Walk in Humility, Defeat Self-Importance

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That’s 15-year-old me entertaining my brother-in-law, Tom, and sister, Lucy. As you can probably tell, as a kid I was loud, verbal, boisterous, and high-energy. Witty and funny, too— the “class clown.”

So I thought. 😉

My family used to laugh when I’d declare, “There’s no conceit in my family … I have it all!”

As they say, that’s all fine and dandy for a young person—but hopefully, this “self-importance” did not stay with me as I grew.

How does one tame self-importance? The answer is nothing new to you, but always worth exploring.

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Accountable Living: Facts, Truth, and Mirrors

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Whether we call it “working backward” or just truth-based examination of facts, responsible people get to the root of problems. Forthrightly. Honestly. Dare I say, courageously. For them, there are no fingers pointed at anyone or anything — only a good, long look in the mirror.

Real-Life Example: Mirrors Hurt and Instruct

Todd works with prison inmates and told me this story:

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Excuse-Making: Anyone Can Do It!

Ready for a virtual QBQ! workshop? Explore here.

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Todd volunteers in an Alaskan prison. He believes in the QBQ! message of Personal Accountability so much he recently bought a slug of QBQ! books for the inmates he serves. Of course, I just had to ask what excuses he hears inside those imposing walls. His response? “I could write a book.” 😉

Then, with no effort at all, he shared this list:

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Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life!

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Public QBQ! virtual training with Kristin Lindeen … sign up now! 

QBQ! Facebook Discussion Group here.

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On Independence Day, in the Land Of The Free,” I woke up asking, “What could possibly keep me un-free?”

Don’t Let Thinking Hold You Back

I noticed our Shiba Inu, Mabel, standing in her kennel. She was waiting to be let out. I then saw the door was not latched — but she believed it was. That is, if pups possess beliefs. 😉

Her errant thinking prevented her from “being free.” It held her back.

What Bad Thinking Sounds Like

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Relationships: The Power of Neutral

Join us today in our new QBQ! Facebook Discussion Group here!

In 1969, I did my big 6th-grade project on Switzerland. Little did I know, more than 50 years later, I’d be saying this:

Sometimes, ‘ya just gotta be Switzerland, the country whose official position in wartime is … neutrality.

Do We Need Gun Control?

Do you carry a “Should Gun”? You know, that weapon we fire when telling people they should do this or that?

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Your Career: Having Fun Yet?

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Yep, that’s me in the old photo, on stage early in my “speaker” career, sharing “Personal Accountability and the QBQ!” with the Jostens’ management team in 1997. Mustache and all. Being verbal; having fun! 

What Seemed to Be My Weakness

During these COVID-19 days, my wife and I have been doing what many have been doing: cleaning, sorting, and remembering the past.

Browsing my 7th-grade yearbook from Dewitt Junior High in Ithaca, NY, we re-discovered something about me:

I’m not only extremely verbal now …

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Setting Boundaries In Our Work and Families

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Join us on Facebook in our new QBQ! Discussion Group.

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Our photo shows just one way we bring the message of Personal Accountability and the QBQ! to clients. A zoom training session like this is a timely option.

While chatting from my home office in Denver, Colorado with a fine team based in Virginia, I was asked this question:

“John, how do I use QBQ! to practice personal accountability while not going so far that I do people’s work for them?”

Surely, a terrific question and one that in one form or another, we’ve heard for a long time. People want to take more ownership but are not always certain when to …

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Identifying 13 Symptoms of Immaturity

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Theme: It’s good to grow up! 😎

Heading to Denver Int’l Airport to pick up daughter, Tara, and her 6-year-old, McKenna, I texted Tara—again—to find out where they were at that moment.

Because I’d asked “Mama Tara” to keep me informed so we could have a well-timed curbside pick-up, her response was purposely over-the-top specific:

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Practicing Personal Accountability: Choosing Kindness

Did you know there’s an official “Random Act of Kindness” day? Not sure why it’s February 17, but that’s the truth.

So, when we received Jean’s story below, I got thinking, Can’t I be kind whenever I want? I mean, isn’t kindness about free will? You know, like a … choice?

Do I need to wait till February??? 😂

Choose To Be Kind

As believers in the QBQ! book, you folks know that personal accountability is defined as …

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