Tag Archives: purpose

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New Leadership Model Helps You Make a Difference

Sometimes you need to look back to move forward. Looking back in history we uncover how people connected on the basis of their shared values and ideas. When they connected they started communities, companies, revolutions – they made a difference. What about BIG differences today?

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Do you want to begin making a difference ?. Someone who has already made a huge difference is Seth Godin. Seth is an entrepreneur and the most popular business blogger in the world. He makes some profound observations about marketing ideas in this digital age. He often tells people “Go make a difference”. I wonder how to make big changes first in myself, then in people around me. All leadership starts with self, then leading others.

There are probably some things you believe in. We all have dreams, passions and desires. But how do you lead others to believe in your hobby, interest, business, or cause? William James said “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Magic of Thinking Big

“Go big or stay home!” You’ve heard it and you’re ready to take your success to the next level. How? Where’s the game plan for BIG ideas and BIG success. Are you tired of making little achievable goals because the epic, grand vision, blue sky thinking goals are too lofty?

Only 3% of people set goals. Fear of failure holds most people back. But wouldn’t you rather be the person who is brave enough to imagine possibilities at the expense of being occasionally disappointed? Someone thinking big and setting a big goal enabled the masses to enjoy electricity, light bulbs, cars, radios, airplanes, T.V., computers, cell phones, iPods……you get the picture.

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Recently I saw a video that inspired me to write down my giving goals. This little girl wants to make the world a better place by providing 500,000 chickens for the poor. That’s a big goal for this little girl!

What’s your BIG goal? Where do you start?

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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.

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How To Be Smarter……Part 1

Education – getting “smarter” is a major part of the development of our society and a key component of development worldwide.  But what about YOU, have you figured out how to be smarter?

As an old Chinese proverb says, “many receive advice, but only the wise profit by it”. The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon said it best. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”. Proverbs 23:7

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What are you thinking? Where are you getting advice for making the important decisions in your life?

It is said that 5 years from now you will only be as smart as the books you read and the people you meet. Let’s start with books. Watch for my next post on people!

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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.

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How To Find Your Mission In Life

At 36 I woke up.  Until then, my focus was on the drive to achieve success as a builder and investor. Then one question changed my focus. What do I want to be remembered for?

Maybe you haven’t really thought about this yet.

Look around and then look inside. The frantic pace of life and business leave many unexamined lives. Instead we need to learn to find our mission in life.  Once that mission in life is discovered a whole new focus will emerge. Do you know your personal mission in life? We all want our life to count.

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In planning, the best place to begin is at the end. Imagine your funeral. What are people saying about you? You still have time to shape that conversation. If you don’t think about this question, it will cost you – for eternity. Picture your life like a dollar bill, how do you want to spend it?

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Balance Work and Life

There is a lot written about gaining balance in your life. Everyone has their story and I’m happy to share mine.

In the early years of starting our home building business, 60 hour weeks were the norm! When we hired staff 10 years later, long workweeks were STILL the norm. There was never enough time to get everything done at work. Work was cheating my family time. It was nearly impossible to achieve the elusive work life balance.

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Picture the work life balance like a scale…one side wins and the other side loses. We need to learn to “cheat” at work and stop cheating at home. We often cheat our family by spending too much time at work, or on fitness, or a hobby. Cut back on being so “busy” and be balanced!