Integrate Life

Just wanted to mention that I actually do practice what I preach.  I guess you’re wondering what I mean by that, huh?

As a pastor and long-time church attender I have seen a lot of people come and go and I got to the point where I was asking myself – does anybody ever really change?  I know that someone is going to rebuke me for that and start quoting Scripture, and I know what the Bible says.  But the problem is that God’s promises are often conditional.  They require an act of faith/obedience on our part.  And I wonder how often people really do that.

My attempts to answer that question led me into the field of coaching.  And this perspective has changed everything for me.  It’s changing how I lead my church, and how I relate to other people.  And for purposes of this post, I would have to say it changes how I relate to myself.  The answer to my burning question is “it depends.”  The critical thing is – is the person who is trying to change attempting it on their own?  Or are they getting support, encouragement, and accountability?  Truth is, most of the time, lasting change doesn’t happen when the person attempts it on their own.  But when there is a good support system in place – well, let’s just say one can put a thousand to flight and two can put ten thousand to flight.

Before I say anything else, I need to refer back to the last post about SMART goals.  The “S” in smart stands for “specific.”  A goal needs to be clear.  What exactly are you trying to accomplish?  For the sake of accountability with my readers, I am beginning a journey here that will help illustrate the power of goals and coaching in general over the next few months.  So let me be specific and share my goal here:

“I want to lose 64 pounds by August 1.”

There. I said it out loud (kind of).  Notice that I am being specific.  That means I am not saying “I want to lose weight” or “I want to feel better.”  I am telling you exactly what I am going to do.  I am going to lose 64 pounds.  At some point I may renegotiate that goal with myself and decide I underestimated.  Or perhaps I will decide I was too aggressive and need to adjust it to allow more time or less weight loss.  If that happens, I’ll let you know here.  My next post will explain some more of the elements of a SMART goal.  Knowing how to set goals and work towards accomplishing them is an important skill to have – especially in a leadership role.  And, by the way, how do you expect to lead others if you can’t lead yourself?

One more thing.  I am practicing what I preach on the need for support, encouragement, and accountability.  I have a friend that is meeting me at the gym twice a week to lift weights, another friend that is holding me accountable for a daily cardio workout, and another friend who is a coach that is helping me unpack my thoughts and emotions.  You see, I’ve already lost 51 pounds and the truth is I’ve been here before.  This time I have to finish.  And I am going to share the journey with you.  I won’t blog all the time about it.  Just periodic updates and insights that I want to share.

So here I go.