Every time you read this blog I have the privilege of sharing my story with you. Starting off from humble beginnings every time I hear my own bio I wonder – is that really me? It’s always my desire that you will find something inspiring and helpful. Changed thinking changes lives!
When I finished university, I didn’t want a typical job. My dreams, ambition and high expectations resulted in a big problem – how would I make these dreams a reality? Where would I start and who would show me the way? I started a home building business but school didn’t teach me the best business practices to lead to future success.
Building the homes was the easy part….often the product you deliver is the easy part….it’s the “specialized technical information” of how to run a great business that is missing. That’s what was missing for me….specialized technical information. But how was I to acquire the skills I needed to get ahead?
Most people in the world operate with a 1 to 1 approach to life. One hour work equals one-hour pay. Productivity is limited by the number of hours in a week. Productivity isn’t always focused and without a life plan priorities are often missed.
Successful entrepreneurs are not like most people. Never content to settle for a 1 to 1 relationship between efforts and results they achieve far higher levels of productivity. We all know someone whose productivity is outstanding.
The problem is if you’re already working as hard as you can, you’ve hit a limit on what you can produce. So how do they do it? How can you learn to increase your productivity?
Jesus provides the answer. In his first and most famous teaching metaphor, the Parable Of The Sower (Mathew 13:1-23) Jesus describes four different scenarios in which an investment, in this case seed, produced significantly different levels of productivity.
Can you name something you need in yoga, on a financial statement and for your tires? If you guessed balance – you’re right! Balanced health is possible! In the past I have made choices that were out of balance, especially in the area of sleep. I followed unhealthy role models who took pride in how little sleep was needed and I thought I’d catch up on my sleep – in the grave!
Ever feel like you’re just reacting in terms of your health? It shouldn’t be this way. We’ve all tried to do better but where do you turn to for information and motivation?
Are you looking for career advice? Through high school and university I had a variety of jobs: commercial fisherman, fish factory worker, infantryman, laborer and bricklayer. Then something amazing happened – success! But how? How do you find work you love that leads to success?
Research shows that up to 70% of people hate their jobs. Many of my friends do not love their work. Now their children are in school wrestling with the tension of what to study and what careers to pursue. Many people I know are still wondering how to find work you love.
Think of something that is valuable. Something that is infinite, yet finite for each of us. Something that you use every day. It is loathsome when waiting but fleeting and precious when enjoyed. No one in our culture has enough of it!
If you are thinking of time you’re right! What’s the best use of my time? It seems I have countless people – organizations, friends and family, who want a piece of my time so they’re really taking a piece of ME!. Often, I don’t know where to start. Yet time is my most valuable resource how do I decide where to use it?
Life is short. There never seems to be enough extra margin of time to do all that we desire. There are always things left undone. Culture entices us into wasting our time yet time is our most valuable asset. How do we know if we are investing it wisely?
As a child, I dreamed of being an entrepreneur, of starting a business. At age 25, I began Land Ark Homes. It was a modest home building business that grew in 20 years to build over 350 luxury estate homes. I became a legitimate entrepreneur.
This is a shared dream, many of us want to be an entrepreneur and run our own businesses.
Throughout those 20 years I began focusing more on my strengths and passions and delegating responsibility to others with skills that complemented mine. Later, I was free to focus on what I did best and eventually find the work I love. With that came the responsibility of partners and employees. Ultimately, my job became serving people: the staff and our customers. This is one of the secrets to winning in business – being eager to serve.
In my life, many things have come easily… and many things frustrate me to no end. There are things that I just cannot seem to do!
In our homebuilding business, I was blessed with the right strengths for managing people’s time, money and expectations for a new place to call home. However, as I transitioned into my second half of life, I didn’t know what my real strengths were. No one ever encouraged me to explore them or told me how to find them. What a frustrating feeling!
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29 ESV
