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Making My Dream a Reality

July 24, 2012

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh That’s one thing that we don’t do enough of. We don’t dream enough. I believe that my life will ultimately be defined by my dreams. And so will yours. Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you the ceiling of your life. Dreams set the destination and direction of our lives. You’ll never reach a point past your dreams.

Yesterday I spoke about having dreams and about how our heavenly Father has big dreams for us. Today I want to talk about the steps we need to take to turn those dreams into reality. I’ll talk about the first two steps today and then continue in my next post on Thursday.

Dreams, Dreams, Dreams

July 23, 2012

Nothing’s better than dreams. Not the kind of dreams that come when we’re asleep (even though those are great too). No, I’m talking about the kind of dreams we have when we’re fully awake – the dreams about what we want our lives to look like and where we’re headed.

Some dream of graduating Harvard Law school one day, while others dream of discovering the cure for cancer. Some dream of making it on Broadway, while others dream of making it to the NBA.

Dreams dreams dreams. We all have dreams. And let’s be honest. WE LOVE OUR DREAMS! A life without a dream isn’t much is it? Dreams are what keep us going. They push us to fight through obstacles and barriers. Without them, life can be boring and quite difficult. Agree?

What Does It Take to Be Great?

July 19, 2012

“Greatness is not given. Greatness is taken.”That’s a line from the new Gatorade commercial starring DC’s newest celebrity – Robert Griffin III, quarterback of the Washington Redskins.

In addition to being a fan of RGIII and hoping that he is the long awaited franchise quarterback that the Redskins have been waiting for, his commercial got me to thinking:

what does it take to get great? What defines greatness?

What makes a great doctor or a great lawyer? What makes a great husband or wife? And in a spiritual sense, what makes me great as a child of God?

I’ve always believed that the measure of success in any field isn’t based on what you DON’T DO, but rather it is based on what you DO DO. I even said that once at a retreat and it quickly became the catch phrase of the retreat: SUCCESS = DO DO (copyright coming soon, once I figure out how to do that :)).

What I Learned from Running a 5K (Part 2)

July 6, 2012

SETTING a goal and ANNOUNCING the goal makes it easier to ACCOMPLISH that goal. That is what I learned from my recent 4th of July 5k run. Yesterday I spoke about step 1, SETTING THE GOAL. Today I want to talk about the second step – a step that I believe will increase your likelihood of accomplishing your goal exponentially.

Step Two: ANNOUNCING YOUR GOALS HELPS YOU OVERCOME OBSTACLES

Setting a goal is good, but there’s something extra motivational about announcing it publicly. Maybe it is just the competitive nature inside of me, but once I announce I am going to do something, I am going to do everything in my power to accomplish it.

What I Learned from Running a 5K (Part 1)

July 5, 2012

I DID IT! YES! I DID IT!!! That was one of the first thoughts that entered my head yesterday shortly after I crossed the finish line of my first 5k race. I ACCOMPLISHED MY GOAL! I DID IT!

Of course, I’d be lying if I said it was the first thought – to be fully honest, I think my first thought was closer to “I NEED WATER AND A PIECE OF OPEN SPACE TO COLLAPSE ON FOR A FEW MINUTES.” But it wasn’t long afterwards that the feeling of exhaustion was replaced by a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

I think I finally understand why so many people like to run in these races. It never made sense to me before, but I think I get it now. I learned a lot in the process and I want to share some of lessons with you to hopefully make a believer out of you too.

The most important lesson I learned is this: SETTING a goal and ANNOUNCING the goal makes it easier to ACCOMPLISH that goal.

Big Rocks First

May 18, 2012

A simple concept that will transform your life – if you learn to live by it daily. No one other concept is more important to the idea of “time management,” and more importantly “life management,” than this.

Here is a video by Dr. Stephen Covey which illustrates the concept of BIG ROCKS FIRST. The video is about 6 minutes long but trust me, it's well worth watching. The visual illustration is much more powerful than any words can say and it will stick much longer too.

After you watch the video, consider what are the BIG ROCKS in your life? Part of living intentionally means realizing that not all tasks were created equal. The appropriate question to ask is not “did I get stuff done today?” but rather “did I get the important stuff done today?” Like I said yesterday, the issue isn’t working harder; the issue is how to work smarter and focus on the important tasks that really need my attention.

Defining Your Roles in Life

May 11, 2012

Life is about relationships, not accomplishments.

That’s another one of those life changing sentences that I read several years ago that changed me and really helped me get my life in focus. I am about as “Type A” a personality as you can find. I am hard-working. I am driven. I take initiative and I take pride in getting the job done.

But one of the flaws that come with such a personality (one of the FEW flaws let me add) is that I tend to focus more on accomplishments at the expense of relationships. I am not a relational person by nature. But one of the things that I’ve learned over the years is that when you get to the end of your life – see yesterday’s post if you didn’t already – it isn’t about accomplishments. It’s about relationships.

Beginning at the End

May 10, 2012

As promised, each week I will dedicate one or two blog posts to the idea of “Living on Purpose, not by Accident.” Why? Because we all end up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.”

Imagine this scene. You’re in a big church sanctuary about to attend one of the most important occasions in your life. You’re surrounded by hundreds of people that you know well – family, friends, colleagues, neighbors – anyone who you consider an important part of your life. The church is packed but there’s no talking – only sounds of sniffling. There’s a big box in the front and everyone seems to be focused on that box. You know what’s in the box right???

YOU! This is your funeral and it’s about to begin. Here’s the question you need to answer today while you still can: WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL SAY ABOUT YOU?

What will your spouse say? What will your parents say? What will your friends say? What will your neighbors or co-workers say? What do you want them to say? How about God Himself – the True Judge – what do you think He’d want to say at the end of your life?

A Laser Beam Life

May 4, 2012

Yesterday I spoke about the dilemma that many find themselves in these days – great intentions, but no results. We dream of getting our life in order (spiritually or physically or relationally or financially) but we soon discover that dreams alone are not enough to get the job done. So what is the answer? How do we do it?

One of the things that I’ve learned from living my entire life in the DC metro area – one of the most fast paced areas in the country – is that going faster and doing more is not the answer. The secret of success has nothing to do with being able to do more in less time or working harder. I am going to assume that you – like me – are a hard worker and you are trying your best. The issue isn’t lack of effort.

The issue is LACK OF FOCUS. Focus drives success.

Living on Purpose, not by Accident

May 3, 2012

“Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.”

That sentence changed my life several years ago. I read it in a book that spoke about living life intentionally and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s a powerful phrase. Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.

We all have dreams - things we’d like to accomplish – whether personally or relationally or financially or whatever. For example, all of us aspire to one day be wealthy – not necessarily for materialistic reasons, but at least so that we can be stable and secure and have the ability to give to those in need.

We all dream of getting in shape. I doubt there are many people reading this blog that wouldn’t like to shed a few extra pounds and improve their health – not necessarily to the point of being a supermodel, but at least to the point where we don’t have to think of an excuse every time we are invited to go to the swimming pool!

You have a dream about what your marriage should look like. You have a dream about what your relationships should look like. Your career, your spiritual life, your future…WE ALL HAVE DREAMS!

Do You Even Remember Your New Year's Resolution?

March 1, 2012

It’s March 1 and that means that we’re two months into 2012. Now be honest… have you kept your resolution for 2012? Be honest. Are you still doing what you said you’d be doing? Is your year going the direction you thought it would by now? Did you know that by the end of January, 40% of all New Year’s resolutions have been tossed aside? And that number jumps up to 75% by the middle of February!

It’s amazing how easy it is to come up with things about our lives that we want to change and yet how hard it is to actually change them! Why is that? Why can’t we keep our resolutions? Why can’t we make those changes that we know we need to make?

Did you know that: