One conspiracy I do believe in….
June 18, 2010 by Bob Regnerus · 2 Comments
On Monday at 1pm Eastern, we’re going to be interviewing our good friend and acclaimed author, Perry Marshall. Perry is well-known in marketing circles for being the definitive guru for Google Adwords marketing (For a Free course in advertising success with Google Adwords, click the link). Perry is also known (and will soon be wider known) for not only defending, but scientifically proving the existence of intelligent design in creation. More to come about that in the future….
We wanted to reproduce an article for you that Perry wrote, which Matt and I believe is absolutely critical for Kingdom-minded entrepreneurs and business owners to understand. It’s your thoughts. In Phillipians 4:8, Paul says, “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” (The Message)
Do you believe that your thoughts can affect your outcomes? Here’s what Perry’s perspective is, and that will be the basis of our discussion on Monday on The Renegade Christian Entrepreneur Radio Show
One conspiracy I do believe in is the conspiracy to suffocate you in paralyzing mental garbage and global negativity.
I don’t generally buy into conspiracy theories… but I do believe in cosmic episodes of stupidity and planned mass mediocrity.
The #1 conspiracy of the modern world is to choke your brain with sewage and kill your spirit with overwhelming feeling that you are small and insignificant and helpless.
I almost *never* watch the news. I figure if there’s something I absolutely have to know about, somebody will call me and tell me about it. That theory has worked pretty well so far.
But on Monday I was in a restaurant and CNN was on. Couldn’t help but gawk at the endless parade of catastrophes.
I know that CNN is “normal” to most “normal” people. But don’t forget, most normal people accomplish fairly little in their 70+ trips around the sun. Those of us who are going somewhere in life have better things to do than listen to relentless droning about 147 tragedies that we have no ability to solve.
Right now, especially with the Gulf oil spill, the world is AWASH in negativity.
You as an entrepreneur MUST fight this. Proactively. Because if you don’t it’ll kill your business, kill your sales, kill your dreams and everything you really care about.
Watching CNN while you eat breakfast is like visiting a cholera epidemic at a refugee camp and letting sick people drool on you. Then changing their bedpans and rubbing your eyes and licking your hands.
Listen up: The mass news media is NOT your friend.
They exist for the purpose of selling you fear, paranoia, and prescription drugs.
Not only must you protect yourself from the constant, incessant paralysis of depression, you need to combat it with your customers.
You need to tell them what’s GOOD. You need to greet them with a smile and with encouragement.
You need to talk about what’s HAPPENING.
You need to celebrate little tiny victories EVERY SINGLE DAY.
And… when you have a major victory in your life, you need to telegraph it to encouraging people who will celebrate it with you. Because GOOD NEWS is NEWS INDEED.
EndRant.
Perry Marshall
Popularity: 50%
Humpty Dumpty Experiences in Life
June 16, 2010 by Joel Goode · Leave a Comment
Anyone who has ever aspired to greatness and set out to accomplish anything of significance undoubtedly has learned that life (and success) is truly a journey and not a static destination point. Ironically, the more specific you are in planning your goals and charting your path towards important goals, the more you will need to be ready to adjust and adapt as twists in the road emerge that you could not have foreseen as you initiated your well planned journey. Does this mean that planning and goal setting is pointless? Of course not, the power of setting specific goals and creating an action plan to achieve those goals is a very powerful force and is a process the most successful people use to stretch and make the most of their potential.
When the unexpected occurs in life, especially those moments in life or career that put you face to face with a significant and unexpected change of course in your direction, it is important to remember that we never have had, nor never will have the power to plan and execute a path solely based on our will (regardless of talent, work ethic or intentions).
Unanticipated changes happen all the time and what differentiates those who rapidly bounce back and in fact in many cases come through the experience as a better, deeper person after moving through the experience are 3 core characteristics:
- Faith: To know that you were designed to succeed in life and given unique talents to help you achieve greatness
- Attitude: To focus forward and not live life in the past always looking in the rearview mirror for “what might have been.” Look back only enough to honestly assess and learn from any course corrections that will help you move towards you future in a positive manner.
- Courage: Are you “seized up” with tension and paralysis caused by fear of the unknown or are you moving forward with boldness and the confidence to know you were built to prosper (Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”)
There are a variety of reasons unexpected change in our lives occurs, sometimes through self inflicted mistakes and sometimes through changes completely outside your control which you had absolutely nothing to do with. When major life changes occur, especially in the midst of the experience, it is easy to feel a bit like Humpty Dumpty, in pieces on the ground after a significant fall. My advice when this type of life experience presents itself:
- Acknowledge your disappointment that a change is occurring which you did not expect or necessarily desire
- Determine what your strongest skills and passions are and chart a course moving forward that aligns with what is “True North” in your own internal life compass. In other words, what you believe is the best path forward based on your own priorities, direction and intended purpose.
- Life is lived more with a compass than a specific map. A compass allows us to always move in the right direction, regardless of where we find ourselves, however a map is only useful up to the point where an unexpected (and un-mapped) change in the road happens.
- Don’t forget to count your blessings and enjoy the journey!
In the spirit of the great radio personality Paul Harvey (“Now you know the rest of the story”), for those interested in the origin of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme we all know so well, the following provides a background on the history and roots of the poem.
The History and Origins of the Humpty Dumpty Rhyme (adapted from http://www.rhymes.org)
Humpty Dumpty was in fact believed to be a large cannon! It was used during the English Civil War (1642 – 1649) in the Siege of Colchester (13 Jun 1648 – 27 Aug 1648). Colchester was strongly fortified by the Royalists and was laid to siege by the Parliamentarians (Roundheads). In 1648 the town of Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. Standing immediately adjacent the city wall, was St Mary’s Church. A huge cannon, colloquially called Humpty Dumpty, was strategically placed on the wall next to St Mary’s Church. The historical events detailing the siege of Colchester are well documented – references to the cannon ( Humpty Dumpty) are as follows:
- June 15th 1648 – St Mary’s Church is fortified and a large cannon is placed on the roof which was fired by ‘One-Eyed Jack Thompson’
- July 14th / July 15th 1648 – The Royalist fort within the walls at St Mary’s church is blown to pieces and their main cannon battery ( Humpty Dumpty) is destroyed.
- August 28th 1648 – The Royalists lay down their arms, open the gates of Colchester and surrender to the Parliamentarians
A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, (known in the nursery rhyme as “all the King’s men”) attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall. However, because the cannon (Humpty Dumpty) was so heavy “All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again!” This had a drastic consequence for the Royalists as the strategically important town of Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks. Earliest traceable publication 1810.
Author: Joel Goode
Popularity: 11%
Everything I Know About Miracles, I Learned From My Dog Mulligan
June 16, 2010 by Matthew Gillogly · 1 Comment
This is the tale of three dogs; Jordan, Charis and Mulligan. Well, three of my dogs.
Jordan, was our black lab, we adopted in Pensacola around 1996. She was a wonderful perfect dog. Never needed a leash to walk her. One day in early May 2008, we noticed she was not right. Took her to the vet, and to make a long story short she had to be put down that week. She had advanced stages of liver cancer.
This happened right in the middle of my business crashing and burning, my wife and I having serious marital issues and basically smack dab in the middle of the crap hitting the fan in my life. This was year 1 of a very long 3 years journey.
Our family was devastated. And being the man of the house that I am, wanted to get a new dog within a few months. Sarah, my wife, resisted. We didn’t know if we’d be living in a different house, or where we’d be living, could we afford a dog, it was all up in the air.
To top it off, we couldn’t agree on the type of breed. I was done with a lab (everyone has a lab) and wanted a German Short Haired Pointer.
Eventually, as is usually the case, I wore my wife down in February of that next year. We contacted a breeder to adopt a female German Short Haired Pointers. We named her Charis (Greek for grace).
Once we got her home and took her to the vet for her check up, we noticed her legs were kind of ‘off’. In the end she had experienced trauma to her legs and her patella had fused to her knee joint. She had to be put down. We had her less than 1 month. It just killed me.
I had worked hard to make this new dog happen. Done my research, contacted the breeder, worn him out in finding the right kind of deal on the dog. Only to see it all fall apart in less than a month.
For three months I was just numb. Basically feeling that I’d never get another dog. We couldn’t agree on a type of dog and didn’t want to get burned again. Two things we did know… I didn’t want another Lab, my wife didn’t want a male dog.
I had stopped talking about getting a dog, stopped looking at the rescue pages, stopped contacting breeders. I had given up and resigned myself to not having a dog for a very long time.
Sounds like a place for God to show up…. and boy did He.
In the middle of April of that year, less than 4 weeks after we put Charis down my wife and I were at a horse show with the family. We noticed off in the distance a chocolate lab with the rescue group. My wife and I both looked at each other, saying.. ‘Wow what a beautiful dog’. We noticed the handler had him well trained. Perfect coat, not a blemish on him. Except he was, well, a he.
My wife said; ‘oh well, too bad, so sad, he’s a male, no way, let’s keep going.’
Except we couldn’t keep our eyes off him. We talked with our friends in the rescue group. His story was simple. He was an owner surrender. The day before, he was slated to be put down by York county rescue. The lab rescue group went and picked him up about 1 hour prior to him being put down.
He was most likely a pure breed lab. He was trained, about one year old. Maybe two. To say my wife and fell in love with him, was and is an understatement.
By the end of the weekend he was ours. The absolutely perfect dog for our family situation. He fit right into our routine and loves to do all the family things we love to do.
Oh and the dogs name? Mulligan.
Why is that significant? In golf a Mulligan is; redo of an errant shot, usually on the first tee. It is also known as a ‘redo’.
I know what you are asking yourself.. “Geez, Matt, this is a great story, but what has this got to do with miracles?”
Well everything.
When we lose something near and dear to us, our tendancy is to work like hell to get it back. We work hard, we strive, we plot, scheme, plan and basically work to force the hand of God to what we want, when we want it, in the manner in which we want to get it.
This is what I did with Charis, the second dog. I forced the issue and in the end experienced a bunch more pain. I was bound and determined to get the dog I wanted in the time frame, I thought acceptable.
However, that didn’t work out, did it. But God had a plan to get us the perfect dog for us. Even though, my wife didn’t want a male and I didn’t want a lab.
When we saw Mulligan, my wife and knew it was the right dog. We tried to denie it for a few minutes, but the pull to him was uncontrollable. It all feel together perfectly for us and it was totally the hand of God.
The best part? The name that was already in place for the dog. Mulligan. My wife and I joke, Mulligan is our prophetic dog. A reminder from God that he knows the perfect timing of it all and if we do screw up and try to do it in our timing, He’ll give us a Mulligan. A redo.
I have to keep this in mind as my family languishes with one car and we desire to have a second. Or in my business when things don’t grow as fast as I want them to grow, or just in life or business, or whatever.
The first rule is ‘Father knows best’. The second is: ‘If I screw up and try to know what’s better for me vs. God, then if I do screw up, God will always give me a Mulligan.’
Popularity: 38%
