Monthly Archives: January 2013

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Correcting Spiritual Drift

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In my last post, we talked about what spiritual drift looks like in a Christian business owner or leader. Assuming you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have most likely experienced this kind of drift. The question is how to correct it. What do we need to do to get back on the right path, drawing closer to God?

spiritual drift

Antidotes To Spiritual Drift

Well, as I stated in the last post, I was fortunate to hear from a guest speaker at my church recently. His name is Muche Ukegbu, youth pastor at Blueprint Church, and he gave us the following three antidotes to spiritual drift. Take a look at them and see if you think they will work for you!

#1 – Private disciplines

Private disciplines are those “blocking and tackling” basic habits that bring our hearts closer to God on a daily basis. Examples of these disciplines are Bible reading and study, prayer, and fasting. While these may not be the only examples, they are likely the most common.

The point here is that drift often comes as a result of either eroding consistency in these habits OR from a dry spell in the execution of these habits. A great way to begin attacking spiritual drift is to jump back into these habits.

Either start them up again if you have gotten away from them or change them up if they have become dry. Mix up your reading pattern. Find a new study that may help with the struggles you are currently facing. Dig back into prayer in a way that postures your heart for God to mold it.

#2 – Personal Ministry

We are each uniquely wired to do ministry as a part of the body of Christ. When we are fulfilling this role, we are closer to the One who created us for this role. When we are closer to Him, we are not suffering from spiritual drift.

Don’t forget that He formed us to serve AND we are formed when we serve. As we are allowing ourselves to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29), we will begin to get clarity again with our vision.

If you are not currently involved in some sort of personal ministry, then you need to jump in! If you are, maybe you need to mix that up a bit. Whatever the case, this is a key part of countering spiritual drift.

#3 – Providential relationships

During our lives, God brings people to us that add depth to our spiritual journey. Sometimes we are not even paying attention when this happens and other times we see the impact immediately.

When experiencing spiritual drift, the Christian business owner or leader needs to take an inventory of these types of relationships. Maybe one of these individuals is just the one we need to reach out to for the purpose of support, advice, accountability, or partnership. It just might be that they can tell you immediately what is causing your spiritual drift!

Along this line, we should always remain aware of those God is bringing into our paths. It is very possible that He is introducing someone to us that will play a key role in our spiritual development. Don’t forget that the fruit of the spirit is displayed in community, not in solitude!

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Is There Spiritual Drift in Christian Business?

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I recently heard a guest speaker at our church that did a fantastic job with his message. As I often do these days, I saw parallels between his message to the church and what we as Christian business owners and leaders need to hear. His message dealt with how individuals, and therefore churches, can experience spiritual drift and how it can be corrected. Let’s look at how this applies to us in Christian business.

spiritual drift

Spiritual Drift Is Common

First of all, Christian leaders of all kinds can experience spiritual drift. This happens when the leader slowly and imperceptibly begins to move in a direction that creates increasing distance between himself or herself and God. It is not intentional or even desired. Most often, it is not even noticed until it has already been happening for a while.

Spiritual drift is not always due to stress or strain. In fact, it may be more common during good times. It happens whether these leaders are running businesses as platforms for ministry or serving as staff members in the local church. No Christian leader is immune to spiritual drift.

Spiritual Drift In Christian Business

Now let’s determine what this drift looks like in a Christian business owner or leader. Then we will talk about three steps to correcting this drift.

As we have discussed before, a Christian business owner or leader is one that views his or her business or team from an eternal perspective. This leader understands that the business is a gift and responsibility from God to be used to create eternal returns. Simply put, the goal of a Christian business is to point people toward God and impact their eternity.

If this is the (simplified) vision of the Christian business owner or leader, then any focus that takes the business in a direction away from that vision is a symptom of spiritual drift.

Examples Of Spiritual Drift

When a Christian business owner or leader begins making decisions that are intended to increase his or her personal comfort at the expense of other employees, spiritual drift could exist. The same is true if this leader chooses strategies that do not honor God simply because competition has heated up around him.

When the Christian business leader loses touch with the needs of his or her employees or customers due to other distractions, spiritual drift is likely. Maybe it is nothing more than a loss of passion for the mission. While seemingly harmless, this issue could actually indicate significant drift.

My Experience With Spiritual Drift

The scary thing, as I mentioned earlier, is that this drift often happens without being noticed. I have experienced this myself in our business.

Over the years, I have had great intentions for all sorts of ways to minister to employees or customers. I have started mapping out the plans, but then something would come along and distract me. It did not seem like that big of a distraction at first, but then it would grow.

Various Causes

Maybe this distraction was a crisis or maybe it was an opportunity that presented itself. Either way, my mind was taken off of the ministry focus. Not a huge deal, but it would certainly delay my progress, right?

Well, if you combine this distraction with a weak quiet time streak or some other spiritual weakness, the impact can be greater than you might imagine. In fact, I have looked up several months later only to realize my ministry plans are sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

Does any of this ring a bell?

What To Do About It?

So, assuming we have all experienced this kind of drift at one time or another, what do we do about it? Is it even critical that we address it or should we accept it as part of life? Will our path eventually turn back toward God on its own? Is there any real danger in this kind of drift?

I would like to know your thoughts on these questions. Submit your comments below and let me know your take on all of this.

In my next post, I will give you three steps to correcting the drift. Stay tuned!

Have you experienced this spiritual drift?

Did it sneak up on you or did you see it coming?

What did you do about it?

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EntreLeadership: Free Book Give Away!!!

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[title color=”orange-vibrant” align=”scmgccenter” font=”georgia” style=”normal” size=”scmgc-7em”]Free Book Give Away!!![/title]

entreleadership

A Free Book Give Away?

You read that right! I am doing my first give-away on this blog. And to start things off, I am offering a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s latest book, EntreLeadership! If you have not read this book, you are in for a treat. Even if you have, you need to give a copy away to someone else you that needs to read it.

How Do You Win?

If you scroll down just a bit you will see the Rafflecopter entry form which outlines a bunch of ways to enter the EntreLeadership giveaway. Just complete as many as you would like to be entered to win?

Why Am I Doing This?

I started this blog in an effort to spread the message of integrating the Christian faith into our businesses. I want to see more Christian business owners and leaders begin looking at their businesses from an eternal perspective and running them as platforms for Christian ministry.

While I know my posts are written toward this effort, I thought I would try to step it up a notch for 2013. My plan is to give away one book a month for the entire year! All I am asking from you is to follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. As you enter, you will be helping me to spread the word about this blog at the same time. We both win!

This Month’s Book- EntreLeadership

When you started your business, did anyone teach you how to invest in your team? How to delegate so you could grow your company beyond you? Who taught you how to find the perfect hire or let people who weren’t a fit go with dignity? Leaders need answers to questions they don’t even know to ask. EntreLeadership provides the answers…and it does it from a Christian point of view!

Enter The Give Away

Follow the instructions below and then spread the word to others!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 3

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In my last two posts, we have been looking at an example of marketplace ministry from the life of the Apostle Paul. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. I also reviewed the first two steps in Paul’s 4 step process of sharing the gospel in the marketplace. In today’s post, I want to break down the last two steps of this four-step marketplace ministry method and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Paul’s Marketplace Ministry In Acts

As a refresher, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. As a reminder, here are the first two steps from last post:

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Now let’s move on to the final two steps…

Step #3 – Use their language to communicate your message.

Paul – If you remember back in Step #1, Paul had observed an altar “To An Unknown God.” While this may seem silly to us, it was obviously important to his audience. Rather than mocking them for their rampant idol worship, Paul used that very altar to lead into his discussion on the one, true God.

He went on in his message and talked about how God is not one dwells in temples built by human hands. As a society worshipping many gods, they were very familiar with temples and had many scattered around Athens. Finally, Paul even mentioned (and quoted) their own poets.

Application – We are called by God to be separate and different than the society in which we live. At the same time, we should follow Paul’s example and be familiar enough with the “language” of this society that we can carry on meaningful conversations. Too often, we act like we cannot even associate with “those people” that we see as sinners and non-believers.

If you read about Jesus’ ministry here on earth, you will quickly see that “those people” are the very ones with which he associated. We are to do the same, talking to them in ways they understand, not in “churchy” language that confuses them.

Step #4 – Tell them the simple truth.

Paul – Paul observed their surroundings, listened to what they had to say, and tailored his message to their language. What he did not do is water down the gospel message. He did not skip over the resurrection because it might “offend” or cause them to ridicule him. He did not acknowledge their beliefs as another option for salvation.

In his marketplace ministry, Paul stuck to the simple truth of the gospel message. He did not swerve from it to the right or the left. The results? Some sneered and others mocked him. But still others came to believe and followed him to learn more.

Application – There is so much pressure today to show tolerance for other religious views. Christians are ridiculed for believing that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. As a result, many Christians (even some pastors!) retreat from this message and water down the gospel. I think this is simply a tragedy.

Our responsibility is not to modify or reduce the gospel message to one that is more easily swallowed by a stiff-necked crowd. We DO need to present it in a way that is understandable by the crowd. Otherwise, we may as well leave it written in Latin. But to go beyond this and CHANGE the message itself is not acceptable.

Stick with the simple truth and God will honor your efforts. Even if you are another Jeremiah without a single convert, you cannot lose heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work in their hearts. Our job is to cast the seed. The rest is up to Him!

Do you see how you can engage in marketplace ministry?

What does it look like in your situation?

What obstacles are holding you back?

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Automotive Super Conference Coming Soon!

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Typically, I do not have much advertising on this blog. At the same time, one of my stated goals is to provide resources for anyone interested in using their businesses for an eternal impact. I believe the Automotive Super Conference is this type of resource.

Automotive Super Conference

Automotive Super Conference

For that reason, I want to bring this upcoming conference to your attention. The conference is going to be held in Charlotte, NC at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on March 13-14, 2013.

You can read more by clicking on the banner above, but the Automotive Super Conference is targeted toward auto dealers and their employees. It will be themed around Dave Anderson’s How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK, which I have used for some posts here in this blog. In fact, Dave Anderson will be the keynote speaker as well!

I Am Excited!

I am really excited about this conference for several reasons.

First, I have never heard of a Christian conference in the car business. These just don’t happen in our industry. If it has happened before, then I missed it.

Numerous Benefits!

The obvious benefits are numerous. There will be Bible-based teaching with direct application in every department in a typical dealership. There will be 14 different workshops covering many topics – all centered around the Bible. That is really cool!

In addition to the workshops, there will be sharing of best practices and fresh ideas coming from various panel discussion sessions as well as the breaks and meals in between. This is often where the best learning happens for me. There is no doubt I will come away having learned something.

It is also going to be inspiring to see that none of us are alone in our efforts. Being able to see hundreds of other dealers and industry leaders gathered in one place to learn more about how to honor God with their businesses – that will be awesome! I can’t wait!

My First Workshop!

Finally, I am excited about the Automotive Super Conference because I have been given the opportunity to present one of the workshops! I have not finalized my topic yet, but you know it will be along the same lines as the blog. As soon as I finalize the topic, I will give you a sneak preview!

Spread The Word

My request to you is that you help me spread the word. Tell anyone you think might be interested about this conference and send them to the site to learn more. Like I said, you can click on the banner above or the link below. You can also copy the link and paste it into your emails, tweets, etc.

While the theme of the conference is Bible-based, everyone is welcome. Maybe someone seeking a faith will come to know Jesus because they attended! Who knows what God has planned?!?!

http://automotivesuperconference.com

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 2

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In my last post, I showed you an example of how the origin of marketplace ministry dates back to the days of the early church. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. In today’s post, I want to break down the first two steps of the four-step method Paul used and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Marketplace Ministry In Acts

To catch up, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. If you take time to study exactly what Paul did and said, I think you will come up with a fairly simple 4-step process for marketplace ministry.

Let’s dive right in.

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Paul – Take a look at verse 16 first. Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. Was he frustrated at the delay? Did he pass the time focused on that frustration? No, instead he was paying attention to his surroundings and noticed all of the idols in Athens.

Jump to verses 22-23. Paul is speaking to the marketplace people and mentions that he has noticed they are religious. Not only that, but he also noticed an altar “To An Unknown God.” Some of us may have seen this and chuckled at the senselessness of such an altar. Paul saw an opportunity for marketplace ministry!

Application – Today, we have business going on all around us and there are plenty of opportunities for similar observations. If we pray for wisdom and discernment, God will respond and answer that prayer.

I encourage you to slow down, pray, and start noticing the tell-tale signs around you. These will give you clues on how to share the gospel where you are.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Paul – When Paul first started teaching the message of the gospel in the marketplace, he elicited a response from the crowd. Some called him a babbler and others thought his teaching was strange. Surely Paul heard these comments from the crowd. Likely, he was at least mildly bothered by them.

But rather than react to the responses, he listened. He heard that they were interested in “new teachings” and were actually, for the most part, just curious. By listening to their comments and questions, he learned about how they thought.

Combined with what he had already observed (Step #1), he came up with a terrific strategy for sharing the gospel in a way that would fit the crowd!

Application – We have the same opportunity for marketplace ministry today if we will only slow down and listen. Too often, in an environment of political correctness and a lack of tolerance for Christian views, we react with anger or frustration when questioned. Unlike Paul, we fail to set our emotions aside and think strategically.

Again, we need to pray for God to teach us how to do this. It does not come naturally so we cannot expect to get it on our own. Instead, we need to pray, practice, and trust God to make up the difference!

In my next post, I will address the final two parts of Paul’s process for marketplace ministry. Hopefully, you will be able to take these four steps and apply them to your business opportunities.

What observations have you made that allowed you to share the gospel?

Are you being intentionally observant, listening to those around you?

Do you typically react to criticism or thoughtfully respond to it?

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry

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For the past nine years, I have been attempting to run our business from an eternal perspective – effectively using it as a platform for Christian ministry. Unfortunately, this is not very common and therefore I often find myself explaining exactly what I mean by marketplace ministry. Today, in an effort to shed more light on this, I want to take a look at an example of marketplace ministry in the life of the Apostle Paul.

marketplace ministry

Paul The Tentmaker

We know from Acts 18:3 that Paul was a tentmaker by trade. We don’t necessarily know how much of his time was spent making tents versus doing ministry, but it is clear that tent making was his occupation. The following verse refers to Paul coming to stay with Aquila and Priscilla.

Paul came to them, and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Acts 18:3

Because we don’t necessarily know how much time Paul spent making tents, I am not going to attempt to draw an exact parallel between Paul’s ministry and a current-day Christian business. That is not the point of this post at all.

Marketplace Ministry

Instead, I simply want to broaden your understanding and awareness of the existence of (and need for) marketplace ministry – dating all the way back to the days of early church. Then I want to give you some simple tips, based on Paul’s example, for following Paul’s example in your business today.

First, let’s take a look at another passage in Acts, only one chapter before the verse mentioned above. This passage is too long to include in this post, so I will ask you to take a moment and CLICK HERE to read Acts 17:16-34. It will only take you a minute!

Paul Was Troubled

What is the first thing you read about Paul’s mindset in verse 16? It says his spirit was troubled or that he was greatly distressed. His problem was the rampant worship of idols in Athens. I am not sure what exactly brought this to his attention or whether it was related to his tent making. It really is not important.

The point of this is that Paul’s spirit was troubled at the worship of idols in Athens and so he went into the marketplace everyday to reason with those who were there. Don’t you think Paul would feel the same way today if he witnessed our marketplaces? Don’t you think his spirit would be troubled?

Are You Troubled?

If so, is yours? Paul told us to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). If this is indeed what we should be doing, don’t you think our spirits should be troubled as well by the worship of idols in our marketplaces? Shouldn’t we be distressed?

Let’s assume for the moment that you agree with me on this and your spirit IS troubled.

What next?

What are you to do about it?

Paul And Marketplace Ministry

Well, those are good questions. For the answer, let’s take a look at what Paul did. Going back to the passage from Acts 17, we see in verses 17-18 that Paul did not just sit still when his spirit became troubled. Instead he went right to the people (some in the synagogue, some in the marketplace) and met them where they were.

It is certainly possible that he did this by turning his tent-making business into a marketplace ministry. Unfortunately, there is not enough detail in this passage to determine whether or not that is true. All we do know is that he did put himself in the middle of the marketplace and began sharing the simple message of the gospel.

Initial Response

The initial response to what Paul was saying was curiosity. The people told him that they wanted to hear more about this “new teaching” he was proclaiming. As a result, Paul was given the opportunity to talk to the very leaders and authorities in the marketplace (the Areopagus).

Results?

What were the results?

Well, some sneered and mocked him. They were not interested in what he had to say and they made it clear with their response. Others, however, believed him and began to follow Paul to learn more.

They Need What We Have

Folks, when you break it down, it is really this simple. The majority of the people in the marketplace today need the message that we have. They need to know the truth and we have it! All that remains is for us to begin going into the marketplace and sharing this message.

Different Methods, Same Ministry

This will look different for some than it will for others. We all have different opportunities and skills for entering marketplace ministry. God has determined this according to His will and we are only charged with following His lead. I encourage you to begin praying about how He can use YOU in this effort.

In my next post, we are going to break down Paul’s actual 4-step method from this passage and try to apply it to our current day marketplace ministry opportunities.

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Life Plan Process: Overview

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life plan

This is the final post in a series on LIFE planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a LIFE plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

Life Plan Variety

Life plans can take on all sorts of shapes and sizes. They can be fully contained on one page or they can consist of several documents. It really is not important how long or short, thick or thin these plans become.

The most important aspect of the life plan is whether it does its job. If it helps to guide you through life, assists you in maximizing your resources for the greatest impact, and keeps your focus on what you have decided is most important to you, then it has done its job.

I have described to you the components of my own LIFE Plan. You may not want to take this process and copy it for yourself. Some of you may think I go too far in planning. Others may think I do not do enough. Regardless, I hope you find the components of my process useful in helping you to create your own.

Now I want to go into more detail about how I actually develop, revise, and use this LIFE Plan in my life.

Off-Site Session

The first step in my process is the off-site session. I first started doing this session in mid December each year, but have since moved it back into November. Just like year-end budgeting or forecasting, you want to make sure you have plenty of time to fully develop the plans before the new year begins.

Much like my brainstorming session, I like to get away from any and all distractions for this session. Whether it is a hotel room, a cabin in the woods, or a private room in the local college library, I have always been intentional about getting away. I schedule a full day and make sure people know where I am and that I will not be answering the phone.

Prayer

The first part of my LIFE planning process is prayer. This is key to putting my mind in the right perspective and getting God’s wisdom. I do not want to make all these plans and then ask God to bless them and make them His will. I want His will to establish my plans.

Review of Prior Year

I begin my session by reviewing the prior year. The first document I use is the Yearly Audit [CLICK HERE for copy] from the C12 Group. This is a thorough, but also concise, review of the key components in the life of a Christian business owner or leader. It refreshes my memory and helps me to assess my performance during the prior year. I strongly recommend you use this.

The next document I review is my master LIFE Plan Document from that prior year. In this document, I have expanded on all of my thoughts, goals, and plans for the year. I review this document to determine what items were accomplished and may need to be deleted as well as to choose those items to be carried over into the next year.

Finally, I review my LIFE Plan Dashboard from that prior year. Which of my goals did I hit, exceed, or miss completely? I look for patterns of positive habits established or those I struggled even to start.

Prayer & Brainstorm

Once I have a decent feel for how I performed against my plan for that year, I begin praying and brainstorming about what needs to change and what needs to stay the same for the upcoming year. I ask God to direct my thoughts to those areas where He wants change in me.

I take notes on anything and everything that comes to mind. I really enjoy this time because nothing is off limits. I do my best to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart and guide me. I do not want to come into this time with any preconceived ideas.

Prioritize and Review

From here, I prioritize what came out of the brainstorm session along with the plan from the prior year. I make the necessary revisions to the master LIFE Plan Document and save this draft.

I will likely make minor revisions and tweaks to this document over the next few weeks as I set goals for each area. As I do this, I also add the applicable goals to my LIFE Plan Dashboard and calendars. My goal is to have a set of completed documents by the end of December so I can start January with a clean slate!

Weekly Review

I have mentioned David Allen’s Getting Things Done in past posts. One of the best things I learned from Allen was the weekly review. Without this part of the process, it is easy to find yourself two, three, or four months down the road without having accomplished the first item on your life plan.

Essentially, the weekly review is a time I close my office door and plan out the next week. I review the prior week’s accomplishments, my known To Do’s for the upcoming week, my calendar, and my LIFE Plan Dashboard. I prioritize what needs to get done and lay out a rough idea of when I can work on each item.

I take this time every Saturday and would be completely lost without it. I am by no means perfectly efficient with my time, but the weekly review has brought me to a point where I think I am a 7 or 8 on a 10 scale.

Not only am I more efficient, but I am accomplishing more in my LIFE plan than I would otherwise. I am reminded of the airline pilot who announced, “We are lost, but making good time!” My weekly review helps me to make good time and my LIFE Plan makes sure I am not lost!

Nothing More To See Here

life planFolks, that is basically all of the details of my own LIFE Plan. As I said before, it is not perfect, but it works for me. I hope you gained at least some small idea that will help you be more effective with the life that God has given you.

Even if your next step is to create a life plan as simple as the one shown here, then you are at least getting started! I cannot claim this one as my own, but I sure do love the drive and vision!

I will say again, if you have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me privately via the Contact Page.

How do you plan on a regular basis?

If you spent more time in planning (with God’s guidance), do you think you would be more effective?

What are the obstacles that keep you from doing a better job with planning?

Originally posted 1/31/12

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Life Plan Process: Technology

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This is the fourth post in a series on LIFE planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a LIFE plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

Life Plan Components

So far, I have told you why I think you need a life plan. I have shown you how to create a life plan master document and dashboard. In this post, I want to share with you the way I use technology as a part of my life planning process. Before you ask, I will walk you through my Weekly Review process in the next post!

Too Many Technology Choices!

Obviously, there are more technology choices out there than Baskin Robbins flavors of ice cream. I know this makes it tough to choose the right one. So, I did the best I could and ran with what I found. My point in telling you this is that my choices are just that…my choices. You may find something that works better for you.

If so, great! If you do not want to go through the search process, then I welcome you to try what I am using. You may even choose some and ignore others. You may even stick to pen and paper. Truly, it is not important. What is important is that you get started with something! Don’t let this subject keep you from beginning your life plan.

Hardware

First, I will tell you about my hardware. I use an iPhone, iPad, and an HP laptop. I am not an “Apple” guy (no Mac for me at this point!), but I do love the iPhone and iPad. Everything I do syncs automatically and wirelessly between all three of these products. (The one exception is that I have to sync my iPhone and laptop with iTunes to sync my Contacts.)

I could get by without the iPad, but it has been a treat to use (I am still getting used to it) the more I learn with it. So at least for today, I mainly use the other two.

Software / Apps

As for my software/apps, there are four main products that I use. In each case, there are several products on the market, some paid and some free, that are similar in most ways. Again, these are not necessarily the best, but certainly work well for me. Every app listed below works on all three of my hardware products and syncs automatically.

Google Docs

This is probably the guts of my LIFE plan process. This is where I have uploaded my LIFE Plan Dashboard. The Dashboard is in a spreadsheet file, along with several other sheets I have added over time. In this one file, I have sheets that track my progress toward my goals.

I have a separate sheet for each of the following Focus Areas and Goals:

Reading List – books I’ve read, how I rated them, and progress toward goal
Listening List – audio books and messages I’ve listened to, rating, and goal progress
Exercise – exercise time and activities, progress toward goals
Scripture – all memory verses (1 per week) I am memorizing
Teaching – each teaching session I’ve led (topic and time) and goal progress
Blog Stats – tracks traffic metrics and goal progress

I use Google Docs for this because I can access it from any computer with internet access. This way I can do my review whether I am at my own computer or not. I can also access it on my iPhone and iPad.

Toodledo

Toodledo is my To Do list on steroids! In this app, I keep all of my tasks and projects. Using the general philosophy from David Allen’s Getting Things Done, I try to keep everything listed in here and not on my mind.

This app is very flexible in the way it allows me to schedule tasks, group them in folders according to Focus Area or by projects (with subtasks), and tag them any way I want. It sends reminders by SMS text or email (or both!). Whether I am in the car with only my phone or in the bed reading on the iPad, these reminders keep me straight and on task!

Google Calendar

Since I am already using Gmail and Google Docs, it makes sense for me to use Google Calendar as well. One of the things I like about Google Calendar is the ability to create multiple calendars and overlay them with each other, any way I want.

My wife keeps a calendar for the family and kid events. Anytime I want to plan family time or a date night out, I can simply click on her calendar and it overlays mine to show me the free times! This really works well for us.

In addition to my main calendar, I keep a simple reading and listening calendar along with one for my teaching/training schedule. These allow me to leave these calendars hidden except during my weekly review time. This way, my main calendar is not too cluttered.

Evernote

Evernote is an amazing app that will do much more than I currently use for my LIFE plan process. Essentially, it is an electronic storage cabinet for any kind of document or file you want to put there.

For starters, I have my main LIFE Plan Document stored there. I also have a Weekly Review Template, which is just a checklist for my Weekly Review process. I also clip articles and ideas for future training sessions here.

All of my blog posts are written in Evernote and my prayer “notebook” is there. I also have a template there for my non-fiction book “net-outs.” I keep the net-outs from every book there as well.

All of this is available to review and edit on any computer with internet connection, but you can also download any or all files for offline use. When recently on vacation in Jamaica, this came in handy!

Summary

I assume this may seem like too much to some of you. I don’t disagree. At the same time, until I build habits in some of these areas, this process really helps keep me on track.

While I do not expect anyone to copy my process, I do hope my sharing has helped generate some ideas for many of you. If you have any questions about any of it, please feel free to ask. I will help where I can!

Are you using any of these tools or something similar?

How are you using technology to strengthen your performance?

What tools are you using that others may find useful?

Originally posted 1/29/12

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How To Create A Life Plan Dashboard

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This is the third post in a series on life planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a life plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

LIFE Plan Document

In my last post, I gave you a detailed description and break-down of my main LIFE Plan document. I described my Roles, Focus Areas, and Goals. I gave you a couple of samples from these areas. I also gave you access to download my [Title Page Summary] and [Godly Father Role].

As you can probably guess, combining all of these pieces into a complete document makes for a long document. The length of the document made it difficult to quickly review it on a regular basis. While I considered cutting it down, I just could not figure out which parts to eliminate.

Dashboard as Summary

So, as a result, I decided I needed a “dashboard” of sorts. With a one-page summary, I felt I could use this document in a weekly review process. I used a compilation of several resources I had found (and created a spreadsheet that would represent the month to month living out of my LIFE Plan. This Dashboard is made up of many sections, or “Gauges”, that help me keep my overall LIFE plan at the forefront of my mind.

Roles, Focuses, and Goals Gauges

For the first section, I started with the eight roles and laid out the sheet in a way that would allow me to see all eight Roles and the corresponding Focus Areas. Then, I left three blanks under each Role for monthly Goals. Each month, I update my monthly Goals, leaving the Roles and Focus Areas the same throughout the year.

Take a look at the picture below to get an idea of what I mean. (Note the Roles and Focus Areas have changed…this is part of my dashboard from December 2010)

life plan

Remaining Sections

As I have said several times, this whole process has evolved over time for me. You may want to stop right there and let your dashboard include only your Roles, Focuses, and Goals Guages. I started here, but have since added to mine. I will share the rest of my Dashboard with you and let you decide if any of it is interesting to you.

Strengths Gauges

In his book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham describes how working on your strengths is the best strategy. At the end of the book, you take a test and are told your top strengths. I really found the material to be enlightening and began determining how I could apply it to my life.

In a sequel to Buckingham’s book, StrengthsFinder 2.0, author Tom Rath details out a list of 10 strategies for developing each strength described. I picked the top two or three of those actions for each of my top four strengths and put them on my dashboard.

Take a look at this picture to see how this looks.

life plan

Final Gauges

Across the bottom of the LIFE plan Dashboard, I added four more sections based on what I felt was most important to review regularly. You may substitute your own categories here, but I included the following:

1. Prayer Focus – a listing of various ongoing areas in which I focused my prayer
2. Reading/Listening Plan – a list of the books and audio for that month
3. 360 Assessment – my top ten concern areas from a 360 degree assessment of me
4. Scripture – a list of references to the 15-20 verses I am trying to memorize

Here is a visual of these gauges.

life plan

Closing Quote

To close out the bottom of my LIFE Plan Dashboard, I wanted something to keep me focused on the big picture. I learned in my C12 group that I should always be ready with a conversation-starting response to the question, “What do you do for a living?” I used this answer to close out my dashboard.

I work for an unusual company. It is an car dealership group that is a Christian company. We are trying to learn, and to show, how Jesus would run a company if He were the boss.

That’s It!

So, there it is! That is my LIFE Plan Dashboard, in all its glory! If you want to see the entire document together, just [Click Here].

Some of you are thinking I am crazy and others are thinking I am weak. That is fine! I can handle it!

Regardless of what you are thinking, I encourage you to do something similar. I will go into more detail about how I use this Dashboard in my final post in this series, but for now, I urge you to think about what you could create that would be easy to review on a weekly basis. Keeping your life plan in front of you in some shape or form will keep you closer to the path God has revealed to you.

What is your reaction to this dashboard?

Do you see how you could benefit from a weekly review of your life plan?

What do you see to be your next step in the life planning process?

Originally posted 1/26/12