"I have learned that the only way to avoid criticism is to
do nothing, but the consequence of doing nothing is much worse than any
criticism."
Cameron C Taylor
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
How Do We Achieve Success?
I was asked to do an interview which was just released. The link is below. I was asked many questions I am not typically asked in a interview. These questions made it one of the most meaningful interviews I have done. I was asked about life balance, family, and what is really important. One of the questions was what do you want your children to learn from their dad? The answer to that question is at 31:10 of the interview.
http://patternsofsuccess.com/4
http://patternsofsuccess.com/4
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13
Friday, April 11, 2014
Farmer Washington
The following is an
excerpt from my new book 8 Attributes of Great Achievers, Volume 2
“I was but the humble agent of favoring Heaven. . . . My first wish is
. . . to see the whole world in peace, and the inhabitants of it as one band of
brothers, striving who should contribute most to the happiness of mankind.”
-George Washington
“Time after time [Washington]
gave up the comfortable security of his personal life in order to serve his
country. On three separate occasions he retired from public life, fully
expecting to live out his days in the quiet of his plantation. And on three
separate occasions he answered the call to return the service of his country
sacrificing his own desires for the peace and safety of America.”1
After his eight years of service as the first president of
the United States, he returned to his life as a farmer. His granddaughter Nelly
Custis wrote of his return to the farm, “Grandpa is very well and much pleased
with being once more Farmer Washington.”2 When a person came to the farm
looking for General Washington, his grandson Parke Custis gave these
directions, “You will meet, sir, with an old gentleman, riding alone, in plain
drab clothes, a broad-brimmed white hat, a hickory switch in his hand, and
carrying an umbrella with a long staff, which is attached to his saddlebow:
that person, sir, is General Washington.”3
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, wrote of Washington,
“No man ever lived, more deservedly beloved and respected. . . . [He]
maintained a modest diffidence of his own talents. . . . Possesst of power,
possesst of an extensive influence, he never used it but for the benefit of his
Country.”4
Long live the memory of George Washington, the great
servant leader!
Learn more at www.CameronCTaylor.com
References
1. Jay A. Parry and Andrew M. Allison, The Real George Washington (National Center for Constitutional
Studies, 1991), 605.
2. Stanislaus Vincent Henkels, An Extraordinary Collection of Washington's Letters, Washington Relics,
Revolutionary Documents and the Rarest Works on American History (Times Printing
House, 1891), 5.
3. Horatio Hastings Weld, Pictorial Life of George Washington (Philadelphia: Lindsay and
Blakiston, 1846), 182.
4. Michael and Jana Novak, Washington’s God (New York: Basic Books, 2006), 4-5.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Doing Your Personal Best
The following is an excerpt from my new book 8
Attributes of Great Achievers, Volume 2.
Humble leaders focus on doing
their personal best and are not worried about how they are doing in relation to
others. The legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden provides a powerful example of
this principle. He wrote, “I never talked about winning or beating an opponent.
In fact, I rarely mentioned the opponent’s name. One player joked that just
before games our manager would go to the lobby and buy a program in order to
know who the team was playing that day. ‘Let them worry about us,’ was my
philosophy. My job, and the team’s job, was to get us as close to being as good
as we could get.”
“In 1962, UCLA reached the Final
Four for the first time ever. We did it with a group of young men Sports Illustrated described as having
‘no height, no center, no muscle, no poise, no experience, no substitutes, and
no chance.’” UCLA lost seven of their first eleven games that year, but
everyone “kept working hard and improving. . . . Their effort produced dramatic
results as the season progressed, and UCLA won 14 of the final 18 games, became
Pac-8 champions, and went to the NCAA tournament. In the regionals at Provo,
Utah, the Bruins outscored Utah State and then Oregon State to advance to the
Final Four. . . . This was quite a surprise to most basketball fans around the
country. Our 72-70 loss in the last seconds of the Final Four semifinals to the
defending and eventual champion, Cincinnati, provided great evidence of how one
can ‘lose’ and still win. . . . Cincinnati’s best was slightly better than ours.
. . . The final score can never make you a loser when you’ve done your best. .
. . What is success? For many it’s trophies or blue ribbons. . . . But I don’t
measure it like that. The highest success is in your effort—giving it your
personal best.”
One of John Wooden’s most
influential teachers was his dad. His dad taught him early and often, “Johnny,
don’t try to be better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the
best you can be.”
References
(John Wooden with Steve Jamison, My Personal Best (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004), 4, 114-115, 119,
120-123, 195)
Learn more at www.CameronCTaylor.com
Friday, November 29, 2013
George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
George Washington
Friday, October 25, 2013
DO THE IMPOSSIBLE!
“Our success on the track was only a very small part of our lives, but
we hoped it had taught us a disciple that was transferable to other spheres.” – Roger Bannister
In 1952, Roger Bannister set the
goal to be the first man to run a mile under four minutes and intensified his
training. The record for the mile run remained at 4:01.4 seconds for nine years.
“For years, the four-minute mile was considered
not merely unreachable but, according to physiologists of the time, dangerous
to the health of any athlete who attempted to reach it.” (Bruce Lowitt,
“Bannister Stuns World with 4-Minute Mile” St.
Petersburg Times, December 17, 1999) On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the
mile in 3:59.4, setting a new world record and breaking the proclaimed
“impossible” barrier. In an interview, Bannister said, “There was a mystique, a
belief that it couldn’t be done, but I think it was more of a psychological
barrier than a physical barrier.” (David M. Ewalt and Lacey Rose, “The Greatest
Individual Athletic Achievements,” Forbes,
January 29, 2008)
Once Roger Bannister removed this
psychological barrier, the door was opened for others to achieve this feat. On
June 21, 1954, just forty six days after Bannister had set this record, John
Landy broke Bannister’s record in Turku ,
Finland
Many people have been conditioned
with thoughts of what can’t be done. Studies have shown that within the first
eighteen years of our lives, the average person is told “no” more than 148,000
times. (Shad Helmstetter, What to Say
When You Talk to Your Self (New York: Pocket Books, 1986), 20) We are
constantly being told by parents, friends, teachers, television, and co-workers
what we cannot do.
To achieve the impossible, we
must strive to find solutions instead of excuses. Instead of saying, “I can’t
do it,” we should ask, “How can I do it?” Instead of saying “I can’t afford it,”
or “It’s impossible,” begin asking the questions, “How can I afford it?” and
“How is it possible?” This small change in our approach to life will produce
great outcomes. Elbert Hubbard wrote, “The world is moving so fast these days
that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone
doing it.”
Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor
of television, the baby incubator, the electron microscope, radar technology,
gastroscope technology, astronomical telescope technology, and the fusion reaction
tubes, had a simple motto for his laboratory, “The difficult we do right away;
the impossible takes slightly longer.”
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13,
NKJV
“All things are possible to him who believes.”
Mark 9:23, NKJV
Share the Gift of
Books this Christmas
The price for a case of books is heavily discounted to only $4 per book with free shipping.
You can order cases at the prices below at www.DoesYourBagHaveHoles.org
8 Attributes of Great
Achievers - Case of 20 books for $80
Twelve Paradoxes of
the Gospel - Case of 20 books for $80
Does Your Bag Have
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Preserve Protect &
Defend – Case of 46 books for $189
“A book is a gift you can open again and
again.”
-Garrison Keillor
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
George Washington and the Outhouse
Ethan Allen was a patriot and Revolutionary hero who often
concluded his letters and writings with the phrase “most obedient and humble
servant.” In the spring of 1775, Allen organized and executed a plan that
resulted in the capture of Fort
Ticonderoga Montreal , Allen was
captured by the British. As a prisoner of war, Allen was detained in several
prison ships with extremely harsh living conditions. After two years and eight
months of being inflicted with cruel and malicious punishments, he was released
as the result of a prisoner exchange. After his release, Allen was granted “the
rank of colonel by brevet in the army of the United States of America , in reward
of his fortitude, firmness and zeal in the cause of his country, manifested
during the course of his long and cruel captivity, as well as on former
occasions.” (Journals of the American
Congress from 1774-1788, Volume III (Washington, DC: Way and Gideon, 1823),
66.)
Following the end of the Revolutionary War and the signing
of the Treaty of Paris, “Allen ‘had occasion to visit England ,’ where
he was subjected to considerable teasing banter. The British would make ‘fun of
the Americans and General Washington in particular and one day they got a
picture of General Washington’ and displayed it prominently in the outhouse so
Mr. Allen could not miss it. When he made no mention of it, they finally asked
him if he had seen the Washington
picture. Mr. Allen said, ‘He thought that it was a very appropriate [place] for
an Englishman to keep it [since] there is nothing that will make an Englishman
[crap] so quick as the sight of General Washington.’” (Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals (New York , NY
New Book Preserve, Protect & Defend
My new book Preserve,
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Taylor skillfully weaves entertainment with education.”
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“Preserve Protect
& Defend is full of truth. You don’t often find a book that educates and
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If you have not yet ordered Preserve Protect & Defend you can get it at the links below:
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