Meaningful Mondays - Arrows Out

I asked Warren Buffett what he considered the keys to his success. He shared three keys that reflect humility, gratitude, and stewardship. “We don’t simply inherit freedom. We become stewards of it.” – Lee Brower

The Unfinished Promise… America wasn’t finished in 1776, it was launched. The Founding Fathers gave us the possibility of America. Whether that possibility continues to grow… depends on what you and I choose to do today. This Independence Day, don’t just celebrate freedom—participate in it. The possibilities envisioned by those who came before us won’t be realized by spectators. They will be reali...

Reposted on June 23, 2026: – The Miracle of Butterflies Repost: In the coming weeks, you are going to hear more about the miracle of butterflies, including something else your kids don’t know.  To kick it off, listen to this Meaningful Monday almost 10 years ago and let me know what you think.  – Lee Brower What can we learn about the change of a caterpillar into a butterfly? Quote to remember: “I...

“The people who believed in you before you believed in yourself weren’t wrong. They were just early.”  — Lee Brower “Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure.” “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”  — Viktor Frankl “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become — because He made us. He invented us. H...

Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child. What if a child’s emotional needs become more dependent on a device than a parent? “Am I giving my children and grandchildren more conveniences—or more opportunities?” “Confidence is not taught. It is discovered one uncomfortable experience at a time.” – Lee Brower “The goal of parenting is not lifelong dependence; it is lifelong capabili...

“Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature in harmony with itself and its ideals.” – William George Jordan “The strongest leaders are not those who control the storm, but those who remain steady enough to steady others. – Lee Brower “Gratitude is the trim tab that turns calmness into influence.” – Lee Brower People don’t need leaders who can predict every stor...

“A grateful nation is not measured by what it remembers once a year… but by how it chooses to live every day.” – Lee Brower “The greatest way to honor sacrifice is to create a future worthy of it.” – Lee Brower “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” – Ronald Regan “The best storehouse of truth is the generations of the past.” – Gordon B. Hinckley “When sacrifice is forgo...

“Gratitude does not remove pain. It gives pain purpose.” – Lee Brower “When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation.” – Henry B. Eyring “Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.” – Rumi

“Few things are worse than running in the wrong way enthusiastically.” — Lee Brower “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles, 1841 Emerson was right. But here’s what he didn’t say. “It is unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm moves the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth.” — Arthur Balfour, 1900 Nearly sixty years later, B...

"You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius "Conflict may visit us without permission... but contention only stays when we invite it." - Lee Brower Conflict is inevitable. Contention is a choice.

“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.” — Viktor Frankl “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” — Helen Keller "A grateful heart looks for light — and light is what keeps you walking straight." "Your Enduring Vision isn't a destination. It's the sun. Always there. Even when you can't see it." "Most people don't drif...

Where there is love, there is life. — Mahatma Gandhi "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart." — Helen Keller Watch the full press conference on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HacpRDfCbnw

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey "Naming a moment radically improves the flow of wisdom across generations." — Lee Brower "A moment named is a moment that never stops living." — Lee Brower "Your most valuable assets have never appeared on a balance sheet." — Lee Brower

"Go B.I.G. Begin In Gratitude. Not because life is easy, but because life is the gift." — Lee Brower "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." — Marcus Aurelius "Memento Mori" "Amor Fati"

Dr. Marshall Duke, Emory University psychologist, found that adolescents who knew their family's stories — especially stories of resilience and moral choice — showed significantly greater self-esteem and lower anxiety. Science is validating what Larry's family proved in one conversation. "An experience becomes Enduring Wealth only when it is shared — and unnamed, unshared assets die with you." — L...

Take it to the Limit, one more time. We don't build a meaningful life in the big moments. We build it in the quiet, often unseen choices to go "one more time"... when it would be easier not to. "One more time..." is not about a destination. There's no finish line. It's a commitment to the next moment." It's about doing your best again -- not because the circumstances are easy, but because you've b...

The Brain You're Building Are some of our most prominent leaders unknowingly diminishing the very capacities we most need from them? "You don't have to wait for the rainbow to enjoy the rain." -- Dieter F. Uchtdorf "Gratitude doesn't deny the storm; it changes the mind we bring into the storm." -- Lee Brower This week's RIPPLE: "Knowing what you know now, if you had the chance (or opportunity) to...

“Legacy isn’t built in the moments when it’s easy. It’s built in the moments when you’re the only one in the room who still believes.”  —  Lee Brower “Courage always looks desperate until it works.” — Lee Brower “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “It’s...

The Most Dangerous Word... "If you don't choose your focus, something else will." "We rarely lose what matters through crisis -- we lose it through drift." "Drift happens by default. Meaningfulness happens by design." NIX one drift so you can proactively focus your FIX on what matters most.

"A lesson unnamed is a lesson unclaimed." — Lee Brower "The hill isn't the danger. Going down it without looking is." — Lee Brower “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” — Henry Ford “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” — Albert Einstein “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey

Cognitive Empathy is understanding what someone else is thinking. Emotional Empathy is feeling what someone else is feeling. Compassionate Empathy is taking action to help. It moves from: "I understand." to "I care." to "What can I do?" That is leadership. "Empathy is not weakness. It's strategic alignment." "Instruction may produce compliance. Empathy produces contribution."

Are you Intertwined? Or intertwinement. The hidden solution to enduring achievements. “Where might my roots intertwine more intentionally?” “Belonging becomes enduring when people know what they can always count on us to do.” — Lee Brower “We are not put on earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.” — Eric Butterworth “Character is what you do when no one is watching.” — Jo...

“How proud moments become anchors for the next generation.” “Every proud family moment is really a principle in action.” — Lee Brower “Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear almost any ‘how.’” — Viktor Frankl “People will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

While belonging has increased, the quality of belonging has declined. When meaning weakens, belonging looks for substitutes. The greatest gift we can give future generations isn’t comfort, it’s meaningful belonging with purpose. Think of a moment you have felt proud to be a "_____" (insert your family name) "When anchors weaken, substitutes take over." - Lee Brower Meaningful belonging requires an...

What strength might re-emerge if I stopped carrying junk that was never mine to begin with--for the sake of those watching me? Most people don't struggle because they lack strengths; they struggle because their strengths are buried. Acknowledging strengths isn't ego. It's responsibility. Real strength isn't pretending you can do everything. Strength that only serves me stops with me. Unacknowledge...