Doug Heisel

So what do you do during the next 30, 60, or 90 days?  Here is a “Top-10″ list that can help give you direction:

1. Focus on your “Rock” every day for at least 1-5 minutes — where you ask yourself this question: “What thought or action will help move my “rock” forward today? Write down how you answer that (see #4 below).
2. Focus on where you want to go (the positive) not where you have been or where you are (the negative).
3. Find a few Bible passages during the 30-days that speak to your “rock,” and/or promises you strength or victory, as you trust Christ.
4. Journal your insights.  You will quickly forget the insights the Lord drops into your heart and mind.  Write them down.
5. During the 30-days, review what you have journaled on previous days.
6. Root-out the mental files that produced the past behavior.  Romans 12:2 teaches us about “being transformed by the renewing our minds.”  Old thought patterns need to be identified, and new ones embraced.
7. “Define and Declare” your new identity or behavior.  Positive verbal confession did not originate with motivational speakers or life coaches – it originated with God.  Examples are all throughout the Bible.  You will speak about your win before you live your win!
8. Consult some “experts” (other Christians who have had success with your “rock”).  You are not the first one down this path.  Talk to them and find about what they did (or find an author who has written about it).  Good friends often sympathize with where we are.  You want someone who will be more like a coach and help push you on to your win!
9. Trust the Lord to give you direction and insight during your 30-60-90 days.  The steps and ideas the Lord drops into your heart and mind are far more  important than anyone else.
10. Keep persisting until the win is solidly posted in your life

I look forward to hearing about some great WINS!

Tags: Winning-by-ONE by Doug
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During our Men’s Conference I shared about Winning-by-One .  The main principle was illustrated by moving a giant pile of rocks.  Few of us could move 200 pounds all  at once, let alone 2,000 or 20,000 pounds.  But all of us could move one rock at a time, until the pile was eliminated.   That’s “Winning by One”.

The challenge was to pick the one “ROCK” that you felt the Lord wanted you to work on now (before all the others).  It was a challenge to take at least 30-consecutive days and give focus time to that area until a win was gained.  A win for example could be:

1. Following through on the decision to join a Life Group or Celebrate Recovery — so that you enjoy more future “Rock Wins” because you are in community rather then going it alone.  The 30-days might involve contacting the Leader to get information, visiting a couple of groups, adjusting your schedule so that attending is possible, committing to a new group of friends – realizing that “public” commitments are significantly more powerful than “private” ones.
2. Following though on a commitment to improve how you manage the money God entrusts you with.    The 30-days could involve  taking 30-days to track where your current spending is going; implementing a “system” to help automate your financial commitments — such as signing up for online tithing; identifying your current “mental money files” that got you to where you are; setting a time to meet with a professional money manager and/or signing up to attend the next “Good Sense” finance seminar at NLC , etc…  (As you can see, some “Rocks” are definitely “90-day Rocks” rather than 30-day)
3. Determining what action and/or plans need to be put in place to follow through with your “Rock”.

Other “ROCKS” we highlighted included:

• Going “All-In” with the Lord (full commitment to Christ vs one foot in and one foot out)
• Treating your wife the way God expects
• Mental and moral purity
• Managing your mouth
• Finding a place to serve God through your church (obligating yourself to other people’s spiritual growth — IE: is anyone counting on you to show up, serve, and to model what growing in spiritual maturity looks like?)
• Getting professional Christian counseling for an area that is deeper (or more complex) then friends can help with
• Honoring God with your body
• Setting up a “FOCUS TIME” that involves prayer and some scripture reading
• Ethics at work
• Etc…

The bottom line is this: A a commitment without follow-up, a plan, and/or some form of accountability dies quickly.  Focus time is required to sustain progress.

Read the next blog entry for what a successful focus time involves.

Tags: Winning-by-ONE by Doug
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