Building a life or building a prison.

Building a life or building a prison

    I have always heard if you want total security, food, clothing, and shelter that prison is the best place to find these things. You will never have to worry missing out on these things in prison.  You will get them daily.   Our default mode in life is usually “play it safe” for ourselves and our families. In football they call it the prevent defense. It usually keeps teams from winning.   We always have that dream of what we want and we compare it with the reality of where we are at in our lives.  When reality does not measure up with our dreams we get discouraged at where we are at in life.  We may be comfortable but it is not quiet our dream so we get settled where we are at and determine to keep that status. The longer we stay the same in life and put off our dreams and desires, the more valuable settling where we are at gets.    We listen to ourselves and others and in the name of responsible and reasonable and we determine that chasing a dream is foolish.   Once this thought settles in, we protect what we do have and say this is great and we build the walls around that to keep us in and set up a prison we were not intended for.  We will choose to do things that keep the status quo whether we realize it or not. We do this all to keep everything the same and strengthen the walls of our custom built prison.   If this is not your dream then begin to act on where God is moving you. He is usually moving you to help people in His name and He gives us dreams and desires for direction.  Remember we are here to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.  It hard to have true joy in prison, I would think.  Watch out who you associate with also because a lot of people don’t want you to succeed and be happy.   If you hang out with people who limp you will eventually develop a limp yourself.  You may ask “what if I fail?” You will, but don’t make failure permanent.  Failure is life’s way of adjusting your path and getting you back on track.  And remember it will not happen as quickly as you like.  It’s all part of the adventure.  So begin to act and open the cell door also feel free to mess up, because you will. If you don’t mess up you are not doing something right!  So dream, enjoy, and remember to build a life not a prison.

     Let me know if I can help!

Tim West

Go West Coaching 6-20-13

Cost Versus Value

Cost versus Value Most of us have heard the saying we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We can apply that to many areas of our lives. Sometimes we have paid more money than we have intended when purchasing something but received a lot of value out of the purchase. To value something, is to esteem and put worth on the item. What are you doing that will or will not bring value to your life now and in the future? Small deposits whether, financially or relationally cost us something. We may deposit a small amount of money to save for something in the future. It will cost us a trip out to eat or a little “thingy” we feel we must have, but it is worth it if you are saving for your golden years or you children s college fund. We fail to plan our lives because it cost to much time and is costly to stick to the plans we make. Sometimes it just doesn't feel good. As Dave Ramsey says “children do what feels good, adults devise a plan and follow it.” It may not be just a financial cost, but a time and energy cost as well. We all have 168 hours a week to invest in our lives. Please if someone can find more than that I need to know where! Subtract 40 hours a week for work, say 56 hours a week for sleep. According to Nielsen Co. we watch 28 hours of T.V. A week! That would leave you 44 hours a week left to live. Our time is very valuable! How you spend it will determine what you value and determine what you get in return. When coaching people we set goals and priorities. Just like when making a budget, telling your money what to do, you can do that with your time and invest in things that will bring you value in your life. So what are you doing now that will bring you value down the road? What do you need to eliminate that is costing a lot and not bringing any value? (28 hours a week of television would be something good to eliminate) Is what you are spending your time on going to bring value to your life? Is your work worth spending your life on? Is your money being spent the best way it can be to bring you things of value in your life? Are things in life costing you everything and bringing little value? Remember you are in charge of you, make the necessary changes. Let me know if I can help. Tim West Go West Coaching 2-20-12

Focus

Focus You have probably heard the saying to focus on where you are going to get to where you want to be. That is true. You have to know were you are going to arrive at that destination. Or as Yogi Berra would say, if you don’t know where you are going you may wind up some place else. When helping people get out of debt or working with them on career direction, I help clients (friends) keep their eye on the goal. But sometimes, and I have been guilty of looking too far ahead myself. We get so focused on where we want to be that we take our eyes off what we should be doing now and get discouraged. We also miss the lesson we should be learning from the process. We can be so focused on being debt free that we don’t do the small things like put the extra money aside that we squeeze out of our budget for the debt. When we do this it slows our progress down and we get frustrated and have a pity party and buy something instead! (yes I have done that!) Always keep in mind where you want to go, but keep looking at each step you take. If you write a book you want to focus on finishing it, but you have to go one page at a time, and one word at a time to get to the end. So I want to encourage you to look to where you want to be, but focus on the step that you are on. God has you in the place where you are now for a reason, so keep on focusing and don’t sweat the small stuff. You will get there, not in the amount of time you would like, but in the right time. Don't miss the woods for the trees! Tim West Go West Coaching 2-11-12