CLN Blog

^"6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." - Isaiah 25:6-8 (NIV)

False Narrative: Great leaders strive for immediate results

True Narrative: Great leaders strive for the ultimate result

"Great leaders never lose sight of the big picture." - Randall Sean Garcia

The truth is that "Vision-Driven Leaders" see things differently than the average person. They are driven by a vision that is bigger than themselves and they are motivated to...

• Exhausted
• Overworked
• Overwhelmed
• Over-scheduled
• Anxious
• Dissatisfied

It’s an issue that applies to everyone it seems. No matter if you run a successful business, non-profit, corporation or church... These words might sneak up on you. No matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, professionals or parents, women or men, Republicans or Democrats, it doesn't matter. This is an issue that doesn't discriminate. It's clearly a global issue.

• If you are feeling exhausted, it might be because you haven’t allowed yourself enough time to rest. 
• If you are feeling anxious, it might be because you want something to change and happen that is outside of your control.
• If you are feeling overwhelmed, it might...

I’ll be honest, I haven’t always got this one right. It took me a few years to structure my life in a way that would help me…

1. Love God more
2. Love my wife better
3. Lead my kids intentionally
4. Take care of my body and mind better
5. Grow and scale my businesses faster
6. Serve my community with greater impact
7. Give my time and money more consistently
8. Just simply lead an all around better life.

Through years of trial and error, trying to balance so many aspects of life and making mistakes along the way, I realized that it is possible to achieve both balance and impact.

There were 3 key realizations I had that helped me make significant strides towards this (although at times I still fail).

Realization #1

The more I tried to please others, the more I said “yes” to things that truly didn’t align with what I needed to do and who I needed to be. Therefore, saying “yes” to those things practically derailed any type of progress I could...

I had a typical goal last year. I wanted to read more... a lot more! I wanted 2017 to be a huge boost in my self development journey, so I did what many people do and headed to Barnes and Nobles Bookstore to look at some books that I could read throughout the year. I pulled out my iPhone, made a new note in my Evernote app entitled "Books to Read in 2017" and started making a list of the books that peaked my interest. My goal was to choose 12 books in the bookstore so that I could read one book per month. I gazed through the many book titles by highly acclaimed authors, I couldn't help but continue to build my list.

My list kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Finally, I stepped away and found a table nearby and started to go through my long list of books. I was shocked to find that my book tally was well over one hundred! I reminded myself that I could only choose 12 books from the list, and then did that math and figured that at this rate it would take almost 10 years to...

Does this sound like you?

• I am experiencing signs of burnout.
• I have too many irons in the fire.
• I feel like I’m spread too thin.
• I’m running on a hamster wheel.
• I feel like throwing spaghetti on the wall!
• Do you feel like you are majoring in minor activities?
• Do you feel like you are busy but not productive?
• Do you feel over-worked and underutilized?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is to concentrate on your life essentials! 

One of the biggest problems that exists in our work culture today is that we have the tendency to value those who are full of projects and tasks. We place value on those who are at every single meeting and are always there whenever they are needed. Although this may seem like a great quality, this type of tendency will lead to the consequences listed above. These people will feel overwhelmed, burnt out and spread too thin. Let’s talk about something that is much more effective, the way of the essentialist.
By...

Generational gaps are REAL. Often times people of different generations don't quite understand each other. I have often been asked, "Randall, can you help me understand millennials? What tips can you give me to understand how millennials think?" Well, those are some loaded questions, and to be honest there's not a real answer for this. Most people seem a bit disappointed when I break the news to them that there's no magic formula or secret code for breaking into the mind of the millennial generation. I can offer helpful advice on understanding culture, mindset and communication, but we won't get anywhere without first understanding the 5 Laws of Generational Understanding.

Through much of my research and studies on generations over the past few years, I have developed these 5 laws as a foundation for my Bridge leadership program which helps organizations bridge generational gaps. I have seen an extensive need for this message to be spread and these laws adopted because of the lack...

I recently wrote a blog on How To Turn Your Resolutions Into SMARTER Goals to show the clear distinction between making a counterproductive resolutions, setting generic goals, and setting SMARTER goals. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with resolutions or goal setting, but I do have a problem with goal setting that has an extreme lack of details, planning, and accountability. A New Year's resolution, to me, is a baby step in the right direction of goal setting, but they aren't equal. Even goal setting is decent on it's own, but there is something that is much more effective! If everyone did this, it would be an absolute KILLER for New Year's Resolutions. People would have much more clarity in their lives, they would live every single day with more intention, and they would absolutely crush their goals. More dreams would be achieved, more small businesses would thrive, and six-pack abs would be more common among top-performing professionals (that's not a...

Think of your favorite athlete. Now think about your favorite musician. How about your favorite businessman, entrepreneur, speaker, writer? Many successful people may have several things in common such as determination, persistence and a hard-work ethic. These traits are good to have but there is one quality that sets these successful people apart from the rest.  I discovered something that is arguably more important. The lazy answer is to say developing successful habits because habits sustain you over a long period of time. Simply stating that it is important to develop successful habits doesn't really mean anything to me. I'm the type of person that asks way too many annoying questions like...