Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Thoughts on Athletics & Men from a College Athletic Director...

-->Here are the words I shared as I spoke in chapel this week...


As the athletic director at CU and as a male leader on our campus I feel compelled to say something today as we engage our culture:

Athletics

We need different kinds of athletes and a different culture in our sports world.  Way too often athletics in our culture leads to a sense of entitlement and arrogance that produces behaviors resulting in intimidation, abuse, rape and sexual assault, and significant injustices toward others, often including women. Sports is a powerful cultural icon, and is a massive force for either good or evil based on how character is developed and how athletes are taught and led and held accountable. It can be used to provide tens of thousands of desperately needed life-saving bed nets while equipping its participants for a lifetime of others centered leadership and service. And it can create cultures where unspeakable acts of violence and personal life devastation can be acceptable and encouraged. Winning does not ever make all things acceptable and the Gospel calls us to play and compete and grow in ways that produce the fruit of true righteousness in those who watch, those who play, those who coach, those who administrate, and our very sports-crazed world...

Men

We need different and we need better men. We don’t need men who are just workout warriors in the weight room or geniuses beating the stock market or remarkable video game savants. We need men who view and treat women as our God who created them in His image sees them. Men who believe the women connected to them and who work alongside them have incredible gifts and tremendous leadership capacities that must be valued and leveraged and released and sought out. We need a generation of men who stand up and both grieve and support #metoo and gladly add their voice and behaviors in demonstrations against sexual harassment and assault while modeling lives of purity and authentic biblical love for and toward all women in our lives. It’s the right thing to do and we must do it with great humility and sorrow at the ways so many in both our culture and our churches have failed to do so. This is a moment for us to help create a different, a better future for women and girls in our lives and our world as men who know Jesus and seek justice and hope for all today...

Monday, January 1, 2018

20 TIPS FOR A POSITIVE NEW YEAR--Jon Gordon

Loved this list from an author that has constantly been a source of wisdom and positivity and team building for me personally and the teams we are building and growing as leaders...excited to pursue even greater positivity and impact in 2018!

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. Take a daily "Thank You Walk." You can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time. Feel blessed and you won’t be stressed.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and less foods manufactured in plants.

4. Talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself. Instead of listening to your complaints, fears and doubts, talk to yourself with words of truth and encouragement.

5. Post a sign that says "No Energy Vampires Allowed." Gandhi said, "I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."

6. Be a Positive Team Member. Being positive doesn’t just make you better, it makes everyone around you better.

7. Don't chase success. Decide to make a difference and success will find you.

8. Get more sleep. You can't replace sleep with a double latte.

9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.

10. Look for opportunities to Love, Serve and Care. You don’t have to be great to serve but you have to serve to be great.

11. Live your purpose. Remember why you do what you do. We don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.

12. Remember, there's no such thing as an overnight success. Love the process and you’ll love what the process produces.

13. Trust that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. If you are complaining, you're not leading.

15. Read more books than you did in 2017. I happen to know of a few good ones. : )

16. Don't seek happiness. Instead live with love, passion and purpose and happiness will find you.

17. Focus on "Get to" vs "Have to." Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

18. The next time you "fail" remember that it’s not meant to define you. It’s meant to refine you.

19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

http://www.jongordon.com/positivetip/documents/2018_PositiveTips.pdf