Your Unique Blend
Everyone has a unique blend of talents, skills, experiences and dreams. Your talents are innate to you. They are your natural building blocks that if understood and honed will become your strengths. These talents are those things that come easy for you, they are fun for you and when you’re using them you feel like you’re in the zone. You know when you’re not using your talents at work because you will not be happy and maybe even frustrated. You might feel awkward, like trying to write with your left hand if you’re right-handed. You’ll dread going into work or facing a specific task. But when you are using your talents, and turning them into strengths it will feel natural, people around you will recognize that you’re doing well, you’ll be enjoying your work.
The second thing that adds to who you are, are your skills. Unlike your talents your skills are learned behaviors. You may have a talent of being analytical, but you can learn various skills to make that talent a strength. For example if you love math, you might learn the skill of accounting, if you love helping people you might learn the skill of counseling, or if you have a passion for business you might learn entrepreneurial skills. Skills are learned behaviors that ideally would complement your talents. When someone with the talent of "analytical" knows what he or she desires to accomplish in life, they simply need to learn the appropriate skills necessary to turn that talent into a strength.
You have a unique life experience that adds to who you are. Your life experiences play an important roll in your unique blend because no one has the same set of life experiences. Even Siamese twins view life from a different perspective. Your experience is one of the things that sets you apart from others who have similar talents and skills. Your life experiences, negative or positive should serve as a key learning tool for you. One category of life experiences is education. Your education may be formal or informal. In fact part of your education may be learning from the life experiences of others.
Finally, you have dreams. Everyone has an aspiration of what they would like to accomplish with their lives. Some people have suppressed their dreams, but if you dig deep enough everyone has them. Even people who are in the “depths of despair” (as Anne of Green Gables would say), have dreams. In fact if you are suffering from depression I believe that part of the reason you’re depressed is because your dreams, your hopes and aspirations seem so far out of reach that you fear they are gone forever.
Clearly, these four things are not an exhaustive list of what makes up a human being. I realize that this description is not a clinical definition. It’s not intended to be. It is intended to be a simple, practical starting point for you as you begin your quest to turn your dreams into a reality. Here’s the point. You are a unique blend of several factors making you un-duplicatible and needed in this world. No one else has the exact same blend. Therefore no one else can replace you. You are unique and needed.
Everything you use today began as someone’s dream, and every inventor has been supported by others in his or her life. Your destiny may be to invent the next technological wonder, or to be the mom or dad who raises the boy or girl who finds the cure for AIDS, or be the friend who inspires the philanthropist to create the next Red Cross. My objective is to help you become the person you are meant to be so you can fulfill your destiny.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Reaching Your Goals - Part 2 of 4 (Defining the Dream)
Defining the Dream
If you’re desiring to change something in your life, if you have dream you want to turn into a reality, you must know where you’re going. Making a change requires a clear goal. The process is simple; the journey may be very difficult. In other words, it’s simple to know what you want, and understand how to get there, but actually getting there is not easy, it takes effort, discipline and commitment. You must approach your life with order and organization.
If you are standing on your secure foundation (seeking and trusting in the Lord with all your heart), then you are prepared to define your dream. As in all things God is our source and example. God is a God of order, not because He needs to be but because it is part of His nature, it’s part of who He is. We, on the other hand, need order in our lives. When our lives are chaotic and out of control we feel stressed, we get less accomplished, and our relationships suffer. God is order, we need order.
For example, God could have created the world with one word, but He chose to do it over time so that we could see the steps. We can see how one day’s work was preparation for the next. We can anticipate the end goal, and see each step along the way. When God was done with creation, He rested. Not because He was tired or needed to re-group. God rested as an example to us. The progression is, we set a goal, we figure out what we need to do to reach the goal, we work towards it, accomplish the goal and rest, and then proceed to the next goal.
This progression re-occurs daily with small things in our lives. Most of the time we don’t even think about them, but we are continually defining our dream (setting the goal), working towards it, accomplishing it, resting, and then going to the next goal. It looks like this:
1. I need to find someone to pick Jake up from school tomorrow (setting the goal)
2. I need to call Cindy (determining the next step towards accomplishing the goal)
3. You pick up the phone and make the call (working towards the goal)
4. Cindy answers you explain your dilemma to her and ask for her help, she’s happy to help, so you thank her and hang up. (accomplishing your goal)
5. You pick up your coffee and take a sip (resting … I know, too short! That’s another topic.)
6. You figure out what you need to do next (proceeding to the next goal)
So the good news is that you are already using this approach. It’s nothing new to you. In fact you have a level of mastery already, because you use it daily. What you need to do now is apply that method to your bigger life dreams. That process looks a little like this:
1. I want to work as a costume designer for a major production company within 5 years
2. I need to find research on the internet to find out how to become a top costume designer
3. You do the research
4. You make a list of the top costume design schools
5. Rest
6. Go on to next goal (perhaps contacting the schools you found in your research to find out how to enroll) and repeat the process until you’ve realized your dream!
This is a simple process, but it is not easy. In order to turn your dream into a reality you have to be committed to your dream, you need a trusted system that you will use to keep organized and you’ll need someone to support you and keep you accountable along the way. So you must begin with taking the time to determine what your dream really is, find an organizational system that will work for you, and find someone who will believe in you and support you in your journey.
If you’re desiring to change something in your life, if you have dream you want to turn into a reality, you must know where you’re going. Making a change requires a clear goal. The process is simple; the journey may be very difficult. In other words, it’s simple to know what you want, and understand how to get there, but actually getting there is not easy, it takes effort, discipline and commitment. You must approach your life with order and organization.
If you are standing on your secure foundation (seeking and trusting in the Lord with all your heart), then you are prepared to define your dream. As in all things God is our source and example. God is a God of order, not because He needs to be but because it is part of His nature, it’s part of who He is. We, on the other hand, need order in our lives. When our lives are chaotic and out of control we feel stressed, we get less accomplished, and our relationships suffer. God is order, we need order.
For example, God could have created the world with one word, but He chose to do it over time so that we could see the steps. We can see how one day’s work was preparation for the next. We can anticipate the end goal, and see each step along the way. When God was done with creation, He rested. Not because He was tired or needed to re-group. God rested as an example to us. The progression is, we set a goal, we figure out what we need to do to reach the goal, we work towards it, accomplish the goal and rest, and then proceed to the next goal.
This progression re-occurs daily with small things in our lives. Most of the time we don’t even think about them, but we are continually defining our dream (setting the goal), working towards it, accomplishing it, resting, and then going to the next goal. It looks like this:
1. I need to find someone to pick Jake up from school tomorrow (setting the goal)
2. I need to call Cindy (determining the next step towards accomplishing the goal)
3. You pick up the phone and make the call (working towards the goal)
4. Cindy answers you explain your dilemma to her and ask for her help, she’s happy to help, so you thank her and hang up. (accomplishing your goal)
5. You pick up your coffee and take a sip (resting … I know, too short! That’s another topic.)
6. You figure out what you need to do next (proceeding to the next goal)
So the good news is that you are already using this approach. It’s nothing new to you. In fact you have a level of mastery already, because you use it daily. What you need to do now is apply that method to your bigger life dreams. That process looks a little like this:
1. I want to work as a costume designer for a major production company within 5 years
2. I need to find research on the internet to find out how to become a top costume designer
3. You do the research
4. You make a list of the top costume design schools
5. Rest
6. Go on to next goal (perhaps contacting the schools you found in your research to find out how to enroll) and repeat the process until you’ve realized your dream!
This is a simple process, but it is not easy. In order to turn your dream into a reality you have to be committed to your dream, you need a trusted system that you will use to keep organized and you’ll need someone to support you and keep you accountable along the way. So you must begin with taking the time to determine what your dream really is, find an organizational system that will work for you, and find someone who will believe in you and support you in your journey.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Reaching Your Goals - Part 1 of 4 (The Secure Foundation)
The Secure Foundation
You will find that all your hearts desires are fulfilled when you are exactly where God designed you to be. Your dream must be bigger than you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). The closer you get to God, the more His desires become your desires. There won’t be a tug-of-war between wills; rather, what God wants for your life becomes what you want for your life.
When you see what God’s perfect plan for your life is, you will become excited, feel fulfilled and find contentment, as you walk down that path. Sometimes we are like the child who asks his mom for help tying his shoes. His mother kindly bends down and gently begins to show him how to do it, then the boy brushes his mom’s hands aside saying, “I know, I can do it from here” then goes on to tie his shoelaces into a huge knot.
How many knots have you tied into your life thinking you can “take it from here?” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) It all begins with seeking the Lord and trusting Him. This is dramatically different from what most of the world says. The common idea is to look within yourself, to decide what you think will make you happy and pursue that. The problem with that approach is the fact that you are not omniscient (all knowledgeable) or omnipotent (all powerful).
Many of the popular self-help guru’s teach us, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” If that were the case we’d have a lot more millionaires, astronauts, and American Idols. The truth is that God has made you unique, beginning in your mothers’ womb and continuing on today. He has blessed you with a unique blend of talents, spiritual gifts, experiences, and desires that only you have. He has both specific things for you to do, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) and a directional plan for you, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
If you want to become all that you are meant to be, it begins with seeking and trusting the Lord. This is the secure foundation. Without this foundation all your effort will be in vain, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen keeps awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) The first step to reaching your dreams is to make sure that your dreams have a secure foundation. With a secure foundation, your efforts will have eternal significance and your will find personal fulfillment in what you do.
You will find that all your hearts desires are fulfilled when you are exactly where God designed you to be. Your dream must be bigger than you. If you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). The closer you get to God, the more His desires become your desires. There won’t be a tug-of-war between wills; rather, what God wants for your life becomes what you want for your life.
When you see what God’s perfect plan for your life is, you will become excited, feel fulfilled and find contentment, as you walk down that path. Sometimes we are like the child who asks his mom for help tying his shoes. His mother kindly bends down and gently begins to show him how to do it, then the boy brushes his mom’s hands aside saying, “I know, I can do it from here” then goes on to tie his shoelaces into a huge knot.
How many knots have you tied into your life thinking you can “take it from here?” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) It all begins with seeking the Lord and trusting Him. This is dramatically different from what most of the world says. The common idea is to look within yourself, to decide what you think will make you happy and pursue that. The problem with that approach is the fact that you are not omniscient (all knowledgeable) or omnipotent (all powerful).
Many of the popular self-help guru’s teach us, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” If that were the case we’d have a lot more millionaires, astronauts, and American Idols. The truth is that God has made you unique, beginning in your mothers’ womb and continuing on today. He has blessed you with a unique blend of talents, spiritual gifts, experiences, and desires that only you have. He has both specific things for you to do, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) and a directional plan for you, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
If you want to become all that you are meant to be, it begins with seeking and trusting the Lord. This is the secure foundation. Without this foundation all your effort will be in vain, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen keeps awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) The first step to reaching your dreams is to make sure that your dreams have a secure foundation. With a secure foundation, your efforts will have eternal significance and your will find personal fulfillment in what you do.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
All You Need
Several years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a book titled “All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” It was quite the rage and was a best seller for a long time. I think it struck a cord with so many people because most people are searching for an answer to their big life questions, and are hoping that the answer is a simple one, and one that they will like.
The good news is that there is an answer to all of your big life questions, and the answer is one that you’ll like! “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” These are the words of the apostle Peter as he neared the end of his life (II Peter 2:3, New American Standard Bible)
By looking at this one verse from the Bible I want to make three points that will offer you hope. This one verse tells us that God has made available to us everything we need to know for both our physical life and our spiritual life.
Let me make three points:
God – The Source
Physical Life – The Solutions
Spiritual Life – The Strength
First, The Source is God. Through true knowledge of Him you can have the strength to live out the solutions of your daily life questions, and the answers to your big life questions. Allow me to make one controversial point here. This means that there is false knowledge of God. Whatever you devote your time, attention, and money to is your god. You see it every day. People worship money, their car, their bling, physical health, knowledge, fame … the list goes on. Can any of those things provide you with the ultimate strength and solutions to all of your physical and spiritual needs?
Second, The Solutions to all of your physical life needs are found in the pages of the Bible. The Bible addresses personal relationships, sex, how to spend your time, what to do with your money, how to have peace, sleeping well, raising children, how to treat your spouse, everything! Sorry, but Oprah, Dr. Phil, and Rush Limbaugh don’t have all the answers to life.
Third, The Strength to live the life you’re intended to live is only found in The Source, God. That’s why living this type of life is called “godliness.” Not because you have divinity in yourself, but because you have chosen to seek the divine source for your strength and solutions. Not only do well known, and well meaning current day celebrities not have the answers to life and godliness, but you don’t either. That’s actually good news because it means that there are real answers out there to your real questions.
Everyone is searching for an answer to their big life questions. The answers are simple and you will like it. The answer is simple in the sense that it is not complex to explain. God loves you more than you can imagine and longs for you to love Him in return. He has provided all you need to truly know about Him in the Bible. You only need to acknowledge that you are not the source, you don’t have the solutions or the strength. Once you’ve come to Him humbly, He will give you the ability to understand and follow Him.
Finally is it something you’ll like? Do you like being unconditionally loved? Do you like having true and lasting peace? Do you like having healthy positive relationships? Do you like having the answers to the problems that will come up in your daily life? Do you like having the support you need when you’re not strong enough on your own? Do you like being able to tell others that there is an answer to their deepest questions?
Let me know if you want this life, or if you have questions about this article.
The good news is that there is an answer to all of your big life questions, and the answer is one that you’ll like! “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” These are the words of the apostle Peter as he neared the end of his life (II Peter 2:3, New American Standard Bible)
By looking at this one verse from the Bible I want to make three points that will offer you hope. This one verse tells us that God has made available to us everything we need to know for both our physical life and our spiritual life.
Let me make three points:
God – The Source
Physical Life – The Solutions
Spiritual Life – The Strength
First, The Source is God. Through true knowledge of Him you can have the strength to live out the solutions of your daily life questions, and the answers to your big life questions. Allow me to make one controversial point here. This means that there is false knowledge of God. Whatever you devote your time, attention, and money to is your god. You see it every day. People worship money, their car, their bling, physical health, knowledge, fame … the list goes on. Can any of those things provide you with the ultimate strength and solutions to all of your physical and spiritual needs?
Second, The Solutions to all of your physical life needs are found in the pages of the Bible. The Bible addresses personal relationships, sex, how to spend your time, what to do with your money, how to have peace, sleeping well, raising children, how to treat your spouse, everything! Sorry, but Oprah, Dr. Phil, and Rush Limbaugh don’t have all the answers to life.
Third, The Strength to live the life you’re intended to live is only found in The Source, God. That’s why living this type of life is called “godliness.” Not because you have divinity in yourself, but because you have chosen to seek the divine source for your strength and solutions. Not only do well known, and well meaning current day celebrities not have the answers to life and godliness, but you don’t either. That’s actually good news because it means that there are real answers out there to your real questions.
Everyone is searching for an answer to their big life questions. The answers are simple and you will like it. The answer is simple in the sense that it is not complex to explain. God loves you more than you can imagine and longs for you to love Him in return. He has provided all you need to truly know about Him in the Bible. You only need to acknowledge that you are not the source, you don’t have the solutions or the strength. Once you’ve come to Him humbly, He will give you the ability to understand and follow Him.
Finally is it something you’ll like? Do you like being unconditionally loved? Do you like having true and lasting peace? Do you like having healthy positive relationships? Do you like having the answers to the problems that will come up in your daily life? Do you like having the support you need when you’re not strong enough on your own? Do you like being able to tell others that there is an answer to their deepest questions?
Let me know if you want this life, or if you have questions about this article.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Success lies not in pointing out the problem, but in solving it.
It seems like most of the problems we face at work or home happen when two or more people disagree about how to accomplish something, or weather something needs to be accomplished at all.
Recently I was handling an issue where one person (I'll call him Jim) was frustrated with a fellow employee (I'll call her Barbara) because he believed Barbara was not doing her job and it had a direct affect on Jim's work. The problem was compounded because Jim is paid on commission and if Barbara doesn't pull her weight Jim doesn't get paid. Barbara is salaried, so Jim thinks she isn't motivated to work like he is.
Jim and Barbara were calling and emailing each other expressing their frustration and assigning blame. This lead to anger as Jim realized that his earning potential was in the hands of someone who he could not control and who didn't really care about his paycheck.
There is a solution to this problem, one that will not only fix the immediate issue, but will ensure outstanding performance between these two in the future. The solution begins with with the right objective.
The objective in this problem, and most problems, is not to identify why the problem exists. The objective is to determine what the solution to the problem is. There are those who disagree. They say that you must trouble-shoot the cause of the problem and fit it so that it doesn't happen again. For those of you who must think in terms of fixing problems rather than finding solutions I will put it another way. The objective is not to figure out who's to blame, rather to figure out how to achieve the right goal.
The point, either way is that pointing fingers, making accusations, and assigning blame don't help you resolve the problem. In fact they only make the problem worse.
In order to be successful in business or your personal relationships you must make a conscious decision to not care who's right or wrong, but to only care about achieving the right results. The difficulty in this is that it requires you to grow up! My children often say, "that's not fair!" We all know by now that life is not about fairness. In fact trying to ensure fairness is a sure path to failure. Moreover, when your thinking about weather something is fair, you're only concern is to make yourself feel better, not about achieving the desired goal.
So what do you do? I'll give you a quick and dirty outline of how to overcome these types of issues and to ensure success in the future.
1. Check yourself first
You must decide that getting the right result is what's important to you, not being right.
2. Decide what result you want
You need to have a clearly defined end goal (i.e. I want the new widget assembled and on my desk by 3pm Thursday)
3. Decide what the next action step is and who is to do it (I need to call Sally at 555-123-1234 to explain how the new widget needs to function)
4. You need to take action or follow up to ensure that the next action step was taken.
5. Do it all over again until the goal is met.
Those who must be right will never be successful. Those who have to blame someone else will never be successful. Only those to focus on solving problems will be successful.
Recently I was handling an issue where one person (I'll call him Jim) was frustrated with a fellow employee (I'll call her Barbara) because he believed Barbara was not doing her job and it had a direct affect on Jim's work. The problem was compounded because Jim is paid on commission and if Barbara doesn't pull her weight Jim doesn't get paid. Barbara is salaried, so Jim thinks she isn't motivated to work like he is.
Jim and Barbara were calling and emailing each other expressing their frustration and assigning blame. This lead to anger as Jim realized that his earning potential was in the hands of someone who he could not control and who didn't really care about his paycheck.
There is a solution to this problem, one that will not only fix the immediate issue, but will ensure outstanding performance between these two in the future. The solution begins with with the right objective.
The objective in this problem, and most problems, is not to identify why the problem exists. The objective is to determine what the solution to the problem is. There are those who disagree. They say that you must trouble-shoot the cause of the problem and fit it so that it doesn't happen again. For those of you who must think in terms of fixing problems rather than finding solutions I will put it another way. The objective is not to figure out who's to blame, rather to figure out how to achieve the right goal.
The point, either way is that pointing fingers, making accusations, and assigning blame don't help you resolve the problem. In fact they only make the problem worse.
In order to be successful in business or your personal relationships you must make a conscious decision to not care who's right or wrong, but to only care about achieving the right results. The difficulty in this is that it requires you to grow up! My children often say, "that's not fair!" We all know by now that life is not about fairness. In fact trying to ensure fairness is a sure path to failure. Moreover, when your thinking about weather something is fair, you're only concern is to make yourself feel better, not about achieving the desired goal.
So what do you do? I'll give you a quick and dirty outline of how to overcome these types of issues and to ensure success in the future.
1. Check yourself first
You must decide that getting the right result is what's important to you, not being right.
2. Decide what result you want
You need to have a clearly defined end goal (i.e. I want the new widget assembled and on my desk by 3pm Thursday)
3. Decide what the next action step is and who is to do it (I need to call Sally at 555-123-1234 to explain how the new widget needs to function)
4. You need to take action or follow up to ensure that the next action step was taken.
5. Do it all over again until the goal is met.
Those who must be right will never be successful. Those who have to blame someone else will never be successful. Only those to focus on solving problems will be successful.
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