day 1368: Any Other Day?

"On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again."

It's just an any other ordinary day.  Well, it is and it isn't.  We each are waking up and getting ready to go about today's business and responsibilities.  Among all of us there are those who are happy and excited about something that will happen today.  There are others who are anxious, frightened, sorrowful and pained about what the day holds.  We mark the days by these events and then we move on. For me, today is my birthday and all day long I will receive good wishes from friends and family.  These will come by phone, text, postal mail, and of course Facebook. And tomorrow, yesterday will have been my birthday and that special feeling will have passed. How might we figure out how to make our customers and consumers feel something special each and every day? Is there something we can provide to them that gives them an extra boost of energy, encouragement, optimism, hope, service or excitement? 

In our faith we celebrate special days as a part of having milestone for our spiritual growth and development. This past weekend as the celebration of Easter, I always think of as the first day of my spiritual year.  Within  Easter I am filled with all that Christ represents and promises for us. That begs the question of how can we make every day, our own special day with Him?  We move through the workday and before we know it, the day and the week is gone.  Every now and then it is good to check our milestone days to be sure that we are making the most of what God has given us and that no day is just an ordinary one for the Kingdom.

Reference:  Zephaniah 3:20 (New Living Translation)

day 1364: Rising Up

"He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying."

The markets are in a bit of a tizzy because the tech stocks that rose so quickly last year are now falling. What goes up, must come down, correct?  It's hard from the inside to watch these stocks fall., but I know from experience what it means to watch the fall from within and have to manage against the pressures of, "Do something about it, now!"  Here is what we can all remember.  What does go up, does come down.  Maybe not all the way down, but everything adjusts and then can recover.  Business cycles are not elevator shafts that only have two directions. Business cycles are roller coasters that chug up the hill and then give us a thrill of speed as it goes up and down and twists and turns. And, if managed and powered correctly, they come back up the hill once again.  Few things can rise up and stay!

You know where this post is going don't you?  Nothing in our life rises and then stays, except for what we celebrated yesterday on Easter.  We are conditioned in life for everything to rise and then keep rising.  When it doesn't we get depressed, frustrated, angry, or lost.  That's the wrong take.  The right take is that we can give all those areas in our lives that fall, to God and He will pick them up and keep them with Him as He continues to rise. What are the areas at work that we just need to hand over to God because the more we hang on to them the more we are being dragged further down?

Reference:  Matthew 28:6 (New Living Translation)

day 1106: Adding Features

"Then Jesus told him, 'You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."

Our business is running well and it is time to add on new services, or line extensions to our products, or as we say in software companies, "It's time to add on features". The decision to add or expand is a hard one, or at least it should be. The thought to add should be as disciplined and diligent as when we first started with our core offerings. For some reason we don't always take this decision as seriously and we can find that before we know it we have started something that isn't profitable of even worse, takes away from our core focus. Before we add, think hard about what the outcome will and can be.

We have just celebrated our most holy of days. Without Easter there would be no eternal life. Many Christians around the world have also just completed 40 days of Lent, having given up and denied themselves of something in remembrance of what God gave up for us. But, what do we do for the 40 days after Easter?  Nothing formal, but yet Jesus actually modeled for us that we should be committed about being additive in the 40 days post Easter.  He did this by coming back and making Himself present physically to his disciples for those 40 days before ascending back to Heaven.  As we move out of Easter, let's ask ourselves what it is that we are adding to the Kingdom and to our own spiritual growth?  Can we find something that expands the Kingdom and brings more glory to God? Can we be present to those around us and allow them to see the likeness of Christ in us?  Think about it!

Reference: John 20:29 (New Living Testament)

day 1104: Finishing

"I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave me to do."

I have found in work that the two times that take the most time and that we spend an inordinate amount of time on, is trying to get things started and trying to get things finished. Both are so important and both have huge amounts of friction points that want to keep starting and finishing from happening.  I admire starters.  These are people who take initiative and are not fearful of their ideas and efforts being ridiculed.  But, I admire finishers even more. Maybe it is the distance runner in me but really everyone can get to the starting line with the least amount of commitment and effort. But, to get through the starting line and to the finish, well, that is a different story all together. How many ideas have we seen get started and never finished?  More than any of us would want to count or admit. I learned early in my naive and over-zealous days that an idea that is started and never finished was probably better left not ever started. Think about and decide what we are going to finish, before we ever start, and we will all be better business people and serve our companies well.

Jesus said to God His Father that the glory He brought to God was through the completion of the work He was assigned to do.  Jesus shows us the power of finishing.  In his last words on the cross, he declared the finish line.  From His sacrifice for each of us, how can we not finish what is given to us and finish well?  God wants us to bring Him glory with what we have been given.  He expects completion. He expects for us to be there at the finish line.  When we think we can't make it, rest in His assurance that the finish matters and that He wants to take us there. In the middle of this Easter week, let's remember and consider that God finished well for us so that we could start a new life with Him.

Reference: John 17:4 (New Living Translation)

day 1103: Cause Marketing

"Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Cause Marketing is a bit of a buzz word these days.  We don't have to look far to see major brands who have associated their companies and products to causes that are good and serve the world well. They work, that is why they do this. People are moved by causes that they feel like must be fixed or corrected and when it becomes personal to them, they have a positive reaction to the brands that are also doing their part to assist.  We shouldn't do cause marketing unless we truly believe in that cause, but if there is a belief and energy inside the company to make a difference, then don't hold back.  The world needs more of us who can make a difference and give of ourselves, so if you have the influence then use that influence to the greatest multiplier. Your consumers and customers will appreciate the associations and you will be doing good and well!

We are only a few days from Easter and we can only imagine in our minds what this week was like for Jesus.  He knew that the end was nearing and each day the pressure was mounting around Him. There has never been a more impacting event on this earth and both heaven and hell had to be watching to see how all would unfold. What we know is that Jesus told Pilate that He was born for this cause, for this reason, for this event.  If we knew for what moment we were born as our cause, what would we do with that knowledge?  I suspect most of us would spend our lives trying to change the outcome or become paralyzed with fear from the destiny that would be approaching. Jesus did neither.  He carried through and carried the cross for each of us. As we go from today to Easter, let's do so with a heart of openness as we live through the example of sacrifice and the life-giving  that our Lord died to give us as His cause.  May we each make Him today and forever our cause!

Reference: John 18:37 (New Living Translation)