Morning Mindset with Paul G. Markel

Absolutes; when you say Always or Never, you set yourself up to be wrong. Beware of the tendency to embrace absolutes. “Zero Tolerance” for instance is absolutely wrong and it allows for both tyrannical behavior and intellectually lazy behavior. Absolutes are like Natural, Inalienable Rights, they are few and far between.

Desire and deserve are not interchangeable terms, despite the fact that modern American use them as such. What you desire may not be deserve and what you deserve may not be what you desire. If you believe you deserve something what have you done to earn it? The trouble with the millennial crowd is that they all believe they deserve everything that they desire just because they want it.

How do you rebuild burned bridges or repair fractured relationships? Can you be the one who helps others to rebuild their strained or broken relationships? Remember, anger is not a sin, but it is also not a strategy. There is time to consider whether or not a relationship is salvageable... Ask yourself if the relationship was mutually beneficial to both parties or just to one? Was the respect reciprocal or largely one sided. Were you doing all of the work in the relationship?...

One of my favorite classes to teach to my military students was Land Navigation. The learned to use a map, compass, and protractor. In order to get to the designated point on the map, students needed to first know where they were and move on from there... Personal goal setting is very similar to land navigation. Step one is to know where you are on the map. This goes back to our previous discussion of honest self-assessment...

A life raft is exists to simply keep you alive until someone comes along with a real boat. We don’t travel on a life raft, we just bob up and down on the waves and go wherever the current takes us. No motor, no rudder, just floating along surviving... Are you living in a life raft? As you just floating along waiting for someone to come along and rescue you or show you the way? How are you going to start the engine and set a course? Some folks are bobbing in waves in an life jacket...

When I was young my mother planted a garden every spring. We also had fruit trees and grapevines as well. Part of the upkeep process was the ritual of pick out the weeds from the garden and pruning the grapevines and fruit trees. What is sapping your strength? What weeds are keep you from growing to your full potential. Take stock of your garden or tree. What distractions and energy suckers need to go in order for you to blossom?

Today’s episode of Morning Mindset is about the most important investment you can make in your life; yourself. Are you worth investing in, in terms of time and money? That is a question that only you can answer, and you have to look in the mirror and be honest about it. Most people will spends tens and hundreds of dollars a month on entertainment, but have nothing left over for training or education. Listen up to hear what Professor Paul has to say on this matter.

On this episode of Morning Mindset, Professor Paul talks about the importance of engaging in Voluntary Hardship or Voluntary Discomfort. Another person who understood the importance of Voluntary Hardship was General George Patton, who actually has an interesting quote on the matter. You may hear the term “Voluntary Hardship” and think, what is that about? That sounds like no fun, and you’d be right. But it’s necessary.

Professor Paul breaks down the difference between Excuses and Reasons, which are not the same thing, they are not interchangeable terms. Excuses are made by children, and are soft, based off of feelings. Reasons are solid, real and genuine. A great example of this is the “Green Belt Syndrome”, which Professor Paul covers in detail in this episode.

Education can be physical or intellectual, Information can be intellectual and illustrative, Experiences can be both Good and Bad, and we learn from both. This podcast is a Think On! Production.

Anger is a motivator, not an overall strategy for dealing with problems. Allow angry to inspire you to action:  Examples: Felonious Assault - Righteous Anger Motivator / Application of Tools and Techniques is the Strategy. Being Told that I Cannot or am Incapable of Doing Something - Anger at Insult, Strategy: Prove said person wrong by doing the best job I can. This podcast is a Think On! Production.

The No Score Soccer / Everyone Gets a Trophy has ruined people in the search for Mentors and Coaches. The value of legitimate coaches and mentors. Coaches tell don’t tell you what you want to hear, they tell you what you need to hear. Mentors are examples for use to emulate and set the standards for us to follow. This podcast is a Think On! Production.

One of the keys to success and achievement in any endeavor is self-assessment. Self-assessment is also one of the most difficult undertakings for humans, particularly in this day and age. Modern man is so ruled by emotion that honest, intellectual self-assessment can be difficult to do. This podcast is a Think On! Production.

Welcome to the Morning Mindset Podcast, a brand new digital audio product. Our host, Paul G. Markel will lead us through a brief description of Mindset and how it affects the choices we make and the actions we take. Mr. Markel offers some background as to the development of the Morning Mindset show as well as his personal background. What do we have in store for you for future episodes? Listen louder, we have a hold list of topics ready to go. This podcast is a Think On! Production.