Your Political Guru

Boldness is a tactic, not a Strategy

Yes there is a difference – and a potentially huge one.

You create strategy based on a number of factors – you your advisory, the environment, the stakes.  Being bold at the right moment can be vital – but it is a tool, a tactic, not a strategy.

There is no substitute for planning and preparation.

Too many activists want to “do something now” but refuse to think through the situation, or plan their steps, anticipate possible reactions.  They attack the motives of those who want to make sure there are adequate resources to fund the programs, or make the programs happen.

The result of these bold but misguided frontal assaults is burned out and discouraged activists and half baked ideas that hurts efforts from other groups.

This is not to say that boldness and political courage are bad things.

As part of the planning and preparation process you need to make sure that you have a bold person to pull the trigger at the critical moment.  It is also discouraging to movements when bill sponsors wimp out and when grassroots leaders don’t hold elected officials accountable at election time.

Don’t mistake boldness for brilliance.  Sometimes the courageous are just crazy.  Be sure those who urge caution are not cowards.  Real leaders plan, prepare and implement boldly.

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Speaking of boldness – congratulations to Rand Paul for winning the GOP nomination in Kentucky.  The GOP Establishment twisted, distorted and maligned Dr. Paul every step of the way, but he stuck to his guns and prevailed.

A great victory like this does not just happen.  Rand has attracted a large number of supporters, many of whom came into the political arena from Ron Paul Presidential campaign.  New activists have risen up and made a huge difference.

But don’t think that this race was won just because of “organic” or “spontaneous” grassroots activism.  That would just ignore reality.  Some very good people took time off their political jobs to help in the campaign.  Sen. Jim DeMint helped attract some additional support from other conservative groups.

The race is not over.  The “corporate/establishment/business as usual” crowd is terrified at the prospect of someone like Rand in Senate.  Independent thinkers scare the heck out of them.  People like Sen. Coburn and other lawmakers who are not motivated by desperately holding on to an office threaten to derail the plans of special interests.  No doubt the attacks will continue through November.

Sometimes (and too often) marketers work to manipulate people. I define manipulation as working to spread an idea or generate an action that is not in a person’s long-term best interest.

The easiest people to manipulate are those that don’t demand a lot of information are open to messages from authority figures and are willing to make decisions on a hunch, particularly if there’s a promise of short-term gains.

If you want to focus on the short run and sell something, get a vote or gather a mob, the easiest place to start is with populations that leave themselves open to manipulation.

There are habits and activities that leave people open to manipulation. I’m not saying they are wrong or right, just pointing out that these behaviors make you open to being manipulated… Here are a few general categories of behaviors that manipulators seek out:

Interesting to note that AM radio used to be filled with ads for second mortgages. And now? Gold.

Manipulating people using modern techniques is astonishingly easy (if the marketer have few morals). You only make it easier when you permit people and organizations that want to take advantage of you to do so by allowing them to use your good nature and your natural instincts against you. It happens every day in Washington DC, online, on TV and in your local community institutions.

Action vs. Self-Delusion by Jim Rohn

[The late Jim Rohn was known as the salesman's philosopher.  He was raised as the son of an Idaho farmer, but struck off for the big city.  While he worked hard, he didn't turn his life around until his late 20's thanks in large part to the philosophy taught him by his boss and mentor, Mr, Earl Shoaff. To find out more about Jim Rohn CLICK HERE]

Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. Action is the ingredient that ensures results. Only action can cause reaction. Further, only positive action can cause positive reaction.

Action. The whole world loves to watch those who make things happen, and it rewards them for causing waves of productive enterprise.

I stress this because today I see many people who are really sold on affirmations. And yet there is a famous saying that “Faith without action serves no useful purpose.” How true!

I have nothing against affirmations as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create wonderful results.

But there is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see – affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. And for your well-being there is little worse than self-delusion.

The man who dreams of wealth and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster and the woman who wishes for happiness and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair are both victims of the false hope which affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this: TO MAKE PROGRESS YOU MUST ACTUALLY GET STARTED!

The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project, start TODAY. Start clearing out a drawer of your newly organized desk … today. Start setting your first goal… today. Start listening to motivational cassettes … today. Start a sensible weight-reduction plan … today. Start calling on one tough customer a day … today. Start putting money in your new “investment for fortune” account … today. Write a long-overdue letter … today. ANYONE CAN! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books.

Get some momentum going on your new commitment for the good life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past — that faith and action have now taken charge.

It’s a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline you will be amazed at how much progress you’ll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past?

Now, I offer you this challenge: See how many things you can start and continue in this — the first day of your new beginning.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

I try to remind my kids when we get into real wilderness that this is all there was when the ancestors carved out a spot to build their homes and start a new life. It is easy to take for granted there were always roads, stores and air conditioning.

Don’t let this weekend go by without taking some time to reflect on the hard work and sacrifices the Founders made to create this country. A handful of citizens took on the greatest superpower at the time to stand up for the basic principles of human liberty.

It is easy to always assume that freedom from foreign tyranny is the way it always has been, but we need to reflect that it is not the case and this country was formed because of the great sacrifice of some really hard core people. Individuals who put their lives on the line, their families at home and all their comforts behind them.

I saw this article from Robert Ringer and I think he did a great job explaining just how much we owe people like George Washington and the others who founded this country.

Have a great 4th of July,

Kirk Shelley

Reflections on a Revolution, Part I

By Robert Ringer

If you’ve ever wondered why that 555-foot monolith on the National Mall in D.C. is named after the first president of the United States, read a good book on George Washington. Let me tell you, the guy was one tough dude. I believe he honestly thought he was invincible … and he was, at least until the end. Ironically, it took what most historians believe was some sort of throat infection to bring him down in 1799.

They don’t make wars like the American War of Independence anymore. No antiseptic missile strikes that allow you to kill without having to see blood and guts flying in every direction. No way. The colonial patriots fought the English up close – real close … in freezing weather … sweltering hot weather … too little food … too few supplies … and a lack of manpower.

And, often, without pay. In fact, after the Battle of Trenton, Washington offered officers whose tour of duty was running out $10 to re-enlist. He was willing to do anything and everything to win – including sleeping on the ground right alongside his troops on more than one occasion. Had another general other than Washington led the revolutionary troops, I seriously doubt that the British would have been defeated.

Almost from the outset, most colonists were skeptical about Washington’s ability to triumph over the most powerful fighting force in the world – the British military. And for most of the eight-year war, it looked like they were right.

Keep in mind that throughout the long war there was a civilian battle of words going on between – you guessed it – the hawks (”patriots”) and the doves (”loyalists,” who stood with Great Britain). And, interestingly, a similar war of words was being fought among the populace in Great Britain. Many Brits did not feel that fighting a war 3,000 miles away – at a cost that was draining the economy – was worth it. Sound familiar? The more things change …

In fact, the British had their own version of 9/11 when John Paul Jones, a former British naval officer who became a colonial patriot, brought the revolution to Great Britain’s doorstep by raiding the west coast of England! Suddenly, what had been an unpopular foreign war was threatening to expand onto British soil. The anti-war crowd howled its disapproval of the American quagmire even more.

And when, in 1779, the British tried a last-ditch strategy to gain a foothold in the South by sending 1,000 ships to the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, all hell broke loose. I doubt many Americans today realize it, but it actually became the country’s first civil war, with family members in South Carolina often split between the loyalists and the patriots. The fighting between the two sides was vicious, and often vindictive.

But if Washington was anything, he was stubborn. Make that tough and stubborn. On one occasion, he handed down a sentence for two officers to face a firing squad for treason. Then, in a move that would have made Saddam proud, he ordered the firing squad to be composed of the twelve men who had been the two officers’ accomplices!

If George Washington had ordered me to eat bugs, I would have asked him how many and how fast. I wouldn’t have even had the nerve to ask him if I could wash them down with water.

Thousands of volumes have been written about the American Revolution, detailing every strategy, every battle, and every side plot. But when all is said and done, for me what stands out most was George Washington’s incredible toughness and tenacity.

He undoubtedly would have been appalled to see what wusses modern Americans have become. Can you imagine today’s presidential candidates – purveyors of never-ending entitlements for Americans addicted to the good life – facing off against Washington? He would have brought them to their knees with his Clint Eastwood stare.

The colonists’ victory over Great Britain – against unfathomable odds – had to be the greatest comeback in the annals of war. It’s enough to make one feel ashamed of himself for stewing over every little obstacle that crosses his path.