Jeff Standridge Innovation Partners

I would relive tonight over and over again.

An inspiring morning.

British historian, clergyman, and professor Charles Kingsley once said, “There are two freedoms – the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.”

This quote captures the distinction between the liberty to act on any impulse and the moral freedom that involves acting responsibly and ethically.

Today, we celebrate the bold vision of our founders who dared to dream of a nation built on freedom and self-governance. As we honor their legacy, let’s remember that true patriotism means holding our nation accountable to its highest ideals.

We must challenge ourselves, and each other, to strive for a more perfect union—with liberty and justice for all. Our differences, when dealt with properly, are our strength, and our shared commitment to democracy is what makes America exceptional.

This 4th of July, let’s pledge to not just celebrate our freedoms, but to actively protect and expand them. We must ensure that the American dream remains alive for future generations.

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸

A Christmas Story from Pike County.

https://youtu.be/busvTnNCqxI?si=ruvFu70SwQX9Fm1w

I had an awesome time sitting down with author, coach, and speaker Cory Carlson for an episode of his “Win at Home First” podcast. We talked a lot about family, calling, and personal vision.

https://shorturl.at/clvU5

To help you in planning your grocery and Christmas shopping time more effectively, please plan to show up 45 minutes early to your Walmart shopping trips for the next few weeks. This will be in addition to your planned shopping time, as well as the 20 or so minutes you spend at the self check-out.

Thank you.

Truck for Sale. Will make someone a great project. No lowballs, I know what I got.

God gave us brains, instincts, the ability to think, to plan, and to take action. Sometime, we have to go with our gut and just DO SOMETHING.

Sunrise over the Caribbean - Good for the mind … great for the soul.

What is “Mental Toughness” or “Mental Resilience?” A simple Google search turns up dozens of different images. But what is it, really?

Oxford defines it as, “A quality of mind or intellect characterized by, among other things, a refusal to be intimidated, a determination to finish a contest even when things are going badly, and an ability to control emotions and remain highly focused when under the pressure of intense competition.”

Here are a couple of important observations …

Most elite athletes report that at least 50% of superior athletic performance is the result of mental or psychological strength, and a whopping 83% of coaches rate mental toughness as the most important set of psychological characteristics for determining competitive success (Scientific American).

Angela Duckworth (Grit, 2016) studies achievement, specifically, how your mental toughness, perseverance, and passion impact your ability to achieve goals.

At West Point, she tracked a total of 2,441 cadets spread across two entering classes. She recorded their high school rank, SAT scores, Leadership Potential Score (which reflects participation in extracurricular activities), Physical Aptitude Exam (a standardized physical exercise evaluation), and Grit Scale (which measures perseverance and passion for long–term goals).

Here’s what she found out…

It wasn’t physical strength or smarts or leadership potential that accurately predicted whether or not a cadet would finish the summer initiation called “Beast Barracks.” Instead, it was grit — the perseverance and passion to achieve long–term goals — that made the difference.

Are you mentally tough? Can you withstand intense pressure, unforeseen circumstances, temporary setbacks, worry, stress, self-doubt, and fatigue, and still complete the Mission?

Here are 10 practices you can employ to build Mental Resilience, Toughness, Strength, and “Grit.”

1.) Be deliberate about who you are (your Purpose, your Passion, your Core Values).

2.) Be deliberate about where you’re going (your Vision and your Goals … short-term and long-term).

3.) Carefully and deliberately choose your Tribe - the 5-7 people with whom you spend the most time.

4.) Win the battle between your ears. It’s the most important battle you will EVER wage.

5.) Adopt and maintain a Growth mindset. Failure’s only failure if you Quit … otherwise, it’s just Feedback.

6.) Be a Victor, not a Victim - refuse to be helplessly victimized by anyone or anything.

7.) Learn to self-regulate and control your emotions.

8.) Leverage the use of Positive Mental Rehearsal and Positive Mental Imagery.

9.) Get and Stay Fit - Physically, Financially, Emotionally, and Relationally.

10.) Get outside yourself - Work to make the world a better place.

Keep in mind, Mental Toughness is not about your motivation … it’s about your habits.

Take action, build strong, healthy habits, and the motivation will follow.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” (George Bernard Shaw)

Be unreasonable!

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." - Ronald Reagan
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“You’re never too small to dream big.” Read more: https://jeffstandridge.com/batter-up/

Batter Up! - Jeff Standridge It was a rare March afternoon that Karen was done with her chores and homework before twilight. She grabbed her soft -ball, bat, and glove before heading to the field behind her house. The season wouldn’t start for a few more weeks, but Karen was itching to get the feel of the game back. Choking u...

"Empowering those around you to be heard and valued makes the difference between a leader who simply instructs and one who inspires."
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"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success"
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"Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better." https://jeffstandridge.com/

"Empowering those around you to be heard and valued makes the difference between a leader who simply instructs and one who inspires." - Adena Friedman
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"Every effective winning strategy is mapped out by focusing on the desired end goal."
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Gold bonds with chlorine or cyanide to form toxic compounds. It’s ironic that one could literally be poisoned by sitting on a mountain of gold. Read more: https://jeffstandridge.com/toxic-gold/

Toxic Gold - Jeff Standridge “All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost. The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." https://jeffstandridge.com/

The act of simplifying the problem and presenting it to you in that form will often guide the team member into formulating their own solution. Read more: https://jeffstandridge.com/simple-is-powerful-and-effective/

Simple Is Powerful and Effective - Jeff Standridge “No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element of thinking.” ~ J.P. Morgan

"It is the ability to bring out the best in others that makes you a leader." https://jeffstandridge.com/

People are the critical levers to successful change … and people are different! Read more: https://jeffstandridge.com/the-speed-of-change/

The Speed of Change Blog - Jeff Standridge Innovation Partners No matter the veracity of Business Insider’s reporting, it illustrates that leaders must gauge their teams’ tolerance for change during the planning process. Adaptation is a learned skill that leaders must cultivate if the winds of change are aloft.

When we realize that giving of our time, our talent and our treasure does not rob us of anything but actually generates both tangible and intangible increase in our lives, we start to live in a totally different way. When we make the leap from saying, “What must I give? Read more: https://jeffstandridge.com/five-simple-things/

Five Simple Things Blog - Jeff Standridge Innovation Partners Over 40 million people suffer from anxiety, 14.8 million have some form of depression and almost 8 million people suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." https://jeffstandridge.com/