#UnBlockYourself

#UnBlockYourself 2023 Thought 1: Your intent will be tested. Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution and failed miserably? Things large or small I notice whenever I declare, “This is what I want to do!” It gets tried immediately. From, “All I want to do is to make up the bed”, to, “I want to buy a new car”, will al be tested. If I try to make the bed, I get up late, or the bed feels so good I d...

#UnBlockYourself 429 - Benefits and Balance   Last episode we talked about how All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you. Your homework was to start to define your core values, so you’ll see where you will end up going with you your actions, and they also serve as a beacon of light to help in decision making too. Ult...

#UnBlockYourself 428   All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you.   “To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.” The "Core Values" you have in you are the principals, rules, and boundaries that dictate y...

#UnBlockYourself 427 Wabikigai in your influence   One of my favorite mentors John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”    One of our many purposes in being in this life at this moment in time is to impact our circle of influence, blessing those who God has put in our path.   Wabikigai is a made up word consisting of 3 philosophies: Wabi Sabi: Discovering perfect...

#UnBlockYourself 426: Abide and Abound Nurture and Nourish

#UnBlockYourself 425: The choice is yours   Over the years, at the end of our prayer time with the kids and staff at the center, Ms. B. has graced us with wisdom and gave us this charge as we would start our day: “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.”    There is so much packed into this one statement.    First off, there has to be a decision made. Not only that, but the power to make...

#UnBlockYourself 424: abiding in the vine of your vision   ““I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home i...

#UnBlockYourself 423: if not me, then who?   Vision is a picture given as a picture of us fulfilling our calling.  “To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.”   With this in mind, ikigai is what we say, do, and feel in our everyday lives that supplies the mission and vision. The more...

#UnBlockYourself 422: Unblock to Unlock   Unblocking your potential, and living a full life is the focus for this season. There are few core concepts that I’m learning about, and we’ll discover some hidden truths and some misconceived theories that and I’m uncovering almost on a daily basis.    I’m excited! New season, New discoveries, New ways to move forward into a new life.   Two Core Philosoph...

Like I've been saying this week, I've been struggling with trying to be everything I'm supposed to be (the I see me in my head). But God was showing me where I decided to make a change, and where I decided to surrender and allow Him to develop me. The areas are vastly different. Like this, I decided on my own that I will not be broke any more. I said I would maintain X amount in my account, and ad...

#UnBlockYourself Episode 420 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV   Struggling in the now is not as bad as it sounds. The fight is within me trying to control everything instead of trusting in the process. I think of it as me stepping onto an invisible bridge, going f...

"We realize we have built our lives around who we were, and we must make adjustments to be who we are, on the way to who we are becoming." I read this in a daily devotional and it really spoke to me. Ichigo Ichie (about being present in the moment) has been something I firmly believe in, but I have a hard time staying there with God. Reading this I finally have an understanding why.   God is alway...

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10   Have you ever noticed that God gives you a giant vision that is waaaaaaaay bigger than you can handle? Then in your spirit you can hear, “Don’t be scared…” For me, it helps in knowing that I’m not alone, and that I’m where...

“The fastest way to success is to double your failure rate.” - Thomas Watson, Sr.   When I came home from active duty, I had a little time on my hands. One of the things I wanted to do was to learn about Atlanta. All the little hole-in-the-wall places. So, the first thing I would do in the morning jump in the car, and head toward downtown. A lot of the streets that I lived near would either end up...

Learning from failures can be tough sometimes, but if you are learning the lessons, it will catapult you towards your success.  Everything works together for your good! “The fastest way to success is to double your failure rate.” - Thomas Watson, Sr.

So how do we become a little clearer on the things we need to bring us out of the fog? We need to snap out of focusing on failing and shift it in to what it really is, a lesson being taught. When we start to shift that focus, we can start to come up with a better plan of attack.    Right now as it stands, my Japanese is no better than it was from last week. But since I understand the problems, it...

As I mentioned before, because I was unclear in the things I wanted to say in Japanese, I couldn’t even begin to start to learn the necessary tools I would need to be successful at it. I called it being in the fog.   Being in the fog will almost undoubtedly put you directly on the path to failure. I was on it. The problem is this, when most of us find ourselves on this path, even though we know we...

As I was talking with my Japanese teacher yesterday she said something that caught my attention. I was explaining that I wanted to get over the language barrier keeping me from having confidence in speaking. A harsh summary of her reply was this, it’s not that you’re hitting a barrier, (not the language) it’s you. Since you are unclear on what you want to say, you can’t even begin to approach what...

What do you say about yourself? How are you feeling towards yourself? Sometimes what we see, know, and think about God and what He has for us does not line up with how we feel.    For me, I know that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, and made in His likeness, but I feel stupid, old, and ugly inside and out. This is where faith and belief overcome current situations that temporarily feed us lies...

Failing to Success: You may be wondering what that means. Failing, or plans that fail, are lessons. This is the entry point for your idea to become the success it has been destined to be. We’ll name it “START”.    When the lesson comes about, there is a fork in the road to success: Pathway 1: Give up, crash and burn, or just ignore the lesson.  Result: Return to START and try again.    Pathway 2:...

We're starting up a new session of talks! Fighting Fear: Being motivated to action to counter our fears. Fighting the fear of failure, because failure is the pathway to success. Let's Go!

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” This was Michelangelo describing his process for carving marble. “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”   This is vision, to be...

Like the empty container shown in the video, we are called to do great things. It may seem so huge that even with our very best we can only fill so much. When we trust and rely on God's strength rather than our own we see that we (You + God) are more than enough, because You + God is a Majority!

Exercise excellence, being consistent in doing your best. If you’re not careful, it is easy to get excellence and being perfect confused. It’s good to set high standards, but perfection will only frustrate you.    Think of it this way, you may do your best, but there always is a little something that can be added. I think of a professor giving a lecture on his jar being full. He filled it ping pon...

Going into this new year I want us all to strive for excellence. Do not confuse this with perfection, because there will always be room for improvement.    To really make an impact with your ikigai is to really give what you doing your all. “Is this the best you can do?” is a little reminder for me of a story of someone submitting an article to Henry Kissinger. He sent it back with a note that sai...