Tag: Christian

3 Ways to Prepare for Life Changes

We May Encounter Many Defeats But We Must Not Be Defeated.” – Maya Angelou

Welcome back to another school year!! My kids aren’t quite there yet, but if you spent anytime on Facebook recently you saw tons of back to school and first day of school pictures. How was your family prepared for the start of the school year? Is your family prepared for other life changes that may come?

Personal Experience

When my wife and I were looking into buying our home, we got a very important piece of advice. That advice was to look for a house that you can afford on one person’s income. Just in case, God forbid, that one person lose their job, you can still make the mortgage payments. We listened to that advice and a couple of years into living in our home, I was the one who lost my job. Because we listened and were prepared, my family didn’t lose our home.

How can we prepare for life changes? We don’t want to have “life happen” and then we’re scrambling trying to get resources together so that everything doesn’t fall apart.

How to Plan Ahead

  1. Practical Planning. This sounds boring, but it is probably the most important. We struggle with life changes because we’re not fully prepared for them. Dave Ramsey pushes having an emergency fund for this very reason. It will help you be prepared for the emergencies. Then they  no longer seem like emergencies to you.

Since the school year has started, this is a great time to plan out the year. If planning a year seems to daunting go by semester. What would make it a success? Is it a certain GPA? Getting volunteer opportunities. For younger children or it could be reading a certain number of books or focusing on an area to improve that was a struggle last year. Whatever the goal is, you want to prepare for this change and define what a successful school year would be.

      2. Overcome Obstacles. We know that the obstacles will come. How will you overcome them? Every new year we set new resolutions of habits, and life changes we want to make. Most people don’t see those changes last because when an obstacle comes up, the resolution gets dropped. Not because they didn’t want to change, but because they didn’t think about how they would overcome obstacles.

      3. Find an accountability group. Preparing for the unexpected life changes is one thing, it’s another to intentionally bring about a change. It’s great to have a goal of doing something. You won’t get it done by yourself though. You’re going to need an accountability partner or group. People that will push you when you don’t feel like getting up early or who will give you some encouragement when you’re feeling low. The people around you are just as important as the goal itself.

It’s the start of a new school year, are you prepared for the change? Are you prepared for life changes?

 

 

5 Everyday Ways To Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

It’s Time to Step Out

Stepping out of our comfort zone can be a scary thing. We may not say it’s scary but our actions indicate that we are scared. Our actions tell more about us than we may ever say with our mouths. Stepping out of our comfort zone leads us to the thought that we have to do some amazing, earth shattering thing. While there are times when that it required, there are ways that we can step out of comfort zone everyday that we overlook.

Practice What I Preach

My wife really enjoys dancing. If she saw it on Dancing with the Stars then she wants to try it From the Salsa to the Waltz she’s all in. I stepped out of my comfort zone and we took a dancing class at a local studio. The surprise; I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. There are lots of everyday things that we can do that will help us to step out of comfort zones.

Everyday Ways to Step Out

  1. Encourage someone today. Most days we talk to the same group of people and mostly about the same things. It’s easy to have a conversation with them. Step out of your comfort zone and talk to someone that you normally wouldn’t. Take it a step farther and encourage them.
  2. Take a risk. Don’t put your livelihood in jeopardy here. A daily risk that you can take; unplug from your phone for the day. You don’t realize how attached you are to a device until you’re forced to go without it. There’s freedom using your phone as a phone and just a phone. You’d be surprised at how much time you get back.
  3. Read a book this month. It is far too common to hear people say that they don’t read. AT ALL. Not sure where to start?here are libraries around that will help you. Reading will expand your vocabulary, open your mind and imagination. Want to grow in an area? Read about people who have done what you want to do. Learn from them.
  4. Volunteer.  We tend to associate with people who are like us. They usually come from the same background and are interested in the same things. Volunteer for a day or even for a couple of hours will force you out of your comfort zone.
  5. Pray. Pray for someone today. Many times people will like to dump their problems on us. Instead of just being a sounding board, offer to pray with them about the situation. Men, pray for your wives and family. Lead the prayers. It is a part of us leading our families. Step out of our comfort zone and pray for our families.

There are many more things that we can do step out of comfort zone everyday. How are you stepping out of your comfort zone today?

 

Achieve Your Dreams

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. – Coach Carter

Know Your Enemy

Who is your enemy? Who is stopping you from accomplishing that goal/dream that you have set ? Can you see them? Are you looking in the mirror?

The number one enemy to what you want to accomplish in life isn’t The Man, or the devil, or your boss that won’t promote you. Your number one, top of the list, enemy is YOU! We get in our own way more often than we will admit or like to admit. It’s a lot easier to blame someone else for our problems than it is to take responsibility for them. Once we do take responsibility for our life, then we can change our life. It can be the life that we dreamed of.

It's time to look in the mirror. There is greatness on the inside of you
It’s time to look in the mirror

Run your own race. It’s your life, it’s up to you on how your life turns out. What will be accomplished in your lifetime?  Choose to accomplish your dreams and build the life that you want. Too many times we settle for the life that society gives us. We can have an attitude that goes with the flow. Where we do the things that we think we’re supposed to do.

Where was I Going

I grew up in a middle class town where graduating from high school was a given and it was assumed that you would go to college. I’m grateful for this place and position that I’m in, but I’m also not going to settle for being average. A lot people learn from trial and error that college isn’t for them. In either case, I know I had not spent time thinking about what I wanted my life to look like. Most high school students would say the same thing. I don’t want a life that consists of working day in and day out with no impact on the world. I honestly don’t believe that most of us want that either. Yet, somehow we find ourselves in this very location.

I dream of a future where my children can work to pursue their dreams, not where they work because they need the paycheck. Does this happen with a average mindset? I don’t think it does. I look to others who have accomplished their dreams, not to compare myself but as inspiration that what I dream is possible.

Comparisons Will Stop You

Forbes recently published an article that dives into the effects of comparing ourselves to other people. The article highlights how comparing ourselves to what we see online can lead to a more negative view of ourselves . In a world of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram we are comparing ourselves to someone else’s curated content.

Social media and reality tv have lead us to a place where we would rather watch people live their lives rather than live our own. In a time where we are supposed to be a more connected to the world, we’ve never been more isolated.

We need to run our own race. Not our friends race, not a celebrities race, but our own. The world needs the great ideas that you have on the inside of you. There is a light on the inside of you that needs to shine. We can do this! We were made to walk on water!

What is keeping you from going after your dream?