Someone Is Looking For You

You are unique. You are important. You are qualified to touch someone’s life and make a positive difference. You have what someone else needs. It could be information. It could be a business opportunity. It could be a word of encouragement. It could be a product or service. Whatever it is, you hold the answer to someone’s questions and the solution to someone’s problems.

Try to wrap your mind around this truth. For some it’s a new if not almost foreign concept. Whether you realize it or not, you are a problem solver. Most people only spot problems. But you are different you solve them. Someone, somewhere, is looking for what you are uniquely qualified to solve.

Everything is created to solve a problem. Everyone is created to solve a problem. Every product and service is founded on this principle. Think about this. Chefs solve hunger problems. Doctors solve health problems. Dentists solve teeth problems. Lawyers solve legal problems. Personal trainers solve exercise and fitness problems. Mechanics solve automobile problems. Teachers solve education problems. Coaches solve motivation problems. Factory workers solve production problems. Ministers solve spiritual problems. And so on. Do you get the point?

What is it that excites you? What is it that angers you? What do you see around you that you want to help change? How can you help others solve the problems they are encountering? Your answers could be an indication of the problems you are created to solve.

You can’t fix everything wrong in the world. You can’t solve every problem. You can’t answer every question. Everyone won’t need what you have to offer, but somebody does. You weren’t born to be the savior of the world. But you were born to solve some problem. This one is one of the most liberating things I’ve ever discovered. It helped me become real. It set me free from what I’ve termed “The Messiah Complex.” It enabled me to focus on what I could do to solve the problems I am qualified to solve, and from trying to solve problems I’m not qualified to solve.

What would the world be like if we could all grasp this concept? I think the world would be a better place if everyone found their place and solved the problems they are qualified to solve.

Your life purpose may not be the same as mine, but you have one, and it’s important. It’s important to you and it’s important to others. Your talents, your skills, your strengths, your interests, your passions, your experiences, are all part of what makes you qualified to be a problem solver. Why not make the decision today to use what you’ve been blessed with to help others solve the problems they are facing in life. Someone is looking for you. They are looking for what you have to offer. Find them. Help them solve their problem and they will be eternally grateful!

My challenge to you today is, BE A PROBLEM SOLVER NOT JUST A PROBLEM SPOTTER!

Take Responsibility

Personal responsibility is a characteristic lacking in many. Ever since the Garden of Eden, when Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent for their disobedience, humans have been playing the blame game. Rather than accept personal responsibility for their lives they would rather pass the buck to others for the place they find themselves.

The fact is the sooner you accept personal responsibility, the sooner you begin to excel in life. All high achievers have learned the value of accepting personal responsibility. They understand “If its to be, its up to me.”

You are the only person that can determine your future. It is your responsibility to be happy, to be proactive rather than reactive, to step out and do something about your situation in life.

I am responsible for the person I am today as well as the person I am becoming.

While there are many things that have an impact on who I am and who I become, ultimately if I am going to be a better person than I am right now, it’s up to me. As Robert Schuller says, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Change will only happen in my life when I make the decision for it to. Regardless of how others try to influence me to be all I can be, it is my responsibility to do so.

I am responsible for my choices and my actions.

Flip Wilson made a fortune with, and popularized the saying, “The devil made me do it!” While that may be a funny line, it is far from the truth. In reality no one can make me do anything I don’t want to do. To blame others for where I am in life is simply to make excuses for my lack of making the right choices and doing the right things. I am where I am in life today as a result of my decisions and actions of yesterday.

I am responsible for my attitude.

Did you know attitudes like measles are evident to everyone around you? How you view life and the perspective you have of life is solely dependant on you and you alone. If you want to you can be an up person in a down world. I’ve heard people say when they have a bad attitude, “I guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed.” With the disposition they display most of us wish they had never gotten up! The good news however is you don’t have to have a bad attitude and be a pain in everyone’s neck. Recognize you are in control of your attitude, no one else. Choose to be more optimistic and pleasing in your relationships with others.

I am responsible for the attitude I bring to my work.

A lot of people bring their home problems with them to work. As a result of their personal frustrations, anger and disillusions of their home life, they are not as effective as they could be. I have found that people that get ahead in life have developed the knack for compartmentalizing their life. They have learned to focus on the task at hand and to give it their all. Determine to leave your home problems where they belong, at home. After all stewing and worrying all day about the problems you are facing will not change them at all. So make the decision to come to work with a good, positive, upbeat attitude.

I am responsible for my relationships.

As stated at the beginning of this chapter, ever since the Garden of Eden mankind has played the blame game. After all, it’s easier to blame others or circumstances for trouble in relationships, then it is to take a good hard look at ourselves and then admit that we aren’t perfect. My mother told me along time ago, “It takes two too tango.” In other words relationships are a two way street. If I am going to develop and maintain good relationships, whether it the family or at work, I am going to have to do my part to make them work. That means I may have to make some changes in how I treat others and how I expect to be treated. Usually if there is a breakdown in a relationship it is because someone failed act responsibly and do there part to make it work.

I am responsible for the quality of my communication.

Communication is the bedrock of success in all areas of life. Perhaps no other culprit is as destructive as a lack of communication. Communication involves more than just talking on your part. It involves listening, empathizing, and understanding what the other party is saying. While we must seek to be understood and to understand during the communication process, we must also be cognizant of how we say things. So what we say, and how we say it, are equally important. Our volume, tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions are all part of the communication process. I must seek to be kind, considerate and understanding of the person or persons I am communicating with.

I am responsible for my happiness.

Since I am in control of my life, I can be happy regardless of what’s going on in my life, if I choose too. As with many things, happiness is an attitude. As a Christian I can be happy because I have the joy of the Lord inside me. Happiness does not come from what I have or don’t have, it comes from knowing who I am, what my purpose in life is, and in doing what I was created to do.

I am responsible for my financial situation.

My financial condition is a direct result of my financial literacy, work habits and personal discipline. While there are times when bad things happen to good people and as a result they face a financial setback, for the most part people struggle financially because they don’t have a good grasp of how money works. They don’t understand the need for financial planning, setting financial goals, learning to invest, paying their bills on time, and saving for the future. If I want to become financially free, where I don’t work for money but instead money works for me, then I must seek to become financially literate.

I am responsible for my mistakes.

Any mistake I have ever made was of my own volition. I either did what I knew better than to do or didn’t know what to do in the first place. Even if I followed the advice of others or allowed them to pressure me to do something I wasn’t comfortable with, ultimately I am responsible for my actions. The sooner you recognize that you are responsible for the mistakes you’ve made in life the sooner you can do something to change the. Now let me say right here, don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in great sorrow for the mistakes you’ve made, and for goodness sakes, don’t hold a perpetual pity party because of them. Learn from them, let them go, forgive yourself and get on with your life.

I am responsible for my personal success.

No matter how much someone else may want to see you succeed in life, no matter how much they encourage and motivate you, no matter how much they try to help you, only you can make the decision to be successful. If I am going to be successful I am going to have to do the right things the right way in a consistent manner. I am going to have to set goals, make plans, work hard and not quit if I want to have success in life. Success belongs to everyone but not everyone will enjoy it because they aren’t willing to do what it takes to have it.

Right Thinking

Someone has rightly said, “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” The way you think will either make or break you. It is a proven fact that you go in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.

The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” People that think negative thoughts all the time have negative results. Conversely, people that think positive thoughts enjoy positive results.We are only as good as our mental diets.

There’s an old computer term known as GIGO, which means “Garbage in Garbage Out! What we take in through our reading, television watching, conversations with others and so on determines what we think. Choose today to rid your mind of the clutter that causes you to be negative and begin to take in only that which builds you up, informs you, and inspires you.

As Zig Zigler says, “If you have stinkin thinkin, it’s time for a check up from the neck up.” The person who does not control their thoughts will soon lose control of their actions. All actions are a result of thoughts. In order to have right actions which produce right results you must have right thoughts.

Choose today to be more positive. Work on getting rid of negative thought processes that have been stifling your progress. Be open to new ways of doing things. “Minds are like parachutes. They aren’t much good unless they are open.” Instead of giving up in your mind when facing a difficult situation, sit down and begin to think of ways to overcome it.

Obstacles to Success In Life

There are many obstacles on the road to success. You will enjoy progress if you become sidetracked or stopped by them. In order to be a great achiever you must learn to overcome the hindrances in your path. All great achievers have had to face and overcome many things on their way to success.

Perhaps one of the greatest illustrations of this in American history is that of Abraham Lincoln our sixteenth president. While he is known most of all for his war on slavery, had he not been a man of great resolve and persistence, history may have taken a different turn. From failing in business on numerous occasions to many failed campaigns for public office, he rose to become one of the greatest political leaders of all time. His rise to greatness was the result of his determination to overcome the obstacles in his path.

Obstacles:

Indecision. Not being able to make the necessary decisions can be a hindrance to your personal success. There may be many reasons for this. It could be fear, or a lack of the facts, or procrastination, that keeps you from making the right decisions. Realize that all of life is about the choices you make. There can be no success without you making the decision to do what it takes to win.

Past experiences. Perhaps nothing is more detrimental to forward progress then the memory of past failures. Before you can enjoy accomplishment you must get rid of the negative memories of past events that are holding you back. The Apostle Paul said, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before.” Never forget, the past is just that, past. You can’t do anything to change it. Learn from it and go forward.

The opinions of negative people. It is amazing how many so-called experts show up when you make the decision to follow the God-given vision for your life. They seem to come out of the woodwork. The majority of them have never accomplished a whole lot in their lives, however, they are laden with all kinds of information and advice as to what to do or not to do. For the most part they feel it is their responsibility to talk you out of what you feel you should do. To succeed you must not allow yourself to be swayed by the opinions of such people.

Delayed results. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Anything of value and lasting importance takes time to accomplish. Just because you start the journey to success today does not mean you will arrive at your destination tomorrow. Just because there may be a delay in seeing the fulfillment of your vision does not mean it won’t happen if you don’t quit.

Lack of focus. It is impossible to succeed if you have too many irons in the fire. You can’t go two directions at the same time. Many people are hindered in their efforts because they are double-minded. In other words, they lack focus. They are trying to do too much at one time. Refocus on your primary goals and obstacles. You will soon be back on the path to making positive progress.

Fear. Another great hindrance to success is fear. Denis Waitly says, “Fear is an acronym for False Education Appearing Real.” Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. From fear of failure to fear of success, many well-intentioned people never accomplish all they could because fear holds them back. Fear is simply negative faith. It is believing for the worst instead of the best. Fear is the actual belief that something bad is going to happen to you. Most fears come as the result of bad information or misunderstanding of what’s true. The more accurate information you have on a given subject the less fear you will have concerning it.

Distractions. Many get sidetracked because they allow things to distract them from their goals and objectives. A distraction is anything that takes your focus off of what you are trying to accomplish. They usually come in the form of being something extremely urgent. Many are caught up in what is known as the tyranny of the urgent. This happens when you become distracted by what is seemingly urgent and thereby fail to understand what is really important. To successfully achieve your goals you must “Keep the main thing (your goals) the main thing!”

Trying to fit in. Conformity can be a definite hindrance to progress. High achievers know the value of standing out rather then blending in. What sets you apart from others in your field? Many have failed because they are afraid to take a stand for what they believe in and what they want to accomplish. They allow peer pressure to force them into the conformity mode. “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity,” says Psychiatrist Rollo May.

No definite direction. You can’t get where you want to be without proper direction. It is impossible to hit a target you aren’t aiming at. Direction is found in setting and maintaining goals. Goals help you crystallize your thinking. They provide motivation. Staying on track is the result of definite direction.

Lack of people skills. No man is an island. If you are going to be successful you must be able to get along with, and work well with, other people. A lot of people fail not because they don’t have a good idea or good work ethics, but because they lack people skills.
Spend time developing your public relations. Learn to communicate, negotiate, compromise, and inspire others.