Your raise will become effective when you are!

People everywhere are wanting more and more for less and less. Whether at work, home, church or school;  folks want to give less, but receive more. It really is true that if you have a job that you would do for free and can get paid for it then you never really work a day in your life. I have a job like that. Not always easy. Never the same two days in a row. And I would not trade it for anything.  The best way to get a promotion is to promote yourself by becoming effective. When your life adds value to others you  marry success and significance into a career, call, mission and passion.  Don't give in to the entitlement mentality. Common sense and work ethic are so rare today that anyone with character, competence and chemistry can float to the top like cream. So start churning out the work!

Don't Shoot the Dog to Kill the Tick

Do you act or react? Neither is wrong, but over reacting is. Too many people lay back and do nothing about issues that they need to deal with, hoping that things will just work out on its own. How is that working for you?  Still others rush in over reacting in a panic and not taking the time to seek wise counsel or to reflect on similar situations from the past. Sort of their own version of a panic attack on the situation.Confrontation is the greatest thing that most folks will never do. The ticks of life must be dealt with, but make sure you take aim and focus your methods only to the extent that you have to in order to deal with the issue properly in love and truth and then leave the  poor dog alone.

Pay Now, Play Later

Maturity is the ability to postpone pleasure. Every infant wants to eat or be changed right this very minute and they will tell you so. There are two paths  people can take. They can either play now and pay later, or pay now and play later. Regardless of the choice, one thing is certain. Life will demand a payment. You can exercise today to extend your health tomorrow. You can save today to spend tomorrow. You can eat at home today rather than hit the drive through and thereby go out for steak down the road. Bottom line is there is no such thing as a “free lunch,”  life is not a gift—it is an investment. The sooner you  take control of your desires and submit them to life’s demands, the more successful you will become.  When we pay later, the price is even greater!

I'm Gonna . . . Never Did!

How many times did I hear my kids tell me they were gonna make their bed or pick up their room only to go into the room hours later and find a mess of good intentions (or not)? Better yet were the 10 minute monologues they gave me as to why they did not have time to do a five minute job! Cause and effect is a lost concept. We reap what we sow, don't sow or never get around to sowing for that matter.  So how are you doing? What were you gonna do that you simply take too much time explaining to yourself and others so as to not get it done? Gonna never did and never will. So, while you're sitting around convincing yourself you don't have time to do what you were gonna do, why not go ahead and check out the rest of the posts on this blog? I know ... you're gonna.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever!

If setting boundaries in life creates margin and the greatest things in life happen in the margin of your life, then you don't have to keep carrying items 8, 9 and 10 on your 'To Do' list over to tomorrow! In fact, it just might be that some of those things that keep getting bumped don't need to happen at all or someone else might even do them. Life is about doing the best things not everything. When you get to the end, it really is about God and family and the truth is you are not as important as your constant flow of emails would have you believe. Ask if what you have planned for tomorrow is the next thing, a good thing or the best thing! Procrastination is bad, but setting genuine priorities is great.