Bret's Blog

Don't Just Stare Up the Steps -- Step Up The Stairs!

Have you ever stood at the bottom of a huge flight of stairs, looking up?  So many people live their life at the base of those steps.  They stay at the bottom, staring up at the PURPOSE of life, never actually beginning to make the climb.  Oh, they plan to, but the timing’s just not right.  They have so much going on right now, and the steps to their purpose are just so BIG.  

The truth is they’re scared.  

When you’re at the bottom of those steps STARING UP, everything around you is over your head.  But when you start to climb, all of a sudden, you have a different perspective. Before you know it, things are under your feet.   Your vision becomes clearer with every step.  The  horizon comes into view.  You can even see where you used to be, and how far God has brought you.  So the challenge to you today is,
Don't just stare up the steps.  STEP UP THE STAIRS.

Ref: Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The Door to the Soul Opens Inward…

You must be still to know God.  That’s one reason why we don’t always discover His will.  We carry on in life, believing and behaving as if the door opens outward. We press and push against it continuously, with force – not realizing that the more pressure we exert against it the more firmly we are sealing it closed- to our own detriment.  It’s a common case of seeking to control by human effort, rather than trusting and relying on God.

Human nature has a tendency, almost instinctively to push blindly when pressured, or scared. When panicked or frustrated, people shove against whatever stands in their way.  Maybe that’s why doors in public buildings, schools and auditoriums are required by law to open outward – by pushing.  It can be a natural response to panic or fear – to push against whatever is pushing against you. Now contrast that to the front door of your home, which opens in the opposite direction. When someone knocks at your door, and you go to answer it, as you grab ahold of the doorknob, you must literally stop – and change direction – then, create a space, as you pull the door open. That’s the only way your guest can enter into your living space.

Prayer is amazingly similar. It begins with the refusal to be overwhelmed by events, or to be rushed by obligations. It isn’t something you can “push” your way through. In prayer, you must draw back from the outer picture and cease to press against events. In most cases, you even need to change direction somewhat and create a space. That’s when you realize the presence of God. The door to the soul opens inward. Go to the closet, and be still. It takes practice and persistence, but don’t you quit. Before you know it – you’ll have company!

Revelation 3:20 - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (NASB)

You Can Do It.

Four of the most powerful little words you'll ever hear -- or ever say to another. A phrase that, if you grasp it,  I mean fully embrace it, will change you life.

You can do it.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Don’t allow negative unbelievers to steal your dreams or blur your vision. There will always be people and circumstances that tell you it’s impossible. But while they’re saying it, you’ll be doing it.  Decide this moment whether or not you really want it, and if you do, set your face like a flint, and don’t waiver.

You can do it.

Yes, there will be opposition. There will be difficulty. But, that’s part of the process.  It’s those very obstacles that hone you, train you, and prepare you to become the kind of person who can handle what you’re going to accomplish. There has to be opposition for your vision to have victory.  There has to be a price for the prize to have value. The hero in every great story is defined by the size of the opposition. In the end, the greater the risk, the greater will be the reward. And here’s the most important thing:

You can do it.

Don’t live your life on the sidelines, with your fingers crossed, occasionally imagining what it would be like if you did the thing that’s been placed in your spirit. Almost everyone does almost everything it almost takes to almost make it. Let that not be said of you. God has given you unique, special talents.  Significant abilities.  And desire.  You are a genius in your own way. Live an extraordinary life, and start with that one thing that you’ve always wanted to do, but were too afraid, or too busy to ever try.  Seriously……

You can do it.

Ref Bible: Matthew 19:26 - "with God all things are possible."

The Truth about Purpose...

The Purpose of Life -- is a Life of Purpose.

Purpose is what gives life meaning. Long-range Purpose keeps you from becoming frustrated with short-term failure.

Are you "On Purpose" – or are you "By Accident"?

ENGAGE your PURPOSE!  You can draw a line from one word to the other, because they go together. ENGAGE----PURPOSE. They go together like a wink and a smile.     The 2 are inseparable.  If you try to separate them, the result is always diminished.

If you live a life with no clear purpose, and are fully ENGAGED, you will be like a pinball.  You'll be very busy, but ricocheting around out of control, and with no clear objective.  You’ll just get bounced around and battered back and forth from bumper-to-target-to-buzzer-to-pole until you end up disappearing down a dark hole, forgotten, because you never chose a direction. 

Oh, yes – you engaged, but you never got any meaningful momentum, because you never identified the purpose of your life. (You simply engaged.)  On the other hand, if you do have PURPOSE, but do not ENGAGE it, then you do not live what you profess to believe.  (You’re like the man who says he despises all of the sex, violence and crude behavior he keeps seeing on his DVR!)  

Having a Purpose that you never ENGAGE, is like having faith without works.       PURPOSE is a noun (just like FAITH = substance.)  ENGAGING is a verb (like the action associated with works.)  A PURPOSE is something you believe in.  ENGAGING is something you do.  The Bible tells us in James 2:17, that, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is DEAD.”  Are you ALIVE?  Is God ALIVE?  Don’t let your Purpose be DEAD.  Let it come alive in Christ.

PURPOSE is the right of the righteous, and the destiny of the faithful.  You were engineered for accomplishment, designed for your destiny, and planned by your Creator for a PURPOSE.  If you go through life without ENGAGING your Purpose, you’ve missed the point. 

Don’t miss the point

In Small Business, Does More Equal Less?

'Dis'-ing "Economies of Scale"

When growing a start-up, conventional wisdom says, “Think Big”.  “Grow -- and when you do, you’ll  achieve a higher profit margin because of ‘Economics of Scale’.” Because if you sell more, you’ll have to buy more, and when you buy more, you’ll buy for less, thereby creating a higher profit margin. Since the price to your consumers doesn’t change, you get to keep the difference. Sounds sweet and simple, doesn’t it?

Too bad it doesn’t happen like that.

Oh, there is the rare exception where a company can produce several times more of the same product without adding a dime to its fixed costs.  I own a company that manufactures a product that is 95% aluminum extrusion - and this is one of those wonderful  products where more sales actually do mean higher margins.

But in small business start-ups, that is the rare exception, not the norm. There’s an old entrepreneurial saying that every growing business has to learn:

“Growth consumes cash.”

True for 3 reasons. One is obvious: when a business grows, it demands more space, more equipment, more capacity, more inventory, more infrastructure, more vehicles, etc. The second reason is not so obvious.  To get more of all that means either taking on debt, or draining cash reserves, (or both). 

 3rd Reason:  "Management Expense”

Simply put, when activity goes up, there is a greater need for management.  Systems and procedures must be modified or redesigned. Learning curves swell and become very costly. Competent management (which was barely even necessary before) is now not only necessary - it's vital!  Error rates skyrocket and employee turnover escalates, so recruiting and training become constants.

 

These factors flow together into a large - totally new expense category. When a business is small, a lean, mean machine equates to a nice, fat profit margin. But once you pass a certain threshold, of growth, ‘Management Expense’ becomes real and substantial, (blowing the 'Economies of Scale' right out the window.)

 

So, at least in the short run, the business seems much less competitive. Everyone who still operates out of a garage or small shop can win on price alone. The battle intensifies and now you’re at a cross roads:

"To grow or not to grow?”

Many entrepreneurs shrink back from the resistance, and become resigned to the status quo, becoming that business owner whose business stays about the same for years, because they’ve given up the fight, accepting whether consciously or sub-consciously that "this is how it is" and they retreat to a place where the business owns them.  They are no longer proactive.  They live in a “protect what’s mine” mode. And this is the riskiest venture of all.

Other brave souls go the opposite way and say, “Yes – I’m going to tough it out, no matter what! My offering to the market is going to be so good, so specific and so well thought out, that the market will determine our success and we’ll make the leap -- the jump from a 'Mom & Pop' business, to a real company.

Even though Economies of Scale turned out to be Dis-Economies of Scale, even though growth and the management of it made my margins smaller - when things got bigger,  I’m going to recognize it. I'm going to deal with it.  And I’m going to win."

Ref /Bible: James 1:12 - "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

The Truth About Goals.... and Purpose.

In virtually all of the self-help and success teachings since Napoleon Hill was a tike, the key has been one thing: GOALS. "You gotta have GOALS."  "Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile -- (you guessed it) -- GOAL." Etc., etc., etc.

I tried this theory, practiced it with a fervor for years, and let me tell you - I got a lot done. I was a bonafide whirling dervish of progressive activity. Good, noble, worthwhile, admirable stuff.  I sprinted from day to day on the treadmill of my Daily Task List (Goals!)  At the beginning of each day, I made sure each task from the day before was either: 'Conquered' (which meant completed) "In Process" (and waiting on someone or something other than me,) "Eliminated" (no longer necessary,) or "Forwarded" out to another strategic date on the calendar. Believe me when I say, "I had goals and I achieved most of them." 

When I think of that period in my life, I'm reminded of a Bible verse in which the writer (Paul) says, "Lord, help me to fight- not as one who beats the air...".  Can you think of anything more comical, or more pitiful than a fighter, in the ring, shadowboxing the whole time, fighting as one who "beats the air"?  He might look good for a little while, but what a waste!  Expending all that energy, but never having impact. 

My rear-view mirror has shown me me that goals, while important, are not the key.  (Gasp!)

Now, before you label me a traitor or a blasphemer - hear me out.  For goals to help a person reach their true potential, they must be subordinated to something more meaningful -- and I don't mean another goal.  The only valid reason for setting goals is to live out a purpose that is BIGGER than the person with the goals. When goals are the guiding force in a person's life, the person who set them is the biggest factor in the equation. The goals are disjointed, and lack continuity, subject to the whims, moods and seasons of the goal-setter.  But when 'Purpose" is the motivation, the purpose encompasses everything.  The purpose is bigger than any person can ever hope to be.

Interesting timing - I'm watching Michael Jackson's memorial service as I write this (my wife and niece are attending,) and one thing is crystal clear: No person should ever be elevated to idol status. They should never become the most important element in anyone's life - especially not their own. Purpose must prevail.  When goals serve only to satisfy the person who achieves them - even under the guise of 'service to others' - in the final analysis, those goals will fail  to fulfill. Repeat: Purpose must prevail.

The questions to ask before and throughout a life of goal-setting are:

What is my purpose? and Why was I put on this earth?

When these questions are asked sincerely, the answers will result not in a goal, but in a principle.  This is great, because principles never change.  Circumstances, people, and their goals change all the time. Purpose has little to do with circumstances, while goals have to contend with whatever is going on at the time.

Whenever I experience a setback, relative to one of my goals, I can get pretty bummed out, deflated, because the distance between me and my goal just became greater, or maybe hasn't changed.  Not so with purpose. When I have a purpose, or rather, when I'm "On-Purpose", then all is well - because I'm On-Purpose, regardless of whatever else may be happening. There is no distance between me and my purpose, because I live my purpose - and it hasn't changed.  Purpose becomes a state of being, rather than an objective.

No matter what happens as I set and achieve goals, I am compelled by my primary purpose.  Goals become important, practical steps, but not the end-all. Purpose lights the way.  Goals support the purpose. Goals without a clearly defined overarching purpose, amount to  busy-ness and wasted effort.  Goals must serve the purpose or they will most certainly sabotage it. Apart from a central purpose, goals are merely distractions.

Have you ever seen goals create 'Vision'?  Of course not.  Purpose does it all the time.  Mother Teresa had a purpose and everything she did was in harmony.  Martin Luther King had a purpose before he ever had a dream. You too, have a purpose. 

Can you articulate it?

Purpose makes sure the little picture lines up with the big one.  When everything is in alignment, (thoughts-actions-habits-tasks-strategies-goals-vision-purpose,) our life has integrity. We achieve a kind of synergy we can never get from goal-centered living. And we get peace, because we can leave behind those nagging, guilty thoughts that plague overachievers.  You know the ones... "I know that what I am currently doing is good, but maybe I should be... at home, or at work, or at the recital, or on a family vacation, or at my friend's birthday party, or at church, or at the gym, or catching up on my sleep, or writing those 'thank you' notes, or preparing for next week's meeting, or spending time with my spouse,  or..." On and on it goes. But with no clear purpose, these otherwise positive goals conflict with one another to produce stress and guilt. They make it hard to live each moment fully, and if never brought under the authority of a grand purpose, well, they can steal away our quality of life. When goals are thought out, and brought into alignment with purpose - when they know who they work for -- and why, then each of those goals, when achieved, produces a higher yield, and the combined output of all our efforts becomes remarkable! 

Yes, goals are important, but without an intentional overriding purpose, their fruit will lack significance. When Goals and Purpose are harnessed together... in time, your destiny will overtake you.

Source: Ephesians 5:15, 17   So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely.17 So do not be foolish but learn what the Lord wants you to do .                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The Truth About Neglected Priorities...

There aren't any.

It's true. There is no such thing as a "neglected priority". 

When people say, "I've been neglecting my priorities,"  what they're really declaring is, "My priorities are out of whack", "they're in the wrong order." 

Dictionary.com defines a "priority" as: something given special attention.

Therefore 'priorities', by definition, can't be neglected. It's the perfect oxymoron.  Our priorities are defined by our actions, not by our "list" or our intentions. 

Whenever I find myself lamenting over "neglected priorities", I recognize it as a prime opportunity to take an honest look at what I've been doing (instead of what I should have been doing,) and assess whether I'm living the way I really want to live.  If I'm not, then the picture of the life that I'm trying to create comes no closer to being realized. In fact just the opposite. 

Once the values I have are reevaluated, and their order reestablished - honestly - I can build in the changes and disciplines necessary to make sure I walk - and don't just talk.

Neglected priorities? Don't kid yourself.

Source: Matthew 11:19 "But Wisdom is proved right by her actions."