My Notes: Leadership Training from a Navy SEAL

Lead Now is an Excellent Leadership Training Opportunity by Focus 3

I recently had the honor and privilege to participate in an elite leadership training program titled Lead Now by the Focus 3 Team, founded by Tim Kight.

The Lead Now training I participated in was facilitated by Master Training Specialist and veteran of the United States Navy SEAL Teams, Scott Daly. Scott was excellent. He has spent a good portion of his life training people to perform at elite levels and become better leaders.  I loved how Scott was able to take his life experiences, combine it with the Lead Now system, and apply it to situations each of us face every day. I found the training beneficial on so many levels. I highly recommend it, and I will share a few highlights from my notes that really helped me.

A prerequisite for the training was the completion of a DISC personality inventory. This was very enlightening. It was helpful for me to see areas to improve upon, how others may view me, and most importantly how to work with and lead other personality types.

Focus 3 helps organizations with culture work in a way that is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It is an elite system used by Fortune 100 Companies, professional and collegiate sports, and some of the top school districts in the world. Tim Kight, the founder of Focus 3, was the Leadership Coach for The Ohio State University Football Team, and the system was used here with Urban Meyer and his teams. It is a system that helps people become better leaders, and trains people to better deal with the events we encounter in life. The program centers around working on your RESPONSE to the events that come at you, so you can help influence a possible, better outcome. Click to Read More

 

Do Hard Things!

When I was young my dad gave me quite a few Herculean tasks. They were epic in size, labor and time. They also shaped me into the man I am today.

Throughout high school and college my coaches designed grueling workouts, challenges, and tests, that in the moment were torture, but in reflection steeled me and trained me for adversity.

The young mind has trouble seeing beyond the moment, difficultly seeing the purpose, and unfortunately allows their emotional response to distract and hinder. The good coach steps up and offers a new perspective.

Looking back, I am so glad I was “forced” to do hard things. I see now how they prepared me for other challenges much later in my life, in completely different areas. The sprints and ladder drills prepared me for adversity decades later. I learned patience, tenacity, fortitude, endurance, teamwork, greater good, service, and the ability to train myself to push past, way past, the moment of surrender.

Doing hard things matter.

If you want to get good at quitting, practice quitting. If you want to build tenacity, practice not giving up.

You’re most likely not going to choose hard things as a youth, nor as an adult. Some do, but most don’t.

Netflix, Cheetos, and the couch are screaming your name and welcoming you to some hours of leisure and fun.

The weight room, your running shoes, and the yoga mat whisper your name and promise only to test you.

The character traits you build in both are transferable to all other actions.

Why didn’t you start that project or finish? You have most likely practiced not starting and finishing.

We need people in our lives that challenge us. We need to challenge others. These challenges don’t necessarily need to be public and formal. I am challenged when I sit on my couch and see a runner go by the window. It gets me up off my butt. When I see a colleague publish, I return to the keyboard. And on and on.

To those who are doing hard things, thank you!

To the rest of us, now is a good time to start.

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

Reboot Your Resolutions!

It’s June. Time to take a hard look at the resolutions and goals you made for the year.

What’s working? What’s not?

Read through them. (You wrote them down! Right? If not, write them down.)

Do you still have the fire, grit, spunk, and resolve you did on the first of January? Or has it waned?

I want you to look at the span of this year of your life a little differently. The past six months is valuable feedback on how you live in comparison to what you want. Look at your year, which still is half full, like you would an artist’s work in single year and ask yourself, “What will I be remembered for this year?” Also, examine the barriers, internally or externally, that have kept you from making progress, or pushed you forward. This first half of the year is feedback. Record it. Reflect on it. Redesign a plan for what needs to be done.

Six months is a tremendous amount of time. You can create a masterpiece in six months. A masterpiece of art, health, finance, or side hustle.

The year is still your’s!

What’s it going to take?

Here are SIX things you can do to reboot your resolutions and see them to completion:

  1. Rebuild your mindset. Get fired up! Make your reason for doing this passionate.
  2. Reflect on the past six months. This is how we learn!
  3. Record what worked well and what didn’t. Write down what worked and any obstacles you discovered.
  4. Redesign your plan. Write down what you are going to do over the next six months.
  5. Remind yourself daily of your why.
  6. Repeat at least one action daily that will take you closer toward that goal.

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

FFP 022: Be Careful What You Label a Weakness

It's REALLY a strength!


In this episode of the Future Focused Podcast I caution you to be careful what you label a weakness. Labels don’t help us and most of them are wrong. Labels often program us with incorrect, limiting mindsets.

When I was young my teacher’s feedback on my work in school focused on two areas that were presented as weaknesses. They would report: “Kelly talks too much. Kelly draws pictures on his paper and during class.” What was once a negative is now my livelihood; I am hired by organizations around the world as a speaker and artist.

We need to be careful of what we allow others to label as a weakness and what we label for ourselves. I often hear people say they have anxiety or attention issues like ADD. I have these, but rather than view them as negatives, I see them as super powers. My anxiety helps me to prepare for possible problems in presentations and consulting work. It allows me to analyze scenarios and issues others cannot even conceive. If you can’t identify potential problems, how can you prepare to stop them before they happen? My anxiety, when managed is a super power. My perceived weakness with attention disorder is also a super power. I come up with the most creative ideas and solutions. Without a busy mind bouncy around thinking of a hundred possibilities my creativity would be severely limited. Yes, my attention issues are a super power.

Listen to this podcast. It will give you a new perspective on your life. You are going to love this episode of The Future Focused Podcast. This episode will help you become even more successful.

Best to you! Get after it.

Have a great week!

Kelly

Book I am reading and recommend: The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

FFP 021: Becoming the Best Version of Yourself

In this episode of the Future Focused Podcast I discuss the call to action, “Become the Best Version of You,” and how to really go about it. What does it mean? Why does this virtuous call to action inspire some and insult others. Most importantly, how do we actually become the best version of ourselves? These are all great questions I address in this episode.

I first heard the phrase, “Become the Best Version of Yourself” in Matthew Kelly’s book, The Rhythm of Life. It inspired me ten or more years ago, and it still inspires me now. I do not know if Matthew coined the phrase, but I am hearing it a lot more recently with other inspirational writers and speakers, and its concept in 2000 year old Stoic philosophy I am studying.

This episode will help you on the path to becoming your best you.

I hope you will leave a comment below or ask a question by selecting the ‘Ask Kelly’ tab at the top of the webpage or the ‘Send Voicemail’ tab along the side of the webpage. It would be great to hear from you. I may use your question on a future episode.

One thing that clearly separates us from our best self… excuses.

The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly is the most influential book I have ever read, and I read one page from the Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman every day. I have for the past three years.

Best to you! Get after it.

Have a great week!

Kelly

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

FFP 020: Leader, Boss or Manager? You Decide!

In this episode of The Future Focused Podcast, I take a close look at the choice of being a manager, a boss, or a leader. Believe it or not, the choice is your’s! Your title doesn’t define you, it’s your actions. What are the actions of leadership? I will teach you in this episode. Hit ‘play’.

This is a great 15 minute podcast that will challenge your thinking, level-up your leadership, and give you direction in designing a dynamic life, both personally and professionally.

Please record a voicemail question using the button on the right of your screen, or the Ask Kelly tab at the top. I want to hear from you, and I may use your question on the podcast.

I hope you will consider leaving a review of this podcast on iTunes and a comment below. Please sign up for my newsletter and subscribe to this blog. I would love to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram; I’ve added links to my accounts below.

Best to you! Get after it.

Have a great week!

Kelly

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

FFP 019 Adrift and Without a Plan: Here’s what to do!


In this episode of The Future Focused Podcast, I tackle the problem so many people face, being adrift in life without a plan. Everybody needs a plan of action and direction.

Do you know what you want to accomplish? Where will you end up over the next year or years without a plan? Without intention? Find out why our best ideas come while we are in the shower, in the car, or right before bed! Learn how mindfulness can pull you out of being adrift.

This episode will help you brainstorm the plan for your year and help you figure out what is next. This episode will kickstart a what if brainstorming session for you.

Gain a new perspective on why you should be wary of contentment and satisfaction.

The next book I will be reading is by David Goggins titled: Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. I am so excited to start this book. I have been listening to Goggins on several YouTube videos and podcasts and he fascinates me. Several of my friends are also very into his message. If you’d like to read this book along with me, add it to cart, and let’s talk about it on Twitter. I am always trying to gain an edge. This book is edgy and Goggins vernacular is explicit, but his message is powerful and unforgettable.

I hope you will consider leaving a review of this podcast on iTunes and a comment below. Please sign up for my newsletter and subscribe to this blog. I would love to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram; I’ve added links to my accounts below.

Best to you! Get after it.

Kelly

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Sign-up for Kelly’s Newsletter. Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 121 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

FFP 018: Build Consistency and Achieve Success!

In this episode of The Future Focused Podcast, I explain why consistency is either our greatest skill or our most challenging obstacle to achieving the success we seek.

Consistency is in fact the most significant difference-maker in determining our success in any given area. In this podcast I will show you many powerful ways you can become more consistent in completing what needs to be done to make a difference in your life. I will outline the strategies, techniques, pathways and apps that will help you build lifelong habits to your accomplishments.

Crush that feeling of overwhelm and frustration by getting focused, simplifying, and building consistent habits to level-up your leadership, designing a dynamic life, and executing proven pathways to achievement.

What apps can you use to build better habits and be more consistent? I will tell you.

How can improve my accountability for the actions I know I need to take. I will teach you.

What tools can I employ to accomplish more and get focused? It’s in this episode.

What is the most important action I can take to get results? It’s in here.

The bigger your dream in life, the more you need consistency.

I know you will enjoy and benefit from this podcast. Send me an email and let me know what you think.

My best to you,

Kelly

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Looking for a dynamic speaker for your event? • Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. Want to learn more? Send me an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on InstagramÂ