Category Archives: Parenting

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3 Questions to Find the PERFECT Christmas Gift

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“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” Calvin Coolidge

Merry Christmas.

I love the Christmas season. The energy, the lights, family gatherings, great food, and of course a smattering of gifts has always been an enjoyable time of year for me. But, beyond all of these, I’ve always understood that there is something vitally more important.

Christmas is a time for us to honor Christ. Yes, we know it is the season that we celebrate the birth of Christ.

But, celebrating the birth of Christ is about much more than singing “Joy to the World”,  hanging a stocking for Jesus over the fireplace, or reading the Christmas story from the bible.

While all of these are great traditions to honor as part of the Christmas celebration, they are not ultimately how to fundamentally celebrate Christ.

No. Celebrating the birth of Christ always begins at the same place. Giving gifts.

Well, that might not sound like any grand revelation. Just a glance under the Christmas tree will prove that there is no shortage of gift giving in many of our homes. In fact, one might argue that most of us give too much.

In fact, a recent Gallup poll estimates that on average Americans will spend close to $800 this Christmas season. And, it isn’t just an American thing. British sources estimate nearly double that amount.

So, indeed, there is plenty of gift giving. But, here is the problem.

Very little of this gift giving is honoring the birth of Christ.

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LYH36: 15 Goals Everyone Should Pursue in 2015 [PODCAST]

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: 15 Goals Everyone Should Pursue in 2015
  • Lesson Principle: “If You Don’t Set Goals for Yourself, Someone Else Will Set Yours For Them”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/2015goals

There is one not so secret about those people who achieve great things. They set and commit to goals. The most successful achievers commit to four types of goals (personal growth, healthy lifestyle, networking, and helping others).

If you cannot commit to all of them, then choose at least two personal growth and healthy lifestyle goals and one networking and servant goal.

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LYH35: Four Steps to a Grateful Thanksgiving [PODCAST]

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Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: Four Ways to a Grateful Thanksgiving
  • Branding Expert: Dick Bruso, Heard Above the Noise
  • Lesson Principle: “Your Gratitude Determines Your Altitude”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/thanksgiving2014

No matter your condition, thankfulness is a choice.

I would like you to consider four steps to choose thankfulness this Thanksgiving.

Step 1: As specifically as you can write down the ten things that you are most grateful for this year. 

Here’s my top-10 to guide your own list generation.

The Top 10 Things for Which I’m Most Grateful in 2014

  1. My wife’s personal commitment to being more grateful and its impact on our home
  2. My sister’s (Letitia) pregnancy and impending delivery–due date December 2nd. This is the first child (Kennedy) that one of my sister’s will have.
  3. Successfully completed a 12-month vegetarian fast (with my spouse) in which I consecrated myself to the pursuit of my purpose
  4. My children’s (Quilan and Kyrsten’s) academic success in grad school and high school respectively
  5. Launching a new website with 35 consecutive weeks of new blog posts and podcasts
  6. Spending two days with a branding expert (Dick Bruso) to develop the PERFECT brand for me (stay tuned for more information about that)
  7. Spending seven days in Trinidad with one of my best friends (Paula) and her husband (Philip Thompson)
  8. Spending two days in Atlanta with a couple (Pastors Wesley and Rose Marie Greene) who I think of as spiritual mentors
  9. Launching a MasterMind group with an amazing group of achievers
  10. Finishing my first 10-mile Broad Street run in Philadelphia (along with 35,000 others)

Step 2: Identify the Thankfulness Themes  that are evident from your Top 10 list.

Step 3: Express your thankfulness to the people that you mentioned on your list

Step 4: Thank God from whom all blessings flow

Leave a comment and let me know for what you are thankful. Can’t wait to hear it.

I wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving holidays.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

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Four Steps to a Grateful Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving week!  Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s about family, food, and festivity. But, most importantly, it is a time to be intentional in reminiscing about how blessed I am. Too often we focus on the disappointments and the failures without being truly thankful. In a real way, thankfulness is the key to happiness and success in all your endeavors. How thankful are you? Today, I would like you and me to deeply consider our gratitude.

Even as I write this, I am extremely disappointed with some news I received today. I invested a lot of emotional, financial, and spiritual resources in this endeavor. And, right now it feels like it was for naught. I am still in a somewhat disoriented state from the news.

This then is the absolute perfect time to deeply consider all for which I am grateful. I choose not to focus on the reality of my disappointment. Rather, I will prioritize my gratefulness.

I choose to remember the people that touched me this year (including my awesome wife and children). I choose to focus on the breakthroughs that I gained.  I choose to deliberate on the amazing future that I expect to have.

No matter your condition, thankfulness is a choice.

I would like you to consider four steps to choose thankfulness this Thanksgiving.

Step 1: As specifically as you can write down the ten things that you are most grateful for this year.

Be specific. In other words, don’t just write that you are thankful for your spouse. Record specifically what your spouse did this year that makes you particularly thankful.

Here’s my top-10 to guide your own list generation.

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LYH34: How to Fail Your Way to Success [PODCAST]

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Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: How to Fail Your Way to Success
  • Relationship Educator: Dr. Johnny and Lezlyn Parker
  • Life Coach: Rev Niki Brown
  • Lesson Principle: “If you’re too afraid to fail then you’re too comfortable to succeed.”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/failtosuccess

Successful thinkers understand that as achievers they must fail their way to success. In this week’s podcast I discuss the ten steps to fail your way to success.