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How to Manage Your Business for Optimum Growth

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 07:28:45 +0100

How do you feel about your business at the moment?

Do you feel overwhelmed at the start of each day – you don’t know what to do first?
At the end of each day do you feel like you’ve achieved nothing, yet you’ve been ‘busy’ all day?
Do you find projects/clients are falling through the cracks?

The tough thing about running your own business is that if you don’t manage your business – then your business tends to manage YOU.

If you answered YES to any of the three statements above then you should already know that they are some of the classic signs of “LACK of systems” in your business.

This happens to most businesses at some stage or another – often when they have previously experienced a period of strong growth. This is because we just get on and do it and it is only when things are well and truly out of control – that we stop and acknowledge that things need to change.

The second problem is that if you are not effectively managing you business, it is almost impossible to be effective in marketing your business! It is also impossible to think about getting in anyone to help you as there isn’t a system that you can teach them – because it is all in your head.

First of all let me re-assure you – you are not the only one who feels like this – every business reaches this point at some time or another and you can do something about it.

Here are several ways you can start to manage your business. Ways that you can use to find time and start to effectively market and grow your business:

Review what you currently do.
What is it that constantly frustrates you, or that you feel you are spending too much time on?
Are you continually searching around looking for an email address or a client’s documents?
Do you have a system for following up on client leads?
Do you know if the project you are working on is on track?
Make a list of what you feel drains your time or your energy. This is where you need to make improvements in, or create systems so that they work for you and not against you.

Deal with repetitive tasks.
We all have tasks that we repeat over and over again. If you run training courses – you could create a check-list of all the tasks that need to be done every time you run a course.
If you find yourself answering the same type of email question over and over again – you could either create an auto responder which is sent out to all new clients automatically or put all the questions up on your website on FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page and direct all the enquiries you get to that page.

Put structure in your Week.
Deciding on how your work week should be structured is one of the most valuable things that you can do for your business. Create an excel spreadsheet and start to make some decisions like:

When should you be available to see clients?
When are you going to work on marketing your business?
Perhaps schedule some time to think and “work on your business”

You need to work hard to create a structure that you can stick to and you will be amazed at how much more focused you become and how much more productive your week becomes. Keep modifying it until it works for you!

Have a Plan.
The one thing I have learned over the past 11 years of running my own practice is that the more time I spend planning – the more my income increases and the more I actually get done!

I have created a system to create an annual plan that literally breaks down everything I need to do into daily, weekly and monthly tasks! This takes a lot of the guess-work out of running my business because all I have to do – is work the plan – from day to day! This is my personal secret to Success!

I guarantee that you too will start to see an improvement in your business if you start to implement some of the steps that I have outlined above for you. If you think that you need help to get any of these things done – then remember – I am only an email away!

If you need assistance in identifying problem systems and want us to assist you with designing, developing and implementing new systems for you, give Dr. Christo A. Scheepers a call by going to the Contact us page on this site.

How much is your time actually worth?

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:46:53 +0100

These days there just seem to be soooooo many tasks that we need to do.
With the increase of social media as a marketing tool there seem to be even more tasks that we need to add to our list - putting out status updates on LinkedIn or interesting posts on our Facebook Pages.
That is before we even add in some of the stuff we know we really SHOULD be doing - things like:

    Following up more with our clients.
    Creating a monthly newsletter for our clients.
    Re-vamping or updating our website.
    Keeping our database up to date, or
    Looking at or creating new products or programmes.

We all know that we SHOULD be working IN our businesses, not ON our businesses, but why do so few of us achieve that? Simply from lack of TIME. Innovation requires TIME. Creative thought requires TIME. Designing and putting in new programmes, systems & changing the way our business operates takes TIME.

I am going to challenge you today to work out how much your time is actually worth with this simple 3 step process.

    Take a look at your average monthly income for the last 12 months.
    Divide that by 21 days (the average number of working days in a month).
    Break that down into an hourly rate by dividing that figure by 8 hours.

That is what your time is currently worth! So – why am I encouraging you to do this exercise?

Well - you are going to get one of two surprises:

    You may be amazed at how little money you are actually earning per hour, or
    It will give you a basis for making decisions.

What do I mean by this? Well you can take a look at how you spend your time each day and ask yourself "Is this the best use of my valuable time?"

You are the "expert" in your business - you are the one that brings the money in every month. You are the one that finds the new clients - should you be doing some of the things you currently are?

Take a look at some of the tasks you are doing in your business – the tasks that are on your To-Do list today. Are they worth paying your hourly rate for – if not – then why are you doing them? Something will need to change!

Work out what your own hourly rate it and stick it somewhere you can see it on a daily basis – in your diary – on your computer or even write it out as your goal 5 times each day. Continuously ask yourself “Is this task worth my hourly rate?” If not then “Who could I get or pay to do this for me?”

    You could hire a temp to do data input.
    You could share a secretary with another business.
    You could outsource all your social media campaigns to an expert.
    You could just pay someone else to do your newsletter every month.

This list is endless - but the decision is yours. If you would like more time to be able to work ON your business and focus on getting more clients - then get creative & free up your time!

Are you faithful?

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:52:16 +0100

Are you faithful?

You should ask this question daily to ensure you live your maximum potential.

Why? What is the link between faithfulness and maximum potential?

Faithfulness is usually a term associated with relationships where partners are exclusively faithful to each other and forsaking all others. Faithfulness in this instance is a matter of loving your partner and consciously making the decision to be faithful by not doing anything inappropriate, suspicious or hidden from your partner. Faithfulness is being 100% honest and transparent to your partner and sharing everything without selectively keeping anything concealed.

Being faithful is a matter of total trust. You should always act trustworthy and through that build the trust between yourself and your partner daily. Never do anything that will break the trust, because once trust is broken, it is extremely difficult to repair. Always be very honest with your partner and if something happened between you and someone else, personally and very honestly tell your partner about it (no matter how innocent it might seem), because if you do not and your partner finds out in another way, it will make you look extremely guilty and as if you are hiding things which is probably the biggest cause of breaking trust in relationships.

Never allow the "soapie" excuse of "I don't tell my partner because I don't want to hurt him/her" to prevent you from being totally honest with your partner. It is far better to hurt your partner by being honest than not telling and it ends up in a broken relationship. Faithfulness without total honesty is not possible. Faithfulness goes hand-in-hand with total tranparency with your partner.

Faithfulness is much more than just keeping yourself pure by not overstepping boundaries with another person while you are in a relationship. It is a matter of not even behaving inappropriately or in a way that might be viewed as suspicious by your partner. Faithfulness is about fully being with your partner and not even considering doing anything that might harm the relationship you have. Faithfulness is making the decision and then acting accordingly to not even put yourself in any situation of temptation, but to stay away from any and all situations that might even be viewed as inappropriate or suspicious by yourself, your partner or anyone else. Faithfulness is about living a life of high morals.

Faithfulness is much more than just staying pure and not overstepping moral boundaries when you are in a relationship. It is also a building block for you to live a life of maximum potential. Maximum potential is when you live your life with purpose; with a sense of reaching your destiny and fulfilling the reason you are on this earth for.

Being faithful is also a matter of being reliable, faithful and trustworthy. Yes, it is true regarding how you act in a relationship with your partner, but also broader than that, how you are as a person.

Are you a faithful person?

Are you faithful in your relationship? Are you faithful in your career? Are you faithful in living a balanced lifestyle and following a healthy eating and exercise plan? Are you faithful in taking care of your possessions? Are you faithful in taking care of your pets? Are you faithful in drawing up a budget and sticking to it?

Faithfulness is directly proportional to discipline.

Asking the question of whether you are faithful can therefore be rephrased to ask: Are you disciplined?

Are you disciplined in all areas of your life?

In Holistic Wellness it was stated that human life consists of seven human dimensions:

Spiritual
Psychological
Physical
Sexual
Social
Financial
Career

Are you faithful and disciplined in all these dimensions? If not, your life is not balanced resulting in unnecessary stress and turmoil. Living a life of balance is necessary for you to enjoy every area of your life and for you to live with purpose, to your maximum potential and without unnecessary stress and tension.

Being disciplined in every area of your life will propel you into a whole life of faithfulness.

Want to read more about faithfulness in relationships? Read my latest book, Between the Covers, available now in all major bookstores and on the BOOKS page on this website (click on the image to view).

Written by:

Dr. Christo A. Scheepers, Ph.D.

Specialist Trauma Therapist

MBA-Student

Sales Pipelines & Marketing Funnels

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:38:37 +0100

If you need to convince potential clients or customers to do business with you then you need to have either one of these mechanisms in place.

Do YOU?

So what are they and how do they help you grow your business?

Well, a Sales Pipeline is simply graphic way of thinking, visualizing and measuring your sales efforts. In other words, it is knowing that you have already talked to, quoted, or are staying in touch with enough people to ensure that you reach your Sales goals each and every month.

Most people whether they are working for a company as a professional Sales Rep or are working for themselves selling a product or service have a monthly figure they need to reach. Their sales target - whether that target is set by their boss or by themselves.

The theory behind it is that you envision a great big pipe and every time you talk to someone and present your offer to them - you are stuffing them in the one end of the pipe.
Some deals will happen quickly, some will never happen - but the theory is that if you have enough in the "pipeline" that a percentage will "drop out" the other side of the pipe and that becomes your "turnover" for the month.

The more you stuff in the one side (the higher your activity levels are) the more will drop out the other side (the luckier you will get).

Most people work on the "just enough" principle. What this means is that they will work "just hard enough" or see "just enough people" to meet their targets.
The problem with doing this is that "life happens" - one of the deals just won't close in time or someone will change their mind and let you down - and guess what? You fall short of your target.

On the other hand a Marketing Funnel can be visualized as being wide open on one end and narrowing down to a small spout at the other side. The wide end represents all the people you could "potentially" do business with - your prospects. The narrow end of the funnel represents all those people who you eventually do business with - who buy your core, product or service.

You may feel that these two models are exactly the same? The only thing different is the picture in your head.
In some ways you are right, but the Marketing Funnel has a few more tricks up its sleeve. This model allows you to take people from "I'm interested tell me more", and allows you to build up a relationship over time. It allows you to build the Like, Know, Trust factor until they step up to the plate and decide "I want to work with you".

This is the model that is used by most Internet Marketers. They offer you something for free - a newsletter like this or a free report - to get you into the funnel initially.
They will then offer you some low cost, basic solutions to help which lowers the emotional and financial risk - you almost get to "try before you really commit".
The further you move into the funnel the more elaborate the products or services become or the more "personal access" you get - at ever increasing prices.

In other words the funnel system says: attract new clients and prospects into your funnel, then find ways to add more and more value to them - and as the value increases, so does the price.
All to often we try to sell people our highest price product - like 1 on 1 coaching - the first time they meet us. I know that I certainly used to do this.

So - how can you get the marketing funnel to work for you?

Take a moment or two to draw YOUR marketing funnel.
What is the end product that you want people to buy?
What is your "offer" to get them interested in talking to you?
Where are the gaps in your marketing funnel?
What products/services could you add to make it easier for your prospects to sample your expertise and take a lower risk step to being a paying client?

You will be amazed at what it can do for the bottom line of your business!

Morality vs Reality

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:43:42 +0100

Morality versus Reality; what an oxymoron you might think, but is it?

Morality is seen as the good versus bad decisions, choices and behaviours people make on a daily basis and includes things like ethics, business ethics, morals and principles. Is morality a religious list of rules and regulations? No, definitely not, although basically all kinds of religions and spirituality do have a moral code linked to it trying to improve human life and social existence based on doing the "right" thing and making the "right choices".

Reality on the other hand is seen as the bottom line; the truth about something without any pretence and make belief. No false hope, no misperceptions and no disguising; just the honest truth.

Morality is suppose to shape your reality by providing direct guidelines on where to go and what to do, but what happens when morality comes face-to-face with reality and a decision should be taken between morality and reality? What do you choose; do you choose morality or do you choose reality? The very next question will be, do you really have to choose between the two? Can't they just co-exist?

Your choice will probably depend on where your moral values are rooted in; are they based on past experience or religious beliefs or on society's expectations? When you know why you believe something and adhere to a certain moral code instead of just following it blindly, it will create a major paradigm shift in your thinking processes and behaviour.

When reaching a point where a decision was made and you embarked on a certain path accompanied by behaviour not usually associated with who you thought you were, you have reached a point of morality versus reality in your life. The point where you realise your perceptions about yourself and your reality might not be what you thought it was. Making a decision and choosing behaviour when morality head-on collides with reality and they are two opposing forces competing for your attention, you have come to a point of re-analysing your life. The time has come to look at the past decisions and behaviours causing you to end up where you presently are and where you want to go, because if you do not make certain adjustments in your life, you will be exactly at the same place with the same results in your future.

When you find it difficult to make ethical decisions and your morality becomes clouded by the harshness of your reality, you should be prepared to face life, acknowledge where you are and what you want and then make a decision based on your own conscience since you are the one that will have to face yourself every day knowing what choices you made, what behaviour you lived out and what path you have decided to walk on while dealing with the consequences thereof; good or bad.

Morality vs Reality; do you just make decisions based on morality since it is what is expected of you by society or do you live your life and make decisions that will work for you based on your reality, what will work for you at a specific moment in time in the current realities you are facing?

Whatever you decide, keep in mind you are the only one living your life; you are the one having to make your own decisions and take the responsibility for the consequences. No one else will. Society is not there to pick you up if you made the wrong decision even though society may want to prescribe what decision you should take, at the end of the day you are the only one that will have to deal with the consequences.

What decision do you take when morality versus reality is actually a choice between society's perceived happiness versus your own happiness? Do you place the needs of others above your own or do you for once put your own above those of others? All very interesting questions and you are the only one able to answer them for yourself, because nobody else have lived your life and had your unique circumstances to deal with for the extended time you have been dealing with it.

Never allow anyone else to make decisions for you, because you are the one living with the consequences. You are the one that will have to make a success of your life after each decision. When you allow someone else to make decisions on your behalf, you are setting yourself up for tremendous frustration and unhappiness, because you are responsible for your own life. You have to take charge of your life and direct it where you want it to go.

Morality versus reality should not be seen as a good excuse to procrastinate and not make the necessary decisions. When avoiding the inevitable and postponing the making of decisions you are setting yourself up for fatigue, stress and a lack of energy. Stop procrastinating, face reality and make the necessary decisions.

Whether those decisions will be based on morality or not will largely depend on what you want to achieve by making the decision and what outcomes and results you are expecting, but the reality will be that making the decision has to be done.

Morality versus reality; you decide!

Priorities

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:31:45 +0100

Do you ever get the feeling you just have too many things to do and too little time to do it?
Does it sometimes feel as if 24 hours a day is just not enough to complete all tasks?

Ever wished for more hours in a day, but then considered the additional stress and fatigue causing you more confusion about why you are unable to turn yourself into an octopus and have enough hands to do everything at once? All resulting in you daydreaming about clones of yourself to simplify multitasking...

Welcome to the human race. We all have so many things to do daily, but finding the time is the difficult part.

Consider the fact: There are 24 hours in every day and all people only get the same 24 hours to do all that needs to be done. So why are some so effective in getting all things done, why others are not? Why are the busy people with the most work usually the ones you can count on to get things done?

The answer is simple; they know how to prioritise. Time management is a good skill to have and you should always use your time in the best possible way, but without setting priorities, you will not be able to get anything done effectively and with excellence.

Daily when you look at the hundreds of e-mails (all looking similarly urgent), the piled up admin, the snailmail to be sorted and filed, the too many tasks to be performed inbetween meeting after meeting after telephone call.....you have to take a step back, breathe deeply and then spend a minute or two to set your priorities for the day. Without organising your to-do list into a prioritised list, you will never be able to get anything done on time and with excellence.

Do not feel alarmed thinking, "Take a minute or two....where should I get the time!!!!!!!" This reaction is normal, but by taking the minute or two, you are in actual fact opening up lots of minutes and even hours you will be able to spend more productively. By calming down and setting priorities, you are able to determine in which order to do things and what to combine together to free up time. The little time you spend doing this opens up so many minutes and even hours for you to focus on the more important things, it is well worth the effort.

By doing this you are in fact opening up time to deal with the unexpected emergency jumping up here and there, but more importantly you are opening up time for yourself, your family and your personal life.

Work - work - work is never a healthy situation, you should take time off to relax and put everything in your life into its rightful place and then you will be able to just live and not run around the whole day totally exhausting and stressing yourself out to the point you need medical attention to deal with your physical and mental issues.

For more info on setting priorities, you can read my book Holistic Wellness: A Christian Omnibus for Whole-Person Wellbeing selling on the site now for an amazingly special discounted price. To read more, please visit www.christoscheepers.com/books.php

Entering 2010, the Year of Fullness

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:21:39 +0100

It is the time of the year when everyone is getting in the mood for vacation and rest for the festive season.

This is the time you should spend with God and hear from Him where you should be during the following year and what you should be doing. Entering His perfect will for your life is a sure sign of receiving His provision in your life as well. You should begin by asking yourself a few questions:

Why was I born?
What is my life purpose?
Am I doing what I am suppose to?
Am I where I'm suppose to be?
Am I fulfilling my life purpose?
Am I living my destiny?
Am I actively pursuing my dreams and making it a reality?

These are questions you should ultimately answer before you will ever be able to truly live and enjoy your life. When you do what you where created to, you will feel fulfilled and you will enjoy life. It will cause you to live with purpose and passion.

Everyone is an agent of change and you have the ability to change the world one day at a time by just fulfilling your life purpose exactly there where God has positioned you. If you are not where God intended you to be, you are actually wasting your life and I'm sure no-one wants that. We all want to live our purpose and fulfill our dreams. What we do not always realise, is God wants us to fulfill our dreams and life purpose as well since He created us exactly for that. He placed the dreams in our hearts and He will help us fulfill them, but on His terms, not on our own.

God is the creator and we should align our lives according to His requirements and not the other way around. When we do, we will be able to truly make a difference in the world while hearing directly from Him where to go, what to be and what to do. You do not need the whole world to tell you what to do or where to go, since God placed the ability to hear His voice inside you; but the prerequisite is for you to be His child and give total control of your life to Him. This means you will obey Him no matter what!!! You do not need the approval of everyone to do His will, so stop being afraid of making decisions for yourself. Take responsibility for your own life and even for the mistakes you made, live up to it and use it as stepping stones to propel you into your future of destiny.

Looking back over the year of 2009 it is evident how difficult the year was for many, especially in the financial dimension. Viewing the bigger picture makes you realise why the year was so difficult. I believe it was a year of sifting; a year during which God showed His people He is truly Yahweh Jireh, the Lord our Provider and He will provide regardless of the state the world economy is in. In the midst of the recession God provided supernaturally and many testimonies was heard about how He came through when there were nowhere else to go.

I believe 2009 was a year of positioning. God positioned His people strategically to prepare them for 2010 and the coming of His Fullness on the earth. When you are where God wants you to be, you will experience His provision, blessing and favour on your life in the midst of worldly turmoil.

“A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” (Bible 2001. The Holy Bible: New International Version (16th impression), Proverbs 13:22). I believe we are entering a season in 2010 where this Scripture will become a reality.

I truly believe 2010 is a time for the Church to enter a new season and a new dimension in ministry, not only in the power of God, but also financially. The Church has become synonymous with struggle and always begging for money and taking up collections around every corner, but the Church is about to enter a new dimension of financial prosperity. A time where financial transfer is going to take place and finances will come into the hands of the true believers and the Church. It will be a time where people will no longer just come to the Church for prayer and healing, but also for finances. It will be a time where financially struggling people will approach the Church for financial help and the Church will in actual fact be in a prosperous financial position to financially help these people without being a burden to anyone.

Entering 2010 is a time where I personally believe this is the entrance to this whole new dimension in ministry for the Church, but in order for this to become a reality every born again believer should be positioned in God's perfect will busying themselves with their life purpose and fulfilling their Godly destiny. It is now the time for believers to engage in entrepreneurship by using creativity, initiative and wisdom to get finances into the Kingdom of God and to actively combat unemployment. It is time to do what you where born to do to make God's Kingdom on earth a reality.

While approaching the new year and having these thoughts in the back of your mind, enter into the rest of God and receive clear direction from Him about the way ahead. When you follow His guidelines you can be sure of success, so hear from Him and then you will be able to truly enter 2010, the year of fullness!

What is your time worth?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:05:16 +0100

Even I can't believe this year's practically gone!

Poof! Bye-Bye 2009.

We're headed into November and before you know it, it'll be January. So what's next year going to look like for your business? Now's the time to decide. I say go ahead and dare to kick it up a notch and finally create the success you've always craved. Why? Because it's SO very possible for you.

One of the things to consider on this path to prosperity is time! All the clients that I work with - if they need to make a real, lasting change in their business or really kick it up a notch - need to find some extra time!

We all know that we SHOULD be working ON our businesses, not IN our businesses, but why do so few of us achieve that? Simply from lack of TIME. Innovation requires TIME. Creative thought requires TIME. Designing and putting in new programmes, systems & changing the way our business operates takes TIME.

I am going to challenge you today to work out how much your time is actually worth with this simple 3 step process.

1.     Work out how much you want to earn next year. Remember, we are looking to kick it up a notch - so up the anti and up the amount you want to earn. Let's use R500,000 as an example.

2.     The second thing you need to do is work out how much time you are prepared to work for this amount of money. Don't short change yourself - you are going to need some down time & holidays etc. So what is the number for you? I am going to use 10 months or 44 weeks for my example. Therefore I need to earn R11,364 per week to meet my target.

3.     Now let's bring that figure down to an hourly rate. Once again you need to decide how many hours a week you want to work. I am going to assume that you will put in a normal 40-hour week. If that doesn't fit in with your plans - change the number to the one that works for you. So in my example I need to earn R285 an hour to meet my business goal next year.

So - why am I encouraging you to do this exercise?

Simply because it gives you a basis for making decisions. You can take a look at how you spend your time each day and ask yourself "Is the task I am doing worth paying R285 an hour?"

For example - I have a client that does a lot of Trade Show's & at each one she collects hundreds of names & email addresses from people who visit her stand. OK, list building is an important part of marketing, BUT should she be the one to sit and type them all in when she could hire a temp to do the data capture for R30 an hour?

Take a look at some of the tasks you are doing in your business - some of the tasks that are on your To-Do list today. Are they worth paying R285 an hour for - if not - then why are you doing them?

Now, don't fret - you won't be able do change this all at once & you may still have to do some of the more menial tasks in your business, but if you are determined that next year is going to be better than this one THEN "something has to change".

Work out what your own hourly rate it and stick it somewhere you can see it on a daily basis - in your diary - on your computer or even write it out as your goal 5 times each day. Continuously ask yourself "Is this task worth my hourly rate?" If not then "Who could I get, or pay, to do this for me?"

Free up your time to work ON your business and watch your income SOAR!
--------------------------------------
Adele Howell-Pryce publishes her weekly Marketing Success Secrets newsletter for small business owners and Solopreneurs like Coaches, Consultants, Trainers etc.
Sign up for these free tips at:

www.1StopMarketingSuccess.com

See you next time!

Adele Howell-Pryce

1 Stop Marketing Success
P O Box 310, Bothas Hill,
Durban 3660

Facing Economic Recession

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:27:04 +0100

Facing Economic Recession

An economic recession may be defined in many different ways, but it usually refers to an economic climate where less production and sales occur due to people having less available money. A recession is characterised by increased unemployment and retrenchments and closing down of businesses become a daily occurrence.

Recession is not a new trend; it has been around for centuries.

In the very first chapters of the Bible you read about a recession. In Genesis 12:10 it is said there was a famine in the land. This recession or famine had the same effects; people were hungry and lack in the basic necessities of life. In this Scripture passage we see Abram went to Egypt to ride out the time of famine.

This article will not look specifically at the whole move of Abram to Egypt; why he went and the effects thereof, because it is dealt with in depth in my book Life Happens. To read more about when and why to leave a present situation and when to rather stay put, get a hold of this book.

In Egypt Abram became very wealthy; in the midst of the famine he became wealthy.

Later God changed his name to Abraham and he had a son called Isaac. Guess what! Just like in the days of his father, Isaac also experienced a famine or recession in Genesis 26:1. Why does it sometimes feel as if you are in this vicious cycle of life and you continuously go through the same situation over and over and over? Sometimes you experience a recession and a while later you have to face it again. Sometimes your parents experienced something negative and then years later you have to personally face the same situation again.

Life seasons occur and you sometimes have to face giants. Recession is one of the most debilitating giants you will ever face, but face it! Never run from your problems or giants; face them head on and continue with life without ever feeling you are unable to face it. Never give up and go lie down, no matter how inviting it looks. Get up against all odds, dust yourself off and continue with life.

When Isaac experienced the recession the very first thing he would have done, is to fall back on experience and since his father went down to Egypt he would have done the same. God, however, clearly told him not to go to Egypt, but to stay in the land with the famine and He promised him blessings in the midst of the recession. Isaac obeyed and even planted crops in the land. The amazing thing is he reaped a hundredfold in the same year in the midst of the famine and he became very wealthy regardless of the recession. God gave Isaac innovative ability and he possibly used a form of irrigation in the midst of the famine to water his crops; possibly that is why all the wells are mentioned in the same Scripture.

You may be in the grip of the economic recession right now and you do not know where to go or what to do. You may have been retrenched or experienced a salary cut and you are struggling at the moment. I want to give you hope today; keep on keeping on. It is not the end of the road for you. It might very well be the very beginning of something totally new God wants to do in your life.

When recession hits, entrepreneurship should blossom. Instead of focusing on the recession and all the negative reports in the media rather redirect your focus and attention to God. He is the One who will help you through the situation and He is the One able to give you that creative idea you so desperately needs.

The most important thing to do in a recession is to spend more time than usual in God’s presence. Seek His face and presence and He will communicate with you and give you innovative ideas as well as clear direction on where to go and what to do. Follow Him. Abram had to go to Egypt in the famine; Isaac did not. What about you? Where should you go or what should you do?

God is the only One able to reveal to you where to go and what to do. Just because something worked in the past is no indication it will work again. All depends on what God’s time is and what His will for you is at a specific time and place. What is God’s NOW word for you in the midst of the recession? Determining what God wants you to be and do right now will make you experience His blessing in your life in the midst of the circumstances around you; regardless whether there is a famine or recession in the land. God can bless you in the even in a dry and barren land, but then you should be where He wants you and do exactly what He is instructing you to.

In Matthew 6:33 it is clearly said you should seek first the Kingdom of God and then all the provision will be there. So for you to receive your provision in the midst of recession you should seek God’s Kingdom first. How do you do that?

Seeking God’s Kingdom for your life is to clearly understand what your life purpose and calling is. When you know who you are and why you where placed on the earth, you will be able to fulfil the reason you were created for. Seeking God’s Kingdom first means you should accomplish what He created you to accomplish. Live your life purpose.

When recession hits and you come face-to-face with the harsh realities of life; you realise what life is all about. It is about being what God created you to be and to do what He called you to do. In the time of recession you have to face the realities of life and then you become aware of what life is all about. You realise life is far too short to do something you are not passionate about. In the time of recession you realise how necessary it is to live your passion and since that is the inside longing God placed inside you, living out your passion is mostly God’s perfect will for your life and the seeking of His Kingdom first.

Recession should not be feared, but rather used as catalyst to cultivate your passion and to turn your inner passion into an entrepreneurial reality. Follow God’s daily instructions and you will be able to face economic recession without fear of destruction. Use recession as stepping stone to thrust you into your future of destiny. Allow your entrepreneurial innovation to become a reality in your life and change your day-to-day living into a passionate reality. Live your passion.

Do not run from recession. Face recession and when the economic storms of life hit, use it to change your dreams into reality.

Before you can live your passion you should first clearly determine what your passion is. Determine who you are and why you were created. Realise what your passion is, what your related calling is and then live it out and make it a reality despite the consequences of the world around you.

Face economic recession head-on to propel you into your passionate entrepreneurial destiny!

Help us determine what is your perception about the recession:
If you think the 2009 economic recession is over, sms CSC YES to 35010
If you think the 2009 economic recession is not yet over, sms CSC NO to 35010

Confident Sapping

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:37:14 +0100

Confidence sapping friends & colleagues

The people whom you have the most contact with and hang around will have either a positive or negative affect on your levels of self-esteem and confidence.

We all know those people who are positive, happy and joyful to be around.

How do they make you feel?

Yes, they make you feel the same! They can but zest into a boring atmosphere and can fill the room with positive, can do vibes that has a knock on effect onto everyone else.

We also know of those people who could moan for America!

They never had the opportunities, they are always putting people down, they don’t like others to be successful, they are jealous and are negative thinkers - need I go on!

These people drain your energy and bring you down to their level, a million miles away from the level that YOU want to be operating on.

Family members can be a lot like this also but you can always choose your friends, you can never choose your family!

So what should you do to make sure that the people who you hang around with empower and support what you stand for rather than bring you down all of the time?

1.    You have the power to choose who you hang around with. Ideally you want happy, vibrant and positive people.
2.    If you have good friends who are negative and yet you still want to hang around them, make a point of letting them know how you feel – if they are a true friend they will respect you for this. If they are negative from time to time just acknowledge that this is what they are like and block out the negativity.
3.    The same can be said with family. Your more mature family members have behaviours that have been conditioned for years and years and from different eras. Appreciate where they have come from and as in number 2 above, elicit and select the information that filters through to your brain.
4.    Remember, that nothing has meaning in life except the meaning that you give it.