I don’t like paying bills, mostly because it makes me feel like I’m running out of money.
Sometimes, when I compare myself to others, I wonder, Do I have the right contacts? Do I know the right people?
More than a few times I week I sit down in front of the keyboard and doubt my ability to accomplish the task at hand.
Fighting a mindset of lack is something I have to do almost every day.
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When Jesus sent 70 of his guys out, the first thing he told them was, “The harvest is so great!” Talk about a mindset of plenty. He knew that for them to accomplish their goals, they had to see the cup as more than just half-full – they needed to see it as overflowing.
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In our new book “83 Lost Sheep,” Gerry Stoltzfoos writes:
Wherever you see abundance, you will be the leader. If you don’t see abundance, you aren’t leading. Vision is the ultimate, essential core of leadership, because if you can see abundance somewhere, you will lead in that area.
If you see bits of poems lying around everywhere, then you are probably a poet.
If you see emotionally hurting people on the street and believe that there’s huge potential to set up a program to help them, then you probably will.
If you see high demand for a thingamajig and can envision how to create it cheap and sell it for a profit, then you will be the leader in that industry.
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So what’s your outlook? When you look at your life, do you see a lot or a little?
Sometimes we need to adjust our vision. Sometimes we need to train ourselves to see possibility, instead of impossibility; opportunity, instead of dead end; a path, instead of a ditch.
What do you see?
Thanks for this, Shawn. I too often need reminders of this when I’m paying the bills, or when words aren’t jumping from my head to my fingers, or when the phone isn’t ringing off the hook with new clients.
I think part of the problem is that we expect results and we expect them fast! We’re not willing to wait and see things through. I know that’s something I have to stress to my clients on a regular basis. They want to start a program and have people knocking down their door the next day.
Life takes time. In fact…it takes a lifetime! One step at a time, and a change in perspective can make all the difference.
I struggle with “scarcity” thinking. I tend to be jealous of others’ successes, subconsciously believing that leaves less of whatever it is for me! It’s silly and wrong and I appreciate this reminder to think abundantly. Thank you.
I recently read that out of a sample of 20-30 somethings polled, 95% said that they thought they were going to do something great in their lifetimes.
Sometimes I feel as though the vision in my over-confident generation is not what is lacking…it is the faith/courage/guts, whatever you want to call it, to go after it that is lacking.
Shawn, your quote on your blog sums it up perfectly…
“if you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it” John Irving
Hang around for a review of Chapter 3 in “83 Lost Sheep”…Go…