places that will accept us or allow our skills and qualities to be used in the same manner.

Many times, veterans go seeking for employment because they don’t know where they belong in society. But I have discovered that being a servant leader makes a significant difference with those around you. Whether you’re serving customers or serving your team, company or organization, being a servant leader is about putting others first and then taking action.

Author Robert Greenleaf wrote,”Servant Leadership is having the natural feeling to serve first, then consciously choosing to lead”.

I believe people are searching for those leaders to lead them because they themselves are searching for meaning, purpose, and values. They are wanting to grow. They want someone to partner with who will allow them to grow and be apart of something bigger than themselves.

Now as a business owner of my coaching and mentoring company, I still take a lot of pride in those I’m serving because it makes the difference between success and significance. I utilize my strengths and enjoy teaching, coaching, and mentoring others and when I get a chance to speak with others, it helps them and their companies grow and become more successful.

I encourage you rise up as leaders and start living out the example to others and stop talking or thinking about it or waiting for others to do it first. I’ve learned once you show people that you care, they will see it and will naturally follow you and strive to achieve that same standard. Stop relying on your titles and positional power to gain influence and start developing real relationships with your followers. I encourage you to learn the heart of service by volunteering and being a part of the solution and not the problem. And continue to invest in your own personal development as a leader as well as your followers by supporting their goals, dreams and personal development. Doing so will initiate and promote growth within your team or organization?

If you are a leader wanting to grow and develop your skills leading others, be sure to follow me and join my mailing list by clicking here. I am seeking leaders and organizations who are wanting to go further in 2017.

Updated on November 8, 2016November 8, 2016BLOG

What questions are you asking yourself?

Hand pointing at a Personal Development Word Cloud on white background. — How do you determine your personal growth?

Regardless of your position, title or industry, leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. I believe this to be. However, to grow as a leader, I believe their is one important element you MUST be doing as leader regardless where you are at in your organization. This one thing is something only you can do and can’t rely on others to do it for you.

It is a question you should be regularly asking yourself and it is: Am I investing in myself? This is a question of personal growth. My mentor and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell states, there are 3 main factors that determine if and how you will invest in yourself. In his book, Good Leaders Ask Great Questions, Maxwell lists these factors as:

1. Your self-image: How you see yourself.

How do you view yourself? Would you be the type of leader you would want to follow? Do you serve others before yourself? Are you a positive person to be around or do people avoid you? This should be an easy question to answer, if you’re honest enough with yourself. If you were to describe yourself, what would you say? What you don’t realize, is how you view yourself determines how you will invest in yourself. And the way you view yourself will always match how much you invest in yourself. If you were to rate yourself as a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10, this also describes your willingness to invest in yourself and this will never change. Which explains why those with low self-esteem usually don’t make great investments in themselves because they feel they’re not worthy. Maxwell writes,

“its not what you are that keeps you from investing in yourself; it’s what you think you are or are not. You will never be able to bet on yourself unless you believe in yourself.

2. Your dream: How you see your future.

I often ask people what their dreams are and I often hear, “I don’t know” or I’m not sure. If you don’t know what you want in life or how you want your future to look like, how do you know you’re on the right path? Furthermore, if you’re not dreaming, how do you know what its going to take to achieve it. Maxwell states, “the size of your dream determines the size of your investment. If you dream is large, you will invest in yourself to achieve it. If you have no dream, you may not invest in yourself at all. Your dreams should fuel your desire to grow.

3. Your friends: How other see you.

I once took the Leadership Circle assessment – its a 360 assessment that assesses your creative competencies and reactive tendencies. This shows where you view yourself and how others view your in those same components. I was surprised to see how others viewed me, especially in areas where I scored myself low, they saw them as some of my greatest strengths and also where I thought I was strong, they showed I needed some improvement in. It can be beneficial to your personal growth to participate in those kinds of assessments because they can unlock the realities and raise your awareness if you want to invest in yourself. Maxwell writes, “People need others to help them stay inspired and growing. Missionary Doctor Albert Schweitzer asserted, “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flames by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle our inner spirits”. If you have friends who list your inner fire, you are very fortunate’ they will make you want to keep investing in yourself and keep growing. If you don’t, find some, because nothing is more important for your potential as a leader than your personal daily growth.

This last one can be very challenging but it’s essential to take a look at your inner circle. Your potential as a leader is determined by those closest to you. This is the Law of the Inner Circle. Those around you, have influence over you whether directly or indirectly and how they see you can inspire you or bring you down. Its important to have those around you who will add to your investment in your own personal growth.

I hope this has been helpful to you as a leader. Are you wanting to grow personally? See my free tips and articles at the sites below and be sure to sign up to receive my weekly newsletter. https://johnwaynemullins.com/

Updated on November 2, 2016November 2, 2016BLOG

8 Steps to achieving success

What do you want, John? This is a question I’ve been asked several times and one I haven’t always had an answer to it. I think that’s why I believe in the power of coaching so much. It’s because when I allow a coach to coach me, I allow him/her into that sacred place of vulnerability where I can describe what it is I want to achieve looks like. Coaching allows me to uncover the answers that are only within me. That’s the difference between having a mentor and having a coach.
My mentor and leadership expert and author John C. Maxwell says,

“A clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish gave me the will to persist and the creative spirit to overcome barriers and make up for deficiencies”.

These barriers and deficiencies are false beliefs you allow yourself to believe. As a believer is Jesus Christ, I believe in Jeremiah 29:11. Here the Lord is telling Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. However, it’s in the pursuit of following God, I believe as you grow closer to Him, you’re going to be tried, test, and challenged, especially by the enemy who wants to keep you from God. It’s also in this pursuit, where you begin to transform, especially in your mind. A strong mind has the capacity to overcome challenges. What you believe, the body will follow. Leadership author Michael Hyatt states, “When a person is strong-minded, they have the energy and stamina to face a challenge without being robbed of inner strength”. If you allow barriers to form in your mind, you’ll keep yourself from believing you’re capable of achieving that dream.

Once you identify what you want to achieve, a few things need to occur.

1. Write it down. If you don’t know it, describe it.

A lot of times, we are unsure of what we want, but we have an idea of what it looks like. By describing it, you begin gaining clarity on what “it” really is and what steps you need to take to achieve it.

2. What is your purpose in it? What’s your role?

3. Identify your starting point. Where are you currently at? How healthy is your mindset? What roadblocks, false beliefs, or bs (bogus stories) are you believing about yourself?
4. What’s your strategy? How are you going to achieve it?
5. Find the creative tension. Imagine a rubber band – at one end is your current reality, on the other is your vision. In between the two places is a gap. It’s within this gap, creative tension can be found. Without a vision, nothing happens just as without awareness of your current reality, nothing happens; it’s the same day to day process. You need creative tension because it will pull you towards your vision.
6. Write out your plan and get to work. Just like your daily workouts, write out your daily, weekly, monthly activities.
7. Hire a Coach. A coach can help you identify the gap between your vision and your current reality by raising your awareness, forming a path, uncover false beliefs and move to closer, faster to where you want to be. I’m a big believer in a quote by John C. Maxwell, he said, “Teamwork makes the dream work”. Partnering with a coach is a great way to make your dream work.
8. Trust the process. As you put these principles into place, what you want to achieve will begin to come closer to you, this is true as an individual goal or as an organizational goal. As you stretch your thinking, the energy will pull you closer to it and then you need to keep doing this to keep the business or organization and its people growing.

Updated on October 13, 2016October 13, 2016BLOG

Shifting from good intentions to intentional thinking

What makes you take ownership of something significant? What makes you do it now versus waiting for later?

Napoleon Hill once said,

“You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of a referee”.

When you’re the man in the middle, you go back and forth between offense and defense.

I’m currently reading John Maxwell’s Intentional Living book he released last year. He states, “Intentional living motivates us to take immediate action in areas of significance”. Being intentional is a state of mind. Anyone can have good ideas or intentions, but having a good idea doesn’t go anywhere. Good intentions don’t make a difference or do anything other than a good idea. The difference is taking action versus just talking or thinking about it. We have enough thinkers and talkers… I’ve found myself here many times between this state of having a good idea versus being intentional. It inspired and excited me, but I would give into fear, procrastination, and doubt myself. And it’s easy to stay in between these two positions. When I think back of the times I was intentional, I took action and once I did, it created momentum and propelled me into being apart of something bigger than I had originally thought.

John C. Maxwell says, “Intentional living is all about knowing what you want. Often that desire will be elusive or even seemingly impossible to achieve. However, when we feel that way, necessity disguised as creativity can kick in. When it does, intentional living turns the doubt-filled question “Can I?” into the invigorating, possibility-inducing “How can I?”

When you know what you want and can’t find what you need, you must create what you need, so you can get what you want!”

It’s in this place where you start taking one step at a time, that you begin to experience intentional living. It’s those initial steps that are always the hardest to take, but once you do, you see the good idea come to life and how it needs you to give life to it. This is where living the life of significance begins. It’s in those first few steps where you begin to overcome the fear, doubt and false beliefs and you begin to gain the confidence and realize you can do this.

When I find myself in that place between where I am and where I want to be, I meet with my coach who helps removes those false beliefs I’ve allowed myself to believe. He pulls out the truth and passion behind the original idea. It’s here; I begin to fuel the passion and motivation to take the intentional action I need.

Taking action looks different for all of us. For me, writing this article was the one step of being intentional I needed to take today and I’m thankful for my coach holding me accountable to writing it this week. What about you? What would your life look like if you became more intentional today?

Are you wanting to become more intentional in your daily life? Try a free 7-day experiment where you’ll learn how to intentional.

Updated on October 3, 2016October 2, 2016BLOG

Asking yourself WHY.

Great sermon in Church today by my friend John Allen.

He spoke on a topic I love…transformational life coaching and learning to ask the why behind the what.

Do you ever take the time to ask yourself why? Why do I follow this? Why am I challenged by this? Why am I doing this? These are all questions that can lead to an understanding of why things are the way they are. As a leadership and life coach myself, I ask the kind of open-ended questions that gets others to come aware of the why behind their what. Do you take the time to reflect and be honest with yourself about why you’re chasing the things you are chasing? Often times, I meet with leaders who are so laser focused on their goals, yet they don’t know why they’re chasing them. It’s something the world chose for them or were told to by societies’ standards. So much so, they fail to take the time to reflect on why they are pursuing them and the cost it has taken on them. This is why it’s so important to take the time to reflect and ask yourself or have a coach ask you those powerful questions. For instance, we all have our challenges, but why are we challenged? What makes it challenging and how are you going to overcome it? Do you speak about, explore it and develop a plan to overcome it? What about when it is a personal challenge that you face in your own mind?

Being asked these types of curious questions forces you to explore beneath the surface of your sub-conscious. Only you have the answers, however, its’ in the exploring of that search that creating learning more about yourself. There is no wrong answer when you ask yourself these kinds of questions because they invoke further exploration.

Simon Sinek wrote a great book titled, Start with Why. In it, he states,

“Instead of asking, “WHAT should we do to compete?” the questions must be asked, “WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?”

Your why should never change either. Sinek adds, “Regardless of WHAT we do in our lives, our WHY—our driving purpose, cause or belief—never changes”.

From a spiritual viewpoint and the most important one, you should be asking yourself, why am I doing this? Understanding your why, brings you closer to who God has called you to be. It forces you to be honest with yourself to ask am I going down this path for my own personal choice or am I following where God is leading me. When we lose sight of our why, we allow society or others to define it. Whereas, when you are strong and secure in who Christ has called you to be, you’re on a much firmer foundation and are able to see the bigger picture a little more clearer.

Updated on May 8, 2016May 8, 2016BLOG

Long day but a beautiful day

Today marked a day of accomplishment, an end of a very long journey. An ending of a dream I knew I would accomplish one day.

It’s funny how dreams work, not knowing when they’re going to come to fruition. But when you give it over to God, something changes, the equation changes…for the better. He guides you a long the way ensuring you learn the lessons you’re supposed to learn in order to grow and become the person He created you to be – Remember, God gave you that dream in the first place. That way when the day does come to pass, you’re ready to fulfill that dream. Dreams take time to grow into, and if they aren’t big enough to grow into, you’re not thinking big enough. Otherwise it would be just your dream, God wants to be apart of your life. Regardless if it your dream, a relationship, a plan, your hurt, your happiness, your wins and your losses, Jesus wants you to surrender that and allow him to be at the center of it.

It’s easy to give into yourself – your feelings, emotions, wants, your flesh, but that never leads you anywhere worthwhile. So many times, I’ve learned that lesson, but when I’ve given it over to the Lord, their is a shift. It’s not always easy, but is patience ever easy? Sometimes, I believe God allows you to see a glimpse of what he has planned for you in an effort to see how you go after Him and as you do, that picture becomes clearer and clearer because you’re learning how to live in it. Sometimes, you just have to get down on your knees and say God, this is bigger than me and I can’t handle this right now or I’m not ready but I need you to lead me through it because the picture you have given me looks pretty exciting so far and I want in.

Not sure who this is for or if it is a just lesson I learned today and wanted to share, but if its for you, Surrender your dreams, your plans and desires to God and he will make it so much better than what you could ever imagine. Psalms 37:4

Updated on May 1, 2016May 1, 2016BLOG

Transforming One Workplace at a Time, One Continent at a Time

by Benjamin Rubenstein

If he closed his eyes and forgot where he was, John Mullins, 34, could think he was at a concert performed by Julliard prodigies. Mullins recalls the musicians between ages 7 and 18 playing their hand-crafted instruments as their maestro guided them. The performance was so mesmerizing, he and many other members of the audience forgot to eat their dinners sitting before them.

The youths were part of the Recycled Orchestra. One violin was made from a baking tray, a woodwind made from a sewer pipe, their components were discovered and repurposed from one of the largest landfills in South America. A native Paraguayan started Recycled Orchestra to keep kids off the streets. The young performers, who have now played internationally and with bands like Metallica, were brought in and performed at a special event just for Mullins and his team.

Mullins had arrived in Asunción, Paraguay, with about 250 others from around the world on Jan. 30 to work some 15 hours a day for five days. Mullins, a management and program analyst in the Office of Human Capital and Training, put in annual leave and took the trip as a personal journey. He went as part of a delegation through leadership guru John C. Maxwell to conduct a not-for-profit leadership education project to transform Paraguay’s leaders.

Beginning at 5 a.m., Mullins and his peers visited banks, hospitals, community centers and universities to conduct three-hour leadership workshops. Mullins says the sessions taught Paraguayan leaders values-based leadership and how to improve their cultural values in an effort to transform their country.

maxwell and mullins — Mullins (left) with John C. Maxwell at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador of Paraguay in February 2016.

Even more than Mullins gave to others on his trip, he got back. He and some peers delivered a workshop to a bank. After the session, one of the bank managers brought them to the top floor that had a barbecue pit. The manager explained that every day his team lunched together out there. “Having that time set aside to break bread together and be a family at work – they value that,” Mullins says. “They want their staff to really know each other.”

Mullins has embraced a positive attitude to helping others and promoting leadership throughout his life. He grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, rooting for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturdays and attending church on Sundays. Mullins says the latter is where he gained his values, though watching young men give everything they have in physical competition probably helped, too.

chiefmullins — Mullins in May 2012 at the United States Coast Guard’s Chief’s Call to Indoctrination ceremony

Right after high school at 18, Mullins joined the Coast Guard. Mullins says the Coast Guard embodies the same values he gained in his childhood: family, service, and caring for others. There, he learned about personal development and leadership, which Mullins says is influence, nothing more, nothing less. Mullins says he saw all kinds of leaders and that the ones with positive attitudes inspired him the most.

After 16 years in the Coast Guard, he joined USCIS and the Coast Guard Reserve in 2014. Mullins also began a graduate program for organizational leadership in coaching and mentoring at Regent University.

Mullins is inspired to share positivity and good leadership practices at USCIS. In fact, he already has. “If you don’t have intentional conversations about values and skills, you’ll never grow. I try to have those conversations on a weekly basis. I meet with my team and set aside 30 minutes to discuss ways to improve.”

teamparaguay — Mullins and about 250 others while in Paraguay, working on their not-for-profit leadership education project in February 2016

Mullins will earn his master’s degree this May. What will he do with all that time no longer spent studying? He says he’s taking a week off to vacation with his family at their beach house on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. He adds, “I’m really looking forward to this next chapter of my life and the great things that are to come.”

Whatever Mullins does, he will bring a positive attitude.

BENJAMIN RUBENSTEIN IS THE AUTHOR OF THE CANCER-SLAYING SUPER MAN BOOKS. CONNECT WITH HIM ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. ALSO, SUBSCRIBE TO CANCERSLAYERBLOG.He writes about health and extraordinary people, and he intentionally positions himself around positive people like John Mullins.

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015BLOG LEADERSHIP

BEING INTENTIONAL CREATES CHANGE

Imagine how your life would change if you were more intentional in every area of your life.

Last week I went through a 7-Day experiment based off John C. Maxwell’s new book Intentional Living.

This 7-day experiment really does have the potential to change your life. Each day, John released a short video encouraging me and getting me focused in an area of where I could be intentional for that day. With each day, I was much more present and wanted to really make a difference or add value to someone or something. With each day as I stretched myself or looked to add values to others, my mind began to change as I saw the incredible value this was having on me and those around me.

I’ll be sharing some of my own stories from this experiment. I’ll be releasing the opportunity for you to be apart of this and experience this experiment as well. Keep your eyes out.