How To Become a Prosperous Thinker: Step 1 - Think Man, Think!

This isn’t your average exercise in creative thinking. This is about envisioning the future and this kind of thinking is not easy. Albert Einstein said, “Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.” The reason it’s so critical that our actions be based on big thoughts is because people who think small thoughts exist in a small world. People who think big thoughts are continually expanding their world. And as Andy Stanley puts it, Our Beliefs (thoughts) dictate our Decisions which dictate Outcomes. In order to be prosperous you must commit yourself to a prosperous thinking regime that helps you work through creative thought generation, development and execution.

It’s not what you think about what you’re doing.
It’s doing something about what you think.

So today - think something different about what you do. More to come...

Achieving Your Vision through The Nehemiah Principles

Are there entrepreneurs who would be happy and content for their business and income to remain where it is right now forever more? Of course not. (not real ones any way) That little burning inside that says “I bet I can reach…I can achieve…I can do more” is the entrepreneurial flame that our Creator fashioned in you. And that flame thrives on how well you are able to envision a clear and compelling future for you; for your business.

That means being able to see beyond your current circumstances, to look over those hedges of perceived limitations we sometimes plant around us. It means being able to envision a future that is bigger than ourselves. Nehemiah was a man who had some very tall hedges around him but who was able to achieve things that seemed impossible. He literally left a legacy that changed the world around him. In the story of Nehemiah we find four specific principles that explain how he was able to See & Shape his future.

If you’ll remember his story goes like this. A lowly slave to Persia's King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah was the King's wine and food taster. His business was to protect his king from poisoning! Nehemiah was expendable and literally in a dead-end job, with no chance for advancement. No opportunity for growth. No opportunity to improve his lifestyle. And in the middle of all this comes news that his people and their city is in ruin and despair.

Here Nehemiah gives us our first principle: He prayed for a God-given vision. He prayed, “God, I can’t see how to get beyond my circumstances. This job is what I thought it would be, plus I’ve got this other thing in my life, outside my job, that I’m sad about. But God you are mighty and although I’m in these impossible circumstances, you created me for mighty things. Give me a vision, a passion, a fire for something that comes from You, that only you can see, then show me. Show me how I can use these circumstances that I’ve been given to achieve this vision.”

Nehemiah Principle #1:
Pray that God would give you a clear and compelling vision of where HE wants your business to go. I promise if you do this. It will go where you never thought it could.

So Nehemiah continued to pray like this for months the scripture tells us, until one day the King notices Nehemiah’s sadness. The King asks why he’s sad and then asks him “So what do you want me to do about it?” And Nehemiah says, “SEND ME TO JERUSALEM SO THAT I MAY REBUILD IT!!!”

Nehemiah Principle #2:
Be able to articulate the future you see. See the future, then SAY IT in a way clear and compelling way.

This was a ridiculous and dangerous request. The King could take this request as betrayal against his authority and lordship. This kind of mistrust was not a good thing to have with your cup bearer. But it actually illustrates the Third Nehemiah Principle.

Nehehiah Principle #3:
Once you articulate the future you see in a clear and compelling way…KEEP MOVING TOWARD IT. Keep Pressing On. Keep doing everything you know how to and grow - try, fail, try again.

He didn’t know whether his response would mean success or failure. But he saw it as an opportunity and he gave it a shot. Don’t stop looking for and exploring opportunities around you. You don’t know which one will be the one that launches you into your future. KEEP THE BUSINESS MOVING FORWARD. Without existing momentum, the flywheel of your future, the achievement of what God has shown you is possible, may never start to turn.

So what did the King do? He surprised us all by saying ok. Not only that, he said you can have your job back when you’re finished. But that’s not all. “Here, take a few captains of my army, my credit card and my credentials, and I’ll tell all the governors along the way to make sure you have safe passage.” I’d say that relationship definitely paid off. Keep that in mind as we continue.

When he gets to Jerusalem, after quietly surveys the task, and what’s the first thing he does? He develops relationships. He knows he can’t do this thing on his own. So with some key families’ support, he convinces (through a clear and compelling vision) all the families who live around the wall to rebuild their section…each interconnected with their neighbor. He sets up a rotation of construction with guards around the clock…and the wall is rebuilt in 52 days! Not 52 weeks…days! Isreal's enemies become well aware of it and realize it is a God-thing. There’s that positive influence thing happening. Then Nehemiah develops more relationships that help rebuild the religious and legal infrastructure of the city and the nation.

Nehemiah Principle #4:
New relationships equal new realities.

Nehemiah became active and getting acquainted. He was very intentional about developing three types of relationships. First, was with the most influential person in the land, the King. That opened the doors for relationships with other influential people along the way. For you that might be the mayor, city councilmen and women, school board officials, PTA president, head of the chamber of commerce, or better yet, all the above. The second type of relationship Nehemiah developed was with the families in the community. He made getting to really know the families in his community a very intentional practice, every single day. Why? Because he knew that those families were the supporters and promoters of making his vision a reality. Finally, the third type of relationship he developed was with those folks who would actually be doing the hard work to help SHAPE the future he saw in his mind. This of course is the team you have surrounded yourself with.

RECAP

Nehemiah Principle #1
Pray.

Pray that God would allow you to see over your hedges of your current circumstances.

Dear God, You are the Creator of great and wondrous things which means you have created me for great and wondrous things. Show me what greatness you created me for that You can achieve through the platform of my business.

Give me a passion that burns so powerfully in me that it burdens me and pushes me to drive on, through faith in the One who created this passion in me, until Your envisioned future for me becomes a reality.

Nehemiah Principle #2
See the future, then able to SAY IT in a clear and compelling way.

Nehemiah Principle #3
Keep the business momentum moving forward toward your vision. Don’t stop looking for and exploring new opportunities around you.

Nehemiah Principle #4
Become active at getting acquainted. Seeing and Shaping your new reality depends on the new relationships you form every day.