Courage For Today

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Keep Your Life in Perspective

Strength

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when things don’t go your way, there is a tendency to look at the negative.  In fact, I’ve met some folks that just automatically gravitate to the worse possible outcome in any scenario.  Having a common cold suddenly means you have cancer. Being late on a bill now means bankruptcy is around the corner.  Not having a good job interview plants in your mind that you’ll never find a job.  If you find yourself in this frame of mind, I encourage you to begin working on changing your perspective.  Below are some suggestions and tips I’ve learned over the years that have helped me.  Start today giving them a try and see if your perspective doesn’t change over time:

  • Remember, you will be the average of the 5 people and 5 books you spend the most time with. Always surround yourself with what or who you wish to mirror.
  • Remember to always make sure you take care of yourself; your home-base. Don’t neglect yourself or “me time” to help you relax.  Sometimes that may be simply reading for 30 minutes.  It may be taking a long, hot bath.  Whatever it is for you, make sure you leave yourself some downtime.
  • A simple formula I use to help eliminate stress is what I call the 9-9-9 rule. Whenever I’m upset at something, I ask myself:  “will this matter in 9-days; 9-weeks; or 9 months?”  If the answer is no to all 3, it’s most likely not worth worrying about.
  • Make sure you connect with others, but avoid comparing yourself with others. It’s very easy in our performance based environment to compare yourself with others and a certain amount of comparison is unavoidable. However, if we do this too much, our self-esteem goes down.  Connecting and learning from others with like skills causes our self-esteem to go up.  Connect and learn with the tools God gave you; don’t compare with others and sell yourself short.  There is a huge difference between the two.  See yourself with the wonderful package you are and learn to capitalize on those strengths and don’t worry about someone else.
  • When you fail, as we all do, always maintain the following: (1) I can change it next time; (2) this is something to learn from; (3) it’s only temporary; and (4) only the process failed; not the person.  No matter how much someone fails, there is still value in that person.  Maybe not in the current process or job and maybe you have to part ways with someone, but always treat the person with value and dignity (and yourself) if you fail.
  • Continue pushing yourself to expand your comfort zone, despite your fears. Expanding your comfort zone increases your confidence.  If you’re not failing occasionally, you’re not trying hard enough.  Write down 5 things you would like to improve and work toward those goals as hard as it may be.

I hope these suggestions help you until we can get together again.

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Overcoming Challenges in Your Life

Faith

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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?
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.

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Inhabited or Inhibited

Strength

The Lord has blessed us with a desire or need to be filled.  We all have a void or emptiness that only Christ can make go away.  When I accepted Christ as my savior, I became filled with Christ’s love.  I believe that the bible teaches us that we become a new creature in Christ.  When we accept Him, our “old self” is replaced with the “new” that can only be done with God’s Grace and Mercy and Forgiveness.

At first, my new life as a Christian seemed a contradiction.  It was very difficult for me, and still is, to learn that Christ now directed my life——not me.  I had to learn that EVERYTHING I did or hoped to do, was directed by God.  When I fail to realize that, or when I try to show God that I know better, I always fail.  God, in His infinite grace and mercy, allows me to make my own decisions; after all, I still have a free will.  However, it didn’t take to many times of failure and misery to realize that I needed to always follow Him and seek His guidance, even when His ways and His timing didn’t match my own.

While the World often believes that being a Christian is restrictive and inhibits you, I’ve found just the opposite.  Being inhabited by Christ and His love frees you to be the person (and Christian example) that He desires us to be.

As you start your Day today or tomorrow, ask yourself this question:  Am I inhabited by Christ who strengthens me, or am I inhibited by Self who weakens me?  Only you and God know the answer to that question, and only you can make the change.

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Learning to Navigate Your Faith

Faith

“For we walk by faith, not by sight…” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

In our modern world, I’ve learn to become dependent on the GPS in our car.  I remember the days of traveling to some unknown place and trying to follow paper maps or relying on memory to guide us down the right path.  Now, it’s a simple matter of typing in your destination’s address and the GPS does the rest.  With the GPS, I can travel down roads with total confidence and faith and know that I will eventually get to my destination.  There is no hesitation and no fear.  Just type and go.

As Christians, how do we learn to live by faith during those times in life when we just don’t understand?  As ridiculous as it may sound, it really boils down to having as much confidence in Christ as we do our GPS.  Having that unshakable faith requires us to:  Believe when you just can’t see; Obey when you just don’t understand; Persist when you just don’t feel like it; Trust when you just don’t get it; and Be content for what you receive, even if it’s what you don’t want.

Where is your Faith today?

Courage Thoughts for Today:

  1. When was the last time you really trusted God in your life?
  2. Think back on a time when you received something in Life that wasn’t what you wanted at the time, but ended up being what was best for you.
  3. Thank God for what you have.  It may not be exactly what you want, but realize that as long as your feet touch the floor in the morning, you are truly blessed.

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Your Legacy For a Lifetime

Self-Worth

I never cared much for History during High School and College, but over the years I’ve learned to be a student of History.  In my school years, I never saw much relevance in learning about Revolutions and Kings and Conquests, but old age has a way of mellowing us and giving us a new perspective in life.

There is really so much to learn when reading various biographies.  You learn about the person’s childhood and upbringing; their family life and schooling; and you learn about how they were placed in certain circumstances at certain times for certain actions. You learn about how they handled adversity and how their lives affected others.  History is full of stories both positive and negative; both tragic and inspiring.

Each of these historical figures has a legacy or a reputation.  Mention any historical figure and I would imagine that you immediately conjure up some image or picture of that person, good or bad.  As Christians, we’re charged with being the light of the World.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become “new” in HIM.  We are to lead our lives in such a way that others will see something different. The way we lead our lives should draw others to Christ.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is this:  we all influence others.  Whether that influence is good or bad is up to us.  My challenge for you is to lead your life in such a way that others will say they’re a better person for having known you.

When your name is mentioned to others, what will be your Legacy?

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