Starting the Personal Development Industry

Reading books and listening to inspiring messages is how I bridged the gaps in my life. Now I’m on a quest for ways to help others become the hero of their own story. My desire is to equip others with tools, skills and resources to help them achieve success.  Which resources that helped me on my journey are worth recommending?

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Socrates said “I cannot teach anyone anything; I can only make them think”. Conversely, as a coach, I’m also reminded that if the student hasn’t learned the teacher hasn’t taught.

How To Overcome Fear And Create A Vision For Your Life

Fear keeps most people from clarifying and articulating a vision for their lives. Looking around it’s not hard to see why. Surrounded by uncertainty at every level people are immobilized by fear. How can you move forward with a clear direction when circumstances are always changing?

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Uncertainty is exactly why you need a clear vision for every area of your life. Regrets are many but looking back many people are sorry they didn’t have the courage to live a life true to themselves . Living without a vision has great consequences.  In Proverbs 29:18 we read the often quoted …

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Five Keys to Achieving Your Goals

Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals works! Many people want to achieve goals and as an executive life coach I work alongside them. But success is never an accident. It starts with a goal and it’s only by studying the success of others that this pattern emerged and was crafted. As a homebuilder our company success was based on setting and achieving goals. This strategy worked as the net profitability increased 10 fold.

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We thrive when we set and achieve goals. God gave us these desires in the first place and He wants us to take action to achieve His purposes.

See How Easily You Can Achieve Your Goals

Coaching people I help them uncover their opportunities and obstacles. The single biggest obstacle for people is unclear goals. Why aren’t they clear – they’re not written down! Sounds simple right, but when you miss this important first step it’s easy to drift aimlessly in generalities without the capacity to look 3, 5, or 10 years ahead with focused direction.

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Opportunities are often missed when your goals are vague and not in writing!

God gives us clear direction on this topic:

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Proverbs 21:5

How To Win Friends and Influence People

Relationship is the stuff that life is truly made of. Not the artificial relationships in schools or social and business environments where forced inclusion is expected. Rather, chosen and nurtured relationships.

How do true friendships and spheres of influence form?

Moving often as a child I found myself accepting the notion that friends are due to proximity. Geography not genuine concern defined my friendships.

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We know friends are important because they impact and establish the quality and direction of our lives. Without friends we have no influence because no one’s listening. Leadership is influence.

Have You Read The Most Famous Book?

We live in a culture where new is better. A rising tide of discontent for what is newer, shinier, thinner and faster drives most purchases. I would like to challenge your thinking….again!

In literature, newer does not necessarily mean better. Why shouldn’t we spend an equal amount of time, if not more, on “the classics”?  Globally, there are an extraordinary number of books published each year. (2.2 million in 2012 alone) However, there are so many older “classics” I almost don’t know where to begin.

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The question is which ones are worth reading?  Many good books entertain us. To reach our full potential, we need to find the truly great ones that provide guidance for our spiritual journey through life.

How To Show Someone You Care by Giving Away Resources

Here’s my scenario…..I meet people often and the majority of the time they are experiencing problems. No surprise there! We all have problems. But meetings are short and some problems are long….so conveying meaningful caring concern and attempting to help is often difficult. Trying to explain how, changed thinking  changes your life over a meal or coffee….is impossible! Unless a tool to leverage the time is used.

That’s where all the resources in this blog come into the picture. But in the end of this post, I am not the hero. You are.

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Have you had problems, found solutions and then shared the experience with other people? On so many levels our culture is exploding with this method of teaching and learning.  Just think….Do it Yourself Network, Pintrest and so many, many others!

But when you have knowledge and are an expert at something you’re vulnerable. You can easily forget how the wisdom and knowledge was gained – you catch the “curse of knowledge”. So, here’s a suggestion.

Seven Secrets To Becoming Rich

Read on! You know this headline is a catchy way to grab your attention on an important subject.

Remember, I have shared with you about what it truly means to BE RICH. But if you are thinking about becoming financially rich; reflect on your life. Has your income increased in proportion to the number of years you’ve been working? Has your lifestyle done the same?

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Culture baits us into having it all. Turn on the T.V. or surf the Internet and it is all “buy now, pay later”. It’s a problem we all face. How do we learn delayed gratification? How do we manage wanting to have it all now?

Does Your Life Matter

Here is something that I have sought, received and yet cannot measure – it’s validation. We seek it in many areas of life. We long for our parents, business partners, friends, colleagues and even our kids to say – “You matter!”

Men and women of great minds and those of absolutely average minds have all wrestled with the same question, ‘do I matter’? Sadly the answer to this question and the wrestling to the answer have brought some people to a state of desperation and depression. I reflect on my own parents and grandparents wondering what difference did they make? What difference will I make? Where’s the hope for this part of our story?

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If you have been to an art gallery, museum or places of historical significance you will often discover the stories of the average person doing extraordinary things. It’s only from the perspective of time that we know if, the decisions we make and the action we take, make a difference to others.  Perhaps these “others” are yet unborn. We cannot realize ALL the implications our decisions and actions in the moment. Only in the future, do we gain perspective but sometimes we never know.

Retirement: Wild, Happy and Free!

Retirement is a relatively new concept. Our great grandparents didn’t outlive their usefulness in order to indulge themselves in the thought of retiring. I used to think that if I had enough financial resources I could retire. But I have decided to RE-wire!  I’ve changed my focus from building homes to building people.

Society baits us into thinking it’s all about the nest egg. We don’t want to think about work when we retire. Certainly scripture is clear about the need and reward of work. I do not believe in retirement, as I do not think it’s Biblical.

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The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

How can you “Re-wire” and change your work focus?  Do it in balance and with different rewards.