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Three Things Required to Make Change

Have you ever felt like you’re on the hamster wheel of life? You’re trying to make it go faster and faster, watching the world go by around you (outside the glass cage)…

  • You’re not sure if anyone else knows about the wheel or is on it.
  • You don’t know if anyone knows you’re on the wheel, much less if they will catch you when you fall off.

You’re exhausted, deflated, frustrated.

You’re overwhelmed.

Photo by Inzmam Khan from Pexels

That’s me of late, having an incredibly full plate…the guy who wrote the book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live. In my blog of October 16th, I state that I’m not overwhelmed because I:

  1. Know my “why”
  2. Have a commitment to peace over pace
  3. Am prayerful

Holding to the above as still true, the hours I’ve been working can’t be sustained. So the question becomes…what to do about it.

A couple weeks ago, I had a breakthrough. It occurred to me that unless I was willing to change, that things weren’t going to change. We’ve all heard “the definition of insanity”….doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s what I was practicing and didn’t even realize it. I needed to be the change. It’s me who needed to change.

In thinking about it, followed by living it over the last several weeks, I believe that change requires three things:

  1. Recognizing that there’s an issue – so often, we can’t see our own stuff. We’re blinded by our reality, needing someone else to identify what’s going on. For me, it was a light bulb going off, over a couple days, given several discussions with teammates. It was also the realization that I was the only one who could fix it. I needed to change.
  2. Making the right decision – once recognizing the problem, I had to determine the right course of action. For me, that was reducing my meeting schedule and relying more on my incredibly talented team, reminding them of the ownership they already had. For you it is probably something totally different. You need to figure it out (with others), followed by making the decision.
  3. Being committed to the change – as creatures of habit, we typically don’t like change. We don’t like it when it’s done to us. And we don’t like making change ourselves. Being committed to change can be very difficult, but typically is incredibly gratifying.

I’m just a couple weeks in…so I’ll keep you posted. Gratified to date, I hope that it’s sustained, by God’s grace.

BTW, praying through all of it is a big plus. From past blogs, “God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done”. He’s there for you. Rely on Him, God our Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of us.

As always, feel free to contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, comments, or challenges.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Pressures of Being Too Busy

Have you ever been so busy that your head is spinning? Does your task list keep growing…as soon as you accomplish one thing, two more are added? Do you work lots of hours and can’t seem to get ahead? Is your work/life balance out of wack? Do you feel stressed? Are you overwhelmed? 

Join the club. Many people (probably most people) feel the same way much of the time. In fact, it’s the way I currently feel. I’ve recently had the privilege of being appointed to a new position at Franciscan University of Steubenville. As such, my weekly meeting schedule has practically doubled overnight. In working to combine several departments, we’re going through a strategic planning process while launching an additional major initiative. Add to that all the work I’ve historically been doing, none of which has gone away.

Sharing the above with a friend recently, he said, “boy…you sound like you’re overwhelmed”. He then sarcastically recommended that I read my own book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live.

 

Why I’m Not Overwhelmed

In all deference to my friend, I’m not overwhelmed, although the last couple weeks have required many, many additional hours of my time. As opposed to my pre-conversion days, when I was a serious workaholic, I’m not overwhelmed for three specific reasons.

  1. Understanding my “Why” – It’s important to understand your “why”, that is why you’re doing what you’re doing. For the old me, it was all about what I refer to as the 4 Ps, prominence, possessions, pleasure, and people. I had this God sized hole in the center of my chest that I was trying to fill with all of these things that weren’t possibly going to make me happy…but I was pursuing them because of the world’s influence. My “who” was my “do”. My role was my identity.

Today those things mean much, much less to me. My “why”, my purpose is to serve our Lord and serve others, which are the things that bring me peace, joy, and fulfillment. You don’t have to be in ministry to do these things. You do need to understand your “why”

  1. Commitment to Peace over Pace – Back in the day, the pace always outstripped the peace. My work/life balance was always out of wack, with me working 60+ hours per week. Although exhausted by it, I thrived on the pace, topic for another blog. I now like to say, it’s all about the peace, not the pace.

Matthew Kelly, one of my favorite Catholic authors and speakers, likes to say, “you can only say “no” when you have a stronger “yes”. I have a strong “yes”, which includes being committed to peace in my life, not the incredibly high pace I used to live.

  1. Prayer – there is a peace to prayer. It comes with my rote prayers, which I say very slowly, hanging on every word. It also comes in meditating on Scripture. But mostly it comes in what Matthew Kelly calls the “classroom of silence”, where I share my thoughts, feelings, dreams, and challenges with our Lord, then just listen for His voice.

So while at the moment I have a lot on my plate, I know it will pass. And because of my relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ, I’m not overwhelmed. He’s got the wheel. He’s in control. I’m just along for the ride.

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

What If You Knew the Truth

What if you knew the truth….how would it change your life? 

Did you ever think to yourself, “if I could only do this” or “if I could only do that”? Or how about, “if I were only better at….” You believe that if you were better at something or had a different skill set, your life would be better. 

In addition to the above, you think, “if I could only have ‘X’, I would be happy”. If truthful, most often you’re thinking of ‘X’ as prominence, possessions, or pleasure. 

We’re constantly searching for and trying to do all of the things that we think are going to make us happy. 

What I Thought Would Make Me Happy

The above was true for me for the longest time. It was all about the prominence, possessions, and pleasure. Those were the things that I thought were going to make me happy. Those were the things that were going to prove to other people my success, my place in this world…which would contribute to my happiness. 

I worked endless hours. I pushed and pushed and pushed related to my career. And I bought a bunch of really nice, cool stuff. 

Guess what…none of it made me happy. 

Then I Learned the Truth

Then I learned the truth…something that changed my life forever. Did you know that…

  • You have a God who loves you unconditionally
  • Who gave His only begotten Son to die a torturous death for your sins
  • Who (Jesus) rose from the dead so you can live in His glory
  • God conceived of you thousands of years ago
  • He made you in His image and likeness, individually and as part of all of humanity
  • God made you with special gifts and talents
  • He made you with a specific purpose
  • He wants you to be happy and fulfilled
  • God made you for Greatness!!!

All of the above is true. And here’s what else is true…the only way we’re ever going to be happy is to understand our identity as a child of God, use our God given talents, fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives, and abiding in His will. That’s it…the ONLY way.  

It’s true, it’s Scriptural, as referenced below: 

  • Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”
  • Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
  • John 10:10 – I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done. He made you a specific way and knows what is best for you. Embrace this truth and live a life of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment. 

As always, please get to me with questions or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

 

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Great Leadership Starts from Within

Leadership, leadership, leadership…it’s all about leadership. Last week we talked about the critical role of leaders and their impact on organizations. We also discussed my transition as a leader from being “me” to “other” focused. I thought it would be helpful to discuss how that transition took place.

Prior to my conversion, which I mentioned in last week’s blog, I was very much motivated by success for success sake. Based on my belief system, I thought it spoke to my worth as a person, believing I needed to succeed to be loved. I was very busy trying to establish prominence, obtain numerous possessions, and experience pleasure in my life. I had a big ego. It was all about me.

Being a student of leadership, even back then, I had read numerous books. But I still didn’t get it. I’m not proud to say that I used to view my employees as “necessary evils”, there to help me achieve my goals.

Note…If you’re interested in why I was the way I was, you can reference my past blogs athttps://markjosephministries.com/blog/ or get my book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live, at https://markjosephministries.com/book/.

Pre-conversion my “who” was my “do”. My “role” was my “identity”. The better my business was doing, the better I was doing. I felt loved, accepted, and respected based on my accomplishments. Post-conversion that all changed. I came to understand my identity as a child of God, loved unconditionally by Him and His Son Jesus Christ, made with special gifts and talents, put on this earth for a specific purpose.

I went through a process of healing my wounds, forgiving myself and others, and eliminating the resentments from my life. Then surrounding myself with only those who would help me in being the very best, I began to learn how to live the life God called me to. In referencing Scripture, specifically Jeremiah 1:5 and 29:11, as well as John 10:10, I found that I (we) am made for Greatness. The fact is that:

  • God conceived of each of us thousands of years ago.
  • He made us in his image and likeness.
  • He doesn’t make junk, nor mistakes. We’re all a 10.
  • God loves us more than we’ll ever know, no matter what we’ve ever done.

Given His love, He guides us in following His Will, to use our God given gifts to do great things…and to be happy. BTW, there’s no other way to achieve true happiness (peace, joy, and fulfillment). No longer concerned with the views of others about me…because it just doesn’t matter, I can now do those things which truly make me happy. I can be me.

Only once that transition was made could I become the leader that I am today. It’s not about me, but the people I have the honor to work with. It’s my deepest desire that they do very well in life, personally and professionally. And I know doing the very best they can do means living a life in Christ. That doesn’t mean I beat them over the head with a Bible, but instead love them for their “who”, not their “do”, their “identity” instead of their “role”.

It’s only in helping them be their best that our organization can be its best. Happy and fulfilled people make enthused and effective employees. And as stated last week, that only comes from contribution and ownership, neither of which are possible without the right leadership.

As always, please email me with questions or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph