Staff, Author at The Touchstone Tools

Special Promotion/Campaign Video/Your Toolbox For Life

Amazon Publishing Marketing has selected The Touchstone Tools: Building Your Way to an Inspired Life (“TTT”) to be promoted via Nonfiction Kindle book deals in the US marketplace, starting 4/1/2018 and running through 4/30/2018. TTT will be offered at 0.99 USD during the promotion period. The promotion can be accessed below:

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=14435394011

The gubernatorial candidacy of TTT author Joseph Holland (pictured above at a recent Albany Legislative Day) has released its first campaign video, which can be accessed below: facebook.com/joehollandforny

Love Tool – Take Five For Forgiveness

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?
Matthew 18:33

When Jesus shares the parable of the unmerciful servant, He reveals a key principle at work in the kingdom of heaven – forgiveness.

The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual system of management by which God governs the workings of His creation. Though you can’t fully comprehend them, these kingdom rules operate all the time. If you live in sync with this invisible technology, Jesus will fill your life with His grace and favor.

Forgiveness is the divine application that resets a troubled relationship. Everyone has experienced hurt at the hands of another. During my teenage years, the machinations of an unfair football coach damaged me emotionally. It may be the father you never saw, the mother who was excessive in discipline, the adulterous spouse, the insensitive friend, the ungrateful offspring or the brutal stranger. And when hurt happens, the cycle of retribution sets in. You push back, strike back, curse back, snarl back, which triggers rounds of anger and retaliation, ad infinitum.

When the unmerciful servant failed to extend the forgiveness that he had experienced from the king, his unrighteousness activated the revocation of the forgiveness he had received, resulting in a tortured and tormented life.

Are you like that unmerciful servant, full of blame, bitterness and hate; or are you like Jesus, full of mercy, forgiveness and love?

Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us: What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

It may not seem like black and white, but looking inside to set standards of divine technology for your life will simplify your moral choices. Be a lover, not a hater. Reboot a relationship. Reach out with the reset of reconciliation. Hug someone who has hurt you. Spend a few minutes to make amends. Sow some seeds of peace. Use the Love Tool to rebuild a friendship. Take five for forgiveness.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

You can find out more about the Joe Holland for Governor campaign at:

joehollandforny.com and facebook.com/joehollandforny.

Running For Governor/Your Toolbox For Life

The Touchstone Tools: Building Your Way to an Inspired Life (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland is running for Governor of New York State – a candidate for the Republican nomination to face the incumbent Andrew Cuomo. In the above photo Holland appears with some supporters after giving a recent speech in Saratoga Springs, New York. If you’d like to find out more about his candidacy or support him in some way, you can visit joehollandforny.com; or you can go to the Facebook page – Joe Holland For Governor.

Wealth Tool – Build True Abundance

My father disagreed with my decision to live and work in Harlem after graduating Harvard Law School. We had many arguments about it, including a climactic one.

“Unlike me when I finished school, you can go anywhere and do anything and you come up with this silly mission in Harlem?” Dad made a familiar point that tended to find its way into every major discussion about my career. His generation of African Americans didn’t have the opportunities that mine possessed, so why waste them?

“There’s nothing silly about serving the urban poor,” I countered. “It’s the right thing to do. If we blacks don’t take care of our own communities, who will?”

More frustrated than usual, Dad went for the jugular, using arguments from the professional (“I didn’t raise you with the best of everything and send you to the top schools for you to be a struggling community lawyer”) to the political (“We’re Republicans. Those Democrats in Harlem will never help you”) to the practical (“Take care of yourself first, then you’ll be able to take care of the less fortunate”).

Dad’s pragmatism was always his most challenging argument: make money first; give back later. I could have counter-argued from Gandhi (unearned suffering is redemptive); King (risk-taking for social justice is liberating); or Christ (humble self-sacrifice is leadership). But I resisted. The key now was not to win an argument but to discover common ground.

I floated a compromise. “You agree that Harlem needs help, right?” He looked askance, wary of my approach. “So look at my time in Harlem as the Peace Corps, or military service – my giving something of value to the country.” “You’d probably be safer in the army than in the ghetto”, he asserted. “Give me five years”, I proffered. “You won’t last three years in Harlem,” he countered. “Let’s say four years,” I affirmed, “Like two tours of duty.” Dad concluded the discussion – “You should sow your talent in fertile ground.”

Dad only lived a couple more years, so he wasn’t around to see how wrong we both were, as my tours of duty evolved into a generational commitment, thirty years and counting. And he would have witnessed a paradox. Though sowing my talent in Harlem didn’t yield me lots and lots of money, I still achieved a measure of wealth.

From this perspective, wealth is more than just material abundance. A truly wealthy person possesses a broad range of resources, encompassing all aspects of life: healthfulness, a sense of belonging, a lifestyle that uplifts others, a loving family, peace of mind, the joy of destiny’s pursuit, a transcendent spirituality – things of ultimate value bringing the kind of satisfaction that money can’t buy.

You were made a creature of enterprise, gifted with talent as well as time, created to be productive and fruitful – to increase and multiply. That’s God’s part. Your part is to sow your talent in fertile ground and cultivate it.

Fertile ground is all around, but the most fruitful soil lies within you. Be innovative and introspective, imaginative and incisive. Discover your God-given gifts and establish them as the foundation for your life. You’ll find them if you dig deep enough. Think outside the box to plant yourself in an economically and spiritually productive environment in which you can make money and from which your true abundance can grow. Your bank account will get richer; even more important, your life will be richer.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

Your Toolbox For Life/Holistic Hardware Workshop

Work Tool – Build Your Integrity

There’s an old saying in football that the team that makes the fewest turnovers wins. I can still hear my high school football coach exhorting my teammates and me before every game: “If we make fewer mistakes than our opponent on Saturday, we’ll win the game.” The football memory that hurts the most were the two fumbles I made as a Cornell running back against Brown that cost us the game and the Ivy League championship.

This truth pervades all sports. My fumble becomes a steal in basketball, a double-fault in tennis, an errant throw in baseball, a false start in track. Whatever the sport, bad decisions that lead to mistakes can cost you a win.

Turnovers in life are signified by the mistakes we make, the missteps we take, the bad decisions, the wrong choices, the errors in judgment, the hasty miscues, which preoccupy and distress us, robbing us of the focus and energy necessary for inspiration and fulfillment. The inner journey to integrity is about keeping these self-induced obstacles to a minimum.

Developing character begins with this understanding: we all have flaws, weaknesses, shortcomings that lead to bad choices. If you work hard at correcting your flaws, strengthening your weaknesses, rectifying your shortcomings, you can limit – and even eliminate – the bad choices and start making good decisions.

The critical point is this – decisions and choices are not made in a moment in time but they’re rooted in character. Examples abound of successful people who have squandered fame and fortune because of character flaws. Mike Tyson in sports, Bernie Madoff in business, Richard Nixon in politics are exemplars. Not a day goes by that some person, known or known, loses out on success, opportunity or inspiration because of a mistake that could have been avoided.

Don’t let that person be you!

You are constantly faced with choices – moral choices – and each experience is an opportunity to grow in your decision-making into a person of integrity. The inner journey to integrity aims at forging the virtues to help you make inspired choices and avoid the wrong ones.

Remember – the fewest turnovers win.

The Touchstone Tools: Building Your Way to an Inspired Life (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland conducted a Holistic Hardware workshop at the Bowery Mission’s Community Hope Resource Center on December 1st in East Harlem. In the below photo Holland appears with one of the Center’s residents who participated in the workshop, which was organized by CRU Inner City.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

Wishing you and yours the Lord’s blessings for the holiday season and 2018,

Joseph

Your Toolbox For Life/PP Mentoring Workshops

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Association Tool – Build Your Winning Team

Nothing has more impact, both positive and negative, in navigating the rapids of life than your interpersonal relationships. Your friends, family, and colleagues can lift you up, support you, and help you realize your dreams. Or they can hamper you and either unintentionally or purposefully complicate your journey. The key is to understand that you cannot control people. What you can control is how you relate to them. A sports metaphor works best: life is all about “choosing sides”, associating with the people who will best help you win, i.e., achieve your goals. Legendary college football coach Woody Hayes described a key element of his success with these words: “You win with people.” Build the individuals in your life into your winning team by taking these four steps: Know Them – take the time to find out their names, learn their histories, understand their commitments; Prioritize Them – do something concrete (a note, a smile, a gift, a pat on the back) to demonstrate their importance in your eyes; Challenge Them – don’t settle for where they are, hold them accountable to where they’re heading; Encourage Them – communicate your belief in them, their value, their dreams. Your winning team depends on the things you are doing to build it today.

The Touchstone Tools: Building Your Way to an Inspired Life (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland recently conducted two Peak Performers Mentoring (“PP Mentoring”) workshops. PP Mentoring is structured youth mentoring based on the TTT curriculum of inspirational values and principles. You can learn more about PP Mentoring at the following link:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Peak-Performers-Mentoring-Overview-1.pdf

Holland led a PP Mentoring workshop related to the Hope Saturdays project in Ithaca, NY; the workshop took place at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center and was facilitated by college students (some of whom appear into the photo below) working with middle and high school students.

Holland also conducted a PP Mentoring workshop at the 67th annual convention of the North American Association of Christian Social Workers (nacsw.org), which took place in Charlotte, N.C. In the below photo Holland appears with some of the workshop participants.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row] READ MORE

Your Toolbox For Life/Empowerment Workshops – Recently Past & Impending

Discipline Tool – Building Perseverance Through Struggle

Have you ever seen a baby chick try to peck its way out of an egg as it’s hatching? The sight is agonizing to watch, because it happens so slowly; the chick has peck away tiny fragments of the eggshell, one little piece at a time. You may think, something must be wrong – surely nature didn’t intend this kind of struggle. It’s tempting to help the baby chick break out of that egg; but if you do that, the chick dies. It turns out that the trial of pecking its way out of the egg is what physiologically activates the resources the chick needs to live. It’s the struggle itself that guarantees her life. Your journey of life is a struggle, compelling you to persevere through detours, roadblocks, pitfalls, mudslides, and mountain climbs all along the way. The adversities cascade.Will this trial ever end? You will feel like giving up. In that troubled moment remember that the chick’s struggle to break free generates the vitality for life once free. The eggshell as the barrier of life becomes the essential source of life. So don’t ever give up. Embrace your own eggshell. Recall Churchhill’s words: If you’re going through hell, keep going. Perseverance is built through struggle, so keep pecking away at your eggshell, exercising your will, determined to never quit. You are being prepared – physically, mentally, and spiritually – to break through every barrier as you are born into your destiny.

The Touchstone Tools (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland conducted a workshop in Harlem on September 23rd. The newsletter story below pictures Holland with some of the workshop participants.

Holland also conducted a workshop at the annual conference of the Christian Community Development Association in Detroit on October 6th (pictured below after the workshop).

Holland’s next workshop is at the 67th Annual Convention of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work in Charlotte on November 4th. Workshop description is below.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

Your Toolbox For Life/Traveling TTT /Special Promotion/Transformational Workshop

Self-Esteem Tool – Building Self-Confidence Through Passion

If you’re passionate about something, you bring a positive energy to it – a spirit of enthusi-asm and dedication. Pursuing passion is the exciting part of your inner journey, where you search your mind and heart for those things that mean the most to you. Drudgery is the flipside of passion – gray shades instead of rainbow colors. If you approach work, school, family, even play as one big obligation . . . if everything is difficult, painful, a chore . . . if you’re just going through the motions of life . . . you need to ask yourself some penetrating questions: What do I most enjoy doing? Why? . . . What are my gifts? How do I best express them? . . . What activities make me feel the most enthused, ener-gized, dynamic? . . . What are the things that I would keep doing for the rest of my life even if I wasn’t getting paid? . . . Write down your answers. Make journaling part of your inner journey, turning the light of clarity on your passions. Meditate on your findings. Let them bring you in touch with those often hard-to-get-at thoughts and feelings about who you are at your deepest level, the values that matter to you the most, what you really want to do with your life, and you might unearth the spiritual stuff out of which greatness, excellence and genius is made. Emerson put it this way: Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm. Your road to greatness is paved by being passionate about what you do, working hardest at the things you love, and feeling great about your-self!

The Touchstone Tools (“TTT”) traveled to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent where TTT author Joseph Holland recently conducted a 5-day workshop. He is pictured below with some of the workshop participants.

TTT is participating in a special promotion this month via Nonfiction Kindle Book Deals in the US marketplace. The book is being offered at 0.99 USD until 9/30/2017. You can access the promotion here: https://www.amazon.com/b?node=14435394011.

Holland’s next workshop is in Harlem on 9/23/2017. See the flyer below for information.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

Empowerment Tools Workshop – 4 Weeks Away – Register Now!

The Touchstone Tools (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland will conduct a workshop on the ten holistic tools and their two strategic, community-building applications: Holistic Hardware (adult-focused) and Peak Performers Program (youth-focused). Information about the workshop appears on the flyer below. The 3-hour program – including continental breakfast – is offered free to workshop registrants. Register now – space is limited

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at: http://www.touchstonetools.com/

Touchstone Tools Empowerment Workshop

Holland’s upcoming TTT Empowerment Workshop

Your Toolbox For Life & Events – Recent and Upcoming

Responsibility Tool – Building Your Right Attitude

Attitude is a choice – your choice. You will be faced with situations today that you must respond to in some way. How will you respond when things don’t go your way? How you live out the answer to this question is determined by the attitude that you bring to life. If you react negatively to the disappointments, adversities and opposition that come into your life today – it is inevitable that they will come (if not today, they will be coming soon!) – your poor attitude will set you up for defeat and despair. But if you respond positively to the challenges, to what other people say or do, to unexpected circumstances that confront you – your excellent attitude will overcome the problems with salvoes of grace, wisdom, joy and peace. You are in charge of how you respond – that’s your attitude. The Apostle Paul wrote: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had”. (Philippians 2:5). If you strive for this – choosing to respond with Christlike humility instead of self-assertiveness, servanthood instead of competitiveness, patience instead of gratification, love instead of hate – you will not only be building the right attitude for your life but also a better world.

The Touchstone Tools (“TTT”) author Joseph Holland recently shared the Sunday morning message at Reach Out For Christ Church (rofc.org) in Freeville, NY – pictured below afterwards with Pastor Tom Miller.

Holland’s upcoming TTT Empowerment Workshop:

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/

New Feature – Your Toolbox For Life & Upcoming Events

The Touchstone Tools begins a new feature – Your Toolbox For Life, which imparts a monthly inspiration, launching with the following selection. Read it and be inspired to build a better you! . . . and a better world!

Vision Tool – Building Unassailable Dreams

It is human nature to dream, to see the glory of one’s future, to envision victories won, to imagine better times, to hope for brighter days. But difficulties, disappointments and doubters can darken, even dash your dreams. Don’t allow adversity to turn your view of the future from positive to negative. Build unassailable dreams by taking these two steps, today and every day. Meditate on your dreams. Make some time, find a quiet place to envision what and where you want to be ten years from now, five years from now, one year from now, next month, next week, tomorrow. Never lose sight of the big picture for your life in the details of responsibility or drudgery of obligation. Make it literal if it helps: pull out an actual photograph, page torn from a magazine or inspirational saying to memorize. Motivate through your dreams. Do one thing today – at least one thing – that moves you closer to fulfilling your vision. Make some notes; do some research; visit someone of influence to expand your network; sing a stirring song. Langston Hughes once wrote: Hold fast to dreams; for without them, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Soar with your vision: let it inspire you to be better than you used to be, to be the best you can possibly be.

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TTT author Joseph Holland will share the morning message at Reach Out For Christ Church (rofc.org) in Freeville, NY on Sunday July 30th at 10:15.

Holland will conduct a TTT Empowerment Workshop on September 23, 2017

9 am – noon at Bethel Gospel Assembly in Harlem.

You can find out more about TTT and related products and programs at:

http://www.touchstonetools.com/