Currently, I am about forty-eight hours away from another birthday. It is normally around this time that I start reflecting on the last year. I think about the lessons I have learned and how I have grown and matured as a person. I know a lot of people that are getting older but they are not growing. Age is not a sign of wisdom. Maturity is a sign of wisdom in a person’s life. I believe wisdom is what has given me the advantage in every season of my life. I want to share with you a few insights on how I shifted my life in the last year. More importantly, I want to provoke you to press and reach for more in your own life.
- Last year I got serious about changing my life. I found myself extremely frustrated last year. It is the feeling we get when we know that something needs to change. However, we do not know exactly what we need to do to change it. Most people choose to live with that feeling of frustration. Personally, I know that frustration is what creates the friction that propels transformation in my life. I made a conscious and non-negotiable decision that things had to change in my life. I knew it was not going to be easy and it was going to make me very uncomfortable. However, I understood that you cannot get different outcomes in your life without first making different decisions. Many people talk about changing their lives but they never make the conscious decision to change their lives. All change begins with a decision. Inaction is proof that you are not committed to changing your life.
- You must be willing to take action in the direction of your desired outcome. It is not enough to simply make a decision. The next thing I had to do was take action in the direction of my desired outcome. Action is the catalyst to all achievement. More importantly, action is the bridge between average and advancement. If you really want to live at the next level, then you must become a person of action. I see too many people trying to live off of motivation and inspiration. The problem with motivation and inspiration is that they are not substitutes for action. Your actions always reveal what you are committed to. Your inaction always exposes what you are not willing to change. Change is not magical. If you have followed my work over the years, then you have heard me say that change is methodical and intentional. You do not create results by accident. You create results by taking action. Over the last year, I have taken bold action in the direction of my dreams. Those bold actions have paid off in ways that I never imagined possible. Guess what? I would have never produced results without taking action. Inaction wants to paralyze your potential. You have to stop talking about the life of your dreams and start pursuing the life of your dreams.
- You must develop the courage to reach for more in your life. The last year of my life brought many changes. While change is uncomfortable, I have come to the realization that change is an inevitable part of life. In fact, I often say that growth is optional but change is inevitable. One thing you can count on in life is change. Change has been good for me over the last year. I have seen a major life shift spiritually, emotionally, financially, relationally and psychologically. The powerful thing about change is that is causes you to discover capacity that you never knew you had. Ultimately, capacity is what gives you the courage to reach for more in your life. When you live without capacity you settle and become complacent. Complacency is one of the greatest enemies to change in your life. This last year I have reached for more than I have ever reached for in my entire life. As a result of my courage to reach for more, I have found myself living in a new realm of success and prosperity. You were not created to live restricted or restrained. You were created to reach for more. You rob the world of your greatness every time you refuse to reach for more. Will you have the courage to raise your expectations and reach for more in your life?
- Faith and fear cannot coexist in your life. As I dared to reach for more, I discovered that fear and inhibitions were broken off of my life. Self-limiting beliefs and perceptions no longer had the power to confine or control me. I started to live beyond limitations. This last year of my life I have truly learned that faith and fear cannot occupy the heart at the same time. More importantly, I discovered that faith must be our consistent response to life’s challenges and contradictions. Faith is a spiritual law and a spiritual force that will radically shift your life. Too many people think that faith is positivity or mental assent. Faith is an unshakeable confidence that is not moved by senses, emotions or thoughts. Faith is an act that will cause you to walk on what others sink in, defy things that define others and overcome things that overwhelm others. This last year has shown me that my fear was not that I was powerless. My deepest fear was that I did not realize I was more powerful than I could ever imagine. Faith has taught me that my disappointments were simply the fertilizer that watered the seed of prophetic destiny.