Personal Growth – Page 5

May 17, 2015

A Key to Stronger Relationships

I’ve been studying the idea of vulnerability and how that plays out in our relationships. Brene Brown has some incredible insights on this tough topic. Much of this post is based on her research.

One of the things that keeps us from being vulnerable is shame. Shame thrives in secrecy, silence and judgement. However when we introduce empathy, shame cannot grow. So in order to be open and vulnerable we need to be around people that are great at empathizing and we need to learn how to be empathetic with others. Learning how to be empathetic is one of the most powerful ways to improve your relationships.

In order to be empathetic we need to be able to see the world as others see it. This is all about perspective, being able to take the perspective of another person and not our own. It’s being able to listen to someone and not interject our own experience but to really what to hear it from them. It’s not one upping the person by sharing what you did or how you messed up. It’s being able to realize that our lens of life and our experiences are different than others and being OK with that.

Empathy also requires that we are nonjudgmental. Most of us are judgmental and we are usually judgmental in areas where we are vulnerable to shame. We tend to judge people that are worse than we are so that we feel better about ourselves. We do that because we are looking for validation that at least I’m not as bad as so and so.

Empathy is not our default or natural mode, it’s a skill that must be worked on and developed in order for this to happen naturally. Empathy is usually very subtle, it can be just a knowing look or going to be with someone in a time of crisis instead of calling to express sympathy.

When we empathize with someone, we go to that dark place with them, we don’t flip on the lights and try to cheer them up and fix the problem or make light of the situation. It’s like walking up to your friend that is in a hole and going down into the hole with them, but knowing how to get back out of the hole because it’s not your hole. Sympathy is walking up to the hole and asking what happened. When they tell you, you express that your sorry to hear that, that’s a terrible thing. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. There is a big difference.

When we empathize with someone, we are creating a safe environment for people to be vulnerable. Being vulnerable is one of the most accurate measures of a persons courage. To be vulnerable takes bravery, because it is walking into uncertainty, it’s taking a risk and it’s exposing your emotions. It takes courage because the reality is you can get hurt when you do this with someone that is not able to empathize or keep things confidential.

However if you live in secrecy, and silence you might feel safe, but are most likely miserable. When we are vulnerable we are our true self. We are showing that we are imperfect, messed up, awkward and goofy. The greatest relationships are the ones where you can be all of that and the person loves you even more.

So if your looking to improve your relationships, first learn how to empathize better with the people around you. Work on those skills of listening and trying to understand their perspective. Don’t try to fix them or the situation, but let them know we can do this together. Then work at being vulnerable with the people in your life. Expose yourself emotionally by being honest about your struggles and your shame. When we do that there is incredible freedom and life when we push past our fear.

April 11, 2015

Good Enough

One of the questions that runs through our minds is; am I good enough? Am I good enough feeds our need to perform, please and pretend. Am I good enough pushes us to prove ourselves and show people that we matter. This can be very dangerous to our emotional and mental health. It also damages our spiritual lives.

We all grow up with dysfunction. There are certain values that you grew up observing and statements that were made to you that have affected your life. If you only got attention or approval if you did something good or achieved something then you will continue to think your only worthy if you perform and are productive.

When we experience conditional love it feeds this question of am I good enough?

The truth is in God’s eyes we are good enough. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. His love for us in truly unconditional. We are good enough. When we can step away from this question and say yes I am good enough our focus can be on the right things. We know we can improve, but that does not make us more worthy or valuable as human beings. Our worth is not found in our achievements, its found in our character.

Being good enough is the wrong question because it causes us to question our value and worth. We all have stories that are undesirable, painful and shameful or embarrassing. When we can walk into those stories and accept them as part of us, we can experience the power of our worthiness. Those stories don’t define us but we can use them for good. That’s what God does every day, brings good out of the bad. When we can love ourselves despite those stories and see our worth as a human being then we can love others and encourage others along the way.

God says that we are good enough just as we are, dysfunction and all. He loves us unconditionally and desires for us to grow and connect with Him every day. So stop asking yourself if your good enough, God created you and planned for you to be a part of this world at this particular time in history. You are enough simply because you are you.

March 26, 2015

15 Leadership Tips

I found this in my leadership files and wanted to share this. Not sure where I got it, but some great reminders for everyone that has influence and is leading other people.

15 Leadership Tips:

In other words, for people to embrace and follow compassionate, honest, ethical, peaceful, and fair principles, they must see these qualities demonstrated by their leadership.
A given type of leadership inevitably attracts the same type of followers. Put another way, a leadership cannot behave in any way that it asks its people not to.
Prior to expecting anyone to follow, a leader first needs to demonstrate a vision and values worthy of a following.
The suggestion that loyalty and a following can be built by simply asking or forcing people to be loyal is not any basis for effective leadership.
That is to say – loyalty to leadership relies on the leader having a connection with and understanding of people’s needs and wishes and possibilities. Solutions to leadership challenges do not lie in the leader’s needs and wishes. Leadership solutions lie in the needs and wishes of the followers.
It is not possible for a leader to understand and lead people when the leader’s head is high in the clouds or stuck firmly up his backside.
Incidentally, leading is helping people achieve a shared vision, not telling people what to do.
Leaders get lost because of isolation, delusion, arrogance, plain stupidity, etc., but above all because they become obsessed with imposing their authority, instead of truly leading.
Always, when leaders say that the people are not following, it’s the leaders who are lost, not the people.
People are a lot more clever than most leaders think.
People have a much keener sense of truth than most leaders think.
People quickly lose faith in a leader who behaves as if points 10 and 11 do not exist.
People generally have the answers which elude the leaders – they just have better things to do than help the leader to lead – like getting on with their own lives.
A leadership which screws up in a big way should come clean and admit their errors. People will generally forgive mistakes but they do not tolerate being treated like idiots by leaders.
And on the question of mistakes, a mistake is an opportunity to be better, and to show remorse and a lesson learned.

Lead On

January 19, 2015

Seven Servant Leadership Principles

The greatest leaders in history are the ones that had a mindset to serve others. There has been a lot written about servant leadership and many today try to practice being a servant leader. But just how practical is that in the real world. When you have to get things done, ship your product or close the sale, how can you serve?

It can be hard when the heat is on to be thinking about serving others. Yet if you want to be great you must learn the fine art of serving others as a leader. Here are just a few things I believe are important in having a servant leader mindset.

Keep Growing – If you want to serve the people you lead and the business or organization you work at, then grow. If you become a lid for the organization then you are not serving anyone well. To me this means that you are reading and studying your area of business. It means that you are talking to others that are doing it better than you and learning as much as possible about how to improve yourself as a leader and whatever product or service you offer. The bottom line is that servant leaders are constantly growing and changing and improving. The more you grow the more you can pour into the people around you.
Have a Vision – You have to know where you are going and be able to articulate that to your team on a regular basis. A servant leader is constantly reminding everyone about why we are doing what we are doing. Where we are heading and what the win is every day. Casting vision is vital to being a servant leader.
Think Strategically – A servant leader must be thinking ahead and planning. One of the best ways you can serve people is by being well prepared and by thinking of things that could wrong before they go wrong. This involves analyzing what is working well, what is not working well, what is missing and what is confusing. Going through that process with your team will help bring clarity to the work being done.
Collaborate – Servant leaders realize they don’t have all the answers, so they will involve the people around them in the decision making process. They will ask what other people think and be open to new ideas and suggestions. They allow other people that know more about the situation to make decisions and then back them up. Servant leaders are also very open about what is happening and what is coming, they don’t keep secrets from their team.
Empower People – This is one of the most powerful principles of servant leadership. It’s developing people and then allowing them to do their jobs. Servant leaders do not micro manage unless a person needs that extra attention. Empowering a person is trusting them to make decisions, without having to always check with you first. This can feel risky at times, but it builds your team and develops leaders. People learn from mistakes and it allows you to coach your team along the way.
Hold People Accountable – This is another important servant leadership principle. When you are leading someone it’s important to be clear about what the expectations are and what results you want. It needs to be in writing and you need to talk about it on a regular basis. Setting goals and objectives with your team and then asking for regular updates on the progress is a great way to serve your people. When someone is not hitting the goals or meeting expectations you serve them by having honest conversations with them and telling them the truth and coaching them on how to get back on track.
Care About Others – Finally the people you lead need to know that you actually care about them. That they are more than just an employee that is getting results. This means you have to get to know your team. Find out about their family and personal lives and ask them how they are doing. It means taking time to have conversations with them and carve out time to have fun together as a team. If your all business all the time you won’t connect with your team and your not serving them well. When you take time for people especially when they are going through a crisis it’s a game changer – People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Lead On

July 8, 2014

Balance

A Balanced Life

Are You Courting Burnout?

What do you do to keep your life balanced?

THREE STEPS TO BALANCE:

Get Organized around your purpose.

When you know your purpose it brings better focus to your life. It determines the patterns in your life and the disciplines you pursue. Finding your life purpose is a process that everyone should go through. It will take some time and effort but it’s worth the time and energy. A great place to start is to answer this question: What would I want my family, friends, co-workers and neighbors to say about me at my funeral? Not what would they say now, but what would you want them to say. Think about that and start writing down some things.

When we understand our purpose better, it helps to simplify our lives. It allows us to eliminate the things that distract us and say yes to the things that further that purpose. I my own life I’ve developed a purpose statement of Leading myself and others to grow in Faith, Character & Leadership. That statement drives what I do at work, at home and in my spare time. It’s what I write about in my posts, it’s what I talk about with the people around me.

Balance in life is possible if we practice life according to a single priority, and that single priority is our purpose.

Define the dimensions of your life.

FOUR DIMENSIONS IN LIFE

Intellectual – This includes all activities that stimulate our ability to think. It includes our work, what we read, what we research, what we study. Are we still learning and growing or are we stagnate and declining?
Physical – This includes how active we are, how much we exercise, the amount of rest we get and how we eat. Basically how well we take care of ourselves physically. Are we getting better or worse from a physical dimension?
Spiritual – This includes what we believe about God, about where we will spend forever, about the world around us, about why we are here and who put us here. This includes our prayer life, going to church, serving other people, how well we love others. Are we growing spiritually or declining spiritually?
Social – This is all about the relationships in our lives. Immediate and extended family, close friends and casual friends, people you work with and people that work for you, current neighbors and previous neighbors, people you know from church, clubs, sports teams, people you went to school with, teachers, mentors, coaches and even the stranger you just met. Are we developing and strengthening our relationships or are our relationships declining and dying?

Build Capacity.

Balance is achieved when we establish, build, and maintain capacity in each of the four dimensions of life. How much time and energy do we give to each of those areas of our lives? That will only happen if we are intentional about focusing on each of those areas of our lives.

Reflect and rate yourself on the four dimensions in your life:

Play …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Work

Intellectual

Couch Potato ………………………………………………………………………………………………..Cross Fit Freak

Physical

Dead……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Alive

Spiritual

Poor …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Awesome

Relationships/Social

Take this quiz to gauge whether or not you’re headed for burnout. (Pay attention not only to your answers, but also the way you react to the statements.)

1) Despite getting adequate sleep each night, I wake up tired.

True

False

2) Lately, I’d define myself as moody.

True

False

3) Increasingly, I see the negative, or what needs to be fixed, with my work and others’. Positive comments and thoughts are rare.

True

False

4) My vision or purpose is becoming blurry, or harder to focus on, despite being clear in the past.

True

False

5) If I were totally honest with myself, I’d say I’m going through the motions at work or home, rather than contributing everything I can.

True

False

6) I shorten (or wish I could do so) my workday just to leave work or get away.

True

False

7) I lengthen many workdays to get the job done, instead of delegating or managing my time or mindset more effectively.

True

False

8) I cut down or stop other activities (such as hobbies or other rejuvenating activities) in order to keep up with work responsibilities.

True

False

9) I don’t have time to reach out to connect with colleagues,mentors or friends on a regular basis.

True

False

10) Relationships within and outside of my work are not as strong as they were.

True

False

Score Yourself:

1-4 “True” answers: You should be in the normal ebb and flow of business ownership, or work. Continue to find ways to improve.

5-7 “True” answers: Burnout is rearing its ugly head. Within the next week, schedule two days away from work to reconnect and clarify your vision or purpose, and identify at least 5 action items that you can do to change the course and refuel your engines.

8-10 “True” answers: Stop, your in trouble. Stop everything and take a deep breath. In the next week get away for awhile to revisit your vision and purpose. Reconnect with colleagues and mentors. Write out your vision and an action agenda to get you back on track in doing what is important.

TEN TIPS FOR AVOIDING BURNOUT AND INVITING BALANCE:

Breathe deeply
Take a walk
Eat well
Drink water
Slow down
Team up
Sleep well
Loosen up
Have fun
Get away

Where do you need to focus more and be more balanced?

June 19, 2014

Life Verse

NewPointe Community Church is currently in a series called “Life Verse”. A life verse is a Scripture that someone keeps coming back to over and over again and that guides them in their life. As I thought about that several passages of Scripture came to my mind. As I thought about which one I should write about I realized that this Scripture is the one that I often quote and talk about. I’ve used it at weddings and funerals and in mentoring sessions with individuals and couples. This Scripture is challenging to me and a constant reminder of how I should live my life.

It’s often called the Love chapter because it gives us a very clear description of what love is. It’s not just one verse, it’s actually 4 verses. So here it is:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.”

I’ve often put my name in place of love, which makes it personal and very humbling, because I realize that I have a ways to go in understanding and living out this idea of love. So here are some points about this powerful passage of Scripture.

Love is a verb not a noun – This passage is all about the actions that we take not thoughts that we have. It deals with what kinds of emotions direct our lives and what kind of behaviors come out of us. Love is all about doing and showing the people around us that we love them. To be patient, kind and trusting takes actions that show those traits.
Love is others focused – When it comes to understanding love it’s all about being focused on the people around us and not on ourselves. It’s paying attention to the people in our lives and taking the time and energy to love them and serve them.
Love is powerful – If love is your base, it can overpower all the negative emotions we struggle with. Love brings us back to the way God designed us. It fights against the resistance that pushes us to be selfish, self-centered and negative. Everyone wants to experience love whether they admit it or not. When we love it shows strength and character.
Love is long-term – When we love the way this Scripture says to love it keeps us focused on the big picture and the long-term health of all our relationships. It looks beyond the current situation or pain and sees how things could and should be. It allows us to be patient and to trust when the situation doesn’t feel like we should. Love is what gets us through the dark times in our lives. Love is what picks us up and gets us through.
Love Works – We all want to be around people that love well. We are drawn to people that live out these actions. Jesus was the perfect example of love. When we put his name in place of love we can say yes that’s Jesus. I think that is why people were so drawn to him and why so many people are still following him today. Love really does work, love gets results and changes lives.

So here is the challenge. We can all grow in this area of love because non of us are Jesus. Love is the key to life because when everything else is stripped away love remains. Whether it’s loving other people or loving God, that is what changes lives. When we allow God’s love to penetrate and take over our hearts, our behavior starts to change, our thoughts start to change and our perspective starts to change.

If your relationships are not working ask yourself how much love you have in your heart. If there is not much there, then turn to God and ask Him to fill it up with that kind of love.

Verse 8 starts off with this – “Love never fails.” God never fails, he never gives up on us and always believes the best about us even when he knows the worst about us. Love Well!

June 7, 2014

Summer Time

Summer is a great time of the year. For many families it’s when you take vacation and spend a bit more time together. It’s easier to have social functions with friends, cooking outs, camp fires, camping, outdoor sports and more. I’m on a softball team and love to get away and have fun with some other people.

I remember summer as a kid, not having to go to school and spending long days out exploring my grandpa’s farm. I spent hours looking for arrow heads and flint after the fields where plowed and was even known to go skinny dipping in the creek from time to time.

Summer for me has become a time of building. I try to approach each summer as a time to sharpen myself as a follower of Christ, a husband, a leader and a friend. It’s a time to work on relationships, read good books, plan for the rest of the year and relax and have a little fun.

I try to read a lot, because that is one of the ways I learn and keep my mind sharp. Each summer I try to put together a reading list that I try to knock out over the months of June, July and August. Here is my list for this year:

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield – book about creativity and self-discipline
Sticky Church by Larry Osborn – This book is all about how to help people stay at church and get connected and growing.
Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath – I am reading this one with my staff, it’s a good self awareness book
On My Worst Day: Cheesecake, Evil, Sandy Koufax, and Jesus by John Lynch – Spiritual growth type book, I heard him speak live and immediately bought the book.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – This book is all about how we thing and why
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell – Fun read about odd stories and why we do some of the things we do and some of the extraordinary things that happen in our world
The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials For Becoming A Change Maker by Brad Lomenick – leadership development for me.
Great By Choice – Uncertainty, Chaos, And Luck – Why some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins – Another leadership development book from one of my favorite authors. I’ve had the book two years and finally am going to read it.
The Bible – I’m reading through the New Testament as well – Spiritual Growth and Connecting with God.
TBD – I usually find a book or someone recommends a book that I just have to read.

Have a great summer but remember to include some reading. Even if you are not a reader, try to read one book this summer. Reading helps you to focus, use your brain and relieve stress. Reading also feeds you spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. If you want to change, grow or just get better as a person, then start reading. If your into sports you read all the article about your favorite teams, so you can do this – Give it a try this summer.

May 30, 2014

Getting Results

If your in any kind of leadership position, whether leading your family or a major corporation, you want to be productive and get results. You want to see your family communicate and grow closer together and for your children and spouse to develop and grow. You want your company to be profitable and your employees to succeed. You want to deliver on what you promise.

There is always resistance to getting results or productivity. Every day we wake up and that resistance is there to greet us. Here are some of things we must face everyday and overcome in order to be productive and get results.

Procrastination – we can over-analyzing things, and talking ourselves out of doing something. We convince ourselves that we will do it later.
Interruptions – every day we have distractions. Things that are urgent, things that pop up, people that pop in and bunny trails we pursue.
Stress – The higher the level of stress the harder it is to function, make decisions and get results. Stress limits our thinking and allows emotions to overcome us.
Multitasking – No one can actually multitask. Some people are better at jumping from one thing to another, but when you do that, you are distracted and end up not doing either thing well. You also don’t tend to finish things.
Blaming Others – When you start blaming other people it shifts the focus onto things you cannot control. It also distracts you from seeing how you contributed to the problem or allowed it to happen.
Fear – fear can stop us in our tracks and feeds all of the things I mentioned above. Fear of failure, rejection, being misunderstood, not being good enough – those are just a few of the fears that greet us daily.

So what can we do to overcome these forms of resistance and be productive on a consistence basis?

Commit to Excellence – whatever you do, do it the best you can. This is not perfection but doing it right and not cutting corners. When you do it right the first time, you don’t have to go back and do it over later.
Plan – This is probably the most important step. Putting a plan together with clear, specific goals and timelines will help get results.
Focus – People that have the ability to block out all the resistance and distractions and focus for an hour at a time on a project get great results. To keep that focus, take frequent breaks and refresh your mind, then come back to the project.
Do the Hard thing first – If your facing a difficult conversation, complicated problem or hard task, tackle it right away. The faster you accomplish that hard thing, the more productive you will be the rest of the day.
Stick with it – people that get results have the ability to hang in there and keep at it until it’s finished. It’s having the tenacity to work through all the obstacles and keep focused on the bigger picture. It’s showing up every day and doing what needs to be done.

Everyone can improve in this area of productivity and getting results. Think about one thing that if you finished it would bring great results or move you further along as an individual, family or organization. Now go do it.

May 21, 2014

Above the Line

Being healthy emotionally is hard work. It’s easy to fall into a victim mentality and feel like everyone is against you. In their book The Oz Principle, Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman give some clues on when we are stuck in the victim cycle or living below the line.

You feel “held captive” by your circumstances
You feel you have no control over your present circumstances
You find yourself blaming others and pointing fingers
Your discussions of problems focus more on what you cannot do, rather than what you can
You fail to confront the toughest issues you face
You find yourself being “sought out” by others so they can tell you what someone else did to them this time
You find yourself unwilling to ask probing questions about your own accountability
You repeatedly find yourself in a defensive posture
You site your confusion as a reason for not taking action
You avoid people, the meetings, and the situations that require you to report on your responsibilities
You find yourself spending valuable time crafting a compelling story detailing why you were not at fault
You repeatedly tell the same old story about how someone took advantage of you
You view the world with a pessimistic attitude

So how do we avoid this victim mentality? How do we get unstuck from these destructive patterns and habits. The keys are taking responsibility for your own actions and bringing accountability into your life.

According to the authors you can improve your own ability to remain “above-the-line” by watching for the following clues that indicate accountable attitudes and behavior.

You invite candid feedback from everyone about your own performance
You never want anyone, including yourself, to hide the truth from you
You readily acknowledge reality, including all its problems and challenges
You don’t waste time or energy on things you cannot control or influence
You always commit yourself 100 percent to what you are doing, and if your commitment begins to wane, you strive to rekindle it
You “own” your circumstances and your results, even when they seem less than desirable
You recognize when you are dropping “below the line” and act quickly to avoid the traps of the victim cycle
You delight in the daily opportunity to make things happen
You constantly ask yourself the question, “What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and get the results I want?”

Whether at work or at home staying above the the line of accountability is vital to emotional and relational health. When we are below the line we ignore or deny reality, we say it’s not my fault or my job, we point fingers, we say we are confused, we cover our tails and we wait & see. When we are above the line we see the issue, we own our part, we work on a solution and we take action on what we can control.

Make a commitment today to be more accountable and responsible in all your relationships. Work at staying above the line and don’t focus on things that are out of your control. Focus on your own thoughts and behaviors and own your part of the problem. Get help and counsel from others to help keep you above the line. If you do that you will grow in character and leadership and be much healthier all the way around.

April 26, 2014

Lessons From Sheep Shearing

I was watching some video’s on how to shear sheep. It’s pretty interesting, but I’m not ready to give it a try. If you want to watch click here. The reason I was watching the video’s is that I had heard that sheep have to be sheared before summer or they could actually die from the heat. So I started researching this to find out more.

The first time a sheep is sheared it puts up quite a fight and I am sure feels like its in danger. However once they experience what its like after being sheared they are much more cooperative the next time. They soon discover that without all that wool it’s much cooler and they don’t get sick as easily. So the next time they sit quietly while the shearing happens, because they know they are not going to be hurt, but helped.

As I was thinking about that I realized that many of us need to be sheared as well. We have weaknesses that cause us to fail and struggle and overheat/stress out. We need to have the layers of sin, bad attitudes, hurts and hang-ups cut away. But when someone tries to do that we fight and kick and are scared or angry. You see we can’t shear ourselves, we need the help of other people. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” That is the point of accountability, caring enough about another person to respectfully shear away the layers of life.

If you want to be sheared here are three things that must happen:

Take responsibility and admit your weakness – You are the only one that can decide to change or allow someone to shear you. It takes humility and self-awareness to take this first step, but without doing this nothing will change. I believe this is only possible with Gods help, by asking him to reveal the things we need to own and shear, and then asking for the courage to take responsibility.
Raise your expectations for yourself – We talk ourselves into and out of a lot of things. Over the years we tend to lower our standards and accept things we would not have before. In 1 Peter 1:13-16 it says this “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.'” So don’t settle for mediocre, God has a greater purpose and plan for your life.
Find a trusted partner – If you really want to change and be sheared, you will need some trusted friends to help along the way. Shearing is not a one time thing, it needs to be done over and over again. It’s the same with us, we need to be held accountable over and over again. That’s why we all need some people that we can confess too, that we can listen too, that we can talk too. If you don’t have someone like this in your life start praying and ask God to bring the right people into your life that can be on your shearing team. Remember after the shearing you will feel so much better, after the confession is great freedom.

The cool thing about this whole process is that when you allow someone else to sharpen you or shear you, you can in turn sharpen and shear them. That only happens when you you are open and honest. If you hide your stuff it can’t get sheared. Happy shearing!