Are you ready to LOSE? Most people say they're ready to win, but very few say they're ready to lose. Mainly because to intentionally pursue losing is counter to our hyper-competitive culture of winning. We're so used to trying to win at everything we do, it's a foreign concept to embrace giving up or letting go. In our society pursuing purpose is often associated with pleasantries and pop psychology, not solitude and sacrifice. This view of purpose isn't very sexy. It's not popular to focus on giving up what I want in exchange for pursuing what God wants. However, this is exactly what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 10:39, "Whoever finds his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." He was promoting losing oneself thousands of years before Eminem penned his popular anthem Lose Yourself. In the context of what Jesus is talking about, losing our lives for his sake means embracing death so that we might live. Death to what, you ask? Great question. Death to your will. Death to selfishness. Death to carnal desires. Death to your comfort zone. Death to being controlled by other's opinions. Death to low self-esteem. Death to procrastination. Death to small dreams. When we embrace this kind of death by exchanging our ideas, plans, and desires for His, we are resurrected into a life that is beyond anything we could imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9). A life beyond your dreams is waiting on the other side of your death to your dreams. You have to DIE to your PURPOSE before you can fully LIVE out your PURPOSE. So are you ready to lose? I hope so! I delve a little deeper into this concept in the video below, filmed a couple years ago in front of "The Awakening" statue at National Harbor, Maryland. Enjoy and leave your comments below! I love to imagine how entrepreneurial thinking can produce creative ideas and innovative solutions to challenges that many impoverished communities face nationally and globally. I believe that successful purpose-centered entrepreneurs can be used as a strategic tool to empower others to build healthy, prosperous communities.
Inc. Magazine recently posted an article, "Why Entrepreneurs Do What They Do." In the article they describe entrepreneurship as "solving problems and creating social progress; building great new things that make a better world. It's about celebrating each step toward the ultimate human longing for an enhanced and enriched enterprise of life." This description of entrepreneurship succinctly captures the entrepreneurial spirit that God wants every human being to have, whether you own a business or not. You were created for something special that goes beyond your personal well being and extends to creating well being for others. The article quoted social entrepreneur and Episcopal bishop Rev. William Swing: "There are two fields of genius available...laborers who live on yesterday's insights and entrepreneurs who live on tomorrow's possibilities. Both have their own dignity, but entrepreneurship pulls life into its destiny." The potential for great things to happen in the world is unleashed when purpose-centered entrepreneurs, who have incredible vision, diverse skills, and a passion for progress, channel their collective energy to create something greater than what one individual could do on their own. Our society needs more God-inspired social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers to help conquer the immense challenges we are confronted with in the world on a daily basis. I am one of them. Are you? Click here to connect with me to see what we can do together! I wrote this post a few years ago on my Passion in Action blog. So in honor of Valentine's Day I decided to dust it off and repost it here. Enjoy! One of my favorite sports in high school was flirting. Yes, you read correctly - flirting. I say this, because it was all a big game that everybody played. Fortunately, it was fun, mostly harmless, puppy love child's play. While that kind of behavior was ok back then, once I got older I realized it was time to put away childish things. What was innocent flirting in high school took on a whole different tone and meaning once I became an adult. Flirting now had greater expectations and consequences attached to it. I had to be much more careful and flirt "at my own risk." How does this relate to your dreams? Some people are content to only flirt with their dreams because they are unwilling to make the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual investments that are necessary to pursue and accomplish big dreams. What does flirting with a dream look like?
Does any of this sound familiar to you as it relates to flirt-only, surface-level relationships? How about as it relates to pursuing and accomplishing one's dreams? This type of behavior is similar to relationships when people flirt with one another for long periods of time without eventually making a commitment, because they are unwilling to devote themselves to a meaningful, significant, and accountable partnership. Some of the reasons why people do this in relationships are the same as why they do it with their dreams:
This well-known quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson applies to relationships and dreams. "Perpetual Flirters" don't realize they will never be able to experience the joy and depth of love if they never take a risk of being with someone that could cause them a depth of pain. Likewise, you will never be able to experience the depth of joy and fulfillment from accomplishing your dreams if you never embrace the risk of experiencing deep disappointment and discouragement that may happen if you don't accomplish your dreams. Stop flirting with your dreams! Take the plunge. Jump in head over heels. Pursue it with all your heart and don't hold anything back. Commit to staying the course, especially when it gets hard - because it inevitably will. It will be well worth the risk no matter what happens! Most of the world knows by now that Whitney Houston passed away on Saturday. The outpouring of sympathy and sentiments has been what is expected for who may have been the greatest singer of all time. She was given a wonderful tribute last night at the Grammys. And in countless news stories, interviews, and programs people are expressing shock, dismay, sadness, and a multitude if other feelings. This is an extremely sad story of a wonderful talent who met with a tragic end to her life. However, the question has to be asked: Why do people seem to respond differently when a superstar dies unexpectedly than when a "regular" person dies unexpectedly? One reason I believe this mindset exists is because secretly in the hearts of "regular" people lives the same distorted perspective that lives in the heart of many superstars. It's the human tendency - and for many a conscious choice - to chase the dream vs. The Dream Giver (God). I can't say this is what happened to Whitney Houston, but this is what happens to a lot of people in our society. Actually this mindset is nothing new. It was actually addressed by God in Deuteronomy 8 when He admonished the nation of Israel before they entered their promise land. He told them that life was about to get really good. And when it did, they had better not forget the One who made it happen, or else it would cause them to lose everything. Why is it so important that you don't pursue your dream at the exclusion of the Dream Giver? When seasons of attention, fame, and stardom pass, and it seems like your dream is now fading from memory instead of flowing into your future, what will you have to hold on to? Whether you are in front of big crowds or not, when the Dream Giver is your focus, you will have the foundation, inspiration, and direction for the next adventure of your life. Transitions don't have to be tragic, they can be triumphant. In today's cult of celebrity, as exhibited by the Grammys and other award shows, people are worshipped for their talent and exploits as much as if not more than God. When that happens, celebrities are ascribed glory that should only be given to God. In Hebrew the word "glory" originally means "weight" or "heaviness." Humans were not created to carry the weight of God's glory, only to reflect it. When the weight and pressure of carrying the glory of man-made fame, i.e. having to keep pleasing people or shocking them so you stay relevant in their minds and wallets year after year, people eventually crack under the pressure. They end up doing things they felt was necessary to temporarily or permanently escape the pressure of their lives. No matter how we have idolized them, superstars - like all of us - are frail human beings who eventually will break down if enough pressure is applied. The list is staggering of those who "died too soon" over the last couple of years (or even the last 40 years) under tragic circumstances that involved drugs and/or alcohol:
James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights. He loves to bless His children with amazing talent that blesses the world. What He doesn't love is when His children worship the talent - their own or someone else's - more than they worship Him. So let me ask you, are you chasing the dream or the Dream Giver? I am so excited to launch my new web site and blog. I am taking my business and my brand back to where I started a few years ago after I wrote my book Dream B.I.G. in 3D. Just like Michael J. Fox in the 80s classic movie Back to the Future, I am sort of going backwards to move forward. At the time I was really focusing on helping people discover their purpose through the dream God placed in their heart. Since then I had broadened my message and services to include other things, but I realize that I need to go back to what I know God originally gave me to do. And that is as I am helping people discover their purpose, I am supposed to also help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset for Christ (I talk about this more in-depth in the video). As such, you will begin to see more of my multi-media offerings, products, and services geared toward these two areas.
You will notice there are blog posts dated prior to this one. I decided to manually incorporate some of my recent posts from my other blog, Passion in Action. I may eventually bring more posts over in the future, but for now I wanted to provide some recent relevant content for this new site. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions for making this site more helpful to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. I look forward to engaging with you to help you develop an entrepreneurial mind for Christ. |
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