Blog is Moving!

For all of you that didn't unsubscribe during my blogging draught, I truly appreciate you. Really.

I've used this time to buy a new house, get adjusted to a new job, travel more, do some awesome stuff, and even begin a new website leading to a new blog as well. It's at jandrewgreen.com. Check it out! Thanks for reading and sticking with me.

- AG

A Celebration of Gratitude

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine. First off, any day where football, turkey, and sweet potatoes are staples has a great place in my heart. Aside from the Thanksgiving essentials, something has always appealed to me about a day to just celebrate what we are all thankful for. Gifts are fun, sure. But Thanksgiving removes those from the equation altogether. It's like people aren't even given the chance to be thankful for material things but only those that actually make the holiday special (football, turkey, and sweet potatoes, of course).

But seriously, in the face of a society that is constantly attempting to take away our state of thankfulness, it is our job to maintain that sense of gratitude. Black Friday deals began in my little town at 6 PM on Thursday. Despite what any salesman will tell you, the first step in a selling process is not to satisfy a need. The idea is to make the customer realize a need in the first place.

Unfortunately, we are constantly allowing our culture to tell us what those needs actually are. Don't get me wrong, I love the deals to be snatched up on Black Friday. I, myself, am particularly proud of my new drill. My point is that our priorities tend to be incredibly misplaced.

For my wife and I, our first Thanksgiving in our new home was spent with a visit from both of our families. We relaxed, played games, threw the football, cleaned house, ate, and even had a family-wide game of basketball. What a fantastic holiday. Obviously, we had a great time.

During this particular holiday weekend, I have had the privilege to spend some time reflecting. In addition to being incredibly thankful for my lovely wife and supportive family, I am grateful for what the past year has brought our way. My wife and I have bought our first house, taken new jobs, and joined a new church. I find myself thinking about the friends we have been blessed with in our new town (who may or may not be reading this blog for the first time - hey, guys!).

The journey to where we are now as a couple has been unbelievable and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am very thankful for the life I have been given to live. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Don't Let The Clock Run Your Life

Good advice from my wife. The morning scenario is pretty classic for us. I enjoy getting up early, getting ready for the day, and then relaxing a little before having to head out the door. She prefers to do her relaxing on the front end in the bed. Neither way is wrong, we just do it differently. One Sunday morning while getting ready for church, we begin a discussion that is never effective. It consists of each of us attempting to convince the other why our way of waking up is the best.

Like I said, neither of us are ever convinced that the other is right on this particular issue. But the point she tends to make in these discussions is a good one: Don't let the clock run your life. Please make sure not to miss-quote me on this one. There are many benefits to being on time and many scenarios where being late will hurt more than it will help. Being on time shows your preparedness and professionalism as well. The contention here is that when people allow clocks and time to run their lives, they are not taking the time necessary to really enjoy life to its fullest.

How do I know that? Simple. People who run their days by the clock very rarely schedule down-time. The reason for this is because they believe that their time is far too valuable to be spent "goofing off" or "being lazy." While I do not condone laziness at all, time always needs to be taken to simply relax and enjoy life.

Being the type-A personality that I am, it is very easy for me to schedule every minute of my day with productivity. While my boss is thrilled with this aspect of my personality, it is not always beneficial. Why is that? How can I literally spend every waking minute doing something productive or beneficial and it not be a good thing? I asked the same thing. I realized that there were people who got less accomplished in a given day but were much more satisfied with the day they had.

I came to realize that the difference was in allowance for down-time. While my schedule was completely screwed up if something didn't go as planned, their's was just fine because of the time allotted for relaxation. My solution was to run my day by not really running it at all. Outside of work, my day is very rarely scheduled ahead of time. Whims and random road trips are acceptable now because there is no schedule that they are messing up. My only rule now is to focus on what really matters. If it is a question between blogging or randomly taking my wife to dinner...she wins every time. My relationship with her matters more to me than just about anything else in this world and that always comes first.

Make time for those little things that really matter by de-cluttering your schedule. Trust me. When you make time for the things that make a difference, everything else can wait. In a hundred years, people are probably not going to be counting the number of blog posts I have written, the amount of time spent playing the guitar, or the intensity of my workouts. They will only look back and have memories. Those are the things in which to really invest some time.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Preparing for Change

Before you get any ideas...we're not having a baby yet. But the past couple of weeks have been spent becoming mentally prepared for change. My wife and I have made a couple of major employment decisions, we will be moving to a new state, and starting a new life.

Do I feel like change is a bad thing? Absolutely not. But human beings were designed to be creatures of habit in order to make our lives easier. Your brain going on auto pilot is one of the greatest gifts God gave you. So when circumstances arise that shake things up, you become stressed because your body is not looking for something like that to happen.

But change molds you. It enables you to grow as a person and as a professional. Thought it be uncomfortable, change produces results. If your workout routine always stays the same, you never improve. I believe it was Einstein who first verbalized the idea that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting to get a different result.

Is it challenging? Sure. But you have to challenge yourself in the change process in order to produce any results. Mentally, it is a strenuous process to know that change is coming. But being able to look past the actual change to the results and opportunities to come is what makes a real professional. Look at the top of the next mountain when you're getting ready to climb. If you look at all of the steps you have to take, it is easy to get discouraged.

My wife and I are very excited about the coming weeks. The transitional toughness is what helps us grow stronger as a team and as individuals. The changes to come will be embraced. Why? Frankly, we have no choice. I start a new job soon. But seriously, the scariness is nothing compared to the hope for the future. We covet your prayers and are excited to see where the road leads.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Fostering Creativity

In case you haven't noticed yet, I love to write. Having this blog gives me the opportunity and ability to express myself, hone my writing skills, and challenges me to be creative in both style and content. Additionally, potential employers often look for creativity as a quality in new hires. Why? People who are creative tend to be able to look at a situation and devise a solution that is "outside the box". Creativity lends itself to multiple platforms and is useful in just about any situation (If you're an accountant, don't read this post. You guys will go to jail for getting too creative.)

Unfortunately, there are many people who go through life thinking that the creative gene somehow missed them. They prefer rules, structure, and see creativity as something only for those artsy types. But I would contend that everyone needs to develop creativity because of how much it spills over into the rest of life. Writing is just one platform. Others could include playing a musical instrument, drawing, painting, planning, etc. Developing your creativity allows you to enjoy life apart from your day-to-day duties. Fostering your creative environment gives you a place to disconnect, unwind, and just to be yourself. Practicing creativity reduces stress while stretching and exercising your mind at the same time. That being said, there are a few things that I have found that provide me with optimum creativity-building time.

The first aspect of providing optimum creativity is to have an actual routine. Stereotypical "creative" type often have the reputation of not caring about order and structure. They go with the flow and tend to keep to themselves. Well, that's not how I want to be. The routine actually fosters my creativity because I have found the best time for me. Every other day, I wake up at 5:30. I read my Bible and then I write for 45 minutes to an hour before getting ready for work. This schedule lets me be productive during what I consider to be my best hours of the day. Of course, you will have to do some experimentation to figure out what time works for you. This actually leads into the second aspect of my creative environment: timing.

Let me be very blunt with you when I say I love my down-time. Finding ways to relax after a good, hard work day is one of my favorite things in the world. This could be anything to grabbing the guitar and playing/singing with my wife, taking a long walk, or exercise. The reason that I do the majority of my writing early in the morning is twofold. First, as I've already mentioned, my brain is usually at it's peak. Secondly, I am much less likely to skip writing for this blog if I do not have to give up any of my relaxation time to do so.

The final way that I have found to foster my creativity is to take action on whims. What do I mean by that? Your brain is a powerful tool. If you connect a thought to an action, your brain remembers it and performs unbelievably well as a result. The other side of that coin is this: If you have a thought or an idea and you do not connect it to an action, it takes about 10 seconds for your brain to decide that it isn't worth your time.

The action doesn't have to be big. It can be as simple as sending yourself a message or jotting down a quick note. My personal favorite is the Blogger app. If I have a thought for a post or an idea, I create a new post from my phone and type of my initial thoughts. I can always go back later and delete the ones that are just plain dumb. But that allows me to get up in the mornings with outlines already planned out. All I have to do is the writing part which I enjoy anyway.

Working on your creativity is not something that comes easily to most people. Let me assure you that it is well worth it in the end. Your boss, church, and family will thank you for being a more creative person. Earning that promotion because you came up with the solution outside the box, resolving conflict among a group of people that provides a fresh perspective, and coming up with activities that your family can do together are all ways that creativity manifests itself and enhances our lives. Still not convinced? That's fine. Just start a blog and let me know how long it takes to convince yourself that fostering creativity is well worth your time.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Sustaining your A-Game

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

We live in a world that is driven by competition. Human nature has grown to find that, through competition, businesses and people perform significantly better. Competing gives people a goal to achieve and something to lose. Though it isn't a perfect system, the idea of constantly performing at an optimum level is both desirable and admirable.

The sad part is that we drop to a level below our capability far too quickly. Humans were made, first and foremost, for survival. That being said, your body will use what energy/fat/muscle is necessary and nothing more. Your body also adapts and learns as it is faced with different circumstances. Therefore, the more comfortable you get with something, the less your body has to use or work for it. Why is all of this so sad? I'm glad you asked.

While being able to adapt and become more comfortable with our surroundings is a wonderful thing, the competitive world around us wants us to continue to exceed our own limitations. Get too comfortable where you are and someone working to be better is going to pass you. People naturally desire comfort. But the only way to continually get better is to challenge yourself. Hence, our world of competition.

What does all of this have to do with habit and excellence? Constantly performing at an exceptional level can become just as much of a habit as anything else. Habits make us comfortable. They are the norm for our bodies and can easily be accomplished without much thought. While we do need to be challenged in order to perform, looking for challenges and actually facing them becomes a habit as well. That is not to say that the challenges are ever easy. But looking for them, mustering up the motivation to pursue what you want, and taking the challenges head-on can be just as much a part of everyday life as eating or sleeping.

Your life is full of opportunity. Some of it falls into your lap. Most of it must be found through diligent searching. Many opportunities in life are unknown to us. What I mean by that is that you never know if that person you're talking to will be the next president of the United States. The ability to sell yourself comes with every handshake, conversation, and meeting you have. That's why it is always important to have your A-game as an everyday habit.

How do you make a habit of it? Press the "Page Up" key a couple of times and reread what Aristotle said. "...repeatedly do." That's it. If you force yourself to constantly play up a level, you will find yourself being able to do so without thinking about it so much. What comes next? Find the level above the next.

"Climb to the top of a mountain and you will be able to see the top of the next one." - Zig Ziglar 

Stay classy,

Andrew

Evaluating Your Day

How did you spend your day today? No, seriously. What did you do? Were you productive with your time? Did you encourage someone? Did you perform at an optimum level? Understand that these are not universal questions. But they are some things to think about. The reason being because we go through so many days during our lives that we get to the end and we think, "Wow, today just really flew by. What all did I do again?"

On its face, that does not always seem like such a bad thing. I, for one, have had plenty of days that I just wanted to end and to forget forever. But if you're working to live a better life and to use the days God has given you to the fullest, it is important to be responsible with how you spend those days.

Evaluating your day does not have to be some huge ordeal. It can be broken up into sections or focus areas to make it more manageable. For example, at the end of my work day during my walk to the car and my commute home, I like to look back on the day. I want to know how I spent my time, if I spent it responsibly, and if I achieved everything that I needed to get done for the day. This helps to keep me accountable to myself and, quite honestly, is pretty fun after a good day's work.

My wife and I do the same thing in the evenings. A constant topic of conversation for us is how our days have gone, what we need to do over the next few days, and how much fun we have been having. It is not a formal "evaluation" but the implications are the same. We know what we did, what we liked/didn't like, and what we need to do differently tomorrow.

My challenge to you is to take some time at the end of your day and see how you did. Focus specifically on the areas of goal advancement, time management, and personal engagement. These three are important because each one says so much about you as a unique individual.

Think about what you did to accomplish your goals. Did you work towards earning that promotion? Did you accomplish your daily tasks?

In accordance with your goals, think about how you managed your time. Was the majority of your day spent on mindless tasks like watching TV or browsing the internet? Were you doing something productive for yourself? Did you manage your employer's time wisely?

I also believe that it's incredibly important to personally engage others every day. Encourage someone. Tell a co-worker that they're doing a good job. Investing in others means investing in yourself as well. Not to mention, it is much easier to be motivated when the task is others-focused vs. self-focused. You can talk yourself out of personal benefits. But it is much harder to do that when you're working for someone else.

Keep in mind that these are not hard and fast rules. These questions are just what has worked for me in the past. Evaluating your day keeps you accountable and allows time to re-live the good times and fix those you would prefer to forget. Enjoy life as a whole and the days will follow in-line.

Stay classy,

Andrew

In Hot Pursuit

The Declaration of Independence guarantees all Americans certain rights to which they are entitled. Three, specifically, are referred to as "inalienable" which means they cannot be legally or justly transferred to another party. They are inherent within the American and, not just an entitlement, but a blessing. These rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But, as Benjamin Franklin once quipped, "The Declaration of Independence only promises the pursuit of happiness. You must catch up with it yourself."

The pursuit of goals and of the things in life you really want is something that I tend to preach a lot. Why? People were made to strive after something and to work hard. This is evidenced by the fact that (with sleeping as an exception) working is the only thing that people can do for eight hours each day.

While there are numerous qualities that are invaluable in life and in the pursuit of goals, three jump out to me as the foundation for goal-achievement.

1. Consistency  

If you want to ride, don't wait until tomorrow to get back on. You are guaranteed to fail at some point in your pursuit. There will be times when that goal seems completely unattainable. There will be times when the results to be achieved simply do not look like they will be worth the effort. Keep in mind that the majority of goal-setting benefits come in the act of consistently chasing the goal. Yes, the benefits at the end are great. But you gain so much more through the struggle and the chase.

Keep going. The end is worth it. Keep making those daily resolutions and press on. Don't wait until tomorrow to try and reset if you mess up today. Your next minute of living is a new opportunity.

2. Self-Control 

As long as excellence is being pursued, this will be a requirement. While this tends to go hand-in-hand with consistency, it needs to be separate because it focuses on your internal discipline. Consistency is attained through constantly getting back up on the horse. Self-control deals with staying on the horse. Lots of the same concepts can be applied. But the vantage point is different.

Reward yourself. Find your incentives and enjoy them. Surround yourself with people that hold you to a higher standard. Make sure they are like-minded and going in the same direction you are. That way, you are not spending your life lonely on your high horse because the people you're around are up their's too.

3. Motivation

I can't stress enough how important your motivation is. Consistency and self-control deal with decisions that are made. Your motivation is why you make those decisions in the first place. Most of the time, it isn't just for the sake of working for something. Motivations are different for everyone. Some are motivated by positive re-enforcement. Think motivational posters and encouraging words. Others are motivated by negativity. These people keep "before" pictures of themselves because they never want to look like that again. Still others use a combination of the two.

Whatever your motivation, find it and use it frequently. It will keep you going when nothing else will. All of that to say, work and strive hard after your goals. You have, within you, the right to pursue them. Develop these qualities and focus them on something specific and you will lead a better life as a result.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Little Victories

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's." - Henry Moore

The little, every day wins are incredibly important in a professional journey. They are what keep us going and continually moving forward. Without little victories to celebrate, we would only look at the huge task or goal. While focusing on the big picture is not a bad thing at all, a lengthy process for attaining that picture can quickly become discouraging. That's why it is so important to be on the lookout for those little victories and to celebrate them when they come along. Today, let's think about the little victories in life in the three following areas: measurability, motivation, and meaning.

1. Measurability

As I've mentioned previously, it's important that your goals be measurable so that you know how you're doing. Maybe that goal of being a manager in your company one day starts with making a good to-do list and increasing your productivity. That goal of a beach body starts with a single workout and a healthy eating plan. Those are just a couple of examples of the little, measurable things that we do on the way to the prize.

Little victories are not what get us up in the morning, but they are what keeps us getting up in the morning. The thought of getting that promotion is what gets us up to work. However, the fact that we did so well at the job yesterday is what keeps us going back to try harder. That brings us into our second area of motivation.

2. Motivation

If you're ever going to reach your goals, you need to figure out what really motivates you. When getting up early is not really first on your mind while laying in your warm sheets, what is it that is going to make you get up anyway? That being said, figure out the little rewards you enjoy for your little victories that make them worth it. For example, a good relaxing walk with my wife over my lunch break is my reward for working hard in the morning. The rewards and victories don't have to be big. They just need to motivate you to keep trying.

3. Meaning 

Let's make all of this a bit more practical. Think of your goal like a mountain. It will be a treacherous, long, hard climb to the top. But at it's peak, the view will be spectacular. Getting there will increase your confidence in your ability, teach you new skills, and show you the top of the next mountain in the distance. But as I stated earlier, looking at a mountain the entire climb can get pretty overwhelming. The good news is that every mountain is made up of molehills. They aren't very big or very difficult to climb; but they come together to make that glorious mountain. My challenge to you is this: Celebrate the molehills you step over to get up the mountain you're climbing.

Craig Ballantyne put it very well when he said this:

"Success comes in spurts." - Craig Ballantyne

Be happy and reward yourself for the spurts of success. It will make the goal seem much more attainable, continually motivate you, and give you a way to measure your progress. After several weeks of counting molehills, you find out that you're half-way up the mountain. So keep climbing. Just don't spend all of your time and energy focused on the distance. Keep your thoughts here and now on the day's resolutions. You'll get much higher more quickly as a result.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Surrounded

I don't know how many of you have realized this; but you guys are in the minority. No, I'm not talking about close family and friends, specifically. I'm referring to people who dream of better tomorrows, those who are looking to grow and constantly better themselves. That's you.

The funny thing is that you're different than the majority of the people in the country at this point. The fact that you're reading this to begin with shows that you actually care. That's why it is vitally important that you pay special attention to those you allow in to your inner circle. These are the people that you hang with, allow influence from, and go to for advice.

Think about the people that you hang with on a regular basis. It's important to note here that you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with. For me, since one of those five people is my wife, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. Maybe it's the same way for you. If that's the case, we'll get to you in a minute.

Something that has always baffled me is the fact that there are young (and old) people with so much potential who spend the majority of their time with negative, rude, self-absorbed individuals. For example, I can't even count the times I've seen the sweetest girl end up with the worst possible guy. If you have goals to reach, if you're positive and ambitious, if you sincerely believe that you're on the road to success and that your best days are ahead of you, those kinds of people should not be the ones influencing you at all.

I'm not saying that you should just kick them to the curb. You have the power to be a positive influence on them. But the best way that you can start doing that is by stopping hanging out with them. See, it is much easier for you to be pulled down to their level than for you to pull them up to your's. The reason? That is a decision that each individual has to make for himself or herself. You cannot make that decision for them.

That being said, my challenge to you is to surround yourself with people who give a rip. Be with people who challenge you and make you better. During one particular stage of life, I made a 10-hour round trip drive in one day for supper with a group of my friends. These were people whose opinions I valued. They were the types of friends who asked tough questions, engaged in meaningful discussion, and presented thought-provoking views. Looking back on that trip now, I find myself asking if I would make the trip again for that group. Absolutely.

Pick your friends wisely. They will be some of your most powerful influences. Make sure that their views and goals are in alignment with yours so that you know which direction (up or down) they are pulling you.

If you already have a crew like that, make sure that you bless them and show appreciation on a regular basis. Friends like that really don't come every day. They should be cherished. Express gratitude often. John Calvin once said this:

"We are naturally lazy in the duties of love." - John Calvin

That's why it is so very important for you to cherish those around you. The ability to select your influences is an awesome blessing that we have been given by God. Make sure that yours are those that sharpen you and don't dull you.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." - Proverbs 27:17

Stay classy,

Andrew

Beauty in Simplicity

Keeping life simple is a difficult task when you consider the world we live in. Technology gives us access to unlimited amount of information that is located thousands of miles away. We have the ability to communicate with people across the world in mere seconds. To make simplification that much more difficult, many people can perform their jobs from anywhere in the country. Through the use of smartphones, all work-related tasks can be accomplished and the risk is run of never being able to escape.

Think about your life and how you live each day. Now take a minute and think about how much of that is stuff you really don't need. That's what simplicity is. Simplifying is not stupefying. Simplifying just means getting rid of all the junk that you don't need.

Think about a musical scale. There are only eight notes that are contained in a standard, major scale. In fact, if you change scales, the same notes are still used but in a different way. With less than ten notes, you would think that there would be a fairly limited amount of combinations. Beethoven, Chopin, and J.S. Bach all proved that theory wrong. Look/listen to the works of these three men and other classic composers and what they were able to do with those notes.

There are only five primary colors. Think about your favorite piece of artwork (You do have one, don't you?). Take a second to fathom what Picasso and Van Goethe were able to make out of those five colors.

Music and artwork are just a couple of examples of how far simplicity can really go. The greatest example that I know of is when Jesus summed up the entire Old Testament in a very short phrase.

"So in everything you do, do to others as you would have them do to you..." - Matthew 7:12

Simplification reduces clutter, it eliminates stress, and it enables you to reevaluate what is really important. Consider your life. Think about all the junk that you don't really need and simplify a little bit. You will be more effective in those things that really matter.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Settling: 3 Areas You Can't

We settle for mediocrity far too often. Shortcuts to completing a job are often more valuable then doing the job right the first time. It's important to note that I am not talking about actually starting a task. In that case, getting started should be put above the perfect start. But in regards to the actual quality of work, quality is usually sacrificed due to laziness. While there are some areas in life that settling is permitted, there are at least 3 that you, as a professional, absolutely cannot settle for less than the best.

It is also important to note that what is "best" in each of these areas depends on where you see yourself in life. These are not areas that you can just take a measuring stick to and determine if you're doing it right. That being said, let's dive in.

1. Your Job

Where you work and what you actually do in your professional life are as much a part of your life as anything else. We do not like to think that it holds a great amount of influence but it really does. Your job affects your schedule, how you spend your time, and what you think about on a daily basis.

Your job should be something you actually enjoy doing. Too many people settle for jobs that they do not enjoy because of the paycheck, benefits, or simply because they do not feel like they can do anything else. But a job like that does not actually help you benefit in the long-run at all. Sacrifices are always involved when taking a pay cut and a great amount of work is involved in actually changing jobs. But the benefits enjoyed of being able to wake up every morning and like what you do while genuinely being good at it are beyond compare.

Don't go for a job just because it's an easy one to get and/or do. Find something that you love and that challenges you to grow in your professional life. That way, the old adage of never working a day in your life will actually ring true for once. But your life has to be in balance regarding professional and personal lives. Your job should never take a toll on your health. In the event that it does, you need a change. That actually leads us into the second area where settling is not an option.

2. Your Health 

Our health is something that all of us have taken for granted at some point or another. The unfortunate thing is that sometimes it takes losing someone or some aspect of our health before we realize how valuable it really is. Think about it. How much money would you take for your eyesight? Your hearing? How much could someone pay you to make losing your legs worth it? Chances are pretty good that the amount for any of these things is invaluable.

Another aspect of our humanity that shows how much we take our health for granted is how much neglect we put our bodies through in a given time frame. The holidays are a prime example. Those several weeks around Christmas and Thanksgiving are brutal for our bodies because, with the exception of some power shopping on black Friday, we are fairly inactive. We also give our body straight junk for fuel and expect it to perform at a high level. Talk about not having the tools to succeed.

Taking control of your health forces you to take control of the rest of your life because you start to care. You find out that all of those areas that hinder your performance can actually be influenced by your actions after all. Your health is the area of your life over which you have the most control. I am not advocating that you have total control because no one does. But learning to take responsibility for that place your mind, soul, and spirit will live for their entire earthly existence will make you take responsibility everywhere else too. Taking control of your health spills over into taking control of the rest of your life. You can't afford to skimp on your health, this is the only body you will ever have. God has trusted you with it and expects you to be a good steward of what He has given you. This brings us to something else God has given us where we can't afford to settle for mediocrity.

3. Your Happiness 

I am a firm believer that happiness is a choice. You wake up every morning and determine how good of a day you are going to have. Some people let some bad news or what they see on the news determine how the rest of their day goes. But God gave you a brain so that you could actually decide how you're feeling and set your performance level. That makes the question this: Why would anyone settle on how happy they could be?

Settling in the area of happiness is largely due to us not being able to see ourselves getting any closer to where we want to be. Picture your perfect life with the perfect you living inside of it. Have you achieved it yet? You shouldn't have. Why not? Because the beauty of this life we live is the ability to strive for something better. What are you doing to get yourself closer to your ideal person and ideal life? I'm not saying that you should not be content with what you have. I am saying most people stop short of what they really want because they cannot see themselves going any farther. But when you climb a mountain-of-a-goal, you can always see to the top of the next mountain. It will take some more climbing, for sure. But the climb is well worth the struggle and the fight it takes to get you there.

Be proud of yourself and your life. Live a life that you are unashamed of and one that allows you to live optimally. Don't settle for less that ideal when it comes to your employment, your health, and your happiness. Trust me; your are worth the investments necessary to make these areas the best that they can possibly be. When you sow the right things, you will reap even better things.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Honoring a Life of Peace

My posts have been fairly irregular as of late. I've honestly felt like I've been "off the grid" for the past week. This is due to the recent loss of my grandmother to cancer. Closure is a subject that has been discussed several times among my immediate family over the past few days. This is my version. This post is not because I need more people to cry with me or more food to be sent over to my house (although I would not object to either). No, this post is, quite frankly, because I was charged with the task of preaching her funeral. I sincerely believe this is a message that she would have wanted to reach as many people as possible. So hang on to your hats and bear with me as we honor a life of peace.

See, my grandmother has been fighting cancer for the better part of the past three years. We knew that her passing would come at some point in the future but not necessarily at this time. Her battle began with a bout with breast cancer. Once this was resolved, a brain tumor revealed its ugly head and, mentally, she hasn't really been the same since. This tumor resulted in a surgery without much recovery. The result was another tumor, a kidney stone, and a failing liver which ultimately resulted in her passing.

I give you that information not to gross you out or to make you feel sorry for her; but to tell you what's next. Cancer arises in the body and uses perfectly good cells to do its dirty work. Once cancer takes over a cell, that cell begins to produce cancerous cells which, in turn, take over other cells and the cycle continues. As far we medically know, there is only one type of cancer that people are actually born with. This cancer is one that takes over every cell in the human body almost instantaneously. It is a slow killer that consumes more victims than all other cancers combined. This cancer takes 100% of the victims infected with it and the dying does not cease after the victim passes from this life. The best name they have found for it is sin.

Sin is a problem that overtakes all humans when they first enter this world. It is a result of our natural state which is enmity with the God of the universe and our personal Creator. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that the deserved payment for the way we are born is death. It seems a bit unfair, doesn't it? Why should I be punished for something that I can't help? It's unfair until you come to the realization that God created us to be perfect and to live up to His standard. Anyone that lives up to that standard is in great standing with God and the cancer of sin is never an issue.

Unfortunately, no one can live up to God's perfect standard. That means we all should die forever, right? Wrong. See, even though justice says that people infected with sin deserve death, mercy sent a replacement to take your punishment for you. Those little crosses that everyone and their mom wear around their necks actually hold more significance than most realize. God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in our stead. He came to earth for the sole purpose of living a perfect life. That means His voluntary death as a perfect man is sufficient to pay the price for the sin of anyone and everyone. Now our job is simply to believe in Him to wash our sin away. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus can wash us as white as snow. At that moment, the cancer does not go away. But the enmity against God has been removed and the debt has been paid. Simple? Yes. Crazy? You bet.

My grandmother lived her life proclaiming that very message with her actions, her words, and her conduct. She went through her final days (and all the rest of her days, honestly) with a blessed assurance that she would not be in pain forever. She knew that her death was just a change of address because the cancer of sin had no victory over her. She would not die for eternity but would live forever in the arms of her Creator.

I know this post has not been the typical, review-her-life and memories kind of post. But I can sincerely say, from the bottom of my heart, that this is what she would have wanted you to hear above all else. Therefore, the greatest honor I can do in her memory is by sharing it with you. If you're still here, thank you for reading. If you want to know more/have questions/want to completely disagree and need someone to debate with you, comment or message me and we'll talk. I cherish every memory that I have of my grandmother and I appreciate you sharing in this time both with myself and my family.

"We are confident. Yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 5:8

Stay classy,

Andrew

Indulgence or Gluttony?

What is it that you really need? Seriously. How often do you indulge in things that are not good for you? I'm not just talking about food, either. Maybe you live a very disciplined life and occasionally feel like you have earned a little bit of a treat. Another possibility is that indulgence is a part of your every day life. Either way, when used improperly, indulgence can quickly become gluttony and do you far more harm than good. My challenge to you is to monitor your input. Figure out how much you take in and how it is effecting you. I have a feeling that, for most of us, it will be a rude awakening to find out just how much in our lives that we do not actually need.

Before writing this, I wanted to know what gluttony actually was. Naturally, I had always heard about the "7 Deadly Sins" and went to the Bible to find out. It actually surprised me to find that gluttony is never mentioned in the Bible. In fact, the 7 deadly sins as a list never appear in the Bible either. Many of the concepts are mentioned or eluded to but never explicitly mentioned. Therefore, my search took me elsewhere.

When the Catholic church came up with the list, gluttony had an aura of lacking self-discipline. It was a life spinning out of control because of the numerous indulgences. As I began thinking on this concept, I realized that many lives today are affected by over-indulgence. For the purposes of this post, we will look at over-indulgence as taking in more than you really need. I also want to get away from the mindset that this only includes food, but instead, look at it from a self-discipline perspective.

Take technology/social media as a prominent example in our society. How often do we take a break from our productivity or what we are doing to check Facebook, Twitter, etc? The funny thing is that, most of the time, the short, deserved break quickly becomes a long undeserved break. Technology and social media are tools to be used, but when any tool is used more than it is needed, something ends up damaged or broken.

Another example is in the television we watch. Keep in mind, a deserved break is one thing, but if you constantly leave the tube with a headache because of the length of time spent in front of it, that is where the issue comes in.

I think it is also important to note here that you can desensitize yourself to the amount of something you really need. Food is an excellent example. Did you know that your stomach will actually stretch out to suit what you put inside of it? The reason for this is that the rest of your body trusts your brain to tell it what it needs. If you eat an entire pizza every night and then you only eat half of one, your body will tell you that it is hungry because it is in a constant state of being over-fed.

What is the best way to find out if you have become desensitized? Eliminate the act for a reasonable period of time and see how you feel. Skip a night of TV for a good book. If you miss it, you were probably indulging more than you should have been. Skip dessert. Go for a weekend technology fast.

Human vices are so diverse that there is no way they could all be covered here. But I do want for you to start thinking about the things in your life that are essentials and those that are indulgences. Think about what really makes you a better person and what is just for fun. You need occasional indulgences in your life. But be disciplined. Plan them. They will serve you better as planned indulgences than as undisciplined gluttony. If it does not make you into a better person, it is negative, or just plain damaging to your self-image and those around you, get it out. Indulge occasionally. But be disciplined in keeping it as far away from your life as possible. Be mindful of what you put in because it will affect what you get out.

Stay classy,

Andrew

Is Your Everyday Speech Hurting You?

We spend a lot of our time thinking about other people. We compare where we are in life to where friends, family, and even enemies are in their lives. While comparison is one thing, the area where many of us need the most work is in how we talk about others.

The world we live in is permeated with negative speech. From foul language to discouraging words, most speech that is allowed into the atmosphere at this point in time has no place in the mind or ears of a professional. This is particularly true in the realm of talking about other people. It is incredibly easy to walk down the hall at work and overhear numerous conversations about what such-and-such did last week or how much trouble so-and-so is causing. While we cannot always control what we overhear, the issue comes when we neglect to keep on walking by.

When the topic of discussion is a person with whom we, ourselves, have had difficulty, the temptation to participate is unbelievable. Even people who consider themselves to be positive thinkers can easily be sucked into the vortex of negative thinking and degrading others. But I contend that this is not only destructive to the other individual, it is harmful for you to participate in as well. As a professional who strives to take care of him/herself, you honestly cannot afford to speak negatively of others. Doing so takes a toll on you physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Let's begin by looking at the physical and mental repercussions of negative discussion. Many forget that, in addition to keeping your body functioning, your brain is also a muscle. It works just like any other muscle in that it must be exercised, it has times where it is not as pumped as others, and it can grow stronger. The brain on negativity and putting others down is a sad state, indeed. The reason for this is that it works much like a normal computer does. Your brain automatically gravitates towards what you put into it. For example, if you love sports, you probably fill your head with facts, game stats, and watching games. That being said, your brain more readily picks up on discussions about sports than anything else. When the word "football" is mentioned, my ears always perk up, regardless of what else I am doing, because I love the game.

Negative speech is the same way. Have you noticed that there are some people who just can't wait to share bad news? The reason that they always find the type of news that they are looking for is because they hear it so much that their brain automatically tunes into it. But the major physical effects come with what you're giving up by listening to negativity.

When you fill your head with positive, encouraging, and motivational thoughts, there are certain chemicals that your brain releases that put you in a good mood. Essentially, they are the equivalent to having a good piece of chocolate or doing a genuine act of kindness for someone. The funny thing is that, even after working hard to do something nice for someone, you will find that you have more energy afterwards because these chemicals were released. Am I saying that being nice and speaking well of others gives you more energy? Absolutely. The result is increased productivity and you begin passively listening for good material instead of poor material. Mentally, you focus on more positive things. Physically, you have more energy and are more productive. 

Let's move on to the spiritual aspect of what we say. It is very easy to harm our spirit with negative discussion of others. Primarily, this comes when we find out that someone else overheard and/or repeated the information. That feeling of getting punched in the gut after something you said comes to light? That creates unnecessary stress on your body and on your countenance as well. Jesus said that the world he came in to loved darkness rather than light. The reason for this is because light exposes the deeds of those effected by it. That way, good deeds shine all the brighter and evil deeds are exposed for what they really are (John 1). 

Be a child of light. You don't have time to partake in negative conversations about other people. It is harmful for you to do so physically, mentally, and spiritually. Speak encouragement and hope. Those two things will take you further than gossip, slander, or mean words ever will. More energy, increased effectiveness, a happier spirit, and better demeanor are all results of encouragement instead of putting someone down. Why would you ever settle for the latter when the former is an option? Don't be lazy with what you listen to or say about others. Take the higher road. Doing so shows a better person and a better professional. 

Stay classy,

Andrew

Get Going

"Doing is better than perfect." - Facebook Company Motto

We live in a world where information is more easily accessible than at any other point in history. Most of us can pull out our cell phones and receive information via the internet from all over the world. That information is then delivered without wires into the palms of our hands. Wow. There is certainly a lot to learn out there. You could pick any given topic, spend a lifetime learning about it, and still not know everything there is to know about it. There are lots of people who know enough information to fill a library. The issue comes when a very simple life principle is overlooked. Information is only worth learning if it is used.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has a show called Sherlock that my wife and I enjoy watching. This modern retelling of Sir Author Conan Doyle's famous stories follow the adventures of a Sherlock who uses text messages, Google, and email to solve crimes. One of my favorite scenes is shortly after Dr. Watson and Sherlock first meet. A question comes up about the solar system and Dr. Watson discovers that Sherlock does not know that Earth is the third planet from the sun, or even how many planets there are in our solar system to begin with. Sherlock then makes the point that his brain is like a computer. When there is information contained in his brain that he does not find useful, it is deleted.

While this is a fairly light example, it illustrates an important point. Most people like to gather information to the point that they can accomplish a task or know a topic in its perfect state. In an age of information we kill ourselves with it. In fact, actually starting the job becomes less important than knowing enough to start. That is where the issue lies. 

Learning is a wonderful thing. I strive to constantly learn new skills and information every day. But if I put off actually doing something with the information for the sake of learning more, the information itself is worthless.

Consider this example. I have mentioned previously my interest in Spanish and in looking forward to the opportunity to write and one day preach in this foreign language. I can sit around on my computer learning Spanish until I am blue in the face. But if I never actually get out and use it, the information does not do me any good.

Your brain is a powerful enough tool that it knows unused information is worthless. That's where the old adage "If you don't use it, you lose it" came from. When you put information into your brain that goes unused, it may not necessarily be deleted but it will be filed away so that relearning is easier than trying to find the old information.

So why is it that we look for information that we are never going to use? The answer is because the fear lies in the doing, not in the learning. Gaining new information makes us feel productive and good about ourselves without any of the risk of setting out to do it. My challenge to you today is to forget how much information you think you need. Doing is better than perfect.

But what if I mess up? What if it goes horribly wrong? That will embarass me. I would have been better off to not have set the goal or started the task in the first place, right? Wrong. People were created to have their energy focused on something. That's why we set goals. Yes, you may fail. But the act of trying is what you were made for. The most disappointing strikeouts in baseball are the ones where the batter never swings. It is actually more dangerous to sit there learning that it is to be out there doing.

"And what if I did run my ship aground; oh, still it was splendid to sail it!" - Henrik Ibsen

It is a proven fact that ships deteriorate more quickly sitting at anchor in the harbor than they do sailing. It is much safer to sit in the harbor, sure. But the joy comes in the sailing! Is it dangerous? Yes. But the preparation is nothing without the doing. I leave you with the quote below because it sums up this post perfectly. Quit killing yourself with information and get out in the world. Make some mistakes and learn something worth using. That is what will make you into a better person and a more effective professional.

"Just do it." - Nike

Stay classy,

Andrew

Finding Your Motivation

What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning? No, I'm not asking about your alarm clock or the coffee maker. But seriously...what drives you to get up and go? One of the coolest things about our brains is the amount of power that they have over the rest of our body. Sometimes a simple blog post, article, or book can tell our brains that we need to do something and then our body actually does it! Think of motivation as fuel to a car. Fill up the tank and you're good to run for quite a while; overfill and you will burn out. The real beauty of motivation lies in the fact that we are all motivated in different ways by different things. My challenge to you today is to check what really drives you. Then see if that driver should ever be in control in the first place.

Think about someone attempting to lose weight. They have finally decided that they are sick and tired of the way they look and start putting in the hard work to look the way they want. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Here is the issue: That person trying to look better is partaking in a lifestyle choice that is only motivated by a shallow view of themselves in the mirror.

This means that one of two things are bound to happen. That person will either cease the lifestyle change once the desired appearance is reached, or quit. Why? While looking better is a goal for many aspiring gym-rats, they eventually come to find that it is not worth the work required. That is why so many New Year's resolutions to lose weight quickly fail. When the goal is based around something temporary, it will pass and the motivation passes alongside.

Contrast that with someone who wants to get healthy and get in shape. Immediately we can see that the goal has more long-term benefits than just looking better in the mirror. Just from the wording, we know that the results will be worth the struggle. I also want to point out that this is a goal that will not simply pass away. You will always need to eat clean and exercise in order to be healthy.

That example illustrates why it is so important that the focus of your goals, objectives, living, etc. be actually being the right person, not on doing the right things. What's the difference? The former is person-focused. It enables you to set daily objectives to reach the long-term destination. It realizes that the growth comes from the journey and not the destination. In contrast, the latter is task-focused. It is complete once the task is complete; nothing more and nothing less. It is something that can be easily pushed to the side or avoided because there is not enough time or the goal-setter simply does not feel like it that day. Be the right person and the right things will fall into place. Change the direction of your motivation and you will change the outcome to a better one.

"You've got to be before you can do, and you've got to do before you can have." - Zig Ziglar

Find what motivates you and the reasons you set certain goals and think about if they are focused on building a better you or on completing a task. Drive is important. Actually arriving at your goal is not where the person-building comes in. That comes with the striving for something. So pick something you want to do, anything at all. Find what drives you. Make sure it is something that will stick and is person-focused instead of task-focused. Then, above all else, quit gathering information about it and just do it. I'd love to hear about the journey sometime.

Stay classy,

Andrew

When Urgency Matters

With the daily hustle and bustle of every day life, urgency is no stranger for many of us. Whether it be a project due, a test to study for, or a deadline at work, having a sense of urgency is vital to surviving in our fast-paced world. Sadly, many people have the biggest sense of urgency about the things that really do not matter all that much in the long run. Investments of time and energy are wasted as people move without purpose. Take some time to examine those things in life that are truly urgent matters. Then ask yourself how much those actually matter in the grand scheme of life.

I am not going to contend that everything we do is purposeless. I firmly believe that anything you do as work to the Lord and not to men is something that matters in eternity. But too often we confuse God's work with man's work. A sense of urgency is not a bad thing to have. The value comes when we are urgent about the right things. In fact, I would contend that there are really only two aspects of life that this sense of urgency is really important to have: doing God's will and in sharing the Gospel.

My Sunday school teacher said the other day that, when it comes to God's will, He gives us plenty of time to accomplish it. But we had better get up and do it. Without a sense of urgency in doing God's will, we miss out on the opportunities and blessings that would have come otherwise.

The cool thing about doing God's will is that His will can and does spill over into the rest of our lives. For example, if you believe you are in the will of God where you are in your career, then producing quality work, meeting deadlines, and taking steps to advance your career are all in God's will also. That being said, depending on where God has you and where He wants you, a personal sense of urgency when it comes to your job could be exactly what you need.

Another example is in the goals that we set. If we follow God's leadership, our goals in life are ultimately determined by Him. That means that time you spend striving towards goals that God has set before you is not wasted. Instead it is being spent furthering the will of God. Along the line of spending time furthering the will of God, included in that will is the sharing of the Gospel.

Many people put off sharing when given the opportunity because they're afraid, don't have time, etc. The excuses are pretty well endless on this one. But the sense of urgency comes in when we take the time to really think about it. You may be the only "Jesus" that person ever sees. Your words may be the only Bible they ever hear taught. Why is it important for you to have a sense of urgency about sharing God's Message? Because for the person with whom you're sharing, tomorrow might not come.

I know that sounds pretty apocalyptic but it's true. The decisions that you make in deciding whether or not to share the Good News have lives hanging in the balance. Even more so than that, Jesus commanded you to spread the Gospel. Which bring me to a final point: Obedience is key.

That is really the dividing line between what matters and what does not. Are we being obedient? If we are obeying God in what we are doing, chances are that a sense of urgency is a requirement. If obedience is not much of a factor, you probably should not be wasting your precious time and energy on it. After all, you have limited amounts of both. Choose wisely what you will spend them on. Be urgent about the right things.

Stay classy,

Andrew

How to Live with Integrity

"Integrity: The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty." - Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language 

Living with integrity is something that we have all probably heard at one point in life or another. My company, for instance, puts a very strong emphasis on integrity being the cornerstone of everything that we do in our business dealings. What has always interested me is that those who profess integrity the most are the ones who know the least about it. Let me explain.

Integrity for its own sake is vague and leaves you directionless. Unfortunately, there are many businesses and people who preach integrity but take it no further. It would be the equivalent to someone telling you to, "Tell the truth." If that is your only order, you are left with a plethora of statements that you can make. More than likely, none of them help you or the other person get what you are looking for. However, if a parent catches you with your hand in the cookie jar and asks if you ate any. The command to tell the truth carries much more weight because it is applied to something specific. 

The fact of the matter is, in our society morals are seen as relative. Unless you judge everyone by the same standard, integrity does not mean that much. The legal system is the closest human beings have come to having the same standard for everyone. But most of the time, people referring to integrity are using it in the context of something that is not covered by the legal system.

Don't the me wrong, I believe integrity is a wonderful thing. But if it is not applied to any particular thing, it remains ambiguous and highly unhelpful. Let's look at a few things to which you can apply this mindset of integrity that will actually help you live your life better.

1. Your Mind

I chose the definition above because it included integrity particularly being applied to your mind. You are the one who monitors and chooses what goes into your mind. I am a firm believer that what you put in your head affects your performance and that how you see yourself affects your output. That is why it is so incredibly important for you to keep your mind pure and "unimpaired."

Can you prevent all negativity from coming into your mind? No. Can you significantly reduce its effects? Yes. How? We need to spend our time wisely. Keep the junk out of your head and fill it with positive thoughts. As I have mentioned several times previously, your mind is an incredibly powerful tool. The way that you mentally see a particular situation will determine how you respond and how you solve problems. Your mind will also take that situation once it is complete, and store the information from that issue to remind you of next time something similar arises. With a tool like that, why wouldn't you want to take care of it constantly? Living with integrity in the mind is all about keeping it clean and functioning optimally. It is about not letting things enter your mind that could harm it or you.

2. Your Speech

Speaking and rhetoric have always fascinated me. I love watching a speaker draw an audience into content and method of delivery. The art of rhetoric is one that has been used throughout history as a tool both to motivate and manipulate crowds ranging from 2 to 2,000,000. But when we discuss the integrity of your speech, we are not necessarily talking about how you give a speech. We are talking about how you speak in every day life.

Everyone lets words slip out of their mouth that they regret. We've all had that moment where we wish that we could literally suck the words that just came out back up into our mouths. This is probably not news to you; but life doesn't work that way. Maintaining the integrity of your speech is not letting anything corrupt proceed out of your mouth. Too many people believe that certain words accentuate the point that they are trying to get across. But using language like that is just plain lazy and it has no place in the mind or speech of a professional.

3. How you Treat Others

This is, quite possibly, the most prominent area of life in which integrity is vital. Even though there are lots of people who look at morality in ways unlike any other, how we treat other people is a fairly set standard. The definition at the beginning does a wonderful job of expressing this with the word, "Honesty." When others are treated honestly or fairly, they are more responsive to you and you are made into a better person for treating them in the right way.

For example, we spend lots of time listening to and spreading gossip about other people. But that's pretty unfair to them to judge without them being their to make a defense. Gossip is hardly treating someone honestly. Another example is in business dealings. Treat someone you're in business with as if you're trying to make a deal that is actually mutually beneficial. If you take that same approach with your family, you will be a higher quality contribution to them as well. When you treat people fairly, even if they do not respond with integrity, you are doing the right thing and becoming better as a result.

In winding things down, integrity is a great concept when applied correctly. I hope this post has given you some practical tips for how to better incorporate integrity into your life. Let's all spend some extra time finding ways to live with integrity. We will make a better world tomorrow that is full of better professionals. That's my goal in these writings in the first place. Building a better tomorrow by building better people.

-Andrew

Lazy Emotions

Humans were created to show emotion. The ability to show outward manifestations of how our souls and minds are feeling at a given time is truly fascinating. We can go into the technicalities and the numerous facets of emotion at a later date. But one thing I've noticed is that, when we are going through a period in life that takes a toll on our emotion, the internal controls we have over them fall by the wayside.

For example, when someone has an approaching deadline at the office, their brain tells them that they need to work harder and puts stress on them in order to complete the task. But when someone is stressed, we usually do not see it as odd at all for them to be snippy, closed-off, or sometimes just downright rude. Before I continue, I want to make something very clear.

I am not attempting to minimize any experience you have had that leaves you feeling like you're at rock bottom. Those experiences are real. They are hard lessons. They are certainly no fun.

No, what I want to do here is challenge you. I want to challenge you to not let your emotions get the better of you. We waste too much precious time and energy on negative emotions that hurt us and those around us. Why? Because those negative emotions are much easier to show than positive ones. That's just what human nature is like. Think about it. For most people, it is much easier to cry at the funeral than to show sympathy to the family.

"Anger, fear, aggression...the dark side, are they." - Yoda

Star Wars hit the nail on the head with this one. It is continually emphasized that a Jedi must clear and control his mind. But the dark side allows people to release their anger. They become very powerful, but are internally killing themselves and outwardly destructive as well. Excuse my nerd rant but it was a perfect illustration of my point.

Don't let these kinds of emotions define you at times in your life. Make the effort to guard your heart. How do you keep your emotions wholesome? You actually take action by doing the right thing even when you don't feel like doing so. The Bible lists what many people have called, "The Armor of God" in Ephesians 6. When it comes to the heart - the center of emotion - Paul tells Christians to put on the breastplate of righteousness. When it came to protecting the mind, the helmet of salvation was to be in place. It's really quite mind-blowing when you think about it.

The best way to protect our minds is to have them fully-focused on His salvation and saving grace. The best way to guard our hearts and prevent lazy emotions from taking over is with being the right person and doing the right things. That's what righteousness really means.

The challenge I leave you with is to take the extra steps to control your thoughts and emotions. I realize that's a large order and that sometimes we just "lose it." Trust me; I understand that. But when you make a conscious effort to guard your heart, you keep your thoughts clean, your energy is higher, and you show more love for other people. Above all else, you are honoring God by protecting your heart and mind which are, arguably, the most valuable tools He gave you. Those are what make you unique. Until next time, stay classy.

-Andrew