The Success Center

“Of course, God wants me to succeed!” you retort, but I want to challenge you on that. It’s not a question of if He wants you to succeed, but what He wants you to succeed at.

 

Think about that scripture for a second. If you’re a successful entrepreneur and you finally “make it,” have you really made anything at all? Sure, you’ve got a killer blog, marketing materials, clients lining up around the corner, and your profits have increased year over year, but are you really making a difference? I define success not by how many come through the door, but by how many I impact on the way out. God wants us to make an impact with our businesses not just money.

Your business should be the storefront of your soul offering people an array of products and services to meet their physical needs and connect spiritually. That’s why God impregnates us with the entrepreneurial spirit;  to give birth to wealth, provision, and a way to spiritually connect with others no matter where we are.

I want to share something with you that I believe will change your entrepreneurial life. If you want to make more money, get more clients, make an impact, and not just make a paycheck, then here are 5 steps to succeeding in God’s way;

Trust Him

Once you’ve got that killer business idea dropped in your spirit you’ve got to make a decision and trust God to give you everything you need to succeed. You have to It’s making a clear decision in your mind that you’re going to give “God a try.” Did you know that Heaven roots for your success by the vary thought of you trusting God?

Have Faith

After you’ve made the decision it’s time to do something about it. Faith is one part belief and one part action toward the end result. The Bible also says that faith without works is dead. So, you can believe you’re successful all you want, but if you’re not working toward it then you might as well sit on the bench.

Follow the Blueprint

God gave us the greatest player in the game of business – Jesus and He left us his play book - the Bible. What greater tools could you possibly want in order to succeed with your business? Jesus lead with integrity, humbleness, and had incredible vision for his destiny. All we have to do is follow his example.

Use Your Gifts

You think you’re a good drawer by chance? I think not! God gave us all gifts to be blessed and to bless others. I wasn’t the best artist in the world, but I was decent enough to go to an art college. While I was there I met a guy that owned a design firm and he taught me the basics of graphic design. From our fateful meeting I started designing logos and even taught myself web design. Soon after I started my own graphic design company and the rest is history. Don’t over-look something you used to do well but don’t exercise anymore. It may be your ticket to success!

Do Your Part

That’s right, you’ve got work to do too!

• Pray – By staying in constant communication with God you’ll receive guidance, direction, and every answer you could possibly need!
• Fast – Sometimes you’ll have to starve your flesh in order to make your spirit more sensitive to hear from God. You can go on a Daniel Fast, total fast, or eat at specific times of the day. Doing so puts you in a state of spiritual awareness and makes you more productive.
• Give – A major key to being financially successful is your tithe and offering at your local church. It’s a Biblical principle and it works, trust me! By giving a tenth of your income God has to move on your behalf. What does that mean?
  It means, the doors of God’s provision, prosperity, and protection are open for your life and business. Do you realize how awesome that is?
  Let me break it down for you; A. Provision – you’ll have everything you need to succeed! B. Prosperity – you’ve got no choice but to succeed! C. Protection – nothing’s going to stop you when you succeed!

So, does God want you to succeed? Absolutely, but it’s gotta be in a meaningful way that will prosper someone else as well as yourself. Looking over the list above it may seem like God is asking a lot of you. But, is it to much to ask, for abundance of life, prosperity, and a sizable return on investment in life after death?

Let me hear from you. As a Christian entrepreneur are you succeeding like you should? Are you missing a step? Even if you’re not a Christian, I would love to hear what you think as well. Leave a comment or two below. For further reading, I found a great article at Got Questions.org that really gets to the core of How the Bible defines success.

Subscribe Today & Receive Free Updates in Your Inbox!

You Like Free Stuff Don’t You?

 

Enter your email address:

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company, Kirby Enterprises. Follow Rod on Twitter here.

Continue Reading

Watch this video and I promise to share something powerful with you after the jump!

Question: If God placed a dream in your heart and He promised it to you, does that mean that it will come to pass automatically? Survey says,

“Nope!” <add buzzer sound here>

The truth is, God will give us the tools we need to succeed, but we’re still obligated with working the dream and protecting it. “From what?” You ask. We have to protect it from the destruction of our circumstances, nay-sayers, debt, jealous family members, even our own disbelief. In short, anyone or anything that would come against you and your destiny.

Like a new mother you’re going to have to protect your baby from the harsh elements of the world. How do you protect your dream? Here’s a hint, control your senses and control your destiny!

1. Close your Eyes – You can’t dwell and meditate on the reports of the economy, crime, rampant disease, and other distractions that bombard your eyes on the evening news. Look past your current economic circumstances and peer into the future! Keep your focus on the dream and have the courage to continue pressing toward it. The clip above is from one of my most favorite movies, The Pursuit of Happyness which illustrates the amazing success story of Chris Gardner. If you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to have it in your DVD collection. Close your eyes to ill reports and watch something that will truly inspire you!

Final Thought: The things you see determines what you want, so if you see nothing but the economic recession then you want to participate in it. (Yes . . . you have a choice!)

2. Tune-out what you Hear – Have you ever been told that you couldn’t do something or “that’ll never work.”? In the clip above, Chris Gardner (Played by Will Smith) said to his son, “Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something . . . ” You have to have such a passion for your dream that you won’t allow people to tell you it won’t be successful. Your mind is a radio station playing all kinds of music. You’re the DJ, so it’s your job to keep the positive tunes pumping. One way of doing that is by reading books that will inspire, empower, and equip you for success. I highly recommend Chris Gardner’s new book,

Final Thought: The things you hear prompt your actions so make sure that you’re only listening to people who will give you good feedback, strengthen, and empower your ideas.

3. Watch what you Say – Did you know that the power of life and death are in the tongue? I believe that what we say forms the atmosphere around us. If you say, “My business will never take off because I just don’t have any funding,” then it won’t because you’ve created an atmosphere of failure. As an entrepreneur I have good months financially and I have not so good months, but I thank God in advance for them all. Why? I want to be set-up for success! It’s that simple.

Final Thought: The things you say affects your attitude which ultimately will determine if you’ll even take a step on the road to success. Watch over your words and make sure you’re always speaking life and never death for your dreams.

Let me hear from you! What dreams and aspirations do you have? Are you “working” them or letting the dreams sit on the back burner? Are you protecting your dreams? Login using your Facebook or Twitter accounts and sound off below!

This article was originally written for my “Success Tips!” newsletter subscribers, but I really wanted to share this with the entire community. Please subscribe to “Success Tips!” here if you don’t already. Also, if you receive my newsletter and this is your first time visiting the Success Center, subscribe and receive blog updates, news, and more!

Don’t forget to purchase your copies of my highly recommended books and DVDs below;

Subscribe Today & Receive Free Updates in Your Inbox!

You Like Free Stuff Don’t You?

 

Enter your email address:

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company, Kirby Enterprises. Follow Rod on Twitter here.

Continue Reading

I went to see my twin brother’s new movie (Denzel Washington), The Book of Eli this weekend. I was totally surprised to find a film that is deep and full of inspiration yet, dressed up in action movie clothing. Here’s the trailer for your viewing pleasure;

As the trailer suggests, it’s about a guy named Eli traveling west with a very special book in a post apocalyptic world. He encounters tons of bad guys and one main baddie played by (one of my most favorite actors) Gary Oldman who desperately wants Eli’s book. Baddies get beat-up, stuff blows up, and overall, it’s a great movie if you haven’t seen it yet.

That’s the general plot, I won’t spoil anything for you in this post that is major to it so read on with a sigh of relief.

With a message that’ll shake the core of your spirit and action that’ll make your brain ooze through your ears, the movie serves up 4 keys that will help you on your road to success.

God Never Said It Would Be Easy

Throughout the film, Eli is faced with serious opposition both external (tons of baddies) and internal (judgment calls and moral decisions).

It’s important to note that being successful at anything isn’t easy, even if God promised it to you. You will face opposition, temptation, and the comfort of an easier path. However, stay encouraged, if God promised you something (a multi-million dollar business, to impact the world, to cure a disease, whatever it may be) He’ll give you the tools to make it happen.

Even though, Eli’s path was over-run with bad guys, he had the tools to take care of them all. And boy oh boy did he take care of them!

Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

Faith is a big part of this movie because Eli knows he’s supposed to go west with an important book, but he doesn’t know exactly why. It takes a lot of faith to walk toward success without knowing what you’ll find when you get there even if the path you’re walking is a dangerous one.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb.11:1)

The substance of things hoped refers to making the decision to believe in something and the evidence of things not seen is believing it with all your heart. This is what it takes to be successful in any area of your life.

You have to know with all your heart that God is going to prosper your business even though you’re in debt. You have to lean on that hope and keep walking towards that reality.

Favor Comes from the Most Unlikely People

In the movie, Eli is accompanied by a young girl, played by Mila Kunis, who becomes his only ally. She doesn’t start out that way but eventually the two set out together to take the book out west.

On your road to success you will receive favor from the most unlikely people. People who were once your enemies, people who discouraged you, or people you never met before. God’s favor upon you will raise someone from somewhere to help you reach your destiny. It all boils down to if you’ll recognize it when it comes.

What’s Your Weapon?

Gary Oldman’s character (main baddie) growled at his henchmen, “It’s not just a book, it’s a weapon!”

For those times when the odds seem stacked against you and you’ve got baddies surrounding you, what will be your weapon of choice? For me, nothing is as powerful as the Word of God. It can strike back at the enemy closing in on any area of your life. It’s sharp enough to cut deep within your reality and flexible enough that you can hide it in your heart.

On your road to success you’ll have to determine your ultimate weapon. Trust me, the road will be littered with plenty of opportunities to use it.

So remember, the road to success isn’t easy, you’ve got to walk by faith and not by sight, recognize favor and maximize it when it comes, and finally, choose the weapon that can go down the darkest paths with you. Which one of these principles do you relate to the most? Where are you on your path to success? Share your thoughts below.

Update 1/22/2010: My good friend, Naomi Trower wrote a similar post except she tackled Eli from a social media perspective. I highly recommend reading her article, “3 Details The Book of Eli Can Teach You About Social Media”

Subscribe Today & Receive Free Updates in Your Inbox!

You Like Free Stuff Don’t You?

 

Enter your email address:

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company, Kirby Enterprises. Follow Rod on Twitter here.

Continue Reading

I came across this great video of author, speaker, and overall awesome human being, Deepak Chopra. In it he explains how he defines success and his role in the world [purpose and destiny]. He answers a simple question, what would he do if he had all the time and money in the world, brilliantly;

If I had all the time in the world and all the money in the world, what would I do? How would I express myself? And how would I use that expression of myself to serve the needs of the web of life of which I’m a part. And when I do that, I’ll end up with having all the time and money in the world.”

In short, if you ask yourself, “what would I do if I had all the time and money in the world,” do it, you’ll end up with all the time and money in the world. How awesome is that?

So, l want to ask you the same thing, what would YOU do with all the time and money in the world? What kind of businesses, projects, or organizations would you start? How would you spend that time and money? It’s Friday so go wild, go crazy, let your imagination run wild and leave your answer in the comments below!

Note: Embedding of the video was disabled by the user so I can’t add it to this post. However, you can find it here on my Youtube Channel. The Real Meaning of Success with Deepak Chopra – It’s really short, only a minute and a half long, but really inspiring.

Subscribe Today & Receive Free Updates in Your Inbox!

You Like Free Stuff Don’t You?

 

Enter your email address:

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company, Kirby Enterprises. Follow Rod on Twitter here.

Continue Reading

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good success story and no one’s story really amps me up more than this guy’s! P. Diddy aka. Sean “Puffy” Combs started out as a dancer, made big as a rapper, producer, and moved into media mogul territory. You don’t have to be a fan of his music, clothing, or perfume products to really grasp what kind of an impact he’s making on a daily basis. This video is 40 minutes long, but well worth the watch. Be inspired, empowered, and equipped for your own success by understanding his!

What can we learn from his achievements past and present? Sound off in the comments below.

Subscribe Today & Receive Free Updates in Your Inbox!

You Like Free Stuff Don’t You?

 

Enter your email address:

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and organizations take advantage of social media marketing and new media through his company, Kirby Enterprises. Follow Rod on Twitter here.

Continue Reading