With all the good sales out there during this holiday season, I picked up my Christmas gift early today.  Still have a little tweaking to do, but it is going to be awesome!

Entering the lab area, where the magic happens, as they say – I take my spot alongside the usual suspects of mouth molds & ceremic goodies.

Today, we are once again back at the process of molding and shaping my new crown for my front tooth. The base color ha been stripped away to a lighter base color & that is now not quite it. In the hands of the crown creator, I sit with my head pitched upward at an awkward angle staring into coke-size bottle magnifying spectacles.

Shifting from magnifying to normal, he moves and grooves taking his paintbrushes & creating a mix of yellows, browns, and greyson with a hit of white and clear coat to hopefully yield the desired results.

Just as this artisan of the crown works to create the perfect match, God works to create in each of us our uniqueness through our giftings and talents. Some were created to teach, to encourage, to envision technologies that will find a cure for diseases. God, our creator, uses His unique palette to create YOU!

Isn’t it exciting to know that there is only one YOU, hand-crafted for the world to see and meet.

May today be a reminder of just how much God loves you.

I have set a new dental record for myself this year – I have been to the dentist 11 out of the 12 months this year. As I sat with my head cocked back in all kinds of weird positions at the dental lab for yet another dental crown fitting & custom color match, it made me think about the process that God takes us on as He molds us into who He wants us to be.

Sitting in the chair, looking up as these eyes dart side-to-side looking from the magnifying specs to see what has been created and what needs more work is how I envision God to look at us. He sets before us tasks and challenges, each meant to mold us and shape us into who we will become. Just as a crown goes through the molding and shaping to fit our tooth, God molds into the perfect image.

At times, we feel like the crown that must endure several re-shapings and re-fittings and re-firings to get the perfect fit. God knows what is best for us and what re-work we need to grow.

These re-shapings and re-fittings and re-firings produce a masterpiece that is unique to each person, just as each crown is unique to each mouth.

Live with the knowledge that you are a masterpiece, hand-crafted for world to see, by a God who loves you deeply.

Hagen Cyn Sign

Originally uploaded by daveanthold

This past weekend, I went with some friends (here & here) to Ridgecrest for a photo safari trip at Fossil Falls. We had a fantastic time except for the 3am departure time.

Our day began overlooking Little Lake near Fossil Falls at morning light. The sun waking and stretching as it inched closer to the tops of the eastern hills. The lake below majestically singing its praises as ducks began their morning flight across the still lake. Trucks and cars moving and grooving down CA-395 as cameras snapped pictures.

By 7:30am, we were nestled in our cars driving across dirt roads kicking up dust and dirt, growling at the road before us. Reaching Fossil Falls we disembarked from our vehicles and hiked in to the canyon. Looking out over the canyon, the black rocks glistened as the sun hit them.

Hugo inched closer to the canyon walls, flat on his stomach, daring-rather tempting – his eyes to look over the edge. We all took some risks, some walks, and rest upon those fossil rocks. The majesty of what God created was truly amazing.

As the sun inched towards noon time high, we headed for a quick stop here at Hagen Canyon to see some gorgeous geologic features. Each piece of sand and formation had a story, I only wish we could have stayed longer.

We shall return some day to the serene place, where we sit and listen to the stillness of life.

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

I just picked up Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book & have been listening to it non-stop – love it.  What I love about Malcolm’s books are that, not only, are his books well-researched, but he is master storyteller.  If you pick up the audio version, you get him reading the book to you.  It is fantastic!

Check out his book titles:

• The Tipping Point
• Blink
• Outliers
• What the Dog Saw

So you have probably noticed that I have been incognito, disappeared, not on the web, etc.  Well, I have been here, I have just been quiet.  It has been a busy time with work, a conference, & some church stuff.  I am back, but it may be a little slow going.  Hang in there & keep coming back.  Thanks.

Seated upon a hard driving motorcycle, eighteen inches off the wheel in front of him, Jay “Bird” Dobyns was working undercover for the ATF infilitrating one of the most notorious OMG’s (Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs) — they were simply known as the Hells Angels.  In No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels, Jay Dobyns details the deep undercover experience he and several other ATF agents embarked on getting inside the closely knit group of outlaws.

Each page is riveting.  Each conversation, each drug or gun deal outlined for the reader to experience right along with “Bird” as he was known to the HA crew, is written with vivid memory.  He recounts how on early assignments he traveled back and forth to an UC (undercover) assignment and would come back and coach is son’s T-Ball team.  As he dove deeper into the Hells Angels lifestyle, he had a more difficult time switching between devoted husband and father, and the illegal gun purchasing Hells Angel.

You can feel the pressure that Dobyns was under with each carefully chosen word or phrase.  The blow ups between the boss & him.  The cons that led to other cons, that led to other cons, that came back to the first con, and having to keep them all straight as to not give away his true identity.  His relationships with ATF brass, his teammates, his family (real & Hells Angels) all had a significant impact on who he was & who he was becoming.

This book dives into a real experience of life as a UC for the ATF, and in some cases the perils of the grueling work.  This book does not hold back on the language or present a false reality of his work.  If you enjoy true life stories of crime and intensity, then this book is right up your alley.  This book will get your heart pumping & remind you how good a life you have it in some cases.  Pick this book up today!

Marcus Buckingham (@mwbuckingham) has done it again with his latest book release Find Your Strongest Life.  This book is primarily targeted for women as the subtitle indicates – “What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently“.  Just as in previous releases (Now, Discover Your Strengths and The Truth About You), Marcus pulls from his years of research in to the strengths revolution.  His research shows that although women have more opportunity, more advantages then forty years ago, they are less happy today.  This book begs to answer the “why” question and provide an opportunity to show how each person can excel in their strength role.

He points out that there are roles that women are born to play and are stretched and pulled in different directions and want to be “all things, to all people“.  In previous strength tests, the goal was to identify your five core strengths that defined you, each one being separate.  In this book, he states that they want to pull your strengths together to show what your Lead and Supporting roles would be.  These roles include:

• Advisor – “what is the best thing to do?”
• Caretaker – “is everyone okay?”
• Creator – “what do I understand?”
• Equalizer – “what’s the right thing to do?”
• Influencer – “how can I move to act?”
• Motivator – “how can I raise the energy?”
• Pioneer – “what’s new?”
• Teacher – “what can she learn from this?”
• Weaver – “with whom can I connect?”                                     (p. 102-119)

Each person is unique and the Strong Life test helps identify the Lead and Supporting roles of the individual.  One of the fascinating points of the book is that he argues that women should strive for imbalance, not balance.  Their lives are always trying to fit into a perfectly balanced life – each part being given equal billing when that just isn’t the case.

This book is chocked full of valuable information including some practical, “How-To’s” to help guide your journey as your review your life, find your Lead and Supporting roles, and strive for imbalance while not freaking out your friends and family.  Sprinkled throughout the book are stories that showcase the principles in the book, whether success or failure or taking the long way around to seeing their strengths.

This is a book that needs to be on every Human Resource desk, in the coaching and training department, and widely read among friends and family.  This book has the potential to revolutionize the way women approach life, business, and family when they act within their Lead and Supporting roles.  Pick it up today!

When was the last time you fell down?  I don’t mean, hey I tripped hit the ground and bounced right back up, hoping that no one noticed, but really fell?  Would the Russian judge give you a “10” for your fall?  Previously, I have discussed my own slips and trips as a coach, but I think there is value in discussing some of falls.  The goal is that through the process you will learn at each stage so that success can be achieved.

In 1995, I was leading the Girls Cross Country program at LA Baptist High School.  I was scripting all the workout whether they were drills or normal runs.  I had a good team of girls who worked hard.  However, sometimes no matter how hard you work, you just are not going to perform your best on a given day.  If that were the case, no one would ever lose in baseball or football or any other sport for that matter.

As we entered our peak season, I tapered the workouts to focus on speed and short distances versus the long run that formed the base and bulk of their yearly training.  As we headed into our League Championship meet, we were running good, but then the unthinkable happen – we had a bad day.  That year we finished in fourth place, which isn’t too bad if it weren’t for the fact that the top three teams move on to the Division Prelims.  That was the first year in about ten years that a girls team from the school had not made the Division series.  As you can imagine, I was crushed.  Our team was crushed.  Parents were in shock.  Other schools were equally as shocked.

As I re-calibrated myself over the next few months, I was determined to not repeat that fate the next year.  I spent more time planning the workouts.  I studied what other good coaches were doing.  I studied my own athletes with greater diligence.  I was determined to redeem myself.

This fall was not easy to take.  I mean this fall was one that kept me down for a bit, but it did not take me out of the game.  A good coach will realize how a fall can help create focus, passion, clarity and determination for creating success.  I labored over this effort for months.  When we began work during the summer of ‘96 for the upcoming fall season, all of the workouts were complete.  Each day was scripted with a plan and a new focus.  I don’t think the girls were ready for what was ahead, but I was!

You might be thinking, well, that’s great Dave, but how can that help me.  Here’s how:

• Step away from the fall – put the fall out of your mind for awhile-shift gears, do something different
• Review the fall – it is important to take stock of how you fell
• Create a goal – what is your endgame, your end goal?
• Craft a plan – create a plan that focuses on getting you to the goal
• Execute the plan – in order to reach the goal, you have to execute the plan
• Adapt – don’t be afraid to adapt the plan, sometimes your greatest success happens when you go off-script
• Enjoy – have fun!

These are some guiding principles that helped me focus in on having a great next year.  I hope that these principles help you as well.

Question:  Think about your fall, how have you bounced back?