I ended my last post about my year end review process with an encouragement not to get frustrated or overwhelmed when you see how far you are away from the standards or goals you seek. Depending on your perspective, it is possible you understood what I meant by that, but I think that concept is critical enough to spend more time exploring it.
As another year comes to a close, I begin looking to the new year with new and improved plans and goals. Of course, that is likely not that uncommon. However, maybe the questions I am asking are different from the ones you would consider normal. Maybe these year end review questions are ones we ALL should be asking each year – especially if we are serious about getting better results!
A friend recently used the following illustration: Can you explain how cell phone technology actually works? I am not asking if you know how to use a cell phone, but if you can explain how it works? Odds are, you cannot explain this technology. I sure cannot. Yet, it does not seem like this lack of understanding of cell phone technology is a stumbling block for anyone. People do not refuse to believe in and depend upon cell phones simply because they don’t know how they work, right?
I like to read back over the Christmas story as we get closer to Christmas. I also like to dig into it and see how I can take the lessons I find and apply them to my life and business today. For that reason, I want to focus on how we can believe more like Mary and less like Zechariah.
I often hear Christians discussing, even complaining about, how difficult it is to balance their faith, family, work, social lives, etc. I know their intentions are good and they desperately want to do what is “right”, but seeking a balance across these areas is a big mistake. In fact, this kind of goal is in direct conflict with Scripture!
In my last post, I told you about an experience I had at an out of town meeting. I also told you that there would likely be more learning to come out of that incident. Well, I was right. In fact, it was at church that I was hit in the face with what I think was the root of my woes – envy.
It is not often that I break a post into two parts. Occasionally, I will do a series of multiple posts, but even then each one is usually self-contained for the most part. However, my last post was not that way. It was clearly only part one of a two part story about doubt and frustration. If you have not read the last post, you must first go and do it now (click here). Trust me, it is necessary if you want to understand this post.
I have a confession to make. Most of you reading this have never met me, but I will tell you that I am highly competitive and hate to lose. I strive to win and succeed at everything I do. Obviously, I am not always good enough to do so! Even worse, I am able to quickly lose my footing and fall into a pit of despair if I see myself losing. Doubt and frustration can set in quickly if I am not careful.
Intuitively, we all know that our behaviors as leaders can have significant impact on those we work with every day as well as the results we desire for our business. These behaviors can drive forward, or significantly limit, our efforts. However, I am betting that the behaviors that first come to your mind as I start into this subject are most likely behaviors that we have all learned about in Business 101. Instead, I want to talk about a behavior that gets less attention – that of unbelief.
I hope I got your attention with that headline. I intended to! I did it because too often we are lulled to sleep by the world around us. When this happens, we need a wake-up call. We need to shake the cobwebs out of our head and begin thinking clearly again. In this case, I want to do it by telling you that I am glad they killed Jesus!