What you put into your mind is exactly what you are going to get out of your habits, actions, and words.  If you practice talking bad about people behind their backs it will show in the way you treat people.  If you practice being kind even to people who don’t have what you have, it will show in the way you treat people.

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When your worried, how do you think?  Do you focus intently on the thing you’re worrying about or do you focus on something else?  You focus on the thing you’re worried about.  You put every ounce of hand wringing effort into thinking about that one thing.  Why not use the same effort to think about good things, positive things, things that will change your life or the life of someone else.  I know bad things happen and they worry us.  Cancer, disease, bills all worry us. What I am saying is use the same effort you would worrying, when you’re not worrying, to think like a leader.

So how do leaders think?

Leaders think about the future.  They think about what God has planned for them and their organization 1, 5, or 10 years down the road.  They envision the changes that will have to take place in them and their people before the changes happen.  They dream about what’s to come and they let God change them through the process.

Leaders think about their people.  They want to know who is in the right position and who isn’t, because they understand people need to be good at what they do.  They want to know who is growing, and how they can help everyone grow.

Leaders think about their families.  I have never known a great leader who didn’t love his or her family.  If you are going to be a leader in the church especially you must lead your family first (1Timoty 3).

Leaders think about their legacy.  Who are you building up to become a better leader than you are? We all want to be remembered, and the best way to do that is by investing in someone else.  Find people who want to grow and invest in them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way,

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

 

If you’re looking for books to help your thinking here are some good ones

• Think on These Things By John C Maxwell
• The Power of Positive Thinking By Dr Norman Vincent Peale
• As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (Free)
• The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

When I quote the title for Rick Pitino’s book, Success Is a Choice I can get anything from agreement to heated debate.  In our culture today mediocrity is the norm.  We are told every day by the news that we don’t have to strive for anything better because it is not our fault we are in the condition we are in.  It is the democrats, republicans, Christians, gays, big government, stock market, boss, virus, coworker, spouse, police, lawyers, credit card companies, Wall Street, Wal-Mart, guy next door, public schools, home schoolers, psychiatrist… You get my point?  It is OK to blame anyone we choose; except ourselves.  You make a choice to settle for mediocrity.  Yes I understand there are circumstances like complete handicaps, but if you think about it most handicap people strive for success more than non-handicap people.  The Paralympics, and the Special Olympics are a testament to the success of the handicap community.  They refuse to settle for mediocrity.  They could use their handicap and say, “I can’t because I’m not able”, but they don’t.  Do you?  Do you say, “I Can’t?”  do you make excuses for not giving it your all each and every day?  Stop making excuses and start doing what you sere called to do.  If you can hear, use your hands, and read just a little, you can succeed in your own way.

Make new friends.  “But I like my friends.”  Are your friends encourages, do they build you up, do they dream about success with you?  If they don’t then you need to get around people who do.  Find people who are doing what you want to do then start hanging out with them to find out how they do it.  If your current friends are always pessimistic then you need to get around positive people.  If everyone you know are negative then buy some books and cd’s of positive people.  Burn the cd’s into mp3′s and carry them around on a mp3 player.  Listen to positive talk as much as you can.  This will begin to penetrate your thoughts, and soon you will begin to see a difference. three great resources are:The Power Of Positive Thinking The, The Magic of Thinking Big, and Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders. Fill your mind with the positive images in these three resources and you will see a difference in your attitude and how you think about your world.

Take time to think.  “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, your right,” Henry Ford. Think about what you loved to do as a child, think about what you would do if money were no object, think about what you look forward to retirement to do.  These things will give you insight to your calling in life.  I believe every person was created for a reason.  My wife knew from the time she was eight years old what she wanted to be and spent every waking hour thinking about that and did everything required to accomplish that goal.

Don’t get hung up on money.  You don’t have to be rich to be successful.  What you have to do is what you were designed to do.  When you do this all the money you need will come.