TOUGHEN UP: The Pointy Tip

The third and final section of Claude Hamilton‘s new book, TOUGHEN UP, covers passion and tenacity; the last two strengths considered in the book.  When I think of my good friend Claude, passion and tenacity are two of the first words that come to mind.  It takes a man of passion to decide to walk across Canada, and it takes a man with incredible tenacity to actually complete the journey while overcoming obstacle after obstacle.  In these last two chapters Claude really shows his readers his heart and his passion for what he did and is doing to build an amazing life for his family.  The reason why TOUGHEN UP is so engaging and effective is because Claude exemplifies what he writes.  He is a man of integrity and has not written anything in this book that he has not lived himself and has dedicated his life to improving.  He knows what he is talking about, and we can all learn something from him.

Part three of TOUGHEN UP outlines the last two strengths:

1. Attitude
2. Courage
3. Character
4. Duty
5. Honour
6. Relationships
7. Passion
8. Tenacity

Here are some of my favourite sections of Part Three: The Pointy Tip

• Passion

“Passion amplifies effort.”

“But when you act and speak from passion, it is electrifying and contagious.  People will be drawn to you.  Sure, you’ll turn some people off too, but they’re the ones who probably would have been turned off no matter what you did.  And even the ones who are turned off will eventually come to respect your commitment if you stick with it”

“It’s the passionate ones, ruffians and rascals though we may be, who really make a difference.  As Jim Butcher wrote, ‘Passion has overthrown tyrants and freed prisoners and slaves.  Passion has brought justice where there was savagery.  Passion has created freedom where there was nothing but fear.  Passion has helped souls rise from the ashes of their horrible lives and build something better, stronger, more beautiful’.”

• Tenacity

“Quitters quit everything”

“The closer you are to your goal, the less timid you can afford to be.  And since its often difficult to see how close we are to real achievement, we should just get in the habit of being more and more passionate as we go along.”

“Tenacity means you know that tough times are coming sooner or later, and instead of wondering about the ifs and whens, you get ready to face them by asking about the hows.  How will you preparer yourself to meet challenges, how will you react when they come, and how will you overcome them?”

“Success is more about tenacity than talent, more about perseverance than intelligence.  Those who stick with it until they succeed may appear smarter – but it’s because they’ve learned more than those who were unwilling to do the hard things.”

I hope you have all enjoyed reading TOUGHEN UP as much as I have.  There are so many little things in that book that could make such a big difference in so many lives.  If you haven’t already, take the time to flip over your TOUGHEN UP book and read the back cover.

About the Author

Claude Hamilton grew up in a small town in northern Ontario, Canada.  At the age of seventeen, he enrolled and served eight years in the Canadian Armed Forces.  After a few years of coping with the demands of an uncertain schedule and constant travel, he became frustrated with his inability to control many aspects of his own life and longed for more freedom to take risks and achieve the life he desired.  He knew the life of an entrepreneur was the only life for him.  Therefore, Claude became a dedicated student of leadership principles and built a highly successful leadership business with thousands of followers.  Then, with his devoted friends, he co-founded the company LIFE.  Along the journey, Claude became a passionate promoter of his principles of success and has helped many business partners duplicate his results.  His determination, character, and courage make him a powerful leader who persistently inspires people to reach for their dreams.  Claude is deeply committed to his family and takes great pleasure in being a father.  He also enjoys adventure, mentoring others, and working hard to be the best example he can be to his business partners, friends and loved ones.

What will you choose to be passionate about?  What will you make your life’s mission, and tenaciously run after?   I hope you chose something worthwhile and never give up.

God Bless,

Wayne

 

TOUGHEN UP: Oath of Allegiance

Part two of Claude Hamilton‘s new book TOUGHEN UP covers three more of Claude’s strengths.  These three principles are essential for long-term success and are only mastered through a long-term commitment to pursuing greatness in them, just as Claude has done.  As you are reading through TOUGHEN UP I encourage you to really study its principle’s and apply them to your life, not just read the book to say you did.  There are so many great lessons that can be learned throughout the entire book that can be used to improve your life in so many areas.

Part two of TOUGHEN UP outlines the second three strengths:

1. Attitude
2. Courage
3. Character
4. Duty
5. Honour
6. Relationships

Here are some of my favourite sections of Part Two: Oath of Allegiance

• Duty

“Success means doing the right thing no matter what.”

“I am a firm believer that love, not hope of reward or fear of bad consequences, is the real reason people do their duty.  I learned this in the military, and I believe it holds true in other areas of life as well”.

“This is duty to God, family, and country – because when you are your best self, your truly excellent self, you serve God, family, and country at the highest level!  This is real.  Anything less than excellence means you aren’t quite doing your duty”.

• Honour

“Be the kind of person who always honours those who deserve it.”

“Without honour, nothing else really matters in our lives.  George Bernard Shaw wrote, ‘The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honour’.”

“Honour, on the other hand, is all about enthusiasm!  When we have honour, we do the right things because we really, truly feel passionate about them.  We don’t necessarily have to do them to be a good person, like we do with out duties, but we choose to do them because we care.”

“As Lana and I started experiencing real success, we felt overwhelming gratitude for Orrin and Laurie Woodward and the others who showed us the way.  We felt great respect and a profound sense of honour toward them.  We knew we simply could not have accomplished what we did without their help.”

• Relationships

“Let them see me cry.  It’s okay.  I cry sometimes when I cuddle my son.  I’m soft with him and tough about pursuing my life purpose.”

“Monday morning I put on my search-and-rescue jacket and combat boots, stashed three samples of the vitamins and other products I sold for my business into my pack, and put my pistol in my belt, and I walked to the highway and started hitchhiking.”

“This means spending a lot of time with those you care about most.  Time builds depth, if you approach it with the right attitude.  As I already mentioned, I hated that my military work kept me too busy to spend as much time as I wanted with my family.”

“They say the word sacrifice as if it’s something bad.  But my military background taught me a different way to think about sacrifice.  For me, sacrifice is the production of sacred things.  I sacrificed my twenties for my business, but I got the rest of my life with financial freedom.”

I hope everyone is enjoying reading this book as much as I have and learning more about what it takes to TOUGHEN UP!  Maybe you know someone who needs to TOUGHEN UP a little in some area of their life, or maybe you know someone who would just really enjoy what Claude has to share.  Either way, this book could make an awesome gift for Christmas or any occasion.

Make sure to check back next week for the third and final instalment of my TOUGHEN UP series.

God Bless,

Wayne

 

TOUGHEN UP: Rules of Engagement

Over the years in the community building industry, I have seen my business partner and leadership expert, Claude Hamilton, exemplify the statement; It’s not only what you tell me, but what you show me.  Albert Schweitzer says, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it’s the only thing.”  Claude’s example as a husband, Father, and business leader have been invaluable in my life.

Claude has many loyal business partners and friends because he loves and serves them unconditionally. I remember the first time I met Claude 10 years ago; by his posture alone I could tell he was someone who was going somewhere.  Everywhere he went, people were looking to get time with him and introduce their newest business partners to him. He seemed to be a magnet that attracted everyone that was hungry to learn leadership and business building principles. If you are ever blessed to spend time with Claude, you will quickly realize that his powerful vision and unstoppable work ethic inspire others to act boldly. Many times I have heard him say, “The spines of the weak are stiffened in the presence of the bold.” Claude Hamilton is BOLD!

You can get a glimpse of Claude’s knowledge and wisdom in his new book TOUGHEN UP!  Through personal experience in both his military and business life, Claude outlines eight strengths that are essential for real toughness in leadership.  Claude reveals these principles, and their importance to toughness, through his real life struggles; from military basic training to financial stresses.  Overcoming his struggles and striving for excellence in each of the eight strengths is what makes Claude the great leader he is today.

Part one of TOUGHEN UP outlines the first three strengths:

1. Attitude
2. Courage
3. Character

The following excerpts from the first three chapters are just a glimpse of the wisdom that is etched into the pages of TOUGHEN UP!

• Attitude

“Attitude makes all the difference.  The tougher things are, the more opportunity we have to analyze our attitude and choose the right posture.  Those early rejections defined me because they made me take stock of what I really wanted and decide whether to fight for what our family needed or give in and just let life happen to us”.

• Courage

“…if you do the right thing in small matters, you’re going to be a lot more likely to do the right thing when it’s hard.  We build courage every time we do the right thing, even something seemingly simple as listening to audios and reading important books.  In fact, these things are actually high.  Find a great leader with success in your field, and you’re almost certain to find that he or she listens to audios and reads – a lot”.

• Character

“…when I say someone is ‘a man of character’ or ‘he has character,’ I mean he has integrity, loyalty, and strength.  I mean he will stand for the right things, even when it is hard.  I mean he is honest and dedicated.  I mean I can trust him to do the right thing”.

“I learned as a military diver that a person’s real character is seen when he faces adversity.  Paul Newman once noted, ‘A man with no enemies is a man with no character’.”

Anyone, in any profession, at any stage of their life will benefit from the knowledge they gain from reading TOUGHEN UP!  The principles are universal and the values are timeless.  I encourage everyone to read this book then pass it on to someone else they care about who they want to see succeed in any area of their life.

God Bless,

Wayne

 

Claude and Lana Hamilton – LIFE Founders

Here is an article in a series from Orrin Woodward’s leadership blog about the founders of LIFE.

This spotlight of LIFE Founders is on Claude and Lana Hamilton. We have known Claude and Lana personally for 9 years now, and they have been such an inspiration in our lives. They have shown us not only through mentorship and guidance on how to achieve our goals and dreams, but also through being an example day in and day out for us to follow. They have become some of our best friends throughout our journey. We truly appricate them, and we are not surprised by all of their succesess, because they have such servant hearts.

Enjoy,

God Bless, Wayne

Featured Life Founders are Claude and Lana Hamilton. The Hamilton’s home is one of the largest in their Canadian province, which isn’t shocking to me since they have one of the largest dreams in the province also. Neither Claude nor Lana come from wealth, so how did this young couple achieve so much with so little? Simply put, they joined a leadership community, learned principles that allowed them to rise to their potential, and acted upon it.

Both of them started in the Canadian military. Lana in the Navy and Claude in the Great White North’s equivalent to the Navy Seal program. With little money, no connections, and no plans, the Hamilton’s joined networking where they promptly struggled for years. In fact, the miracle of their first five years in business is that they didn’t quit. With little outward success to show for years of relentless effort, only huge dreamers like the Hamilton’s would have continued to hold out hope. This hope, however, was the key to their future success and was not held onto in vane.

After missing numerous leadership conventions, since they were convened on the other side of Canada and the Hamilton’s had no money, Claude did the unthinkable. With Lana serving at sea, Claude, hungry to learn the proper leadership mindset, hitchhiked across Canada, attending his first-ever conference. This may sound crazy to some, but the Hamilton’s lifestyle today is also crazy. Great achievements come with great sacrifice, period! Indeed, the higher the mountain, the harder the climb. Claude and Lana vowed to climb to the top.

I met Claude when his organization joined forces with TEAM in 2006. He had already accomplished great successes in community building before I met him. In fact, his huge dreams, drive, and determination were evident to me immediately. Later, I would also witness first-hand his character, courage, and convictions. As Claude is a voracious student, we quickly teamed up and his business began to surge ahead even further.

In late 2007, when legal disputes arose with our former supplier, Claude and Lana displayed their true valor. With many choosing to hide out, fearful of drawing attention to themselves and falling into litigation, the Hamilton’s charged to the front, leading their teams to fast growth. Even when the TEAM income and numbers dropped precipitously in 2008, the Hamilton’s never wavered on their core belief in the community’s right to freedom.

In early 2009, the Hamilton’s defining moment arrived. The Hamilton’s were offered peace and an end to all litigation. However, they quickly refused the offer. Why do you ask? Because as part of the settlement offer, Claude and Lana would have to separate permanently from TEAM, choosing peace over their principles. This Faustian bargain was not even considered by the principle-centered couple. They knew that the best opportunity for their team to win involved staying with TEAM, even if it meant increased personal hardships and severed friendships. In other words, they kept themselves in harms way in order to ensure the best opportunity for their community. This type of sacrificial leadership is extremely rare today, making Claude and Lana Hamilton modern-day heroes and admired by all who know their story.

Thankfully, in late 2010, all legal disputes were settled and the TEAM finally was free to pursue its destiny. The Hamilton’s are Founders of LIFE because they are leaders of character who have proven their mettle on the front lines, not hiding out in the foxholes. Anyone can talk about character, but living it when it counts is what matters. Claude and Lana live their principles daily.

On another note, on top of leading one of the fastest growing teams with the TEAM, Claude also volunteered to be the PC leader over the TEAM events department. In this role, he has greatly improved the quality and profitability of the opens, seminars, and major functions. I cannot imagine the TEAM’s turnaround without the endless hours sacrificially invested by Claude for the benefit of us all.

Laurie and I want to personally thank our good friends and LIFE Founders Claude and Lana Hamilton. It’s because you are who you are that makes LIFE what it is and what it’s going to be. Sincerely, Orrin Woodward

 

Attitude is the Difference

Have you ever wondered why some people just always seem upbeat and vibrant about life?

Have you ever said to yourself that this person just does not have my situations?

Have you thought that maybe they were born with the ability to always stay positive?

I did, for many years I thought something must be was wrong with people who always seemed happy and joyful about their situations, they must be pretending. In my younger years, I always looked at things in life as fun and on the bright side, but as I got older and the responsibilities started piling up, I could not find that something that I was passionate about and that could keep that positive outlook on life. I believed it was circumstances that made me have a positive or negative outlook; I was always looking for an outside event or person to make me happy.

I want to share with you that you can have a positive attitude. It is simply a choice. It may not always be easy, but the greatest minds in the world agree that it is not what happens to you that matters, but how you respond to what happens to you.

Today I have used sources from Top Leadership Guru, Orrin Woodward, especially his new book Resolved, as well as other books, online sources, and mentorship from co-founder of LIFE, Claude Hamilton.

Orrin Woodward states in his book Resolved, I Resolve to have a positive attitude in an all situations. Failure in life is not from outside events, but the inside story a person tells himself.

Winners and non-winners receive the same stimulus, but choose to interpret and respond to the events differently.

As an old Native American Cherokee legend states:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside of me.” he said to the boy “it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is angry, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside of you and inside every other person too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and them asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” the old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Just like those two wolves, we have a negative voice and a positive voice in our heads, many times the negative one screams at you while the positive one is a faint whisper. The difference between a positive and a negative person is not determined by his circumstances, but by which voice he chooses to listen to.

William James said, “Man can change his life simply by changing his attitude.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

Norman Vincent Peales states, “Attitudes are more important than facts.”

In the 1970’s, The Andrew Carnegie foundation funded the largest research study ever done to determine what makes a successful individual. They surveyed more than 300,000 people in four different employment sectors. Their findings speak for themselves. It was found that:

1. 7% of your success is determined by the knowledge you have

2. 12% of our success is determined by the skill you possess

3. 81% was determined by your ATTITUDE

John Wooden taught these principles relating to attitude: never whine, never complain, or never make excuses.

Achievement orientated people will not associate for long with a negative voice, either their own or others.

Winners have an attitude that they will until, not accepting excuses from themselves.

The voice that a person chooses to listen to determines the fruit that he produces in life.

I encourage you to choose wisely.

Will you decide to consciously feed your positive voice while deliberately starving your negative one.

Zig Ziglar says: “Your attitude, not your aptitude, determines your altitude.”

God Bless,

Wayne MacNamara

 

Association and Friendship

We naturally have friends that come and go as we grow up based on similar interests, school, single, married etc. As we get older a lot of times it’s our work environment that we have our closest friendships. When I started my LIFE journey it was the first time I thought about who my friends were based on the future I wanted.

One early morning, at a Leadership Conference in Fredericton NB, I asked my mentor Claude Hamilton, how do I tell some of my friends that their association is not a positive one ?

Claude explained to draw three circles like a target, an inner circle, middle circle, outer circle. What he said was the outside circle represented the public you, Wayne the welder, Wayne the ball player. The middle circle represented the personal you, the people who knew me best, friends/family/wife. The inner circle represented the private you, what you and your Lord knows about you. He explained that the further away these three circles are from each other the more stress you will feel in your life. For me personally, I was a different person in different environments which created a lot of stress. He said, the closer you bring these circles together the less stress you will have in your life.

I never had to tell any of my friends that we were growing apart, it just gradually happened, like it had so many times in the past. It’s a natural process of life to change association based on interests. When I started to grow personally and focus on my future, I started to associate with people who had the values and lifestyles I was looking for.

Today I live a blessed life because; I protected my time and who I associated with. You have probably heard if you hang out with bank robbers long enough you’ll probably rob a bank, or at least drive the get away car!!

Thank you Orrin Woodward and Claude Hamilton for creating an environment in LIFE for people to be able to have the courage to unlock their God-given passions.

You become who you associate with, choose wisely.

God bless, Wayne MacNamara

 

Only the Disciplined are Free

Check out this article of Claude and Lana Hamilton’s house that was featured in the Chronicle Herald, in Halifax, NS, http://thechronicleherald.ca/homesnews/26434-dream-big.

Inscribed on Claude and Lana’s gym door are the words “Only the Discipline are Free”. This is just some of the rewards for living a LIFE of discipline.

We are very proud to be in business with Claude and Lana. This couple has gone above and beyond what you would expect as business partners, and life coaches. As you read through this article remember that they started their business journey in a 400-600 sq ft military apartment.

God Bless, Wayne MacNamara

Claude and Lana Hamilton's House

Dreams do come true for those who protect and nourish their dreams!!