Who Hit Me Who Hit Me

This is the last of my revelations for one day. This one is a doosy.
So I'm standing in this prayer meeting and I'm praying about prosperity and all that Christiany stuff. You know, pleading the blood, all things are possible. All the stuff that we GOOD christians are supposed to be praying. I turned to a passage in my Thinline Bible, Deuteronomy 28. Ah, I love this section, it speaks all about the blessings  of God. I love to read it when I am really battling. And to tell you the truth I've been battling alot these last few months. My finances are a wreck, for a rich guy, and my body is a wreck, for a divinely whole chap.
So, as I'm reading and prophecying (that means speaking encouraging words ) about the blessings that I just know God wants to lavious upon me, I get this total download from ON HIGH. I hear this voice that says, "Why do you keep praying this same prayer over and over again? You've already got this stuff." Whoa!!! What in the heck was that? What do you mean, "Why do I keep praying these prayers?" I've always been taught to claim the promises of God and that by doing so you are walking in your inheritance because you are proclaiming it out loud.
Once again I hear this voice that said. "Yeah, and you do proclaim my goodness but I've already provided it for you. Now stop proclaiming and check out what is preventing you from claiming your inheritance!!!" Outstanding, I had to chew on that one for a bit. You mean to tell me that there is something that is hindering my inheritance for me and my family? I get it now. It's like someone holding out a juicy ripe fruit in front of you and telling you that here it is yours just take it and between you and the fruit there is a goat that is determined that you aint getting that delicious fruit.
I've been missing the boat on this one. Instead of claiming the fruit, I should be battling the goat. Instead of continually only looking at the prize. I need to watchout for the horns that keep stabbing me in the stomach and punching me in the solar plexes. Paul, the apostle said that he kept his eye on the prize yes but he also said to be weary of an evil force that was lurking around waiting to get those who weren't aware that he was truly there.
My prayer changed. I stopped praying for prosperity and started binding and loosing. I stopped worryin about getting more and started to focus on defeating those arrows that have been ravishing my body and my family. No longer am I on the defense but now I am on the offense. I'm off of the give me more God kick and on the put me in the game coach, I want to kick some butt.
You can't go around life waiting for things to happen. Even in a spiritual sense. You aren't command to wait on the Lord like stand still and wait. You are commanded to be ever looking for His direction. That is active waiting. When you are actively waiting you are moving forward, as a door opens up you move through it. When another door opens up, you move through it. All the while you are taking land. You are acquiring property.

Coins Precious Coins

I'm on this lost pennies/coins kick recently but I think that it has alot to say about the condition of man and how we view each other. Like I said in an earlier posting, there are many people who are out there for whatever reason. They could have been a mass murderer or a pimp. White-collar criminal or a run of the mill hustler that got caught. The point is that they are all people. We are all just that people. The only difference between me and some guy who has spent 20+ years in SingSing is that He got caught and I didn't. Crazy revelation huh?
Well why is it then that when we talk about doing something for the down and out that we bristle with indignation when we mention those people who got caught? I mean we believe that we have it so all together that we can sit up in our high and lofty chair and look down our boney noses at that guy who got caught and say that he aint good enough to be afforded the same grace that kept us out of stir? Crazy man.
Recently we were trying to decide how we were all going to invite people to a certain production. It was really heady. The suggestions started flying all around the room. People were really buying into the whole thing. These are the kind of meetings that you all want to be a part of. How can we get this many and how can we attract those. It was really cool. Then came the 800lb gorilla into the room. How about inviting a butt load of convicts? They've served their time and it would be cool to invite them too.
You could almost feel the tension begin to rise in the room. The excitement turned from fantastic to spastic. Now I'm not saying that there was a full-scale mutiny but there wasn't a sense of the ahah that there should have been.
Here's the revelation.
When people, no matter what they have done are plucked out of the destiny that evil wants to lock them into, then we have just seen a miracle. Put another way. People weren't meant for failure, they were meant for victory. When we can pluck someone out of failure and put them on track for victory, we should be jumping up and down.
I hope you are getting this. I get the biggest rush when I see someone who is definitely going down, get their mojo together and start moving in the other direction. It tells me that there is hope for everyother son of a gun out there. I've seen ex-cons and prostitutes do some amazing things in my time. They have made a decision to stop taking what life is giving them and started fighting for what they are supposed to be having.
That is some serious mojo my brotha. That is what life is all about. It is about you taking life by the horns and going for the gusto. Cliche maybe but appropriate.

Lost Pennies

I was in a prayer meeting recently when I had this awesome revelation. Many people fall away from the organizations that they have been a part of for many years for many different reasons. It could be social, or economic reasons, whatever the reason, it happens. I found myself in this same place.
I have been going through some physical and emotional things recently and maybe you can relate to them. You can put up a strong face for a long time. In my case it was for several months. There was a time when I was making a generous salary. More than generous. I was living a lifestyle that many would say is lavious. I'm not saying that I was eating caviar or steak tartar every weekend but I was flying and buying with no care in the world that this lifestyle would ever end, at least not soon.
Then the walls came crushing in all around me. It all happened so suddenly that I couldn't appreciate the gravity of it all until many months later. I had been hit by a trifecta of money, body and children. The dreaded three things that can drive a man over the edge.
Without going into too much detail, my finances went from hero to zero in a matter of a few months. Physically, I was a mess. I had to have minor shoulder surgery which would drain the life out of me because I'm used to being physical and strong. Then it was the anguish of having a child that became the proverbial prodigal child. This went on for months and months.
Little by little the finances became more and more of a struggle. I owned property and a retirement but was unable to get at either one of those. I said to myself,"Well I must be the richest poor guy in the neighborhood." Haha. I was just fooling myself. Iwas living on borrowed time and I knew it better than anyone else that it was just a matter of time until the bottom dropped out of this puppy.
Little did I know but I was staying home more often. I wasn't making the phone calls or going to the meetings as often. I even stopped going in to the office. I started working more and more out of my Home office. I rationalized that I was saving money and since my bank account was as thin as Twiggy back in the 60's, it made sense. But the walls of depression were closing in all around me. I just couldn't get out of the funk.
Then one day I woke up and listened to that still small voice that said to get up out of bed and go to the prayer meeting that I hadn't been to in several weeks. I immediately got up and put on my jeans and raced out of the house. I saw the sun rising and the cars bussling to and fro. It was an amazing feeling. I felt alive again. Just by going out of the house I felt alive again.
Here's the revelatory part. As I stood in the meeting, only one person said to me that they had noticed I hadn't been there. He said that he had been praying for me and that I just showed up and made his day. This was the revelation. Many people don't listen to that still small voice that says, "Get back into the game". They continue to wallow outside and many never make it back. I am the lucky one. I teach this stuff all the time and still have reserves of faith and hope that reside inside of me just waiting for moments like these. Many people aren't as fortunate. For those, who will call them? Who will be the one to help them back? I can tell you, it wasn't easy for me to get up out of that bed but I did. By God's grace I did. And the most crushing thing about this whole thing, no one else even missed me. They acted as though I had been there all the time.

Take It From Me

Life can throw you for a loop or you can take life by the horns and make of it what you want it to be. For instance there is a couple I know. They fell in love but shortly after living together the marriage fell apart. I mean it fell hard. The kind of breakup that is only written about in movies. It got so bad that when he came home to see if there was anything to salvage from the marriage she had left him without even so much as a pair of underwear. Now that is bad.
These two could have had a wonderful life together but they decided that it just wasn't worth the struggle to make it work. Marriage for them just wasn't that important. Many people look at their walks with God or their businesses the same way. They feel that the struggle to keep it all together just aint what they are willing to go through.
Whatever your situation today might be, purpose in your heart that you will do all that you can to get to the next level. Whether it be with a spouse, your children or for that matter your business. You have to make it abundantly clear that you are not going to give in or give up to the temptation of throwing in the towel.
You can quit anytime, so why not just decide to give up next week or next year. Every time that you delay that temptation to give up one more day later you give your psychi a bit more time to toughen up and recharge your batteries. We all need a breather from the constant barrage of negativity and complaining. Mostly from our own mind we send these signals. This silencing of the voices of doubt in our own heads may be the only voice of reason that we hear. So today, just decide to STOP feeding yourself the negative self-talk of destruction.

Read a book, or listen to a motivational tape that helps to uplift you. Read the bible in the psalms or ask someone you know that always has a positive word for you. Whatever you do don't give in. Don't give up and Take it from me, never, never surrender.

Leaders Lead All the Time

Sometimes it is hard to turn off the whole leadership thing. I mean whether I go to family gatherings, social outings or just to watch a show I find myself engaging in activities that I've taught people throughout the years that they should use in their pursuit of getting to the top. But when I teach people about Maxwells Law of
Attraction or the Law of the Lid, I don't mean for it to be a 24hr thing. Hopefully I was thinking, it would be something that they could use on a need only basis but if you are anything like me, you know that once your know the secrets of being a leader, it is impossible to turn them off.

Let's talk abit about some leadership principles that each of us must employ in order to get the job done. Whether you are trying to be the leader in a church or an industrial plant the principles and outcomes are the same. Even if you work in a field where the people are hard to work with, as I did when I worked in the construction field, principles are principles and can be adapted to make them work.

What is Leadership? Leadership is the ability to influence. It is the act of getting people to do what you want them to do for your mutual benefit. There have ben great leaders throughout history and we could spend the rest of time talking about them but each of them whether they were Patton or Jobs were able to influence people to get a job done.

Just because you have never been a formal leader today doesn't mean that you can't learn to be one. There have been 1000's of books written on the subject and countless number of people has gone to seminars and bought these books to develop the skill of being a leader. So don't believe it when someone tells you that you don't have what it takes. Everyone can learn to be a leader. I am convinced that only your desire and exposure to leadership principles and mentoring have kept you from becoming the leader which latentally lies within you.

If you find that your life isn't where you want it to be. If you haven't achieved some great successes in your life yet. When you walk into the room and things don't change as a result of you walking into the room, then maybe it's time for you to start looking at getting on a serious leadership training schedule. It isn't something that you  will learn overnight but it is something that you will develop.
Check out my leadership Development video and see if it doesn't make a difference in your business and life.

Take Charge Before It's Too Late

We all want to live happy, productive lives. Lives full of excitement or at least fullfilling in some way or another. The problem with most folks is that they don't know how to go about living that life. So what do they do? They go from job to job looking for the answer to their quest. Or they settle in a lifestyle that is at best frustrating or boring. You may know of people like that.They are the kind of person who makes fun of everyone who does something special in life. They are critical, sourpusses that most people really don't like being around. Then there's the person who is always depressed and makes it their lifes mission to take as many people as possible down that slippery slope of misery with them. You know the old saying. "Misery loves company"? Well that saying probably was coined to describe the person who isn't living up to their potential in life.

Well, I want to help you to not become a person like that. If you want to become a successful person in life, then there are some crucial things that you are going to have to do and not tomorrow but today. I can guarantee that if you just do half of these things that you are going to see a marked change in your life in a positive direction.

First of all is that you need to begin to take a real hard look at yourself and admit that you are in a rut in life. You know what a rut is don't you? It is a coffin with the ends kicked out of it. And if you don't change your life today you might as well consider yourself dead to everyone else.

Next, you must write down some goals on where you want to be tomorrow, 3 months from now and 5 years from today. If you can't visualize where you want to be, then how are you ever going to know what you are shooting for. A wise man said, " If you shoot for the stars and miss it is better than if you shoot for crap and hit it."

Next find a mentor that can help you get to where you want to go. Many of us are tempted to call upon our old friends. You know, the ones we've been wallowing in the muck of life for many years. But I am going to suggest that you seek out wise counsel from an industry leader or someone who you admire and is willing to teach you.

Finally, get up off the couch, from off the computer or the idiot box and get back into the game of life. This crucial that you start putting you plan into action. Without action you can have all the best ideas and hopes in the world and still fail. You have to put your plans and ideas into motion.

Hope this has helped. For a better description of these and other helpful hints be sure to subscribe to my blog. It is an invaluable part of your week. Just write to shermray@gmail.com and say sign me up.

Social Media Mashup

Thanks for checking out my periodic updates. Todays tip is a site called TweetDeck.com
This awesome application helps when you have more than one social media site that you have to keep track of at the same time. Check it out. You won't be able to take your eyes off of all the content that all ofyour friends are throwing at you.
For more info check me out on Facebook.com/shermanray

Who Am I

I was listening to a renowned author and speaker T Harv Eker, today and as I was listening to him I realized that, just like most of the people who call themselves, "GURU", they all speak truths that I have found in my most favored books. The Bible. Now before you turn off let's face some facts. These people, whether they be Tony Robbins or John Maxwell got their great truths from somewhere. They didn't all just come out of some vacuum. They were passed down the centuries from grandfather to son and down through daughter and mother to Anthony Robbins who now gives it to you and I. Well where did those truths ultimately come from? That's right.
Anyways, here is the great truth that Eker was alluding to. He said that when we look at a problem our final way of dealing with that problem is predicated on how we feel about ourselves. Put another way. We deal with things based upon how we feel about ourselves. If we look at ourselves as though we are small then we will deal with most situations badly because we feel that the situation is so big that little ole us couldn't possibly deal with it.
Eker submits that by growing the US that our problems will begin to get smaller in comparison. Sounds good doesn't it. And in most circles people can deal with that pretty effectively. We get more training, go to rah rah programs or get a LIFE COACH to tell us that we are okay but really are we dealing with the core problem?
In the book of Exodus we meet a man with the same sort of problem His name was Moses. He was a military man who lived in the halls of Pharoahs palace. He commanded the armies and then the construction of vast kingdoms for his adoptive family but when he found himself in the wilderness of the Sinai desert he faced his biggest fears. He stood face to face with God and it was at that point that he had to either put up or shut up and let go and let God.
God told Moses that he had a plan for him and that this entailed going up against his once secure loving family the Egyptians and convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go. Crazy, in the natural yes , but not in the eyes of He who was sending him.
For sake of time and space. We all face those giants in our lives. Whether it be business, family or whatever we all face them. The issue isn't whether you will face them it is HOW you will face them. Will you be like Moses and make excuses on how we can't do things or are we going to just be goofy enough to believe that this inspiration we were given is of God and that if it is, that He will provide a way to accomplish it.
In Moses' case God said that He would provide proofs all along the way to reassure Moses that he wasn't accomplishing anything but that he was mearly a tool. We find this same sort of thing at play whenever we accomplish those big mergers or that chance meeting with the most important person in the company.
I recently added someone to my business and didn't even expect this person to show up. That's when you know it's a God thing.
So, get the training, attend the meetings, do the work but know who ultimately is getting the glory.

Growing is Good

Take it from me growing a new business is never an easy thing to do. There are papers to file, people to call, planes to catch to get advice from this guru and that expert. I can't tell you how hard it is to make that first call to tell your friends that you've just started your own thing. What will they say? Will they remember that you started a new thing just 4 weeks ago? Will they ask about that other New Thing that you started last year. It was supposed to be the REAL thing.
But you know in your heart of hearts that this time this is going to be the business that is going to make you uber rich. You will sit on top of the heap this time and all the naysayers will rue the day that they called you a flake or that you couldn't stick to one thing.
That's the hardest part about starting your own business. You spend half of your time trying to justify your dream to everyone who is the most important in your life. Your mom, dad and oh yea of course your best friend that you tried to get involved in your for sure business, all of them have to sign off on your life's dream.
The truth is none of those people really have to be able to signoff on YOUR dreams. They are your dreams and the sooner you realize that the better off you will be. YOU have to live the rest of YOUR life and no one else is going to be able to do that for you. So take some advice from somebody who has changed course more than a couple of times in life, STOP LETTING OTHERS LIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU