Posted by Jory on October 24, 2011 · 5 Comments
Those of you who know me, or who have spent any time reading my website or listening to my radio show, know that I am all about purpose and calling. It’s a subject that has fascinated and sometimes tormented me since high school.
Check this out from the Old and New Testaments:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
[Deuteronomy 6:4-5]
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment
in the Law?” Jesus answered,
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments.”
[Matthew 22:36-40]
Then Jesus came to them [the eleven disciples] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [Matthew 28:18-20]
I had to smile when our pastor summed up our collective purpose as:
1) Love God.
2) Love Others.
3) Make Disciples.
There you have it. How easy is that?? So much angst over what we’re supposed to do with our lives and, voila, six simple words say it all.. Hmmm….simple?
Maybe not.
How do we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind? How do we live for the Lord full-time?
Loving God with all my heart means wanting to be in full relationship with Him. Not part-time. Full-time. It means being eager to share my joys, my challenges, my ups, my downs, with my Lord and Savior. It means keeping our relationship fresh and vibrant and keeping our relationship my top priority. It means allowing God’s love and compassion to flow through me to others.
Loving God with all my soul means continually listening to God’s voice. It means wanting my purpose to be His purpose—wanting His plan to be my plan. It means connecting through my soul to my Source on a regular basis to discern God’s will for my life.
Loving God with all my mind means loving God consciously, intentionally, with full and continual awareness. It means seeking to conform my thoughts to God’s thoughts and ridding my mind of all negativity:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” [Philippians 4:7-9]
Loving God with all my strength means pouring every ounce of energy into my relationship with God. It means loving God with my whole being, not merely with bits and pieces of who I am or who I think I am.
Loving others as ourselves
is a natural and logical outgrowth of loving God
with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.
So is fulfilling the Great Commission.
Take a moment to ask yourself: Are you living for God (that is, are you living out your God-given purpose) part-time or full-time?
If you want to get crystal clear on whom to serve and how to serve them (part of your unique/particular/specific call), focus first on getting to know the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. Live your corporate/collective/general call with joy and confidence.
Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Find Your Purpose. Fulfill Your Calling.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path.”
[Proverbs 3:5-6]
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Posted by Jory on October 17, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Last week I led a group of coaches in a discussion of “How to Build a Profitable, Purpose-Guided Business.” Not surprisingly, we focused on the topic, “Choosing Your Target Market.”
I know many service-based business owners who agonize over this decision. I did too, at first. “Just choose three to five groups of people you like to work with,” I was advised. Hence, my first mega-website was divided into three major categories — Coaching for Women, Coaching for Lawyers, and Coaching for Clergy. (My husband joked that I included everybody but male engineers.)
NOT a good idea! When you’re “targeting” more than one group, you’re spreading your resources too thin. Your time, your energy, your hard-earned dollars, your focus. You’ll confuse and maybe even scare away the people who are meant to work with you! My current business mentors have ingrained in me the mantra, “A confused mind always says no.”
Fo’ sho.
[
Take the pressure off. If you make a decision, try it on for size; and if your target market is not a good fit, guess what . . . you can change! Just don’t invest a fortune in marketing materials or websites until you’ll pretty darn sure you’re going to stick with that particular group for a while. And guess what else. Declaring a target market doesn’t mean you can’t work with somebody who doesn't fit that particular profile--as long as you resonate with each other and it’s a good fit for both of you. Feelin' the freedom?]
So, besides liking the people you intend to serve, what are some other factors to consider when identifying your target market? Try these:
- Do they have specific problems you can help them solve?
- Are they likely to pay someone to help solve their problems?
- Are they motivated and passionate?
- Do they gather in places where you can easily find them?
- Can you relate to them . . . really well?
If several groups come to mind when using those criteria, ask yourself the killer question: Who Needs You Most? There’s only so much “you” to go around!
We True Purpose™ Coaches are highly skilled in helping people get crystal clear on whom they’re meant to serve and how they’re meant to serve them. Reach out to us if you think you need some help.
To your success!
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Posted by Jory on October 10, 2011 · Leave a Comment
A friend of mine, a 2010 guest on Heart & Soul, asks: Why is it that two equally ambitious and hard-working entrepreneurs end up with different results—one experiencing amazing business growth while the other goes out of business? Sheila Savar answers her question in The Power of Networking. Success is all about networking and building relationships.Toward that end . . .
My goal is to attend at least one major event a quarter and at least one smaller local event a week. If you have already identified your target market (the people you’re meant to serve), then look for functions where “your peeps” hang out. Time is valuable so spend it wisely.
If you’ve not yet identified your target market, networking is a perfect opportunity to experiment. Observe: to whom do you naturally gravitate and who naturally gravitates to you? You want to work with people you like! Try various groups on for size and see how you feel being with them. Do they inspire you? Uplift you? Get your creative juices flowing?
Sheila’s book is full of networking dos and don’ts and strategies, which I wholeheartedly recommend. My favorite tip of all time is a little jewel I learned decades ago from my father. Whenever I would head off to the Naval Academy for a Sunday afternoon dance (referred to as “Tea Fights” before USNA went co-ed), Dad would remind me to have three questions tucked away in my brain—three questions to get the midshipman talking about himself. It worked like a charm!!!! I never had to fret over a lull in the conversation. Never.
When you focus on being interested rather than interesting, you have the opportunity to learn all about your new acquaintance. Her struggles, challenges, victories, interests—valuable information as you assess how you might be able to serve her now or down the road. Perhaps you’ll unearth a wonderful joint venture opportunity for the two of you or discover you’d be great referral partners. Listen and learn with genuine curiosity and a servant’s heart. It will change your perspective on networking, believe me.
My friend Bryn Johnson, a 2011 guest on Heart & Soul, is another staunch advocate of networking. She lays out a plan before attending each event to make sure she meets the people she needs and wants to meet . . . and has something to talk about when she tracks them down!
By the way, my introverted colleagues insist you don’t have to be an extrovert to enjoy networking. Just be strategic about which events you choose to attend and, as Bryn suggests, make a plan. (Follow my father’s advice and you’ll never have to worry about keeping the conversation going!)
May you build a powerful network of meaningful, heart-centered connections.
I’d love to know — what’s yourfavorite networking strategy? Share your comment with us here on the blog.
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Posted by Jory on October 3, 2011 · 2 Comments
Humor, Health, and High Performance. Did you know they’re connected? This weekend, at The 1st Annual On Purpose Woman Conference in Columbia, MD, I attended a break-out session by Karen Susman entitled “How’s Your Laugh Life?” This 50+ Petite Dynamo presented (humorously of course) a compelling rationale for infusing laughter into our daily activities. According to Karen’s research:
After hearty laughter, your blood pressure is lowered for 45 minutes.- Daily laughter restores neurotransmitters that help you cope with stress.
- Laughter increases oxygen to your brain resulting in clearer thinking.
- Laughter aids creativity by giving you a different perspective.
- Laughter builds your immune system by reducing the flow of adrenalin and cortisol.
- Laughter, or even having “humor vision,” reduces tension and conflict.
- Laughter increases the likelihood that people will want to work with you.
I particularly love this reason, offered by an anonymous sage: “If you don’t laugh, your soul wrinkles.” Yikes!
As Karen was describing how important it is to laugh our way through life, I thought back to my years as an Assistant Public Defender in Lynchburg, VA. Almost every day our gang of ~ten attorneys (mostly 30-something males) would gather around the lunch table after a grueling morning of court appearances and jail visits. *And*we’d*laugh*!!!!* Of course it helped that each of us had a strong propensity to see the lighter side of the darker side of human existence; and of course it helped that a few of the attorneys could make a living as stand-up comedians if they chose to do so; and of course it helped that our clients (and opposing counsel) gave us some excellent material to work with . . . I’ll just say that those 60 minutes of daily laughter got me through some pretty grim times as a defense attorney. [Spot on, Karen Susman!]
So, ladies, let’s add more fun to our days and see what happens! Whether it’s marshmallow fights with our colleagues (yes, we did this in the workshop) or practicing “laughter yoga,” we need to make sure we tickle our fancy numerous times throughout the day.
Karen suggests creating a “joy list” of whatever makes us smile and reviewing and adding to it regularly. She also recommends sharing our favorite bloopers with our friends, such as going through the car wash with the back window open or (my personal favorite) walking to court, briefcase in hand–with my dress hiked up and tucked into my panty hose! For more creative ideas from Karen, please visit www.karensusman.com.
I’d love to hear — what do you do to keep your soul from wrinkling??? Share your comment with us here on the blog.
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Posted by Jory on September 26, 2011 · 2 Comments
The U.S. Naval Academy’s Chaplain Brian Weigelt delivered one of his thought-provoking, spirit-moving sermons yesterday entitled “Joint Operations.” As he preached on our need for radically strong vertical and horizontal relationships (giving a clarion call for all branches of service to seek guidance from Above and be fully supportive of one another), I kept staring at the cross above him.
Here I am, 58.75 years old, and yet that’s the first time I’ve ever deeply reflected on how the shape of the cross symbolizes our vertical relationship with our Creator as well as our horizontal relationships with our fellow man. Pondering the Chaplain’s words, I stared at the intersection of the two pieces of wood, where an upside-down dove is often carved to represent the descending of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, upon us.
The Holy Spirit at the center of the cross . . . at the center of our hearts . . . at the center of our relationships.
The cross is all about heart-centered, soul-centered, vertical and horizontal relationships. The cross is all about Joint Operations!
Before we begin our work . . . before we connect with our friends, family, colleagues, clients, and prospective clients, let’s remember to do what David was advised in Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
We must connect to our Power Source.
We must connect to the Divine.
Only then are we ready to connect with one another.
I’d love to read your thoughts in the comment section below.
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