Saturday, September 30, 2006

Try Again... Go Deeper This Time

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

In Book Yourself Solid, Michael Port exposes his learned lessons on how to be a notorious networker and build unending relationships of business contacts. He guarantees success with the Book Yourself Solid System for building a never-ending string of clients and potential clients.

The System is simple so anyone can do it, and applicable in a diverse range of businesses. Port leads you through 3 modules...
creating a solid foundation so people really know what you are about,
building trust and credibility,
and 7 core promotion strategies.

He resonates both very practical methods and spiritual principles that combined creates super glue strength in bonding people with you.

The first step in building your foundation is deciding who your best clients really are. Who makes you feel energized? It is like you enjoy working with them so much and you can hardly believe you are also getting paid for it. He suggests you need to weed out the undesirable clients and replace them with clients that invigorate you and who express they get great benefit from your services.

Next get a clear grasp of why people buy from you, that creates a relentless demand for your services. To do this
1. Identify your market
2. Understand urgent needs and compelling drives of your market
3. Offer investable opportunities
4. Uncover and demonstrate the benefits of your investable opportunities.

"Your passions, natural talents, and knowledge are key."

Then he leads you through how to brand yourself. What is distinctively unique about you. Create
1. Your "who and do what" statement.
2. Your "why you do it" statement."
Let others know exactly whom you help and what you can help them do. Your "why you do it" statement is a connecting statement that adds personal value for yourself and others for why you do what you do. They sense your passion for what you do and why it’s important.

Next you develop your skill in how you talk to others about what you do and how important it is. It goes beyond just identifying your professional title. You tell people your unique contribution you make and how it is so valuable in helping others.

In telling people about what you do for others, Port has a 5-part process and takes you through exercises for a short, medium and longer version...whether on the elevator ( the infamous "elevator speech") or waiting in the customer lounge while your car is getting serviced. Port's format is also a great format for any conversation where the topic of your business (What do you do?) comes up. It is much more insightful, interesting, personal and creates intrigue for the listener. Your passion can shine, so they automatically want to know more. In essence it makes you an interesting person to listen to and be around. Someone is more apt to say after meeting you, "I met the most interesting person today."

His 5-part process is
Part 1. Summarize your target market in one sentence.
Part 2. Identify and summarize the three biggest and most critical problems that your target market faces.
Part 3. List how you solve these problems and present clients with unique solutions.
Part 4. Include the most dramatic (Wow!) results that you or your clients have achieved.
Part 5. List the results and deepest benefits your clients receive.

Once you have built this foundation in how to "buzz" your business, Port takes you through a sales process(for those who dread or feel inadequate selling). Then he spends the rest of his book on the 7 core promotional strategies you can use to continually bring business to you and more waiting for you. The 7 strategies include networking, direct outreach, referrals, the web, speaking, writing, and keeping in touch.

Our success in gaining more contacts in business is how well we do this. Both the business owner and corporate leader would benefit in how to tell others more dynamically, intriguingly what they do and how it benefits others.

The whole secret is doing it well. The exercises are quite valuable in this aspect so you develop this skill of a higher level than you have now. So collaborating with a friend and colleague would be of great merit in helping you complete and practice putting yourself interestingly forward.

Also, Michael Port's website has a free workbook download for those who purchase the book and his website has numerous resources too.
http://bookyourselfsolid.com/

Jesus told His disciples to throw the nets into the deep.The catch was amazing. What does this mean for us?

Are we fishing but we are not listening to Jesus voice in us that tells us to fish where it seems too big for us... into deeper areas? Is He asking us to go deeper into Him and watch the size of the catch.

Like in our businesses, the key is listening to Jesus. To follow His voice and rely on Him for the results. And the results will be incredible, so big we are amazed! The thing to look at is Jesus said to go into the deep. If you aren’t catching a lot of fish where you are now, why should we go to an unusual spot where it is deeper. Is God wanting you to take your business into the deep, where a catch waits for you beyond your believability.

Go into the deep in your life and business and go where God tells you to go. Go deeper into His Presence. The catch will be outstanding, and you will be equipped Supernaturally to handle it.

When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish." "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, we'll try again."

And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me--I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. (Luke 5: 4-10, NLT)

Try again!
Go into the deep. Go into the depth of His Voice speaking to you and listen very carefully to His instructions. There is a great catch waiting there for you. If you have drifted from Him, again listen to His voice. Get close to His voice. Bring your heart close to His. He will lead you to a big catch of men... who too will be so amazed they will serve Him along with you.

The results may be big. But don’t fear!
He will help you handle it.

Don’t worry about what you may lose or gain. Things on earth are meaningless, unrewarding, have no satisfaction without the presence of Jesus Spirit with us. Earthly gain is all lost at death anyway. The only thing that remains is the Spirit of Jesus with us... that's eternal. We take that with us. And He will never leave us or depart from us.

So go into the depth of His Spirit, His Presence. The only thing transferred from life is the Presence of Spirit. Relationship in Spirit is our gain... and never lost... it is never too deep for us.

So go deep into His eternal bliss...
we can't define it or rhyme it in thought or poem or music.
It's our anticipation,
the mystery for why we live Jesus' Way while on earth.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Success that Lasts Forever

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Success Built to Last by Jerry Porras may very well be the personal application for Good to Great.

Their discoveries of what personal success is for a varied group of successful people is a strong parallel to the continued popularity of Good to Great principles. (Porras and Jim Collins co-authored Built to Last prior to Collin's release of Good to Great.)

In Good to Great the Hedgehog Concept was introduced which involved having a business with these overlapping, integrated key questions answered and operative.
1. What are you deeply passionate about?
2. What drives your economic engine?
3. What you can be the Best in the world at?

Now, Jerry Porras(with Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson) take this into a deeper personal level. They defined success (that will last) apart from current dictionary definitions. In the dictionary they found these definitions of success:
1. Achievement of something planned or attempted.
2. Impressive achievements... especially those who attain fame, wealth, or power.
3. Somebody with a record of achievements.
They point out that "notice that nowhere in the dictionary definition do you find any reference to finding meaning, fulfillment, happiness, and lasting relationships." The dictionary definition of success may do more to produce sociopaths than anything else they conjecture.

Their criteria was to interview only those with over 20 years of success. They called these "builders" because they build success over time and continue to build.

Builders are leaders very committed to their calling. They don't shy from toiling all their lives with every ounce of energy, persistence, heart and soul for their triad view of success(which seems to be engraved, internalized in their own operational DNA).

These three elements rose to the surface of those with enduring success...
success built to last.
Meaning
Thought Style
Action Style

First it has meaning. It serves an internal purpose that the individual owner is the only one that understands this drive within them. It has meaning to this person beyond ability to articulate to others.

Secondly, their thought styles are distinctive. The have a highly developed sense of accountability, audacity, passion, responsibility, and optimism. Enduringly successful people think differently. They have talent but their thought styles encircle systems that create real value in their undertakings.

Thirdly, is their action style. They find effective ways to take action. Actions may be imperfect relative to the level of the dream, meaning and value placed in their minds, but they understand this risk and proceed enduringly.

The authors heard these words repeatedly...
"So get moving and get on with what you really care about."
When meaning, thought, action merge....
you create success built to last.

It is creating a life that matters... to you, and, in turn, benefits many others.

The book goes into depth with interviews of outstanding people where each of these qualities emerge.

How do successful people stay successful?
Extreme make-overs start in your head, turning passion into action. Here are some of the proverbial thoughts of those with enduring success.
"Listen up... here's some really bad news. It's dangerous not to do what you love."
"When you are deeply immersed in the process of doing whatever you are doing, and have completely lost track of time and space, you are in a flow experience."
"When you encounter something you don't like, try to change how you're looking at it."
"Carve out a little time each week to experiment in some way with one of your passions."
"Listen to that little voice each day about what matters to you."
"Do you care more about being loved, or being what you love."
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
"If it is worth doing, then treat it as if its worth doing."

Make your addictions the passions that serve both others and your best interests. "Builders see creative contention as part of a rich collaborating process that never ends. It inspires action day in and day out in an ever-changing environment." You may not be the blame for everything that happens to you, but either way you are responsible for doing something about it.

"Life takes passion, determination and skill... you can't skip any of those three to expect to enjoy success built to last." They just tolerate risks, feel the fear, take the brick-bats, learn from failure, and do what matters to them anyway.

The Secret to lasting success:
"The day-by-day practice and struggle to move the three circles--meaning, thought, action--
toward overlapping alignment in your life."
Create a life that matters to you.

USA Today reviewed Success Built to Last:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/2006-09-18-success-usat_x.htm?csp=34
And here is the Success Built to Last website:
http://www.successbtl.com/

Spiritual intensity creates energy, moves matter, changes mind dynamics, organizes places, things, people, timing to fulfill Divine Purposes.

So what does it profit a person to get stuff and not have meaningful accomplishments as part of his life. As Jesus put it... what does it profit to gain the world but then lose your soul.

A person rich in his soul is truly successful. One may or may not have wealth, fame, positions of power. With Spiritual riches of love, happiness, peace of heart and contentment, one has reached true success.

Real success moves us on to the vision of life eternal. A real civilization we inherit after death from earth. Paul the Apostle promises a new resurrected body that is perfect, just like Jesus after he rose from death. We will rise too from death and exchange these dying earthly bodies for heavenly formed life-eternal bodies that live forever and are perfect. If you don’t like what you have now as a body, just hang on and you will have a wonderful, unbelievable body beyond your imagination. All that we have ever dreamed on earth will be more than we can possibly conjure up in our minds of what we will have in heaven (see 1 Corinthians15).

Paul cautions us: “Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, … and all they think about is this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere” (Philippians 3:19-21. NLT).

Invest in Heavenly thinking as Paul says…think on these things: “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise(Philippians 4:8, NLT).

This is the investment we are asked to make for bliss, love, joy and constant peace… total life existing sense of meaning and fulfillment.

Work for the Kingdom of Heaven as Matthew in the Gospel of Matthew uses this phrase over 30 times… it is a Kingdom of Heaven.

What is the reward of The Kingdom of Heaven? Here is what John said in his Revelation of Jesus Christ. "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever” (Revelation21:3, 4, NLT).

"And the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will anything be cursed” (Revelation 22: 1-3).

So, in building success to last, we can build success to last forever. So doesn’t it make sense to live this life for real treasure, true riches, endless wealth of Heaven… built to last. So why not start building today for Heavenly existences. So why not invest in the Heavenly life—our new, better-built reality.

It is ours, as we believe.
Begin today to build for what lasts forever.