Heads-up = my friend Jennifer Davis (editor of The Alabama Baptist AND executive director of the TAB Media Group) recently hosted me on her podcast. I asked her if I could cross-post to my platforms, and she agreed…

So, here’s a 1-2-3 punch on Healthy Church,” a new project I helped my Dad reboot and release.

💙

________________

Jesus referenced two “greats” during His time on earth…

⭐️ The great commandment = “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” (see Matthew 22:36-40), AND

⭐️ The great commission = “go into all the world and make disciples…” (see Matthew 28:18-20).

🤷‍♂️

It seems odd (to me) that that greatest commandment demands that people “love God”— so let’s reframe it…

… it looks like (just my perspective) that one (the commission) flows FROM the other…

… as an overflow of our “love connection” with God.

💥

But how do you inspire love?

And how do you “create” a feeling?

🤷‍♂️

In this episode we discuss these two “greats” and their relationship to each other, as well as explore how to stoke the fire and fan the flame of both.

We also dialogue about looking at the world around us from a new perspective— from a vantage point of long-term love, of working grace through the culture like yeast moving through dough (Matthew 13:33-37), and of viewing everything from the standpoint of redeemed-and-yet-to-be-redeemed as opposed to just sacred or secular (see Acts 3:20-21).

_________________

Relevant links

📻 Access the FREE 2-4-6 framework / audio course = https://www.lifelift.online/246

📺 Purchase the Healthy Church mini course = https://www.lifelift.online/HCMC

⚙️ Grab the Healthy Systems mini course = https://www.lifelift.online/HSMC

⭐️ See all resources = https://www.lifelift.online/store

Upcoming events + training opportunities on this resource

✅ Events for church + ministry leaders via LifeLift Ministries = www.LifeLift.online/events

Links to TAB Media Group / The Alabama Baptist

⭐️ Catch-all home page = https://tabmedia.group

📺 YouTube for TAB = https://www.youtube.com/@TABMediaGroup

In episode #24, I talked about “doing the daily work.” I also offered the example of Rob’s house flipping course AND his goal of making $1MM per year through a new venture.

💰

In that episode we discussed the importance of the lag measures AND the lead measures….

📐 LEAD measures = the daily work you do, the actions you must track…

(B/c the habits lead to the harvest— not the other way around.)

⏱️ LAG measures = the results of the work you do. If the lead measures are the CAUSES, these are the CONSEQUENCES of showing up…

⭐️

Rob shares part of his story here (the rest of it… is in his book— see the links below).

He talks about—

1️⃣ PERSPECTIVE— seeing things from a new point-of-view.

Face it: we ALWAYS have a specific vantage point, and that clouds everything.

2️⃣PROCESS— what we do in light of what we know…

⚙️

By the way…

A good system is simply a bridge that moves things from where they are to where you want them to be… with predictability.

_________________

Links referenced

Access the GY6 book = www.GY6.online/AC

Free download of the Advance Planner = https://www.jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

The Advance Planner (hardback, Advance on-demand course, and other Advance Planner-related resources— all on this page) = https://www.jenkins.tv/planners

One-to-one personal coaching = https://www.jenkins.tv/PC

Rob’s resources, mentioned in this talk =

His book, The Long Way (Still Gets You There) = https://www.riseuponline.info/TLW

His mini-course for house flipping = https://www.riseuponline.info/offers/joTvbzT3/checkout

Rob's next live training = www.RiseUpOnline.info/live

The Maximum Allowable Offer explained = https://www.riseuponline.info/MAX

Upcoming events

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

My friend Rob is the co-owner of EXIT Realty Birmingham….

… and he’s flipped over 300 houses over the past decade PLUS been part of 1,000+ successful real estate transactions (he only lost money on two of them).

But things weren’t always like that…

😱

When I met him he was just then—

‼️ overcoming a drug addiction

‼️ had been homeless, living in the Target parking lot

‼️ been in and out of jail— changing cells more than you probably change your shoes

🧐

I met him when he “searched me out” and “stalked me” (in the best way possible). He was at a Christian business-leaders’ luncheon (his dad dragged him to it) when he met a pastor who mentored me who suggested he give me a call after he suggested that— since he was clean— he would like to “give back” and help others find their path forward.

That led to volunteering…

… which led to a staff position…

… and a friendship…

… and more connection and projects later.

✅

What’s the point…?

Listen in…

_________________

Links referenced

Access the GY6 book = www.GY6.online/AC

Free download of the Advance Planner = https://www.jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

The Advance Planner (hardback, Advance on-demand course, and other Advance Planner-related resources— all on this page) = https://www.jenkins.tv/planners

One-to-one personal coaching = https://www.jenkins.tv/PC

Rob’s resources, mentioned in this talk =

His book, The Long Way (Still Gets You There) = https://www.riseuponline.info/TLW

His mini-course for house flipping = https://www.riseuponline.info/offers/joTvbzT3/checkout

Rob's next live training = www.RiseUpOnline.info/live

Upcoming events

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

One of the biggest reasons that “dreams don’t get done” is because we fail to attach the dreams to tangible actions.

💡 We look at the IDEA only rather than the IMPLEMENTATION

🧐 We leave it in our HEADS rather than moving it to our HANDS

💭 We remain DREAMERS instead of DOERS

Let’s review the 3-step process we’ve been discussing:

1️⃣ STEP 1 = DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO GO…

2️⃣ STEP 2 = DEFINE WHRE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW

Which leads us to…

3️⃣ STEP 3 = DO THE DAILY WORK

You must get practical and proactive about making progress…

🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌

You just focus on LEAD measures instead of LAG measures.

It’s easy to confuse LAG measure with LEAD measures.

Or, to say it another way, it’s easy to confuse the “outcome” with the elements that create the outcomes— the causes with the consequences.

🌳

Yes, a lot of it comes down to your schedule (which is why, as we discussed in step 1, you must recognize that every area of life is interconnected and impacts the others— so we need alignment).

Your schedule is like a checkbook for your time, energy, and focus…

Look at it, and you can tell what kind of LAG measures (read: outcomes) you’ll experience.

🤷‍♂️

John Maxwell said, “A lot of people have uphill dreams but match them to downhill habits.”

📈

And, “People don’t follow through on RENTED dreams— only dreams they OWN.”

Think about it: who washes and changes the oil and rotates the tires in a rental car?

🚗

Progress is often slow— even imperceptible from day-to-day.

In the same way that plants have a definite CULTIVATION time between sowing and reaping, so also do our dreams.

🌳

And the time of reaping is different depending on numerous factors— just as is the case with plants.

Furthermore, in the same way you can’t crack a seed, pull up a stem, or stretch a leaf in order to produce your plant, you can’t manufacture a move of God in your dreams.

A lot depends on that combo of PROVIDENCE and PATIENCE and PERSISTING…

(Which is one of the reasons we don’t want to procrastinate, yet recognize the patience persistence of it all.)

💜

Do the work.

Even though you can’t explain how a plant (or dream) manifests (see Mark 4:27), we DO KNOW that it “works.”

We’re told not to grow weary in doing good— because we will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9).

In fact, the authors of the New Testament prayed that we would prosper in EVERY AREA of life (see 3 John 2).

🔥

_________________

Resources related to Advance

Free download of the Advance Planner = https://www.jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

The Advance Planner (hardback, Advance on-demand course, and other Advance Planner-related resources— all on this page) = https://www.jenkins.tv/planners

The 21-day challenge, self-study / re-charge + re-boot + re-ignite your dreams = https://www.jenkins.tv/challenge

One-to-one personal coaching = https://www.jenkins.tv/PC

Rob’s resources, mentioned in this talk =

His book, The Long Way (Still Gets You There) = https://www.riseuponline.info/TLW

His mini-course for house flipping = https://www.riseuponline.info/offers/joTvbzT3/checkout

Upcoming events

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

Continuing from the previous talk about looking ahead and deciding where you want your life to go— in multiple areas (each of them important)….

… we come to step 2.

👇

STEP 2 = DEFINE WHRE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW

You must do this with radical clarity.

For instance…

💰If you plan to get out debt, you must know what you owe, you must know what you’re spending (the bigger issue in budget is often what’s going OUT and now what’s coming IN).

📕 If you propose to write a book you must know what stories and ideas and assets and recordings and other resources you’re starting with…

📈 If you’re projecting a fundraiser or an event, you need to know the date, the location, the lead team, the business plan, the “win” for the event, and more…

This is true with everything we do from losing weight to starting projects to building relationships.

But…

… we often avoid radical clarity, because we (wrongly) attach our identity to “where we are.” That is, we (wrongly) connect our identity to externals measurements.

💔

The truth…

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Where you are isn’t who you are.

Where you are isn’t where you must remain.

Where you are IS where you must begin.

🔥🔥🔥

So…

Go back to step #1 | DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO GO (in each area of life).

And,

DEFINE WHERE YOU ARE NOW— in each of those areas.

So you can,

DETERMINE THE STEPS REQUIRED— no matter how many or how few— to “reverse engineer your way back” from where you want to be to where you are now.

🛠️

In other words, reverse engineer your destination so you can build a bridge backwards that—

🏁 guarantees to take you there

🧠 gets your mind in gear

💜 grants you the gift of hope + expectation of better things to come

_________________

Resources related to Advance =

Free download of the Advance Planner = https://www.jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

The Advance Planner (hardback, Advance on-demand course, and other Advance Planner-related resources— all on this page) = https://www.jenkins.tv/planners

The 21-day challenge, self-study / re-charge + re-boot + re-ignite your dreams = https://www.jenkins.tv/challenge

One-to-one personal coaching = https://www.jenkins.tv/PC

Upcoming events

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

Sometimes we don’t make the progress in life that we’d like to make…

It might be that we hit unknown / unforeseen obstacles (or get sideswiped by trauma, trials, and tests).

It might be that we don’t actually sit down and make a plan. We don’t think about where we want life to go.

🧐

We can’t account for all of the unknown variables but we CAN consider what we do.

Here’s a three-step (overly simplified) roadmap forward.

🧭

STEP 1 = DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO GO…

Many people have never looked “downrange” and thought about where they want life to go. A lot of us find ourselves overwhelmed in the moment, cruising through each day in “reactive” mode, that we don’t step aside from living IN our life that we work ON our life.

Here’s part of the reason why…

💡

Many of us have never been taught to dream. We simply take life on its own terms, as it comes. If things don’t go well (or we don’t like it), we look for an alternative path. Other than that, we continue coasting.

🤔

In addition, we forget that we have MULTIPLE areas of life to consider…

These include:

🏠 Family

💰 Finances

👟 Fitness

🙏 Faith

⚙️ Factory (work, what we create)

🔗 Friends (deep connections)

Each of these areas are interconnected AND impact each other accordingly. What we do in one area affects all the others….

… so goals / dreams that are made in isolation rarely last long— they get (rightly) sucked into the stream of every other area of life.

In other words, ALIGNMENT is more important than extra effect and intense motivation.

So…

You must decide where you want to go…

… and you must recognize that multiple areas MUST be pulled together in order to make long-term movement.

The promise?

Psalm 37:4 = “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.”

When we align with His purposes for us— from deep reflection in the quiet space— we receive not just “ideas” but “revelation” that moves us forward.

And that leads us to step 2…

_________________

Resources related to Advance

Free download of the Advance Planner = https://www.jenkins.tv/FreePlannerPDF

The Advance Planner (hardback, Advance on-demand course, and other Advance Planner-related resources— all on this page) = https://www.jenkins.tv/planners

The 21-day challenge, self-study / re-charge + re-boot + re-ignite your dreams = https://www.jenkins.tv/challenge

One-to-one personal coaching = https://www.jenkins.tv/PC

Link to episode 5, where we discussed Advance = https://www.jenkins.tv/podcasts/podcast-version-2-0/episodes/2149079765

Upcoming events

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

🥊 Note: this talk is a continuation of the one-two punch we started about parenting in the previous episode 🥊

There are THREE phases of parenting…

And you’ve got to pivot your roles and goals at each milestone.

📈

Here’s why knowing the three phases is helpful…

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

1️⃣ If you know which stage you’re in, you know the “role” to play as you parent

2️⃣ If you know what you want them to look like as they enter the next step, you can reverse engineer those traits and instill them in your child, using the current stage to prep them for the next

It’s important to understand—

➡️ which phase you’re kid is in

➡️ the primary “role” you need to play as a parent

➡️ the importance of recognizing what’s coming next (so you can use the current phase to prepare them for the next)

WHILE ALSO

➡️ being fully present in that phase and enjoying the season you’re in (even though, admittedly, each season brings it’s unique set of challenges)

In this episode we get practical about the THIRD phase (first two = previous episode).

And then we tackle this reality…

👇

It seems like there’s never enough time to do the things that need to be done…

… much less “go deep” in all of this parenting stuff and make sure the most important things happen.

(Yes, it’s easy to feel like a failure as a parent.)

💔

So…

What if we could capture significant moments each day as part of the parenting journey?

What if we created “positive triggers” that just opened up strategic times of opportunity to focus on life-changing moments— big and small?

And what if we acknowledge that we aren’t running a sprint… or even a marathon… but one of those ultra-marathon, triathlon, extreme-race things that just goes on and on… so the best approach is just to make incremental change, by capturing some of the small moments?

💖💖💖

Randy discuses “the flow.” Parenting becomes easier when you tap into the every day grind and add a dose of grace to strategic moments…

🛌 Bed time

⏰ Morning routine

🚌 Car pool

🍔 Meal times

In addition, you’ll learn about the possibilities that—

🧭 Directional gatherings

🔥 Experiences

⭐️ Adventures

— can unlock for you and your family when dropped in small doses.

Here’s the takeaway, rather than depending on the BIG moments and overlooking the small, lean into the small / everyday and supplement with the “big.”

_________________

Next best steps from here…

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

Links to Randy’s website…

📺 The parenting mini course = www.BeRefreshed.org/MC

📳 Schedule a 25-minute “zoom-type” Discovery Call with Randy = www.BeRefreshed.org/DC

🔗 The grand parenting group (online) = https://www.berefreshed.org/GP

👉 1:1 coaching info with Randy = www.BeRefreshed.org/PC

About Randy’s podcast…

Note: Find Randy’s “Be Refreshed” podcast at https://www.berefreshed.org/podcasts/be-refreshed AND/OR your fav podcast provider.

Episodes which are great next steps from here =

✅ #8, about the “Three phases / three stages” of parenting = https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047725

✅ #12, about “Tools” for each of the three stages of parenting =
https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047730

✅ #13, about “The Flow” = https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047731

Parenting happens by design or default. And, honestly, it’s easier— though it seems more difficult— to do it with a plan.

But doing it with a plan requires a few things.

👇

I invited my friend Randy into the studio to discuss his approach to the “part art / part science” long-term process of parenting. He’s an expert, because he and his wife did it and ALMOST had an empty nest… and then found out they had another on the way.

They get a second chance to do the parenting thing all over again, implementing the adjustments we all look back and think about— “Oh, if I only knew then what I know now…”

🤷‍♂️

Parenting a toddler is different than parenting a teen. And that’s different than parenting a son or daughter who’s now a senior in college or just stepping into the full time workforce.

That seems obvious.

🤦‍♂️

But how do you know what each child needs at each stage of life?

And how can you not only know WHAT they need but also HOW to transfer that lesson, that bit of leadership to them?

🧐

Randy talks about the three phases of parenting….

🔴 0- 5 years, discipline = building a foundation

🟠 6-12 years, training = developing soft skills

🟢 13+, coaching = equipping them to make good, “life” decisions

We start breaking them down in this episode, as well as discuss why you need to manage the culture moreso than just manage the schedule and the agenda…

_________________

Next best steps from here…

📳 The GY6 LIVE! workshop = on the events page of the GY6 site = www.GY6.online/events

👟The “Be The One” 5K = signup to run, walk, volunteer, or just support the movement = www.BeTheOneToday.com

Links to Randy’s website…

📺 The parenting mini course = www.BeRefreshed.org/MC

📳 Schedule a 25-minute “zoom-type” Discovery Call with Randy = www.BeRefreshed.org/DC

🔗 The grand parenting group (online) = https://www.berefreshed.org/GP

👉 1:1 coaching info with Randy = www.BeRefreshed.org/PC

About Randy’s podcast…

Note: Find Randy’s “Be Refreshed” podcast at https://www.berefreshed.org/podcasts/be-refreshed AND/OR your fav podcast provider.

Episodes which are great next steps from here =

✅ #8, about the “Three phases / three stages” of parenting = https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047725

✅ #12, about “Tools” for each of the three stages of parenting =
https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047730

✅ #13, about “The Flow” = https://berefreshed.mykajabi.com/podcasts/be-refreshed/episodes/2149047731