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10 Steps to Christian Success
by
Sean Mize
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Spend time with Jesus Christ every single day. I cannot
stress that enough for the success minded Christian. So often we
spend our time working on things that have no bearing on our future christian success (nor any current success value) because we haven’t
taken the time to focus and understand what Jesus Christ wants for
our lives and our success.
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Study the Word and discover what the top five (or six) christian
success priorities in your life should be. For example, for you it
might be: Christ, spouse, children, work, retirement. For another,
it might be: Christ, a hobby, work, retirement, missions work. And
for yet another: Christ, spouse, work, a hobby, physical fitness.
For each of you, christian success priorities might be a little
different in the number 4, 5, or (6) spots, but the first two or
three are probably Christ and family. Once you know your success
priorities, you are ready for step 3)
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Develop a “progress plan” for each of your areas of top success
priority. When you look at your life six months from now, especially
in these areas of success priority, you should be further along and
better adapted in each of these areas than you are today. Look back
six months ago. Have you improved in each of your success priority
areas? If not, you need to take action. Now!
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Find a christian success mentor. This success mentor
should be someone who can be concerned primarily for your personal
growth in these areas of success priority. This should not be
someone who is an “equal” with you---someone who also confides in
you. This should be a “one-way” street. They should be able to
listen to your success priorities, help you develop a game plan for
meeting them, and be able to criticize you when you aren’t following
your game plan. Because of that, they should probably not be someone
with whom you are close emotionally, like a best friend or spouse.
They should be a more neutral party, perhaps someone from a small
group class at church or someone recommended to you by your pastor
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Break each of your success priorities down into individual goal
steps. These “steps” should be small enough that you can focus on
that one step at a time and they shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish
individually, and yet when you have completed all of the steps you
have gained significant ground in your priority for the given
period, e.g. six months.
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Write down all of your success priorities and your goal steps
for accomplishing them. Leave room next to each goal step to write
the date you started the goal step and the date you finished it. At
the end of the six months (and during it too) you will be able to
specifically track your progress.
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Eliminate unnecessary things in your life which do not
help you accomplish your success priorities. Try unplugging the TV
three nights a week until your success priorities are accomplished.
Have an “email free” day of the week. Take Sunday off from
everything. If the telephone is an incessant nuisance, turn it off
two nights a week.
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Evaluate your rest…are you getting enough sleep? What can you do
to get more sleep? What about recreation (non-TV)? Are you walking,
hiking, reading, meeting with friends regularly? Are you spending
enough time with your family without interruptions by the phone or
work? Do what it takes to get rest and recreation and include the
family in this step.
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Evaluate your success regularly. There isn’t much that
substitutes for assessing your progress last week and making goals
for the coming week. Sure, some weeks you will fall short, but in
others you will easily meet your personal success expectations. As
you follow these 10 steps, setting success priorities, making goal
steps, and following through on all of it will get easier.
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Just do it! Start somewhere, start today! Don’t just close this
page and forget all this! You took the time to read this; if you do
nothing with it you will continue to fall short of your own personal
expectations.
To subscribe to a free weekly newsletter with more
Christian success tips like these, click here:
Christian Success Newsletter
Written by: Sean Mize, Christian
entrepreneur and Christian time management author.
Christian Success
Network
Note: You have my permission to reprint and distribute this
article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all
links. © Sean Mize 2006
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Management