Power In The Little Things

Many of us want to change certain things in our lives. We want these changes now. As a result, we sometimes don’t notice the progress we are making. Because we still are not the people we want to be, don’t have the money we are seeking, or haven’t met the ideal partner yet, we feel like nothing is happening and we’ll never get to where we want to be.

I read a quote that the best way to reach our destination on a long journey is to take it one step at a time. It’s the same with our goals. When we pay attention to the little things and take notice of our progress (regardless of how little it is), it makes the journey much easier. I also believe we are much more likely to take action, because we can see that the steps we are taking are getting us somewhere.

When we take small steps and acknowledge small bits of success, before we realize it we are at the doorstep of reaching our goal. Have faith, that even though we are not seeing drastic results right away, things are happening. Pray to God and give Him our dreams and goals. Know that, even if we are not seeing the progress we may want, He is working things out for our best in every moment.

Sometimes, when we look back at the journey after reaching our destination, it’s the little things that we remember forever. So today, let us pay attention to those little things. Let us be thankful for the small bits of success we see, and let us build upon them for even greater results. Enjoy the journey, and know that you will certainly be blessed in the end.

Will They Listen? – How to Be Sure Your Voice Is Heard

There are many voices out there longing to be heard. Many of us want to have influence and impacts on the world around us. However, with so many others out there looking to do the same, we often wonder if our voice will ever be heard.

So what’s the key in getting people to listen to us? The answer is that it’s in our own hands. Or should I say our own ears. Ready?…The best way to get people to listen to us is to listen to other people. It’s as simple as that.

I have learned through study and experience that the best conversationalists in the world are the ones who say the least. It’s because they are listening intently to the other person instead of doing the most of the talking themselves. People love to talk about things that interest them. If you let someone talk continuously about something they enjoy, they will adore you for it, and will seek your presence in the future as well. There have been many occasions where I did very little talking, but listened intently to the other person. In many cases the people thank me for the excellent conversation and tell me how easy I am to talk to, even though I didn’t say much at all.

Another benefit of being a good listener is that we get a better of idea of what people are interested in. When we know what they like or what their goals are, we can serve them accordingly and find ways to help them get there. When you can help somone get what they want, the positive impacts you can have on their lives are endless. And besides blessing others, your life will be blessed as well, either by directly by the people we serve, or indirectly in some other way.

The bottom line is that, if you want your voice to be heard, listen to those of others. You will stand out in the eyes of those who are desperately seeking someone to hear their voice, as well as those seeking you for solutions that they believe you can provide. By simply listening to others, your opportunities for service, influence, and blessing are without limit. Please listen to me, because I have seen these rewards in my own life. Enjoy the blessings : )

Everlasting Faith

Is your faith lacking these days? If things are difficult and you are facing many obstacles, it is often easy to lose faith.

There are times in my life where my faith is not as strong as it could be. When this happens it is alarming to me because there are many verses in the Bible that stress the importance of faith. According to your faith it will be done for you. Anything is possible to him who has faith. Without faith who can expect to receive anything from God? Those are just a few of them. These verses are great when our faith is high. With great faith we can experience miracles in our life. However, what if we lack that miracle working faith?

I read a very re-assuring Bible verse the other day. It is from 2 Timothy 2:13. It says, “if we remain faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself”. This verse tells me several things. First of all, God expects that there will be times in our life where negative circumstances cause us to lose faith. He understands. Also, the last part of that verse reminds me that He has a plan for our lives. He has a will that He will not allow to be denied. Even though our faith may be low, He will still remain with us and will never turn His back on us.

This idea reminds me of a young child learning to ride a bicycle. At first, the child does not have the faith to ride by himself. What a good father or mother would then do is guide them along. Have the child do the work of pushing the pedals and balancing the bike while they assist by holding on to the bike. After all, they understand the child’s fear, and they wouldn’t want them to fall because they were not ready to ride on their own. However, if the child keeps working at it, they eventually develop the confidence and faith to ride without the guiding hand of their parent. Their faith has increased to where they know they can complete the task.

I believe this same scenario is true in our daily adult lives. As long as we make the effort and persist, God will lovingly guide us. Eventually, we will get to the point where our faith grows, and we can complete those tasks that we originally didn’t believe we could. As we continually test our faith for greater things, we will be blessed more and more. We will see greater success and enjoy a more joyful, rewarding life.

It is important to have faith if we want greatness in our lives. However, when it is difficult to believe, know that God is still there with us helping us get to where we need to be. There aren’t many things more assuring than that.

Have an excellent day : )

So Long Status Quo

I’m at a point in life where I am tired of living the average life. Sure, I am thankful for the many wonderful blessings I have received in life. However, instead of the status quo average in some areas of my life, I am seeking greatness.

The weird thing is that I am seeing that this is exactly where God wants me. I believe it is His voice I am hearing, and He is telling me that, if I have the faith, He can cause the good in my life to increase dramatically. I believe He is saying…here I am. Rely on me and my power and protection. I will take you where you want to go. He wants us to live the incredible life, and He is willing to help us get there.

I am reminded of this whole idea by a song I hear today for the first time in a while. The song is “Brave” by Nichole Nordeman. The chorus says it all..

So long, status quo
I think I’ve just let go
You make me wanna be brave
The way it always was
It’s no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave

Any one of us can be brave if we rely on God’s power and direction. He can take you from average to great. From status quo to new adventure. From down and negative to flying high and positive. Will you let Him do that for you today?

If you are tired of the status quo, let go and let God take you to your promised land. Pray to Him, have faith, and let Him carry you the rest of the way. Enjoy the blessings : )

The Greatest Movie Trailers

How do you decide which movies you will see this month? Often that decision is made by the movie trailers you find most interesting. It’s usually the one with the best coming attractions.

Let’s take those coming attractions to the real life level. Albert Einstein said that your imagination is the preview of life’s coming attractions. This tells me that the greater the life we imagine, the greater life we will see and experience.

The object is to make the best movie possible in our life and to get others to buy in. How does Hollywood get us to buy in to their movies? They show us the best coming attractions. They imagine what it is people want to see, and they edit the coming attractions carefully to show the most appealing previews.

We  can follow the same example. We need to carefully edit our thoughts. Then we imagine the most ideal ones. We use our imagination to consider the best life possible. Then we run the “movie” in our minds. Some influential authors call this “mind movies”.

The bottom line is that the life we live in our imagination is eventually the life we live in reality. The more you imagine good things and create positive feelings from those positive thoughts, the more your faith begins to grow. And the more your faith begins to grow, the more likely you are to live out the positive thoughts going on in your mind.

Keep those positive thoughts in your head. Then give them to God and watch Him make miracles from them. The times I follow these guidlines are the times where movie classics are created in my life. Movies I want to see over and over again. The same will be true for you. Also, others will want to “buy in” because of the positive magnetism you will create. Enjoy the blessings : )

3 Step Faith Formula

I am very fortunate to attend an excellent church. The worship is amazing, and the pastor’s messages are very relevant to life in today’s world. This in addition to the warm, welcoming environment that is felt inside the church.

I often talk about faith on this site, and felt the need to share some excellent information that my pastor provided about faith working in our lives. Based on His message, effective faith has the following qualities:

1. Faith sees the end – Many influential authors recommend seeing things from the end. See your goal realized. See the person you want to become. See yourself excelling at your job. When you visualize success, it helps develop the faith necessary to reach it.

2. Faith stays focused on the impossible – Just because you don’t see it in reality yet doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Your goal may be reached tomorrow. Or it may not be reached until a year or more from now. Regardless, have faith that God already has your situation worked out. Once again, visualize success and act as if it already exists. The truth is that it (or something better) already does exist as long as you believe.

3. Faith stays the course – One author called it “unwavering” faith. Keep your goal fixed in your mind. Take the steps you are guided to take. Then keep going until you get there, or you are pulled in a different direction. By the way, don’t panic if you are re-directed because it is always better than where you thought you needed to go. Regardless, never give up. Keep believing, and you will get there.

I find this faith formula extremely helpful. Not only that, but it is very do-able. Here’s what has helped me. Take the main areas of your life, such as personal, family, financial, career, health, and relationships. Then for each, write down (it is very helpful to have this recorded on paper) goals and affirmations for each. I write about two or three for each. Then see yourself succeeding in each area. Develop the necessary faith by following these guidelines noted above.

 I am seeing more success in my life each day. Are things perfect? No, but they are getting closer every day to the ideal life that I envision. Following these guidelines will help you get there too. Enjoy the blessings : )

Powerful Assurance

There are few things more awesome and peaceful then a beautiful sunrise. Besides the beautiful sight we see, it often brings a faithful optimism about what the coming day may bring.

 The great thing about this is that we know without a doubt that the sun will rise each day. There are some days where we don’t see the sunrise. That’s because there are days where the clouds and rain cover it. However, even if there are several stormy days in a row, we are assured that we will see another beautiful sunrise soon.

We need to have the same assurance that we will experience beautiful blessings and success in our daily lives as well. What is it you want to achieve? What type of impacts do you want to make? Who is the wonderful person you want to be? The goal is to know, as sure as the sun rises every day, that you can realize your dreams. Pray regularly. Develop the necessary faith by seeing success in your mind and doing what you are inspired to do. Yes, there are days when clouds of doubt rain on your thoughts of hope. However, with the same assurance that the sun will soon rise again, believe that your dreams will be realized, and success will be yours.

God’s promises never fail. Just as He promises a new day every 24 hours, He promises that He will be with us always. We have no need to fear. Instead, believe wholeheartedly that He will work with us to bring us a life filled with sunshine. Enjoy the beautiful day : )

How to Succeed at Any Job

It would be great if there was a magic formula for succeeding at any job. I will say that, after reading various sources of information that say the same thing, I believe there is one. Drum roll please….

You can succeed at any job. The key is to determine what people want and help them get it. It’s as simple as that. Success is guaranteed if you can help people meet their needs. Think about any type of work, and it is true. For example, I am a teacher. If I can know what my students need and come through for them, they will learn anything I need them to learn. If I know the goals of my superiors and can help them reach those goals, I am a very valuable employee. If you work in sales, you will excell if you can show how your product or service can meet the needs of your customers. If you work at an auto assembly line, being able to see the big picture and provide information that can help do things more effectively, you are a hero.

This is the key to success at the job, and in any area of life. You can have dramatic impacts on those around you if you can help them meet their needs. The results are astounding. You will have more rewarding relationships. Your bank account will multiply in large proportion. You will feel better about yourself as you help others. You will also find that you will easily find people to help you reach your own goals.

If you are looking for success in your own life, first help other people find it. Once you do, you will be astounded that the success you experience is beyond what you could have imagined. You will be majorly blessed!

Positive Encouragement

Many people ask the questions…what can I do in life? How can I make a difference in the lives of others?

We all have our calling in life. For some, it is clear, while others have yet to discover that calling. In either case, here is something we can all do.

A great way to make positive impacts in all areas of life is by positive encouragement. It’s something anyone can do. However, the more you do it, the more positive your will bring to those you encourage, and to your own life as well.

Who can I encourage? Start with those closest to you. Then move on to those you work with, work for, and even perfect strangers. Oh, and don’t forget to encourage yourself! How can we encourage? The definition of the word encourage is to give confidence, support, and hope to someone. It is free and easy to do!

The challenge I present you (and myself) is to consider today how you can encourage someone. Demonstrate your confidence in them and their ability to succeed. Show that you will help them succeed and even teach them so they can do it on their own. Let them know that their dreams can come true.

The people in your life will be blessed if you encourage them. It is also amazing how you are blessed as well. You will feel great about the help you provided, and you will see how many people will be quick to encourage you when you most need it. If you are looking to make a difference, here is a call you can easily answer. Enjoy the blessings : )

Power Over Fear – Part 2

In my last post, I wrote that we can help ourselves conquer fears by envisioning success, acceptance, or the opposite of whatever we are fearing in our minds.

There is another great idea I wanted to share that has helped me. Here’s an example….when I was a young child, I didn’t have many of the typical childhood fears. I wasn’t afraid of the boogie man coming out of the closet, or afraid of the dark. However, at the age of 14 (yes I said 14), that changed. There was a book I read called “The Amityville Horror” that really shook me up. Besides living 10 minutes from there, the spiritual concept of it seriously scared me. Now, at 14, I was afraid of the dark, and dreaded waking up at 3:15 am, the time all of the bad things in the story occurred.

I was embarrassed to be afraid of the dark at 14 years old. I had to do something about it. I was reading a self-hypnosis book that my father had. It talked about using hypnosis to desensitize ourselves of our fears. What does desensitize mean? It means to imagine yourself doing the things you are afraid of. Consistently see yourself doing those things with nothing negative happening. For my situation, I saw myself going into the dark with nothing bad happening. I saw myself waking up at 3:15 with nothing bad happening. I played this over and over in my mind, until I actually believed that nothing bad would happen while being in the dark or waking up at that dreaded time. Within a week, I was cured of this fear that I had had for several months.

I recommend the same formula for you. Think of your biggest fear. Then, in your imagination, see yourself doing the thing or being in the place that you fear. See yourself succeeding. See that nothing bad is happening. See that the fear is only something you have developed in your own mind. Then let God do His part to help. I am confident that you will gradually see your fears disappearing. Try it. You have nothing to fear : )