It’s fine because I’ll know that every person who sits and thinks I’ve got it wrong hasn’t discovered the secret to productivity — but for every person ready to take a good look at the truth of productivity, get ready for a game-changer. 

Photo Credit: Jaime Soriano.net

Coincidentally, it is that same failure to open their eyes and look at themselves that stops people from being truly productive.  People who aren’t willing to look inwards when trying to find out why they aren’t getting more done are very unlikely to ever get anything done. 

“Are you saying that it’s my fault I’m not productive?” Yes.  Unabashedly and emphatically, yes.

I’m saying that the problem starts from within, not from without, and that your environment, the tools you use, and the little gadgets you buy won’t change anything until you are ready to change your behavior. 

The good news is that you can change.  The bad news is that you have to change.

I recently read an account of a pre-med major in college who was so productive that he had all of his work finished before dinner time, had an energetic social life, and still made straight A’s.  He went to school full-time, and did not have any special tools or notepads to help him stay productive. 

What he had was a) diligence, and b) discipline. 

“You mean he didn’t have some neat way of keeping himself on task?”

That’s exactly what I mean.  The thing that separated that student from other students was his Spartan adherence to a schedule that he devised — a schedule that specifically included things like going out, meeting girls, listening to live music and exploring the city he was studying in. 

So many people want to be productive, but don’t have anything to work for.  In other words, their schedules are ambiguous, and their focus is soft.  And when they can’t get anything done, they blame their environment (“It’s too loud”) or some other external force (“I get too many e-mails to focus”). 

Unlike nearly every student I’ve ever heard of — including myself at that age — the pre-med student I read about woke up at 6am every single day and studied for three hours, taking ten-minute breaks every hour to do some cardio exercises.  He then went to class, and then studied more in between classes, finally scheduling another two-hour block of studying after his classes were over for the day. 

Maybe you’ve tried keeping a schedule.  But did you write it down and follow it as if it were the Ten Commandments?  Did you willfully ignore anything that wasn’t in the schedule while you worked on something that was? 

The real secret to productivity isn’t some new iPad app, or a new add-on to Google Chrome.  Those things can help, but if you’re missing the real secret, they will just sit idly by as you stare at the ceiling.

The real secret to productivity is diligence and discipline. 

Plain and simple.  No bells, no whistles, no excuses.  Take a hard look at yourself and make a commitment to be diligent and disciplined in your work.  Do this every day.  Write a schedule down, that is specific and that is organized around the kind of life you want to live. 

Do you want to get home early and watch TV all night long?  Then wake up early and get your work done efficiently.  Use your lifestyle as a motivator.  Give yourself something to work for, and you will work diligently and with more discipline than you thought possible.

Thoughts?

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. -II Thess 1:11

Have you ever had a dream in your heart to be something, but you never told anyone? Or maybe you never started to work on your dream because you didn’t know if you would be any good at it, so you put your dream on hold.

You want so desperately to be a leader, a writer, a speaker, a singer, a church staff member, a church planter, entrepreneur, fill in the blank  _______, but nobody has ever told you that you should be that, so you backed out. We dream. We fear. We give up. Repeat.

Photo Credit: Hunting Business Marketing

Often we’re waiting for someone to come along and tell us we’re a writer, a leader, a great singer, a church planter, etc.before we start to pursue our dreams.

My question to you is, what if nobody ever tells you that? Are you going to let that hold you back?

Don’t get me wrong, my prayer is that you do have people that will encourage you and tell you that you can do anything that God has put in your heart. That is the power of having mentors and great friends in our lives.

The point of this post is to help you realize that it will be rare that someone comes up to you and says, “You’re a writer! You’re a entrepreneur” Often, it’s after we have put hundreds and thousands of hours into pursuing our dreams that people start to take notice.

What I can tell you is that while people may not be quick to point out what you are, God is very quick to point our what we are! Before you were born, He put passions in your heart and gave you gifts that will help you achieve your dream!

God has a plan for you and has called you to do something. The reality is, all that matters is what God has told us we are and what He has told us to pursue. God’s affirmation in your heart is the only affirmation you need to start pursuing your dream.

You are who God says you are and you can do whatever God says you can do!

We just need to act on what God has put in our hearts. If God puts something in our heart to do and to be, then that is what we should do and that’s what we are whether it looks like it right now or not.

Stop waiting for people to affirm what God’s put in your heart. Trust what God has put in your heart and go for it and in time, that thing that you wanted people so desperately to tell you that you were, will become a reality in your life.

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

“The world can get along without you. Part of life is understanding that you don’t want people to be dependent on you.” -Rick Warren

This is a huge lesson I am learning. The older I get and the more I grow, the less I want people dependent on me and the more dependent I want people to be on God.

Photo Credit: CCWM.Net

Being a young leader, it’s easy for me to want people to be dependent on me. I want to pray with everyone, counsel everyone, and for everyone to think I have all the answers. The reality is, I don’t have all the answers, I can’t counsel everyone, I can’t be there for everyone every second of the day, I can’t spend the same amount of time with every person I know, and I’m imperfect!

That is the danger in us becoming dependent on others or others becoming dependent on us. We’ll eventually get disappointed because we’re dependent on imperfect people.

Think about the people you look up to in your life. Have you been more dependent on them than you are God? What if they fail or disappoint you? Will your relationship with God crumble?

People can and will eventually let you down or disappoint you, but God will never fail you or disappoint you! God is everywhere all the time! He is your ever-present help in time of need!

Our goal should be to move people  from dependence on us to dependence on God.

Don’t get me wrong, if we’re doing what God has called us to do, people will be looking to us to inspire, motivate, and equip them to live the lives God has called them to live, but we need to get them dependent on God and not ourselves as soon as we possibly can.

The greatest thing I can do for someone is help them develop to the point where they are totally dependent on God for everything in their lives.

This also works in leadership, the greatest thing I can do for my team is develop them to the point where they can lead without me.

“The world can get along without you. Part of life is understanding that you don’t want people to be dependent on you.” -Rick Warren

Have you allowed and enjoyed people being dependent on you more than you should?

Are you intentionally helping people grow to the point where they are not dependent on you, but on God?

Are you developing your leadership team to lead without you?

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

Recently I was interviewing CEO of a very successful company. He started the company when he was in college.

Over the years, he has had a lot of successful people invest in his company. Some investors have invested over $1 million in his company. That is pretty amazing for someone in their twenties who started their company on a college campus.

As we were talking about this, he said that as he built relationships with his investors, he started asking them why they invested in his company. He said they all had the same answer, “It’s not the company we’re investing in. Honestly, we don’t think your idea is unbelievable, it’s OK . . . We are investing in you.”

Photo Credit: Round Table Companies

Isn’t that interesting? They weren’t investing in his idea or his company. They were investing in him. They believed in him. The believed in his work ethic, his heart, and his integrity. They knew that if they invested in him, something great would come of their investment.

As I went home from that interview, I kept asking myself, “Am I worth people’s investment? Am I worth people betting on? Am I worth people giving me a shot?” Some tough questions. At the end of the day, I determined to become someone worth investing in.

People can invest their time, their knowledge, their skills, and money in you. In fact, successful people long to invest what they’ve gained through life in others. The question is, what can we do to become someone worth their investment?

Here are some questions that I believe will make you and I worth the investment of others:

• Are you hungry to grow? - Mentors love to spend time with people who are hungry. They want it! They want to grow and develop more than anything. So much that they are constantly seeking out opportunities to grow.

• Will you do something with what people invest in you? - So, someone invests an hour a month in you over coffee or a million dollars in your company . . . now what? What are you going to do with what you’ve received? People will only invest in us for so long without a return on their investment!

• How are you at receiving feedback and coaching?- Part of growing is being willing to hear things you don’t want to hear. If someone loves you enough to coach you in areas you can improve in, how will you respond to that? How you respond will determine whether or not your worth investing in.

What other questions should we be asking to determiner whether we’re worth the investment or not?

Are you worth investing in?

What are some things you can do right now to become more valuable to those who would like to invest in you?

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. Isaiah 1:19

So many of life’s blessings are dependent on one word: If.

If implies that something is available to us, but there is a choice involved that will affect whether or not we get what’s available. Today I want to encourage you that there is a world of opportunities that lies before you, if you’re interested.

Photo Credit: TheBeautifulDue

You can get into the best shape of your life . . . if you’re interested!

You can turn your life around . . . if you’re interested.

You can choose to learn and do anything you can imagine . . . if you’re interested.

You can make a lot of money and become wealthy . . . if you’re interested.

God can do unbelievable things in and through your life . . . if you’re interested.

You can learn to build a great family even if you didn’t have a great family growing up . . . if you’re interested.

If you can dream it, you can do it . . . if you’re interested.

We are the most resourced generation to ever exist on the planet. There are people, books, classes, and everything else you can imagine available to us to help us live the life we dream about living. There is no reason you can’t live the life you desire to live.

In God’s Word alone, He’s given us everything we’ll ever need. Salvation, healing, prosperity, contentment, joy, etc. but, we’ll only receive those things from God, IF we’re interested and then do something with it.

The question is, what are you going to do with what’s available to you?

There is a lot riding on: IF.

If you are interested, good for you. Now go do something with the wealth of resources available to you. Go back to school. Read that book. Go to church. Get around people who are doing what you’d like to be doing. Make something of yourself. Go after what you’ve dreamed of for years and in a few weeks, months, or years,  you’ll find yourself living an entirely different life than you are now, all because you were interested.

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

This was one of the best books I’ve read over the past few years! The tagline of the book really explains what the book is all about:

Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job.

The book is Jon Acuff telling the story of his journey from working his day job to being able to work his dream job full-time and the lessons he learned in between. For me, the big takeaway was valuing your day job while you’re on your way to your dream job. For me, too often, I focus on my dream job rather than my day job. I was cheating my employer and cheating myself from getting everything I could get out of my day jobs.

I liked this book because it didn’t just focus on your dream job. It focused on the journey required to get to working your dream job.

If you find yourself working a job you’re not that wild about and dreaming and working all day long on your dream job, you need to grab this book immediate.

Highlights:

• But let me assure you, nothing you do will be wasted. Every decision you make, every path you take, has the ability to contribute something you need to succeed at your dream.

• We always assume that more free time will equal more productivity but often that isn’t true.

• If you want your dream job to work, work on your day job.

• 1. I’ll be able to eat this week because I went to work. 2. I’ll be able to sleep out of the rain this week because I worked. 3. I’ll get to wear shoes today because I have a job. 4. If I break my pelvis, I will have the insurance to pay for it. 5. I will not have to canal my own roots because I work. 6. I’ll be able to support a nonprofit organization because I work

• When you do your dream on work time, that’s stealing from your employer.

• Being out of the public eye is the perfect opportunity for you to get better at what you do before you go really big.

• But don’t see invisibility as a punishment or a failure. See it as a gift. See it as something fleeting that is worth cherishing while it’s still around. Don’t rush through the one chapter that celebrities like Eminem long to stay connected to.

• “My job funds my dreams.”

Buy the hard copy here:

Buy the Kindle version here:

“The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.” -Dostoevsky

One of the main things that separates a successful person from an unsuccessful person are the habits they have developed. Successful people have developed the habits of hard work, discipline, and excellence. Unsuccessful people have developed the habit of laziness, doing the bare minimum, letting life happen to them, and making excuses.

Whether you succeed or fail in life will be largely determined by the habits you develop!

Below is a poem I heard recently that expresses the power of habit. After you read it, I would encourage you to examine the habits that you’ve developed in your life. What formed those habits? When did you form those habits? Are they good or bad habits? Decide which habits in your life need to go.

Then determine the habits you would like to develop in your life. To develop the habits required to be successful, find successful people that you admire and would like to be like. Find out what habits they have developed that make them successful. Then try to develop those habits in your own life.

Photo Credit: WellnessFx

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

I have a confession to make. Some of you may be very surprise, others not so much. However, I have to come clean. Almost everything I do, I am scared to death. That’s right, it is very easy for me to let fear run my life. Most of my fear comes from caring too much about what people think.

Every time I write and publish a blog post I am scared people will think I’m just trying to promote myself. Every time I preach or teach, I’m afraid that I did a horrible job and people will think I wasted their time. Every job I have, I am afraid I’m not doing enough or doing well enough. I fear inadequacy. I fear failure. I fear rejection.

Photo Credit: MoneySavingQueen

Have you been there? Have you let fear keep you from dreaming? Keep you from doing what you believe you’re called to do? I know I have.

There are two things I have found that help me overcome my fears:

1.) Trusting and Believing God - Psalm 34:4 changed my life a few years ago. “I prayed, the Lord heard me, and He freed me from ALL my fears. Anytime I am afraid, ultimately it’s because I’m dwelling on the thing I fear instead of dwelling on God. The more I dwell on God, the less I fear.

2.) Overcoming fear with action – Doing it afraid. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t struggle with fear. I’ve never met anyone who is successful that isn’t afraid of making the wrong decision, being rejected, etc. However, the people that overcome fear, are people who push through it with action.

I don’t know what you are afraid of right now in your life, but whatever it is, realize that you are not alone. There are people all over the planet that experience the same feelings that you do. The question is, what are you going to do when you’re afraid? For me, I only see one option: Doing it afraid.

Stop letting fear dominate your life. Stop letting fear hold you back from your dreams. Stop letting fear hold you back from God’s best for your life! Just go for it! Stop worrying about what people think (I’m preaching to myself!) Dr. Seuss said, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” It’s not scripture, but there is a lot of truth in that statement.

What action can you take today to overcome your fears? Maybe you need to publish a blog, preach a sermon, write a book, go after your dream job, you name it. Whatever that is, do it now and do it afraid!

The more you act, the less you’ll fear.

Do it afraid.

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

“The key to life is to become skillful enough to be able to do rewarding things.” -Jim Rohn

Recently, I got promoted to a position that is going to be out of my comfort zone. I’ve never done anything like it before. While in the interview process, I was seeking the advice of people I respect as to whether or not to go for the opportunity, a mentor said to me, “Doug, take it. It’s an opportunity to put more tools in your tool box.”

What great advice! She was saying that it’s an opportunity for me to learn and acquire new skills that will ultimately make me more valuable wherever I go. I’m learning that I will always need to be developing my strengths and not my weaknesses, but I’m also learning that I can learn and endless amount of skill sets as well.

In life, you get paid for what you know and what you can do. Jim Rohn said, “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.”

So, why not get as many tools in your tool box as you possible can? Why not become as valuable as you could become? Learn how to code a website, become a pro at social media, learn to be an expert salesman, learn how to market and promote, the list goes on and on. The more tools in your tool box, the more valuable you’ll become.

Some questions for you to ponder:

When’s the last time you learned something for the first time?

When’s the last time you put some new tools in your tool box?

What are some skills that you could and would like to learn in the next year that will make you more valuable? What’s your plan to learn and develop them?

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.

“When asked about the secret of his success, Warren Buffett, the third-richest man on the planet said, “There’s no place where we turned the switch. So much happens by accident. It does show the value of showing up every day.””

80 percent of success is just showing up. Do you believe that? Showing up. Being present. The more I grow and journey through life, the more I find that statement to be true.

Photo Courtesy of TheBraveNew.com

Goethe said, “The moment one definitely commits oneself (one shows up), then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

It takes boldness and courage to show up everyday. It’s easy to not show up. It’s easy to not be present. It’s easier to hit snooze, to cancel the appointment, to not go to the event. But guess where not showing up is going to get you in life? Nowhere.

Show up today. Show up tomorrow. Show up this week, this month, this year. Show up everywhere you can. I can promise you that if you’ll make the daily decision to show up, your life will become more exciting than it’s ever been. You’ll find yourself doing things, going places, and meeting people you would have never imagined having the opportunity to meet. Remember 80% of success is simply showing up.

Show up.

Thoughts?

If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please “like” and share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Leave a comment below! Thank you!

I would also encourage you to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or e-mail! You can sign-up for e-mail by typing your e-mail address in the box on the left hand side of this site that says “E-mail updates”.