Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Season of the Harvest

Season of the Harvest 9-29-10

This is my favorite time of the year, the fall, when things cool down and the sky is clear and one of my favorite past times begins, hunting season. We have had a long HOT summer this year, over 118 days at 90 or above. It was way above 90; heck 90 was a cool snap!
Farmers are always busy, but this time of year they kick into over drive, corn, peanuts, soybeans and cotton are ready to be harvested. As I mentioned earlier its also hunting season, the smell of the woods the cooler temps makes me feel alive after all of the energy draining heat of summer. Its time to fill your barns, with the bounty from all of the work you have done through the spring and summer. This whole time of year also makes me ask what will I harvest from the work I have done, and the time and energy I have put in my work. It has been a hard summer heat wise, economy wise and employment wise. I had to change jobs in the middle of summer, and start my own business. I chose to start Go West Coaching and begin to harvest what God put in me and put me on earth to do, which is help people. Your first thought may be ,Tim you haven’t planted much in that area, I have thought the same but as I look back all of the situations and circumstances I have gone through, am going through and will go through has prepared me for a time such as this. Just like the farmer that works the ground, he does different things during the year to prepare it to plant and harvest. This whole hot, dry, long economy has made people look at what they can harvest from their fields. There are a lot of new businesses starting; people want to harvest what has been planted in them. These people, just like the farmer, want to share it with others also, and make a living with the fruit that God has placed in them. They want to manage their resources, their money, in a way that helps them live the life they want to live and not the lack of money telling them how to live.
A farmer also gets picked on for complaining about the weather, there’s not enough rain, or there’s too much rain, it’s too hot, the bugs are eating everything. Well I cannot pick on them because I can have a pity party myself every now and then. But just like the farmer I have to keep on planting and working the soil until it produces. If I want corn I have to plant corn and expect corn to come up. If you want to start a business you have to start planting and keep planting those seeds of success. You cannot harvest where you have not planted. And just like the farmer you have to give it time. Have you ever seen a farmer go out a week later and dig up the soil to see if the seeds have sprouted? You have to plant with faith and expect the harvest. God has planted a great crop in us, we have to work it and nurture it, because He created us to yield abundant fruit! Hey farmer lets work the soil hard even when it’s hot, dry, or to wet. It has fruit in it we just have to get it out.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

What are you desperate for?



What are you desperate for?



I once heard my former pastor say “when your desperation factor exceeds your embarrassment factor, you will do something about your situation.” You can also put it another way, when you want out of a situation bad enough you will pay the price. No matter what the situation is, when it is painful enough you will try something else. We let things go on in our life that make us uncomfortable that we just tolerate. If it’s our finances, we say, “maybe I can win the lottery” or “maybe the right person will get elected and will make me prosper”, while we go deeper into debt trying to make ourselves happy. If we are in a career that we dislike we say, “maybe I will get a promotion or a new boss”, heck we will pull the lottery in on this one to. If I win the lottery I will quit my job! Then we decide heck things will get better with my money and my job when I retire. We keep putting our life off until this or that happens, by the time we see the light, life is just about over. How bad does it have to get before you try and do something about your situation? Do you have to almost go bankrupt before you realize to pay off some debt and stop spending more than you make, or do you have to start getting physical or mental problems to change your work and money habits? I say the answer to this is no. I believe that we have been created to have an extraordinary life where we can do the work we love and be prosperous; but, we listen to the world tell us “you need to get a good job that pays a lot of money, that will make you happy.” That is true it will make you happy for a little while, until Sunday night, at six p.m., when you realize you have to get up and go to that “good job that pays lots of money ” so you can pay on your car, boat, house, jet ski and your zero turn radius mower.. I am all for the good job that pays a lot, but I am more about having the life you, with the job you want, that also pays great. I don’t think you have to give up one to get the other. If we put that desperate feeling that we get when we dislike something, into energy and effort to find the work we love and manage our finances. Then, we can have both. Life is not about how much stuff you have and how much you make; it’s about life, and a good life. So, I think we should get desperate about our passions and our goals and have fun achieving them and enjoying the fruit that is produced. The world is desperate for what is inside of you! So let’s get about the business of life and start planning the life you want. I know it’s a little scary, but that is the excitement life holds. Don’t wait start your journey now to a life full of passion.

Tim West

Go West Coaching
http://gowestcoaching.com

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Security

During this whole recession that we are going through we have lost a lot of financial security. Being a Christian, I know that I do not base my security on money but in Jesus Christ. But being a human, weak in the flesh, I can tend to panic when the whole money scene gets blurred because I look through my worldly eyes and not the ones Christ gave me.;but if we look closely at the recession and what it has produced, I cant say that it is all bad. One way that it has helped people is, we, as Americans have started saving money again. About two years ago statistics said we had a "negative savings rate" but now we are around 3-6% of our pay. We have eliminated the wasteful things in our budgets. That's a good thing. We realize that banks will not lend money because you can fog up a mirror so we use our own money now. Some people have lost jobs or businesses, I have and it has spurred me on to do, what I feel God has called me to do, be a financial and career coach. I have also talked to others who have started their own business or went to work for someone else in a job they enjoy better. This whole recession has also helped us evaluate how we live our lives and re-prioritize them. We have seen what is more important and, because of less money we have more time at home with our families. We have become more creative for vacations and gifts. Hey give me a gift someone made themselves and I will keep it forever over a gadget. One thing we have all noticed is that you cant count on money to help you be secure, it has to come somewhere else, but you can count on God! Hey think about it money is just what we use to get things of value and service. Value and service come from other people, such as family and friends etc. So the bottom line is that people are more important, that is where the real value is and that's what the recession has shown me. What about you?

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is a daring adventure or none at all." Helen Keller