Kimanzi Constable's Blog, page 66

How to Lead at a New Job

Note from Kimanzi: This is a guest post from Dan Black, who writes a leadership blog which has a balance of faith-based and secular posts. His desire is to help others become better people and leaders. You can check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

When you’re looking for a job you send out your resume and probably start networking with people in the field you desire to be in. If you’re lucky you will have a chance to interview for a position. An interview gives you a chance to sell yourself, your qualifications and skills and what you could bring to the potential employer. If a person is successful at accomplishing this then the next step is often a written or verbal job offer.

When you first start a new job it takes several weeks to be trained and adapt into the company. During this time there are some things you can start doing and should continue to do, so you can begin to lead others, even if you’re not in a leadership position.

 

Here are 3 ways you can start leading at a job:

Give your best and more: If you want to gain influence with your boss then always give your best in your job role. After you show your boss you are productive and give 100 percent within your role then start offering to help with other tasks or areas. Show your boss you can take on more responsibility then follow through with your word with action and results.
Have a positive attitude: Having a positive attitude is essential if you want to begin to lead at your work. Winston Churchill says, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” It’s a challenge to maintain a positive attitude while at work but it could make a huge difference in your career path. Those who have a positive attitude position themselves to gaining influence which can allow you to eventually be promoted.
Add value to others: Adding value to your co-workers, boss, and customers or clients can help a person grow their influence. One way a person can add value to others is by serving them. To make sure their actions serve and help the people around them. This is often an uncommon but important aspect when it comes to a workplace. However if you begin to serve, it will set you apart from others. This is because your boss and the customers or clients will begin to see that you truly care and value them.

Question: What other ways can a person gain influence while starting a new job or in their current position?

$100 Start Up by Chris Guillebeau Giveaway

As you may know I have the honor of being on Chris Guillebeau’s launch team for his new book: $100 Start Up. I did a full review of the book last week and announced that Chris had given me a copy of the book to give to my readers.

I’m extending the deadline and giving you another chance to win the book and the prize is a little more special. After many email exchanges I was able to meet Chris Guillebeau last night at his book signing here in Milwaukee. He knew about the giveaway and was gracious enough to personally sign the copy of the book that I’m giving away.

Let me repeat that: the copy that you can win is signed by Chris Guillebeau himself!

So I’m giving you until this Saturday to win, here are the details:

Comment on this post and tell us one business that you can start for under $100
Share the post on your Facebook or Twitter

Chris is an inspiring writer who has been there and done that and he has written an amazing book, so don’t miss your chance to win an autographed copy! Here is the post one more time: http://talesofwork.com/blog/2012/05/book-review-the-100-start-up-by-chris-guillebeau-and-your-chance-to-win-a-copy/

Book Review – Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World by Michael Hyatt

Note from Kimanzi: This is a guest review by Joseph Lalonde,  who was born and raised in the great state of Michigan. Joseph has been married to his wonderful wife, Pamela, for the past seven years. He is passionate about helping others become the leader that they were born to be. He also enjoys helping people live richer and fuller lives by increasing their faith and giving them tools to improve their relationships. He does this through sharing the insights he gains from his experience as a youth leader, avid outdoorsman, and the adventures he takes every day. You can find Joseph at his blog or connect with him on Twitter

I was invited to be on Michael Hyatt’s launch team because I am a community leader at his blog. This allowed me to receive a copy of the book for review and discussion.

The value that is packed into this book is amazing. Your price of admission will be well worth the knowledge you’ll gain. Let me tell you about it.

Michael Hyatt

Who is Michael Hyatt?

Michael is the former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. Currently he is one of the world’s top bloggers and Chairman of Thomas Nelson.

He’s also the author of three best-selling books, two eBooks on getting published as an author, speaker, and encourager.

Having built his blog from 110 unique visits a month to over 302,000 unique visitors a month, he knows something about building a platform.

Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World

What is Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy

World?

Platform is Michael Hyatt’s newest book in which he will teach you the HOW, WHERE, and WHY of building a platform.

The book will teach you how to expand your influence, deliver value, and create WOW. It is a step by step guide on building a captive audience.

Why You Need A

Platform

If you’re an author, speaker, blogger, or just want to get noticed, this is the book for you. Michael gives you the resources to build your platform to the level you need. Whether that’s gaining a few hundred subscribers or taking on the world.

Michael describes Platform as a way to:

gain visibility
amplify your message
connect with your audience.

Essential elements to get noticed in today’s world. And this is why you need Platform.

 

What’s Inside Of Platform?

Platform is 60 jam-packed chapters of great content and a list of resources. Each chapter is easy to read but difficult to digest. You

will be hit with so much information your head may spin.

But that’s okay! It’s a book that is meant to be read over multiple times as you’re building your platform. Take it chapter by chapter.

Let the information digest slowly.

Once you let the content digest, you will learn how to:

WOW your audience
Launch your Platform
Create a home base
Take your reach to the next level
Connection with your followers

What I Thought About Platform

This has to be one of the best books on building your brand and getting noticed. Michael was meticulous in describing what he did to build his platform and connect with his tribe. Years worth of knowledge poured into one simple book.

It was a book I devoured in just a few hours but one I’ll return to frequently as I continue to build my platform. If you’re ready and willing to follow Michael as he leads you through the steps he has taken, the information you’ll get from the book will be well worth the price you pay for it.

You cannot go wrong picking up Platform tomorrow when it launches. Your audience will thank you for it.

That’s Not All

Tuesday marks the launch of Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World. Michael has taken out all of the stops and any reason why not to buy the book.

If you purchase it the week of May 21st, you will receive SEVEN bonus items worth $375. 98. You can’t go wrong with these bonuses. Find out all about it HERE.

Question: What could you do if you had a platform? Please share your thoughts in the comment section

below.

Creating Retirement Income

I had a post a few weeks ago about my past and the lack of sleep I got, I talked about the morning I almost crashed as a result of dozing off. I wish I could say that was the only time I’ve had a close call but there were several others.

A few years ago I purchased a motorcycle from a friend, it was a Yamaha R1 with a special racing motor. I didn’t realize how much power that bike had and how dangerous it was, I just really enjoyed to ride. The day I got it I was driving on a major Highway in our hometown, I decided I wanted to see how fast the bike could really go, so I punched it.

Before I even looked down at the speedometer I was going 115 mph (I’m dead serious) and it felt like I was flying. As I was driving along I was focused on watching out for cops, that would have been a huge ticket but as I was driving the wind really started to kick me all over the place. I started to get scared and had to slow down, as I was driving back home I had all kinds of thoughts rolling through my head.

First and foremost I thought of what would have happened if I hit something or dumped the bike: probably death. Then once I was thinking about death, I was thinking about my family and how they would survive, that thought was scarier then death. It really got me thinking about how stupid I was with some of the things I was doing and about what legacy I would leave behind.

The old ways don’t work anymore

Back before our economy got so messed up you could work for a company for forty years and retire with a nice pension and a nest egg, life was good back then. These days most people won’t last more than ten years at a company and pensions have become extinct, so we have to think about retirement in a different way, we have to find our own options.

There are few things available to us

Even for those of us that are self-employed there are a few good options out there, there are IRA’s, SEP’s, Self 401K’s and many more. There is one key thing that you must have in any of these plans: MONEY! Even if you work for a company more than likely the bulk of your retirement planning is going to fall on your shoulders, you will need money for any retirement plan.

Think differently about retirement income

When I started to think about my family, if I died they would be in a really bad situation. My wife would have been forced to support three kids with a low paying job and still have to worry about childcare from time to time. This thought broke my heart and woke me up, I needed to do something about it ASAP (and I am).

This is one of the reasons I worked so hard on my books and the things I was doing online, I wanted to create residual income. I know there are many people online who tell you that you can get rich if you buy this course or go to this seminar, I just wanted to make a comfortable living and leave something to my family. Residual income appealed to me because if I died, my wife would have to do very little, continue to have income and have freedom to just focus on raising the kids without having to worry about money.

For me, I’m going to keep pushing forward with my books, create products that help people, speak publicly, and coach people who need a little direction. I want to build something for my family and help people build something for their families, that’s what I’m working on.

How about you? What will you leave behind?

If you’ve never thought about it or have been too afraid to do something about it, this is your wake up call. If you listen to The Dave Ramsey show then you know the saddest calls you hear are the widow’s who call in and talk about how their spouse died and left them with nothing but debt, it’s absolutely heart breaking!

Is that a call you want your spouse to make?

If you decide to create some sort of residual income then I want to tell you it’s not going to be easy, but with some hard work and hustle, you can leave your family in an amazing position. I don’t want my wife making that call, I want her to have the freedom to focus on raising our kids after I’m gone.

If you need any help starting to think about creating residual income or just extra income in general, email me at kimanzi@talesofwork.com I won’t charge you a thing, I would love to help point you in the right direction. I started this website to help people, that’s my number one goal, so if you need help, don’t hesitate!

What kind of legacy will you leave behind? What are you doing about it?

 

Book Review: The $100 Start Up by Chris Guillebeau (and your chance to win a copy)

I’m honored to be on the launch team for Chris Guillebeau and his new book. I received an advance copy and did a small review last week, here is the full review and your chance to win a copy of the book:

About Chris Guillebeau: http://chrisguillebeau.com/

Chris has been where a lot of us have started, working at a job that’s not our passion or calling. He worked third shift in a Fed Ex warehouse and realized he wanted more from life and his work. At this time was when eBay first started becoming known so he took some stuff he had and sold it there.

He saw how well it went but knew he would quickly run out of stuff so he looked into what he could buy and sell, the answer was Jamaican coffee. He sold that and was completely supported by it but knew he wanted more value from what he was doing. He read a story about a doctor who worked on a hospital ship in worn-torn countries and felt a calling, he signed up for a two-year stint but stayed for four years.

In Chris’ own words: “The best time to leave the best job in the world is right before you get cynical about the best job in the world”. He went on to write The Art of Non Conformity, a NY times best seller and has helped people everywhere find their own path.

 What the book is about: http://100startup.com/

The book is about finding value from your work and having the freedom from your work to do all the things that are important in your life. It takes stories from people literally all around the world, that maybe never thought about being entrepreneurs but through layoff’s and hard times were pushed into that role.

The stories are great because it’s people who started businesses with little to no money but with planning, hard work and hustle, found a way to make it work. They’re an inspiration to the average person because they are average people doing it in a way that we can follow.

Why I like it and why my readers will like it:

As we all knew the road to chasing your dreams isn’t easy, this book is so good because it shows that path in a very realistic way. These are people and Chris is a person that had to hustle and work very hard, sometimes harder than a regular job to make things happen. If you have or have had a business, you know all too well that you’ll be putting in far more hours (at first) to make that business a success.

You’ll like the book because it will inspire you and help you get a behind the scenes look at people who made it doing what they love. You’ll be able to relate to these people and you’ll get a little more confidence that you can do it too. It’s a well written book that lays out a clear plan.

If you are or plan on doing any business online, then you have to get this book. Chris lays out a solid plan for creating and launching products, using examples from products that he’s created and launched. You’ll get a crash course on marketing that many people pay thousands of dollars to learn, and you’ll be able to start using this information today!

Your chance to win a copy:

Chris has been generous and given me a brand new hard cover to give to me readers (thank you Chris!) So for your chance to win:

First, you have to share this post on either Facebook or Twitter.
Second, you have to leave a comment telling us a business that you could start for under $100 dollars.

My hope is that we’ll read many great idea’s that someone could use to start a business that changes their lives. So please share!!

The winner will be announced in next Wednesdays post.

 

 

 

The Honeymoon Stage of Your Dreams

I remember the first moment I saw my wife, my heart literally skipped a beat. I was 17 years old and she was 19, we met while both of us were working at Burger King.

It didn’t start out too well though, she was transferred to the restaurant I worked at and had been working at for years, she came as a manager and I wasn’t. I had been working there for a little while so the store manager gave me some freedom and a little authority, both of which she didn’t think I deserved. It didn’t take long for us to butt heads and she tried to fire me, luckily for me the store manager really liked and respected my work ethic, so I kept my job!

It was crazy how we started out and ended up together, after she tried to fire me we were married 8 months later! If you’re married or even if you have dated, you know all about the honeymoon phase, it didn’t matter what happened, your love would get you through. We had a few rocky times at the beginning of our marriage but our love got us through.

Remembering that joy

Even though I didn’t sell very many books when my first book came out, I would tell anyone who listened that I was an author. I walked around on cloud nine and when I had my business cards made, I couldn’t sleep I was so excited. People would tell me I had a pipe dream but I didn’t listen, my love for my dream got me through.

Do you remember that joy when you first figured out what your dreams were?

Do you remember how it felt when you took the first steps?

Do you still have that love and joy for your dreams?

If you’ve lost that joy, that honeymoon bliss of moving out of something that’s just good enough and onto what you’ve dreamed of and are called to, then look for it, remember it and live it! If you’re on the path to your dreams, then it’s exciting, it’s life changing, it’s what you’re meant for, the Lord wants you to live a full and abundant life, it’s up to you to claim it and live it!

Remember that joy and keep it going

As you move forward in making changes and moving on to better things with your work and life, there will be trials and struggles, you have to remember why you started down this path and remember that honeymoon joy. Let that joy be your strength and let your “why” be your motivation, you can do this, you have to do this!

I was talking to a close friend of mine a few days ago and he was talking about a BBQ business he is starting, hearing him talk a mile a minute, hearing him so excited about a smoker he just bought was really inspiring to me. He had that honeymoon phase joy and it was very infectious, it made me remember my honeymoon joy. If you’ve lost your joy, it’s time for you to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing and remember the joy you’ll have when you reach the finish line.

Do you have that honeymoon phase joy? If no, why not?

 

 

 

Maybe You Weren’t Ready

A few years ago I thought I was ready to move on from doing bread to do work that I love, kind of. A friend of mine owned a bread route and was looking to scale back his work load. We had it all worked out where he would drop the bread off and all I would do is drive to the stores in my car and put the bread up.

This was kind of moving on because I could wake up at more normal hours (6 a.m.) and wouldn’t have to deal with the delivering of the bread. It would cut my hours from 10 a day to 4 hours a day with only a small reduction in salary, it would have been a great arraignment. I was excited and thought I could use all that excess time to work on making my dreams a reality.

There’s a long story as to what happened but the short version is my friend ended up being forced out of the company and my opportunity went down the drain. For a long time after that I would use this as an excuse to not take action on my dreams and I would tell my story to anyone who would listen. Here is the truth of why it took so long to finally take actions on my dreams: I wasn’t ready!

 

Realizing the truth

Looking back at things now there was no way I could have transitioned, here’s why:

I was living beyond my means. If you’ve read my first book then you know all about how poor I managed our finances. I won’t go into detail here but I can give you one example: I was paying $1,200 a month for ONE of my car’s (and no it’s wasn’t a Porsche).
I was in serious debt. Back then I probably owed money to you because I certainly owed everyone else. In the end I declared bankruptcy just to survive, it was a rough time (I have to say sorry to my wife, sorry sweetie!)
I had no clear plan. I tell anyone who will listen that you can chase your dreams, but if you’re going to do it you need a solid, step by step plan. I had no plan to transition, I just wanted to get out of working so hard, looking at it now, I was just being lazy.
I wasn’t committed. I knew I wanted to leave bread but it was mostly from stress, I didn’t have a vision for my dreams and future. Now I want to spread a message and start a movement. Then I just wanted to work less and have more time to watch TV.

Getting serious and seeing things happen

As you know from my posts, last summer was when I decided enough was enough, it was time to get serious about living the abundant life the Lord wants me to live. In order for this to happen I had to get serious and address all these issues that had stopped me in the past. I had to start living in my means, get out of doubt, figure out exactly what I needed to do and get serious about doing all of this.

When I put this plan into action, it was funny to see how the Lord had already been working to get things ready: I had found Dave Ramsey a year prior and was on the debt-free journey, which also forced us to live on a budget (living in our means). Listening to Dave Ramsey lead me to Dan Miller whose book was ultimately what inspired me to create a transition plan and get committed to fulfilling my dreams.

The whole time the Lord had been working “behind the scenes” getting me ready to move on, the reason He didn’t make it happen sooner was because there was a lot I needed to learn and work on, I just wasn’t ready.

Are you ready? Or are there things you need to learn and work on?

If you’ve decided enough is enough and are chasing your dreams, be sure you’re ready. Have you been hitting a lot of walls lately? Does is seem like nothing’s working out? Sit back and take an honest look at where you’re at, maybe you aren’t ready yet, maybe there’s still a few things you need to learn and work on. The Lord works, even when we don’t notice, maybe you’re hitting walls because He’s trying to get you ready for all the responsibility that will come your way.

What’s your vision? Do you want to lead?

Leading people is a big responsibility that needs to be taken serious, and the Lord won’t give you that responsibility if you’re not ready. With everything that’s going on right now in the world, we have too many people being lead the wrong direction, we need leaders who will lead others to and for Christ.

A challenge

This weekend I want you to sit down and look at your life. Are you where you want to and need to be? Do you want to make changes? Are you chasing your dreams? Are you ready? Is the Lord trying to get you ready? Will you listen to His calling?

Are you ready?  What do you need to do to get ready for the abundant life the Lord wants for you?

 

 

 

The Power of Being Focused

I’ve had my CDL for the last twelve years, I got it when I worked for Pepsi Cola. During my time at Pepsi I would have to say I was an OK driver, there were a few minor incidents:

This is the kind of truck I drove

We had pumps for diesel in the yard, one morning I was filling the truck up and listening to music. I got a little too wrapped up in the music because I pulled away from the pumps but forget to take the pump out of the diesel tank of the truck, let’s just say there was a little mess.

One afternoon after delivering to a grocery store I drove away and decided to multi-task by also texting. I was reading a message when I pulled out right in front of someone, they slammed right into the side of the truck. It was a side bay truck, so there were parts of car bumper and cans of Mountain Dew everywhere.

One afternoon I had some time to kill before I was allowed back into the warehouse, luckily for me my parents lived five minutes from the warehouse. So I drove the truck to their house, I had to back the truck close to the curb. As I was backing up I heard someone down the street yell (not at me) but I looked, before I knew it I was backing the truck into their car. I think my parents were wondering if 18 was too old to spank.

You’re smart so I’m sure you notice a theme in all these stories: even when it was just a few seconds, the accidents happened when I lost focus. Whether you’re chasing your dreams, working at a job or operating a business, you can’t afford to lose focus.

You have to be honest about your focus

Sometimes we tell ourselves we’re completely focused on a goal or task when the truth is we’re not truly committed. For example: you want to open your dream business this year, that’s you’re main focus this year. However, you’re always going out to eat, you spend money buying the newest iPhone instead of saving or investing that money into your dream business. Are you really focused on your goal?

Focus means that you’re willing to make a short-term sacrifices for your future and your legacy. Yes, you might have to put going out to eat on hold, but only for a little while. When you do open that business and it’s thriving, do you think you’ll still be thinking about how you couldn’t eat out? NO! You’ll be the happiest person around, you’re living your dreams and it took complete focus to get there.

When you stray from your focus, get back on track

So lets just say you’ve been looking at things and you realize your focus has been off, you have the ability to get back on track and learn valuable lessons. If you have been spending money that you should be saving, then stop! If you have been slacking off with your business and distracted by other things, then re-focus.

Second chances are a beautiful thing, you have another chance to make things right and get back on the right path. The key when you lose focus is to learn from your distraction, this will help avoid the same pitfall later down the line. Once you get back on track, don’t let introspection hold you back from moving forward, if you lost focus and regained it, that’s all that matters.

Remember why you’re focusing

Are you pursuing your dreams? Are you trying to get a job you love? Are you opening a business you’ve dreamed of since you were a little kid? You have to remember why you need focus in the first place, what it is that you’re working on accomplishing. When it seems to hard or things seem to be falling apart all around, remember why, let that be your motivation and let that be the tool you use to get focused.

It’s easy to lose sight of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, but praise the Lord for second chances when we’ve lost our focus!

What are you focusing on? How’s serious are you about your focus?

 

A Must Read Book: The $100 Start Up By Chris Guillebeau

Note from Kimanzi: I am not an affiliate for this book or Chris Guillebeau, I don’t make a single dollar if you buy the book. I truly believe in the message and truly believe the book can help better your work and life.

Today is the release for the new book by Chris Guillebeau and I was honored to receive an advance copy. I can honestly tell you the book is good and more than that, it has a great and needed message. I will be doing a full review of the book next Wednesday but for now I wanted to tell you about Chris Guillebeau, why you should consider buying the book, and how it’s relevant to this blog.

Who is Chris Guillebeau? http://chrisguillebeau.com/

The reason that I believe that I connected with Chris and his writing so much is because he started as an “everyday working man”. He worked third shift in a Fed Ex warehouse and realized he wanted more from life and his work. At this time was when eBay first started becoming known so he took some stuff he had and sold it there.

He saw how well it went but knew he would quickly run out of stuff so he looked into what he could buy and sell, the answer was Jamaican coffee. He sold that and was completely supported by it but knew he wanted more value from what he was doing. He read a story about a doctor who worked on a hospital ship in worn-torn countries and felt a calling, he signed up for a two-year stint but stayed for four years.

In Chris’ own words: “The best time to leave the best job in the world is right before you get cynical about the best job in the world”. So he went on to finish college and started writing. He talks about how much he spent on college and how much he made writing, the writing had a far better result and lead to the value he was looking for.

He went on to write his first book: The Art of Non conformity and pursued a mission to travel to every country in the world. At this time he has been to 183 out of 193 countries, wow! I love to travel so reading about his travel’s really appeal to me. He has also created many guides that help people become self-employed and also travel inexpensively, you can see them here: http://unconventionalguides.com/.

Why should you consider buying the book? http://100startup.com/

The book’s main theme is about finding work that gives you freedom and add’s value to your life. The book is so appealing because it features stories of real life people who are making it doing work that gives them freedom and value. They are people like you and I who didn’t have a lot of money to start their businesses (hence the title of the book) but found a way to persevere and make it work.

Their stories are so inspiring because they give you and me hope that we can do it. I love the fact that the income from these stories ranges from $50,000 to $300,000, totally attainable numbers. Reading their stories alone is worth the price of the book.

I will be doing a full review next week but I wanted you to have enough information so that you can confidently buy the book today! You can buy the book through the two links I gave you above or on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/The-100-Startup-Reinvent-Living/dp/0307951529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336434587&sr=8-1

Thank you Chris for the advanced copy and the opportunity to review this book.

 

Sometimes It Takes A Death To Understand Life

“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord” It’s real easy to quote this verse in good times, but what about when you’re going through a loss? Do you really believe it?

On Saturday April 28, 2012 my father died, and it hurts so bad.

He was 54 years old, he died in his sleep from heart disease, none of our family had any idea how sick he really was.

Terence E. Constable born May 10, 1957 passed away April 28, 2012

When friends and family first heard the news they would ask me how I felt and I would give them a standard response: we weren’t close. I thought I knew how I felt and what it would be like at the funeral, but the moment I walked in to the funeral parlour this past Thursday night and saw the pictures of my father…… everything I felt went out the window.

My parents divorced when my brother and I were young and there were some hard things from the past that we had to deal with. It was because of those things that I harboured bitterness in my heart towards him for many years. For the longest time I just didn’t think about him, I went on with my life as though I didn’t have a father, and he went through some things of his own.

A few years ago he started to get his life together and he tried to reach out and mend the relationship, every time he would call I shut him down right away. I had so much bitterness and told myself he was getting what he deserved, after several attempts I started to ease up and give him a few minutes at a time.

Even though we didn’t have a relationship, my grandfather (his father) has always been close and always been a part of my brother and my life. All the information my father got was from my grandfather, and he would stay up to date about my brother and me.

It’s funny how you make judgments and think you know all about something when the truth is that there’s always more than you think. At the funeral I found out that when my dad was nineteen years old he was a paramedic, he was in a bank when a guy went down. My father gave him CPR and brought him back, he was featured in the paper, I had no idea.

The hardest thing was seeing my two aunts, who were also always there for my brother and me, and my grandfather crying so hard, it broke my heart. It was nice though to meet family that I didn’t even know, it was nice to hear more things about my father’s life I didn’t know. I meet a woman who has been my father’s friend for the last twenty years and she told me how my father would speak with joy and pride about my brother and me.

The hardest thing for me and the thing that I’m struggling to shake is the fact that he died without me having a chance to patch things up and to get some closure. At his funeral I realized that I had been holding on to all this bitterness and it was so stupid, I really should and do know better. I made judgments about him but if it wasn’t for the grace of God, I could be in the same situation.

I was a sinner, breaking God’s law and living for myself but Jesus Christ loved me so much that he gave his life for me. He didn’t hold onto any bitterness, he didn’t shut me out, he gave himself so that I could be saved. Instead of holding onto bitterness and judging my father I should have remembered what Jesus Christ did for me and had shown the same forgiveness to him, unconditionally.

So now here I am, sad and broken and a little lost but my eyes have been opened. On this blog and the message that I’m trying to spread is about work, change and chasing your dreams. Whether it’s a job or business or something in between, forty hours is too long to spend at a place that makes you miserable. After the death of my father I now realize how important and true this message is, life is too short.

We need work that is an extension of our life, not work that affects our life in a negative way, if you’re miserable at work then it will affect other area’s of your life. My eyes have been opened to the fact of how short life is and how we need to use whatever time the Lord give’s us to make a difference, to contribute something to the world.

Are you contributing something positive to this negative world with your work?

Are you contributing something positive to this negative world with your life?

If no, why not?

Even though I’m sad, I’m more determined then ever to spread a message and start a movement of people who aren’t settling for good enough, but are pursuing the abundant life the Lord has for all of us. My prayers are that you join me on that movement.

I praise the Lord that I can remember a time when my father professed salvation, I know he’s with our Lord right now. My grandfather has not professed salvation and shut’s me down every time I start on the Gospel with him. He’s 86 and my heart breaks to think of him dying without coming to know the Lord.

So instead of asking you the typical questions at the end of the post, can I ask you for two things:

Will you please, please pray for my grandfather to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour?

Is there one person close to you that you are desperate to see saved that you want prayer for?