Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

This week marks the 75 th anniversary of the liberation of the Jews from the concentration camp of Auschwitz. One of the motto's you heard from liberated prisoners was the expression, “Never forget.” Unfortunately, some are taught the holocaust never happened. Some, if not many, are not even taught of its tragic history. (Stutthof Gas Chamber) Just what happened at Auschwitz? Lucia Suarez Sang says it concisely: “ Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most notorious in a system of death and concentration camps operated by Nazi Germany across occupied Europe. It is estimated that some 1.3 million people were deported to the camp between 1940 and 1945.Of these, at least 1.1 million are believed to have been murdered by the gas chambers and crematoria before the Soviet Army liberated the camp 75 years ago.” [1] My wife and I visited Stutthof Concentration Camp in Sztutowo , Poland. 63,000 total people were murdered there, including 28,000 Jews. A sobering testament to the wickedness...

“Crazy if it’s true.” That’s what I saw on my phone after my son’s basketball game. “What’s crazy if true?” I thought. I knew I had missed something. There were over 10 missed texts. So, what was “true?” The apparent death of Kobe Bryant. It would seem like Sunday would be day that many people won’t forget. Whenever a young, well respected, and famous person dies, the world reacts. And they should Death is a painful shock to our souls. But why do we react with such fervency? Because it's a reminder. In fact, I believe there are 5 reminders that come from untimely death. Death is inevitable. It doesn’t matter who are you, what you do, where you live, or when you live, we will all die. We may get face lifts to look younger. We can workout to tighten up bodies. We can eat vegan or as much meat as the world offers, we are all going to die. Period. We are powerless over death. This is what James reminds us of in James 1:9-11: “ Let the lowly brother boast in his exal...

If someone came up to you and asked, “What is Christianity?”, what would you say? I would bet that you would get 100 different answers from 100 different people.  So, can Christianity be properly defined? Yes. Christianity simply put is a religious worldview based on Jesus Christ as presented in and throughout the Christian Bible. Where do we get the term Christian from? It comes from the word Christ. No, Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name. Christ means, “messiah, anointed one.” Simply put: a savior. So, is Christianity a religion? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it answers four key questions about reality: origin, destiny, meaning, and morality. By answering these questions, Christians build a worldview. Christianity’s worldview is built from the Bible. But Christianity really isn’t a religion because religion is a list of dos and don’ts. Religion tells people how they can gain salvation, how they can gain access to God or many gods. Religion is all about what yo...

Goals. Resolutions. New Days. We’ve all got these initiatives and goals in our lives. But there’s a problem. In order to achieve anything, you must overcome your greatest enemy: yourself. More specifically, your aversion to being productive. We all start off well-intentioned, but quickly we’re distracted. We’re behind. We’re overwhelmed. You want to be more productive? Want to win each day? Try these 15 cheats. Start the night before. Too many people start their days off exhausted because they didn’t sleep. Therefore, prepare well for the day to come. Set a limit. You won’t get enough sleep binge watching Netflix or playing games on your smart phone. So set a limit to your consumption before bedtime. Make a plan. How can you win the day if you don’t know what winning looks like? Create an achievable to-do list. Without one, you’re going blind. Read. It’s amazing how quickly your eyes get tired when reading a book. You may as well learn something while tricking your ey...

I swear this is the year I will....you can fill in the blank. Over the past few days, I've heard enough resolutions to fill up my coaching calendar for a year. I've even heard my kids talk about resolutions. Sure, it's encouraging to hear people recognize something isn't as it should be. For example, I need to lose weight. I should be happier. I should read more books. I should watch less television. But we all know the vast majority of these resolutions won't be met. They won't even be pursued for more than 2 weeks. That's why I want to help. I want to offer you the five key ingredients for winning in 2020. Why should you take my advice seriously? Maybe you shouldn't, but if you've heard my story before, you know I've turned around a marriage, lost nearly 100 lbs and kept it off for 20 years, and completed 3 degrees and more. Not convinced? Read on anyway.  So, what are the key ingredients for winning in 2020? Let's go. Know wher...