Paul Johnson is Trouble Breaker #1 at Shortcuts to Results LLC, the firm that creates Trouble Breakers™ who break past trouble and make things happen.
Who/what contributed to your inner strength?
I attribute much of my inner strength to my mother, father and brothers from when I was growing up. I was taught early that it was OK to mess up. Just don't expect somebody else to clean up your mess.
When in your life was your inner strength particularly tested and how did you deal with the incident?
Everyone from our sales team flew to the home office to participate in a week-long sales meeting. Before the meeting even started, my sales manager called me into his office and fired me. I was shocked, especially since my sales were leading the company. Soon after, I learned that the sales manager gave my job to one of his cronies, since I had the hottest territory.
After a brief period of mourning, my wife and I decided to use the opportunity to move to a city where we'd rather live. I ended up getting a new house, new job and new boss out of the deal, all upgrades.
What suggestions do you have to help people realize their capabilities?
We all have super-powers. Each of us is gifted in some way that the majority of the population is not. Howard Gardner writes about it as multiple intelligences in his classic book, "Frames of Mind," and, more recently, in "Intelligence Reframed." We owe it to ourselves and everyone we touch to first discover our super-powers, and then make sure we use them for good...instead of evil.
Why is it important to focus on inner strength?
As an extension of the super-powers idea, I believe inner strength comes in different flavors. Some have competitive drive, some are excellent listeners, while others are masters of abstract concepts, to suggest just a few. If we don't focus on using our unique inner strength, we can never be more than "normal" or "average." Sadly, normal people have no advantages.
What are your next goals and what positive thoughts or activities keep you striving toward your goals?
The beauty of seeking breakthroughs is that everybody gets to define their own. Each big gnarly goal challenges us to expand our thinking and develop more inner strength. God creates desires in us that we are responsible for pursuing, whether we achieve them or not. A guiding question I was given long ago is, "If you can do better, should you?" The answer is always, "Yes!"
