Tips for Teens

Continuing with The 7 Pillars of Manhood, strength is up next. Strength is very important (and I'm not just talking about the ability to bench press 250 pounds-although, if you can bench 250, good for you!). You must have strength in these four areas: Mental Strength A strong mind is one of your greatest assets. Making smart decisions, setting goals, and staying out of trouble takes a lot of intentional effort and it begins with a made up mind. Doing the right thing, even whe

If you follow college football, you know the Florida State Seminoles are pretty hot right now. After 27 straight victories, they know a few things about winning (and crab legs...j/k). I'm pretty sure their team goes into each game trained, prepared, rehearsed, and ready for battle. Before they get on the field, they run sprints, plays, and drills. They watch film and study their opponents. They know the opposing team's weaknesses and favorite plays. Most importantly, they hav

Some of you read the title or saw the pic and immediately thought "work out every day? Ain't nobody got time for that!" Hold your horses for a minute. I'm not talking about working outphysically every day (although that's not a bad idea). Check this out: just over a month ago, our school took a group of 64 young men to Leadership Academy at Outdoor Odyssey (LAOO) to develop their leadership potential. We teach these young men to be Ethical Protectors and to be balanced in the

I think we would all agree that when we're in pain, it sucks! The bottom line is that if you live long enough, you will endure some type of mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual pain. Whether the pain is the result of an accident, loss, caused by health conditions, or just poor decision-making, pain is inevitable (if you're riding on "cloud 9" right now and you're doing well, good for you but be sure to bookmark this post because you may need it at some point in life). I

The weather in Florida is usually beautiful. Sunny summers (and most winters), beautiful beaches, and semi-tropical climates make some of what I consider the most gorgeous scenery God has ever created. But there comes a time that Florida has all of it's natural beauty snatched away. It's called hurricane season. From June 1st to November 30th, Floridians are on watch for anything brewing in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. As soon as there is a hurricane on the way,

I'm not into college football much unless my team is playing, the University of Central Florida (UCF) Golden Knights. I have two degrees from UCF so I can say legitimately say "my team". It's okay, we'll welcome all bandwagoners with open arms. For those of you that are mumbling under your breath, I already know that we're not a big team in the SEC, ACC, or any of those other conferences. Either way, I started UCF in the fall of 1998 as a freshman and back then, we had Daunte

I had a chance to talk with some young men over the past few weeks and one consistent thing I continue to hear is that the “good guys” don’t get recognized for doing the right thing by their friends (depending on your group of friends). One young man said, “yeah, no one’s like ‘hey, he really did an awesome job on that English paper’”. It just doesn’t happen. What seems to be the case is that many teens get recognition for doing the risky, unbelievable, and down right stupid

I love roller coasters, so much so that I went to what is considered the roller coaster capital of the United States a few years ago. Cedar Point, in Ohio, has 16 roller coasters (tied with Canada's Wonderland for the 2nd most roller coasters in the world!). My favorite ride is the Top Thrill Dragster. This coaster goes from 0-120 miles per hour in under 4 seconds and climbs to 420 feet in the air. It was ridiculously fast and scary (I cried a little on that one). But one

I had a chance to hang out with my three older sisters, younger brother, one of my brothers-in-law, nine of my ten nieces and nephews, and my God-sister for the past two days. We went to Clearwater Beach and Indian Rocks Beach in Florida to chill after celebrating the 4th of July. We had a good time playing Scattegories, Taboo, and laughing. I know you're probably thinking, "what does this have to do with changing your view"? I'm glad you asked. When we arrived in Clearwate

If you put a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 up against a Toyota Prius, we all know that the Aventador will spank the Prius left and right, in the short run. The Lamborghini is designed for performance. It can accelerate with lightning-fast speeds and handle the corners with so much G-force, you just might break a rib. It also looks more aggressive and to the average sports car enthusiast, the Aventador would be the choice (assuming both were free of charge). The Aventador is

One thing that bothers me is laziness. Someone waiting for the next person to do everything for them is a drain. Another thing that gets under my skin is when a person half does a job or does it carelessly. You've probably experienced that disgruntled customer service rep that doesn't want to be on the job. Or you may have been partnered with with someone on a group project that's known for being a slacker. It's annoying right? No one wants to receive someone's half best or w

My family loves to play cards. Their game of choice is Spades and when we play, it gets pretty ugly and loud but it's so much fun. I don’t play Spades that often but when I do, I play to win. Sometimes I’m dealt a good hand and sometimes my cards are a bunch of junk. Either way, I have very little choice in the cards I’m dealt but I have to play my hand the best I know how and hope my partner has something good to help us win the game. As you know, there’s always a life analo

One reader asked me to write about moving on and forgetting about the past so here goes. I heard a Pastor once say that the windshield of a car is bigger than the car's rear view mirror. He used the analogy to illustrate the point that what's in front of you is much more important than what you see behind you. He also said the windshield is a lot larger than the rear view mirror. Through the windshield, you can see where you're headed while the rear view mirror shows a glimps

I'll be honest and say I have been thinking about this tip for nearly a week and I never thought I would need it the most this week. Life is tough sometimes and if you have never experienced the ups and downs yet, keep living. You will be disappointed, have friends that let you down, make poor decisions, and things sometimes seem to turn out for the worst. You have to keep moving and never give up. If you know that you have God-given dreams, goals, and passion, stick to them