140 characters 

I really like Twitter. I get most of my news from Twitter. For me twitter is more of a place of inspiration, while Facebook can often be a place of frustration. What I mean by that is there are much less long conversations or aggressive debates on Twitter, at least for me. To be honest it is a bit of a different crowd. Believe it or not twitter has changed my life for the better. As most know Twitter only allows you 140 characters when you post. This restriction has caused me to ask my self many times, “what am I really trying to say?” We live in a generation that is not interested in everything you or I want to say. They just want to know, “what are we really trying to say?” The bottom line, the real message. Political correctness is out of style. It is possible to honor people and still be honest with them. People will respect you more if you are honest with them. If you are dishonest with people they will not trust you and you can not influence them. When you write or speak be honest and be direct. Show people that you value them enough to be honest with them. To watch the video blog of 140 characters click here.

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Accountability 

One of the keys to sustainable success in anything is accountability. If you want to pay off debt or acquire wealth you will need to be accountable to people, your plan and the law. If you want to get free of an addiction or be a competitive athlete you will need to learn how accountability works. Accountability is supposed to work for you not against you. I realize that oppressive and insecure leaders have hurt people and so accountability may sound scary. But we can’t live in reaction to other people’s stupidity and expect to succeed in life. Forgive them, let it go, get healthy, be humble and accountable and you will move forward in life. Just know this, where there is true humility there is accountability.

Accountability is a about freedom not control. When most people think of accountability they think of someone calling them to ask, “Are you looking at porn? or Are you still using drugs?” That is the necessary but negative side of accountability. The positive side of accountability sounds something like this. “Are you writing that book you have been talking about?” “What are you doing to start that business that you have been talking about and planning for?” Accountability will pick you up when you fall, keep you on track, help you succeed and help you not become victim of your own success. Accountability helps you to build or rebuild trust.

In the Bible when the prophet Nathan held King David accountable, he helped save David’s kingdom, which actually protected his legacy. Psalm 51 is a direct result of a healthy confrontation that helped David become accountable. In the democratic process accountability protects us from tyranny. In the banking world accountability protects us from fraud. In the jewelry business accountability assures that what you have purchased is authentic. If you want to succeed in life you need to make sure that you see accountability as a servant not a slave driver.