A 21st Century 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

A 12-Year Project Completed

It is not often that one completes a 12-year project.  This month, I have had the chance to do just that by  publishing a groundbreaking new book.  It is called, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.  

The result is the much anticipated release of a 21st Century analogue to Stephen R. Covey's famous 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

This Generation Next "Personal Leadership Handbook" is as different from the original 7 Habits as it is similar.  While it's tone, format, length, and anecdotally rich content strikingly diverges from Covey's 1990s work, its commitment to teaching, modeling, and championing correct principles that promote "Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" is just as effervescent and vibrant.

I first read Covey's timeless classic in 2001 to fulfill a requirement in a college leadership course.  Simply stated, the book changed my life.  To this day, with the exception of sacred religious texts that are near and dear to my heart, it has influenced my life more than any other book.  By 2003, I had a pretty clear vision of my life's professional purpose -- to write an analogue to the 7 Habits and start a company that might serve a new generation as ably as Stephen R. Covey and Hyrum W. Smith's contributions and companies served the last.

My son, Tucker, with
my well-worn copy
of the 7 Habits

The difficulty of this ambitious and audacious undertaking has been perennially perplexing and persistently painful, yet inexplicably rewarding and profoundly fulfilling.  Fraught with seemingly endless challenges, rejections, and failure over the course of the past decade, the journey also brought countless moments of satisfaction, success, and even elation.  More importantly, it bore much fruit in my own life, and is now beginning to bear fruit in the lives of others.

I can say without any reservations that the principles Covey and Smith taught in their masterful books over the years are as veracious as they are beneficial.  I know because I have thoroughly tested them in the laboratory of my own life.  Moreover, my careful study and application of them helped pave the way to the production of Self-Action Leadership, which I earnestly desire will help those in the 21st Century as ably as Covey's 7 Habits and Smith's 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time & Life Management assisted those in the 20th Century and beyond.  As I mention in my "Special Tribute" to both FranklinCovey Co-Founders in my book, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." (Isaac Newton).

Click HERE to read my personal tributes to Hyrum W. Smith, Stephen R. Covey, & Charles C. Manz, whose work proved foundational to my own.

Self-Action Leadership presents an original THEORY and MODEL of self-leadership.  This new scholarship has been diligently hewn out of the ore of my own life's crucibles. It is further rooted in doctoral level action research and carefully corroborated by a cornucopia of wisdom literature spanning several millennia.

This insightful guide to freedom, success, and most importantly--personal change--signals a new era in self-help literature and the science of personal development.  It also aims to usher in a whole new cultural era in the Occident, namely, an AGE of AUTHENTICISM -- marked by character, integrity, hard work, and personal reliance -- which is destined to replace the perilous, perjurious, prurient, and pernicious era of POSTMODERNISM that has increasingly dominated Western Culture in the last 50 years.

Click HERE to learn more about the Self-Action Leadership THEORY

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Self-Action Leadership MODEL

Ranging far beyond the home, classroom, schoolhouse, or corporation, SAL aims to lead a resurgence of American Greatness and Leadership on the World Stage by influencing a renaissance of character and integrity by providing an education in True Principles based on Universal Laws of Natural Acquisition.

I love my Country.  I am proud to be an American, and have been saddened to observe the salient decline of our great nation.  Despite the perplexing problems that presently persist throughout our 50 States and other territories, I remain optimistic about her future.  I wrote Self-Action Leadership -- a non-partisan, secular, educational based personal development manual for my Country.  It is my way of saying THANK YOU to this great land, as well as all those who have made it the greatest nation in the world and the "Last best hope of Earth." (Lincoln)

I am who I am, and have accomplished what I have in large part because of the liberty, hope, opportunity, and inspiration I have derived from living in this blessed and magnanimous land of promise.

It is PAYBACK time!

By capitalizing on the tremendous liberty my Country has afforded me, I have been able to pursue and achieve personal freedom in a wonderfully remarkable manner.  It is my earnest hope that this manual will serve my Country in coming years by helping to preserve our liberty and expand the freedoms of others to ensure that our best day's are ahead of us -- not behind us.

Click HERE to watch Dr. Jensen's vision of restoring American Greatness through Education

Self-Action Leadership is written on the premise that organizational, national, and even international change is predicated on personal change; it all starts with the individual.  As individual units of an entity develop character, capacity, and competence, organizational conglomerates improve by a factor of those individual changes, and the accompanying synergistic infusion of efficiency, effectiveness, and prosperity can be staggering.

All lasting SUCCESS begins with EDUCATION

Talk to just about anyone and they'll offer up plenty of blame and point a plethora of fingers at other people and entities as they didactically diagnose the panoply of problems we presently face.  What is unfortunately rare is to find someone willing to look in the mirror, admit the presence of one's own bag full of blemishes, and then begin the process of fixing the only thing any of us has any real control over -- our own thoughts, speech, actions, attitudes, biases, and beliefs.

Our goal at Freedom Focused, and the aim of Self-Action Leadership, is to reverse this depressing trend, and return power to the people as one-by-one, individuals embrace a lifelong commitment to personal change and excellence.

Whatever your political persuasion, sexual orientation, race, culture, gender, or personality, I believe we can all unite in a pursuit of personal purification through self-awareness, personal discipline, and an accession of Universal Laws that govern both the physical world and the metaphysical results we garner by virtue of our thoughts, speech, and actions.

We invite you to join us in this movement aimed at restoring American Greatness and promoting World Peace through a dedication to individual excellence and integrity.  There can be no greater contemporary, national quest.  The impending perils of the future demand that we prepare now to tackle the trials we inevitably face down the road.  Let us prepare now lest we be swallowed up when the fiery heat of the refining fires of the future blast forth to test our mettle and see what we are really made of.

You can begin this preparatory stage now, by reading this new groundbreaking book.

CLICK on one of the links below to buy your own copy of SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Buy a HARD COPY version of Self-Action Leadership

Buy an e-Copy version of Self-Action Leadership

Buy an e-version of SAL at AMAZON.COM

* Best Deal * Buy hard-copy and e-version copies of SAL at BARNES & NOBLE.COM  * Best Deal *

Click HERE to read what the EXPERTS are saying about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen and Self-Action Leadership

Click HERE to read about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM that Freedom Focused is Championing in an effort to prod POSTMODERNISM into the pages of history

Click HERE to read the Book's Foreword, written by Christopher P. Neck, Ph.D., University Master Teacher, Arizona State University; and the Book's Afterword, written by David G. Anthony, Ed.D., CEO of Raise Your Hand Texas

Click HERE to read the Author's Preface

Click HERE to watch Dr. Jensen's Full Speech on Restoring American Greatness through Education

Click HERE to watch Dr. Jensen's Introductory Seminar on Self-Action Leadership

Addressing Problems of our Age with Education in True Principles

In preparation for the 4th of July tomorrow, I wanted to share some film clips that discuss some educational solutions to the array of issues that are currently threatening the leadership, greatness, prosperity, and freedom of our blessed country -- The United States of America.


As we move deeper into the 21st Century, our nation faces profound challenges from both outside and inside of her borders.  Her deepest troubles, however, lie inside the minds and hearts of her own citizens--including YOU and ME.  Today's clips highlight what I, Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, and my company -- Freedom Focused -- are doing in an effort to become part of solutions rather than part of problems to the deep, complex, and perplexing issues of our time.

Dr. Jordan R. Jensen introduces a

Self-Help Theory of Everything

Fire, Ice, & Unity:

Successfully Confronting the Troubles of our Age

Freedom Focused's TWO Primary GOALS

Restoring American Patriotism & Greatness

Introducing Dr. Jordan R. Jensen:

Founder & CEO of Freedom Focused

A quick note to those who may have been expecting the next chapter of my book in today's blog post... Just when I thought I had shown all the video clips from my recent speech and seminar, I realized I had missed several of them. 

The next two blogs, therefore, will be dedicated to these final clips, after which I will return to the serial publication of my book -- Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal & Professional Growth beginning in a couple of weeks.  Next week's post will include one final film clip, after which, I will return again -- as promised -- to the online publication of the book.  

The Patriotism Principle

It is that time of year again.  Yes, the clock and calendar are once again approaching the 4th of July. As you and your family, friends, neighbors, and communities begin making plans for this special holiday, we at Freedom Focused invite you to read the following article and reflect on the blessings you have been given as a citizen of the greatest nation in the history of the world.

I was blessed to grow up in a family, community, and church that understood the need for and value of patriotism. The best way we can make the world a better place is to make America -- or whatever land in which you live -- a better place, and we begin making America a better place by loving, serving, and rooting for our own country.

In the sage words of President Teddy Roosevelt:

A [person] must be a good patriot before he can be … a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind. … 

Now, this does not mean in the least that a man should not wish to do good outside his native land. On the contrary, just as I think that the man who loves his family is more apt to be a good neighbor than the man who does not, so I think that the most useful member of the family of nations is normally a strongly patriotic nation. [1]

Let us not fear, my fellow Americans, to shower upon our homeland all the authentic love and patriotism we can muster, and let us not aspire toward the mean or mediocre out of a concern for offending other nations. Should LeBron James lower his level of play for fear of offending other NBA players with his greatness on the basketball court? Should Steven Spielberg lower his cinematic standards for fear of appearing superior to other Hollywood directors and producers? Should Meryl Streep tone her talent down a tad so as to give a fighting chance to other female actresses? The answer is nay, Nay, and NAY! Collective greatness is the result of individual greatness, and individuals become great because they first see and are inspired by other individuals who were great in days gone by.

The patriotism principle posits that larger groups and organizations are most likely to be successful when individuals patriotically take pride in smaller units and teams of which they are a part. Individuals should strive to be the very best they can possibly be. Families, organizations, schools, and yes, countries should do no less.

Self-action leaders should take great pride in every group of which they ever play a part, as long as the group is not evil. For example, I am not just proud to be an American, I am also proud to be a native Utahn and an adopted Texan. Moreover, when I lived in Arizona, Georgia, and Washington, I was proud to be a citizen of those States. When I lived in Alberta and Newfoundland, I was a proud to be a visitor to those Provinces, and to this day, I am proud of the great country of Canada, and grateful for her loyal friendship to my country. As a result, when I hear the stirring words of “O Canada” being sung, though it is not really “my home and native land,” I nonetheless proudly sing out the words of our northern neighbor’s anthem – whose words I have memorized – in honor of the four years in which I was privileged to live in that beautiful and impressive country.

 

I am also proud of my Danish—and especially of my British—ancestry and heritage (while my surname is Danish, the majority of my ancestry is English and Scottish). My forbearers, while not perfect, were, in my estimation, some of the best people who ever lived. And while no other anthem or flag in the world can touch The Star Spangled Banner and the Stars and Stripes for this proud Southern Yankee, I also know the words to God Save the King/Queen, and have a special place in my heart for the Union Jack—the anthem and flag that signaled “home” to most of my distant forefathers and mothers.

I am proud to be a citizen of Conroe and Greater Houston, and I am proud of my neighborhood. I am proud to be a member of the “Jensen” family. I am proud to be a Mormon (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and I am proud of the ward and stake organizations within my Church to which I belong.

I am proud to be an alumnus of the various schools I’ve attended over the years (ten in all). I’m even proud to be an English (undergraduate) and Education (graduate) major.

I am proud to root for Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes’ football team. I am proud of my fantasy baseball team and the fact that I was the champion of my league last year (2014). Most importantly, I am proud of who I am as a human being and self-action leader.

I do not proclaim these feelings of pride because “my” groups possess any superiority to any other groups, or because I think you should feel patriotically for, or become involved in, the same groups as me. I merely say it but because they are my groups—the organizations and entities to which my life and work inevitably becomes a reflection.

The issue at hand is not exclusively American patriotism and greatness, or pride for any one group over another, but the spirit of patriotism and excellence for which self-action leaders must embrace if they are to be successful. Would to God that all persons from all countries loved, supported, and worked hard to ensure the excellence of their own land. Frenchmen ought to be patriots of France. Brits ought to be patriots of the UK. Brazilians ought to be patriots of Brazil. Kenyans ought to be patriots of Kenya, and so forth. And it doesn’t stop there. Everyone everywhere would do well to take pride in whatever groups of which they associate—as long as those groups stand for goodness and truth. While it is true that no group, just like no individual, is perfect, it is also true that improvement is a by-product of focusing on an individual’s or group’s strengths and potentialities, not on their weaknesses and past sins.

In the spirit of individual and collective excellence, let us, as self-action leaders, never shrink from taking pride in being the best at something either individually or collectively. For it is the best that inspires others to also become great. And it is the humility to admit one’s past failures and study those who are more successful than you are that leads to future success. I have never achieved anything of significance in my life or career from being jealous or hateful toward someone who was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, wealthier, harder working, or more successful than I was. My success is a direct result of admiring, and then learning from those who were better than I was so that I could, in turn, improve myself and better align my behavior and develop new habits to someday achieve success of my own.

The best opportunity the rest of the world has to realize its potential is for the United States to continue its 228-year legacy of excellence by seeking to maintain its status as the greatest country in the world. Indeed, other nations are great in large measure because the United States was first great, and many nations are presently floundering in part because of the moral entropy and atrophy of leadership that, like a malignant tumor, is eating away at the roots of American exceptionalism on multiple levels.

May we take great pride in the unique exceptionalism of our august nation—not an arrogant pride borne of an erroneous sense of pseudo existential superiority, but a humble pride that will make us ever cognizant of the duties and obligations that come with being high achievers and exemplary leaders. In the process, may we do all in our power to maintain the greatness of our land, which, like erstwhile superpowers, has unfortunately begun its slide down the slippery slopes of moral entropy. If not reversed, such slipping always lands its slider in a wasteland of either mediocrity or utter destruction. Maintaining the highest standards of education, leadership, and moral and ethical living is the quickest and surest way to restore American greatness at home and abroad. It is also the best way to further empower other nations to rise to their potential. After all, would the NBA have a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant today if it didn’t have a Michael Jordan in the last generation? 

 

Listen to Dr. Jordan Jensen speak about restoring American Patriotism & Greatness

[1] From Roosevelt’s speech, Citizens in a Republic, delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910.

The Most Important EDUCATIONAL Message of the 21st Century

Dr. Jordan R. Jensen

Freedom Focused Founder & CEO, Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, Proudly Presents a Groundbreaking new Theory & Model of self-leadership.

View Speech & Seminar in two full-length VIDEOS below.

Video #1: A 21st Century Vision of Education in America

In this video speech, A 21st Century Vision of Education in America, Dr. Jordan R. Jensen introduces Self-Action Leadership with its focus of self-reliance, personal responsibility, and character development as the foundation of a holistic EDUCATION capable of restoring American Greatness and reanimating the American Dream for a whole new generation of U.S. citizens.

This speech was delivered on February 21, 2015 at Lone Star College of the Woodlands, Texas (Houston).

Video #2: Introducing the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model

In this video seminar, Self-Action Leadership (SAL), Dr. Jensen unveils the SAL theory & model and its aims to fundamentally transform American EDUCATIONAL paradigms in the 21st Century.

This seminar was taught at Lone Star College of the Woodlands, TX (Houston on February 21, 2015.

Don't Forget to Vote!

The Majestic Blue Angels Come to Houston

Over the weekend, Lina, Tucker, and I had the opportunity to attend the Wings Over Houston Air Show featuring the world famous Blue Angels of the United States Navy.  In conjunction with the Thunderbirds of the U.S. Air Force (see picture below), which we saw a few years back in Atlanta, Georgia, I have seen few things in my life that are more impressive and inspiring.  Watching these remarkable fighter pilots maneuver their F-18 Fighter jets with uncanny precision at such high speeds is something truly special.  Such displays of excellence and power made possible by countless hours of study and training make me proud to be an American.

View a clip of a Blue Angels flyover at Houston's Ellington Air Field on Saturday
Homemade video footage captured on my iPhone.

During the air show, I learned that the Blue Angels have been flying since 1946.  In intervening decades, nine different models have been showcased as official Blue Angel aircraft.  The last model to be used, which also serves as the current version, is the F-18 Hornet and was first unveiled in the mid-1980s.  As I began to do the math in my head, it seemed a little strange that the World's greatest Navy would still be showcasing a fighter model that is nearly 30-years old.  As amazing as the Blue Angels are, you don't have to be a Navy expert to know that fighter-jet technology has improved since the mid-1980s.  While improvements have been made to the F-18 over the years, the recent period is by far the longest span of time in between entirely new fighter models being introduced to the Blue Angels' fleet.  

When I got home, I did a little more research and found out that just last year, these famous flight demonstrations of American airpower were cancelled due to federal budget restraints.  Fortunately, that decision was reversed soon after and the Blue Angel's schedule was merely cut back instead of terminated.  I am very grateful for this, or else we would not have been able to see them in action on Saturday.  Nevertheless, I felt sad to know that our government was even considering scaling back, or even worse, terminating, such an extraordinary symbol of American Exceptionalism--not to mention an unparalleled recruiting tool for our military.  It was yet another example of an ever-growing list of signs that our nation is in decline, and has been for some time now.

Are you tired of seeing the decline of your country -- the United States of America?  Are you tired of seeing American exceptionalism de-exceptionalized by pundits, politicians, and members of the intellectual elite?  Are you disenchanted with political leaders locally, regionally, or on the State or Federal level?  If so, there is something you can do about it.  You can go and VOTE tomorrow.

I will be in South Dakota on Tuesday with work travel, but my wife and I had the chance to vote early this past Friday in our home State of Texas.  What a privilege it was to let our voices be heard from this most important of pulpits--a pulpit from which every American has the opportunity to offer up an eloquent sermon of his/her own.

In the midst of our perilously divided and fractured political climate, there are some, perhaps many, who are apathetic.  "What difference will my one vote make?" they query.  I have a good friend who asked me this very question recently.  I shared with her my view that voting is not merely a right, but a privilege and a duty.  If we do not let our voices be heard at the ballot box, who are we to bemoan the results?  It is said that in a democracy, the power belongs to the people.  This is not entirely true.  A more accurate statement would be: In a democracy, the power belongs to the people who vote.

My friend decided to vote.

Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit educational organization.  As such, we do not endorse specific candidates or become involved directly in political affairs.  We do, however, encourage ALL Americans to exercise their privilege and duty to not just vote, but to study the issues and candidates whereby they might support candidates who champion policies that promote life, liberty, self-reliance, conscience, character, and American Exceptionalism.

Some may agree with the first five of these six principles, but waver on the last.  Perhaps you have wondered, "Who are we to call ourselves exceptional or to assume leadership for the world."  My answer to this question is that as Americans, whether we like it or not, destiny, history, or whatever else you want to call it, has placed us in the role of World Superpower at this juncture of our planet's history.  If you study history at all, you will know that the world has virtually always had a Superpower.  If you study history closely, you will discover that things haven't always worked out so well under former Superpowers.  If you study history honestly, you will discover that despite our imperfections, America has, upon reaching Superpower status, shown unprecedented magnanimity, generosity, and imperial restraint compared to all erstwhile Superpowers throughout history.

If we don't lead, someone else will, and something tells me that most of us won't like the results that all of us will have to live with if American power and leadership in the world is replaced by another, less magnanimous, less generous, less restrained, and less moral and ethical nation or state.  If you care about your country, don't just talk about it; get up and do something about it by voting tomorrow.

Some may profess that their vote doesn't really count because they live in a solid "Red" or "Blue" State and their one vote won't turn the tide.  That might be true, but as self-action leaders, we must be continually careful about cultivating habits that lead to long-term achievement and success.  If enough people habitually fail to vote because they have no hope for their region or state, then your state is made weaker by a factor of your non-vote, and the non-vote of every other person who chooses apathy and inaction over caring and action.  Moreover, even if you someday move to an area of the country where you believe your vote will count for more, if you have cultivated habits of not voting for years previous, chances are that bad habits will carry the day once again.

It is an honor and privilege to live in this, the greatest Nation in the history of the World.  As citizens of this great nation, it is the duty of every eligible person to let his or her voice be heard at the ballot box.  Don't abdicate this precious right.  Let your voice be heart by voting tomorrow in the mid-term elections.

Today's article features a special reminder to VOTE tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4, 2014.  Regular blog posts of Dr. Jordan Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, will resume on Wednesday, November 6, 2014, continuing with Chapter 3: The Freedom to Change.

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