Read with me!

I started reading the Bible using the 1-year reading plan at youversion.com

It is a really great website that allows you read the Bible online in many translations and languages. You can follow other people, make your insight about certain scriptures known to others, highlight and tag verses etc. So check it out!

If you are interested then join me here, so we can do it together.

Mocha Club

After you see the video make sure you click here to see the website and see how you can get involved.

oh... and there is still time for The 50,000 shoes in 50 days challenge.

Goal Setting

As we enter a new year, many people will be making resolutions and setting goals. Some stick with the resolutions and goals while others don't. This post was inspired by a tweet from Tony Steward. You can follow him here. 

The following steps/points were taken from Peter Daniels book How to reach your life goals. It is a great book. You can see some of his videos on YouTube, AOL or Google video. 

So, here you go:

1. Define your goal: If you don't have one make finding a goal your goal! Clearly define your goals in terms of ultimate achievement. Also if you can describe your subordinate major and minor goals. 

2. Set out your strategy:  A step by step improvement towards your goal. This will help give and save energy. It gives you direction. 

3. Plan out your problems: Problems can be planned out. Attitude might be the biggest problem you have. Make a plan to get rid of your problems with God's help. Don't keep having excuses for why you treat people the wrong way, hot tempered, etc.

4. Build in reserves. (mentally, physically, financially): Sometimes it can get uphill all the way and you need a vertical relationship with The Savior. Ask awkward questions, challenge the statements that are made. Have spiritual reserves. Spend some money on your brain and build mental reserves.  Build strong friendships that you can lean on during tough times. 

5. Relate to time frames: This helps you with not getting disappointed. Divide time into small bite size chunks. Mix suitable goals in the same time frame. All goals must fit into time frames. 

6. Create a master plan: this is how you plan to achieve the goal and get the job done. Protect your progress with checkpoints.

7. Do it now: Don't procrastinate! Theories are great, knowledge is power and good intentions are weak promises but decisive action can turn the smallest dream into reality. 

So what are your goals? What are you working on?

The critical question

I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and it has been rocking me for the last few days. When it comes to loving Christ, Francis quotes John Piper from his book God Is The Gospel and here it is:

The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

No matter who you are and what you do, as a christian this is a question that you will have to give an honest answer to yourself. You might be surprised at the answer yourself! This has definitely caused me to evaluate my life and love for Christ.

What about you?

Talk about ideas!

The saying goes "Big people talk about ideas, average people talk about things and small people talk about other people."

What category do you fall under? Talking about other people in not a bad thing all the time. It is bad when all you talk about is gossip and small talk about other people. If you talk about other people in the light of what they have accomplished or what they plan to do and how you can learn from it, it is a good thing.

For a little over a year I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know some great people who love to talk about ideas and talk about things most people are not even thinking about. This has helped me in many ways. It helps you grow personally and also lets you have a broader understanding of things around you. I also realized that once you start to talk about different ideas you will start liking certain subjects that you were not necessarily interested in before.

What do you think? What kind of ideas do you think about?

5 habits

I was recently reading an article 10 habits of successful people. Five of them really stood out to me and I wanted to share them. Most of them are "common sence" or things that you have heard before but I believe it is always good to be reminded of the basics, so here is the list:

1. Think long-term.
2. Talk about ideas, NOT people and things.
3. Learn to embrace change.
4. Take calcualted risks.
5. Continually learn and grow.

I know there have to be other things that can be added to this list. What are somethings that you would add?

Quote

"A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man's greatest tragedy and God's heaviest grief." A. W. Tozer.

Kill the slogan?!

So after taking a econ final at school today, rushing home and then to airport, the flight to New York is delayed by two and a half hours. At this point I am hoping that I will reach New York in time to catch my flight to Dubai.

So in the mean time I thought I would just write this. I just read an article by Dan & Heath Chip about Killing the slogans dead in FastCompany magazine. Dan & Heath Chip are the authors of the book Made to Stick. 

In the article they ask managers and leaders to fight the urge to think in clever taglines. They talk about how it is important to connect an idea with stories so move people instead of just coming up with a good tagline and expecting the tagline to get the job done. I think this very well applies to preaching, presenting and giving talks. Stories connect with people much more than clever taglines. 

So to add to the 30 second rule, in order to get your point across and move people to action, have a story that they can connect with and remember even after you are done with your talk. 

Reading list

This is what I plan to read while I travel to India!

What are you reading?