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Encourage • Equip • Inspire • Ignite

Trust inTransition

'NOT FAILING' and 'SUCCEEDING'are NOT the same thing

Mandela's3 SECRETS

Conforming or Transforming

through Kingdom Economy

WISHFUTURE? for

your

What do you

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CONTENTS

www.kbnconnect.co.za | 3

FEATURESTrust in Transition 8The 3 secrets of Mandela 15Conforming to the rules of world economics or Transforming nations through Kingdom economy? 17Time to wake up and smell the coffee 23'Not failing' and ' succeeding' are not the same thing 28What do you wish for your future? 30

IN EVERY ISSUEEditor's welcome 4 This month's contributors 5

PRODUCTS & SERVICESBusiness networking 2Master jeweller 5Business insurance, online admin services 6Cleaning services, graphic designer, travel agent, copy writing 7Corporate gifts, short term insurance, family church, financial services, electrical contractor, business services, health consultant, civil andstructural engineers, staff development, event 12Business strategies 14 Social networker 22Funeral services, networking systems, IT solutions, labour consulting 26

KB Connect magazine is produced by: Tracey Olivier Editor [email protected] Elaine Young Sub-Editor [email protected]

Ruth Brophy Art Director [email protected] Sales: 084 548 4720 • [email protected]

I recently did Beth Moore’s Esther course. In one of the video lessons, she ended by quoting Isaiah 40:31 (New King

James Version):“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew

their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

The gem that she uncovered (as only Beth can do) was this: in today’s world we are taught by the prevailing culture that we do not need to be patient. All our technology is geared toward achieving one thing: instant gratification, instant answers, instant everything. Yet it has been my experience that the things of the Kingdom are often all about waiting on God’s timing. We would be wise to take the time to understand the times and to be ready to act when only God is leading.

Another thing she pointed out was that when we do wait, we often wait on the event, the person or the thing we desire. This is exhausting and we become weary. But Isaiah 40 says, “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength”. The secret is that we WAIT ON THE LORD and not on the event, thing or person we are trusting for.

Waiting doesn’t mean that we sit back, get complacent and disengage. We need to stay alert to what God is saying to us, receptive to new ideas and options, and ready to go when He says so. While you’re in transition, Andy Mason reminds us, you have to trust your loving Dad to bring you safely through to the other

side. This issue has been like no other in that it has literally transformed as the articles came in. It was originally supposed to be an issue about

something which I am incredibly passionate about, Coaching, and I even interviewed some coaches for an article. But as the articles came in, I started to realise that God has a different agenda. And so this issue doesn’t really have a set theme like every other issue we have produced (except the first, interestingly enough!), but each article spoke deeply to me. I want to gift you with each one and pray that they would encourage, inspire, ignite and

equip each of you in your journey.Congratulations to our 3 winners of Cindy

Norcott’s book, “How to be Unstoppable and achieve more in business and life”. They are: Julie Beggs, Caron Nel and Carryn Paikin.

4 | www.kbnconnect.co.za

Editor's Welcome

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WAITING ON THE LORD

Connecting with Julie Beggs and Caron Nel to give them their prizes.

Andy Mason Redding, California Andy has over fifteen years’ experience helping individuals and organisations discover and align with their purpose, then develop practical

steps to make their dreams a reality. He is the director of Heaven in Business and together with his wife, Janine, leads Dream Culture – a movement catalysing people to discover and live their dreams.

Patrick Kuwana, Johannesburg, South Africa Patrick the founder of Crossover Transformation Group – a business focused on providing biblically based business leadership,

entrepreneurship and transformational leadership training, consulting and coaching services.

Bradley Schmidt Durban, South Africa Bradley runs a marketing consultancy that aims to help businesspeople turn their ‘nightmare’ clients into ‘dream’ ones by getting their marketing message

and target market right. His company, Bradley Schmidt Small Business Marketing Alchemy, offers a series of dynamic workshops that empower people and ultimately companies to succeed against the odds.

Mark J. Chironna Orlanda, Florida

Mark is uniquely gifted to train, mobilize, and ignite transformation in God’s people. His is a clear voice for the 21st century that resonates throughout our

global society with the cause of Christ and the message of His Kingdom.

Sandy Geyser Hamilton, New Zealand Sandy is the Financial and Sales Director of Allcopy Publishers, Author of Path of the Loin a book about EnQ which stands for entrepreneural intelligence. She will be in South Africa in July and will be the guest speaker at the KBN meeting on 8 July.

Adam Bright Durban, South Africa Adam has been involved in

organisational development for fifteen years. He is a Strategic Interventionist, Coach Trainer and active public speaker. He also coaches at an individual and organisational level, both nationally and internationally. Since his return to South Africa from the United States, he has started a key company around strength development, evaluating and re- establishing culture within companies. He is HR director of the Juiced Group and founded Juiced Strategies (Pty) Ltd, which he also directs.

This Issue's Contributors

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When you are in transition, it feels like everything is

moving but you don’t have control. It’s like one of those amusement park rides where you are spinning, the machine is spinning and you are going

up and down…yet there is a line-up of people wanting to

have a go! You pay a price to go round and round and up and down

and inside out…but seemingly end up the same place you began. Or did

you?You know there is a plan. This thing

will stop, eventually. You can survive it, endure it, or you can choose to wave your arms wildly, scream madly and enjoy it.

The core of transitioning well is trust. What you truly trust will become obvious and you will get the opportunity to change that, or build trust in something stronger. If your trust is in God, you will find Him to be a rock, a refuge, a sure foundation, and you won’t be disappointed. He never changes. He is the Everlasting God who never grows tired or weary. Will He be your God in transition?

God is in your future; stick close to Him and you will be

there also.

TRUST inTransition

Or, you can try to grasp something along the way (which is hard to do when you are spinning in all directions) – a person, a false comfort, a support structure (which will more likely hold you where you are rather than help you transition). How’s that working for you?

When my family left New Zealand for the USA in 2008 it was a bigger transition than I had ever asked, thought or imagined. I did everything I thought I knew to make the change as smooth as possible. The problem was, I didn’t know much. Perfect!

We had seven weeks between getting the final “go for it” and leaving our shores of safety and certainty. I didn’t

know anyone where we were going – fellow students, staff or citizens. I tried to arrange a

rental property for my family when we arrived. Problem: no-one would rent to a foreigner. Perfect! In the end I secured a vacation rental for one week, giving us 7 days to find something more permanent.

Then, just 10 days from our departure I got a message saying the vacation rental had some plumbing issues and they would have to cancel. My wife was already stressed out with the transition – I was just in denial. And I was leaving for two days on a business trip. Perfect!

I hid the email so I could work out a plan before adding more instability

(“transition”) to my family. As I drove on my business trip I madly called a couple of friends to get them to pray. Help! Then I

lost cellphone coverage so all I could do was get anxious…or lean into God.

Perfect!Anxiety is evidence of an

inferior kingdom.I had a full schedule of

meetings for the rest of the day so I had no

time to do anything

God is in your future; stick close to Him

and you will be there also.

The core of transitioning well is trust.

about the problem. That evening I got into a hotel late and went to bed. I got up early the next morning and paced the floor praying. Help me Jesus. Help me Jesus. Help me Jesus!

I then decided to look online again at the student website for where we were going and see if there were any rental properties listed there (ten days out?). I prayed, “God, guide my eye.”As I read down the list, one self-furnished apartment caught my eye. It wasn’t ideal but maybe it would cover us for a week or a month. I shot an email off to the landlord, explaining our situation.

Thirty minutes later a reply popped up on my email. The random landlord said, “Sorry, the apartment is already taken. But you could come stay with us [single mom with two kids at home].” I replied to this random lady, “Thank you, but there are six of us.” She again responded, “I know my limits, my gifting is hospitality, you can stay for two weeks.” A complete stranger willing to take us in! Was she safe? Were we safe for her? Or had God just guided my eye? Could I really trust Him in this transition?

It turned out she wasn’t going to be at home when we arrived so she arranged for her personal assistant to meet us with a key to the house. We couldn’t find a rental place for three-and-a-half weeks but she graciously extended her home to us (four of us in

the gym on mats, two of us in a single bed in another room). Perfect!

She helped us with getting around town – loaned us a car then a scooter for six months. She showed us where to get a household full of furniture on student budgets. She gave us a bunch of stuff for the kids and introduced us to her friends. She was a gift from God in the midst of our transition. Perfect!

So what’s your transition? Who are you trusting? How does God want to reveal Himself to you in the midst of transition? Will you trust Him?

1. God was with you where you came fromThink back to previous transitions. How did He help you? How did He provide for you? Remember. Feed on His faithfulness.

Anxiety is evidence of an inferior kingdom.


2. God is with you where you are goingWhen you gave your life over to Him, He promised to lead and guide you. He is the GOOD shepherd. He may lead you THROUGH difficult circumstances but He never LEAVES you in them. Keep walking. Every step you take is getting closer. Every day is one day nearer. Whatever you do, don’t stop. Your future is bright. Your future is full of hope.

3. God is with you right nowYou may not be able to control a whole lot of the instability and uncertainty right now but one thing is certain – God. Pause right now and increase your awareness of Him with you. What are you thankful for in your life right now? Write down five things you are grateful for. Where is He wanting to guide your eye?

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring [it] to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. …

The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. …

I have been young, and [now] am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. …

Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see [it]. …

And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.

Psa 37:3-6, 23, 25, 29, 34, 40 NKJV. !

Andy MasonUsed with permission. http://idreamculture.

com/trust-in-transition/#sthash.ZfRvZ4U5.dpuf.

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Now that the elections are over, I’m reflecting on what South Africa has become and where we are going

as a nation. Mandela, along with a few others, set our nation on a course which – if fully realised – will lead us to a place of safety and prosperity.

As I look back over Mandela’s life I see three secrets that he applied and which made him the man he became. If we take those same secrets and apply them to our lives, I believe we can realise the dream he carried.

Secret #1Mandela could have spent his entire life blaming others for his condition in life. He had every right to. He could have blamed them for torture, for lying,

for enslaving, for destroying families… yet, he chose not to. He chose not to blame but to forgive instead.

There are two quotes which have always stood out for me from Mandela on forgiveness.

"Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear." and "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew that if I didn’t leave bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison."

His big secret was that he understood that blame keeps you imprisoned and bound by fear. It keeps you stuck in

life. In order to unlock your life, blame must be removed from the table as an option for you. In its place, forgiveness must reside.

If we take those same secrets and apply

them to our lives, I believe we can realise the dream he

carried.

THE 3SECRETS

of Mandela

Secret #2If you can no longer blame, then that leaves you with only two other options. His second secret was to realise that his original boyhood dream (to be free and grow up in his community) had to change. Especially once he lost his father. His dream changed many times in life, eventually leading him into prison where his dream changed one last time. He came out a different man because he allowed his dream to change. He didn’t get stuck because of the circumstances of his life. He allowed his dream to change to fulfill the desires of his heart. His desires didn’t change but his dreams changed to connect his desires to his circumstances.

Secret #3Sometimes the dream Mandela had so gripped his heart that he could not change it. Again, he could have become stuck and started to blame his circumstances – but he did not. He found a way to change his circumstances. When the dream would not bend and his soul would not bend away from forgiveness, then his circumstances would bend.

In 1995 when South Africa hosted and won the Rugby World Cup, Nelson Mandela walked onto the field to congratulate the team. The day he walked out onto the rugby pitch he showed a determination to see the dream of a united country become

a reality. The dream to unite white and black was so strong and yet rugby was a predominantly white sport. Mandela could have fought it and not come to the game. He could have said that it was not right for so

much money to be spent to entertain this certain segment of the population, but he did not. He changed his personal circumstances to align with his dream. He walked onto the field to support South African Rugby and in return his circumstances lined up to facilitate his dream moving one step further down the road.

So…we find ourselves 20 years down the road of democracy. Take these three secrets that Mandela practised to bring transformation to a nation, and apply them to your life and business. Stop blaming! Take control! If you need to, change your dream. If your dream cannot change, then change your circumstances to align with your dreams.

Either way, let’s continue the dream Mandela had (and we all have) for a better place to live that gives everyone a chance. No matter what political party is in power. It’s

time we control our lives and not rely on who is in power. !

Adam Brighthttp://juicedstrategies.com/

the-3-secrets-of-mandela/


He changed his personal

circumstances to align with his dream.

He chose not to blame but to forgive instead.

He came out a different

man because he allowed

his dream to change.

S tatistics show that +81% of the South African population is Christian, with 56% of the population attending church at

least once a week. If this is so – why is South Africa not reflecting a Christian culture in every area of society? Why is South Africa listed 69th out of 169 countries in the 2012 corruption index report, with the highest gap between the rich and poor in the world, when Christianity is supposed to be built upon a foundation of righteousness and justice? Why does a nation like South Africa, which is blessed with so many resources, currently have one of the lowest

labour productivity rates in the world and one of the lowest economic growth rates in Africa?

On the continental front, why is Africa the begging bowl of the world when we have been blessed with the most abundant natural resources – far more than any other continent? Africa is one of the most evangelised continents and yet is the most corrupt and poverty stricken, with 45 African countries occupying positions in the World Health Organisation’s list of the 50 countries in the world with the lowest life expectancy – a totally contradictory position to what the Bible says we should be experiencing


Conforming to the rules of world economics or

Transforming nations through

Kingdomeconomy?


as a result of the transforming and life-giving power of the truth of the Gospel. As African Christian leaders in both the church and the marketplace (business and government), these are critical questions that we now need to address.

So why are we in this position?We are in this position because of two clear biblical reasons: (1) we are destroyed because of lack of knowledge (of God’s

We continue to put our trust in intellectual

solutions that are based on the flawed rules of a man-made economic

system, instead of going back to the instructions

and divine solutions of the architect of economics –

God our Father.

ways) and (2) we are destroyed because of disobedience (to God’s ways).

A critical constraint that is stopping us from effectively dealing with these issues is that we just don’t know what God’s blueprint is for the economy, and hence we continue to put our trust in intellectual solutions that are based on the flawed rules of a man-

made economic system, instead of going back to the instructions and divine solutions of the architect of economics – God our Father. Africa (and every other continent for that matter) will continue to sink into a greater measure of darkness for as long as we think that we can find lasting solutions outside the framework of God’s instructions (as written in the Bible and revealed by the Holy Spirit on an ongoing basis.

The first words God spoke to mankind were a Family, Government and Economic

mandate (“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]” – Genesis 1:28 AMP). The rest of His words to us in the Bible are filled with instructions on how we should take dominion of these three critical foundational building blocks of society. When we implement His ways in these three areas, we will see restoration come into the economic value chain so that all people on earth will have sufficiency in provision (food, water, shelter, services, etc).

For the purposes of this article I would like to address a single critical difference between the man-made systems of economics that we currently operate under today and God’s Kingdom economic system: scarcity versus abundance.

Scarcity versus AbundanceMan-made economic systems are driven by the premise of scarcity whereas God’s Kingdom economic system is driven by the premise of abundance.

Wikipedia defines scarcity as “the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants and needs in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs”.

In other words God created us, His children, and put us into a world that does not have enough resources for us to survive. This is effectively what world economics is saying everyday about God! Sadly even we as the church buy into this thinking and even contribute to the growth of this system of deception that is holding billions of people in captivity.

By the way,

Every war that has ever been fought on this planet is the result of mankind trying to take ownership of scarce resources – in direct disobedience to

God’s instructions for us to steward the abundant resources He gave us on

this earth.


the notion of “unlimited human wants” as mentioned in the Wikipedia definition was birthed when the devil deceived mankind to desire and ultimately consume something in disobedience to God (the Fall). This is an integral part of the broken world economic system we face today. In the Garden of Eden, mankind fell by consuming a resource outside the will of God and today mankind continues to consume outside the will of God. This forms the basis of the form of capitalism that the world economic system currently operates under.

I truly believe that our belief in this lie of scarcity is one of the greatest sins we need to repent of. It implies that God is unloving and effectively very ‘sadistic and sick’ because He created children and placed them in a world that does not have enough resources for them to survive (and hence created them to suffer)!

The resultant behaviour of a scarcity-driven economic system is excess accumulation (because there might not be enough tomorrow), which drives greed (because I have to accumulate as much for myself as possible, even at the expense of others), which drives materialism (because the more I have, the more secure I am), which drives bribery and corruption (to acquire more through any means possible). It’s the Babylonian system of economy that is based on dependence on self apart from


God because ‘God didn’t create enough so therefore why should I expect or even rely on Him to look after me?’ It’s the worship of mammon and hence the worst and most prevalent form of idol worship being practised 24 hours a day.

This lie of scarcity is one of the devil’s most potent tools for creating disorder in the world and blinding billions of people to the goodness of God. This one lie has resulted in mankind being used by the devil to do his primary work of stealing, killing and destroying so that billions remain lost as they fail to see the love of their Creator.

Every war that has ever been fought on

Scarcity is the fruit of mankind’s failure to steward the vast/abundant resources

that God created and has made available

to us.

this planet is the result of mankind trying to take ownership of scarce resources – in direct disobedience to God’s instructions for us to steward the abundant resources He gave us on this earth. The day we (you and I) as believers of Jesus Christ take up our mandate to bring about economic restoration

by bringing God’s economic system (the stewardship of abundance) back into the world, will be the day when we will see the start of a season that will result in billions of people having the veil of systemic poverty removed from their eyes to reveal a good God who loves them so much and has provided an abundant life for them (naturally here on earth and also in heaven). I believe that when we deal with the economic issue we will see a multitude of souls streaming into salvation as they realise who God truly is.

Jesus came to restore the abundant life that God originally intended for all mankind. (“I have come so that they may have life, and

that they may have it more abundantly” – John 10:10b). Does the systemic poverty we see around us mean that Jesus failed to deliver on his mandate and promise of abundant life…or is it maybe that we as His disciples (who have been given the task to implement and model His ways and instructions) have failed to implement what He has told us to?

Scarcity is the fruit of mankind’s failure to steward the vast/abundant resources that God created and has made available to us.

Wastage not scarcityResearch shows that a quarter of the world’s food is wasted. South Africa wastes 9 to 10 million tonnes of food each year. Rev Joel Edwards, International Coordinator of EXPOSED, the global Christian campaign aimed at exposing corruption, has said that “Over US$1 TRILLION goes missing every year from the global economy as a result of corruption and it’s predicted that illegal tax evasion alone will be responsible for 5.6 million children dying in developing countries between 2000 and 2015. That’s 1,000 children every day”.

I therefore ask the question – is there really scarcity in resources? Sadly these 5.6 million children will probably die without knowing the truth that they have a loving Father who actually provided abundantly for them, but the resources could not get to them because of mankind’s failure to implement His economic system. I believe God’s heart is bleeding with grief as His children suffer in a world that He created with abundance, but in which we have accepted a scarcity-based economy as the norm.

So what is the solution? 2 Chronicles 7:14The economy is the battlefield for the goodness of God. When we rise up to exercise Kingdom dominion in this area, we will create a ‘salvation pipeline’ that will usher in the end time harvest as billions of people see God for

the first time as a good God who loves them and has supplied abundance (spiritually and materially) for each person. It is time that we realise that we can’t keep doing the same things and expecting different results. We need to pray; humble ourselves (admit we have been doing it wrongly); seek the Lord’s face (seek His wisdom and ways) and turn from our wicked ways (replace our way of doing things with His way) so that He can hear our prayers, forgive our sins and heal our land.

In closingPresidents of Nations are desperately seeking answers to economic restoration and growth. It’s time for us as the collective body of Christ to take the wisdom of God’s Kingdom Economic blueprint to them. Could we be in the Kairos season right now where God will take the so-called ‘dark’ continent that has been last in the world economy, and lift it into the leading position to be a ‘shining ‘light’ demonstrating Kingdom Economy to the rest of the world? We are in the appointed time for Africa to ‘arise and shine’ and release the glory of God! !

Patrick KuwanaCrossover Transformation Group

patrick@crossovertransformation.co.zawww.crossovertransformation.co.za



Proverbs 23 offers life-changing wisdom, especially for those in business. It talks about dealing with those in authority.

In a business context, this is usually your potential client. The chapter shoots straight, talking about how you can end up with a “knife to your neck” before you realise what has happened.

When you’ve read this article, I highly recommend you take the time to read and consider this chapter deeply. The Amplified Version really helps bring out the meaty bits.

One short sentence, buried in verse 7, grabbed my attention and has held it in its life-transforming grip ever since: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

“A belief,” Elly Roselle has observed, “is not

an idea held by the mind. Rather it is an idea that ‘holds the mind’”.

It’s a brilliant observation. What ideas hold your own mind?

It’s convenient for us to think that we look at the world around us and, based on what we see, draw conclusions. Conclusions that establish our beliefs [read: ideas that hold your mind]. But reality is often the opposite.

Our beliefs determine what we ‘see’ and ‘don’t see’ when we look at the world around us. They are filters that define the world according to us. The

longer we’ve held those beliefs, the tighter their grip on our minds. And they will stay with you – limiting your life – until replaced with beliefs

Time to

WAKE UP and smell the coffee

For the fool, Old Age

will be the experience that finally rattles

his world view.


that let you see more of, and deeper into, the world around you.

You can ‘know’ that you ought to exercise, eat well or lose weight, and still not do it. Gripping your mind like a vice is a belief that a heart attack won’t happen to you. Or that you’ve got time to change, and today other things are more pressing.

That belief will stay in control until something – often a sudden, near-death experience like a health crisis or a home invasion – finally shatters its vice grip.

Weeks, months and years of lost opportunities to really live, will zip past until a painful EXPERIENCE breaks you free. Only then will you see your limiting belief for what it is – a belief, not reality. Only then will you see how naïve you’ve been. That you’ve been drifting in a bubble, not living.

But when your near-death experience has happened, you’ll see things you couldn’t see before. Your decisions change. Your behaviours change. And best of all – your RESULTS will be

something else entirely.I’ve had a few such

experiences. Each has changed me deeply and shattered strongly-held beliefs. Once I was slap bang in the middle of a race-the-clock project for Vodacom. The clock was winning. Our team was living on Mr Delivery pizza and strong coffee. I was arriving home when my family was asleep and leaving before they awoke.

Then that “suddenly” moment arrived. My wife called me at the office and said, “Don’t panic, but Daniel (my son) has

just been hit by a car. The doctor is with him at the local hospital. They have stabilised him. They cannot do any more and are now rushing

You can choose to join those who don't wait for a

catastrophe to wake them up from their

stupor.

Near-life experiences

help you experience

what it means to really live.

him to a bigger hospital that’ll be able to cope with his injuries”.

Suddenly, I no longer cared about the all-consuming Vodacom deadline, my job or anything else. I just had to get to the hospital. To my wife and son.

Hard as that experience was, it turned out to be a gift.

For the fool, Old Age will be the experience that finally rattles his world view. By then, there will only enough time and energy for regret. That’s depressing!

You can choose to join those who don’t wait for a catastrophe to wake them up from their stupor. If you don’t want to wait for a near-death experience to wake you up, your only alternative is force yourself to experience new things.

When you actively engage in a new experience, rather than waiting for the experience to happen, you create an

environment where your beliefs are challenged. I’m talking about any experience that will stretch you. Try serving someone in the way they want to be served.

If a near-death experience does happen to wake you up, put yourself in places where you will have near-life experiences. Near-life experiences help you experience what it means to really live.

Live and act without fear of what others think. Do what you could and should be doing, without concern for whether you’ll fail or not.

When you do that, you’ll want more.

Live God’s dream for you. Today. Ask for His wisdom, courage and strength, then act. Carpe diem. !

Bradley [email protected]

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I talk to entrepreneurs across many industries, genders

and cultures and there is a common ‘type’ of entrepreneur that I see most often. This is the entrepreneur who has ‘not failed’. Roughly translated, that means he or she has a business that on the surface appears to function adequately, but finances are tight, time is stretched and stress levels are extreme.

Does this sound familiar? If so, don’t feel alone! Over 80% of business owners worldwide find themselves in this space. Despite the obvious struggles within such a space, these business owners comfort themselves with the fact that they have ‘not failed’.

But working 24/7 for very often less

than we would earn working for someone else, whilst carrying all the responsibility of our own business, is not an entrepreneurial success at all.

In his new book Amplifiers (which I highly recommend to all business leaders), Matt Church points out that in leadership, it is sequence that is critical. He argues that leadership innovations are often deployed out of sequence and suggests the following for effective leadership:

1 Believe that great things are going to

happen.

2 Get the group productive.

3 Focus on team engagement.

Succeeding means that we:• Lead our business to the

stage where we can place qualified people behind us and give them the space to prove and earn their value.

• Have sufficient income from a primary business to fund additional ventures that allow us multiply our income streams, invest and grow our expertise and experience.

• Declare the same profit daily whether we are present in the office or not.

• Are intimately in touch with every influence on our bottom line at all times through open and accurate information systems.

'NOT FAILING'and 'SUCCEEDING' are

NOT theSAME

THING


4 Obsess about innovation.

As the building process relies heavily on the direction we provide as the entrepreneur, I think we need to give some thought to getting the sequence right too. Borrowing from Matt’s thinking about sequencing, I would suggest the following for effective entrepreneurial leadership:

1 Believe that great things can happen.

2 Get clear on our purpose – why are we doing this?

3 Understand our value to the organisation that we

are building, and leverage that value through stakeholders and systems.

4 Fill the gap between what we can offer and what the

organisation needs that we can’t (or don’t want to) offer, through stakeholders and systems.

5 Drive the sales function of the business personally.

Please do not rely on or hide behind marketing and social media initiatives. These are best in support and not as the drivers to effectively communicating our value and relevance to our market.

6 Set up a system that renders us the closest that

we can be to pro-active, which is “instantly reactive”. Reading this system accurately tells us what (and who) is and isn’t working.

7 Place qualified and trusted people in behind

us to do the tasks so we can clear our headspace for innovation, diversification or additional business initiatives.

The sequence of these 7 steps matters to those wanting to move from “not failing” to “succeeding”. !

Sandy Geyser

Working 24/7 for very often less than we would earn working for

someone else, whilst

carrying all the responsibility

of our own business, is not an

entrepreneurial success at all.

T he “will of God” is always “good, acceptable, and complete (perfect/mature)”, and there is only one “will”

– not three. Also remember that it isn’t something you have to “find”. Paul makes it clear in Romans 12:1-2 that it is something you “prove”. To “prove” something requires a certain “sense” of what you think it is, and also requires experimentation (kind of like what you would do for science projects in school)…so the proving process requires faith. Faith gives you the freedom to improvise and even make “mistakes” and the course of it, correct ourselves. So this isn’t some heavy-duty, heavy-handed, “If I miss it I am in big trouble” sort of a dynamic. This is about a loving Father who wants to give GOOD gifts to His children; who invites them to walk by faith in childlike trust and rely on His eminent goodness in the midst of every conflict they face and EVERY DECISION they have to make. It is all about GRACE and FAITH.

There come certain seasons in all of our lives when we realise certain things are no longer the same, even though we might have expected them to stay that way. We find ourselves in that marvellous place called “transition”. In that place of transition, we have to master moving from our current reality to a new reality that can actually be an “improved and more desired” reality. Between where you are and where that is, you have to

What do you WISH

FUTURE? for your


navigate the “gap” (which is what I do in the coaching profession with my clients all the time).

One of the things we often fail to realise when it comes to the “will” of God, is that the word there for “will” actually means “wish” or “intent” or even in some cases, “dream”. So instead of thinking about the “will of God” being some hard-to-reach, difficult burden to bear that requires the absolute nullifying of any of your dreams and goals, think again. This is a loving Father, who as a Caring Parent “wishes” wonderful things for His children, including you.

In fact, the key to finding out His “wishes” is getting in touch with yours. So, begin with “What do I really, really, really, really, really want at this season of my life?” And start dreaming again about your future.

One thing always to remember: God wants you to be visionary, as well as responsible for your own future. That is important, because otherwise you will spend time waiting for God to “tell” you what your future is when He’s already built you and designed you just the way you are with your yearnings, longings, and giftings to move in the direction you were created for.

In my series, “Blue Sky Jesus” I speak to this precisely because people are looking for a “Blue-Print” instead of looking under God’s big “BLUE SKY”. You have to lift your vision higher and look into the big blue sky of heaven over your head and gaze at all those beautiful stars to get a fix on where you are and then find your own true North.

What you want right now in life isn’t the same as what you wanted years ago. You have matured, you have become more selective, you have become more scrutinising…and that’s great! The reason it’s great is because now you know more of what you don’t “want” or “wish” in your life.

There is a certain “fire” that belongs to you alone, as well as a certain hope and passion. It is there and it is waiting to be reclaimed and honoured. When you are ready to see it,


Instead of thinking about

the “will of God” being

some hard-to-reach, difficult burden to bear that requires the absolute nullifying of any of your dreams and goals, think

again.

reclaim it and honour it. God is ready to give it back to you in “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over”.

It also doesn’t mean you have to leave your day job to find the new you. It just means you want to start looking at things in a new way. If that new way leads to certain shifts, they will all fall into place with little effort at all.

So here are some of the things you can do to “prove” the “wish” of the Father for you in this season by faith:• SEE and ENVISION how you want your life

to unfold and write down what you SEE without judging or prejudging it…let it just flow…you can eliminate the “fluff-stuff” later on.

• LOOK for the best possible choices you can make for who you are and where you want to be at this season of your life.

• TRUST in God and in your VISION that you get from dreaming under His big blue sky (You are under an OPEN heaven not a closed one).

• Create a SIMPLE STEP-BY-STEP “plan” once you have spent time meditating under that big blue sky and found your true North.

• Remain totally responsible for everything you think, say, do, and feel, and manage your life one step at a time

• Network with others and with the necessary resources that are available to you that will provide the enrichment, empowerment, and encouragement you need to arrive at your intended future.

• Decide to become a life-long learner.

• Get out “on the living edge” of adventure and make your journey your grand adventure. !

Mark J. Chironna, MA, PhD

!


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