Live - Build - Change the Christian faith and business show

Stay hungry... It was the summer of 1980. I was 13 years old. And I was the hungriest I'd ever been in my life. I was in the middle of my "ordeal," an initiation exercise to gain entrance into a special group within the boy scouts known as the "Order of the Arrow." There was a group of 25 of us who were invited to participate. It was an honor and I was glad to be there. But it was difficult for a 13 year-old because we had to: Spend the weekend working at the camp Remain silent the entire time Sleep by ourselves out in the woods, with no tent or sleeping bag Not eat any food for 2 days Weird? Maybe. Consider it an early testosterone-laden initiation. But you can see why I was so hungry. Staying hungry impacted my thinking Of course, I was nowhere near as hungry as many people in the world are every day, but for a teenager who'd never missed a meal in his life, it felt like I was starving. Though I was plenty busy, it only took about 12 hours of not eating for my thoughts to be on one thing only - food. I wanted to eat. Badly. I couldn't sleep because my growling stomach kept me awake. I was consumed with the thought of consuming something, anything, to satisfy the gnawing in my belly. And to make matters worse, the light at the end of the dark hunger-tunnel was that we were promised that if we made it to the end, we'd be given a lavish banquet. That focused my thoughts on food even more. Staying hungry as an adult When I hit adulthood I began to hear the phrase "stay hungry" in a variety of circles. Because of my boy scout "ordeal" I had a pretty good idea of what was meant by it. Hunger drives you. Hunger keeps you focused (on the thought of food). Hunger won't let you rest. So when I heard sports figures or business gurus say that success requires that you "stay hungry," I knew exactly what they were getting at. They meant that you had to set a goal and keep it before you at all times. You had to desire something, one thing, more than you'd ever desired anything before. They meant you had to become obsessed with that one thing. How should a Christian business person stay hungry? All of that is great advice... if you are your own man or woman. If you call the shots in your life. If you don't answer to anyone. Ever. But those are not descriptions that fit a Christian. [tweetthis]We have a LORD (Jesus). He's made claims on our lives. Yet, He still wants us to "stay hungry."[/tweetthis] How? Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. - Matthew 6:5 It doesn't really matter what your lot in life is (business, homemaking, trench digging, plumbing, etc.), you have the same calling as every other Christ-follower. You are to stay hungry - for righteousness. Nothing can take the place of that desire. Nothing should outshadow it. It's difficult to be THAT kind of hungry in business because there are so many other things to be hungry for... so many other things that vie for that place of obsessive attention: success fame notoriety money growth reputation a greater market share and the list goes on. So what do you do? It's not easy, but it begins at the beginning of every, single day. Getting hungry in the morning Your morning is vital to your day. Even non-Christ-following people know this to be true. (See this post from Lifehacker called, "Do you have a morning ritual?" and this one, "5 morning rituals" from Entrepreneur Magazine.) Whether you've ever taken to a morning "quiet time" or "daily devotional" is not the point. The point is that morning is the time you've got to set your mind and heart for the day ahead. In the context of what we're talking about, the morning is when you've got to stoke your hunger - for righteousness. If you don't do it then, I can guarantee you the competing options that rise up through the busy business day will squelch it altogether. [tweetthis]You've got to set aside some time at the beginning of every day to get your head and heart right...[/tweetthis] ...to put yourself in a place where God is able to create the hunger in you that you desperately need. I'd suggest you create some sort of regular, methodical routine that you follow consistently. For me, it's my "Morning Mindset Reset" which you can read about at this linked post. Whatever it is that you do, you've GOT to do something. If you don't you'll become hungry for other things. You will. Believe me. I've seen it too many times in my life and in the lives of those I've coached or counseled. Staying hungry throughout the day Morning is good. But it's not enough. [tweetthis]Morning can't be your sole time of spiritual hunger. You've got to carry it with you throughout the day.[/tweetthis] This is where it has to get practical. You've got to resort to small, simple things to remind you to say a quick prayer, open the scriptures for a quick bite of spiritual food, or take a deep breath as you rely once again on the Spirit of God. Here are some suggestions: 3X5 cards in your pocket with pertinent verses or quotes to inspire you Sticky notes on the dash of your car or inside your cubicle Alarms on your phone to remind you to rest in Christ, abide in Him, or say a quick prayer Use a service like Follow Up Then to prompt your hunger via email You get the idea. The main point is that YOU have got to do something to remind yourself to be hungry for righteousness. Please don't take this lightly. You won't like the results that come from being hungry for other things. Everything else you hunger for will turn to sand in your mouth and sourness in your belly. The result of staying hungry for righteousness The scripture I quoted earlier is pretty clear. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus promises... they shall be satisfied. The clear implication is that we'll be satisfied with what we hunger for, RIGHTEOUSNESS. That's a great deal. One I want in on every, single day. It's my prayer that you do too. (Yes, I am really praying for you as I write this.)

You know somebody once told me, “Never make decisions when you're under the cloud - wait until the sun comes out. “ And that is great advice. Get some space away from the situation. Let me tell you about the time I most felt like quitting my business... Subscribe to Live Build Change On Android | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Podbean | Spreaker | Email When I feel like giving up on my business… OUTLINE [0:00] Changes to this podcast in 2018 [2:48] A time when I felt like quitting my business [4:37] What should you do when you want to quit? [6:21] Why it’s important not to make decisions when you’re under the cloud [7:18] What if God DOES show you that you’re on the wrong track? [8:18] If you’re going to stick out out - go into “learning mode” [10:18] Why making the same mistake repeatedly is inexcusable in business I think it was about a year and a half into my business, Podcast Fast Track that some events happened all kind of right in a row that made me want to quit. I was discouraged, I was down, there were things that made me doubt myself and my abilities - and whether or not should have started this crazy entrepreneurial journey in the first place. In particular the thing that made me want to quit was that I had a client who canceled his subscription to our podcast production and show notes service. Then another one. Then another one. Three customers in a row who bailed out.just when I thought I'd been doing a really good job for them. To be honest I saw the first one coming. The businesses had been growing pretty rapidly and I was scrambling to keep up with the workload. I was trying to create systems so that I could bring others on to help me out - I was doing all of that at the same time. It was during that time frame I'd made a handful full of mistakes on that particular client’s work. I made the mistakes, not my team, me. It's strange how that happens - all of the mistakes happening on one client's account. I mean if they'd been spread out over two or three client, I don’t think I would have lost any of them. But that's how it all started, that's how I began wondering if I should quit my business. Then when the second client cancelled her subscription, and the third one just on the heels of that, you can imagine my state of mind. I mean if you've been there before you're asking all kinds of questions… What am I doing wrong? Maybe be I'm am no good at this. Maybe I should have taken on the risk of starting my own business in the first place. And sometimes the worst case scenario you hear in your own mind… “This just isn't going to work.” What should you do when you hit that point? And if you haven't hit that point yet and you are starting a business, I’m pretty certain you will come to everyone. So I want to answer the question here, “What do you do when you want to quit your business?” The first thing I would say is you need to get some space from the issue. I learned the hard way that I don't make good decisions or good assessments when I'm in the pit of despair. You know I had to get some space, to get away from the situation for a little while so that I could look at it unemotionally even eventually, dispassionately. Because I want to see what's really happened, not what I feel has happened. When I was able to do that in the situation I told you about here's is what I was able to see... Number one, the first client’s issues were entirely my fault. I had made mistakes. He lost trust in me - and trust is the most valuable thing that I can give to a client so that was completely understandable. That he said, “No thanks, we're gonna to handle this another way” is completely understandable. The second client was reorganizing his business and decided the podcasting didn't fit into his plans. Okay, that kind of thing happens in any type of business there's nothing I can do about that one. The third client was in the middle of some heavy life issues. There were two deaths in his family within one month. It makes total sense that they were off-loading all the non-priority things. Again, there’s nothing I can do about that. You know somebody once told me never make decisions when you're under the cloud. Wait until the sun comes out. That is great advice. I'm am glad I thought clearly enough to do that in this situation, and I highly recommend it for you too. Get some space away from the situation. Secondly, don't be afraid of the possibility that it could be quitting time. There's always the possibility that the LORD is using a difficult or discouraging circumstance to redirect you. I'm learning not to be afraid of that possibility - after all, maybe I'm not cut out to be an entrepreneur or a business owner. Perhaps it's something that I was induced into and excited about but it really doesn't fit me. Maybe I made a mistake in my initial decision to take on something like this. If I'm going to live a humble life I've got to be open to those as possibilities. And you know in the end, if God shows me that I shouldn't be pursuing a certain course of action or a business then that's a good thing, isn't it? Even if I don't think it is at the time, even if I feel like a failure at the time. There's actually something very admirable about noticing you've made a misstep and then correcting course. And we can always rest assured God’s got our best in mind. So in the situation I told you about I spent some time in prayer. And I sought the counsel of spiritually wise people - my wife among them. People that I respect. I did that so that I could determine if the discouragement was a course correction that I needed to heed - like quitting the business - or if it was nothing more than an obstacle or speed bump that I could learn from and overcome. Prayers for wisdom work. God promises that they do. So don't be afraid of the possibility that it actually could be quitting time you got to assess. The third thing - you should go into to the learning mode. I mean if I get through steps one and two and I feel I should remain where I'm at, you know pursuing the business, then it's time for me to assess what I did to contribute to the problems that occurred. I already mentioned that I'd made mistakes on the first customer’s service. Three mistakes in close succession for that customer, so what do I do with that? Well, I need to own it. There's is nothing wrong in admitting that I made a mistake. In fact, you can't move forward until you DO admit that you made mistakes. So I had to own those mistakes inwardly and outwardly. I contacted the client, I admitted the mistakes clearly and openly, and I apologized. I told them the steps I was taking to correct the problem and I asked if there was any way I could continue to provide the service they originally hired me for. In that situation, you know the story - they said “No thanks.” But I did what was right by owning my mistake. Another thing you need to do when you go into a learning mode is you need to consider God's role in the issue. The way that I look at that situation is that God's hand was clearly in it. I mean… He could have prevented me from making those three mistakes, all on the same clients account. He could have made the mistakes minor instead a major in the client’s eyes. He could have retained the client for me even after I made the apologies… But He didn't. And I've got to trust that God knows what He's doing in my business, that He's got a great purpose in what is happened. After all, it's His business, not mine. I’ve got to learn to rest in Him. Even in a disappointment like that. When you're in learning mode you also need to pinpoint how all the mistakes happened and tweak your procedures and your systems to avoid the same mistakes in the future. In business, making the same mistake repeatedly is inexcusable. It really is - it's inexcusable. Because as a service provider or product supplier you have committed yourself to deliver a certain amount of value. If you make a mistake - wonderful - we are human and we make mistakes. But we learn from those mistakes too - and part of what we learn is how to adjust the way we are delivering that good or that service so that the mistake doesn't happen again. You see I'm not being a good manager or a good steward of the business God has given me if I allow all those mistakes to happen over and over. So we make adjustments to the way that I do things. That's my systems. That’s my procedures. I change things, I make checklists, I do things to avoid the same errors happening repeatedly. If needed, I make sure those adjustments are communicated to my entire team so that everyone knows how to avoid that potential problem. In the situation I've described I was open with my team about my mistakes so that they could all learn from them. And that's hard to do as a business owner but you know your team will respect you more for it. Not only does that model the kind of behavior that you want to see in your team, it also builds trust in you as a leader, even though you made a mistake. The fourth thing that you need to do when you experience a business failure or you're tempted to quit is to revisit visit your purposes for being in business in the first place. It’s time to refocus. What I did was I spent some time reminding myself why I'm doing this thing called business. Here's my quick bullet point list that I went through… I'm providing for my family - that's a huge responsibility in a massively important thing to me I'm am creating things that will benefit people - and I really do want to help people with the majority of my time, and let's not fool ourselves if we are working we spend the majority of our time at that. And it should be something that is benefiting people. I also have the blessing right now to do things in a way that uniquely fits me. I mean I love that about this business, it uniquely fits me and that's very fulfilling. I also to remind myself that I maintain the lifestyle of freedom and availability to my family and to my church to my community to my friends that I believe God wants me to have. For example, it wasn’t long ago that our pastor had forgotten that he was gonna to be gone in two weeks on a Sunday. He texted me and asked me if I could fill in and do the preaching that week. That was a great opportunity - and it was a great freedom to be able to say “Yes” because I have a business that allows me to structure my life in such a way that I could put in the extra time to do a quality sermon for the church family. That is vitally important to me. Another thing that I had to remind myself was that I'm am gleaning experience from my business that can help others. Through this podcast, through my blog, through my life coaching business and other things, I can pass along the experiences that I'm learning in business - and they're not all going to be pretty and wrapped up neatly with a bow from the LORD. Sometimes those lessons come through the hard mistakes we make. I also have to remember that once upon a time I was pumped up about this thing that I call my business. And I have to remind myself that deep down, even though there's been a discouraging season, I still AM encouraged and pumped up about it. The last thing that I had to do when I was tempted to the quit was this: I had to get to work. For me it's vital that I not sit in the discouragement or any inaction the discouragement spawns. I can't do that for very long once I'm convinced that I'm still on the right track. I've got to get moving again. I truly think this is a vital - that you get moving again quickly. The doubt and the fear and the insecurity can’t be allowed to creep into your soul further. If it did, it would be devastating the second time around. So in my case, the week after I got the last of those client cancellations, I got busy. I sent out over two hundred and fifty marketing emails to prospective clients in one week. I dove into the creation of a new mini course that I was making. I started into the final edits on my second novel. In other words, I just got busy. But that brings us to another great question - “What if you don't feel like getting busy? What if it's extremely hard to get past that discouragement. What if you just feel like you can't? First of all, pray. Ask God for the strength and the motivation that you need. Secondly, believe that He'll answer your prayer. Don't be guilty of what we do so often - we pray something and then we step away and continue to worry and fret about the thing we just prayed about. If you're asking God to give you the strength that you need to get moving again, believe me, He's is going to answer that prayer. So begin acting the on that belief. In other words get busy. It’s really a mindset battle when you want to give up on your business. These discouraging times really are a mindset battle. Did you recognize that from what I described in my situation? Whether you actually quit your business or not, you have to win the battle over discouragement. As a believer in Christ you have to learn to overcome those down feelings and thoughts that threaten you, because they will derail you - they will suck faith out of you if you let them. And depending on your unique past, the battle may be harder for you than it is for other people. But that doesn't matter. Your obstacles are your obstacles. It's still a battle that you have to fight and win. It's a battle that's vital because it has to do with how you think. Perhaps you've heard me talk about this before, but how you think will dictate the course of your life. So you have got to win the battle against discouragement. Successfully fight one battle after another after another and you will begin to build the spiritual and emotional muscle you need to get past the wrong beliefs and feelings that tend to hold you back not just in business, but in life. It's a battle where you cannot give up. You cannot quit. Even if you do decide it's time to throw in the towel on something like a business. My encouragement to you is this: Grab your Bible right now if you can and fill yourself up with truth. Do it daily if you have to - and most of us do. If you are not subscribed to the Morning Mindset edition of this podcast - that's what the Morning Mindset is about. It's a daily four and a half to five minute long audio, encouraging you and me with truth from the Bible to fill us up. You can find the Morning Mindset set here. And I want you to keep it at that daily practice until you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep at it. Don't give up. Don't stop even when you DO see the light at the end of tunnel. The LORD will be there to meet you, to fill you, and to fill you up every day as you meet Him. So I want you to consider a few questions… What do you find helpful when you want to quit? What helps you get your head on straight and keep moving? How do you go about assessing your circumstances? How do you determine what to do next and how to keep going? RESOURCES MENTIONED MOVIE: The Princess Bride The Pit of Despair - clip from the movie Join the LBC Community On Facebook Follow Carey on Facebook Follow Carey on Twitter (@CareyNGreen) Subscribe to Live Build Change On Android | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Podbean | Spreaker | Email

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

It’s true, though we don’t like to admit it: the first step is the hardest. Getting started, moving out into the unknown, stepping out to discover something new, taking a risk… all of these are ways to describe the emotion we sometimes feel when it comes to doing new things. But it’s those new things that bring about the changes we want most in life. We can’t expect the future to be better, to be different if we are unwilling to make it different. That means we’ve got to get started, and the first step is often the hardest. Subscribe to Live Build Change On Android | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Podbean | Spreaker | Email Here’s a rough outline of taking the first step… [0:57] The significance of the first step in anything [2:08] The most common reason people don’t get started [3:40] Why it’s vital to step past what is familiar into the unknown It’s a bit dysfunctional, but we humans tend to prefer something that isn’t working but is familiar, to something that might work but is unfamiliar. Think about it. Often the reason we don’t take the first step into a new opportunity or adventure is the fear of what might happen. What if it’s too hard? What if I fail? What if I can’t handle the pressure? What if it’s not what I’m expecting? What if I’m not ready? The “what if”s are many. But so are the reasons to move ahead. Among those reasons are… Nothing you want to change will change if you don’t get started Wishes don’t make things reality, diligent, informed action does Nothing great in history was accomplished by doing nothing Even God makes things happen through action - God so loved, He gave… You get the point, right? So the real question is this: What is keeping you from taking the first step into something new, something that could change your life and future for the better? You’ve got to answer that question and attack what you find. You won’t build anything that improves your life or the lives of others unless you do. So find a friend, maybe your spouse, and sit down to talk it through. Identify the things that keep you from taking that hard first step. Know what they are. Get to understand why they scare you so much. Then go to prayer. Ask God Himself for the courage to not only take that first hard step, but to take the next one, and the next one as your faith in Him increases. And don’t forget, He’s with you every step of that journey, through the easy steps and the hard ones. And HE is the one who will build anything you do. So step out, even when the first step is the hardest. Trust Him. Trust Him to do the hard things that you can only imagine happening. And watch what He does. Join the LBC Community On Facebook Follow Carey on Facebook Follow Carey on Twitter (@CareyNGreen) Subscribe to Live Build Change On Android | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Podbean | Spreaker | Email

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com

Get the Morning Mindset every morning via Facebook Messenger https://manychat.com/l2/LiveBuildChange ***************** Get Daily Email Encouragement every morning in your Inbox http://careygreen.com/DE-List ***************** Find out more about Christian Life & Business Coaching http://CareyGreen.com ***************** Connect with the LIVE BUILD CHANGE Movement and Community Website: www.LiveBuildChange.com Facebook Community: www.LiveBuildChange.com/FB Email: Carey@LiveBuildChange.com