SOU083120 Freedom Paradox

 

The Art of Thinking

 

If asked to describe Scouting with one word, a couple of the top words would be fun (always the number one word about Scouting) and learning. I have another that is of equal importance, and yet you may not find it on the list at all. That word is think. One of the top goals of Scouting is to help young people to think for themselves. Scouting teaches problem-solving and how to think quickly in an emergency. Scouts are taught how to be of service to others and to be ready for anything.

The main goal is to help every Scout to learn how to think for themselves. The famous anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” Here is the challenge that our young people face today. Media, social and news, along with movies, TV video games, and YouTube, and even our schools are all geared to teach our young people what to think, not how to think.

“The secret of sound education is to get each pupil to learn for himself, instead of instructing

 him by driving knowledge into him on a stereotyped system.”

Sir Robert Baden-Powell

1857-1941

Founder of The Boy Scouts

 

This can be seen in their lack of understanding of history—the absents of any teaching in basic civics or the function of government. I think you do not have to look very hard to see that the young people of today are in a thinking crisis. There is a reason for this. It is straightforward. People who do not think are easy to control. Now before you go off and accuse me of some conspiracies nonsense, may I ask you to take an honest look at what you young people are learning – or not learning – and go from there.

The ability to think for ourselves, to make up our minds about life, is the most powerful tool we have as humans. Please do not assume that your young people will pick this up on their own; they won’t. Could you help them to think? Give them good and honest information and then allow them to make up their mind on what they choose to believe. They may get things wrong at first, but as they grow, so will their choices and decisions. Do not leave their education to others. It is our responsibility to help our young learn, grow, and become great thinkers.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU082620 Your Lable

Taking a Stand

 

One life lesson that all Scouts must learn is that to do right is not something done by the group but done by the person. Former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge said, “Duty is not collective, it is personal.” You, the individual, are responsible for doing right whether everyone else does or not. The excuse that nobody else is doing it will never fly with this one.

One of the collective goals of all Scouts is that we help make the world a better place. At the same time, we understand that to achieve that goal; it must begin with each of us as individuals. The fact is you or I cannot change anyone else. We cannot force them to be a better person or be honest or do their duty. We can only see that we do it. The good news is that as each of us, as we do what is right, we increase the number of people living right by one. Those add up, and soon we are the significant influence in the world and not those people who would destroy or corrupt it.

“Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity and obligation, every possession, a duty.”

John D. Rockefeller

1839-1937

Businessman

 

Abraham Lincoln said, “Be sure to put your feet in the right place and stand firm.” As a Scout, you must not only do right; you must stand for what is right. It is our responsibility to be the one who encourages others to live right and oppose those who would do wrong. To not stand firm is to fail at our responsibility. Ignoring wrongdoing has as much consequence as doing wrong. Former President Ronald Reagan (must be on a President theme here) said, “To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last – but eat you he will.”

We can all list all the wrongs we see in the world today. We complain and shake our heads at how things seem to be going downhill. Face it, my friends, fussing will do nothing to change things. If our society is to change, it must start with us. It is our responsibility to live lives of honesty, integrity, wholesomeness, and honor. All these things may seem out of step with today’s world but are, in fact, the key to a better life for all how you live matters, not only to you but also to all of us. If we, as individual Scouts, live right, we can see the world changed for the better.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU082420 Expensive Gifts

 

SOU081920 Questioning Teachers

No Excuse

 

Scouts and Scouters must avoid this pit-fall with all they have in them. It is the pit-fall of making excuses. The great botanist and educator George Washington Carver once said, “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” A Scout does not want to find themself in that number.

We have talked before that we all make mistakes, bad choices, or just plain screw-up. I would love to say it never happens, but it does – often. The key to success, even in times of failure, is to own up to it and make no excuses for your actions. We can always find a reason why something went wrong, or we fell in some way, and some of those reasons can be pretty good. However, you will never recover and get back on track with an excuse. There is an old analogy that says, making excuses is like making sausage – it is the skin of the truth stuffed with the meat of a lie.

“Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to,

when all they need is one reason why they can.”

Willis R. Whitney

1868-1958

Chemist

 

Scouts learn that excuse-making never solves the problem, and therefore you never move on. I have seen people stuck in the same spot emotionally just because they hold on to an excuse. Scouts must own up to mistakes, confess they're wrong and do what is needed to make it right and move on. That is known as the responsible thing to do.  It is the right thing to do.

Businessman James Cash Penney (J.C. Penney) said, “I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life’s problems.” The only way to correct a wrong is to do what is right. For the responsible person of integrity, there will always be forgiveness and a willingness to move on when confession is made and a pure heart to take full responsibility for our actions. Telling others excuses are as bad as lying to them, and no one likes to be lied to. The 17^th Century clergyman and historian Thomas Fuller was correct when he said, “Bad excuses are worse than none.” 

Scouts are people of honor. No excuses, not hiding from responsibility for our actions, we face our faults head-on and make them right again. That is a great power.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081720 Lessons of Childhood

 

SOU081220 Grow Up

Personal Responsibility

 

Taking personal responsibility is more than just admitting when you are wrong or made a mistake. We will look more at that when we talk of excuses. Scouts learn that taking responsibility means you take charge of your life. It is, in fact, the only thing you can take charge of. Jim Rohn said, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.”

As a Scout, you understand that if you are to achieve your dreams, you, not anyone else, must make it happen. You are the one who sets the goals, makes plans, takes action, and makes adjustments along the way. It all boils down to you, and if you do not do it, it will not get done. As Pastor Robert Schuller says, “If I am going to succeed, it is up to me.”

“The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.”

Brian Tracy

Author

 

I have seen far too many people waiting for success to happen to them. They look to other people to help them; they look to God to bless them, they look to the government to subsidize them, they look to their circumstances to improve for them. It is not in any of those things. The key to success has been and always will be you. Les Brown said, “If you take responsibility for yourself, you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.” How hungry are you?

This does not mean you are on your own. People and circumstances help you along the way, but you have to be “on the way” for that to work. Even God will not bless your efforts if there are no efforts to bless. Scouts know you cannot steer a train that is not moving. On the other hand, you cannot stop one that is moving. You are the engineer here; you make the choices.

Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, said, “An individual step in character training is to put responsibility on the individual.” The responsibility to achieve your dreams is on you. Make it happen. See that you take action, set the course, and start moving. It will not happen on its own. The time is now! You have all you need because you have you.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU081020 The Impossible

 

Following the Rules

How many times have you been told to break the rules? I am sure it has been hundreds of times. I will be the first to say that some rules need breaking. These are usually the ones we create ourselves, follow because “it is always done this way,” or are there to have a rule. However, I will also say that breaking the rules just because they are rules is foolish.

There are many rules or principles in life that are there to be followed. Not to be restrictive, but because they work. There are rules of the road for driving, rules or directions for cooking food, so you don’t poison yourself. The world has many rules that are wise and important to follow. Author T.S. Eliot wisely said, “It’s not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them.”

“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a teamwork,

 a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Vince Lombardi

1913-1970

Coach

 

Scouts understand that there are rules for success that need to be followed. These rules, as all ethical rules do, leave a great deal of room for you to adapt them personally, but the basic principles are the same. Albert Einstein said, “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” How can you succeed at anything if you do not know the rules of success? It is both useless and foolish on your part to attempt to.

Every area of endeavor has its set of rules that make it successful. Novelist Truman Capote said, “Writing has laws of perspective, light, and shade just as painting does, or music. If you’re born knowing them, fine.  If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.” Scouts learn that there is great freedom in rules. We understand that by following the principles, you can achieve your goals with the least effort and most effectiveness.

Remember that the rules for success are not made up along the way. Author Dale Carnegie said, “The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don’t like their rules, whose would you use?” Excellent question, whose would you use. Want to be a successful person? Listen to successful people.

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU080520 Learning New Tricks

Understanding Authority

Scouts like to lead. That is just the way we are. We know where we want to go, and we tend to take off and go there. The reality is that we are not always in the place to lead. Sometimes we have to follow someone else, and as conductor Leonard Bernstein said, “The most difficult instrument to play in the orchestra is second fiddle.”

Here is the fact that all Scouts and Scouters must learn: Before you can be a good leader, you must be a good follower. People who always have to be the leader tend to be challenging to deal with, mistreat their followers (if they have any), and get very little done. The correct understanding of a team comes from being able to effectively and positively take the role of both leader and follower as needed. We must remember, as author Michael McKinney said, “Followership, like leadership, is a role and not a destination.” These roles often change, even within the same team.

“Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.”

Robert E. Lee

1807-1870

Statesman

 

As a Scout, your top priority is the success of the team. That means you work with others on the team to use your strengths to the highest good. That may mean that someone else is best suited to lead in a particular project. When that happens, you should be able to move into the follower role and respect the leadership of others. A good leader will know when they need to follow, and when they need to lead.

To some degree, we all are following someone. As Bob Dylan said, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.” We have bosses, leaders, customers, or other authority figures we must submit to. Despite what we are sometimes told, following is not a bad thing, and it in no way denies you of your independence. A truly free person knows that with freedom comes responsibility. We all have our parts to play, and the Scout knows they are the example in whatever role they play. Retired Air Force Colonel Phillip S. Meilinger said, “Do your job quietly, confidently, and professionally, and trust your colleagues will do likewise.”

Scouting Out of Uniform is a personal blog based on the lessons learned from Scouting that relate to personal development and success principles and is not an official site of The Boy Scouts of America. John Patrick Hickey does not represent or speak for the Scouting program; however, he does completely support and encourages Scouting for both young and old. John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, Personal Development Coach, and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2020 John Patrick Hickey

SOU080320 Who Said That