Leaders are called to set examples. Biblically, we are leaders to a lost world; A generation seeking the Love of Jesus Christ! I struggle, but I’m striving to put Christ first and be seen as someone allowing God to work through me. To every young leader, everyone wanting to change the world… Find encouragement this morning in God’s word!! Except him as your savior.  BUT, also except him as our Lord!!  He tells us…

“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself as an example of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:12

And as I’m looking to him as Lord of my life, I’m excepting the challenge that my speech, my actions, how I love myself and others, the faith I walk in and my purity are nothing less than examples of who Jesus Christ is in my life!!

For almost two years people could say that I have worked more than the average person. Owning and operating a non-profit, I’ve always felt the need to make sure things get done and I’ve never really trusted other people to get them done. Meaning I will work until the task at hand is accomplished, regardless of how much sleep I get. Prior to itsChance.com, I worked with Hurley, and prior to Hurley it was my own advertising and marketing firm. For each company, I literally worked myself like a rented mule.

From time to time my body would tell me that It had enough and I would sleep for 12 to 14 hours, but then I would be back on the grind for a week or two getting very little sleep if any at all. In my mind I knew it was unhealthy to treat my body this way, but I made the decision to keep doing it, no one forced me to.

As some of you may or may not have read, I blogged earlier this week on My Biggest Mistake so far this year. You can click the link to read it, but in general it’s changed my life in a lot of ways.  It’s made me completely change my schedule. Change how I treat people, and ultimately includes my outlook on work. So for all the leaders, the business people and the go getters, here are two main lessons I have learned from living in an unhealthy work environment:

1) You have to put yourself before anything else, including work. When I say this, I don’t mean be arrogant or prideful and only think about yourself… but the reality of it is, if you aren’t healthy there is no way you can help anyone else become healthy or remain healthy! Healthy means:

- Jesus Christ is at the front of everything you do. You have to pursue God. If your spiritual walk is suffering, you aren’t going to be 100%. ( Matthew 6:33-34 )

- You are surrounded with healthy relationships! You have people speaking into your life and keeping you accountable for things. ( Proverbs 18:24 )

- You are eating and exercising. It may seem over rated, but if you really cared about your work, you’d want to do it for as long as you could, being in good health is a huge part of that. ( Galatians 5:22-23 )

2) You have to prioritize what is most important to you.  When you drown yourself in work you begin to ignore and abuse the things God has intended for you. Yes, He want’s us to be hard workers, but he’s called us to fellowship with other people! This can be done in a bible study, on a softball team, or just hanging out. This could be a family member, a friend, a husband or wife or even boyfriend or girlfriend. But you have to really check yourself and find out what means the most to you. What are you working so hard for?? I know for me, it really hits home because:

- Jesus Christ wasn’t my main priority, meaning my “defense system” was down and Satan was able to kick me in the face. ( Mark 14:38 )

- I wasn’t surrounding myself or rather giving myself, to those who were here for me. Truly being there for others! From family, friends, the closest men in my life, and even someone I claimed to love. ( Philippians 2:3-8 )

- People that were expecting things of me, were let down because I would put work above their expectations. From commitments to help others, to be there for others and just be a friend. And therefor I was causing others to be angry, not addressing the issues and moving forward.. ( Ephesians 4:26 )

So really challenge yourself, what are you working so hard for? And are you willing to make changes even if it means admitting you’ve been in the wrong?? I know first hand that these things make a huge difference, because for almost two weeks now I’ve disciplined myself to waking up at 4:30am. Jogging and working out. Cooking a healthy breakfast. Being alone with God, praying and reading his word. I’ve left my computer at the office instead of taking it home. I haven’t stayed later than 6:00pm. I’ve gone and hung out with friends after the office. I literally turn my phone off at 9:00pm and I’m asleep by 10:00pm.  And not everyone needs THIS particular schedule!! I just know last night I was at the office late, and it messed up my entire moral. It was harder to wake up this morning. I’ve struggled today to be on top of my game and here I am typing what I’ve learned at 9:43pm.

I can see a huge difference in striving to do it God’s way and being stubborn and accepting my way.  God has so many incredible things for us, we just have to make him the reason we do everything! So if it isn’t God calling to you be a slave to your work…

Why are you really doing it and neglecting everything else he’s trying to bless you with?

- If someone told you not to eat something that you really wanted, you would still eat it.

- Most of us, if our parents said no, we are still going to do it.

- If the person riding in your passenger seat says slow down, you’re probably not going to listen.

The bottom line, we normally do what we want to do.  If it’s something you are really passionate about or something that you enjoy doing, it’s really hard to take the advice of others if it’s against your desires.

SO WHY

DO WE

LISTEN TO

A JACK ASS

ABOUT OUR

DREAMS?

I know people that won’t ask someone else what they should order. I know people that wouldn’t take a suggestion if it was gift wrapped. I know people that literally, would rather suffer than swallow their pride and say someone else was right. It seems so often that we are “set in our way” and going to do things the way we want.

So why when it comes to our dreams. The passion that God has put inside us; whether it be changing the world. Being a doctor. Raising millions for a cause. Going to Haiti. Being an actor or model. Whatever is on your heart…. do we let the first person laughing in our face or calling us stupid discourage us?

Do not confuse WISDOM with NEGATIVITY. Surround yourself with a small group of people that you trust. That will always be honest with you. Then seek wisdom from those people. Don’t take to heart what EVERYONE tells you. Guard your heart. Trust the people closest to you!

No matter what you want to do, you will always have critics who are against you.  Take the time now and find the people in your life that are FOR YOU! It will change your life, I promise!

** I know, the picture is a horse. Not a jack ass/donkey. But it’s still funny. Now go change the world!

1) Christopher Paul Gardner
2) Michael Jerome Oher
3) Sir William Wallace

At first glance… most of these names may not mean a whole lot to you. They may not make you all warm and fuzzy, they may not inspire you. But all three of these people had dreams, they wanted to change something. Many people may have told them they were Dreaming Too Big!

Now let’s look at the name of three movies, all three based on true stories. I’m hoping the majority of people have seen these three movies and assuming that everyone has seen atleast one. Which if you have, I’m also assuming that when you were done watching it you wanted to conquer the world. You felt inspired to do something!

1) The Pursuit of Happyness
2) The Blind Side
3) Braveheart

All three of the above mentioned movies, are about the three above mentioned names.  All three are based on true stories, true, inspiring stories!

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You see it’s not just about achieving your dreams. It’s about doing what you’re called to do. It’s about loving something so much that you risk it all. That you show other people what true passion is, what it is to pursue something you love, that big things can be done.

If you’re listening to people telling you that you can’t.

If you’re not willing to take chances.

If you’re simply sitting on your flipping A…

Then you aren’t just selling yourself short. You are literally preventing other people from achieving their dreams!  Don’t be selfish. Try thinking about others. Literally go big. Do something that other’s may call you crazy for. If you are chasing dreams that you can achieve by yourself, that you don’t get ridicule for chasing, then you aren’t chasing God sized dreams!!!

And the worse thing that is going to happen if you do chase them… you’re going to fail. You aren’t going to make it. But you’ll dust yourself off again. You’ll chase something bigger and you’ll inspire other people because you’re NOT GIVING UP!! And on the flip side; The best thing that could happen is actually chasing that dream down. Achieving the dream. Capturing that moment that you’ve always wanted and becoming inspired to do something even greater! So bottom line, you can’t dream too big.

“Find something in life to love then spread that love through living life.”