Alexander the Great! Happy 15th!

Happy Birthday Son,

15 years ago, your birth represented one of 3 greatest moments in my life. The other 2 were Kevin and Mia. When you were born, I knew that GOD did something special. He blessed us with something great. That is why we named you Alexander which means “Defender of Men!” You have always had a determined spirit and a determined will. At this time in your life you must know that those qualities are what GOD has blessed you with. These are gifts you must take advantage of in a positive direction everyday.

You are seeing the blessings and rewards now! So much has happened because of your hard work, determination and will! Look at all that has occurred over the past six months. These are things that you will never forget, going to Duke Camp, getting invited to Varsity Camp, getting an invitation to travel to Peru. These are only some of the things that I can remember. You have earned everything that we have given you over the past six months, and this is what happens when you work hard and honor GOD. He showers blessing upon blessings in your life.

But now you’re 15, and moving from a boy to a young man, you will think that you have all the answers, you will think that you have it under control. This is the time when you MUST listen and learn even more intently. You must make a choice to follow the advice of me, your Mom, and your older brother and sister, but most importantly, YOU MUST FOLLOW GOD’s direction!

The work gets harder, but you have already seen the pay-off and the rewards! Now must be a time to step up to greater challenges and to work even harder. This is the year of recognition, and what I mean by that is everybody watches in your 10^th grade year. Grades have to be top notch; Athletics have to be top notch.

It will be a challenge to make good decisions to stand away from the crowd and do the things that you believe in, because IT LOOKS easier to follow the crowd AND REMEMBER quite often LOOKS can be deceiving,  but on this day and at this time you must make the decision to march to the beat of your own drum, make a decision that its cooler to be accomplished in all that you do, make a decision to lead and not follow, make a decision to follow Colossians 3:23 which is to be excellent in all that you do,  make a decision to be the great young man you are called to be. Make a Decision to be a “Defender of Men!” because you are indeed, Alexander the Great to Me!

Be Your Best... Everyday

Love Dad!

The Seeds!

The Seed of an Equivalent Benefit…

A few months ago I was taught a hard lesson and ran into some adversity and disappointment that did not want to see coming. What I learned that quite often disappointments and challenges are often self-inflicted.  One of my very dear friends and spiritual mentor’s prophesized over my life told me that GOD spoke to them and is trying to get my attention. The word Entrusted was used, and what was explained to me was that GOD had entrusted me with spiritual gifts and that I had not been not honoring them with the some of the things that I was doing and some of the people I allowed in my life.  I could explain what happened but that is not the point of the blog, but just take for granted that it could have been a knock-out blow, but what was meant for evil, GOD used for good!

In any event in all adversity no matter how disappointing there is always a seed of an equivalent benefit. One of my absolute favorite books is Think and Grow Rich, and one of the Chapters speaks to the Seed of an Equivalent benefit. What we must understand is that there is always a “seed” and we know that most seeds are small, you must look for them. As I was flying to Phoenix a few weeks ago, I challenged myself to look for the seed in the adversity I faced. The cool thing is I found several.  Over the last 2+ months,

The Seeds…

1.      I drew closer to GOD by spending as much time as possible in prayer and meditation every day.

2.      I have studied the word of GOD almost every day, and I have seen dramatic changes in a positive direction, because I am gaining a better understanding of GOD’s word and receive revelation daily.

3.      I was baptized with the holy spirit.

4.      January 11^th 2013 I will be water baptized.

5.      In the midst of the adversity I completed a marathon and a ½ marathon. This means GOD continued to allow me to remain focused on my goals.

6.      Spent 9 weekends out of 12 with my Children. We are closer than ever before!

7.      Paid off a credit card in my quest to become debt free.

8.      I am even more determined to be a good Christian man by taking the road less traveled.

9.      Inspired 6+ people to complete a marathon in 2013.

10.  Established 6+ new and interesting friendships.

11.  Each day I wake up excited for my present and future.

12.  My Daughter who has had slight learning challenges and health challenges all of her life, registered for Community College, and her Doctor has given her a clean bill of Health.

The quote states from Think and Grow Rick by Napoleon Hill “Every adversity, every failure, and every heart-ache, carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or greater Benefit.” It is a cool thing when you take time to think about the good things that were produced from adversity. I found 12 seeds, when most people find 1 or 2. Now that does not mean that I want adversity or challenges in my life, especially those that are self-inflicted, but with each time there is a challenge I will continue to look for that seed.  I am confident and have faith that GOD is doing a great thing in me and through me, and I am excited to be on this path. Now with discipline and determination I will be guided by the Holy Spirit and make every attempt to follow that direction!

Be Your Best!

Kevin D. Watson

Kevin D. Watson

“Determined Leadership” A Tribute to Nicholas W. Brown… The End of the Story!!

 Nick understood that it would not be good enough to for me just be accepted back on line he was determined that I do it the right way so that no one would ever question his decision or that I would lose any respect, he would not allow me to be just one of the 8 pledges.  Nick decided to make me the President of our line without a vote, therefore adding the pressure of leading 7 other young men on a 49 day journey into Kappa Alpha Psi. Nick would often tell me that to be a great leader you must have the respect of the people that you’re leading.  He would say Kevin “You Gotta Go Through it….” But more importantly you have to want to “Go Through it.”

 

 

Nick also taught me that you must be willing to serve the people you lead and want their success more than your own, and that you must take on more than you want at times.  Nick taught me the principles around humility, and that it is important NOT to be self-seeking.  Matthew 23:11-12 states, “The Greatest among you must be a servant, and those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those that humble themselves will be exalted.”

 

 

Every one of those 49 days Nick was leaving an indelible impression on my leadership ability and my life  that I use to this day, it was all about teaching that all things are possible if you want it bad enough.  We all are familiar with: “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me,” Nick also taught me that you must have a determined focus that will inspire all who you come in contact with. He taught that if you’re willing to give all it takes that when you achieve your goal you will realize that it really was not that hard.  The key is to be WILLING!

 

When I want to give up on any of my goals, I think about what Nick Brown would tell me often “You Gotta Go Through it… To Get to It…”

 

My life goals are simple:   To inspire, to do my best to live a righteous life, seek excellence in all I do, and subscribe to Constant and never ending Improvement! I was taught well by a great man; mentor, brother, friend and leader… Nicholas W. Brown.

 

Be Your Best Today!

Kevin D. Watson

“Determined Leadership” (You gotta go through it, To Get to it.) A Tribute to Nicholas W. Brown… Part 1

I have taken quite a few personality tests, spiritual gifts assessments over the last few years and my results have always come back to be:

 

1.) Leadership

2.) Encouragement and

3.) Discernment.

 

Today I will focus on the leadership quality, and in future post I will discuss the latter two. I believe that GOD gives us all gifts and when you operate in those gifts you will be successful. I also believe that there are people in your life that help you to develop those gift and qualities. As I look back over my life there is one person in specific that I must give much of the credit for my determined leadership qualities and that is Nick Brown. I find that quite often in my life find when I was determined to do a thing nothing could keep me from it. I recall in College when I decided to pledge Kappa Alpha Psi (The Most Outstanding and Greatest Fraternity in the world!) The first time I did not understand what it meant to be on line and pledge, and I did not make it, I had to drop or call it quits, and all who know me, they know that quitting goes against the person that I am, but my mentor and GREAT friend Nick Brown taught me that anything worth doing is worth doing with excellence  and the right way just as it states in Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

 

I was not allowed back on line that semester and Nick told me to learn what it meant to pledge and to be a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. He actually would not allow me back on line and it happened to be less than 8 hours from the time when I “quit” until the time I requested back on line, Nick understood at that time that I did not understand exactly what it would take to pledge and he did what a great leader sometimes has to do, he said “NO”, he gave me some coaching and some sound advice, patted me on the back and said take some time to develop a fire and perseverance inside of you that can’t be so easily extinguished with the challenges that come with pledging a fraternity.

Look at the life lesson… Kevin you did not get the promotion this time, stay fired up…keep working harder… you did not achieve this or that goal… keep pushing yourself…do not let the fire die…Now as the story continues, at that time, our proud Chapter (Beta Epsilon) would never consider someone that dropped to gain entry back on line, but it was the lesson that my Nick Brown gave to me to go and learn what it meant to pledge,and the meaning behind fraternity. It was also a life lesson, that anything that is worthwhile takes dedication, perseverance, focus and sacrifice! I spent a year waiting, observing and learning and I was determined to get back on line and to make it through. (The Story Continues …)

Be your Best!

Kevin D. Watson

The Winning Starts in your mind first!

1/27/2010
The Winning starts in your mind first!

I love everything that there is about competing, and it really does not matter what the event or sport. I love the process, preparation and everything that goes into getting quality results. In a prior post I defined greatness as the ability to produce quality results consistently. With that being what I believe, I also believe that winning starts in my mind first because I actually love doing the work that it takes to win. However if I win or If I come up short (I hope you all notice what word I did not use) I can always point back to my preparation. I do not believe that there are short cuts to success. One of my passions is playing golf, and over the past 2 years my game has actually gotten better, only because I took the time to THINK about what it would take to get better, while my friends might be out on the town, I am practicing and in constant thought about getting better at this wonderful game, and this past summer I posted my best scores.

Am I satisfied now? I would say that I am even more motivated to get better because my goals for golf are much higher than the best scores I posted. My point here is that I started thinking about the success that I wanted to achieve first. If my thoughts were about the fact that the game of Golf is difficult and I will never get better, then I would have never achieved my objectives. Sure there were some bad days and really bad scores but I believed that better scores were inside of me, and I that I could get better.

The winning starts in your mind first, it is another way of saying that whatever the mind can conceive and believe it will achieve. If your desire is to be your best, if starts in your mind first!

Be your best!

Kevin Watson

Intelligent Determination!

1/18/2011

Intelligent Determination!

Determination is defined as the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose and Intelligence is defined as capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths. Think about a point in time when you were so determined to meet a goal that it did not matter what barriers existed, you were going to meet your goal. I call it intelligent determination because at times we have to also be smart enough to review the progress that we are making, and make intelligent adjustments to our plan of action to ensure successful results.

We should not be so set in our plan of action that it does not allow for flexibility. There are times that the road to success can take us down some side streets every now and again, and we must be intelligent enough to navigate back to the correct path by making adjustments. There are many great stories of intelligent determination in action, as we celebrated the Martin Luther King holiday yesterday, we understood that Mr. King had a dream of equal rights and motivated a nation based on the content of his character and his determination to succeed in a non-violent manner. Read a biography about Thomas Edison, who is known as one of the greatest inventors of our time, Mr. Edison started from humble beginnings to become a major stockholder in the The General Electric Company. Although both of these men had different callings, and followed different paths, it was through their determination that they succeeded.

A few some biblical references come to mind which support how intelligent determination allows us to BE OUR BEST because It is the ability to set ourselves toward Godly pursuits, and not allow ourselves to be distracted or discouraged. In Galations Chapter 6:9 it says And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up, and in 2nd Peter 1:10 it states: Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
Intelligent Determination will help us all to reach new heights to be the best that we can be and to enjoy the life that GOD has intended for us! After all he came that we should have life and life more abundantly.

Be your Best!
Kevin Watson

Greatness Defined!

1/7/2011

“Greatness Defined”

I define Greatness as the “ability to produce quality results consistently.” If you would take a few moments to think about all the people who you think that are great at what they do, you will probably find that they produce better and consistently good results more often. Think about the great athletes, entertainers, business leaders, pastors, teachers, sales people etc. Their greatness is in their ability to be very good over a long period of time, and over that period of time they have moments of greatness. There are plenty of one hit wonders that we have heard of in our lifetime, but it is the people who have a burning desire to succeed everyday that we tend to call great, these are the people who are constantly striving to make improvements in their character, and that tend to be intensely goal oriented.

What is it separates the good from the very good and the very good from the great? It lies in their attitude that they want to be great again and again and again. Why does Kobe Bryant have the title as the best winner in the game right now? It is probably because he is driven by something greater! Why is Tiger Woods the youngest ever to win 14 major titles and over 70 Golf Tournaments or why Michael Phelps dominated 2008 Summer Olympics? It has to be because of that burning desire to be great again, and again. We all have the ability to be great, if we make it a habit to be very good and to Be Our Best on a consistent basis. Each day we can resolve to be better than yesterday, each week, month and year we can be better than the next week, month or year. Your goals are not my goals and vice versa, but we all must develop a burning desire for something that will drive us to Be Our Best! Otherwise, we will be like a ship lost at sea.

GOD’s give each of us a special talent that belongs to us individually, and it is our job to develop our skills to get everything we can from our gifts. Matthew 5-16 says “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Are you determined to produce quality results on a consistent basis, if so, make a decision to be great today!

Be Your Best!

Kevin Watson