SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

Why We Have to Take a Stand

The time to take a stand is now. Like many communities in America since the recession began my hometown has been plagued with a disease. This disease has eroded the city from its core. What was once a friendly big city with a small town feel has become a place where crime and fear has taken over. We can no longer turn on the news or even listen to the radio without being bombarded with evil. It has become common to hear about shooting in our schools, workplaces and neighborhoods. Our country is becoming overrun by a callous society that has not dignity or respect for life. Every day we read about someone’s child being shot and killed. It has become normal for robberies and home invasions to control the headlines. We naturally get angry at all the violence. We talk about how this and that must be done. Yet we stand by on the sidelines and allow it to breach the headlines. Our first instinct is to lock our doors, arm our wives with shotguns and live in fear. We spend hours at the gun ranges to regain our masculinity and teach our wives to shoot at paper targets. Yet the crimes still happen, the breaking news reports become more frequent. When does it all end, when do we as men take a stand. The victims are no longer faceless from some other town. Soon we will attend the funeral of a friend or child that we knew as well. When does it come time […]

Lessons from When the Game Stands Tall

Lessons from When the Game Stands Tall Teaching that there is more to life than just the game, When the Game Stands Tall is a true inspirational movie.  As like many football or even sports related movies they come with a little dose of predictability.  This is one that although that may be the case it is also thoroughly enjoyable for the whole family (rated PG). When the Game Stands Tall starts Jim Caviezel as Bob Ladouceur head coach of the De La Salle Spartans, the winning-est team in sports history.  The cast is supported by Michael Chiklis who plays assistant coach Terry Eidson. As well as Laura Dern as Bev Ladouceur the coach’s wife, and even a cameo appearance of Maurice Jones Drew as himself. “Winning a lot of games is doable, teaching kids there is more to life, that’s hard.” Throughout the story there are lessons than we could all learn and live by.  Lessons that even though they are applied to football and winning they can also apply to life, leadership and manhood. This success formula consists of-love, brotherhood, sacrifice, discipline, heart, courage, passion, honesty. Love – Several times throughout the movie is love stressed both between players and coaches.  This is displayed in their actions and where they stand up for each other both on and off the field.  The love for the game is not enough they have to love and trust one another to win.  This goes for any team or family, love needs to be the focus to be able to work together and win.  Family […]

Shift Your Brilliance – A Book Review

Motivational speaker, award-winning and all around Brillionaire Simon T. Bailey takes his readers through the seven action steps to “ shift ” their brilliance. The seven action steps to shift your brilliance are detailed in simple relatable steps that anyone can put into gear and ‘Harness the Power of You, INC.’ Who is Simon T. Bailey? A bestselling author of 7 books, Simon T. Bailey’s breakout masterpiece, Release Your Brilliance, published by Harper Collins, was ranked number 17 of the Top 100 books being read by Corporate America, according to 800CEORead.com. His highly anticipated new book, Shift Your Brilliance – Harness the Power of You, Inc., invites readers to shift their thinking, creating a disruption from the norm that ignites creativity, drives productivity and increases accountability.                                 – courtesy of http://simontbailey.com/  The first time I was introduced to Simon T. Bailey was a few years back when I attended an event in Orlando, Florida. This event was  for a network marketing company I had gotten involved with and Simon was one of their guest speakers. I personally became an instant fan of Simon after hearing him speak.  I also made sure to go out of my way to shake his hand and thank him after the event for being such a dynamic speaker and inspiration. Since then I bought and read his book  Release Your Brilliance and now his follow-up book Shift Your Brilliance: Harness The Power Of You, INC. When you know what motivates […]