My Girlfriend Died of Leukemia...Honesty IS the Best Policy

Like many college football fans, I came to respect and appreciate the role model and character that Manti Te'o exemplified.  I came to admire a young man who showed leadership and lived by principles.  He fought through adversity and came in second place in the vote for the equivalent to the college football MVP.  Then the nation was shocked to find out that he really didn't have a girlfriend who died of leukemia.  This news broke on the same day that Lance Armstrong went on Oprah to admit after many years of lying, that he cheated to win his 7 Tour de France titles.

The tragedy is that in both situations the deception began as a little white lie and was perpetuated until it became the enormous scar that it has.  Now none of us is perfect (I certainly have made enough mistakes), but as we strive to create the best version of ourselves, we should remember that deception in the smallest of forms can snowball into something that can destroy our character.  Practice living a principle driven life by making it your policy to represent the truth in all that you do.

Best wishes to the above mentioned.  I don't know all of their circumstances, nor do I judge them.  My hope is that they may find the peace that this simple, yet powerful principle brings when made a part of who they are.
Written By:  Tim Andrus 

Reflections...

I love this photo of an innocent child staring into her reflection in the window.  Like this child, I have found that taking time to reflect on my own life is a key component to human performance.  Reflection is a quiet form of evaluation.  How often do we set goals or have objectives, yet we don't have a mechanism in place to keep us moving forward.  A friend of mine tells the story of their family playing a game where the objective was to see who could get the dinner plate to stand upright on it's edge.  After a lot of frustration and many fallen plates, they found that it only stood when it was rolling forward.

Let us make it our constant practice to continually be in a state of moving forward, and if we take time to reflect on where we are, evaluate and take action, then we will be living a principle driven life.
Written by: Tim Andrus

The Secret to a Foundation of REAL Change

As we embark on a sojourn of a new beginning, many of us will look to set resolutions or goals for the new year.  The problem is that most of us don't set our sights on the correct goals and attempt to radically make change to our behavior.  Because of the difficulty in hitting the mark, most of us will fail shortly after making the resolution (just look at the attendance at the local gym spike and dwindle over the next few weeks).  The secret to a foundation of real lasting change was know by the ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians.

Just look at how long their pyramids have stood the test of time.  The foundation was laid and the spectacular edifices took TIME to erect.  Our challenge is to take our time laying a foundation by making incremental changes to our life.  As we make daily changes, at the end of our sojourn, we will look back and  will have built our own spectacular destiny as great as the pyramids.
Written By:  Timothy J. Andrus

New Year & Goal Setting...Washed Away in April Showers?

This time of year is one that inspires many of us to make goals that can lose momentum in the March winds or are washed away in the April showers.  Instead, let us allow the elements of adversity to compel the flowers to bloom in May.  All too often, what starts with the greatest of intentions to make a positive change, ends before the perspiration even dries.  Why is it that we forget to take off the parking brake before we begin our New Year sojourn?  Remember the checklist from driver's education that goes by the wayside before our money jingles the cash register during the purchase of our first tank of gas.
Written By:  Timothy J. Andrus

The Day After..."Well the World Didn't End"

I found it interesting when my 6 year old asked me about a headline he read in a magazine regarding the end of the world.  He wondered how many days he had left on this earth, to which I replied that I didn't know, but "I'm sure you have many years."  He then replied that he didn't care how long he had because "he would get to go see his Heavenly Father and Jesus."  Now this isn't a blog or post about faith, rather the message's intent is to spark the curiosity within yourself to take inventory of what is driving who you are at the core.  For my son, it happened to be the principles he has been taught that allowed for the law of occupied space to work in his favor and gave him the carefree peace of mind of his response.  

In that example, fear and faith could not coexist as one displaces the other.  That same law applies to many other principles that shape our thoughts, which influence our actions, that when repeated become habits and ultimately mold our character.  That character is like the wind that carves out the results of our mortal sojourn. 

The challenge is to master your life's destiny by incrementally improving as an everyday occurrence.  Those who desire to create high performance, quality and satisfaction in each of life's aspects should begin by looking daily at the principles to which they adhere.  Those principles are like the prescription of the lenses through which you see the world.  To borrow a paraphrased line from a mentor of mine...Make each day better than the last and may you be better today than you were yesterday.  (Attribution) +Darren Baird 
Written By:  Timothy J. Andrus

The Principle Driven Behavior

Oftentimes I find myself during morning or evening meditation reflecting on my day's objective, or evaluating what I accomplished.  What I have a tendency to do is ask the question "why did I achieve that result?"  Why did one thing work and why did another fail?  Sometimes I remind myself of the child that keeps asking "but why" after the 10th no!  The funny thing is, the childlike curiosity can lead us to profound simplicity...the principle that drives our behavior and ultimately our performance in life.  If you continue to ask "why" even after the first answer, like the gold-miner, you will hit pay dirt and better understand how to find your gold nugget.
Written By:  Timothy J. Andrus