Get the facts. Analyze the facts. Make a decision. Act on that decision. 

Socrates

I came across Socrates' four-step formula for solving problems a number of years ago and have been continually impressed at the simplicity and effectiveness of his approach to solving problems and making the right choices. The formula can be used upon a moment's notice or with painstaking detail, depending on the circumstances.

For example, you might have an emergency that demands immediate, but correct, attention. Say, for instance, your hair is on fire. The process would work something like this: 1. Get the facts: My hair is on fire. 2. Analyze the facts: It hurts. 3. Make a decision: I will put out the fire. 4. Act on that decision: Put the fire out.

The beauty of this formula is that it is something that we naturally do in our everyday lives. But, miss just one step and be prepared to get burned! For instance, your boss offers you a raise at three times your present salary if you agree to be transferred to Alaska. You immediately agree without first discussing the decision with your spouse. You have skipped a step - prepare to get burned!

Now, for a moment, consider choices that arise on a daily basis. Say, for example, that you are a teenager who has been offered a beer by your "buddies". You should at this point pay close attention to that 2,500 year old Greek. Your thought process should run something like this: 1. Get the facts: I have been offered a beer. 2. Analyze the facts: It is illegal... it is wrong... Mom and Dad will kill me if they find out (and they will find out). 3. Make a decision: A live nerd is superior to a dead "King of Cool". 4. Act on that decision: No! I'm going home.

What kind of important decisions do you have to make in your life? Life is, after all, a series of choices.How we handle those choices will determine, to a great extent, our quality of life. We will look at how we must include God in this process tomorrow, but here is a hint:

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live... 

Deuteronomy 30:19, NIV

Act as if it were impossible to fail.

Dorothea Brande

One of the most important things I have learned from coaching hundreds of kids is the "magic" of confidence. The lesson didn't come quickly or easily. When I first begn coaching I had high expectations for my kids and it was very tempting to punish every failure. Eventually, however, I was to learn the secret that would propel my kids to a higher degree of success than I (or they) imagined possible: Instill confidence.

Easy to say but hard to do, I know, but when correctly implemented this one factor will allow individuals and teams to perform at the highest possible level. So, how do you instill confidence? The way I attempted  it with my kids was this: I taught them the right way to play and then insisted on 100% effort for the entire time that they played. Then, regardless of whether they made their shots or got their rebounds or completed their passes, they were given encouragement and approval.

The reason for giving approval even when their attempts were unsuccessful was this: Doing the right thing with all of one's ability is success. Sometimes a good shot with proper form just doesn't go in - but it's still a good shot. When kids (and adults) realize this truth it frees them to accomplish great things. When we understand that the only definition of success that counts is doing the right thing in the right way with 100% effort, then we will succeed every time.

It was this truth that allowed David, a shepherd boy, to beat Goliath. He was much smaller, younger, less experienced, and had fewer weapons and armor - but he still approached Goliath with the confidence that he could not fail. Why? It was because he had a righteous cause - he was absolutely in the right! David was willing to make his stand in the right way with 100% effort, and he knew by doing this that God would not allow him to fail. David did his part, and God did the rest. Would this kind of confidence help you in the most important areas of your life? Then, find the right way to do things, take your stand and act as if it were impossible to fail!

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty... All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's.

I Samuel 17:45 & 47, NIV

When you have a lemon, make lemonade. 

Julius Rosenwald

One of my favorite stories is about a man who bought a farm in Florida that didn't quite live  up to his expectations. When he arrived and actually looked at the farm, he found a worthless piece of land that was unfit for growing crops or raising livestock. As if that weren't bad enough, the entire property was filled with rattlesnakes. He was, to say the least, discouraged.

Now if the story ended here it wouldn't be much of a story. Had he done what many would do today he might have taken the sellers to court and sued them for misrepresentation. He might have blamed the government for not adequately protecting the public from unscrupulous real estate men or blamed God for not adequately protecting him from his own bad decisions. Instead, the man made lemonade.

After his initial disappointment, he sat down and figured out what he had. Since the only thing he had in abundance was rattlesnakes, he decided to do something with them. He began canning the meat and soon was shipping it all over the world. He sold the skins to be made into boots and handbags. He started selling the venom to the medical community, which then turned it into life-saving anti-venom. Tens of thousands of tourists visited his ranch in "Rattlesnake, Florida" every year. It became quite the lemonade stand.

I believe the reason that people such as this man are so impressive is that they are just like us: They have bad luck from time to time. What often sets them apart from us is that they do not wallow in their misfortune - instead, they do something about it. They look for the opportunity instead of indulging in self-pity.

It can be the same with us. When we can begin to transform life's lemons from something that makes sour-faced puckers into something that creates sweet smiles, then maybe we can begin to take a small amount of satisfaction that we are using this life in the right way. It is when we seize opportunity from the smoldering ashes of misfortune, that our lives begin to become what God has intended for them to be all along.

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 

Ephesians 5:15-16, NIV

How much longer do you think you will live? When you die... how long will you be dead?

These two questions have been around in some variation for a number of years, and they are great for helping us to regain some sort of perspective as to our mortality. We all have opinions as to how much longer we may have on this earth. It is fun to speculate and, at times, such speculation can be more than a bit scary.

Historians have plotted average lifespans for generations. Insurance companies live and die by their actuarial tables on lifespans. Health and fitness gurus make a living by promising people more years. Physicians, of course, do the same - and we are glad for them.

But the plain truth is that we will all die someday. The wise person will ask, "What then?" I used to worry about such things, but not so much anymore. The reason is that, while I have no earthly idea as to how much longer I will be here, I know for a fact Who holds my future. And... I trust Him! Do you?

The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength... Psalms 90:10, NIV

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. I Thessalonians 4:13-14, NIV