'Loud and Clear' by Lauren Hill

This is another blog post by Lauren Hill, blogger of Champion Your Dreams. (She's a personal favorite blogger of mine.) You can see the post in its original format by clicking here.

Loud and Clear

Well my dear blog friends, for those of you faithfully dropping by here to see if I have gotten going on my intention to make things "loud and clear" here at FAITH FUEL, the answer is No, I am not yet at the point of broadcasting live or vlogging, but I haven't been silenced either. Sometimes when you're trying to break through into doing something new and you haven't completely succeeded, you can at least say you haven't stopped trying.

And you know why I'm trying to make a change in how I get my messages to you? Because certain people in my life are prodding me to do this and I have been resisting as though they were asking me to jump into a pool of alligators. I like writing down my thoughts and my struggles and my "lightbulb moments" of sudden illumination that I share with you all here; and I love speaking at Retreats and Conferences and Bible Studies. But to speak out into the blog world and try bringing you some words of encouragement in that manner- well, I would; I mean I'm not against doing that; but really, is that what I should be doing? (Can you hear the resistance?!)

My husband, Safety Bill, has been telling me that Change is in the Air. He says he can almost smell change coming, that it smells like something fresh and new. I don't smell anything. Well, other than Harry, who is in desperate need of a bath and total mowing- I mean, grooming. The only thing I sense is that I'm used to writing my thoughts and I'm used to posting them quietly. The only way you'd hear my posts is if you read them out loud. And now I've got a bit of prodding to change things, change the way I do things. Change the way I come across to you, how I come across to you.

But the key thing is that we do cross over- from resistance to cooperation, from fear to faith, from old ways of doing things to new ways of doing things. I don't even think you have to know exactly what you are doing when you start to make concrete changes in your life. Nobody would make changes if they waited till they were exactly sure of what they were doing!

I'm never exactly sure of what I'm doing- it's more like I'm sure of what- or Who- is motivating me to make the changes that I will eventually not be sure of. Does that make sense? I'm sure that God is behind the prodding for these changes. And actually, I'm sure God is behind not so much the changes themselves, but the willingness I need to have to make these adjustments and turning points.

God looks for bendable people. Flexible, bendable people are not willy nilly in their convictions- they're just open to how their convictions will be carried out. They know that when all is said and done, things just might look completely different than when they first started out on their new journey to Change.

Maybe you feel impressed to take a certain path, pursue a certain job, and you're just about to reach out and lay hold of it when- poof- it almost seems to evaporate. The offer is withdrawn; someone else gets the job. Maybe a serious relationship that you thought for sure was going to lead to a proposal of Happily Ever After is now a relationship crumbling into the dust. Maybe the Answer that you fasted and prayed for is now turning out to not exactly be the answer you were looking for. But, hold on! Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor. 13:12) Sometimes we only get part of the picture; sometimes we get a partial revelation of what God is doing but then we add to that partial our idea of what's happening. We need to get used to saying "I only know in part, but I can fully obey God." God is after our willingness to pursue Him and His will in all things. He knows we only see in part, but He's got the full picture. He will lead, and keep leading you, into the fullness of His will and His abundance.

Stumble about, if you have to- but at least stumble forward. Stumble into change. Thrash and flail about it, but do it anyway. That's what I'm doing. My techno-son is helping me make this transition with changes coming to my blog and website. My husband is prodding me. My friend Scott who has a ministry going through changes is encouraging me to get going. And most of all, God is calling me to enter into the Transition Time with gusto and excitement for the new things He has ahead. I don't really know what the changes I make now will lead to in the future. But I do know that my willingness to change- to move with God- will definitely keep me hearing Him calling me onward- and I will hear Him loud and clear.

What Are You Willing To Change by S. Anthony Iannario

The full title for this post is 'What Are You Willing to Change to be the Best Version of Yourself?' I read it on S. Anthony Iannario's The Sales Blog. If you would like to read the original blog post, click here. While this post is geared towards the skill of selling, the info can be applied to life in general. What changes are we making as we continue on our journey of change?

What Are You Willing to Change to be the Best Version of Yourself?

June 8, 2012 By S. Anthony Iannarino

What are you willing to change in order to achieve the results that you want? What would make you the very best version of yourself?

The results that you are producing right now, whether you are happy with them or not, are being produced by the actions that you are taking (or not taking). Those results are also the result of your beliefs. It isn’t enough to want different results or better results. To produce different and better results you have to make changes.

Are You Willing to Change What You Are Doing?

Certain actions lead to certain outcomes. If you want different outcomes, you have to take different actions.

If your pipeline of opportunities isn’t what you want it to be, then you have to change your prospecting. If your deals always end in you being challenged to justify your price then you need to change something about how you sell. You have to make changes.

As you’ve undoubtedly guessed, this isn’t only about sales. This is about making your life rock. If you unhappy with the level of energy you have at work, you have to make the changes to your lifestyle that will allow you to generate more energy.

What result are you getting now that isn’t what you want it to be? What do you need to change in order to get the outcome that you really want?

Are You Willing to Change What You Believe?

The actions you take are the result of your beliefs.

If you believe cold calling makes you to “salesy” or something less than consultative, then you will act in accordance with those beliefs. If you believe that your dream clients will only buy price, you will act in accordance with that belief, and you will work to sell price.

You get to choose what you believe. You can think about what you think about. Rationalizing poor results and justifying them with a poor belief system doesn’t produce better results. Rationalization is resistance to change, and resistance to change kills the possibility of better results.

You could believe that prospecting (in all its many forms) is one of your primary task in sales. That belief would support a different set of actions than some other beliefs. You could believe that your dream clients are willing to pay more where more value is created. That belief would support a very different set of actions than the belief that price is the only thing your dream clients value.

Your beliefs support your actions. They underlie the actions. To believe something and not act in accordance with that belief is the same as not believing it.

Are You Willing to Change Who You Are?

What you believe and the actions you take make you who you are. The actions you need to take to improve your results might not be inspiring. Most of the time it means hard work, dedication, and doing the quiet work that you alone can do. It’s the disciplined actions of making the calls, reading the books, hitting the gym.

What should inspire you is the question: “Who do you have to be to produce a better result?” Would the best version of yourself take the actions that you are taking now? Or would they take a very different set of actions to get the outcomes they need?

Would the best version of you rationalize their present results? Or would they own the responsibility for better results? What would the best version of you believe? How would the best version of you act in accord with those beliefs?