Focus on the Foundation (Part 2)

Since last week you began to write a vision for your life, this week you're ready for part 2 of the Focus on the Foundation process which involves surveying your surroundings.

If you are going to maximize your potential you are going to have to be willing to take a moment to assess what you're working with. I recently read an article by Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church. The objective of the article was to encourage leaders to "Think inside the box." What he was suggesting was that you should consider what you have before you assume that you need what you don't.

Take an honest look at what you have in your hands and consider what could help you as well as what could hinder your progress. A great way to do this is to complete a SWOT analysis on yourself. "What is that", you ask? That's when you reflect on your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This could be a series by itself but the aim of this exercise is to help you to stop sleep walking through life and make the most of where you are.

If you use what you have where you are it can help you to get where you're going but if you fail to assess your surroundings you'll miss the jewels that are present in your everyday life. This week don't just look ahead, look around!

You can find the podcast of this motivation at http://www.jessiejennings.podbean.com

Http://www.Mindtools.com has great tools for your SWOT analysis so check them out today.

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Focus on the Foundation (Part 1)

Now is the time to build the foundation of the life that you desire. Don’t delay, start building today! Many times what stops us from stepping forward is the question, “Where do I start?” This is a valid question because you have to have a blue print BEFORE you begin to build so that you won’t waste valuable time and resources. 

As you begin to draw your blueprints for your professional & personal goals you have to visualize how the finished product will look. In other words, what are you building toward? You need to be able to see this before you start. Having a vision is not optional, it’s absolutely necessary. Having a vision and knowing what you desire can prevent unnecessary delays and help you to avoid distractions because you know exactly what you’re all about.

A story is often told od how “Soon after the completion of Disney World someone said, ‘Isn’t it too bad that Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?’ Mike Vance the creative director of Disney Studios replied, ‘He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”

You have to be able to see it before you can see it. If you can’t see it in your heart you won’t see it in your hands.

NEXT STEP: This week get alone for a moment with a blank sheet of paper and write out where you’re going. What does your perfect job, relationship, company, future look like? Once you can see it, you’ll be able to press forward to seize it.

**You can find this podcast here.

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It's Still There...

Remember when you were young and you knew that you would be in trouble when your parents got home? Perhaps you did something you shouldn't have at school. Maybe you broke something playing in the house or maybe you were playing outside when they told you not to and a neighbor thought they would bless your parents with this information. Remember how you felt as you anxiously awaited your parents arrival? I would venture to say that many Christians know this feeling quite well, because it's the same feeling we get when we think about God or the return of Christ. Why? Because we're painfully aware that the verse that says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" rings true in our own experiences.

We know we've not been perfect and that scares us when we consider that we have to stand before a perfect God. God is pure, we are not. God is holy, we have hangups. God is righteous and we feel wretched. What can we do but feel anxious? I would like to suggest that there's a better way. We can remember that we have sinned but place it next to the fact that God's love is still there.

It's Still There.

Psalm 100:5 tells us, "For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation." (New Living Translation)

Even though we're imperfect, even though we're broken, even though we disappoint ourselves and feel as though we've disappointed God we can rest assured that God's love is still there. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39) so don't allow anxiety to grip your heart. God knows everything about you and love is still there. He knows every mistake you've made, every promise you've broken, every missed step & missed mark and yet, love is still there. 

Never forget that. Granted, there may be work that needs to be done to carry you out of where you are and into where God has always wanted you to be but it will not be conducted by a spiteful superior...God will lovingly walk you through. He still has plans for you. He still has a perfect plan for your life. He has an undying love for you that began long before you did anything right or wrong.

Rest in the love of God because, believe it or not, it's still there.

**Have you ever felt unlovable? How did you snap out of it?

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Fix Your Focus

Have you ever been in a season when all you wanted to do was just lay in the bed and sleep your life away? This can be a challenge because in moments like those, if you're anything like me, you can't really sleep that well but it just seems better to lay there anyway. If you're dealing with that type of experience right now, I know how you feel.

When you're feeling pressed down by a discouraging present you probably aren't doing much thinking about the possibilities of the future. How could you? Your present requires so much attention, right? Perhaps, but over the last few days I've discovered that it helps to fix your focus beyond your present circumstances. It doesn't matter how distressing the difficulty if you can keep your focus fixed on your destiny, but if your focus is broken it multiplies the impact of the problem. All of a sudden a challenge becomes a catastrophe because now you are unable to see beyond it. The mole hill has officially become a mountain and you can't imagine ever being able to climb over it.

Fix your focus!

When things have gone terribly wrong it can shock you for a moment but it would be in your best interest to preserve your focus. Keep your mind focused on higher things than what has happened. What can you be grateful for? What can you learn? What can you concentrate on instead of your present? In other words, how can you get a vision again? The Bible shares that "Without a vision the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18) and if you feel as though your life, your year, or your passion is passing away you may need a fresh dose of vision.

As I scanned my life to consider what I would do if I could do anything with the rest of my life, instead of feeling down about my present or past, I mumbled within that I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. That sounded like a glimpse of vision to me, so guess what I did? I bought my very first guitar yesterday and have spent 6 or more hours playing it along with tutorials...and that's just after 1 day! Am I a pro? Not yet, but am I still slouching around thinking "Woe is me?" Absolutely not. What changed? Did God fast-forward past my problems? No. I fixed my focus. I stopped looking back, and even stopped looking around me, so that I could start looking forward.

How can you do the same?

If you've been discouraged or depressed lately, fix your focus. Get a renewed vision for your life and for the possibilities of your future. You just might see that there are brighter days beyond your present problems. Keep pressing forward and when it's tough to do so, give yourself a vision to shoot for and watch your mind & spirit begin to rise up and reach beyond where you are.  

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It's Worth the Wait

I voted today. I stood in line for about an hour in a hall that seemed to go on forever. The paint was bland, the walls were bare and the conversation was kept just above a whisper, but still I waited. I decided to vote early because its just, well, convenient but as I waited I heard the complaints of others of how inconvenient this voting process had become. "The should've had more people working the polls." "This line is too long." "I might as well have come on election day" some remarked...but I couldn't help but imagine how it used to be, while I waited.

I could imagine the dogs barking at me as I tried to exercise my right. I could envision the scowls of the angry mob as they jeered and threw bottles at me as I tried to vote. All of a sudden the wait didn't seem so bad because, after all, all I had to do was wait.

Not fight, but wait.
Not fear bodily harm, but wait.
Not plug my ears to ignore the racial epithets of others, but just wait.

When I thought about what others have had to do to cast their ballot before me, when I compared their experiences to the minor "inconvenience" I was enduring I couldn't help but enjoy the wait because the joy of being able to do what I was doing made it well worth (a lot more than) the wait.

If you haven't already gone to the polls to vote, do so this week. There may be a line and it may be inconvenient but trust me when I tell you that it's worth the wait. 

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What to Read as You Lead

It goes without saying that leaders are readers. So why say it (or type it)? Because all of us will encounter people who endeavor to lead but don't desire to read. If this is your state of mind this will greatly limit the scope of your leadership because you will be bound by your own ideas and unable to go any farther than your own personal experiences. Not a very productive approach. When you read you expand your experiences to include the experiences of others. Since that is true, I would like to challenge you to pick up one leadership book a month (that's one new book every 31 days...you can do that) to add to your mental repertoire. Not just to your bookshelf or ibooks on your ipad but to your brain.

To start your journey toward experience expansion I would like to suggest the following books:

1. The Bible- This is a timeless resource to gain wisdom as well as to shape your character. This is critically important because the news clearly illustrates that ethics can easily suffer if a leader becomes successful without consistently taking time to recalibrate their moral compass.

2. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey- Dave has a way of mixing humor with a straight forward, in your face, practical wisdom concerning leadership and business. His record speaks for him and his honestly encourages you as you read.

3. Boom!:7 Choices for Blowing the Doors off Business as Usual by Dr. Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg- Not only will you benefit from this book but it is also a great resource for your entire team. I mentioned in the post "If Your Team Sucks..." that it is your responsibility to improve or remove them, this book is a great tool to help them to improve.

4. The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham by Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley- Billy Graham has been far more than a successful evangelist, he has also been a remarkable leader through the years. If you desire to leave a legacy that stands the test of time this book is a great blueprint of how to do so. It describes how he handled controversy, conflict, temptation, finances and so much more. Get this book, read it, then lead with integrity.

5. Leadership 101 by John Maxwell- This book will take you a short afternoon to read but can have a tremendous impact on your leadership style if you put the principles to practice. Get it now and your team will thank you later.

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If Your Team Sucks...

If you think you would be doing better if you just had a better team to work with chances are you have thought, more than once, that your team sucks. You're not the only one...but when these thoughts come there are several dynamics at work.

First, if you think your team sucks...your outlook probably does too.

If you consistently view your job as a burden, your department as a war zone and your team as a bunch of losers your mind will be closed to the creative thoughts of how you can turn it all around. Even if God were to give you an idea of small steps that will take you in the direction of a stronger team you won't see it because all you can see is that "so and so" is holding you back. Lift your eyes to higher heights. Sure, things may not be the way you want them to be yet. Sure, you may have been given a difficult hand to play but don't through it in just yet. Search for possible solutions instead of just resting on the fact that your team is under performing at the moment. When you raise your level of expectation your team just might raise their level of exertion to meet it. When you expect more, you can experience more.

Second, if you think your team sucks...your leadership skills may leave something to be desired as well.

There are some who need to improve and others you need to remove but that is your responsibility as the leader of the team. What are you doing about it? Are you just sitting in your office pouting thinking "This sucks!" or are you developing a strategy to help each person on the team to stop "sucking" or to take their sucky attitude somewhere else? That is your right and responsibility as the leader of your team and the more you demonstrate to your team that you are working to improve the work experience of the entire team it will boost morale which can increase performance. Then they stop viewing themselves as a losing team and start to see themselves as the underdogs who are about to come away with the victory.

Take some time each week to read materials that will help you to hone your skills as a leader. There are countless classics out there that describe principles that can help you to lead more effectively. Don't reinvent the wheel, find one that will roll smoothly in your organizational environment and build your "vehicle" around it. In the next few days I'll post a few books that I have been reading to get you going but don't delay...START TODAY!

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