“One Nation, Under God” Remember that?   After watching the news over the past weekend, I’ve become fed up. Our country is falling apart quickly, and it seems like people don’t want to do anything about it. We spend all of our time debating gun control, gay rights, immigration, and health care. Shouldn’t we spend this time on putting God back into our everyday lives? The United States of America was founded based on Godly principles. Our nation’s founders were men of God and depended on His guidance for the direction of our country. But somehow, over the years, our country has turned its back on God. We have found ways to circumvent His laws to suit our own ungodly desires. We’ve taken God out of our laws, removed prayer from public schools, taken the Ten Commandments out of our government buildings, banned Christmas sayings and scenes in public places, and have allowed Hollywood to continually mock Jesus Christ. How are we letting this happen?! Approximately 78% of all Americans claim to be Christians and 22% claim another faith or no faith. Why are we letting the 22% dictate our religious freedoms? And it’s not even those 22% who are pushing for this — It’s the 3-5% who claim to be atheists that are wanting this change to happen. The problem with this is that the small percentage of unbelievers are fighting against the majority of Americans, and winning. I’m sick of this. This is America, our home. It’s time to wake up and put God back in charge. If we put the Ten Commandments back in our classrooms, maybe there wouldn’t be so many children shooting each other if they saw “THOU SHALT NOT KILL” every day when they went to school. Instead of putting security guards in our schools, let’s put prayer back into them. Instead of allowing gay marriages in our states, let’s stand up for our Christian beliefs. Less than 4% of our population is gay, and yet they are winning this fight?! How about celebrating Christmas instead of banning nativity scenes and Christmas trees? If it wasn’t for the birth of Jesus Christ, we wouldn’t be having Christmas anyways. Let’s embrace that. Why don’t we try making our marriages work? All too often, people just abandon ship when their marriages get rocky. Grow up and work through it. And stop cheating on your wife or husband. Hey Hollywood — I don’t like the way you portray Christians. We are not snake worshipers, straight-laced Bible thumpers, or naive dorks. We pray before we eat and when we go to sleep. It’s not a big deal to us, it’s an everyday thing. Stop making a joke of it. The Christians I know are really cool people. They are successful businessmen and leaders throughout my community. Why don’t you make a movie about the REAL life of a Christian? Mr. President — My Bible is right beside by bed, along with my Springfield XD .45 and it’s 13+1 high capacity magazine. You know what? I don’t like your continued efforts to infringe upon my liberties. I believe in our Constitution and the 2nd Amendment. If I have to defend my life and the life of my family, I’m going to use every available bullet I have. It’s time you take a step back and realize what nation you are leading. This is God’s country, not yours buddy. If you are a Christian and feel the same as I do, why don’t we do something about it? Seriously. Don’t back down when someone threatens what you believe. All too often, we just turn away when we see or hear something that offends us. As children of God, we have an obligation to fight for what is right. Don’t just wait for someone else to step up. Be fearless and step out into faith. Start with what you have and where you’re at. You never know what kind of movement you can put into motion. We are in this together. God Bless America!

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Be sure to stay busy and plant a variety of crops, for you never know which will grow — perhaps they all will.” -Ecclesiastes 11:4-6   I stumbled across this verse the other day when I was playing Bible Roulette and I’m glad I did. Coming from the wisest and richest man in the world, EVER, Solomon’s words should be listened to. He really isn’t talking about planting a garden here. This verse applies to your life. If you are waiting around for the right time to do something, for example, starting a business, you will never find the right time. Perfect conditions never exist. So instead of waiting for something that isn’t possible, you have to start NOW — regardless of the circumstances. You have to take action, because an idea is worth less than the paper it’s written on if that’s as far as you take it.

Who is stopping you? Take a minute today to think about your wildest dreams and aspirations. Now what is stopping you from reaching those seemingly “out of reach” goals? The answer is nothing but yourself and God. Trust in Him and remember what is said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do ALL things through Him who gives me strength.” He doesn’t say “some things” or “most things,” Paul says ALL things. So cast all your worries and fear of the unknown on Him today. Focus on living your life to its fullest and always strive for breaking the “impossible.” God will give you the strength, confidence, and direction you need to make it happen. So think big. Then go out and make big things happen.

Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” -Denis Waitley   This quote by Waitley couldn’t be any truer. What we have done in our past greatly influences our thoughts and actions of today.  Our past experiences set the tone for how our future will shaped. If you want to achieve anything great in this lifetime, you have to set vividly defined goals – NOW. There is a story about setting goals that was carried out among Yale’s 1953 graduating seniors and it goes like this:  In 1953, researchers surveyed Yale’s graduating seniors to determine how many of them had specific, written goals for their future. The answer: Only 3%. Twenty years later, researchers analyzed members of the Class of 1953 and found that the 3% with goals had accumulated more personal financial wealth than the other 97% of the class combined! Maybe this was just a coincidence and those 3% just happened to be guys who founded billion dollar companies, but the point of the story is clear. In order to achieve great wealth, you must set goals. I’m not talking about goals like: I want to own a house and have 2 nice cars in the garage. Or I want to get a good paying job that requires me to work 60 hours a week. I’m  talking about the goal to own a 110’ yacht and 5,000 acres somewhere. Or better yet, have a goal to start your own city or country. However, big goals such as those are not capable if you do not have the vision and motivation to get there. You must have a clear and detailed process on how you will succeed at reaching those goals. As much as you dwell about the past and dream about the future, you have to make sure you are living in the only moment of time which you have any control over – NOW.  There is no need to stress about upcoming meetings or deadlines.. they are coming up no matter what. Every one of us have the same 24 hours in a day.  Make them count.   Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  -Matthew 6:34   Jesus makes this clear. Don’t worry about tomorrow, focus on the day at hand. And just remember, the actions you take today will create the world you will live in tomorrow.    

It’s all about that first impression… Let’s just say you are walking down a street in a city you aren’t familiar with and you get hungry for some Chinese food. You’re in luck because you see two Chinese restaurants right beside each other. What would make you choose one restaurant over the other? Well one has an elegant and modern looking entrance with an easy to read menu on the window. The doors aren’t cluttered with advertisements and the windows don’t have a smudge on them. The other has a sign with a burnt-out light, the windows look like they haven’t been cleaned in months, and you can’t even tell if the restaurant is open. Which would you choose?     Or               They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but people always do. Now take a look at your website. Does it look clean, modern, and professional? Does it clearly show the information that your potential customers will need? Is it portraying the right image of your business? If your website is ugly, out of date, hard to use, and uninformative, people will think twice before calling your business. People like to check out who they are dealing with before they make an effort to either visit your premises or entertain the idea of giving their hard earned money to you. Do yourself and your business a favor – Understand that your website is your online billboard and treat it as such. This is your chance to show people what your business is all about and to establish your brand image to your potential customers. If they don’t like what they see, remember that they are only one click away from another site and another business. Stand out from your competition and let me develop your business a website that you can brag about. Click the button below to head on over to my web development site, Vsix.co.  

Yesterday you said tomorrow. Guess what today is?   Tomorrow you’re going to go to the gym. Tomorrow you’re going to start running. Tomorrow you’re going to start writing that book you’ve always dreamed about. Tomorrow you’re going to quit your job and start your own business. Tomorrow you’re going to __________. Have you said any of these things to yourself today? How many times did you actually do “that thing” the next day? Did it wait until the next? Or the next? Well, there is no such thing as tomorrow. Tomorrow is just an illusion. If you go about every day with the mindset of “Tomorrow, I’ll do this or that”, those goals will always be a few steps out of your reach. The way to change that is to ACT NOW. Seize the moment and live today like it’s the last chance you get to do what you’ve always wanted, to say what you need to say, and to be who you want to be. This brings me to the Nike quote:     Yesterday you said tomorrow. Well, guess what today is?  You guessed it. Now do something about it!   If you are the type of person that puts things off until tomorrow, STOP. Right now. I mean right now. Do you have anything left over from yesterday’s agenda that you need to take care of? I know I have a huge list. But seriously, stop putting things off until the next day. Be efficient at life — Do it NOW. Try to imagine an environment where you actually did everything you said you were going to do. Can you visualize and see how awesome that would be? Do you want that life? Well what’s stopping you? Every obstacle you face in life can be turned into some sort of opportunity. You just have to change your way of thinking to see it. Reflect on this:   Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 (NLT) Change the way you think today. It will surprise you how much easier things get.       

The Vine and the Branches I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. -John 15:1-5 What is Jesus talking about here? Just like any good gardener with a green thumb, if you have a fruit tree that has branches that bear no fruit, you have to cut them off. It’s simple really — If the branch has some genetic defect and just doesn’t produce fruit, all it is doing is taking the resources away from the other healthy branches. When you get rid of the “dead” branches, you then must prune the live branches to make them even more healthy. Gardening 101. The point I think Jesus was trying to get across was that you must cut the ties with all the bad stuff in your life. Just like some branches that don’t produce fruit, we all have those things in our lives that don’t produce fruit either — anything from drinking, drugs, bad friends, addictions, and the list goes on. Take a step back and analyze these branches. Do they produce even 1% of a good thing? Or do they lead to headaches, heartaches, empty wallets, and messed up lives? Don’t fool yourself, you know the answer. We also have branches in our lives that produce good fruit. These branches might be those good friendships, your Church time, Bible reading in the morning, small group devotions, your morning jog, etc. After you carry out these activities, you just feel good inside because you just ate that “good fruit” your good branches produced. Don’t you like this feeling? In order to have more of those “good fruit” moments, you have got to cut away those unfruitful branches in your life. It might be hard, but would you rather eat a sweet & juicy peach or a rotten & wormy pear? Suck it up and do what needs to be done.

“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.”  -Niccole Machiavelli   There is a 100% guarantee that you will face obstacles in your life. They will come in many different shapes and sizes — It is inevitable. The question is, how will you react once you are face to face with one? The way I see it is you have 2 choices. One, you can succumb to the obstacle and just give up trying to go that direction. Your great idea might just be one step away from fruition and all of a sudden, a major road block pops up that could kill your startup. It might be that an investor backed out at the last minute or your cofounder decided to take a 9-5 job somewhere. Whatever the obstacle is, it presents itself  as a fork in the road. What do you do? If you a dream and you have dedicated your life to making it happen, you will not simply give up. This is why 90% of all startup companies fail. Don’t give up! You should pick choice #2, which is turn that obstacle into an opportunity. The first time I ever set foot in the Trent Lott National Center at USM, I came face to face with a wall of quotes from various entrepreneurs. The one that hit me the hardest was the quote from Machiavelli up above. At the time, I had a major obstacle impeding my path to progress. Once I read that quote, I realized that the obstacle I was facing was simply something that I had to turn into an opportunity. I’m not going to get into detail about what that obstacle was because it is irrelevant. I’m just trying to say that when you are presented with an obstacle, you must step back for a moment and see it from a different perspective, then look for a solution that will transform the obstacle into a great opportunity. Apply that solution and stay focused until you achieve the desired outcome. Bottom line is that how you handle obstacles is a choice, and it’s no one else’s choice but yours. Make a choice to master your life and turn your obstacles into opportunities today.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”  - Tony Robbins   I have realized that I cannot do small. I cannot settle for ordinary. I cannot be complacent with the same reality as everyone else. There is just something inside of me that always wants to be the best, be the first, and be the only one.  Most of this stems from my lifelong sports career and maybe the fact that I am an only child. Looking back on my 25 years of life, there has not been one single instance that I actually believed I could not be or do something I wanted. Ever since I was a little kid, my parents have instilled the proper values and encouragement in me that made me believe I could be anything I wanted to be. If it weren’t for my Mom and Dad, there is no way I would be where I’m at today. I am truly grateful for how they raised me. If I can raise my kids only 80% of how good they raised me, I would call it an extreme success. Okay, back to business. What does it mean when Tony Robbins says, “The path to success is to take massive, determined action?” Does it mean that if you take small, undetermined actions you will not be successful? Yeah, more than likely. If you want to be successful, if you want to be a multi-millionaire by age 30, you HAVE to take massive and determined actions. Sure, I’m sure you have had plenty of those “million dollar ideas,” but how many of those ideas have you taken action on? Are you a millionaire yet? If not, then you haven’t taken action. If you have taken action but you aren’t a millionaire, it’s not that your idea was terrible, it could be that one part of your execution failed along the way. I will get deeper into this later on.