How are you coming with your Dream Book?  What’s holding you back?

So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches.  (1 Cor. 9:26; NLT)

I have long been a fan of Bob Proctor and his teaching.  Every day I get a great motivational quote or story from him and I always look forward to seeing what he has to offer.  About six months ago, he sent out the following story written by Jill Koenig, the Goal Guru.  I filed it away, thinking the time would come when it seemed appropriate to share it with our DG readers.  This week has been all about dreams, and since every goal had to start out as a dream, I felt that this was the time to share Jill’s story, “Running Your Own Race.”  I hope you enjoy the story and find it as inspirational as I did.

Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.

When I was a teenager I volunteered to work the water station at a 10k race. It was called the “Heaven Can Wait” 10k run and ironically, it was sponsored by the local cemetery.

My job was to pass out water to the runners. I remember being so excited to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of people doing it, I thought maybe I can do it too!

So the next year I signed up for the race and gave it a shot. Back then I didn’t do much to prepare except jog around my neighborhood. I never tracked how far I jogged, or timed myself, I just ran around. I had no time goals for the race, no specialized training, no game plan, nothing. Needless to say that I prepare differently when I run races today, but back then my only goal was to finish.

On the day of the race, it was incredibly hot and humid. I remember struggling at about the 5th mile, thinking, “I must be crazy, why did I do this? What was I thinking? And at one point, I said, “I am never doing this again!”

Have you ever felt that way about something? You eagerly undertake a goal and in the midst of it comes a moment of struggle, and you realize it is much harder than you imagined it would be?

That first 10k race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. At times, I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining moment.

At one point near the end, a 70 year old man ran past me, very very fast, and I felt embarrassed that I was 50+ years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt defeated for a second. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine.

He had different capacities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my goal was merely to finish.

How often in life do we compare ourselves to others and feel disappointed in ourselves when we really shouldn’t? After a minute, it hit me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself in that moment. I turned my embarrassment into inspiration.

I decided that I would not give up on running races, in fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare properly and one day I would be one of those 70 year olds who was still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my accomplishment.

I am so glad I didn’t give up on running. Today it is an incredible source of joy in my life. I have run several races since then, 5ks, 10ks and I run purely for fun. I have studied running books, made friendships with other runners and I can report that I love it now more than ever.

In life we all have those moments where we compare ourselves to others. It’s only natural. Don’t allow those moments to disempower you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. Use them to show you what is possible. Every struggle is rich with opportunity. You define your own race when you define your own goals.

With the proper preparation, coaching and conditioning, you can improve your results to achieve anything you want in life.

The impact of fitness and nutrition on my life has been remarkable. I can do things now that I could not even do in my 20’s all because of coaching, proper nutrition and conditioning.

You decide your race and you decide your own pace. Rarely in life will your destiny be determined by one little race.

“Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.” - Coach John Wooden

Life is a series of races. There are lessons in every race. There are life lessons to be learned every single day. If you don’t win the race, but you get the lesson, and grow, you are truly a success.

Live Your Dreams.

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You for the gifts of dreaming and imagination.  We especially thank You for all the little reminders You send our way when it seems we’re giving up on that dream that You planted within us.  We thank You that You will never give up on us.  Hallelujah!!!

Link of the Day
The Goal Guru
Be sure to watch Jill’s movie, “March Forth”

Blessings on you as you morph one or more of your dreams into goals.
 

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When did you stop dreaming?

You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams.  (Prov. 3:24; NLT)

A couple of days ago, I reviewed The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly, an excellent book about coaching people to their dreams.  In that review, I discussed the major theme of the book and its story line, but failed to mention that in the last quarter of the book, the author gives some applications and tools to help one begin to be a dream manager themselves.

Kelly makes the point that there are two truths to be assimilated by the reader.  The first truth is basically that we all need a Dream Manager.  One would be tempted to think after reading the book that this would be a great do it yourself project.  But, as Kelly wisely points out, devising the plan isn’t the issue.  Holding ourselves accountable to execute that plan is where most would fail.  As he so eloquently states, “We have an incredible ability to deceive ourselves with all manner of excuses and self justifications.”  Let me assure you that I can give countless testimonies of the truth of our propensity to get very creative with our excuses.  Accountability is vital!

The second truth is that we are all called to the role of Dream Manager.  Quoting Kelly again, “Whether you are the CEO of a multinational corporation, the manager of a small department, the newest member of a small corporate team or a stay-at-home parent, you are called to be a Dream Manager in dozens of ways every day.”  The place to start, of course, is with ourselves.  “It is easy to get so caught up in surviving that we stop dreaming.  When we stop dreaming, we slowly begin to disengage from our work, from our relationships, and from life itself.”

Kelly proposes that you start a “dream book.”  You can use anything from a fancy, leather-bound journal with blank pages to a spiral notebook to start making a list of your dreams.  Date each dream as you add it to the book and date them again when you realize it.  He challenges the reader to make a list of one-hundred dreams at one sitting.  The list doesn’t have to be complete or perfect.  Don’t stop to judge the feasibility of each entry.  Just make the list as if anything was possible.  Nothing is too wild…there are no limitations.   

It sometimes helps to divide your life into a half-dozen or so categories and list your dreams for each.  Categories might include physical, intellectual, spiritual, professional, etc.  Make an appointment with yourself to start your dream book today!  (As Kelly writes, “If you find yourself putting it off, ask yourself why.”)  Then review the list each day for a week, freely adding or deleting from your list.  Then after that week, go through the list and label each as short-term (12 months or less), medium-term (1 to 5 years), and long-term (more than 5 years).

Finally, periodically review your journal, and begin to make plans to fulfill some of the short-term dreams.  Why not?    As I used to hear virtually every night as I went to bed…”Sweet dreams!”

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You for the ability to dream.  We thank You for the encouragement to care enough about our dreams to actually start a “dream book.”  Lord, now we ask You to guide our hand as we write our dreams into our dream book.  Let those dreams be of you and for your glory.
 
Link of the Day
The Dreams Movie

Blessings on you as you list your 100 dreams this day.
 

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Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.  (Acts 2:17b; NLT)

I just finished a book that I would like to heartily recommend.  The book is The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly.  I especially want to recommend this book to the coaches among our readership, but as will become clear in this review, I believe it will be of great value to the non-coaches as well. 

The book is a very easy read…will take you three to four hours if you push straight through.  And it wouldn’t be a chore to read at one sitting because the story line and writing style makes it easy to “read just another page or two before I lay it down.”  The book is a business book written in that genre that uses a story to convey the author’s message, much like The Go-Giver by Bob Burg, The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, and others.

The premise of Kelly’s book is that if you will take care of your employees, they will take care of you.  Sounds a bit like a cliche, but Kelly takes the idea of caring for your employees several steps deeper than just the typical financial, work environment, and other HR approaches used by so many “caring” companies.  Kelly’s message is that the key to employee morale and productivity is simply to understand each employee’s dreams and then help them devise a plan to pursue and fulfill those dreams. 

“If we can help our employees beyond the quiet desperation of mere survival by teaching them to dream again, and help them to fulfill their dreams, we’ll create a loyalty and dedication that’s unmatched.  And then our people will bring the passion and energy they have for their dreams to work.”

The story itself is about a janitorial service company that was struggling with massive employee turnover costs because the only jobs they had to offer were low or no skill, dead-end jobs.  The turnaround came when they hired a “dream manager” whose job was to meet with individual employees and coach each of them to articulate their unique dream(s) and then help them to develop a plan to follow toward the realization of that dream.  It wasn’t long before they had to add several dream managers to the staff.  People came “alive” and the result flowed directly to the bottom line.  They weren’t employees any longer, as they began to see themselves as respected, valued, members of the team.

Woven throughout the story are little tips about the value of dreams, the motivational power of dreams,  how to rekindle dreams in those who have long since stopped dreaming,  as well as how to coach people to the realization of their dreams.  It’s an incredibly compelling case for providing life coaching in a corporate setting, and not just to the top echelon of management.

While the story is woven around business issues, the message extends way beyond corporate walls and would clearly be applicable in any sector, such as churches, non-profits, schools and universities, or anywhere else where people work together in employee/employer relationships.  The book is inspirational to coaches as it helps them maintain the vision for the power and efficacy of what they do, and is similarly compelling to non-coaches helping them to see how and why a coach could be of incredible value to them.

Don’t miss this book!

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank you for the creative ability you have designed into each and every one of us to dream dreams of our preferred future.  Unfortunately, many of us have long since allowed that ability to atrophy.  Show us that that vital part of their lives can be rejuvenated and restored to be fully functional once again.

Link of the Day
The Dream Manager

Blessings on you as you begin your list of dreams.
 

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No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church. (Eph. 5:29; NLT)

Well, here we are about to wrap up this little mini-series on the four keys to great health.  One last piece to put in place.  I call this one the “magic key” because with it the probability of success sky rockets.  Without it, the probability for failure sky rockets. 

But before the magic key, I would like to ask you to take a look at the two pictures below.  Amazingly, those two women are approximately the same age.  I’m sure I need not ask which you would prefer to emulate.  The point of this whole series is that in order to end up healthy and vibrant, you must be pro-active about your health.  Fortunately, it’s not hard–it’s actually very simple.  Hopefully the two pictures will give you a strong “why.”

Now, back to the “how” and the magic key.  Have you guessed it yet?  The magic key is structure.  You need a structure to make all this work effectively.  By structure, I simply mean that you need someone who is going to touch base with you each week just to see how you did with your goals for the week, and to support, encourage, and hold you accountable to keep taking those very simple steps. 

Let’s face it…you know you should pick the apple instead of the donut.  You know that exercise is good for you.  You know that drinking water is good for your body.  But for most of us, it can be hard to stay on track.  If I may quote from a document that came to my attention a couple of months ago, “A recent study from the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal (January 2008) found that basic healthy habits can add 14 years to your life….  They found that what stopped people from changing their behavior was not a lack of knowledge, it was a lack of practical support.  Someone to help them make a plan.  Someone to help them stick to the plan.”  You know, that’s exactly what a coach is trained to do.

Please allow me to conclude this series with an invitation.  I would like to invite you to give one of us a call at 757.482.4490 and let’s talk about the kind of structure and support we can offer you.  We invite you to become an active part of the health community we are creating.  It’s a lot more fun when you’ve got a buddy.

Have a better than fantastic weekend!

Prayer Power
Lord, again we thank You for the gift of great health.  We thank You for the understanding that You’ve provided the path, but we must take the initiative to walk that path.  Now we boldly ask for the grace to motivate us to begin to take those steps.

Link of the Day
CDC Launches Campaign to Make the USA a Healthier Nation

Blessings on you as you choose to become pro active regarding your health and give us a call to see how we can help.
 

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What have you heard about the need for nutritional supplements?

Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  (1 Cor. 3:16; NAS)

Here we are…all ready for the fourth and final simple step to great health.  Just to review quickly, the first step is to drink more water, the second step is to move more or get more exercise, the third step is to eat more superfoods, and the fourth step…one final time, the drum roll please!

The fourth simple step to great health is supplementation.  Yes, you do need to add supplements to your daily regimen.  Even the American Medical Association came out a couple of years ago and reversed their long standing position against the need for supplements.  They now admit that the nutrient value of our food supply has diminished so drastically that it is virtually impossible to get all the nutrients one needs from food alone.  You’ve probably heard that only two peaches a day would have supplied a woman’s vitamin A RDA in 1951.  Today she would have to eat more than 53 peaches to meet this requirement.  Peaches anyone?   And peaches aren’t the only food to show a loss.  Read today’s link to get a better feel for the seriousness of this situation.

OK, so you need to supplement.  Now you may accuse me of being a little self-serving here, but I do need to let you know that all supplements are not created equal.  In fact, this problem has gotten so bad that Congress has now passed a law that requires a manufacturer to be able to prove that what is advertised to be in the container is indeed in the container.  When buying supplements, you have to be aware that the lowest price is usually not the best value.  I’ll leave it at that.

But, again, the fourth step is simply to supplement what you eat with a daily regimen of nutrients.  What nutrients you ask, and whose are good?  Bottom line, find someone with enough experience to be credible and then trust them.  Everybody has their own opinions about what brand is best.  But just like with quality food, you must expect to pay a little more for quality supplements.

So there you have it.  All four simple steps.  And they really are simple, aren’t they?  So simple, in fact, that they’re easy not to do.  Or like most New Year’s resolutions, easy to start with a bang and fall off the wagon a couple of weeks into the game. 

The solution?  On Friday, I will conclude this series with a discussion of the magic key to the four simple steps.  There is a way to keep you “on that wagon.”  It’s just as simple as the four steps, but at the same time, incredibly powerful.  See you Friday!

Prayer Power
Lord, our race to mass produce our crops as well as increase their shelf life so that they can be shipped for long distances have combined to radically decrease the nutrient value of much of our natural food.  We thank You that nutrition science has been successful in developing food supplements that allow us to offset some of that loss.

Link of the Day
Studies Reveal Evidence of Staggering Nutritional Deficiencies

Blessings on you as you purpose to supplement your diet with additional nutrients on a daily basis.
 

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How many servings of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and the like do you eat in an average day?

Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you. (Acts 27:34; NKJ)

Welcome back.  I pray you had a great weekend and now you’re sitting on the edge of your seat waiting the announcement of the third step.  A little drum roll and may I have the card please?

The third simple step to great health is to eat more superfoods.  Superfoods?  Food with a red cape and a big “S” emblazoned on it somewhere?  No, no, no…superfood is simply nutrition-rich food.  Today’s link is a list of foods that most consider to be superfoods.  I bet you could name most of them with out even looking.  And no, donuts are not on the list–but dark chocolate is, hallelujah!

My resident expert, Sharon, wrote a short article about superfoods as recently as two months ago (5/8/08).  She even included a link that was a list of superfoods (the link I’m using today is similar, but a little simpler in my view).  Sharon likes to call them “God-foods.”  Whole books have been written on this topic.  But again, for most of us, we need to keep it simple. 

The simple bottom line is eat more superfoods this week than you did last.  How many superfoods should you eat?  How many more than last week?  All up to you.  If you only eat one a day on average (and believe it or not, there are some who don’t even eat one a week), then adding one or two superfoods a day is going to begin to make a big difference.  The issue is simply “more,” not how many more.

Simple enough, right?  So see…as I predicted, a little more complex than water and exercise, but with the help of a list, it’s just as easy.  Only one more simple step to go.  Tune in again on Wednesday and get the final simple step to great health.  See you then.

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You for the food You provide–the God-foods.  Try as they may, man has still not been able to improve perfection.  We thank You that not only did You design our bodies to run on natural foods, but that you also provided those foods.  We simply couldn’t ask for better care.

Link of the Day
SuperFoods

Blessings on you as you purpose to add one superfood to your diet this very day.
 

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How much physical activity is a part of your average day?

Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. (1 Tim. 4:8; NLT)

Ready for the second simple step to great health?  If you just arrived and you’re wondering what this is all about, take a quick look at Monday’s DG for the overview, and then Wednesday’s for the first step.  Now for the second step, let’s hear the drum roll again, please!

The second simple step to great heath is exercise, or as one of my exercise-phobic friends prefers, “activity.”  I bet you already guessed that one, didn’t you?  Yep, God designed our bodies to move.  Not to sit behind a desk only to go home at night and sit on the couch in front of the resident cyclopes.

Here again, I’m not saying you have to exercise so many times a week for so many minutes doing such and such exercise.  No, I’m just saying move more this week than you did last week.  For some of you, you didn’t move much last week, so a little improvement will be a fantastic breakthrough.  For others of you, the situation is entirely different.  Again, it’s your call to decide how much more is reasonable.  Better a little more that you do consistently, than a lot more that you find excuses to avoid doing.

Bottom line, folks, exercise is not optional!  If you want to get the expert view, check out Sharon’s 10/11/07 DG entitled, “You Knew It Was Coming.”  Don’t let yourself get intimidated, though…just move more this week than you did last.  Pretty simple, isn’t it? 

Lest you get spoiled, the Third Simple Step is a little more challenging than the first two, but I believe when you hear it, you will agree that it is pretty simple as well.  Have a great weekend!  See you on Monday.

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank you for the wonderful miracle of the human body.  We thank you that the keys to great health are so incredibly simple in spite of the fact the the body is so amazingly complex–complex beyond our understanding.  Lord, give us the grace to do the simple things and not spend so much time looking for the complex (and costly).

Link of the Day
The Miraculous Healing Power of Exercise

Blessings on you as you purpose to move a little more today than you did yesterday.
 

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What would you like your health to be like in six months?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.  (Rom. 12:1; NIV)

I’ve been thinking about health and wellness a good bit lately.  No, this is not a prelude to an announcement.  But I am learning that thinking about wellness is not something many people do…unless they are sick.  Even then, they aren’t really focused on wellness.  In fact, they are actually focusing on how to make their illness go away so that they can forget about their health once again.  Begins to remind me of that oft quoted definition of insanity.

I suppose it’s human nature, but we don’t think much about our toes, unless one or more of them is sore.  We don’t think about how much we need and use our thumb, unless it is sore.  Then it sticks out like a….  So I guess it’s natural to not think about being healthy, until we’re not.  That’s really tragic, though.  It is really so simple to dramatically improve our health if we would just practice a few (four actually) simple steps.  But more about that later.

Have you ever thought about the value (i.e., payback) of good health or wellness?  Probably not…for all the same reasons as above.  We’ve all got more important things to think about, right?  Well, I would like to propose that health adds value or brings benefits to every moment of our lives.  Beside to ourselves, health adds value to our families, to our friends, to our work, to our community, and to our country.  Overstatement?  Hype?  To answer that, turn the thought over and ask what are the consequences of not having good health? How about the consequences to your family?  To your friends.  To your work?  To your community?  And finally, to your country?  Something tells me that the consequences would feel far more significant if we were not so used to living with them on a daily basis.

First of all, what is wellness to you?  It’s probably different for you than it is for me.  A great coaching question is to ask yourself, “What would I like my health to be like in six months?”  To be valid, your answer must describe what you want to be or do…not what you want to be free from.  For some it might be to run a marathon.  For someone else, it might be to be able to walk to the mailbox to get the mail without getting winded.  There are probably as many short-term health goals as there are people to ask. 

Then ask yourself, “What would I like my health to be 20 years down the road?”  Think about how old you’ll be in 20 years and what would you like to be able to do when you’re that age.  Here again, everybody’s answer is going to be different, although there is likely to be some commonality, such as energy, stamina, mental acuity, flexibility, etc.

Then applying the creative process that we’ve been talking about for the last week or two, how would you describe your state of health right now, i.e., your current reality?  Do you find that comparing your desired future with your current reality motivates you to take some action that will move you toward your goal?  That’s structural tension that you’re feeling.

It’s my intention over the next several DG’s to briefly discuss those four simple steps that I promised you would dramatically improve your current reality–no matter how bad or how good that current reality is.  Interested?  See you on Wednesday.  Not interested?  Come back in a couple of weeks or so.  We’ll still be here–in fact, we’ll leave the porch light on for you.

BTW, last December (12/14), I wrote a DG entitled, “Wellness…What’s All the Fuss?”  I included a little assessment as the link because it’s been so long since most have experienced wellness (if ever) that they don’t really understand what it is.  I’m including that assessment again as today’s link because I believe it’s a great starting point for this little series.

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You that great health is Your best for us.  We thank You that You have made it possible for us to move toward great health with a few simple lifestyle changes.  We ask that You grant us the grace to begin to make those changes and realize the blessings that come from a healthy body.

Link of the Day
Wellness Assessment

Blessings on you as you make the decision to become pro active regarding your health.
 

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What are your plans for this holiday?

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.  (Romans 13:4; KJV)

Ahhhh…The Fourth of July…Independence Day!  A very special holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, declaring our independence from Great Britain.  As Wikipedia puts it, it is a holiday “commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, baseball games, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government and traditions of the United States, but is often also viewed as simply a summer festival, apart from its patriotic overtones.”

Our church has invited all current and former military men and women to wear their uniforms this coming Sunday, along with all the other uniformed public servants such as police officers, firemen, et al.  This will be kind of a combo Memorial Day, Independence Day tribute to the members of our congregation who serve their country and community in a position of incredible significance.  It will indeed be a special day.  I’m really looking forward to it.  You see, our church has an unusually high number of military folks, probably due to the background of our pastor who is retired from the Navy.  We are truly blessed.

The closest I ever got to wearing a uniform was in the Boy Scouts.  I had some physical issues that prevented me from serving my country in the military.  I would have dearly loved to have gone to one of the academies.  I’ve always had a very special place in my heart for the discipline, honor, and commitment of those who wear uniforms.  The mere act of putting on a uniform is a deeply symbolic act that expresses a deep and selfless commitment to serve others unselfishly. 

I found the following words on the Internet…words spoken by a high school senior as part of a tribute to Memorial day:  As someone in uniform “walks past, children stare in awe and veterans salute.  This respect is earned through the meaning that the uniform carries.  It isn’t simply for show, to decorate with pretty ribbons and sashes.  Instead, it is to show that person’s dedication and willingness to serve.  They serve each and every one of us by defending the nation in which we live today.”  Wow!  Wish I would have said that.

While on the Internet, I found one other item I would like to share with you on this special day.  I found some lyrics to a song written about a decade ago.  One line that really jumped out at me says, “I have days of freedom because you had days of fear.”  The Link of the Day was sent to us by a young military wife in our church whose husband serves our country as a pilot. 

I pray that we all take a moment during our holiday festivities and remember our uniformed public defenders and servants.  We have cause to be very grateful.

You Are the Ones (The Kuhlmann Sisters Copyright 1998)
You are the ones who fought for my freedom 
You are the ones who gave it all 
You are the ones with bravery and honor 
You are the ones who answered the call 
Now I have days of freedom because you had days of fear 
Your loved ones always waiting, your mission always clear. 
You are the ones who fought for this country 
You are the ones who took a stand 
You are the ones with bravery and courage 
You are the ones who risked your lives to defend this land 
Now I have days of freedom because you had days of fear 
And what many take for granted, to me is very clear 
Looking at you through grateful eyes 
I am amazed at the great price that you paid 
Looking at you through grateful eyes 
I realize the magnitude of your sacrifice 
And I’m looking at you through grateful eyes.

Prayer Power
Lord, we truly are grateful for the men and women who have served us so selflessly making it possible for us to celebrate this special holiday.  May each and every one of them and their families feel very honored and loved by the rest of us.

Link of the Day
Take Just One Minute

Blessings as you pay tribute to the significance of this day.
 

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