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Overcoming Challenges in Your Life

There are thousands and thousands of books and resources about success and failure and how “to get ahead” in life. There is certainly no magic formula to succeeding and your path to success will be different than mine. Certainly, we all have different talents and abilities–and we need to develop those gifts and talents—but no amount of talent or ability will make you a success if that’s all you focus on. Over the years, it’s occurred to me that there are six common obstacles to success. So, I thought I would take a different approach and list some things I’ve learned that, if practiced, will do nothing to help you succeed. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll see your chances of success improve greatly.

Having an Unteachable Spirit: As someone who has hired, trained, and fired employees for years, there is nothing that dooms someone more quickly then being unteachable. By unteachable, I mean the unwillingness to learn. It always amazes me of the number of people that believe they have “arrived” and have nothing to learn. When approaching a new job or new venture, you should always take the humble approach that you don’t know everything and you can always learn from those around you.
Having Unforgiven Offenses: Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things we suffer with as Christians, as people. When someone offends us or does something to harm us, our natural tendency is to fight back and seek revenge. We offer many articles in our blog about forgiveness and can help you in this area, but suffice it to say that our refusal to forgive others only hurts us in the long run and hardens our heart. You can’t be a successful leader in life with a hardened heart.
Having Un-Wise Associations: It has been said by many famous speakers, such as Zig Ziegler and others, that you are a product of the people around you and the books you read. I totally agree. In fact, it’s often said that your behavior is a reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I couldn’t agree more. If you can’t seem to break through your clutter or get to the next level, check your associations. Who are you spending time with? Do you need to change your network of friends and associates?
Having a Negative Tongue: You’ve heard the old cliche that misery loves company. Leaders and successful people take steps to make themselves stand out from others. When others look at you, others should see someone different. They should see someone that they want to be like. What they shouldn’t see (or hear) is someone that constantly tears down others. If you are constantly saying something negative about others, I would encourage you to check your own self-confidence and self-image. There are only two ways to make yourself stand above others: you can work hard and do the right things to make yourself stand out, or you can knock others down. Make sure you’re not doing the latter.
Having Inconsistency in Your Actions: Speaking as a Christian, there’s nothing that sickens me more then seeing what we call “Sunday Christians.” We’ve all seen them–those that are in church and profess to be Christians on Sunday, but live otherwise during the week. As Christians, we have to be consistent in our actions. Our behaviors should be the same on Tuesday, as they are on Sunday. As leaders, we can’t treat people one way on Monday and a different way on Friday. Certainly, we are all human and make mistakes; however, when others look at you, they should see he same person on Monday as they see on Saturday.
Having an Uncommitted Heart: Committing to anything is often the fuel that sustains you during the tough times. Our journey will always be filled with pitfalls and setbacks. Without commitment, you’ll give up and turn back. Without commitment, you’ll be influenced by anything or anyone in your path that seeks to prevent your success. Remember, not everyone will want you to succeed. Committing to your goal will enable you to move past the nay-sayers.

I can promise you, from my own experiences, if you improve your life in these six areas, you’ll go a long way toward being a Godly success.

Our Decision To Be or Not To Be

Self-Worth

I have to admit it—I love keeping “to-do” lists. I make lists to go shopping. I make lists of tasks for goals I want to achieve. I even have an electronic “to-do” list software program that helps me organize and plan my daily work tasks and keep track of deadlines. There is something about having a list and knowing that I have captured everything I need to do that keeps my stress at a minimal level. When I go through the day and think that I have forgotten something, I become more stressed. The list gives me a system to avoid forgetting things. I know others, however, who when they keep lists it has the opposite effect and stresses them more because it continually reminds them of what they need to do or what they have not done. Obviously, each of us is different and we have to find out what works for us.

As I was sitting here today, I was reminded of our mission in life as Christians. We are charged to be the salt of the earth and be the light of the earth. Our mission is to stand tall and live our lives in such a manner that others would be drawn to Him. God should never be a secret in our lives to the point that we’re afraid to display to others.

How different would my Christian Life or Christian Testimony become if I simply replaced my “To-Do” List with a “To-Be” List? How much stronger would my testimony be if I worked harder on becoming more in Christ, rather than simply doing all the time. As you examine your own life, I wanted to list some “To-Be’s” that God brought to my own heart as he challenges me to be more:

To Be more like God and realize that without Him, I am nothing. When there is less of me, there is more of Him. The point of my greatest weakness actually becomes the time of my greatest strength because, at that moment, I move out of the way and allow God to take charge.
To Be content with who I am and what God has done in my life, realizing that when I do, I suddenly realize the importance of the things that simply can’t be bought such as family, friends, and relationships.
To Be hungry for God and His Word and build up an appetitite for learning and teaching; understanding the richness and wisdom of His Word and creating a greater desire to follow in His steps.
To Be more caring for others and to show true compassion; having a true servant’s heart and attempting to use my God-given gifts and abilities for the benefit of others.
To Be mindful of my priorities and my relationship with God so that He can enable me to do more for Him. Understanding that the World’s priorities are not necessarily God’s priorities for my life.
To Be strong in my commitment to Him, despite any persecution I may receive , and to carry on no matter the obstacles. This will only drive me closer in my relationship with Him.

As you look at your daily “To-Do” list, why not add a couple of “To-Be’s” as well? Let’s all spend more time being instead of doing and get excited about what God will do in our lives and the lives of others.

We Only Have 24 Hours in a Day

Self-Worth

Let’s face it, we all have too much to do and not enough time to do it. One of the areas in my life I have always struggled with is that of maintaining the balance between time at home and time at work. Whether it’s activities with the kids, or church activities, or hobbies, I always found myself having to choose between “shorting” my family life for the sake of my career, or “shorting” my career for the sake of my family. Most of us face those same daily decisions. It’s a tough decision sometimes, especially with bills to pay and the economy as it is.

I have certainly been guilty of choosing more career time, and less family time, as I’m sure all of you have at some time or another. I would imagine that many of you are facing this dilemma as you’re reading this Blog. I used the same excuses you probably use or have used. “If only I work hard now for the one more promotion, I’ll be set for life…” “If I can just get this one new position, I’ll be able to spend more time at home…” You’ve heard the same lines. You’ve probably used them yourself to justify your decision of choosing career over family.

Let me tell you from experience, choosing career over family is not worth it. I’m not against ambition, but I’ve never met anyone that has retired who says that they wish they had spent more hours at work. While they might have enjoyed their career; they don’t wish they had spent more time there. There have been many times in my life that I believe my family suffered because I made the wrong decision to short family for the sake of career. It’s not worth it. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that it’s not worth losing fellowship with a spouse or child, for the sake of a few more hundred dollars each month. Each time I did make the correct choice and choose family time over career time, it was amazing how God always worked out the details. The job promotion I thought I really wanted turned out not to be so great after all. The new company I wanted to work for ended up going out of business a few months after I would have accepted the position. I can promise you that your career will always work out. You only have one chance, most of the time, to make things right with your family. Do you really want to jeopardize the relationship with your spouse and children for the sake of a career move? Trust me; you don’t.

There are some of you who are feeling tremendous stress and pressure trying to make this balance between family and career work effectively in your life. I would encourage you to step out on faith—and it’s a big step sometimes—and put your family and relationships FIRST. Doing so will almost immediately eliminate the stress and pressure that you’re currently facing at home and make you much more effective at your career. You’re feeling the stress because you really know in your heart what you should be doing, but you’re making the decision based on worldly logic, and not your heart. Make the decision today based on your heart, not your mind. You’ll be happier. Your family will be happier and your career won’t suffer. Trust me; I’ve been there.

Overcoming Challenges in Your Life

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We Only Have 24 Hours in a Day

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