Release the Champion Within (Part One)

Did you know on the inside if you is a champion waiting to be awakened and released? Like a sleeping giant, the champion within is of no worth until he is awakened and released. One thing I have learned in my 65 years of life is that winning in life is an inside job!

Most people are controlled by external, rather than internal forces. We allow our environment, our circumstances, our failures, the economy, what other people do or say to us, the hurts and abuses of our childhood, the government, etc, to control the direction of our lives. We allow these things to dictate how we think, how we speak, and how we behave. As a result, we never fully maximize our potential, live our dreams, step out in faith, take risks, and become the person God has created us to be.

Now I am not, by any means, downplaying the reality of these things, but as humans, we tend to use these external forces as excuses for our lack of effort. We allow the negative circumstances of life, the problems we face, the rejection we encounter, the struggles we have, to discourage and dissuade us from being all we can be. At one point or another, we all struggle with the disease of “excusitis.”

Someone once said, “It’s not what happens to me that’s important, it’s what happens in me that’s important!” In other words, how do I allow the negative experiences of life to affect me on the inside? Do I allow them to discourage or challenge me? Do I allow them to make me want to quit or keep trying? Do I allow them to I allow them to become obstacles or stepping stones to winning in life?

True champions view setbacks as a temporary annoyance on the road to success. Even the most successful people on earth experience setbacks. Think about the great home run hitter Babe Ruth. Did you know he struck out almost 3 times more than he hit a home run? But we don’t think of him as the strikeout king; we think of him as the homerun king, a distinction he held for more than 50 years. He never allowed the fact that he struck out so much to keep him from swinging as hard as he could, every time he came to the plate!

What about you? Do you give up when the going gets tough? When obstacles or setbacks occur in your life to you quit?

The most successful salespeople understand they will get many no’s before they get a yes in the sales process. My wife, Holly, is a great marketer. She not only has a powerfully wonderful outgoing personality, but also never meets a stranger, but when she hears the word no, it doesn’t faze her. I asked her one day what her key was. I will never forget her answer. She said, “When someone tells me no, what they really mean is, not yet!” As a result when she made her living as a marketer she was very successful. She got accounts no one else was able to get, simply because she wouldn’t take no for an answer! In my estimation, she had learned to release the champion within.

As a young boy, Michael Jordan, dreamed of playing in the NBA. He believed he could be great. When he tried out for the basketball team in his freshman year he didn’t make the team. (How would you like to be the coach that cut Michael Jordan?) But, he didn’t let that discourage him. Rather than being down on himself and giving up, he redoubled his efforts. He spent the next year working hard on his game and developing his skills. He used the setback as a stepping stone to his future. You know the result. He became the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Today, the greatest in the game right now are always compared to Michael Jordan.

Whether you realize it or not, you have what it takes to be a champion in life. Your personality type, your talents, your dreams, your desires, your knowledge, the skills you’ve developed, your strengths, and what you are passionate about, are all indicators of who you really are and what you can really do. You have on the inside of you the potential for greatness. You already have everything you need, on the inside of you, to win in life. To be a champion.

Unfortunately, most people never fully realize their full potential in life. Sadly, most people wake up to who they could have been, what they could have done, or how they could have made a positive difference in someone’s life or in the world, just before they die. I have known far too many people who on their death beds didn’t talk about what they had accomplished in life, but rather talked of the regrets they had of what they could have done but didn’t. But, this doesn’t have to be you and me.
So how do we release the champion within?

You have what it takes to win in life. There is a champion on the inside of you just waiting to be released. Over the next few blogs I will share ideas and concepts with you that you can adapt to your own personal life. In doing so you will begin to release the champion within!

Advancing In Adversity

Advancing in Adversity from Sam Verret on Vimeo.

In life we all face difficult times. How you face adversity determines whether you allow it to make you bitter or make you better! The choice is yours. In this teaching G Samuel Verret teaches you how to advance in spite of the adversity you are facing.

How to Have a Great Day

Far too many people are caught up in reliving their yesterdays or fantasizing about their futures, but few are living in and enjoying the now. Several years ago I spoke on the subject, “The curse of yesterday and tomorrow.” I spoke about the fact that if all you think about is your yesterdays or your tomorrows, and then it becomes a curse to your today.

 

Today is the most important day of your life. Your destiny is determined by what you do today. The attitudes and ideas you have today will help to determine your successes tomorrow.

Think about the following statements:

• Today is the day of Action.
• Today is when the battle shall be won.
• Today is yesterdays tomorrow.
• Today is all you have.
• Today is the time for winning.
• Today you will take a step toward your goal.
• Today must not be wasted.
• Today is under your management.
• What will you do with today?

If you are going to experience great success then you must learn to live in the present. You must quit just dreaming about tomorrow and reminiscing about yesterday. Determine to live today with all the gusto you can muster.

 

Determine that nothing is going to keep you from having a great day today. Nothing is going to keep you from recognizing the opportunities that each day presents you with.

 

Believe that something good is going to happen for you today. Having a positive mindset determines the course of your life. Jesus said, “as your faith is so be it unto you.” In other words what you believe is what you will receive. This is true in both a negative and a positive sense. If you start your day with a negative mindset, expecting the worse, then that is what you are going to experience. Conversely, if you start the day with a positive attitude, expecting the best, then that is what you will enjoy.

 

Make the decision to begin looking for and believing for the best in your life every day. Begin to say to yourself “something good is going to happen for me today.” Repeat it often until it becomes a part of how you really feel.

 

Begin each day with prayer. Prayer is simply spending time communing with God. It is what gets God involved in your circumstances. As my mom used to tell me, “Things go better with prayer.”

 

The Bible is full of teachings as to the power of prayer. Jesus said these things about prayer, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) He further said, “Hitherto have you ask nothing in my name, ask and you shall receive that you joy may be full.” (John 16:24) “What thigs you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)

 

Organize your day. Much time is wasted by people who don’t take the time to plan their days. As someone has so rightly said, “Time is money.” Start each day with a list of prioritized things that must be accomplished. Learn to manage your time so as to get the most out of each day.

 

Look for opportunities to use your skills and abilities. God has created you with certain talents and abilities that make you unique and important. There is nothing more fulfilling than doing what you were made to do and using the talents that God has blessed you with. On any given day you will encounter many opportunities to use what God has given you. Be who God made you to be not what others want you to be.

Have a positive attitude. It is very important that you maintain the proper perspective if you are going to enjoy the winning life. Many have said that attitude is more important that aptitude when it comes to being successful. While aptitude is important without a positive attitude it is powerless. Having a positive attitude is a prerequisite for using what you know in a productive manner.

 

Your attitude determines how far and how high you will go in life. We have all met extremely talented and brilliant people that are not accomplishing their dreams because of a poor attitude. On the other hand, we’ve all met less talented and less brilliant people that are accomplish great things because they have an upbeat positive attitude. The attitude you possess is your choice. Make the decision to start each day with a positive outlook and high expectations.

 

Do something kind for someone you come in contact with each day. When I was in the Boy Scouts as a young man we were expected to do a good deed for someone everyday. That was part of our motto as Boy Scouts. I still remember the positive feeling I had every time I did something nice for someone else. While most of my deed of kindness were not a big deal, it was a nice feeling to see how good you made the other person feel.

 

I have paid peoples meal tabs without them knowing who did it. I have paid toll for the people in the vehicle behind me for no reason at all. I’ve pasid for the groceries of people in line ahead of me just because I wanted too. Now, none of these things are to brag on myself, but to simply illustrate what I am talking about. Try it and see if you don’t get the same feelings of joy that I’ve experienced. If you want to have a great day, help someone else have a great day!

 

Live each day as if it’s your last. Enjoy each moment. Enjoy the company of others. Learn to appreciate the sunshine, the flowers blooms, the birds songs and everything else that you come in contact with. Make each moment count. Do the things that will bring lasting results, thins that will benefit and promote others. If you are going to experience success in life then you are going to have to begin to live in the now. Oh by the way, Have A Great Day!

 

 

 

 

 

You’re Not A Failure!

Motivational speaker and author Van Crouch says, “You’re not finished when you’re defeated, you’re finished when you quit.” Winners in life understand that failing is part of success. You can’t know victory if you don’t have a battle. There is nothing like the joy of something good happening for you like you do after you’ve experienced something negative.

The truth is “Bad things happen to good people.” Jesus once said, “In this world you shall have tribulation.” (John 16:33) In other words, you are going to have some bumps on the road to success. Things aren’t always going to be rosy. People that see themselves as winners simply pick themselves up after a setback and move on. If you have a dream, and you are actively pursuing it, you are going to fall short from time to time. It’s not what happens to you that is most important; it’s what happens in you!

Failure is not an event, it is an opinion. You are not a failure until you say you are. Every time you fail you simply learn how not to do something! We learn a lot from trial and error. Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, spends his Sunday evenings going to comedy clubs and practicing his jokes for upcoming monologues. Some go over well and some bomb. But he is not deterred. Just because a joke fails doesn’t mean he is a failure. He learns from his mistakes and continues to hone his craft. The result is success when he performs his monologue on a nightly basis.

Winners are not people that never get knocked down; they are people who refuse to stay down. There is something in the heart of a champion that won’t let them give up regardless of what they are going through. We’ve all witnessed it watching sporting events. Just when you think there is no way a team or an individual has a chance to win, they find a way to win anyways. They understand that they aren’t finished as long as they don’t quit. Failure is not in the falling down but in the giving up!

Two of my favorite people from history are Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln. It is reported that Thomas Edison did 10,000 experiments before he found a filament for the light bulb. Someone once said to him, “so you’ve failed 10,000 times.” His response, “No I found 10,000 things that didn’t work!” Abraham Lincoln failed at business and numerous forays into the political arena before he was elected the sixteenth President of the United States of America. He goes down as perhaps the greatest or at least one of the greatest Presidents of all time. The common denominator between both of these great men of history is they never viewed themselves as failures.

Here are some questions to ponder in your pursuit of accomplishment.

• How do you see yourself?
• Do you see yourself as a success or a failure?
• What do you do when what you are attempting doesn’t seem to be working?
• Do you give up and quit?
• Or, do you get up and find a way to do it anyways?

My challenge to you today is that you begin to see yourself as the winner God says you are. Refuse to let setbacks hold you back from fulfilling your life purpose and accomplishing what you are capable of. Choose to use failures and setbacks as stepping stones to reaching your goals and enjoying a successful life! Say like the Apostle Paul of old, “I can do all things through Christ which gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) You are not a failure!

What Is Your Dream?

We are back on track.  Have had some trouble getting our blog posted.

Yesterday, across the United States, we celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Of all the men who have lived in my lifetime, perhaps none has been more influential on our society, than Dr. King. This one man, through the power of a dream, set in motion the thoughts, ideals, and actions that brought about unprecedented change to the very culture of our nation, and many nations around the world.

On August 28, 1963, in Washington DC, Dr King delivered a speech that goes down in history as one of the greatest speeches ever made. The “I Have a Dream” speech has been rightfully compared to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, as not only one of the finest speeches ever made, but also as a turning point in our country.

Someone has said, “The world belongs to the dreamer.” Everything that has ever been created or developed started as a dream or idea in somebody’s mind. Take a look around you for a moment. The computer on which you are reading this blog started as a dream. The chair you are sitting in was somebody’s dream. The clothing you are wearing is the result of someone’s dream. The car you drive started as someone’s dream on a drawing board. You get the point. Without a dream nothing is created or accomplished.

You will never enjoy success in any venture if you don’t have a dream. Having a dream of what you want to do, accomplish, or become in life is the foundation for personal success. The key to your future is found in the dream you possess and pursue. Centuries ago the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon wrote, “Without a vision (dream) the people perish.” One translation says, “They cast off restraint and run wildly.”

There is no future if there is no dream. In order to become all that God created you to be, you must begin to see beyond what is to what can be. See beyond the present.

Here are seven things I’ve learned about dreams:

Dreams give you purpose. Life is meaningless without purpose. In order to be fulfilled in life you must have a purpose or reason for being. Your purpose in life is found in the dream of what you want to accomplish.

Dreams give you direction. They help you to have the right priorities and objectives. They give you something to aim at. Dreams help you do what you were created to do.

Dreams help you focus. Through having a dream you are able to fully concentrate on what needs to be accomplished. We are all faced with many things in life that can distract or deter us from what we were created for. Dreams help us to not be distracted.

Dreams motivate and inspire you. They are what give you a passion for life. When you truly have a God-given dream you think about it all the time. It fills every waking and sleeping moment. You become obsessed with it. It encompasses everything that you do. You eat it, sleep it, drink it, talk about it, study it, read about it and pray about it. It is what gets you up in the morning. It is something you can’t wait to get up and pursue.

Dreams keep you going in spite of adversity. When you have a God-given dream it doesn’t matter what opposition comes your way, it can’t stop you. Adversity cannot slow you down, deter you or keep you back, when you have a dream. It doesn’t matter what comes your way, lack of finances, health problems, interpersonal relationship problems, a dream gives you a reason not to quit or give up. A dream will cause you to be persistent. “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”

Dreams are the seed to your future. What you dream about today determines where you will be tomorrow. The key to your future is found in the dream you have today. Instead of accepting life as it now is, get a dream of where you want to be and what you want to do.

Dreams must be acted on. I saw a sign not long ago that said, “Don’t just dream it. Do it!” Dreams can produce powerful results, but only if acted upon. At some point in order to accomplish great things, you must put legs on your dreams. They can only be effective if acted on.

Action Steps:

1. What is the BIG dream God has placed in your heart?

2. Are you pursuing it? If not why?

3. Do you have a plan in place for seeing it become a reality?

4. What is standing in your way to it becoming a reality?

5. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to see it become a reality?

 

Technorati Tags: winning in life,dreams,planning,winning ways ministries

You’ve Got to Go For the Root – Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back

The number one deterrent to success in any area of life is self-imposed limitations derived from past negative mental conditioning. The reason for the action steps in the last blog was to assist you in discovering the obstacles standing in your road to success in life. It is important to understand that every single limitation you have is imbedded in your mind. It is in how you have been programmed to think about yourself, God, others, your potential, your life purpose, health, finances, relationships, vocation, and future.

These limiting thoughts though, are not based on truth, they are based on lies. Lies you believe to be true. I have learned this first-hand. For a number of years I had behaviors that were incredibly damaging to my life. Try as I might I couldn’t overcome them. Counseling, prayer, accountability groups, behavior modification, nothing worked in helping me overcome them.

One day when reading “Shattering Your Strongholds,” by Liberty Savard, I read a chapter that addressed finding the root of the problem as the only way to truly overcome negative behaviors. Since nothing else to this point had worked, I decided to spend time searching for the root cause of my destructive behaviors. Sure enough, when I uncovered the root, I found the answers. I discovered the lies I had believed, and I was able to replace them with truth that brought me freedom. When I replaced the lies with the truth, my behaviors literally changed overnight!

Everything that happens in life, good or bad, positive or negative, is the result of something else. There is a natural law in effect that is just as powerful as the law of gravity. It is the law of cause and effect. In Philosophy it is known as Causality. Causality is the relationship between an event (the cause) and a second event (the effect), where the second event is a consequence of the first. The Bible calls it sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7 declares, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that shall he also reap.”

According to scripture, words are seeds. (Read Mark 4) Whether the words are from God or the enemy doesn’t matter. They are still seeds. The purpose of a seed is to produce a harvest in your life. The words (seeds) that dominate your thinking will produce after their kind in your life. This works in both the positive and negative sense. Positive, faith-filled words produce positive faith-filled results. Negative, fear-filled words produce negative fear-filled results in your life.

If you were told all your life that you will never amount to anything, you grow up believing you are incapable of being who God made you to be. The result is you never truly become the person God created you to be. Why? Because the seed, based on the lie, has been planted in the soil of your mind and is producing after its own kind. It has conditioned you to accept failure, low self-esteem, and living below your potential, as your lot in life.

On the other hand, if you were told that you could do anything God created you to do, and become everything God created you to be; you expect to be productive in life. Your expectation, created by the seeds planted in your mind, produces the harvest of being productive and successful in life. You will always rise to the level of your expectation.

So the key to letting go of what’s holding you back is to uncover the root and destroy it. By uncovering the root to your lack of growth, effort, and negative results, you uncover the lie that’s holding you back, and are able to replace it with the truth. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32

Here’s a simple method, which I was introduced to by my wife, that has had a profound effect in my life. As you uncover the root (lie) of what is holding you back, write it down. Then find the truth, what God’s word says about you, and write it under the lie. Then write down an action you can take to ingrain the new belief in your mind.

For example:

Lie: You’ll never amount to anything in life.

Truth: I am created in the image of God. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Other people just like me have accomplished great things in their lives.

Action: Find something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never attempted because of the lie you’ve believed. Study up on the subject and take a step of faith to accomplish it.

Lie: What you are attempting to do is impossible.

Truth: All things are possible to him that believes. Other people have accomplished what they were told was impossible. The Wright Brothers were told by their father “if God wanted man to fly He would have given them wings.” Yet they believed they could do the impossible, and they did.

Action: Spend time reading about ordinary individuals that did extraordinary things such as Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, and Sam Walton.

By doing this you are exposing the lie to the truth of God’s word and taking the power the lie has had on you away. You are getting rid of the lie and replacing it with the truth, which makes you free.

After you have written the lie you have believed, and replaced it with the truth of what God says, you need to keep the list with you and review it on a daily basis until the new seed begins to produce new thoughts. In turn the new thoughts begin to produce new actions which lead to new results in your life. This is the key to what the Bible calls “renewing the mind.” (Romans 12:2)

It is a fact, “Change your thoughts and you will change your life.” From this day forward as you begin to change your thoughts, by dealing with the lies you have believed about yourself, and replacing them with the truth, you will begin to see more positive, life changing results.

Action Steps:

1. Review the list of limiting beliefs you uncovered in the previous blogs action steps.

2. Write down the limiting belief, which is a lie, on a piece of paper.

3. Write the truth of what God’s word says right below the lie.

4. On a daily basis for at least 21 days (how long it takes to form a new habit) read and speak the truth out loud.

5. Write down and implement actions that will help imbed the truth in your mind.

Technorati Tags: Limiting Beliefs,ocercoming,winning in life,positi thinking,faith

What’s Holding You Back?

You are created with incredible potential. Perhaps one of the greatest burdens a person can bear is undiscovered, undeveloped, and undeployed potential. So, why if we have such great potential, do we not maximize or live up to it? Perhaps it’s because we have allowed invisible barriers to hold us back.

If you are going to enjoy the “good success” God has promised you, then you are going to have to discover what is holding you back and work to eliminate it from your life.

Several years ago a study was done to determine how we become conditioned to failure and rejection over time. A large northern pike was taken alive and placed in a large aquarium. The water temperature and surroundings were designed to be like the natural environment from which it was taken. Then, live minnows were put in the tank. In the wild the pike fish survive by eating minnows. The pike thought he was in heaven. When he was hungry he ate all the minnows he cared to eat

A few days later, the researchers played a trick on the Pike. They placed a large glass cylinder of water into the tank, and then filled it with minnows. The Pike tried to get to the minnows only to bump his snout against the invisible barrier. He tried over and over day after day to no avail. Finally he gave up and settled on the bottom of the aquarium.

The researchers then removed the cylinder allowing the minnows to swim freely. To their amazement the Pike never attempted to eat any of them. They would swim right past his face, brush up against him, but he never moved. Due to the painful experience of hitting his snout on the invisible barrier he was persuaded that he would never have another minnow. In the end, he starved surrounded by minnows.

Many of us are just like the poor Pike. We have allowed ourselves to be conditioned to accept what comes our way. We have given up because of the setbacks and obstacles we have encountered on the road to success. We have developed a belief system or mindset of mediocrity or failure. Sadly, what holds us back are not physical barriers. They are invisible barriers; barriers in our minds. Wrong belief systems, fear, negative attitudes, unrealistic expectations, past hurts and rejection, unresolved issues, poor self-image, preconceived notions, the opinions of others, and bad theology, just to name a few.

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1 TLB) In order to follow the path God has laid out for you, to accomplish the goals you set, to finish what you start, to see your potential realized, to see your dreams manifested, you must let go of whatever’s holding you back.

Now, here’s the good news. Things don’t have to stay the way they are. You have the ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to let go of what’s holding you back. You have the ability to become everything you were created to become. You have the ability to be successful in your personal, spiritual, social, physical, vocational, familial, and financial life. It starts with getting rid of the stuff that’s holding you back.

Some may say, “That sounds good, and I know it’s true, but it’s easier said than done.” And, you’re right. In my next blog, I will share with you some secrets and principles for letting go of what is holding you back. But first you must take the following action steps. They are designed to help you uncover the invisible barriers that are holding you back. After all, you can’t let go of what is holding you back, until you know for sure what it is!

Action steps:

1. Do you really want to be successful in all areas of your life?

2. If yes, are you willing to do what you need to do in order to be successful?

3. Take out a sheet of paper and evaluate the following areas. Be honest!

a. What kind of attitude to I possess? Is it negative or positive?

b. What is my work ethic? Am I lazy or ambitious?

c. What preconceived notions do I have about myself, my career, my purpose, my finances, my relationships?

d. Do I allow fear to dominate and control my life? What am I afraid of?

e. What past hurts and rejections do I constantly think about and blame for my lack of success?

f. How do I view myself? Do I feel good about myself and believe in the abilities God has given me? Or, Do I dislike myself? Why?

g. What have I been taught, from a Theological standpoint, that have influenced my belief systems in a negative way?

h. What do I believe about, God, success, money, relationships, family, work, and life? Why do I believe these things?

Your Best Days Are Ahead

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.” Wilma Rudolph

Born in 1940, Wilma Rudolph’s life started with challenges that would keep many people isolated in a lifelong prison of self-pity and despair. As if being born 4 months premature, with one leg shorter than the other, were not enough, at age 4 Wilma contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever. Wilma’s mother spent the next several years nursing her through one illness after another: measles, mumps, and chicken pox.

When she was 6 years old, her family discovered that her left leg and foot had become weak and deformed. She was taken to the doctor where it was discovered she had contracted the crippling disease of polio. In those days there was no cure for polio and she was told she would never walk again. For two years her mother and other family members spent their time massaging her leg and taking her twice a week for physical therapy some 50 miles away from home.

At age 8 Wilma was fitted with a leg brace enabling her to walk to school like the other children. It was then she discovered her love for sports. She could usually be found spending her afternoons shooting baskets with her 19 brothers and sisters. Through her “never say quit” attitude, Wilma never allowed her disability keep her from having fun. The daily exercise proved to be not only pleasurable but good therapy as well. At age 12 she was able to discard her leg brace and walk and run normally.

Undaunted by her lifelong health struggles, Wilma went on to become an outstanding student athlete in both high school and college. Her love for running led her to track and field. In 1956, as a 16 year old high school student, she competed in her first Olympics where she won the bronze medal in the 400 yard relay. She returned to the Olympics in 1960, where she became the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in one Olympics, setting one world record on the way.

With all the setbacks and challenges she faced as a child growing up, how was she able to accomplish what she accomplished?

As a young girl facing all these difficulties, her mother always encouraged her by singing songs to her about God’s love, and telling her that God had created her to do something special in life. It was during these times that Wilma began to dream of doing something great and actually believe she would. She worked hard at overcoming her setbacks and disabilities. She worked hard at developing her athletic skills. She believed that regardless of what she had experienced, and what she had gone through, through faith in God and hard work, her best days were ahead of her.

In life we all face things that can break us or make us, cause us to become bitter or drive us to be better. The choice as to whom we become and what we accomplish is ours. One of my favorite Ann Landers quotes is, “Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become."

Maybe you’ve experienced a setback such as, the loss of a job, health problems, divorce, rejection of friends, mistakes you’ve made, etc. Perhaps you feel like the guy I was playing golf with one day. He couldn’t hit a good shot or make a putt all day. By the time we got to the 14^th hole he was so frustrated and negative, he started talking to himself or anyone that would listen. It culminated in him declaring, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all,” and then throwing his clubs as far as he could throw them, and storming off the course!

In my 50 years of life I have discovered that life isn’t always fair. As the scripture says, “It rains on the just and the unjust alike!” Things don’t always go as we would like them to go. Sometimes we feel like the Old Testament Patriarch Job, who said, “Mans days are short and full of trouble.” If anyone knew that truth, he did. In one fell swoop he lost everything he had, including his health. However, what’s interesting about Job is, he never quit believing for better days, even when his wife and friends encouraged him to do so. The Bible says he maintained his integrity towards God, maintained his faith in a better day, and in the end God blessed him by restoring double all he had lost.

Regardless of what you have experienced in the past, you’ve got to believe your best days are ahead of you. History is filled with two types of people, those who give up when the going gets tough, and those who refuse to quit. You can read the accounts of the lives of those who kept on keeping on; no one remembers much about the ones that quit.

Your best days are ahead of you. Days of success and not failure. Days of abundance and not lack. Days of health and not sickness. Days of purpose and not confusion. Days of joy and not pain. But, you say, “You don’t understand how tough things are for me right now.” Maybe not, but this I do know to be true, if you can believe for better days, and diligently work towards them, you will begin to experience them. Jesus taught, “I you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.” The first step to enjoying the better days that are ahead of you is simply believing they are yours.

Action Steps:

1. What setbacks have you allowed to stop your forward momentum?

2. How is your faith? What do you really believe for?

3. What steps can you take to begin to overcome the setbacks and negative circumstances in your life?

4. Decide today to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading or listening to inspiring stories of others that have faced similar circumstances as you, and how they overcame.

Tomorrow we will talk about the things that may be holding you back from success and how you can sever their power over you completely!

Technorati Tags: winning in life,success in life,motivational,positive,faith

New Year! – New You!

Many years ago I read the story of the old man of the mountains that was reputed to be the wisest man alive. People would come from all around, and pose their questions and problems, and without fail, he would have the right answer to their questions and the solutions to their problems.

One day two young men decided that they were going to trick the old man and prove to everyone that he wasn’t the wisest man around. So one of the young men caught a little bird and held it in his hands. As they approached the old man, the one holding the bird said, “Old man, I hold in my hand a little bird. Is it dead, or is it alive?”

They were convinced regardless of how the old man answered he would be wrong. If he said the bird was dead, he would simply open his hands and let the little bird fly away. If he said the bird was alive he would squeeze the little bird to death and open his hands to show the old man a dead bird. Thus they would prove the old man to be wrong either way.

The old man just stood there silently considering the question. After further prodding from the young men, the old man replied, “It is as you will.” In other words he realized the power of life or death for the little bird was in their hands. It was their decision whether the bird lived or died.

So it is with your life. You, and you alone, are the determining factor as to whether your life will be better or worse in 2010 than it was in 2009. You hold in your hands the keys to living a rewarding, abundant, joy filled, and successful life. 2010 can be the greatest year of your life or it can be the worst. The choice is yours.

You can squeeze the victory and joy out of it by refusing to grow. By not being willing to make positive changes in your life. By wallowing in self-pity and discouragement. By joining the ranks of the critical, cynical, and complaining. By paying attention to the negative, bad news reports, of the media or those around you. By living in the past. By blaming everyone and everything for your mistakes and shortcomings. By living in a realm of fear, worry, doubt, and apprehension.

Or, you can live a rewarding, abundant, joy filled, and successful life, by opening up to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things. You can determine today to set new goals for this year and work diligently towards seeing them become a reality. You can choose today to forget the past, after all, there’s nothing you can do to change it anyways. You can make the decision to open up to hope and faith and see God’s hand of favor and blessing released in your life. “It is as you will.”

Throughout this year I will be sharing with you keys and principles for living that will radically change your life for the good, if you will apply them to your life. If you are serious about becoming a new you in 2010, be sure to subscribe to this blog, and read it on a daily basis. Pass it on to friends who also desire to become a new person. Lastly, make it a habit to not only read the blog, but to also do the action steps. Knowledge alone is not very powerful. However, knowledge with action produces powerful, life changing results!

Action steps:

1. Write out what changes in yourself you desire to see this year.

2. Are you satisfied with the where you are in life right now? (Whether, Spiritually, Physically, Mentally, Relationally, Vocationally, or Financially.)

3. If not what areas are of most concern to you right now?

4. What are you going to do to better yourself in 2026?

Are You Out For Revenge?

Ok, so my hometown team, The Arizona Cardinals, got beat last Monday night. Not just beat, but manhandled, by the San Francisco Forty Niners. It was painful to watch such a good team stifled by their competition. But honestly, I was not surprised.

Yesterday while listening to sports radio and watching the local coverage of the upcoming game, I detected something that I believe led to their loss.

One of the sports writers that cover’s the team said the team dinner, a few hours before the game, was the quietest team dinner he had ever attended. The players and the coaching staff were not their usual upbeat, loose selves.

Though they were prepared to play, they were uptight about the game. I don’t believe it was because they were afraid, or because they underestimated the importance of the game (If they won they would be the division champs and clinch a playoff berth,) I believe it was something much deeper. Something much more insidious. It was something that keeps individuals and teams from being able to do the job at hand in the manner it must be done.

So what was it? They were out for revenge!

When you watched or listened to the interviews of the players and the coaching staff leading up to the game, there was a common theme in all their interviews. They wanted to avenge their loss in the opening game of the season which was against the Forty Niners.

Every single interview I heard carried that theme. They were embarrassed because of the way they lost the first game and were bent on avenging that loss. Their desire to avenge that first embarrassing loss led to perhaps one of the worst games I have ever seen them play. They weren’t loose, upbeat, or having fun. The end result was nothing like what they expected.

So what can we learn from this? Improper motivation always leads to wrong results. The desire to settle a score, to get even, to payback for what we perceive to be a slight, is detrimental to our ability to perform at our optimum maximum potential. Revenge is a negative reaction that stems from wanting to right a wrong. Unfortunately taking revenge, only enhances the real problem, and never solves it.

Revenge is never the right motivating factor in life, in business, or in this case winning a football game. Why? Because, it is a negative reaction or response. It is very difficult to have positive results from a negative motivation. Had the Cardinal’s been able to let the first loss go, and learn from their mistakes, and focused on their strengths as a team, there may have been a different outcome to the game. Instead they let the first loss eat at them and in turn entered the game with the wrong motivation.

Many times, as individuals, we do the same thing in our lives. We allow what has happened in the past to eat at us until it causes us to become ineffective. Instead of focusing on what has happened in the past, we should let it go, learn from it, and focus on doing the best we can in the present. The Cardinal’s motivation should have been sticking to what has brought them to the cusp of division champions and letting the chips fall where they may.

In the end, trying to exact revenge on someone that has wronged or slighted you, will only lead to personal defeats in your life. Make the decision today to make sure the motives behind why you are doing what you are doing are right. Remember, embarrassing someone because they have embarrassed you, ends up backfiring on you every time.

Just at thought!

The Power of Expectation

It has been said, “You cannot rise above your current level of expectation.” What you expect, or believe is going to happen, usually does. We tend to get out of ourselves and others exactly what we expect to get.

I read sometime ago about a salesman that for several years had earned $25,000.00 per year. It didn’t matter what he did, he always earned the same amount. His company decided to give him a new territory, where the salesman before him made $100,000.00 per year. Believe it or not even though he should have and could made considerably more, he only made $25,000.00. Why? Because that is all he expected to make.

Listen to people around you, and you will hear them say things such as, “I expected that to happen.” “Nothing good ever happens for me.” I even heard one man say, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” And, you know what? They were all right. They all got exactly what they expected.

To be a person the person you were created to be, and to achieve what you have the potential to achieve, you must begin to develop the power of positive expectation. Determine today to begin believing for good things to happen to you. Get rid of your “stinkin thinkin!” Change your attitude. Begin to expect the best in life.

Expect success. Expect to make a sale. Expect for your efforts to be fruitful. Expect others to be favorable to you. Expect to be everything you were created to be. Expect love. Expect promotion.

If you will begin to raise your level of expectation you will be surprised at what begins to happen for you. Jesus once said, “As your faith is, so be it unto you.” Nothing could be truer. You get what you expect.

A Call to Boldness

One of the great themes of scripture is that of boldness. This characteristic is what enabled many great leaders to accomplish great things.

The Bible teaches, “The righteous are as bold as a Lion.” When you think of boldness, you think of a lion. A lion represents fearlessness and power.

Boldness is having the courage to do what is required of you. It is the ability to step out and follow the vision or dream that God has placed in your heart.

Abraham was a man of courage. When God spoke to him, and called him out of the Ur of the Chaldees, to leave all he had in search of a new land, he had the courage to do so. When everyone else was looking to take it easy and enjoy his or her senior years, at 75 Abraham boldly entered a new place of life. It was the result of this boldness that caused him to become the “Father of the Faithful.”

To be bold is to be full of faith. It is important that we, as Christian leaders, be full of faith. Jesus was concerned that when he returned, he would find no faith on the earth. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is something that has been given to us by God. We have got to seek to see our faith grow and develop.

As you study the Bible you find varying degrees of faith. Little faith, weak faith, great faith, and so on. In the New Testament book of Act’s, we find that Barnabus was full faith, and the Holy Ghost. He was filled with confidence, courage, and boldness. God help us to be the same.

As leaders it is imperative that we be delivered from the spirit of timidity. It is impossible to truly lead from a position of fear. In order to be an effective leader, boldness is required.

The study of history bears out that effective leaders possess boldness and courage. It is the boldness of their vision, ideas and efforts that inspires others to follow them. People tend to gravitate towards bold leaders.

I believe in the day we live people are looking for bold leaders that will stand and live by the convictions of their heart.

In reading the charge that God gave Joshua, when he was faced with the awesome task of leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land, you find that the main theme was “Be strong and very courageous.” (Joshua 1) It was so important that Joshua possess a bold spirit, that God reiterated it over and over again.

It was through courage that Joshua was able to lead the people across the Jordan River. Courage is what allowed him to lead them to victory over the city of Jericho. It was courage that assisted him in dividing the land to the people. Courage is what caused them to drive out the enemies, from the land, little by little.

If you are going to be an effective leader you must be filled with boldness. The Apostle Paul said, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind." It is time to start believing, talking and acting like this is true, because it is!

You need to be set free from the fear of men. The fear of what others might think, see of do to you. The Bible says, "The fear of man brings a snare." In other words, it binds, traps and imprisons you. David said, "The Lord is on my side, I will not fear, what can man do to me." Now, that's the sound of a courageous, bold leader.

Begin to call on the boldness and courage that God has placed in you. Square your shoulders back, raise your head, and stand tall. Realize that God is in you to do a mighty work in the world.

Several years ago the theme song for my daily radio broadcast was a song sung by Morris Chapman. It said, "Be bold, be strong, for the Lord thy God is with thee, Be bold, be strong, for the Lord thy God is with thee, Do not be afraid, do not be dismayed, For you are walking in strength and victory, You're walking in strength in a victory, For the Lord thy God is with thee."

I challenge you today to shirk off the bands of timidity and fear. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Be filled with faith and courage. Be the bold leader God has created you to be.

Polishing Your Marketability

In order to maintain your marketability it is important to keep your image polished at all times. These days of downsizing demand that you do all you can to secure your position in the workplace.

It is always imperative to stay on the cutting edge of your profession. Those that are able to do the most tasks with the most excellence are the ones that will be in demand. The ones that do just enough to get by are not.

Your future is totally in your hands. Only you can control your future. By applying the following principles you can enhance your public image. You can get noticed and stay noticed.

Polish your personal appearance.

It may sound trivial, but it is important to maintain a positive professional image. The way you dress, comb your hair, polish your shoes, carry yourself etc. all go along way in marketing yourself. If needed consult a fashion expert to assist you with dressing properly.

Constantly improve your communication skills.

Perhaps nothing is more important than your ability to communicate. Communication involves both listening and speaking. While most people are continually trying to find the right thing to say, they neglect the most important part of communicating with others, listening. The only way you can understand what someone else is saying or feeling is to listen to what they are saying. Then and only then are you truly communicating.

Whether communication is in front of a group, or is one on one, how you communicate goes a long way in determining your success or failure. Seek to be clear and concise when sharing with others. Take a specialized course in public speaking.

Develop your writing skills.

In order to increase your marketability you must constantly seek to improve your writing skills. Improper use of words, misspelled words and poor grammar, when in written form, hurt your marketability. In their book “Smart Moves,” Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman write, “Whenever you communicate you are saying three things: something about your message, something about your reader, and something about yourself. When you write clearly you’re showing that you understand the reader, you’ve thought clearly about your purpose and have expressed it well, and you’re presenting a positive image of yourself.”

Read, Read, Read!

One of the common denominators of highly successful people is the amount of reading they do. In order to polish your marketability you need to read everything you can regarding your career field. The late President, John F. Kennedy said, “Knowledge is power.” The key to knowledge is reading. Stay up to date with information that is relevant to your profession.

Stay current.

Staying current in your career field gives you a positive advantage over those that don’t. This makes you more a more valuable employee, contract worker or entrepreneur. Stay on the cutting edge of information and technology in your field of expertise. Take every course you can. Attend every seminar you can. Become an expert in your field.

Stay in touch.

Don’t unnecessarily burn bridges behind you. Always keep the door of communication open with both current and former business contacts. Send thank you notes. Call on special days. Let others know that you genuinely care about them. Offer to assist them in any way you can. Ask them to assist you when you need it. Show your gratitude when they come through for you.

Mind your manners.

It is vitally important that you remember your business etiquette. Don’t overstep boundaries that you shouldn’t step over. Treat everyone with respect. Always show courtesy to those that you seek to do business with. Be aware of your table manners. Say excuse me when you interrupt a conversation. Know and follow the protocol of the activity you are involved in. Basically treat others the way you want to be treated.

Maintain a positive attitude.

People like to be around, and do business with, those that have a good attitude. No one likes to have to deal with people that are difficult to get along with. Attitudes, like measles, are impossible to hide. By being positive, enthusiastic and optimistic in business dealings you are increasing your personal marketability.

Develop your skills.

Those whose skills are developed most are the most marketable. People who know what they are doing, and who can do it most efficiently, are always in demand. Constantly work at developing and honing your skills. Don’t be afraid to learn new things. Be adaptable. Change with the times. Stay current by keeping your skills up to date.

Develop your trustworthiness.

Be a person of your word. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Practice loyalty to your company and bosses. By being dependable you make yourself less expendable. Go above and beyond what is required of you. Volunteer for projects no one else wants, but you are qualified to do. These things can only enhance your marketability.

Technorati Tags: winning in life,success in life,marketability,personal development,job security

An Attitude of Gratitude

Today is Thanksgiving Day.  A time we will gather with friends and love ones and enjoy a great meal and each others company.  Thanksgiving Day in the United States, is a day we have set aside to show our gratitude for all our blessings in life. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the good things that we have been privileged to enjoy.
Unfortunately, many people don’t feel they have anything to be faithful for. When you ask then what they are thankful for they have trouble putting it in words. Sadly, all they can see is the negative circumstances they find themselves in and the things they wish they had but don’t. By focusing on your circumstances and what you don’t have you lose perspective of what you do have.

The past couple of years have been tough for our family. They have had to put up with me getting hurt on the job resulting in seven surgeries on my right arm, contracting a staph infection that almost took my life, and a loss of ability to provide a steady income due to the injury and illness. However, we have all hung tough and have so much to be thankful for.

I know on this day, many that read this, make a list of things they are thankful for. If you don’t you should. Something energizing takes place when you take the time to list all the blessings in your life to be thankful for.

As I am writing this blog, I was reminded of a song we used to sing at church when I was a young child. While I may not remember all the words, I remember the gist of it. It simply said, “Count your blessings, Name them one by one, Count your blessings, See what God has done.” That’s a good idea not just one day a year but something we should practice on a daily basis!

Here’s a shortened version of my list:

• I am thankful to be alive and well.

• I am thankful to have the use of my surgically repaired arm.

• I am thankful for my wonderful wife and best friend, Holly.

• I am thankful for our wonderful children.

• I am thankful for all my friends that have stood by me and believed in me.

• I am thankful to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

• I am thankful for the dreams, desires, and abilities God has endowed me with.

• Last but not least, I am thankful for God’s love, grace, and faithfulness to me.

Perhaps you are going through a tough time, but remember while your circumstances may not be what you like someone is going through something worse. Make the decision today to make everyday a day of Thanksgiving. Being thankful is a choice you make. A common denominator of highly successful people is their attitude of gratitude. An attitude of gratitude is like a muscle, to develop it you have to work it, or you will lose it.

I received an email from Dr. Keith Johnson, the confidence coach, (http://www.theconfidencecoach.com) that gave the following list of seven questions to ask yourself daily to build your attitude of gratitude and confidence which I thought I should share with you in today’s blog post.

1. What am I most happy about in my life now?
2. What am I most excited about in my life now?
3. What am I most proud about in my life now?
4. What am I most grateful about in my life now?
5. What am I enjoying most in my life right now?
6. What am I committed to in my life right now?
7. Who do I love? Who loves me?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reinventing Yourself

Are you unhappy with who you have become? Do you feel stuck in a rut and want to change? Do you believe it is possible to change, or have you bought into the lie that you and who you are and there is nothing you can do about it? If you answered yes to any of these questions then this blog is for you!

It is possible to change the way you are. While change takes time, effort, and may be difficult it is possible. You can become the person you have always wanted to be. You can be happy. You can be fulfilled. You can be successful.

The Bible is clear that it is possible to experience positive change. God has given us His word and His spirit in order that we can experience lasting change.

The word “repent” means to have a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of attitude, resulting in a change of actions, and a change of direction, and a change of results. Repentance is not a one-time event in the life of a Christian. It is an ongoing daily process.

According to psychologist William James “a man can change his life by changing his attitude.” This is simply another way of saying what the Apostle Paul told the Roman church, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:1).

The word “transformation” comes from the Greek word “metamorpheo” from which we get the English word “metamorphosis”. A “metamorphosis” is a total change or “reinventing” of ones self. The common example of this is the change that happens when a caterpillar spins a cacoon and then emerges as a beautiful butterfly. Now that’s transformation!

The following principles will aid you in reinventing yourself:

Choose to change.

While this may sound elementary, you will never change until you make the decision to. Make the quality decision that from this day forward you will begin to be the person you have always dreamed of being. A quality decision is one from which you will not turn away. It is a decision of commitment to change.

Change the way you think.

To reinvent yourself you must change your thought processes. As Zig Zigler says, you must get rid of “stinkin thinkin!” They way you think determines how you act, and how you act determines what you get. Let go of the negative thoughts that have been holding you back. Replace them with the positive things God has to say about you in His word. Determine to think high thoughts. Thoughts of victory and success.

Change your talk.

Get rid of all the negative self-talk. Quit saying what you can’t do and start declaring what you can and will do. Quit putting yourself down. Start believing in yourself, you ideas, and your abilities. Say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”

Discover your divine design.

Understanding your purpose in life is essential to reinventing yourself. You can’t be the person you were meant to be if you don’t know why you are here in the first place. You are not an accident. God has a plan for your life. Here are five questions that will help you discover your divine design:

• What are your natural gifts and talents?
• What excites or stirs you, what is your passion?
• What are your dreams and aspirations?
• What type of personality traits do you possess?
• What are your leadership skills? (Are you a manager, a doer or a visionary?)

The answers to these questions will help you discover your life mission. God will never call you to do something that He hasn’t created you to do. Your life purpose is what gives you direction, responsibility and meaning to life.

The me I see.

I heard Robert Schuller speak on the subject “The me I see is the me I’ll be.” I have never forgotten the message in the title alone. You will never rise above the person you see yourself to be. By changing your thinking, your self-talk, and discovering your divine design, you will begin to see yourself the way God sees you. Begin today to see yourself organized, attractive, diligent, reliable, happy and successful. It is a true statement, “if you can conceive it, you can achieve it!” Solomon wrote, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Be yourself.

So many people live frustrated, directionless and meaningless lives because they are trying to be someone they aren’t. By trying to be the person someone else wants you to be you short-circuit being the person God made you to be. Don’t allow yourself to be molded by the opinions of others. Refuse to let others try to live their lives through you. You are born an original, don’t die a copy. Your value is in your individuality. It is not in your similarities to others.

Where are you going?

What is it that you have always dreamed of accomplishing in life? In order to reinvent yourself you must have a vision of where you are going and what you intend to accomplish. Highly successful people are goal setters. A Goal is a vision or a dream with a deadline on it. It is something to aim at. As Denis Waitly says, “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” Set goals that are in line with your life mission, not someone else’s!

Associate with people you desire to be like.

Your associations have much to do with your success in life. Many times it is imperative that some relationships be severed. Paul the Apostle said, “Evil communications (associations) corrupt good manners.” (I Corinthians 15:33) put an end to relationships that are a negative influence, that belittle you, that drain you of your time and energy.

On the other hand, begin to associate with people that are likeminded as you. Choose to associate with positive, honest, faith-filled people that will inspire you to greatness. Solomon also wrote, “Iron sharpeneth iron.” In other words, you become like the people you associate with. Make the decision to develop relationships with people that are successful in your field of endeavor. Run with winners!

Commit to lasting change.

Reinventing yourself won’t happen overnight. However, it will happen if you stick with it. Personal development, or personal growth, is simply the process if becoming the person you were made to be. To accomplish this you must commit to it. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted, discouraged or defeated.

Ask God to help you.

Prayer gets God involved in your life. Seek Him for guidance, strength, and the ability to change. Believe when you pray that he will not only hear you, but also that you will receive what you are asking for. Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

The road to becoming a “new you” may be long and difficult at times, but if you will stick with it you will make it. As a result, you will become a person of productivity and accomplishment.

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!

Achievement

There is nothing greater than the feeling of accomplishment. To set out to do something and then to do it. President Franklin Roosevelt said, “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.”

Anyone can start a project, only winners finish what they start. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” Highly successful people are not those who know how to start a project, but rather those that know how to finish it.

The key to achievement is persistence. Persistence is the ability to stick with something until you have accomplished it. It is the ability to not quit or give up when the going gets tough. Robert Schuller says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Persistence keeps you going in spite of the opposition, setbacks or difficulties you may face.

Determine to finish what you start. Develop your persistence muscle. Be determined to not stop until you reach your goals. As author John Mason says, “Let go of whatever makes you stop.” A dream, hard work and persistence will make you a person of achievement.

Acts of Kindness

“The days of chivalry are over” the woman said as I held the door open for her. “Perhaps they are”, I replied, “But the days of kindness aren’t”! Treat others with the same respect, dignity and courtesy you would like to receive.

Albert Schweitzer wrote, “Constant kindness can accomplish much.” As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstandings, mistrust and hostility to evaporate. It is amazing what a kind word or a kind act can do for a person.

In our society it seems that kindness has become a lost art. People live with only their own interests at heart. They constantly think only of themselves and their situations of life. Rare is the person who puts the concerns of others first.

Zig Zigler teaches that the key to becoming a success in life is in helping others become a success. If I can help you get what you want, it will help me get what I want. It is true that we reap what we sow.

In Ephesians 6:8 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord.” In other words, what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you!

When was the last time you recall someone doing something kind for you? More important, when was the last time you did something kind for someone else? An act of kindness is something you do voluntarily. It is something you want to do not just because someone asks you to do it. Look for opportunities to be kind to someone today.

" And be kind to one another." (Ephesians 4:32)

Just a thought!

Positive Thinking

All high achievers are positive thinkers. Being an optimist is essential to success in life. Believing for, and expecting the best are marks of people that accomplish great things in life.

This is true in all areas of life. Businesspeople, athletes, factory workers, homemakers, students, can all benefit from positive thinking.

Positive thinkers don’t just see things as they are now, but as they can be. They tend to be problem solvers instead of problem spotters. They see the silver lining behind the dark clouds.

Positive thinking has its origins in scripture. Solomon once wrote “as a man thinks in his heart so it is he.” Jesus said, “as your faith is so be it unto you.” The Apostle Paul declared, “be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Repentance, in its simplest definition means to have a change of mind. In other words, quit thinking thoughts that are causing you to fail, and begin instead to think positive, uplifting thoughts that will lead you to success.

Thinking in a positive manner is the result of making a conscious decision to do so. It is a skill that can be developed over time. You can train and discipline yourself to be optimistic.

Choose today to clear your mind of negative thoughts and determine to replace them with positive, faith-filled thoughts. Begin to focus on what can be, instead of what now is.

Be Kind and Considerate

Mean spirited, manipulative people seldom enjoy success over the long haul. Bullying people, acting as a dictator, forcing people to do things your way or the highway, seldom produces respect and honor in others. In fact people resent aggressive, hard to get along with, domineering personalities.

As a young man my mother told me, “You’ll catch more flies with honey that you will with vinegar.” I have never forgotten this truth. I have seen firsthand the value of treating others with kindness and being considerate of their feelings.

The quickest way to earn the respect of others is to treat them with respect. Honor others for their abilities, knowledge and opinions. Praise them for their accomplishments. Celebrate their personal victories.

People will go to the ends of the earth for you if you treat them with kindness. There is something almost magical that happens when others know they are appreciated and needed.


“Be kind one to another.”(Ephesians 4:32)