CLN Blog

^"6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." - Isaiah 25:6-8 (NIV)

False Narrative: Great leaders strive for immediate results

True Narrative: Great leaders strive for the ultimate result

"Great leaders never lose sight of the big picture." - Randall Sean Garcia

The truth is that "Vision-Driven Leaders" see things differently than the average person. They are driven by a vision that is bigger than themselves and they are motivated to fulfill their ultimate potential with God's help.

1. Followers see the here and now. Leaders see the ultimate goals and potential.

2. Follower...

Why Fight When Things Are Good?

fight·ing

ˈfīdiNG/

 

noun: fighting; plural noun: fightings

 

1. the action of fighting; violence or conflict. (ex. "terrible fighting broke out in the streets")

Synonyms: Violence, hostilities, conflict, action, combat, warfare, war, battles.

Antonyms: Peace

 

adjective: fighting

1. displaying or engaging in violence, combat, or aggression. (ex. "he was a fighting man")

• Exhausted
• Overworked
• Overwhelmed
• Over-scheduled
• Anxious
• Dissatisfied

It’s an issue that applies to everyone it seems. No matter if you run a successful business, non-profit, corporation or church... These words might sneak up on you. No matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, professionals or parents, women or men, Republicans or Democrats, it doesn't matter. This is an issue that doesn't discriminate. It's clearly a global issue.

• If you are feeling exhausted, it might be because you haven’t allowed yourself enough time to rest. 
• If you are feeling anxious, it might be because you want something to change and happen that is outside of your control.
• If you are feeling overwhelmed, it might be because you have too much to do with not enough time.  

If you haven’t heard of what our version of what "winning" really is then let me fill you in… You ready? You have to lead at home, to win at life (shocker, I know). So in today we are going to give you a brand new winning strategy that you can use for your family.

MVP is an acronym, most people think it stands for Most Valuable Player… Which it does… But not for today. Today it stands for something else because we are going to give you the MVP acronym for winning families.

Think MVP.

M = Mission

"We will grow our faith in God and live in His kingdom’s purpose. We will worship our Creator through creativity and lead lives of integrity to be living role models to others. We will...

1. Cultivating Commitment

I’ll be honest, I haven’t always got this one right. It took me a few years to structure my life in a way that would help me…

1. Love God more
2. Love my wife better
3. Lead my kids intentionally
4. Take care of my body and mind better
5. Grow and scale my businesses faster
6. Serve my community with greater impact
7. Give my time and money more consistently
8. Just simply lead an all around better life.

Through years of trial and error, trying to balance so many aspects of life and making mistakes along the way, I realized that it is possible to achieve both balance and impact.

There were 3 key realizations I had that helped me make significant strides towards this (although at times I still fail).

Realization #1

The more I tried to please others, the more I said “yes” to things that truly didn’t align with what I needed to do and who I needed to be. Therefore, saying “yes” to those things practically derailed any type of progress I could make in becoming that person I knew I was capabl...

1: Rethink your priorities

I had a typical goal last year. I wanted to read more... a lot more! I wanted 2017 to be a huge boost in my self development journey, so I did what many people do and headed to Barnes and Nobles Bookstore to look at some books that I could read throughout the year. I pulled out my iPhone, made a new note in my Evernote app entitled "Books to Read in 2017" and started making a list of the books that peaked my interest. My goal was to choose 12 books in the bookstore so that I could read one book per month. I gazed through the many book titles by highly acclaimed authors, I couldn't help but continue to build my list.

My list kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Finally, I stepped away and found a table nearby and started to go through my long list of books. I was shocked to find that my book tally was well over one hundred! I reminded myself that I could only choose 12 books from the list, and then did that math and figured that at this rate it would take almost 10 years to rea...

Does this sound like you?

• I am experiencing signs of burnout.
• I have too many irons in the fire.
• I feel like I’m spread too thin.
• I’m running on a hamster wheel.
• I feel like throwing spaghetti on the wall!
• Do you feel like you are majoring in minor activities?
• Do you feel like you are busy but not productive?
• Do you feel over-worked and underutilized?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is to concentrate on your life essentials! 

One of the biggest problems that exists in our work culture today is that we have the tendency to value those who are full of projects and tasks. We place value on those who are at every single meeting and are always there whenever they are needed. Although this may seem like a great quality, this type of tendency will lead to the consequences listed above. These people will feel overwhelmed, burnt out and spread too thin. Let’s talk about something that is much more effective, the way of the essentialist.
By establishing essentialism...

One of the biggest psychological barriers that plagues hundreds of millions of people around the world is known as doubt. Doubt keeps many people easily contained in their own small box. It paralyzes innovation, destroys opportunities, and demolishes would-be entrepreneurs. Learning how to overcome doubt may be the single biggest difference that one can make in their lives. Mastering this one issue can open a new horizon of opportunities for you because of the effect that it has on so many areas of life. Doubt creeps into our lives even when we don't realize it. We may be a naturally-confident person, but as you evaluate yourself and your level of accomplishment, you may see areas where you have held back. Whether it's starting your own business, pitching the CEO, or talking to that attractive woman/man, doubt sometimes manifests itself in a form that many of us may not even realize. You may not feel the doubt because you go through the same series of thought processes when making each...