Tree

Using a chain saw, I strategically cut a little wedge from a tree at my summer cottage. It was less than 10 inches across ... and a 40 year old tree that was more than 75 feet tall ... came crashing down in a matter of minutes. 

I got to thinking about how little things can swiftly bring down a life that has seemed to stand strong for many years. Pay attention to the little things in your life. Seldom do we see one act that will precipitously determine everything; it is more likely going to be the sum of many small acts which determine the final product of our life.

Habit is an important way of building a legacy of which we can be proud.  What do you find yourself doing on a regular and consistent basis? Building good habits is a little trick of the trade that can yield a very satisfying result over the long-haul.  Have you made certain commitments to yourself that you try to never violate? For example, I try to never say “No” to a panhandler so I carry around something ready to give when I am likely to encounter one. And I always try to engage the person on the plane sitting next to me with a positive message... and many more.

Usually we associate “habits” with the bad in our life, but this need not necessarily be the case. Just as little bad things add up, so do the small good things. The way we treat people all day long when no one is looking or the little kindnesses will all come back to bless us in the end. No good deed is wasted and no harm will be overlooked. There is a day of accountability facing each one of us but we are never sure when it will arrive. Remember that we are not judged by our inconsistency but by our consistency.   What are you known for – what is your hallmark?

Little faults can bring you down but small acts of kindness will build you up.

"The good man shall be like a tree planted by streams of water who bears his fruit in season. His leaves will not whither and whatever he does will prosper. The wicked will not stand in the judgment but are like the chaff which the wind blows away."


Daniel Southern

Too Late?

“I am not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.” ~ Woody Allen

He was born "Faroukh Bulsara" in Zanzibar, and he died "Freddie Mercury", in a six million dollar home in London. 

On November 24, 1991, the announcement came: "Freddie Mercury died peacefully this evening at his home at 1 Logan Place, Kensington, London. His death was the result of pneumonia brought on by AIDS."

On October 8th, 1988, rock superstar and Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury appeared at the enormous open air La Nit festival in Barcelona, Spain - singing three duets with Montserrat Caballe the international opera diva. This was the last time he performed onstage, because he was terribly ill with AIDS and didn't want people to know about it. Although very sick, he told no one and continued to compose, record and take part in making videos.

From 1988 through 1991, there were many media rumors that Freddie Mercury had AIDS, but these were denied until November 23rd, 1991 when he released the following statement: "Following enormous conjecture in the press, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has now come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth, and I hope everyone will join me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease."  Freddie Mercury died the next day.

During his life, Mercury wove his sexual confusion into his art, recording a cover of Buck Ram's classic "The Great Pretender" (and appearing in drag in the song's video):

"Oh oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Just laughing and gay like a clown 
I seem to be what I'm not you see 
I'm wearing my heart like a clown
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal."

Freddie knew life was fragile but never slowed down.  When asked, what he would be doing in twenty years' time, He quickly answered "I'll be dead, darling! Are you crazy?"

Freddie Mercury was a singular musical talent whose residue speaks for itself.  Yet he was confused and aimless beyond the moment in which he lived.  His life is tragic and leaves us feeling empty.  Like the lyrics he wrote for Momma:

"It's too late, my time has come
Send shivers down my spine.
Body's aching all the time.
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go
gotta leave you all behind and fade away.

Mamma, oeoeoeoe
I don't wanne die, I sometimes wish 
I'd never been born at all."

On another occasion he added, "When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.” And then, "Who wants to live forever?"

Freddie really did want to live forever but just as we all do, he soon learned, he would not. Only the legend lives on in our hearts and minds.  He was amazing but didn't plan ahead so he could attain immortality.

What is your legacy?  Are you planning ahead?  What will you leave behind and what will be your future?  It's never too late to rethink the strategy by which you live your life until it's over; then you are stuck with it!

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." ~ James Dean

by Daniel Southern

Why Champions2Heroes?

Just yesterday morning, I read in the June 12^th edition of Parade Magazine the special report on “Teens and Extreme Drinking.”  This cover story began with the experience that the parents of an 18 year old “honor student and athlete.”  This student had been away from home only two weeks to begin her freshman year of college when she called home with a frantic plea for help.  To make the long story short, she had become so seriously inebriated that she didn’t know where she was.  When her parents called campus security, who finally found her, “she had fallen and broken her nose, she was so intoxicated that she hadn’t realized it.”

The article goes on to say this student had become involved in an alarming phenomenon that is a growing trend among young people – “what is new – and increasingly alarming to those confronting the issue – “ the article continued, “is the rising trend of extreme underage drinking…adolescents tend to drink differently than adults.  Their goal is not to sit around enjoying a glass or two of wine over the course of an evening.  Rather, for many teens, the point is to get as drunk as possible, as quickly and cheaply as possible….”  Here’s another quote from the article:  “If you think your kids are immune, think again.  According to the CDC, about 90% of all teen alcohol consumption occurs in the form of binge drinking, which experts say, peaks at age 19.”  Finally, the article reports that more than 1,700 college students die each year from drinking-related causes.  A captioned headline also found in the article reports that “90% of all alcohol consumed by teens is done while binge drinking.”

Here’s where a movement like Champions2Heroes comes in pretty handy.  While we can’t guarantee that we can stop things like this from happening, though we wish we could, we do provide three very potent and proven ingredients that sure can help!  In our Mental Training Camp we begin by helping each participant understand the importance of “Top of the Head Thinking” – actually practicing the art of “thinking BEFORE you make a potentially fatal decision.”  Tied to this is our NeuroSport Myers Briggs Type Indicator Profile and an emphasis on developing a written Personal Mission Statement (PMS) or Personal Constitution (PC).  These tools are a great beginning point to help anyone from a student to a professional person to begin the process of making “Top of the Head Thinking” work for you.

Secondly, we match each one of our people up with a highly trained and experienced mentor for a weekly scheduled two hours of face-to-face conversation.  In these weekly meetings, the mentor and mentee discuss ways to stay the course in decision-making, helps his mentee develop a deeper and keener awareness of his Personal Mission Statement or Personal Constitution, and they talk together on ways to wisely use their PMS / PC.  For example, if a student writes that he wants to be a young man of integrity, they talk extensively on ways to make decisions based on that ideal.

Here is another important facet of our work in Champions2Heroes:  We work directly with each of our folks to help them develop and learn to use an effective “Recovery System.”  While ideals like “living a life of integrity” are to be highly prized, we know that it is just a fact of human nature to drift off course from time to time.  There are literally thousands of temptations that each of us face every day of our lives that can easily distract us and cause us to potentially violate some of the most cherished values we hold!  In the Parade magazine article we cited earlier, one of the things “Parents Can Do” is to “Establish a code word” before the kids go out.  This is to be used in “an uncomfortable situation” in which they can “give a signal to come and get them right away, no questions asked.”  Our “Recovery System” is set up so that each of the folks we work with can know their mentor is “on call,” and can help them make a potentially “better decision” by talking directly, asking “hard questions” but without any sense of judgmentalism.  The article also points that “parents who combine clear expectations of accountability with support and warmth have more success” with their kids.  This is exactly the attitude we expect from each of our trained mentors.  They’re nearby, so they can be reached and help at any time!

Check out our website at www.champions2heroes.com, and then give us a call!

David Dickerson

Core Values

There is a word that people often use that is sometimes translated as virtue … “it represents a combination of skill, wisdom, power, and steadfastness for good that makes it very attractive” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy)

When we think of the “core values” for Champions2Heroes, these are some of the concepts that first come to mind:

1.     Development of skills for honest and important living, for clear-minded and clean-hearted decision-making;

2.     Learning to apply wisdom in those daily decisions, whether small or great;

3.     Establishing a power-base that is uncompromised – that is rooted in integrity

4.     Showing steadfastness for good in our dealings with both friends and acquaintances.

As the most rapidly growing group in the Cornerstone Lodge Leadership Ministries organization (a non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation) Champions2Heroes is founded on some proven and timeless principles that are taught in the Christian traditions of faith. We live in a day when there seems to be a diminishing sense of recognizing moral knowledge and moral development. Lots of people just don’t live as well as they’d like to. In one survey, only 14% of the people surveyed said they were happy with the way they were living. Only 7% of them had ever written down any goals of what they thought were the most important beliefs they held. We’ve met many people who are struggling after making decisions they really didn’t want to make – and who realized they needed to make a better one – and then have reported feeling really lousy after making that really unhealthy decision!

Because of this, we’ve set up C2H with the awareness that character is very closely connected with how we’re “wired.” We’ve seen that both men and women of all ages and in all walks of life are being more and more drawn to following their emotions than learning and practicing what we’re calling “Top of the Head” thinking. And, well, we just had to do something to help people fix this!

So, our core values are pretty simply wrapped up in a couple of bits of wisdom found in Scripture. In one place, they are described as seeking “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.” The writer even says “there is no law against any of these.” In another place is says it this way: If you begin with the measure of “basic faith” you already possess, and add “good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love,” you’re promised that your life will be “on a firm footing” with the streets paved and the way wide open” to success! Even more, it actually says, “you’ll never fail!” Wow! I like that promise!

At C2H, we like to stress that character is really important. Our Mental Training Boot Camp focuses on helping each person we work alongside to do 3 important things:

1.     Learn how you ARE “wired” – we give you a really easy-to-understand personality profile and some good feedback to let you see this special brain-wiring you have!

2.     We help you begin to write your Personal Mission Statement (PMS) or Personal Constitution (PC) -whatever you want to call it is OK with us. It’s just something you’ve put into writing that helps you begin that “Top of the Head Thinking” that will help pave your way to REAL success.

  

3.     Then we give you a person who will walk alongside you for a few months to assist you to reach the goals you’ve decided are important. This helper (we call them “Mentors”) will also help you establish your own personalized “recovery system” to help you stay on track!

Next time I blog, I’ll share more details about just how the program works….how long each part takes, what it costs… all those details. But in the mean time, I think these are some pretty darn good basics for our core values! Do you think so, too? Let me hear from you!

David Dickerson

Co-founder of C2H

It's Lonely At the Top

Some athletes struggle at the top
 

Program focuses on turning champions into heroes

Consider the bedroom walls of young people? And, the millions of dollars spent on sports and sports memorabilia? We place great VALUE on these teams and these athletes. Many Americans young and old want to emulate them, dream about their success, and admire their accomplishments.  

Serving as role models, such high-profile personalities often are expected to know and live life better than the rest of us. Yet, many live without a clear understanding of values much less how to live daily life governed by those values. Sports commentator James Brown says, “The definition of success and what it takes to be successful has been warped and twisted. High profile ‘role models’ are often looking for a guiding light themselves.”  

So what happens to gifted athletes when life does not go as planned? When they get cut the day NFL rosters have to be down to 53? Or, after two years when they get told ‘we are going in a different direction, good luck to you’? What if no phone call is made in the first place to attend an NFL training camp? Or even worse, you are ‘washed up’ at 34? 

Statistics reveal roughly 3% of all college football athletes will play at the professional level. 60% of NBA players and 78% of NFL players are broke within five years of leaving the game. Many report struggling with depression and relationship issues.  

A recent Sports Illustrated and CBS News investigation found more than 200 college football players in the top 25 programs have been in trouble with the law. Many times the athlete’s trouble started in high school. 

Just yesterday, the nation heard Ray Lewis, the flamboyant LB for the Baltimore Ravens, tell ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio a rise in crime will take place if the NFL lockout continues, “Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime — watch how much crime picks up if you take away our game.” 

Dave Duerson, a former NFL safety, committed suicide a few weeks back. Family, financial, and physical woes contributed to his fatal decision. He is not alone. Beijing Olympic marathon gold medalist, Sammy Wanjiru took his life last week. Apparently, financial and domestic issues were thought to contribute to his choice as well.  

In a separate issue of SI, Ryan Leaf, often referred to as the #1 biggest NFL draft bust, said, “You don’t want to say the money changes you, but it definitely does. I think getting drafted later would have been a benefit.” 

One local non-profit is aiming to help change the path for such athletes. Champions2Heroes exists to provide the best mental training and mentoring for athletes to reach peak performance in all areas of life. David Dickerson, one of the founders of C2H, says he was motivated to start the program after seeing so many great athletes derail their careers and lives, “What kind of legacy do these athletes leave? Anyone with a God-given gift can win a championship, but few have the tools to become the kind of person with staying power of a genuine hero.”  

Steve Foster, bull pen coach for the Kansas City Royals and former professional pitcher, knows firsthand how mentoring makes a difference. “Each of these mentors (in his life) engaged me with their eyes, their conversation and their hearts more than they cared about their agenda or ego. There is an absolute need for this.”  

Abilene Head Football Coach Chris Thomsen says he focuses on real life with his athletes during their four years with him, “We talk to our guys when expectation doesn’t make reality. What do you do when it doesn’t work out the way you think? Have faith that God has a plan for your life and He has a very unique and specific plan just for you.” 

Champions2Heroes is targeted for high school to professional level athletes. It’s a revolutionary program according to Dickerson, “We offer a ‘mental boot camp’ then match each athlete up with a mentor who will walk with them as they transition and deal with the tough and temping aspects of life.”  

Mentors must qualify and commit to a one to two year relationship with an athlete. Dickerson and his staff will train the mentors and also provide a professional team should an athlete face more than what the mentor can deal with, “We are serious about rising up generations of athletes who our kids can proudly put up on their walls. We will teach them key mental strategies to make good choices and give them a ‘recovery system’ when they get off track.”  

Future expansions to C2H include a track for entertainers, actors, and high level professionals.  

Kip Watson 

Topsy Turvy?

“A hero is someone who others admire and a champion is someone who wins.”

We call our mentoring program Champions2Heroes and it may seem backward at first blush.  After all, wouldn’t the normal progression be to go from a hero to a champion?  Well, I wish it were so, but it isn’t.

In the world we live in, it is much easier to be (or even make a person) a winner than it is to be a role-model.  If I take the time here to define “role-model," my proposition may become clearer.  Everyone wants to be a winner so logically if you are a winner you are a role-model – right?  Not really!

Let’s think of some modern-day “winners” in the news and examine the reality behind the headlines.  Let me name off a few you will know of:  Bret Favre, Pete Rose, Marion Jones, Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Vince Young, Jenifer Capriati … and the list goes on.  Some have made a recovery and others have not, but that’s not the point.  What I am illustrating is that just because you can lead your team to victory, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you have it all together.

Being a champion is a fantastic platform.  It often brings with it wealth, influence and popularity.  But all of those attributes are fleeting; they don’t last and are superficial.  Whereas being a hero may or may not have any of these advantages but it is a deep-seated trait which marks an individual’s life as a whole and is their legacy.

So on the one hand we have status based on a particular accomplishment; namely we can win or be successful in a certain field of endeavor.  And on the other hand we have a character trait that is enduring but which may not bring with it any of the recognition or perks usually associated with vocational achievement.  Topsy turvy isn’t it?

What would you rather have; character or money; popularity or maturity; fame or a legacy?  You may not be able to conjure up the former, but you can build the latter.  You may not be a champion but you can be a hero.

We work with those who have what cannot be manufactured and equip them to acquire what cannot be purchased; Very simply stated, we take our clients from Champions2Heroes.

I hope you will join us in this movement which can transform our culture.  It’s worth the effort!

- Daniel Southern