Jeff Shoop

03/17/2025

Thanks in part to a food drive and a Sunday School lesson this weekend I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 and other scriptures of the importance of the attribute of charity.

That led to me to ask a trusted friend who has known me for decades how I am doing with the development of charity within me, comparing the me they first met and the me of today. The feedback was that they had not seen much change. It was honest, genuine and not meant to hurt my feelings in the least.

Ugg. Boy has that led to some serious introspection. If you had received such an assessment, what would you do?

As for me, I'll start by praying for it and then doing everything I can to be more Christlike.

Matthew 5:16. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Luke 10:25-27 "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself."

02/15/2025

I have long heard an old English saying, "Whatever thou art, act well thy part."

Why subscribe to this idea? We each might come up with our own answers. Part of my view is that it is a matter of service and personal progression.

For me it is a matter of service in that sometimes the work we do will often benefit others. If we are going to coach our child's basketball team then let's be the best coaches we can be. Let's show up as our best selves.

If we are the CEO of a corporation we have the opportunity to benefit the lives of those who work with us and for us, our customers and certainly our families. The same would be true for everyone in every role in the company.

Us at our best will lead to the best outcomes.

For me it is also matter of personal progression in that if we are striving to be the best that we can be in whatever roles we assume, we grow as we work. Every day we can be, in some way, better than the day before.

"Whatever thou art, act well thy part."

12/03/2024

https://youtu.be/twMihDCuOiQ

A spiritual journey with Jesus Christ into discovering how marriages and families can be forever.

10/30/2024

So fitting of Kara’s journey. She handled the tough stuff! And Kara happens to be the alter name of the character “Supergirl.”

09/25/2024

I'm excited to be on the road again tomorrow.

As a member, I'll be headed for the Utah Rotary 2024 Conference at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.

Rotary is an organization of volunteers and leaders who serve their communities in just about any way you can imagine.

You can find Rotary clubs in towns and cities from St. George to Logan Utah and across the United States.

At this conference I look forward to accomplishing three things:

1. Learning more of how Rotary is making a difference for people in our state, our nation and even other parts of our world.
2. Connecting with people who want to make a difference, people of action.
3. Discovering how I can assist our team, the Rotary Club of Lehi, make a difference.

Is there a Rotary Club near you? Try UtahRotary.org or Rotary.org

09/12/2024

I was an insecure teenager with a tendency to worry. I found a book that caught my attention. Dale Carnegie's "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" which obviously, spoke directly to my concerns.

One solution of many in the book, is mentioned in chapter three:

1. Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen?"
2. Prepare to accept it if you have to.
3. Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.

His advice has always worked for me. Often, the worst doesn't come to fruition. At other times in life the worst that can happen is horrible, gut wrenching and debilitating. Consider cancer, a failed business or whatever the worst is that you've been through.

Still, I've found that Carnegie's simple wisdom applied.

At times part of me wanted to be positive and faith filled at all costs, not allowing myself to even consider the worst. I have found a weakness in trying to avoid it. Doing so seemed to fuel the fear that festers, also known as "worry."

Without allowing it to consume us or dwelling on it needlessly, there is a strength of positivity and faith in facing what the worst outcome could be, confronting it head on and in dealing with it as Carnegie suggests. That, in my book, is real positivity.

While the worst does not always happen, if it does, we find a way through resilience to improve on it.

Growth comes through hard experiences sometimes, especially when we refuse to let it be otherwise.

Are you part of an organization of friends and associates challenged with negative self-talk, worry or stress? Visit www.jeffshoop.com

08/25/2024

At BYU Education Week I enjoyed a number of classes. One, "The Finely Tuned Universe That Permits Our Existence," by Dr. Justin Peatross and Dr. Michael Ware of the Physics Department, was particularly interesting.

Every time I look up at the stars, contemplate the structure of our planet or the physical makeup of everything here, I think of Alma 30:44, "all things denote there is a God." I just love the thought, and the feeling evoked by it.

Their lecture was marvelous. If an electron, a proton or any of the basics of our physical world were the slightest bit larger or smaller, our universe could not have worked. Simply put, it is all so finely tuned everything had to be the size it is, or creation would not have worked.

I marvel at the creation, the marvelous, unlimited intelligence that God has and His application of it in everything we see, hear, feel and comprehend. It takes my breath away!

I can't help but wonder, before we came here, how much of that did we get to see? How much did we know? And how much, perhaps one day, will be brought to our remembrance when we enter His presence?

In Moses 1:6 God calls Moses his "son". The Lord shared similar messages in the New Testament. That being true in that we are all sons and daughters of Him, how awesome is our eternal potential? How would really understanding that impact what we do here and now?

I share this with you in the name of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ through whom He created all things and whose mission it is to make it possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven.

08/23/2024

Yes, I FELT THE FEAR!

As a leadership team we had decided to do a "football jamboree." A fundraiser for our community youth program. It was set up for teams to play a short exhibition game. We had two teams for each school grade. So, for example, one sixth grade team would play the other sixth grade team and so on with the other grades. There would be nine games and so the event lasted ALL DAY LONG!

Along with the games we had snack shacks, sponsors, cheerleaders, celebrities that I would interview. The event was a big deal. It was a vitally important event and fundraiser.

One rather critical job was the MC and game announcer. Who do would I get to do something like that? Well, being the one that gave birth to the vision for the event it, had to be me. With so much riding on it, I was terrified.

I remember the very moment that I took to the microphone up in the announcer's booth in the stadium. That voice in my head was shouting "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" "YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF!"

Do you have an inner critic? A negative-self talker in your mind?

My chest was tight. My entire body had that frightening tingling feeling as if I were defusing a bomb and I could explode at any second. Part of me wanted to run.

Those thoughts I was having and the fearful feeling that followed were all so wrong. The words of the author Dr. Susan Jeffers, "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway" kept ringing in my ear too. Oh yes, I felt it and then I challenged the voice.

Yes, announcing football games was a new experience, a new comfort zone challenge. But I had spoken in front of people in churches, board rooms and in corporate training rooms for decades. The fear lacks logic. I CAN DO THIS! That inner critic tends to forget successful experiences like that.

Those thoughts gave me some confidence. The voice kept on shouting though, "Yes BUT……!" ………. And I breathed.

Everyone was depending on me to pull it off, the coaches, the kids, the parents. This was all for them.

I shouted to myself, "GAME ON" while flipping the switch to the microphone and I let it fly! My voice rang out.

Everything was so much easier from that very moment on. I got in the groove!

The louder I got, the more the crowd cheered, the quieter the critic grew.

Does your inner critic get in the way? When you have to get on the phone in customer service, tech support or sales? When you have to do a presentation to a client, prospect or fellow team members?

Challenge the critic and remember, Dr. Susan Jeffers had something there. The fear won't disappear but when it's game on, it's GAME ON!

08/23/2024

Nature is one of my favorite places for relieving some stress. That could be a walk in a park or a hike to a mountain top.

Do you have a favorite place to shake things off?

08/20/2024

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather He will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?” -Mother Theresa