Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Matthew McConaughey is a big celebrity around these parts. He graduated about an hour from here and lives in Austin. He is known for three words: "Alright, Alright, Alright." He is also known for a demeanor and attitude that is laid back and positive.

However, in his new book "Greenlights," he reveals that there are some things that are non negotiable in his family. There are three things that are not alright. He was raised not to say three things, and he now is raising his three kids the same way.  While McConaughey may not be a man of the Word, these three decisions align very well with the Word of God!

- How important are words in your life of faith?

- If we use extreme language in our home, how will that affect our kids?

- What power does "I love you" have over "I hate you"?

- What power does "I can" over "I can't"?

- What power does the truth have over lies?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Tony Robbins once spoke of success in these terms:  success is not doing 5,000 things, it is doing the few right things 5,000 times. He is speaking of the power of daily habits over time. It reminds us that every decision you make is an investment in your future, IF you repeat those good decisions day after day.  There are no shortcuts to success. But it doesn't have to be momentous, expensive, grand gestures.  In fact, those represent doing a thing.  We can do better. We want to become someone better. This is found in a few daily choices, repeated five thousand times.

To help with this, here are the "5 R's" we discussed in the podcast, listed here in question form:

- Recognition - Have you identified who you want to become and what can get you there?

- Resolve - Are you emotionally invested in putting aside excuses and getting this change moving?

- Routine - What is a daily or weekly layout of actions that can incrementally move you to the person you want to become

- Repetition - Are you ready to see the power of compound interest? Don't let days pass without doing these simple things, making them habit.

- Repentance - You will suffer setbacks, we all do.  Are you ready to apologize to yourself, to God, to others, and then get up the next morning and get back to it?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

The Excel Still More podcast is heavily invested in self improvement. We want these episodes to help you be disciplined, make great decisions, and reap incredible benefit.  But let's be clear, none of this works if I am only concerned with myself and my growth.  A much more rewarding goal is to help others around you grow.  What if you could make changes that are designed to create an environment for change? As a result, not only do you grow, but you make it possible from every member of you family to grow with you?  

- How does the rising tide life all boats?

- Should you focus more on that tide or on your own boat?

- What happens when people invest in environments that are better for all?

- Why is focus on just myself a big miss when it comes to Christianity?

- How can you make change possible for your family, your church, your friends, along with yourself?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

The blame game only leads to loses.  Everyone wishes some things in their life was different. Maybe for you it is many things. And while it might be easy to blame others for the circumstances, and express how change can't happen because of things outside yourself... it won't help. In fact, that attitude will only hold you back.

Today I want you to meet the person responsible for your life. This person is powerful, especially when they are walking by faith in Christ and doing things that please God. This person is why you are where you are, and this person can march you to another place, a better place, if you seek it. 

- Who is to blame for the successes and failures in my life?

- Why is it so easy to cast blame onto others for our situation?

- What good does that do?

- How can we become more lucky? Blessed? Get the better bounces in life?

- Is it "Graduation Day" for you?  Is this the day you acknowledge what most will not?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Have you ever seen the YouTube videos titled: "The Floor is Lava"?  Or how about the new Netflix program of the same name? It's a pretty simple idea - get from one side of the room to the other... with no floor!  Instead of a floor to walk on, there is only water that looks like lava. Instead, there are obstacles to be utilized, to overcome, in order to get to the other side and receive the reward. Most don't make it, but those who do feel amazing about their accomplishment!

So it is with you and me. Life has many obstacles. And most people wish they weren't there. But are you ready to accept that sometimes there is no other option? There's no floor.  You have to tackle the obstacles to move forward.  

"I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, 'If only that hand't happened life would be so good.' Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path."  Janna Levin.

- Why are there troubles in the lives of God's own people?

- Would you prefer a life of no trouble, if it meant no growth?

- How do people get from one place to the other when there is no floor?

- What is the right attitude toward trials and temptations and problems?

- Are you ready to be the kind of person who invites challenges?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Gratitude is one of life's biggest difference makers. To be grateful is to be happy, content, and humble enough to express that to others. Gratitude isn't looking for me, it is thankful to others for what they have already done or who they are. Level 3 Gratitude is taking appreciation beyond words and into action and will literally change your life.

But not everyone has a thankful spirit. In fact, a majority of people, it seems, do not.  Is that you? I want to share three stories taught by Ralph Walker, a gospel preacher from Tampa, Florida.  These will make you think about how you show gratitude to others.

- What does it mean to be grateful?

- How often and in how many conversations do you say "thank you"?

- Why did six people take the candy and not say thank you?

- Why did seventeen people not pour out their hearts in gratefulness for being saved?

- And why did only one man, healed by Jesus, come back to thank Him and worship God?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Are you making the most of each and every day?  Maybe we should open with this question instead:  how would one go about making every day valuable?  What would each day have to include to say it was lived well?  Oooh, I've got one more question - what if you could live each day over again?  I wonder how many people would often do that.

The truth is, today is the day you have been given, to use to the best of your ability.  If you have a value system set and attend to it daily, then your life is a success and will lead to greater success. Let's talk about what that looks like and how you can excel day in and day out... it's about time

- What does it mean to make the most of each and every day?

- If you could live a day twice over would it make things better for you?

- What are the values in your life that deserve your attention each day?

- Are those values getting the attention they deserve?

- How can you make even Mondays excellent and use them as building tools?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Before man was created, the Godhead existed.  A friendship between three eternal beings, who shared in things, were there for one another, and knew all about the others. They were the first model for friendship.  Adam was created to be like them, so it comes as no surprise that he was not good alone.  God created a connection with another, and from there families were formed.  

God wants you to enjoy great friendships. It is not good for you to be alone.  But how do you get a friendship started.  And maybe more importantly, how do repair one that is broken down? There are three basic character traits that will help. I guarantee it. To the extent that you work on these, you will live with fuller and more rewarding relationships.

- Did God build man to be alone?

- Was God ever alone, even in eternity?

- Why did so many friendships and marriages fall apart?

- What are the three key character traits of great friendships?

- How can I apply them right now, today, with the people I love?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Everyone wants to be successful. Whether in business, relationships, or life, we want our work to pay off. Especially with regard to faith, we want to live for God and receive the great reward of heaven! But not many people make it, really not in any of these categories.  Far too often people start working, and get immediate results, but then... it gets hard. The experience the inevitable dip. Most people give up. But not those who find success. Not those who build great marriages. Not those who see heaven!  Let's talk about how to press on through the dip!

- What do we expect when we put out new effort?

- What is "the dip" and why does it interrupt our growth?

- How do successful people handle success better than most?

- Does Christ expect you to work "through the dip" in your faith?

- What are good reasons to quit something you have started?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Everyone knows about the Ripple Effect. But have you thought about it recently? Have you considered that this is actually a principle? I mean, the impact of actions on others is ongoing. It is a reality of your life, whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not. So we might as well make sure we own this reality. The things we say and do matter. They matter in the moment. And they continue to matter in the moments that follow and among people far beyond yourself. 

And while everyone knows this, there is something else known by far fewer people.  God is acting. God's will is carried out from the choices we make. The spiritual world and battles and souls, all influenced by what we choose to do and say and become. Let's look at the example of David and Goliath, where a rock struck a forehead, and the world changed. 

- What is "the ripple effect?"

- Is the ripple effect occasional or ongoing?

- How far does your influence extend in terms of relationships?

- More crucially, what is God doing with your decisions in the spiritual realm?

- How can David's victory over Goliath help us think more about our ripple effect?