Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

Perspective
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

When is the last time that you have been to a sporting event? Did you have good seats or bad seats?

Your view of the action probably had a great deal to do with how much you enjoyed the game.

It is the same with every single aspect of your life. By that I mean,  your ability to be successful and enjoy your existence is directly related to your viewpoint or your perspective.

Consider the following examples.

Brian is a 7 year old boy who lives with his family in Fishers, IN. His dad is a doctor and his mother is an attorney who has decided to stay at home with Brian and his 4 year old sister until they are both in grade school.  Throughout his school years Brian is provided with encouragement from his family, friends, and teachers . During the summers he has the opportunity to travel and attend many camps that provide him with great learning opportunities. As he nears the end of his senior year in high school, he has a choice of many different colleges to attend because he has maintained good grades and his parents have the financial means to pay for wherever he selects.  In addition, virtually all of his friends will be attending college.

Tyler is a 7 year old boy who lives in a rundown neighborhood in Indianapolis. His mother works 2 jobs to pay the bills and he has never met his father. As a result, Tyler has very little supervision after school and spends this time getting into trouble. Throughout his school years, Tyler receives very little encouragement from anyone. His is constantly fed a message that has convinced him that the most he can ever hope for in life is a job at McDonalds. As he nears the end of high school, he realizes that he doesn’t have the grades to graduate and is considering just dropping out. Very few of Tyler’s friends will graduate High School and none will attend college.

Now imagine that you get a chance to meet both of these individuals the summer after their senior year. Can you imagine how different their perspectives on life will be?

Every time you are tempted to complain about a challenge in your life, I urge you to remember this example. A change in perspective can help turn any obstacle into an opportunity.

In addition, if you would like to learn more about how you can help kids like Tyler right here in Indianapolis please visit The Reach Foundation.
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.

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Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life, Uncategorized |

You Are Not Alone
Monday, June 14th, 2010

When things get tough for me, I forget to ask God for help, and I typically stop going to church.  I know, this seems counter-intuitive, but it’s a pattern that I have noticed in my life

I went through one of those tough times in February this year, and every Sunday I would wake up early and just lay in bed instead of going to church; telling myself that I was “worn out” and needed “rest”.

It took one of my party-animal friends, to bring me back into the fold.  She is the last person that I ever thought would be the key to getting me encouraged in God.

As I sat at East Ninety-First Street Christian Church, God began to work with my heart, and shared three important thoughts with me.

The first is that we are all inter-connected.  We need each other from a physical standpoint in order to survive.  You wouldn’t have food, water, clothing, cars, streets, employees of your own, or ANYTHING if it weren’t for the people around you.

We are not only connected by our physical resources, we are also connected by our energy and souls.  Do you think your skin is enough of a container to hold in your soul?  It’s not.  Your energy is reaching out to and affecting everyone and everything around you.  Others have an impact on you as well.  Remember, when you are in a bad mood, trying to influence someone, or sitting thinking that you are alone; your energy and soul has impact.

My life philosophy is to live in balance according to Dave Durand’s 4F’s and a C – Faith, Family, Friends, Finances, and Career.  The premise of the philosophy is to constantly work on improving and living fully in all four areas of your life at the same time.  Faith is one of those areas.  I respect that there are a variety of faiths.  You don’t have to believe in Jesus and attend a Christian church every Sunday, but I dogmatically believe that in order to be successful, you must believe in God, his influence on your life, and his ability to strengthen you.  Find your center of faith.

Sometimes, I forget about the omnipotence of our Creator, and simply lean on my own weak flesh to accomplish my dreams.  Remember that no matter what, God is still God, and we can turn to him for help in our businesses and lives.

Think about this; we are unconscious for 30% of our lives during sleep.  While we are unconscious, our heart still beats, our food continues to digest, and we keep on breathing.  That is amazing.  The same God that created our bodies to work in such a miraculous way, and the same God that wakes us up every morning, is the same God that can assist you in achieving the vision that you have for your life.  There is so much power at your fingertips.

You are not alone.  Use the power of the people around you, and the God within you to achieve your greatest goals.

Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for Reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.

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Faith
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Early in my career, I served as the controller for a small manufacturing company and one of my responsibilities was to prepare monthly financial statements. Looking back, I recognize how nerdy this looks, but I really loved putting together those documents.  The reason was because at the end of the process, the debits always equaled the credits.

The information presented was black and white with no room for gray.  My mind enjoys tasks with a clear start and finish.  In addition, I also enjoy activities where I can prove the results. For example, if the president asked why our margins were down during a specific month, I could always go back into the general ledger (for non accountants – a log of all of the financial transactions during a period) and find the proof.  In other words, the debits always equal the credits.

As a direct result, throughout my life, I have always struggled with a spiritual faith. The reason is that no faith offers 100% undisputable proof. There is no “YouTube” video of Jesus addressing his disciples after he was crucified. In other words, the debits do not equal the credits. Nor will they – ever.

So, how is a guy like me supposed to get his arms around a spiritual faith?  No matter how many books I read that substantiate the historical account of Jesus, there is still much doubt.

Here’s how I came to grips with my faith.  One day after reading a book or listening to a sermon, I realized that faith is believing in something when you don’t have all of the facts.  I recognized that I could no longer sit on the fence.  I had to be 100% in or out. No more, “I believe 57% of this Christianity stuff is true.  But to buy in completely, I still need a few more questions answered.”

I decided to go in 100% and I haven’t regretted this decision for a second. My faith is the foundation upon which I make every decision. Think about that for a minute, every action I take and decision I make is fundamentally tied to a spiritual faith that can’t be proven. Additionally, a great deal of the joy and satisfaction I get in my life I attribute directly to my faith journey.

The purpose for my post today isn’t to get you to convert or visit my church. Rather, the reason I am focused on faith is because I think that we all need to believe in something that can’t be proven with a spreadsheet or in-depth analysis.  The reason is that there will be some times (maybe even today) when you will look at your challenges and think, “There’s no way that can handle all of this”, and it’s at those times that you need to have faith that you will figure it all out even though at this moment you don’t have any answers.  It’s at these times that you need a little faith.

You will never have ALL of the answers, nobody does or ever will. In modern society it’s hard to believe that there we won’t eventually figure everything out, but believe it or not, we won’t.

Once you recognize this fundamental truth, you will understand the importance of faith.

CJ McClanahan
reachmore
(317) 576-8492

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Posted in Life |

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