Oh how many sleepless, tireless nights I’ve had as an entrepreneur. Sure, sometimes its GO TIME and you have to pull these all nighters, but not every night. As I continue to build my business around God’s entrepreneurial purpose for me, I’m starting to realize that business didn’t have to be so hard and confusing always. Psalms 127:1-2 says “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.” I love sleep. Don’t you? I believe sleep is a metaphor for peace. He grants peace in your business life when we let God build our businesses with us. #WorkLifeBalance

If the person just seems like they need help, how?.

Jeremiah 29:11‭-‬12 NIV) If you hired someone in your company for a purpose, wouldn’t you want that person And if that person calls you with questions, wouldn’t you stop what you’re doing to make sure they are I hope so, or else that person could be costing you a lot of money if they mess up your well-oiled business

We could all agree that peace is incompatible with rushing things, right? Last few months, I’ve been robbed of my peace. Probably the last few YEARS. I’m always playing catch up, late for appointments, or overdue on what’s due on my end. Truth is, if I took an interior inventory, I don’t feel a deep peace of God in my soul. I don’t sense a grounded, present sense of calm. Instead, it’s a constant war. And yet: I continue to cram more and more into my already overfull life, forcing me to speed up to a frenetic pace, and I rarely slow down long enough to experience God’s peace. Of course, not all busyness is bad. I love being busy writing my blog posts, taking my son for a run so my wife can get a break, launching someone’s brand, and going to CrossFit. These don’t feel like I’m wasting my precious time. My problem isn’t having a lot to do, it’s having TOO MUCH to do! The only way to cram it all in is to kick into hurry gear, and as a tragic result, slip out of love, joy, and peace. And I have too much to do because I’m in a hurry to become someone… Instead of having the peace of knowing, I AM someone. Look, I’m the first to criticize “slow.” Heck, I have a brand called Launch in 2 Days! 😂 My brand’s message is clear: slow is bad, fast is good. But even with Launch in 2 Days, clients call me to launch their businesses, and I have to SLOW them down to stop, create a plan, build a strategy, and THEN prepare ourselves for a launch. A proper, peaceful launch can only happen in 2 days because we slowed down long enough to lay out a plan. The bible says "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:15‭-‬17 NIV) In God’s contrarian way of doing business different than the world, the Christian entrepreneur’s value system is turned upside down: hurry is of the devil because his only goal is to rob us of our shalom – our peace with God slow is of Jesus, because Jesus is what love, joy, and peace look like in flesh and blood. What about you? Do you have a spirit of peace right now or anxiety? I don’t think I’m alone. For that next idea you have, simply do nothing. Just be. Stand in silent love before God. Try to sit long enough for the peace of God’s Spirit to well up inside of you for as long as you can, and thank him for it. And when you’re ready to launch your brand PEACEFULLY, follow the Launch in 2 Days system. Slow down to let the Spirit plan and lead you to efficiently and effectively launch your calling. Learn more about the Launch system here. #TimeManagement

In 2014 I made a huge decision for my business. Since 2005, we had primarily served the nightlife industry with graphics and websites.  But I had began to grow tired of serving the demanding nightlife world, and it wasn’t fulfilling anymore.  On top of that, I just didn’t feel it was something God wanted me to be in. But how do I let go of 90% of my revenue? Where would the rest come from?  These are the questions I struggled with.  But I felt a peace about a new direction God wanted me to go in: help tens of thousands find their identity brand. From one day to the next, I pulled the trigger. It came with some lay offs and a whole lot of uncertainty and prayer. I believe that if I wouldn’t have made that decision, I wouldn’t be writing this blog today. You wouldn’t be reading this email. I wouldn’t have increased my relationship with God to the level it is at today. And my business wouldn’t certainly be as blessed as it is today. There are times you will come in your business where God will ask you to drop it, leave it, and let it go.  But he’ll also back it up with a vision. In the Bible we see a clear example of this in Genesis 12:1 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.” God went on to come through with exactly what he promised, and today we’re all a living testimony to a vision fulfilled by God, through obedience followed by Abraham. What visions have you had come true? What did you do to bring them to pass? Perhaps God gave you a dream of a certain type of business, and you did it and you’re in it!  Congrats!!!! Or, what visions has God given you that you have NOT pursued?  What could you be missing out on by not dropping, leaving, and letting go? God is a vision-giver; He has visions for each of us that He intends to bring to pass if we listen and obey. Because of His greatness, He is able to fulfill those visions if we follow His lead and direction. Godpreneur Rule #81:  Godpreneurs first listen, then obey, and lastly follow. #DifferentiatingMyself #FindingMyPurpose

I used to go to Gold’s Gym and pump heavy weights. I’d get up to 275 pounds on the bench press. When you’re lifting heavy you inevitably get to a point where you need a spotter in case you get stuck. In a moment when you’re weakest, the spotter comes in to save the day. As a business owner, there are situations that make us feel inadequate because there is nothing we can do to “fix” the situation. Insults being hurled at us by employees who think they can do it better, clients persecuting us for any little mistake, and the hardships that come around with the bank account has $25 left in it. There is nothing you can do because what’s done has been done. But you’re strong enough to get through it on your own. After all, it’s us against them, right? Wrong. Our own sense of strength wants to kick in at these times, and we feel like we need to fix it all….all alone. But the truth is that this is when God wants to partner with us the most. This is when God wants to spot you at the gym, help you lift the heavy burden so you don’t do it alone. I like troubled times because its when I can embrace my need for God. Its when I feel God the most. Its when I can experience His presence in my business. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Let your weaknesses become an opportunity to call towards the real source of strength: dependence on Christ. #WorkLifeBalance #DifferentiatingMyself

I made a huge breakthrough in my business that forever altered the purpose and passion I felt towards the services I offer. I make websites and logos. Well, that’s what I used to tell people BEFORE the breakthrough. Websites and logos are the overall deliverables that entrepreneurs think they need in order to launch a business.  Yes, of course this is true. But when I came to know God, and sought after His will over my life and my business, I began to ask myself “why does God care about logos and websites when there are medical mission trips I could be focusing on.” I thought what I did was so trivial compared to ‘real world problems’ to solve. But as I started to know God more through daily prayer and Bible reading, I began to learn about a side of God I had no clue existed: God cares about IDENTITY. He cares that each of us are doing what we were born to do. He cares that we’re in the business He designed us for because it’s part of His bigger plan. See, the plan all along for me was to make logos and websites because… that’s IDENTITY. I give people an identity. I’m doing God’s will. That’s when I stopped telling people I do logos and websites and started saying that I’m a Branding Specialist. Branding is the art of expressing outwardly what an entrepreneur feels internally. It’s bringing to life the vision within. We can all make a connection to God’s greater purpose and His will for our business. But this can only happen if you FIRST know God’s greater purpose. In my case, God’s greater purpose (with or without me) is for people to know what they were born for and to do just that and wrap their identity around that. We all struggle with identity. God knows that, and willed people like me to help his children discover, uncover and recover that lost (or never found) identity. The Bible says: “From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.” (Psalms 33:13-15) I think a lot of us feel somewhat lost and too insignificant to be used by the creator of the universe. Listen, God has a good and perfect will for you and your business. You might be in a place where you totally know it.  Stay connected to God always because that will comes in seasons and will adjust and change. You also might be in a place of total loss and confusion.  That’s the enemy keeping you from accomplishing all that you’re designed to be.  Every day you don’t spend trying to get to know God is another opportunity for the enemy to keep you on a path that God didn’t design for you. We all have the same choice: we can keep looking at the service or product we offer as a means to an end (money in the bank) or we can see the same offerings through God’s bigger purpose and let that drive us to continue to innovate and offer the best solutions that God (through you) has to offer. What is most difficult for you to believe about the way God rules over the world? How confident are you that God has specific purposes for your business? Godpreneur Rule #36: Godpreneurs are confident that God has a specific purpose for their business. #FindMyCalling

There are people so far from God succeeding in their personal and work life! How?

I’m one of those entrepreneurs that has bought into the mentality of “nobody can do it better than I can.” So when someone did or handled something differently, it was often less trouble for me to just go ahead and do their task for them! The problem with this is that I’m enabling my employees or contractors to ‘slack’ if I continue on like this. They will know that I’ll come in to fix things up, so they perform with such expectations. The bigger issue comes from my reading today in proverbs: PRO 18:9 says “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” So not only am I wasting time doing work I shouldn’t be doing, I’m also putting my employees in a vulnerable position of being a slacker. Although it may require more from us as entrepreneurs, we are doing our employees a far greater service when we resist doing something they need to do for themselves. I’ll admit that most of the times I take over a project or task, its my own fault because I didn’t give enough training, instruction or deadline. We are serving our employees best when we are pouring into them, teaching them our “secrets” and spending extra time with them when we notice they did something we would have done differently…not just taking over the task. I need to redefine what it means to serve our employees. God instructs leaders to teach their followers how to handle responsibility. Let's serve our team by teaching them how to be the best. #SharpenLeadership

On a previous blog I pointed out that we can bring God into our businesses if we can make a habit of asking for His help in business decisions. But let’s talk about motive. If I ask you for $50 to help me go on a medical missions trip, you might help me out.  I’m going to help others out, and that feels good to you. But if I ask for $50 to go play golf, you’re going to look at me funny.  You’ll be thinking “dude, go pay for golf yourself.” The motive for the money was different, so it changed your response. In James 4:3 we read: "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:3) I used to want to make a lot of profit in my company so that I could buy nice things, live in a nice place, drive a nice car, take tons of trips, and eat out a lot.  Those were my motives. I even created a Vision Board of all of these material things and would look at it constantly! But those aren’t motives at all.  Those are REWARDS for hard work. Motives are things that would please God, therefore he would grant them to us. For example: -Getting out of debt -Paying for children’s college -Spouse not have to work -Tithe more -Support a charity If you set your vision and motives on things that would please God, then the rewards will follow with profits that God will bless you with. Changing your motives changes your money. I went back to my vision board and changed up the order of things. I created a rewards column because I want to visualize my rewards, but the first columns were my motives for profits. #FindingMyPurpose #WorkLifeBalance #SharpenLeadership

This huge envelope was delivered to my office by a police officer that made me sign and acknowledge that

My key to THRIVING during this pandemic was staying PRESENT in my work - my purpose and calling. God brought me clients that only came because they had time during the quarantine, assigned uniquely to me because I was qualified and in my zone of genius. As we all launch into this unknown and unchartered territory of reengaging in business post-quarantine, uncovering and launching the business God created us to do is of the highest importance. Our relationships with people, and the solutions our products and services provide, are of the utmost urgency! What if you don't know what to do? Pray. Your God is faithful even in the middle of disasters. He still speaks and directs your business dreams. Godpreneur, what is God asking you to launch in your present NOW. Not when the dust settles, and the economy improves, but TODAY. That "shoulda, woulda, coulda" feeling of that product or service... that's the work God wants you to LAUNCH NOW! It might not make sense, but that's what launching into the unknown with God is all about - faith. God hasn't changed His mind about your calling in business just because the world's future is uncertain. A calling from God isn't subject to the things of this world. Here are two important things to consider that will help you launch into the unknown during any crisis or challenge. Ask God to Do His Work Through You I was playing golf with my friend Julio, and he said something profound. He said, "God laughs at our plans." I stayed stuck on that thought. God would laugh either because our business plans are much smaller than what He has for us, or, our ideas are outrageously out of line with His calling for us. But what I couldn't stop thinking about was the fact that we have a plan, and then there is God's plan. We want God to revive our businesses. We've spent weeks in quarantine plotting our return to entrepreneurship; however, we likely prayed for God to restore OUR work, and maybe not HIS work. Leading a God-first business requires us to pray for a God-centered work to be done in the marketplace. It has very little to do with any of our abilities and all to do with work that only God can do. We become vessels willing to carry out the plan. An act of God will reveal your calling to respond. However, with the economy messed up, business revenue down, and our pausing on projects, our businesses could use some life, we might be tempted to ask God to revive some previous version of our business. We need to ask ourselves if asking for God to restore something WE want is in line with the NEW work HE might wish to do. The Bible says "Lord , I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord . Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." (Habakkuk 3:2 NIV) A God-first business owner makes God-centered requests. God is the bigger picture behind business-ownership and entrepreneurship. He's the entire reason for the launch of the products and services, so it's Him that can do all the work! You might be tempted to ask God to revive YOUR previous business. Let me encourage you to pick your head up out of the weeds, look around, and see the BIGGER PICTURE. Entrepreneurship is not about what you want, it's about stewarding God's calling to accomplish His eternal work. Our place in God's plan, our mark on it—is our brand. This is what will give us our purpose and significance. The trick is to ask nothing of ourselves, but instead to let God move in and through our businesses in a fantastic way. Being a Daily Godpreneur is a way we seek His face so we can move into the unknown one day at a time. Successfully launching into the unknown with confidence and excitement requires us to fully embrace that God is the Creator and sustainer of every industry and marketplace. He is supreme, and whatever WE might want pales in comparison to what only HE can do. Imagine if all of us Godpreneurs had the perspective of asking God to do what only He can do. This is the HOPE needed to launch into the unknown successfully. Pray for God to revive HIS work in your business. Choose to Rejoice I'm an optimistic guy. I can find good in any situation. Throughout the pandemic, I didn't get any anxiety, stress, or depression, even though I had lost revenue. Instead, I praised God for the slow down in my life, for bringing me home to my family, and for letting me spend more time with my son. I chose to rejoice, even though everything was chaotic, and the economy was falling apart. When we face challenges in business, we can choose to let the fear overtake us, or we can choose to rejoice in God. It's this very attitude that we need to embrace to have the ENERGY we need to launch into the unknown. The Bible says "yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:18) On the edge of the UNKNOWN that we all face as we re-launch, we Godpreneurs make the only choice that provides peace, freedom, and hope to those in need. We must choose to rejoice. But how will it be possible for us to rejoice when many of us get backed up on bills, business doors shut, and need to start over from scratch? How can we choose to celebrate instead of letting depression overtake us and become another victim of the circumstances, worrying ourselves, too sick to launch anything? The Bible says "Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!" (Habakkuk 3:19 MSG) For an entrepreneur, this means that God is the business plan, the execution strategy, and the leader through the storm. Putting God in charge of the business plan helps the entrepreneur keep launching into the unknown as if the victory has already happened. God will be the fuel your rocket needs to launch. If you trusted God in your business before, why wouldn't you believe it in the most uncertain of times? For the first time in history, all of humanity sits at the same playing field, holding on to hope day-by-day. Not even the smartest wall street people know what's coming for the economy. However, the promise of God is sure and unmistakable. When God is first in our businesses, we don't launch in fear or terror. We faithfully step into the unknown, making spiritual and business progress despite marketplace troubles - however dreadful things might look. For us, Kingdom-minded entrepreneurs, fear in the face of suffering won't stop us. We have faith over the fear. We have faith in our great responsibility to move forward with Jesus guiding our launch (or re-launch) plans. Father, Son, and Spirit is OUR STRENGTH. #LaunchingMyBusiness

It seems like the closer I get to the Vision that God has for my entrepreneurial career, the fight to stay on track gets tougher. Something out there doesn’t want you to succeed. It could be our own minds and self-limiting beliefs.  It could be our lack of faith.  It could be that we know the easy route, and it’s more comfortable to continue with the status quo. Here is what I know:  the longer you prolong God’s vision for your entreprenurial life, the more frustrated you will be over time. Fight to not feel frustrated. #EnhanceFocus #IncreaseEnergy

As Christian, is it possible to have fame and fortune, yet still, be rooted in Christ? Can I be the exception to the rule that “its hard for a rich man to get into heaven?” I struggled with this because I wouldn’t mind being rich and famous, but I don’t want to miss out on heaven! So, what does PROPER AMBITION actually look like? Yes, rich business owners go to heaven all the time. The issue isn’t how much money we have, the test comes to where our heart is at. Yesterday I talked about improper ambition and using my work as a means of making a name for myself. When the Babylonians tried to build their fame and fortune, God “scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city” (Genesis 11:8). To God, the motives behind my ambition obviously matter a great deal. The bible says: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Colossians 3:23 NIV 1 Corinthian also echoes how our ambitions should be set: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV Imagine a marketplace where people aren’t out for themselves and not using their creations to glorify themselves, but instead, they are laying their creations down as an offering of worship to God. Godpreneurs are called to be ambitious, to work hard, and to be good stewards of the talents God has given us. But we are called to own businesses, not for our own glory, but to “do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). When our entrepreneurship is motivated by a desire to glorify God, serve others, and create products and services laid down as an offering to God, then we have the proper ambition to create with everything we’ve got. #StrengthenIntegrity #EnhanceFocus

Entrepreneurs, God Says You’re Heavy with Favor On Monday mornings I love listening to Joel Osteen. Great way to get my week started, very inspiring. I’ll usually take the title of his messages and meditate on them all week long. Hope you find the same growth through them that I experience. This week’s is about being “Heavy with Favor”. If way ‘heavy man!’ #WorkLifeBalance