Search results for "personal-development"

Notes from Joel Osteen Podcast When you put God first, he’ll take care of you. God can bless you in spite of what’s going on around you. You can be in an unfavorable situation, the facts say one thing, but God can reach down and take you where you’ve never dreamed. The conditions don’t have to be right you have to be right. The odds may be against you but God is for you. God controls the environment. He has the final say. Don’t let the facts talk you or if what God put in your heart. When God put a promise in your heart, turn your mind off from the facts. #ChristianBloggers

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

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

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

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’m balancing different clients, services, vendors, employees on top of my personal life.

Because of God, I’m in this warehouse and still in business, so moving forward any employee or persons

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

Do you get envious when you scroll through Instagram and see other friends that are entrepreneurs succeeding and seemingly doing amazing things? I’ve always struggled with this because I partly do self promotion and partly do marketing of my company. I dance the line of boasting vs. blessings. Have you been involved in conversations with other business owners and felt yourself swelling with either pride or envy? There’s a difference between boasting about your successes, and being genuinely proud of your accomplishments. One causes envy. The other causes people to look at God. Where does being blessed end and boasting begin? Gal. 5:26 says, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” It seems many of us feel the need to validate ourselves through our businesses, yet this is the very thing we are instructed not to do. When talking about our business to others, we might use these passages as a “motive check.” Galatians 6:14 says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Being blessed is the side I stay on and the side entrepreneurs should be on. When showing a clients work, I’ll try not to say “Look at the work we did” but instead focus on the client and their amazing service or product. So the focus isn’t on me, its on my neighbor. When I land a speaking gig or a bit contract or something amazing happens in my business, I try to call it a blessing so people know that it wasn’t all my doing that bright about the success. That takes the pride off of me and puts it on God. Is God glorified when you speak about your business? #FindMyCalling #BecomeDisciplined

There’s a lot of decision making when you’re an entrepreneur. I’m constantly making decisions: what’s my next move, who do I contract, who do I call next, what’s most important on my to do, how do I close this deal, where can I get a better deal? And if you’re like me, you’re probably making these decisions alone. This is dangerous for me and you. One IS the loneliest number when it comes to business. The bible talks about there being wise counsel in the multitude. So I have a couple of coaches that I rely on. But the bible also says that if I rely on God and His wisdoms for my business, its like building a house on a rock. When the problems come, I’ll still be left standing. Years ago I made a commitment to strengthen my relationship with God. In making that commitment, I was entering into a partnership that would allow me to have wise counsel whenever I pleased. Are you making business decisions based on what YOU think is good to do, or are you praying and talking to God and reading His Word to find out what HE wants you to do? So that’s what we need to start doing. My commitment in 2015 is to know God better by spending a set time each morning in prayer and meditation, to LISTEN to God’s vision for me, and to FOLLOW THROUGH with what He tells me. #FindMyCalling #ArticulatingMyIdeas

I can’t remember the last time I said “Thank you God, for blessing me with the gift of entrepreneurism.” As Godpreneurs, we believe we’re on this earth to accomplish a duty and obligation God has set before we were born. But our hearts are still deceitful. It helps to ask ourselves, “Why do I serve the Lord?” Is it to gain His favor, earn His blessings, impress others with our “godliness”, or avoid His wrath? Or is it because He commands me to do it? As entrepreneurs are bombarded with the demands of life on earth, mainly financial demands, we often lose sight of the eternal perspective. I started a new routine in the mornings to help keep me aligned. Start your work day by recognizing who He is and what He has done in your business. This will help you obey Him not from a robotic sense of duty, but from the overflow of thankfulness that is in your heart. Be a Godpreneur because you love God above all things…even over the financial gains. #StrengthenIntegrity #SharpenLeadership

Being an entrepreneur is akin to a roller coaster ride. When times are good, you’re on top of the world. The ride up is exciting! Success feels so great at the top. But when the drop comes, and as sure as the day is long it will come, hold on tight. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned on this rollercoaster is THANKFULNESS. It is so easy to take credit for the big sale, the huge contract, the amazing new partnership, the hot shot acquisition. But, we must not forget (or let our employees forget) that all of our business successes are blessings that God, in His grace, allowed us to have. And I’m THANKFUL for that, when times are good, bad, happy or sad. But you’re too successful when you forget to give credit where credit is due. We have to learn to put a filter through the good and bad things that happen in our business. If we see it all as a blessing from God, we protect ourselves of the pride of ownership that can come when you’re an entrepreneur. Deuteronomy 6:12 says “be careful that you do not forget the Lord , who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” On Instagram I read a lot of memes that have awesome “success” quotes. Most are very inspiring. But despite what these quotes may make us think, we have not earned our entrepreneurial blessings. There are other small business owners in less fortunate parts of the world who are far more deserving, but God did not choose to bless them as abundantly as me and you. Others have worked harder for less, yet still humbly accept the blessings God gives them as more than they deserve. When on the roller coaster of business life, remember always to humble yourself and thank God for the blessings He gives you and your business to continue growing to accomplish your mission. #EnhanceFocus

Dude, business is hard. I’m even reluctant to tell people to start a business! I know the suffering and pain I’ve been through and its hard to wish someone well on that journey. But I changed my mind on this. Now I see entrepreneurial people as embarking on an amazing journey that will make them much better people and stronger followers of God…because it has for me. Its all about prospective…God’s perspective. Business life is so hard sometimes because “The LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12). Wow…what a comfort it is to know that our loving Father has an eye on our entrepreneurial hardships to make sure that we are not overwhelmed. What a comfort it is to know that none of our suffering is in vain – he will make every bit of it work for our good in one way or another. So the next time the bank account is at $6.37, you need to pray to ask God what exactly He’s trying to reach out and tell you. Did you handle some finances wrong? Were you lazy? Are you dabbling in an industry that doesn’t glorify God? I’m convinced now more than ever that God didn’t let me excel to new greater heights in my career because I was serving and worshiping the nightlife industry, but He has much greater plans for me….and you! In your suffering, hold on to God like never before and you will overcome and grow to new heights. #EnhanceFocus #GainConfidence

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