Christian Coaching ConneXion

Welcome to the October 27, 2007 edition of the Christian Coach Blog Carnival. The topic this month was Reaping & Sowing.

Our lead article this month is from the Christian Coach ConneXion leadership team, Jim McCarthy.  His submission is the first installment of an article entitled  Reaping A Spiritual Harvest.  

I see many good, hard-working people much like you, feeling stress, trapped in a busy daily routine. Your time and energy is overtaxed. You’re being pulled in one direction, then another. In this worldly, fast paced race your spiritual life has taken last place.

 Your values and priorities have become misplaced among the strain brought on by daily demands, disappointments, exhaustion and worry. The cost of this chaotic lifestyle deteriorates your emotional, physical and mental health. More critically, your relationships and those important to you suffer. I know because I have been there. I drove myself to amass wealth and material idols such as boats, real estate property, new cars, etc. I fooled myself with the delusion I was giving my family a lifestyle that projected affluence, abundance, fun, and importance.

 I realized much later, after I lost everything, that seldom do we take time to think about our life with meaningful intent. You get caught up in the busyness that you allow things to creep into your life. These things divert your time, energy and thoughts away from what most matters to you. Instead of shaping your life, circumstances in life control you.

 Neglecting, avoiding, or denying your emotional, spiritual and physical health inevitably leads to dire consequences. In my circumstance, my actions destroyed family relationships. My self esteem was in the toilet. I nearly came to the fatal decision to commit suicide. By the grace of God I have learned that the smallest amount of faith and hope enables you to endure.

 I have found through my own afflictions and distress that it’s vital to slow down and schedule time to humbly look at yourself with a clear set of eyes. Regularly examine daily activities, your relationships, your values and habits. Imagine what would happen if you drove your car for 100,000 miles, but never change the oil nor provided routine maintenance. Over time it would run sluggish, the tires would wear out and eventually the car would break down.

 Having studied the strategies of my favorite authors and speakers I realized they shared one common formula. Simply, it is this; you acknowledge a PROBLEM, it requires a PROCESS OF IDEAS that leads to a DESIRED RESULT. The trouble is that their strategies may not work for YOU. It may work for some, but if it worked for everyone why don’t we have happier, more satisfied, more productive, wealthy people. Additionally, I find that many authors and speakers lose you in a sea of words. The message becomes convoluted and interest wanes.

What I do is give you 7 straightforward strategies or tools to make possible more joy, wonder, peace and freedom in your life. Imagine approaching each day with confidence and passion. Two factors distinguish my strategies from many others. The first is learning to rely more completely on God. Second, you learn the skills you need that permit you to sustain yourself along a path to your best self.

 I teach you to use these strategies so they work for you. I call them 7 essential seeds to grow and blossom into the person God intended you to be.

 The first strategy was inspired by Genesis 1: 3-5. It describes God’s creation of the first day. “Let there be light,”  ‘…and he separated the light from the darkness.’ Any problem or situation needing correction requires an assessment. Whether it is a plumbing problem or a work problem or a medical one they all are checked over to determine what the next step is toward remedying it. By shedding light on the matters that are causing stress, discontent, discord etc. you are better able to find the root cause or causes, and then take measures to alleviate and eradicate it.

 So for the first step take a sheet of paper. Make a line down the middle from top to bottom. Then between that line and the right edge of the paper draw another line from top to bottom. You should end up with one wide column on the left and two narrow columns on the right. Over the first column write, Daily activities.  Above the second column write, life-giving. And above the third write, darkness. In the first column list each daily activity*. Simply list your usual activities from when you awake in the morning until you hit the pillow at night. Only record every action, task and doings. In front next to each activity note the estimate time spent for the activity.

 Turn over the sheet; on the left side, list from the top down each day of the week. Leave two or more lines in between. Throughout the week make a notation each day of your diet, your attitude (+ or -), and energy level (H=hi; A=average; L=low). Also, humbly note your moods, your reactions and your emotions throughout the day. These discernibly will vary. Do not make any judgments at this time.

 On a separate sheet write down the people’s names of relationships you have at home and at work. List those you have a spiritual connection to, especially the Lord, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

 After you have compiled your lists, take a look at your daily activity list. Place a check in the first column next to each line item which produces positive results, boosts your energy or contributes to your personal and spiritual well-being. The things that trigger negative emotions, obscurity, zaps your energy or causes undo stress put a check in the column under darkness.

 Turn over the sheet and examine your entries concerning your diet, attitude, energy levels and moods. What patterns do you observe?

 In next month’s blog I will present the next strategy. You will need your lists and notes for those exercises. For the next few weeks maintain your discoveries and ‘evidence.’

 This strategy is intended to provide you with a clearer picture or perception of how you are using your time and energy. One of my mentor coaches taught me to distinguish the time management concept from activity management concept. We presume to have 24 hours allocated to us each day. That we can not change, lengthen or meddle with during the day. However, you can change, eliminate or modify some perhaps all of your activities, distractions and undertakings throughout the day.

 In the next strategy you will learn to determine which activities, distractions and undertakings to keep, modify or let go of in order for you to be set free, thrive and boost your energy.

*Note: For a list of activities to assist you as a guide you may email me and I will provide one to you.  My email is; coachjim26@verizon.net  

Until then, may the Lord be with you to guide you and shine His face upon you.

 ————–

ChristianPF presents Are you a risk-taker? posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Life is about managing risk. People often associate risk with investing, but it actually applies to all areas of our lives. How we manage it truly determines the quality of our lives.”

Terry Dean presents Finding Your Unique Ability posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

Bob Crawford presents Growing Your SELF - Bob Crawford Online posted at Growing Your SELF Blog - Bob Crawford Online, saying, “Part two of this popular article on learning to create your day the way you desire.”

Pat B. Doyle presents Visualize Your Success posted at Pat B. Doyle, saying, “Become successful with a combination of visualization and a step-by-step approach.”

Tristan Loo presents How to Turn Adversity into Opportunity posted at The Synergy Institute, saying, “Life Coach and Founder of the Synergy Institute, Tristan Loo, uses his own personal story to discuss how to turn life challenges into opportunities for personal growth and development.”

Tupelo Kenyon presents How to Keep Your Word posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, “This article is a poignant reminder of the power of your word. Celebrate life by honoring your word . . . and therefore the people with whom you interact. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)”

Luke Houghton presents Does it pay to do the right thing? posted at Luke Houghton, saying, “Leadership often requires us to do what’s right even if it feels wrong. This article explores why we should do the right thing.”

My Bubble Life presents Where is your focus? posted at Unleash Your Potential Through Christian Faith.

Robinson Go presents Reflections on Jeremiah posted at The Robinson Go Blog, saying, “the Word of God still answers the questions of today!”

 That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Christian Coach Blog Carnival
using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
blog carnival index page.

Questions?  Contact Lisa Van Allen at lisa@VanAllenCoaching.com 

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