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Try It For 30 Days

Real change is doable. Too often we choose not to change or attempt something new because it seems too daunting, too big, too impossible. But the reality is, you can make major shifts in your life if you would simply make a 30 commitment and take action. What you try may not be earth-shaking, but you will definitely be better for having stepped out and attempted something new. The following Ted talk is a great example and inspiration to simply try something new for 30 days, check it out.

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Realign for a successful 2014

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The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.
~Henry Ward Beecher

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.
~Yogi Berra

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.  ~Seneca

Goals are dreams with deadlines.  ~Diana Scharf Hunt

Guess what? January is just a breath away. As the calendar turn us yet again into another year, there is a natural sense, hard-wired into us, to reset our souls, realign our priorities and establish goals to accomplish our dreams.

There are so many different lists of questions out there that have been written to help you successfully launch into 2014. The following questions I think are the top 10!  Read through the questions, and then write out answers your answers.  After you have answered the questions, the next step will be to prioritize them and set some short-term and long-term goals in order to measure progress and see movement toward the direction you are going.

1. What area of your life is most in need a change this year?

2. What is one thing you can do to dramatically improve your relationship with God this year?

3. What would happen if your best dream came true? What is your best dream?

4.  What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

5.  What positive habit would you most like to establish this year?

6. Where will you commit and invest your time and talent this year?

7. What book(s) will you read this year (outside of the Bible) to enrich your life?

8. What area of doctrine/theology/spirituality do you want to study for better understanding this year?

9. What one thing can you do this year that will leave a positive and lasting legacy for your family and community?

10. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

Persistence allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so, and therefore you keep accumulating results. Persistence will ultimately provide its own motivation. If you simply keep taking action, you’ll eventually get results, and results can be very motivating.”

A friend of mine also sent me a great article with many more great questions to start off the year with: Take a look here http://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/happy-new-year/ten-questions-to-ask-at-the-start-of-a-new-year-11643580.html

After you have finished answering these questions, it is critical that you create a “next step” of what you will do to make your answer become a reality. Dreams and goals are great, but if they are absent an action plan they generally never see lift-off. As you create actionable steps employ someone you can share your list with and ask them to keep you accountable to doing what you know you need to do.

The choices and decisions you make today -will- determine your life experience and outcome in the next 5-10 years. So carefully answer the questions and establish a plan to accomplish the goals you have made.

Bonus Questions for those who dare!

1. Ask your spouse,

  • What is it like having me as a husband/wife?
  • What can I do differently this year to improve our marriage?”

2. Ask your kids, “What is it like having me for a mom/dad?

  • What is it like having me for a mom/dad?
  • What can I do this year to be a better parent?

3. Ask your co-workers,

  • What one thing can I do differently this year that will make the most positive impact for our company?
  • What is it like to work with me?

4. Ask your pastor,

  • What is the greatest need our church has that I can help with?
  • Where should I be plugging in at church to become the person God created me to be?

Here’s a final thought on persistence from Zig Ziglar:

“Persistence is the ability to maintain actions regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting. When you work on any big goal your motivation will wax and wane like the waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you’ll feel motivated, sometimes you won’t. But it’s not your motivation that creates results – it’s your action.

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The Leaders Toolbox: Committment

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I typed the letters of the word into the search bar…There were over 208 million hits, and  at the top of the results page was a definition:

com·mit·ment/kəˈmitmənt/
noun
  1. the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc..
    “the company’s commitment to quality”
  2. an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.
    “business commitments.”

    synonyms: responsibility, obligation, duty, tie, liability;

I like the synonyms; dedication, devotion, allegiance, loyalty…each of those words conveys a larger story deep within as we articulate and ruminate on them. I think of images such as an impenetrable wall, a solid foundation, an alliance of people in the fox-hole together. The second definition caused me to pause…no, I do not like those words. Nails on the chalk-board, a high-pitched sonic tone piercing my inner ear or feeling of being “tazed” (not that I have experienced that) I don’t like words like; obligation, or restricts freedom and actions. I love my freedom. I want my choice. I long for the right to act how and whenever I want to to…but this commitment seems to be able to limit that which rules my soul.

There is definitely a love-hate relationship with the concept. Even in Jesus day there was a struggle.

There were over 5,000 hungry people in the middle of nowhere…

One little boy has five barley loaves and two small fish…

The miracle worker says “feed them”…

A  disciple’s trembling hand reaches into the bag afraid of what he won’t find…

But is astounded at what he does find…

A never-ending supply of bread and fish…

The people are full, but of the wrong type of food…

Jesus the leader speaks about the cost of following Him…

His words are confounding…

He is the real bread?

Himself?

Savor Him?

Digest God?

He was not talking about cannibalism..He was talking about commitment, a life that so embraced the Messiah that the soul would feed and find her sustenance on the divine bread.

That story found in the Gospel of John, chapter 6 speaks of both the delicious side of commitment and the side that creates a gut-check…

It is both.

Great leaders demonstrate what commitment means, if they didn’t, they would have few followers.

5 Truths About Commitment

1. Commitment is a product of choices not circumstances.

You always have a choice, even when you think you are out of options. The choices you make determine the life you live. The people who lives as victims of circumstances rarely have a deep level of commitment because they don’t think they have a choice. When we consistently choose to do the right things even when it hurts or has a cost, we are seen as leaders with a deep level of commitment.

2. Commitment endures when it is founded upon something bigger than you.

What are you committed to? Does it have value? Does it have significance? Is it bigger than you, or beyond you? Does the thing you are committed to have value beyond the tangible or the material? When you are committed to something or someone bigger than you, it will last. If your commitment is founded on you, or your wants only, it will be short-lived and will ultimately fade away.

3. Commitment is forged in adversity.

It has been said that “Great leaders are not born, only babies.” No one is born with a high level of commitment, we are born with a high level of self-preservation. Commitment doesn’t come easy, it is a nirvana moment found on the mountaintop, it is forged in the trenches when you want to cut and run, when you are giving more than you are receiving, when the path before you is self-sacrifice and not self-fulfillment. If you avoid adversity, you will never become a person of commitment and your leadership will hit a low ceiling.

4. Commitment takes courage.

Making a strong commitment is never easy. You will need to breathe deeply, pray hard, and act when you are not sure of the outcome. This takes courage, integrity and faith.

5. Commitment reveals what you value.

You you take a stand, when you make a commitment and stick to it, you are telling the world what matters to you. When people know what matters to you, they are able to decide if you are worth following. When the things that matter to you are bigger than you, and you consistently live according to your beliefs, your values will attract people who also have a deep sense of commitment as well.

4 Practices Of A Committed Leader

1. Walking The Talk.

The leader who acts with integrity and honesty will create a committed team. Key questions to ask, “Am I living out what I am expecting from others?” “Is my private live reflected in my public life?” “Is my yes, yes and my no, no?” “Can people count on my actions to follow my promises?” When we walk the talk, it reveals and reinforces our commitment.

2. Collaboration.

Collaboration is perhaps the most needed skill in organizations today. When we become silos of competition, we compete for resources and atta-boys all the while failing to share what we have. This negatively affects the bottom line and the organization fails to succeed or reach a fuller potential. Committed leaders care more about the team or organizational goals than about elevating themselves. Collaborating raises the game for everyone.

3. Building Up Others.

The leader who inspires, builds-up and motivates others tends to be motivated herself. When leaders get stuck in the accomplishments of tasks, solely, and fail to build up others, will limit the success of their team. When leaders encourage, inspire and help others develop new skills and increase their abilities, they are developing a highly committed team.

4. Practicing Vulnerability.

The days of pretending to be someone or something that you are not are over. In todays marketplace, great leaders are honest, authentic and are able to show some vulnerability.  Everyone knows you are not Superman, so when you pretend that you are, you lose their respect and commitment. Get real, get honest, and get results!

Great leaders cultivate their soul, when their soul is healthy they lead well and show their commitment. When others know they are committed, the field is ripe for amazing things to happen.

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Choices, they will change your future

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Everyday we have a number of choices set before us. A choice is a spiritual portal, an opportunity to exercise either faith or fear. In so many ways the truth of the matter is that making a choice is often the most spiritual thing you do.

Each choice carries an incredible amount of potential. You can choose one way and move closer to God, or choose another way and move away from God. Choice is the gift of freedom, but it also requires faith if we are to stay aligned with God throughout the day and move towards a God-centric future.

It has been said that we are the sum total of the choices that we made 10+ years ago, and who we will be in 10 years will be a result of the choices that we make today. In this sense, choices will change your future. The question is, are you making the choices that will create the best future.

Tonight, I did some meditating on great quotes about choices.

May the following thoughts about choices from others inspire you to see each of your decisions as a divine opportunity to move closer to God and experience the life He created you for!

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“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

“God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him.” ~Jim Elliot

“Every choice you make has an end result.” ~Zig Ziglar

“Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” ~William Jennings Bryan

“Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content.” ~Samuel Johnson

“The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” ~Charles R. Swindoll

“Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious.” ~Bill Meyer (1892-1957);Baseball Manager, Coach

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ~Viktor Frankl

“Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.” ~Peter Marshall

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” ~Rosa Parks

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” ~Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr

“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.” ~Leo Buscaglia

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” ~Buddha

“We are our choices.” ~Jean-Paul Sartre

“You cannot continue on the same path and arrive at a different destination. Make the choice to have your actions reflect your goals.” ~Steve Maraboli

“Far too many of us value the freedom to choose rather than the choices that make us free” ~Erwin McManus

“On a daily basis we’re faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He’s accomplished for us at the cross.” ~The Cross-Centered Life

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ~Deuteronomy 30:19

“… choose this day whom you will serve … But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 25:15