Better Freedom than a Billionaire Enjoys

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

I recently read David McCullough's new book, 1776, which is about George Washington developing the skill as a general to lead the Continental army successfully against the British. As I read that book, I reflected on Washington's views on freedom and thought I would share them with you.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, the action was focused around Boston. You probably remember Lexington, Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. But the British still held Boston and threatened to break out into the surrounding countryside. Clearly, a good defense was needed.

George Washington became our first commander-in-chief. In his day, Washington was a wealthy man who owned a large plantation that he adored which was run by slaves whom he owned (clearly here was a man who looked at freedom from a personal point of view rather than for all of humanity). Even on his busiest days as a general, Washington might send off a dispatch about some matter or other about running Mount Vernon. McCullough quotes many of these letters in the book. The fact of his wealth was testified in part by his willingness to work for no pay, but he did ask for reimbursement for expenses and those were considerable.

Washington was not a young man and could easily have decided that he was too old to take on such difficult responsibilities. But he felt obliged to do so because he knew that the Revolution didn't have much chance without good leadership, and the Americans were short of military leaders. So he took up a difficult challenge that restricted his freedom . . . in hopes of gaining freedom that would be greater for all.

At first, he was a consensus building commander. He succeeded when subordinates had good ideas that everyone liked, such as the decision to bring down the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to threaten the British from Dorchester Heights and secure their retreat from Boston. If subordinates didn't have good ideas or couldn't agree, he would compromise and make matters worse as he did when he divided his troops in and around New York without properly defending the key pass on Long Island.

After that approach failed, he became a hands-on leader who did whatever it took to find out the facts, looked at the potential risks and rewards and made the decision himself. This occurred at both Trenton and Princeton, and the Americans began to claw their way back from the near-failure of the revolution.

I favor more freedom as much as the next person. I hate regimentation, but I think it is instructive to see that Washington prospered ultimately because he restricted his own and other peoples' freedom as he conducted the Revolutionary War. He restricted himself from easier choices . . . that were ultimately more harmful.

Let's apply these lessons to our lives. Consider a billionaire who can buy and enjoy anything. If the billionaire eats food that is unhealthy and in excess quantities, the billionaire will lead a miserable life because she or he won't feel very good. There have been such billionaires. A billionaire can also stage immense spectacles that get out of control and where people are harmed. That, too, has happened. Such a person probably didn't enjoy the aftermath from such a trouble-plagued decision. A billionaire can also choose to surround himself or herself with "beautiful people" and indulge them with things that aren't good for them. In the process, such a billionaire will harm these people as well as his relationship with the people. Some billionaires die with no family member willing to speak to them. Now, isn't that sad? As the Bible tells us, a billionaire also has to worry about Salvation. A billionaire can become so attached to the things of this world, that her or his soul is lost.

Each of us has the same challenges, except on a different material scale. Let's consider good health. That's something that any billionaire would probably buy . . . if health could be bought. And there are ways that money can help. Money can buy better quality food, personal trainers to help with exercise and access to the best medical care. But if we don't have the self-discipline to learn what the health-enhancing choices are and to follow those choices, our health will suffer relative to its potential vibrancy. Warren Buffett always comes to mind in this context. He's a big holder of Coca-Cola stock and he drinks a lot of their beverages. He also eats a diet that isn't optimal by any standard. He chooses to have the freedom to eat whatever he wants . . . and doesn't choose very well. So it doesn't take much to eat better than Warren Buffett.

This lesson becomes clearest in setting goals. Most people don't have written goals. Yet anyone can afford to have written goals. Why is that a good idea? People achieve most of their written goals. That means that you can have more of what you want by simply writing what you want down, reviewing what you want daily and planning how to accomplish those goals. So that's one thing you can do today that will make an enormous difference in your life.

Surprisingly, most people write down pretty frivolous goals. They want a sports car, or they want an expensive item of jewelry. To choose goals like those is like George Washington choosing to stay on his plantation rather than helping create a new birth of freedom that has expanded around the world in the past 230 years. Why not choose goals that are big and positive . . . and help others even more than they help you?

I was reminded of that last night on a teleseminar I attended. One of the seminar leaders related that a woman who has a funny way of describing the behavior of the renters who take out pornography from video stores has a blog that draws a million readers a month. Now, that's fine and I'm sure her stories are very funny. But imagine what that talent could do if aimed at something valuable like reducing sexual molestation of women and children. She has the freedom to do either one, but if she restricted her freedom . . . she might find that her life improved.

You also have a freedom that people don't exercise, whether they are billionaires or not. You have the freedom to pursue any goal . . . acting as though you will succeed, even if you have no idea how to do so. I enjoyed listening to an interview with Rudy Ruettiger the other night by Jack Canfield as background for the seminar that I will be attending starting tomorrow. Rudy is best known for the movie, Rudy, which tells his life. A poor student in high school, he decided he wanted to attend prestigious Notre Dame. Many years later he succeeded. While he was there, he wanted to play football for Notre Dame. Through his persistence, he was put in to play the last 7 seconds of the last game of his eligibility. He sacked the quarterback and was carried off the field by his teammates. As a result of the movie, he's become a well-known motivational speaker. No one meeting Rudy would think of him as someone with great skill or potential. But because he is fierce about choosing and pursuing big goals that he doesn't know how to achieve he has achieved the kind of freedom that is our true heritage. Think about it . . . and make some huge goals for you and everyone!

If you think you might want to read 1776, I've quoted my review of that fine book below for your reference:

George Washington Learns How to Be an Effective General

While there's nothing new in the material, this book will be a revelation for those who mainly know the political history of the American Revolution. That political history wouldn't mean anything except for the military having found its footing and eventually succeeding against the British with a lot of help from our friends, the French. The book's main focus is on the efforts to secure the British evacuation from Boston, the ill-led and disastrous defense of Long Island and New York City, the bloody retreat through New Jersey, and the counter-attacks at Trenton and Princeton. Mr. McCullough does a fine job of putting the military history into context in terms of politics, social and economic conditions, the weather, provisioning, atrocities and the maneuvering between Great Britain and the Americans. Within the military history, there's a superb consideration of strategy, structure, resources, command styles, personalities and terrain. In many cases, you will feel like you were there. He brings an intensity that many of the best of the Civil War historians bring to their descriptions of those battles. Overall, though, this is a biography of George Washington as a learning military leader who wasn't up to the challenge . . . but won out through determination and perseverance in the face of enormous disadvantages, crushing setbacks and personal anguish. I suspect you'll see Washington differently after reading this book. Here is a great man, severely tested, rather than the hero in a statue or a portrait whom we normally think of. I encourage you to share this book with young people. They probably don't realize what a close thing it is that we have our freedom as Americans, and how hard even the greatest have to work to accomplish their goals . . . even when their lives are on the line. My only complaint about this book is that text could have used some easy-to-read maps for all of the New York campaign. The reproduced British maps are interesting, but hard to read. I suggest that you examine a topographical map of southeastern New York to study as you read those sections. Great stuff, Mr. McCullough! I can hardly wait to see what he will write about next. " type="hidden">

The title of this book is a little misleading. The material actually covers from the beginning of the Continental army in defending Boston during 1775 after Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord through to the battle for Princeton in January 1777. In addition, the focus is on the military history of the Republic.

While there's nothing new in the material, this book will be a revelation for those who mainly know the political history of the American Revolution. That political history wouldn't mean anything except for the military having found its footing and eventually succeeding against the British with a lot of help from our friends, the French.

The book's main focus is on the efforts to secure the British evacuation from Boston, the ill-led and disastrous defense of Long Island and New York City, the bloody retreat through New Jersey, and the counter-attacks at Trenton and Princeton.

Mr. McCullough does a fine job of putting the military history into context in terms of politics, social and economic conditions, the weather, provisioning, atrocities and the maneuvering between Great Britain and the Americans.

Within the military history, there's a superb consideration of strategy, structure, resources, command styles, personalities and terrain. In many cases, you will feel like you were there. He brings an intensity that many of the best of the Civil War historians bring to their descriptions of those battles.

Overall, though, this is a biography of George Washington as a learning military leader who wasn't up to the challenge . . . but won out through determination and perseverance in the face of enormous disadvantages, crushing setbacks and personal anguish. I suspect you'll see Washington differently after reading this book. Here is a great man, severely tested, rather than the hero in a statue or a portrait whom we normally think of.

I encourage you to share this book with young people. They probably don't realize what a close thing it is that we have our freedom as Americans, and how hard even the greatest have to work to accomplish their goals . . . even when their lives are on the line.

My only complaint about this book is that text could have used some easy-to-read maps for all of the New York campaign. The reproduced British maps are interesting, but hard to read. I suggest that you examine a topographical map of southeastern New York to study as you read those sections.

Great stuff, Mr. McCullough! I can hardly wait to see what he will write about next.

Sunday, I'll reflect of how to keep your spiritual values strong even in places where God isn't as apparent as He usually is. I will be in the Las Vegas area for a meeting, and this environment should provide plenty of inspiration for this blog entry.

Monday, I'll start sharing some of the lessons I learn at the Jack Canfield Success Principles seminar. Don't miss it!

On Tuesday, I'll continue my report from the Jack Canfield Success Principles seminar based on what I learn on Monday.

On Wednesday, I'll provide more insights from the Jack Canfield Success Principles seminar based on what I learn on Tuesday.

Thursday, I will add information learned at the Jack Canfield Success Principles seminar on Wednesday.

Friday, I will reveal key insights that I learned at the Jack Canfield Success Principles seminar on Thursday.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries. I plan to address the question of how to be an Amazon.com top reviewer with integrity in a future blog based on kev's comment on my earlier blog entry. I partially answered his questions in a comment that follows his comment to that entry on July 29.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that was posted on August 3. It will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience. August 4 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

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May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell