Follow the Leader

When I was a kid, we used to gather the local kids and play the greatest game known to mankind – FOLLOW THE LEADER.

One child would be in front and the rest behind.  Our call was to follow whoever was dubbed the leader and do everything that they did.  Inevitably the leaders ranged in ability on 3 levels.

First, there was the kid who was usually the youngest, smallest and as athletic as a dead cricket floating in your pool.  When he was in front, the rest of us knew that the experience would be less than exhilarating, teetering on boring.  Although he would try to make our journey exciting, and challenging, he usually fell into repeating the same moves and following the same path through the woods that was safe and uneventful.  Needless to say, we could follow this kid in our sleep… and most of us did.

On the opposite extreme was the kid who spent half his day in school the other half winning triathlons in his age bracket.  This was the kid who took our ragtag group through thorn bushes, under the floorboards of abandon houses and over the edge of a 25 foot, garbage dump embankment in full sprint, without breaking a sweat.  When he was in front, we knew that our scraggly bodies were about to get the whooping of their lives.   And when he lead, nobody wanted either to follow or to even try because his standard was so out of reach for us that Adrianne Peterson would have a hard time keeping up.

Then there was the kid who got it.  He understood the complexities of having people follow and imitate his every movement.  He knew when to break into a dead sprint and when to slow up the pace.  He knew how far he could push the rest of us physically without anyone losing their breath or their lunch at the same time.  He motivated us to be better than we normally were.  He led us into the dark places of the forest that we normally wouldn’t go, all the while calling back over his shoulder, “Come one!  You can do it!  I’ve done this a million times and I won’t leave you!”  With this kid in front, the game was challenging and enjoyable, all at the same time.

Whether you’ve played the game or not, one thing is clearly obvious… the joy and excitement of the game depends fully the one we are following.

What kind of leader are you?  Do you run too far in front and wonder why no one follows your leading.  Do you feel as if your team could be doing more but don’t know how to take them to the next level?  Be the leader who understands the team’s strengths and shortcoming’s, adapts their leadership style to fit them and always pushes a few steps ahead.  If you do, then your team and you will achieve greatness.

Personally, always follow our Master leader whose model was one of strength, kindness, love and sacrifice and you’re bound to live a life of purpose! (Mark 1:14-20)

Peace!

10 Financial Principles That are Biblical

This past Sunday, I heard a great message about the biblical understanding of money.  The message dealt with issues of attitude, control, ownership and giving.  So today, I thought it’d be helpful to refer you to an article that handles this well-worn but important subject.

Enjoy!

“10 Financial Principles That are Biblical”

Peace!

My new website:

Tim Tebow’s Prayer

Tim Tebow prays during a game.

I know the Bronco’s are out of the Superbowl runoff but I read another Tim Tebow slam the other day.  An article said something like “I guess Tebow’s God doesn’t like him.”

Here’s the deal.  Most people think that if they pray to God for a win – in any category of life – that the outcome reflects whether or not God was “for” or “against” them.  They think a win or loss reflects God’s will or favor.  God is more strategic than that.  He has His plans and purpose and they are always for good.

So how do we explain Tebow’s faith exhibition and his success/failure rate?  Its very simple.  Tebow is an incredibly gifted athlete and he knows who gave that ability to him.  When Tebow is praying, I’m sure it’s to win but moreso, it is to thank God for the opportunity to use his talents on the field.  Win or lose, Tebow thanks God for simply being in the game.

Here’s the life lesson and it comes from the movie “Facing the Giants.”  In life’s arenas – relationships, finances, business, sports, music, etc – we do our best and leave the results up to God.  Win or loose we praise Him for the opportunities we have to walk onto the “field” and live everyday with excellence.

Today, I’m choosing to live under the Grace and through the strength of our Lord.  I’ll do my best at leave the results up to God and win or loose, I will still praise him.

Peace!

My new website:

Making the Impossible Possible

I can easily get overwhelmed with all of the ideas that pop into my head.  Without prioritizing and setting goals, accomplishing even a fraction of them would be impossible.

The habit of setting Goals is so important.  Earl Nightingale said, “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” Do you know where you’re going?  Are there projects or milestones that you’d like to conquer this new year?  Knowing how to set goals can help 2012 be one of the best years of your life.

To review from last weeks post, here is a seven step way to set goals:
1 – Decide what you want.
2 – Write it down.
3 – Set a deadline.
4 – Brainstorm a list of everything you can think of that you could do to accomplish this.
5 – Organize the list by sequence and priority.
6 – Do something.
7 – Do something everyday.

Now, list 10 goals for this year and ask yourself, “If I could only achieve one goal, which one would have the greatest impact on my life?”  Once you’ve answered that, focus on that one with high intensity.  You can still work on the other goals, but keep the number one the number one.

For me, I have goals in 7 areas of life:  FINANCE, HEALTH, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, FAMILY, SPIRITUAL, SOCIAL, and CAREER. Not all of them are drastic.  Some of them are crucial.  Taking the above process, here’s how I’m working on one of my goals:

One of my important goals is to finish a long-awaited book project called, “Refined – Turning Pain into Purpose.” Using Brian Tracy’s 7 steps, here’s how it’s all working out:

1 – Decide what you want. – I want to complete “Refined – Turning Pain into Purpose.”
2 – Write it down. – I have a goal worksheet that I use on which this project is listed.
3 – Set a deadline. – Publishing date:  March 30.
4 – Brainstorm a list of everything you can think of that you could do to accomplish this. – Actually, I’ve brainstormed how to keep distractions at bay which frees me up to finish the project.
5 – Organize the list by sequence and priority. – I’m writing chapter by chapter and then editing.  Chapter completion dates: I have 5 chapters left to write so my dates are.  Jan 13, 20, 27, Feb 3, 10.  Editing process completed by Feb. 24. Pre-publishing completed by Mar. 24.
6 – Do something. – 5:30 – 7 am is my daily writing time with some late after noons if possible.
7 – Do something everyday.

Let me know if this is helpful!

Peace!

(BTW, If you’d like me to email you when “Refined” is available, email me here.)

How to Set Goals

I’ve heard it said that “Goals without dates are simply dreams.”  I believe that.  Looking back over my life, I’ve realized that I’m wired to have a gazillion ideas about a gazillion different things but have struggled to prioritize them and “birth” them into my world.  As I mentioned in the last post, it has only been until recently that I’ve been goal-setting and it’s helped bring to reality those accomplishments that I desired.

A note about Goals.  You have to be able to control the goal.  If you say, “I have a goal of increasing our customer/congregation base by 25%,” you’re in for a let down.  The reason is you can’t control if people like your product or church.  But you can say, “I have a goal to make 25% more people contacts this year.”  That’s measurable.  That’s a goal!

Here is one of the methods that I use for goal setting.  It is from speaker/author Brian Tracy:

1 – Decide what you want.  What do you really want for your life this year?  To influence a certain people group?  To climb a mountain or run a marathon?
2 – Write it down.
3 – Set a deadline. Remember that a goal without a deadline is only a dream.  If the goal is huge (e.g. write my first novel), then set sub-deadlines (e.g. finish one chapter per month).
4 – Brainstorm a list of everything you can think of that you could do to accomplish this.
5 – Organize the list.  What is the sequence (i.e. what has to come first, etc) and what is the priority (i.e. what is the most important item on this list?).  Accomplish that first.
6 – Do something.  This is the most crucial of the list.  “Simple action gets things done.  Focused action changes the world!”  (I just made that up.  Feel free to Tweet it )
7 – Do something everyday.

Monday, I’ll give you an activity to put these 7 steps into play for 2012 and let you know some of my goals.

Peace

2012 – I Resolve to Set Goals

“This year’s going to be different.”  Famous last words of many a would be achiever, myself included.  Every January, I endeavor to set out resolutions that are, in theory, suppose to drive me achieve and better myself in some way.  However, I’m part of the statistics that show I’ll have failed in my resolution by the end of January.

This year is a bit different.  This year, I’m resolving to set goals.  Resolutions depend on willpower.  Goals are marked by steps.  Resolutions are all or nothing.  Goals ebb and flow with the rhythms of life.  Resolutions end up as another contribution to the trash basket of failure.  Goals end up changing your life one step at a time.  Brian Tracy said, “Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.”

So how does one set goals and ultimately achieve them? The next blogs will lay out a simple way of setting and achieving goals.  So check back soon.

Peace!

To my Buddy at ULTA …

ULTA.  Yes, it’s one of those women focused, girly stores where upper high school students host the counters and those of the female gender stroll and sniff and seek paint that makes them look like the Mona Lisa.  Lots of pink, baby blues and pastels.

And this is where I found myself, in search of my wife’s favorite parfume – as the rich people spell it.  Frozen two steps inside the front glassed doors, my eyes shifting around for something with which I was familiar.  Overstimulated by smells and sights, I forced myself forward to the cash register lady.  As I politely waited to ask her where my potential gift was, I locked eyes with someone who was standing frozen in the back corner of the bazarre.  It was another guy.  We were the only two among thousands – at least it seemed that way.  He, holding his wife’s items and me holding my breath.  A slight smile cut across both of our faces.  We didn’t have to say it.  We didn’t have to talk.  In that moment, we knew what the word “Sacrifice” was all about.

In acknowledgement of our collective maleness and in concert, we up-knodded to each other knowing full well that neither of us HAD to be there but instead, chose to be.  The Sacrifice was for our wives whom we love.  The Sacrifice was so we could bring joy to their worlds and peace in our homes.

To my Buddy in ULTA I say, “Well done, good and faithful husband … Well done.”

Peace!

My MadGab Christmas

Several Christmases ago, we gave our family the game “MadGab”.  It is an interesting game that contain cards with a set of unrelated words. When you read them aloud, they sound like familiar phrases, names, places etc.  For example, “Sell Your Laugh Hone” translates to “Cellular Phone.”  Fun game.  At times, its rather frustrating because you hear the words but the message doesn’t come through.  Then, when you DO understand it, the jumbled words make sense.

This is exactly like the message of Christmas.  To those who don’t believe, the phrase “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” is a trivial statement.  To those who know the meaning, it is the wonderful message that Jesus is the Messiah.  He came to set us free from the guilt of our sin.  He gave us life forever!  The MadGab phrase is not a mystery anymore.

Now it all makes sense.  When I die, I know I’m going to heaven because Jesus was born, died and rose again.  That’s it.  As it says in Romans 16:25-27:

“Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.  But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey him.   All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.”

May the Christmas message of Christ be revealed to you in a new way!

“May Reek Wrist Must” (Merry Christmas)

How to Master any Task

I passed the bathroom the other day and noticed my daughter, Maddie, applying a few drops of lens solution onto her contacts.  Without a thought, she popped it in.  Then the other.  A few blinks later and she was off.

It wasn’t always that way.  At the beginning, this simple morning ritual was torture.    If you’ve ever worn the lenses, you remember how difficult it was to stick your finger into your eyeball, affix the lens onto your eye with the right suction technique and then smooth out the extra air-bubbles that inevitably hid between your eye and the lens… ALL WITHOUT BLINKING!

Morning after morning, I woke my daughter extra early to take on this monumental task.  However, the more we dove into the routine, the more mastery she gained.  Now, the lens application process is done without thought or effort.

Most everything that we try for the first time is awkward.  When learning a new job or skill, remember that routine is the tool toward mastery.

• At the beginning of any new task, identify small victories.  What part of this task can I do?  Remember it for the next time around.

• Keep your vision.  When learning something new, keep the vision of what it will look like when you’ve accomplished the task.  I call this “Jumping the Wall.”  Think of the unfamiliar process as a wall that keeps you from the goal.  Focus on the goal and the wall becomes small.

• Ask for help.  Inevitably, there will be parts of the new task that you can’t just figure out.  Enlist the expertise or wisdom of others.  Ask, who has done this before?  What did they do to overcome the obstacles?

Newness creates fear.  But keeping the vision of your goal and practice the routines associated with the task will lead you to master anything!

Peace!

Sometimes Less is More (and humorous)

Peace!