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Aaron will be speaking at the Men’s Breakfast at First Baptist Church of O’fallon on Sat. Aug 27, 8 a.m.

August 8th, 2011

Aaron will be speaking at First Baptist Church of O’fallon, Illinois on Saturday, August 27th, 8 a.m.  He will be speaking on the following topic – Making Investments for Eternity.

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Part 5 – Goal Setting – Create Urgency

July 1st, 2011

Urgency is a potent force, because it is usually produced by some degree of leverage.  Leverage leads to urgency and urgency leads to action, usually immediate action.

Think about this for a moment.  Imagine the windshield wipers on your car have quit working.  The weather forecast is predicting sunshine with no chance for rain for the next week.  You know you need to get the wipers fixed, but how urgent is it that you get them fixed soon?  Now imagine that your windshield wipers have quit working and a thunderstorm is imminent in the next few hours.  Has the urgency changed?  Of course it has, because the looming storm has created leverage.  If you don’t get your wipers fixed in the next few hours, you will either be without a vehicle or in danger for the duration of the storm.

Here’s another example.  A few years ago I was working in an office building and the fire alarms went off.  I knew that I would have to exit the building, but I assumed it was only a test, so I was not in any hurry to leave.  I checked a few more e-mails and casually left my office.  As I entered the hallway towards the elevator, people were yelling from the other end of the hallway that the building was on fire.  Can you guess how my urgency changed upon learning that news?  I went from a slow, leisurely stroll to a full run for the stairs.  The leverage of possibly dying in a fire created the urgency for me to take immediate action and get out of there fast.

If you can create urgency around your most important goals, then you will find yourself taking instantaneous action.  The reason most people fail in their ability to accomplish their goals is because they never associate the necessary urgency to do so.

One way to create urgency is through the practice of setting dates.  Setting a date can be a very effective means to creating urgency.  Think about a time when you were in school and you had a term paper due or a big test coming.  If you were like me, you probably found yourself working harder the closer you came to the deadline.

A deadline or date for achievement creates that pressure, and it gives you a clear picture of when you expect to accomplish your goal.

Another way to create urgency is to consider the consequences of not accomplishing your goal.  One of my top goals is to have an outstanding relationship with each of my children.  I have created several plans for how to be involved in the lives of my children, but these plans do not have an inherent urgency to them.  Usually our most important goals are not urgent in nature, especially when we do not consider future consequences.  One way that I create urgency around my goals with my children is to imagine how they will turn out as adults if I fail as their father.  This process has produced incredible results for creating urgency in my life.

Urgency is the spark that ignites the fuel of your goals.  Use it to create the necessary action you must take in the process of making your goals reality, and you will be on your way to do great things.

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Part 4 – Goal Setting – Anticipate The Obstacles

June 17th, 2011

In my last blog, we covered the components of making the plan.  With every plan that you make, there will be obstacles.  It’s important to identify the obstacles and then be aware of how you will overcome them.  This planning will put you in a proactive posture, and you will not be demoralized when the obstacles come your way.  They will come.  I promise you.  You don’t accomplish great things without obstacles.  So plan and prepare for them.

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, once said, “When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity.  You have the choice.  You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser.  The choice is yours and yours alone.”  If you are going to make the choice to overcome the obstacles that are certain to come your way, then make those choices in advance.

One of the reasons the United States special operations forces are so effective is that they spend a lot of time in their preparation for missions by determining all possible obstacles and potential set-backs and then formulating contingency plans.  When a special operations force commences a mission, they usually have a very specific game-plan, however they always have several contingency plans for any obstacles they may encounter.  The benefit is that when obstacles arise in the middle of a mission, they can quickly adapt and make the necessary adjustments.  The absolute worst time to consider contingencies is when you are in the middle of executing a plan.  It is much better if you have considered the possible obstacles in advance and prepared accordingly.

This is a step often overlooked on one side and often over-analyzed on the other.  If you are a “glass half full” person, then your inclination will be to overlook this critical step.  Positive people struggle to consider everything that could go wrong.  This thinking runs counter to the core of their personality.  If this is your predisposition, then force yourself to carry out this exercise.  If you do not, you might be shocked and paralyzed when you reach your first obstacle.  You may find yourself in a defensive posture looking for a quick way out.  The result will not be good.

If you are a “glass half empty” person, then will have no problem at all considering everything that could possibly go wrong.  The danger of this exercise is that you may use all the possible obstacles as reasons to abandon your goal before you ever begin.  The value of listing all the possible obstacles will materialize when you are able to strike a balance between the two extremes.

As you list the potential obstacles, think about your contingency plans and how you will make adjustments.  You will not only be equipped to make the necessary modifications, but you will also dramatically increase your level of confidence and your ability to achieve the goal in your quest to do great things.

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Part 3 – Goal Setting – Make a Plan

March 23rd, 2011

Goal-setting experts report only 3% of the population do any kind of goal setting.  For those few that are setting goals, even less take the time to create a plan for how to achieve the goal.  You have to be able to map the trip from where you are now to where you want to be when the goal is accomplished.

Your plans will change.  It’s alright to modify and adjust your plans.  Your goals, on the other hand, should remain constant.  I have a friend who’s a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.  He says that when you determine your destination, you then create a flight plan.  When the plane gets into the air and heads toward the destination, the pilot is constantly making adjustments.  Every few minutes, adjustments are being made to keep the plane on course to its final destination.

Only in extreme and rare cases does a pilot change the plane’s destination, but it is very common for the pilot to make minor adjustments and modifications to keep the plane on course.  Your goal setting practices should be very similar.  Once you set the goals, they should be locked down.  In some rare cases, you may decide to change a goal, but this should not be a common practice.

Your plans for accomplishing a goal must be specific.  The more specific you can get with your goal planning, the more effective you will be at accomplishing the goal.  For example, what if I told you that I had a very special gift for you, but you would have to meet me in order to get it?  Suppose you are in St. Louis, and I am somewhere in California.  How would you get to me?  You would need specific directions.  What if I only told you that I am in California?  What are the odds that you would ever find me without specific directions?  Slim to none.

The difficulty in being specific is that we don’t always know how to get to the destination we seek, so do not worry about your plans being perfect.  They will not be perfect.  I can promise you an imperfect plan is much more effective than no plan at all.  You will learn from your mistakes and make the necessary adjustments until the plan finally comes together.

Map out the course you intend to take from where you are today to where you intend to be at the completion of the goal, and you will be positioned to do great things.

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Part 2 – Goal Setting – Answering the “Why” question

January 18th, 2011

In my last blog, I covered the first step to goal setting with the concept of “painting the picture”.  Once you’ve identified your goal and specifically defined it, the next step involves asking why this goal is important to you.  This is one of the most important steps in the entire process, because once you know why you are doing something, you will do whatever it takes to figure out how to accomplish it.  Answering the why question is essential to defining the importance of the particular goal.

If I have a goal of eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis, then I have to know why this goal is important.  Am I setting this goal, because I somehow think it’s what I’m supposed to do?  I might say to myself, “I guess I should be healthy.  Everyone lists that as important, so I guess it should be important to me as well.”  That answer is not an effective “why” answer.

Instead, you need to really define why this goal is so important.  I’ll give you an example.  Health is an important goal for me.  Unfortunately my family struggles with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  I’ve had several family members suffer from heart attacks at very young ages.

My health is directly tied to my family.  I want to be healthy because I want to live to see my children grow up and have children of their own.  I not only want to be alive, but I want to enjoy it.  I don’t want to be confined to a hospital bed or medical equipment.  I also want to have more energy in my life now.  I have a lot of worthy goals that I’m excited about pursuing, but I can’t do that if I have limited energy and I’m out of shape.

Do you see how I’ve answered the why question?  I’ve given very specific reasons that are important to me.  Answering the why question is one of the greatest secrets to accomplishing great goals. You may have practiced this principle in your own life without even realizing it.

Many years ago, my uncle was in terrible shape.  He ate terrible foods, never exercised, smoked, drank, and he rarely saw the doctor.    In his early 40’s, he had a massive heart attack.  Fortunately he survived, but his life was changed forever.

Once he recovered and was out of the hospital, my uncle was a changed man.  He changed his entire diet.  He started exercising every day.  He quit smoking and drinking, and he never missed regular check-ups with his doctor.  He lost an enormous amount of weight.  He looked great, and you would have never guessed he was so out of shape a few years before.

So what happened to my uncle?  I’ll break it down for you.  He answered the why question.  His goal was to get healthy, but the key to his success was that he knew why.  Once you know why, you’ll do everything you can to figure out how.  Do you see the power of this principle?  Answer the why question, and you’ve got 80% of the goal setting process accomplished to do great things.

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Learn Several Powerful Strategies to Goal Setting (Part 1)

December 8th, 2010

Goal setting can be an invaluable exercise that can literally revolutionize your life for the good.  Most of the great entrepreneurs who have accomplished amazing things have been extremely effective at setting goals.  While goal setting is important, it’s effectiveness can increase exponentially if you practice the steps that I will be outlining in the next several blog posts.  You are about to learn several of the great secrets to effective goal setting.

The first step in the goal setting process is getting specific.  It is imperative that you specifically define what your goal is.  Generic goals are ineffective, because they fail to identify what you are really trying to accomplish.  For example, you might have a goal to be healthy.  If that is as specific as you get, then you really haven’t defined it.  What does healthy mean, especially to you?  A better goal would be, “I am going to increase my health by lowering my blood pressure and cholesterol to xyz levels, and I am going to lose 15 pounds.  You might have a goal to become rich.  Again, this is a very generic goal.  Instead, you could have the following goal, “I will become debt free by paying off my house, car, credit card balance and student loan”.

The specifics outline exactly what you are talking about, and this step forces you to really think about what you want to achieve.

Once you’ve specifically outlined the goal, then you need to burn the image of that goal into your brain by using the strategy of “painting the picture”.  Most people are visual, and it’s amazing how powerful a picture can be.  Imagine you are planning a vacation to Hawaii, and you are trying to select which resort you will stay at.  Would you rather have a written description of the resort or pictures?  While the description is very important to identify the amenities, etc., the pictures are what move you emotionally.

You need to visualize exactly what accomplishing your goal would mean to you.  It’s critical to see it in your mind as if it has already been achieved.  Meditate for a moment on the completion of the goal.  What does it feel like?  Can you see it?  Can you taste it?  Imagine the rush of accomplishing this goal.  Now find a picture that represents the goal.  It can be something cut from a magazine or a picture that you have taken.  This picture should instantly take your mind to the place of accomplishment.  If you have a goal to spend better quality time with your children, then you might consider using a picture of you playing with your children.

Finally, you need to place your picture and goal in a place that you will see it every day.  The daily reminder and visual impact of the goal will keep your focus on the task at hand.  Many people will set goals and then quickly forget in the busyness of their lives.  Painting the picture by itself is not enough.  You have to look at that picture on a daily basis, so that you start internalize the value and importance of the goal.  In the process of reviewing and visualizing your goal, you will start to focus.  Focus is the secret ingredient that actualizes the efficacy of the goal setting process.  As you continually focus on the goal at hand, your mind will commence a process of determining how to achieve it.  In the next blog, we will cover the next essential step – answering the why question, and you will be further equipped to go out and do great things.

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Learn the secret to asking powerful questions

November 13th, 2010

The questions that you ask yourself on a regular basis can have a profound effect on you.  You are always asking yourself questions, whether you know it or not.  In every situation, your brain is using questions to evaluate what’s happening.  Think about this for a moment and see if it is true.  If you are in a dangerous situation, what are you saying to yourself?  Am I going to be alright?  Should I run?  Should I fight?  What’s going to happen next?

As we ask ourselves questions, our brain operates like a super human computer designed to deliver an answer.  God provided us with this mechanism, and it is the means for how we evaluate things.

We use questions to evaluate situations and circumstances.  The problem is when we start asking ourselves bad questions that inflict damage instead of empowering us.

You might be asking yourself questions like the following:

-Why do I always screw everything up?

-Why do people hate me?

-Why am I so stupid?

-Why can’t I be successful?

As you ask yourself these disempowering questions, your brain is programmed to deliver answers.  Of course you will not receive very empowering answers when you are asking questions like the ones above.  If you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer.  Many of these limiting questions carry an implied meaning in the very nature of the question itself.

For example, “why do people hate me?” presupposes that people hate you.  You have already assumed that people hate you.   You are now simply asking why that is the case.  That’s a terrible question to ask.  Your brain may provide an answer that’s damaging, because it’s presupposing that people hate you and there must be a reason for it.

I challenge you to start asking empowering questions.  If you ask yourself the right question, your brain will go to work and provide an answer.  A powerful, creative question will yield a powerful, creative answer.

For example, instead of asking why people hate you, you could ask the following questions:

-What things could I be doing to make new friends?

-What can I do to be a better friend?

-How can I become a person that attracts good friends?

Think about those questions for a moment.  Do you see the difference?  These questions have the potential to empower you and put your mind in a position to provide an answer that gives you real options.  Your brain will go to work and it will provide answers that you never thought possible.

Take a moment and list three questions that you are asking yourself right now that are disempowering.  Once you list those questions, I want you to determine how those questions are affecting you?  How are they limiting you?  How are they damaging you?

Now I would like you to create three questions that will empower you.  Once you create these questions, I want you to start asking yourself these questions every day.

Below are some examples of great questions that you could be asking yourself:

-How can I build my relationship with God in a way that is exciting and fresh?

-What can I do to become a better husband/wife/father/mother/friend?

-What can I do to get into shape and also have fun at the same time?

-What things could I be doing to be a more effective employee/manager/boss/entrepreneur?

-What things could I start doing to enjoy the process of learning?

-How could I change my life to become more disciplined and hard-working while still being   spontaneous and exciting?

Now it’s your turn.  Start creating amazing and powerful questions that you can ask yourself.  Remember that the more creative questions will yield the most creative results. I have personally found this process to be surprising.  My mind has generated some amazing responses to some well-designed questions.  I use this process on a regular basis in my businesses.  As an entrepreneur, you have to create options and solutions that are outside the box of conventional thinking.  Why not use this same approach in your personal life?  It will create an environment for you to do great things.

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Learn one of the best kept secrets to success – delayed gratification

October 30th, 2010

One common thread among great entrepreneurs and successful people is the idea of delayed gratification.  Delayed gratification means that you are willing to make a sacrifice now for something great in the future.  Unfortunately in today’s “fast food” society, we want everything now, not later.  As a result, future opportunities are short circuited and squandered away.

The best example of delayed gratification is revealed in a study known as The Stanford Marshmallow Study”.  Michael Mischel, a Stanford psychology researcher, performed a study that began in the 1960s with four year olds and marshmallows.  Four year old children were given one marshmallow.  Did I mention that these children were also very hungry?  The children were given two options.  They could eat the one marshmallow now or if they waited for 15 or so minutes until the researcher returned, they could have a second marshmallow only if they did not eat the first one.

This study revealed some very interesting results.  About one-third of the children devoured the marshmallow as soon as the researcher left the room.  Other children were able to wait a little longer before succumbing to the pressure.  The remaining one-third of the children waited 15 minutes or longer until the researcher returned without eating their one marshmallow.  The longer term results of this study are very telling.

The children that were able to view the longer term gain of two marshmallows while enduring the immediate pain of not eating the one marshmallow in front of them in the heat of the moment went on to experience a greater amount of success in their lives.

After the children graduated high school, the group that waited for the second marshmallow was more positive, self-motivating, and persistent in the face of trials and so on.  These children had the habits of successful people and those habits translated into better health, higher salaries, and better marriages.

Which group do you fall into right now?  If you are currently devouring your marshmallows the second they hit your plate, there’s good news.  You have the ability to alter your approach in this area of your life, but it involves sacrifice.  Sacrifice is a word that makes most people cringe, but I promise you that with great sacrifice, there is great reward.

Take a few minutes and identify two areas in your life where you lack discipline, and then ask yourself what needs to change.  Are you spending more money than you make right now?  Are you watching television in the evenings instead of spending quality time with your spouse or children?  Are you not giving your employer or business everything you’ve got when you’re at work?  Are you spending time reading the bible and praying?  Is the treadmill getting lonely at your house?  Think about it for a moment.  Once you identify those two areas that need to change, then go and do it.  Don’t worry about making big changes at first.  Start small and build incrementally.

The great entrepreneurs almost always delay present benefits for a future benefit by committing to hard work now.  Learn from them, and apply this principle in your own life.  Take action today.  Delay gratification.  Procrastinate on another day.  Step up and make it happen.  You will position yourself to do great things in the future, and the gratification will eventually come.  Trust me.

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The Beginning of Great Things

October 22nd, 2010

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to do “great things”.  I’ve watched countless history channel specials and biography broadcasts of famous people in history who have done what the world generally considers as “great things”.  I’ve always admired the great founding fathers of the United States like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams, etc.  I’m amazed at the incredible accomplishments of these great leaders in addition to the countless others who fought for and established the great nation of the United States.

I am also inspired by the great accomplishments of the people who have changed our world with their intelligence, talent, bravery, leadership, sacrifice, hard work, wisdom and resolve.  I think of Mother Teresa, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Harriet Tubman, Neil Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Warren Buffett, Billy Graham, Babe Ruth, Sir Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, Helen Keller, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry Ford, etc.  How’s that for a list of amazing people?

Why are we so intrigued and obsessed with those who have done great things?  What is it about these amazing accomplishments that we find so fascinating?  Perhaps there is a desire in each one of us that longs for greatness, something deep within our soul.

Have you ever considered your own capacity for great things?  Do you believe you have the potential, ability and will to capitalize on life’s opportunities in order to fulfill your purpose?

Let me ask you another question…  If you could go do whatever your heart was designed to do with complete fulfillment, excitement, passion and adventure without the possibility of failing, would you do it?  If your answer is yes, but the concept is not reality in your life, then it’s time rethink some things.

The culture today has twisted the definition of great things.  The world says great things have more to do with fame, fortune, self-gratification, accumulation of things, power and popularity.  Although fame and fortune and power are not inherently bad, they are completely irrelevant to authentic great things.  In many cases, they are simply distractions to what’s really important.

Today I challenge you answer this one question.  If there was one thing that you could do consistently well that would have the greatest impact on your life, what would it be?  Ponder that question for a while and then answer it.

Once you’ve answered the question, make it your goal this week to put it into practice.  You will be starting down the pathway to great things.

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How to define what’s really important

October 7th, 2010

In my last blog, I feel like I may have left you hanging. Maybe you could identify with the idea of living a life without a mission or purpose or direction. Never confuse busyness with authentic purpose. In this blog, you are going to need to use your imagination. I want you to imagine that you only have one year to live. I know this isn’t something we like to think about or talk about, but it is necessary to get your mind focused on what’s really important.

I want you to imagine that you have just been notified that you’ve got one year, 12 months, 365 days. The clock starts right now. Don’t worry about saying good bye to loved ones or getting a will in place. Let’s assume that’s all done. Just focus on how you will live for the next 365 days. Take some time and answer the following questions the best way that you can.

• Who will you spend your time with? Why?
• How will you spend your time with the ones you’ve chosen to be with?
• Is there anything you need to work out with God?
• Are there any big decisions that need to be made?
• Is there anything you’ve been putting off that you need to take action on?
• Is there anyone you need to apologize to?
• What legacy are you going to leave?
• What’s important now that wasn’t important before? Why?
• What do you worry about?
• What were you worrying about before that you are not worrying about now?
• Is there anything you haven’t done that you would like to do?
• Is there anything that you’ve been doing that needs to stop?
• Do you have any regrets? What are they?
• What are you most excited about?
• What do you want people to say about you in 12 months?
• What do you want people to know?

I hope you found this exercise enlightening. My hope is that your mind is really turning about the big things of life right now. Let me ask you this. Are you going to do anything different? Has anything changed in your life? If so, I want you to start writing it down immediately. Don’t wait for tomorrow or another minute. Write down the top 5 things that need to change in your life right now. Do not hesitate. Write them down.

Once you’ve written those things down, you are well on your way to defining your top priorities. The approach that you just took should have cut right to the chase. We want to get to the top priorities and not waste any time with things that don’t matter. You are beginning the process of doing great things.

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