Self-Action Leadership Training for Individuals

What if You Could Squeeze Nearly THREE Decades of Knowledge, Experience, Study, and Research into ONE Comprehensive Self-Help Book and Personal Leadership Guide?

Self-Action Leadership by Dr. Jordan Jensen

ANSWER: You'd have in YOUR hands a copy of SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP, the Premier Self-Help Guide of the 21st Century.  

This week's post introduces Self-Action Leadership training for individuals.  I am extra excited about this week's article, because writing it has taken me on a pleasantly nostalgic trip down memory lane to some of the greatest joys of my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

I have always loved the printed page.  I was blessed to be born into a family that valued books—especially my father.  This love was fueled no doubt by whatever children's books my parents or older siblings read to me as a little boy.

But it seemed to me to go beyond that.  It seemed to be innate—as if my love of reading and writing and studying had been developed spiritually before I was even born—and that these proclivities had naturally accompanied me on my journey into this world as well.

As such, I felt unusually drawn to books and other written material from before I could even read.  For example, I remember a childhood neighbor friend coming over to my house one day. I was in kindergarten at the time and could not yet read myself.  She, however, was a big first grader and could read.  Enamored by her special skill I had not yet accrued myself, I admiringly directed her into our little playhouse under the stairs in our home, sat her down, took out a report of some sort that looked extra important and sophisticated (which I had retrieved from my Dad's office waste basket—my office supply shop for playing "office") and admiringly asked her to read it to me.  I don't remember what she read off of whatever it was I handed her (chances are good she couldn't read much of it) but I do remember being impressed!  I could hardly wait until the day arrived when I could finally read on my own.

Later, after I had learned to read and write myself, my perspective opened up to the wonderful world of books.  This introduction and discovery opened up a veritable Heaven on Earth to me.

First, there was my own growing collection of books (by the age of 23, I had amassed a library of over 500 volumes).  Then there was the scattered collection of books throughout my home, the mother load of which was ensconced in my Dad's personal office library, which he kindly allowed me to peruse at my leisure (including permission to read his personal journals).  Beyond that, I was introduced to school and public libraries, and the expansive University library at BYU where my Mother attended school during summer terms to finish her Bachelor's degree in between the years 1988 and 1992.

The grandest private library I had access to was in my maternal Grandmother's home.  Grandma and Grandpa Smith's library dwarfed my own father's sizable collection, and I spent some of the most cherished hours of my childhood there—alone—in the midst of those thousands of books, many of which were older and emanated that pleasant "old-book smell."  Grandma kindly allowed me to search her stacks to my heart's content.  In addition, she generously allowed me to borrow those I found to be most wonderful of all.

Upon her passing, there seemed to be a lack of clarity about how the books were going to be apportioned.  Worried that this ambiguity might stretch on for some time, I wisely secured a stack of my favorites before the moving truck arrived.  In hindsight, I should have taken more than I did.  I never saw the rest of those books again.  I heard that they initially went to a storage unit.  I do not know where they are today.

Jensen Family in 1989
I am the little boy on the bottom right

I come from a large family.  Of my six siblings, I am the youngest of five boys.  My four older brothers are all at least 8 years older than me.  Because of this salient separation in our ages, my brothers were, in many way, more like uncles or surrogate fathers to me than brothers.  This was not a bad thing because they treated me kindly and with a lot of respect, especially in light of how many typical older brothers treat their kid brother.  This tender regard for me only strengthened the near-worshipful veneration I admiringly bestowed upon my brothers.  The pedestal upon which my young eyes placed them caused me to want to know and do everything they knew and did.  This translated into many different hobbies and behaviors, the foremost of which was to take interest in the sports my brothers competed in and the books they were studying at school and church.

"Doing" my trigonometry homework in
our backyard on a warm, sunny,
Arizona afternoon.

One of my most beloved childhood practices was to borrow my brothers' textbooks to look through and then copy out of—pretending I was doing the same advanced high school homework they were.  As such, I became acquainted (at least in name) to calculus, chemistry, physics, English and American literature, trigonometry, economics, theology, etc.

One of the most satisfying single moments of my entire boyhood occurred one Friday evening after returning from a high school football game to find the books Hamlet and Othello sitting on my desk in my bedroom.  I had been begging my brothers to get them for me from their high school library (which I could not personally access).  They kindly acquiesced, and forever after viewed their lending of those two books to me (which I could hardly read and not in the least bit understand as a second grade) as a precious token of brotherly love and affection.

As I matured in both age and reading ability, I began to actually study books more seriously.  As I grew into my teen years, I discovered that I especially liked books related to personal development and self-leadership.  The seeds of this passion were sunned and watered by my reading of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People and Dr. David J. Schwartz's The Magic of Thinking Big—both outstanding self-help books of antiquity from deep into the last century, and both of which I found on the bookshelves in my own home.  This was followed by my introduction to the work of my uncle, Hyrum W. Smith as well as Stephen R. Covey, Anthony Robbins, Norman Vincent Peale, and others.  I was hooked!

Teaching action shot of Dr. Jordan Jensen from 2012

While serving a 2-year mission for my Church, I discovered that I loved to teach as much, if not more, than I loved to read and write and study.  This natural blend of pre-sown personal proclivities, wonderful opportunities to nurture those seeds, and my growing chance to apply what I was learning led me, in time, to choose a career in education, and more specifically in the fields of self-help and personal development.

Along the way, I devoured additional self-help books and found that my interest was always piqued when my coursework included literature that possessed literary self-help or philosophical value (for example, as an English major, I made the fortuitous acquaintance of writers like Donne, Franklin, Emerson, Thoreau, Frost, etc.).  My passion for such literature was borne not just out of the joy and satisfaction that study itself brought to me, but because I needed the wisdom and help these authors afforded in my quest to overcome my own weaknesses, build upon my strengths, and work through perplexing life challenges I was facing—like my battle with OCD.

Click HERE to read about Dr. Jordan Jensen's battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Click HERE to read Part II

One book in particular—The Greatest Secret in the World by Og Mandino—I used on a daily basis for 45 straight weeks in a religious effort to work through my OCD and other challenges I was facing at the time.  To this day, that book—filled with all of my notes of progression, setbacks, and insights along the way—serves as a sacred reminder to me the value of investing great time, energy, passion, effort, and the will to do whatever is necessary to overcome oneself to reach greater heights and states of being in the future.

Within a few years of my Mandino experiment, I had figured out that one of my missions in life was to write my own book that could help other people in a similar way that all of these other books I had read had helped, inspired, and lifted me in my own life's journey and helped me to transcend or manage my own life's obstacles.  Recognizing I had already amassed a great deal of knowledge and insight on the subject, I set to work.  In 2005, I published my first book—I Am Sovereign: The Power of Personal Leadership.  It was directed to a teenage and young adult audience.  It was not commercially successful, but it was a building block in my early career that bolstered my confidence and opened up doorways of additional professional opportunity.

Back cover of Dr. Jordan Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership

Ten years and a lot of reading, studying, research, and life experience later, I published what I intend to be my seminal work on the subject of personal leadership.  I call the book Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.  No matter how old I live to be, and no matter how many books I write during the course of my career, I hope that this one book remains my seminal work—and is never surpassed in its eventual commercial success.

Why?

Because this ONE book provides a synergistic accumulation and unique presentation of everything I have ever learned that has benefitted me in the field of personal development and self-help over the course of the last three decades; and because I believe that this one book will be more helpful to a broader swath of society than any other book I will ever write.  Any additional books I write in the future will merely be an appendage to this seminal text.

The past several weeks I have written about how Self-Action Leadership training (along with the book) can benefit corporate and business audiences as well as educational groups (i.e. schools and classrooms).  In weeks to come, I will write about how civic leaders, parents, and persons dealing with or treating mental illness can benefit from studying the material, as well as sharing the information and providing training for their constituents, dependents, and patients.  But in the last analysis, Self-Action Leadership is, was designed to be, and I hope always will be, used primarily as a personal manual—an all-in-one comprehensive self-help guide and workbook that can bless the lives of those who read it, study it, and do the homework assignments contained therein.

Speaking of the homework assignments contained therein, one of the unique and most beneficial features of the text is a personal leadership challenge that we at Freedom Focused call The Self-Action Leadership (or SAL) Master Challenge.

This challenge consists of 25 concrete exercises that invites YOU—the reader—to do more than just read the book.  It encourages you to study the material, learn new vocabulary words, begin a personal journal and complete other relevant writing assignments, set goals, engage in activities of self-discipline, and eventually to write your own Self-Declaration of Independence & Constitution where you will begin to identify your life and career vision, mission, values, standards, goals, etc.

Click HERE and scroll toward the bottom of article to read more about writing your own Self-Declaration of Independence & Constitution.

Click HERE to watch a video of Dr. Jordan Jensen explaining the principle of writing a Self-Declaration of Independence & Constitution.

Those who undertake and complete the SAL Master Challenge will receive a special diploma (non-accredited) and medal to commemorate their achievement.  Their names will also be recorded on the Freedom Focused website where they will remain as long as Freedom Focused stands as The Center for Self-Action Leadership.

The SAL Challenge is NOT an easy challenge.  You will not be able to complete it quickly—and that is the point!  After nearly 30 years of studying the subject of personal development and self-help, and more importantly, after nearly THREE decades of working tirelessly to improve myself in the process, I have acquired the expertise necessary to create a comprehensive guide that will provide you—in one volume—with all of the essential principles, practices, and other elements contingent in the process of human existential growth and development.  And the good news is you don't have to spend nearly 30 years figuring it all out because I've already done it for you.  All you have to do is get the book, read it, complete the SAL Challenge, and then forever benefit from the blessings that come from the acquisition of vital knowledge in concert with the dedicated pursuit of self-work, self-sacrifice, goal setting, and personal discipline.

Click HERE to buy Dr. Jordan Jensen's book — SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP

After you have finished reading the book and have completed the SAL Master Challenge, I invite you to email me to tell me about what you are learning and share your experiences.  I look forward to hearing from you!  You can reach me personally at jordan.jensen@freedomfocused.com

Note: This article is one of SIX articles in a special series dedicated to different AUDIENCES that Freedom Focused specifically targets with Self-Action Leadership training. We invite leaders and managers of these different audiences to click on links below to read the articles pertaining to your field or constituency.

Click HERE to access article for  BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS (Leaders, Managers, & Workers)

Click HERE to access article for  EDUCATORS  (Administrators, Teachers, & Staff)

Click HERE to access article for  STUDENTS & INDIVIDUALS

Click HERE to access article for PARENTS & FAMILIES

Click HERE to access article for ELECTED OFFICIALS, LEADERS, & ROLE MODELS

Click HERE to access article for PERSONS dealing with MENTAL ILLNESS

Self-Action Leadership  ~  The Book

SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.


Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.

Back Cover of Self-Action Leadership, the Book

Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation.  As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures.  We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.

Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.

To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."

Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.

Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen.  Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.







  

SAL Book: How I Came to Develop Self-Action Leadership

The Seeds of Self-Help

This chapter tells the story of my background with self-help literature and chronicles the journey that led to the development of the SAL Theory & Model.

Hyrum W. Smith,  FranklinCovey Co-founder

In 1994, Warner Books published my Uncle Hyrum’s, The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management, which eventually sold over a million copies. The summer of that year, I worked on Hyrum’s ranch in Southwestern Utah. I was 14 years old.


The work of a ranch hand was tedious, dusty, and physically strenuous. Summer days were dry and hot, with temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. For most of us, our daily commute included a ride in the back of an old, white Ford pickup truck. One week, we were scheduled to build a fence up in the mountains many miles away from our bunkhouse. Facing a long, bumpy road ahead of me on the way to work each day for a week or so, I decided to take a book along to read. The books title was, The Magic of Thinking Big, by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Once I started reading, it was hard to stop, and not just because I enjoyed reading more than digging post holes in the desert. I enjoyed the book so much that I would sometimes read at lunchtime, and after work was over. I kept reading until I had read, marked, and annotated the entire book. The words of Schwartz’s message sunk deep into my mind and heart, spawning rich daydreams about my potential. I was motivated by the fact that I didn’t have to be a ranch hand for the rest of my life. I was further inspired by the idea that I could ultimately design my life largely according to my own desires if I was willing to pay the price over time. When I read the words, “When you believe, your mind finds ways to do,” [1] I was inspired by the personal power and capacity I possessed to accomplish difficult tasks and achieve meaningful accomplishments.
 

At this point in my life, I already had a nascent conceptualization of SAL, and took interest in other self-help books and audio and visual programs. This material included Tony Robbins’ Unlimited Power, and his world-famous audiocassettes, Personal Power. [2] There was also Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking for Young People. And I’ll always cherish reading my Dad’s personal copy of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. He had purchased his copy in the mid-1960s as a young missionary in England, and it had that wonderful “old book” smell. At this time, I was also introduced to material from Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and others.

When I was in eighth grade, my mom started collecting Gary Smalley’s relationship videos. [3] Though it would be years before I would start looking seriously at exclusive dating or marriage, I enjoyed watching these programs with my Mom, and learned a great deal about personality differences and successfully cultivating intimate relationships.

My oldest brother Paul—a successful salesman—shared my passion for personal development material and sent me a videotape of the famous business philosopher, Jim Rohn. Later, as a direct salesman, I was re-introduced to Rohn. While I ultimately failed as a direct salesman and network marketer, his address on Building Your Network Marketing Company has enormously influenced my thought processes about the price of success generally speaking.

In high school, I also attended a couple of Peter Lowe’s day-long-success seminars where I had the chance to hear high profile speakers such as President Gerald Ford, General Colin Powell, Zig Ziglar, Karl Malone, and others speak and teach on subjects related to personal development, self-improvement, and success. Shortly after graduating from high school, I also read my uncle’s book, The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management. Through this extended process of association, the seeds of SAL were deeply implanted in my mind, heart, and soul.

“Sow a thought, reap an action; Sow an action, reap a habit;

Sow a habit, reap a character; Sow a character, reap a destiny.”

– William James (1842-1910)

 

My son, Tucker, with my 7 Habits book

Later on in college, I voraciously consumed Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which planted powerful seeds of knowledge in my mind that produced deep desires to begin constructing my own model of self-leadership. I also diligently practiced and completed Og Mandino’s 45-week challenge outlined in his book, The Greatest Secret in the World. Over a long period of time, I gradually developed and refined my own thoughts on self-leadership that would eventually evolve into the SAL Theory and Model.

At age 25, I began harvesting my ideas on the subject; the construction of the SAL Theory and Model had begun. At age 26, I published my first book, I Am Sovereign: The Power of Personal Leadership, a self-leadership guide for teenagers, which contained my first version of the SAL Model. I developed the SAL Theory later on as a part of my doctoral research. This book is several iterations removed from this original work. It has been an exhilarating journey to observe its gradual evolution into the book you now hold in your hands.

Notes:

[1] Schwartz, D. J. (1995). The Magic of Thinking Big. London, UK: Pocket Books. Page 122.
[2] Years later when I moved to Georgia for the first time, I went through many of Robbins’ Unlimited Power II tapes.
[3] These programs focused on family relationships, especially between husband and wife.

What Happens When I Fail?

When personal leadership pundits, like myself, write on the subject of goal setting, we typically focus on the importance of setting goals, as well as the satisfaction and benefits that result from accomplishing them. But there are other lessons to be learned from the process. These “other” lessons are sometimes counterintuitive to the virtues of traditional goal setting. Today’s post is about some of these less-heralded lessons.

Back in January, I ran my best marathon time. It was extremely satisfying and fulfilling. I was hoping to build on that success and do even better in my next marathon in March. When race day came, it was unpleasantly wet and humid, and my head, heart, and body struggled to get "into" the race. The moisture and humidity slowed virtually everyone's time down, and I was no different. To my chagrin, I not only missed my Boston Qualifying time again (My 11th failure to do so), I ran 37 minutes slower than in January.

The following day, I nursed my disappointment by committing again to do whatever was necessary to reach my goal, which had become so important to me. In the midst of this determined resolve borne, quite frankly, of self-disgust, I received an email from a personal mentor, who is also one of my goal accountability partners. This mentor -- Dr. Christopher P. Neck -- just happens to have completed 12 marathons himself, including the elite Boston and New York Marathons.

I can honestly say his email changed my life as it relates to my marathoning goals.

His response to the news of what I believed was a horrible performance was different than I expected. He taught me some important lessons about goal setting, life balance, and life in general. Here are some excerpts from his e-mail:

JJ,

Congrats on another marathon finish.

You know, with marathons you are going to have good days and you are going to have bad days. That is just the nature of the marathon distance. Regardless of training, you never know what is going to happen on race day.
Now, I'm not going to give you what you probably want to hear, but here goes: Celebrate the victory, man! You just ran 26.2 miles. However you slice it, that is a good day.

Moving forward, I suggest a different self-leadership perspective. You now have a son. He could care less about your weight, or PR, or your training approaches. What he sees and will grow up seeing is a dad who places emphasis on fitness. What an amazing thing.
To be honest, I see too much rigidness and stress in your process. To me, the fact that your weight is down 15 pounds, you just ran a marathon, and you've been able to train as you have with a baby/toddler, you are the man! Lighten up on yourself and enjoy the ride....

Fascinatingly, another of my goal accountability partners and mentors -- my older brother Joe, who is also a Boston Marathon qualifier -- sent me a shorter e-mail with a similar message. Such upbeat words and attitudes from two Boston Qualifiers I have great respect for helped frame the situation in its proper perspective. It also alleviated an enormous amount of unnecessary self-inflicted pressure. Instead of feeling sorry for myself because I had run poorly on race day, I began to feel good about the significant effort I had invested, and the fact that I made the attempt at all. I also began to reevaluate my goals in light of my life’s present circumstances.

Having a son -- who turned one last week -- has forever changed my life for the better. It has also left me with less discretionary time to train for marathons. In addition, my professional schedule, which includes a lot of travel, has become increasingly demanding this year. In light of these life realities, and after failing 11 times to meet the Boston qualifying standard, I have come to the conclusion that I may need to wait until I am older and the qualifying time isn’t so difficult. And thanks to the wise advice of my respected friend and brother, if that happens, I will be okay with it! I can still continue to run for fitness, focus on enjoying the process, and return to racing at shorter distances, which I have always enjoyed more and been better at anyway.

This does not mean I plan to give up on my marathon goal. I still have two more chances this year in June and October, and I plan to give it my best shot in both races. But if I don’t make it after that, I am going to temporarily retire from the marathon distance until I have more time freedom and a less competitive qualifying time. In the meantime, I will continue to run for fitness and the simple joy I get from running without unhealthily impinging on my family life, professional career, or personal mental hygiene.

Tony Robbins has said:

“When you succeed, you tend to party; but when you fail, you tend to ponder.”

I am grateful for the opportunity this “failure” has provided me to ponder my marathon goal in the greater context of my life. I am also grateful for the blessing of mentors and goal accountability partners who help me to keep things in their proper perspective. Sometimes that means, rather ironically, lowering my own ambitious standards. This has given me greater patience, more realistic expectations, and allowed me to better ENJOY the process!



Points to Ponder:

Are there any personal or professional goals you would be wise to revise based on your personal situation, or your life’s true priorities?

Do you currently have mentors and goal accountability partners who can counsel you as you pursue your personal vision, mission, and goals? If not, who will you ask to do so?