Sometimes the only way home is through the one place we would never choose to go: The Wilderness. I have found that there are two ways to get to the wilderness. One, you can decide to take yourself there out of pure, unbridled obedience. Someone else is sending you and you know in your heart that you have to go. If you opt for this route, be prepared. A lot of people in your circle will think you’re crazy. But I’m here to tell you that you are most
“I went from praying for a great quarter-end to praying to hear God and how I can best serve the Kingdom.” Tom Cooper was surrounded with challenges early in life - living on his own by age 16, a mother with severe mental issues, his own substance abuse struggles and living a very un-Christian life. Tom was fortunate that his mother, even in her toughest times, followed Jesus and he could witness the power of God in the saving of his mom. Through God’s will and plan Tom
We all have deeply held things we believe in that are in our DNA. For the most part, you and I know what’s right for us, but acting upon it on a daily basis can be challenging. Distractions are a big part of the problem and there are a lot of those today, aren’t there? I heard recently that if you are a knowledge worker you are interrupted every 11 minutes on average by some form of communication. I would guess that number is not far off the mark
Margin in our calendars means having or creating extra time in our lives to do something other than the things we are currently doing. The problem is that most people think that creating margin is a matter of time management and delegation strategies. Although some of that may be required in our journey toward joy, the real challenge lies deeper in our hearts. The problem with an efficiency paradigm toward margin is that while it helps us do what we are already doing faster, it is not helping us
I am always amazed at what happens when trouble shows up in a community, how people pull together and you see how many good folks there are out there that will never be on the evening news for their charitable works, but are as important as a President in the moment. When hurricane Harvey struck south Texas and began its slow crawl across the land, people began almost immediately doing remarkable things to help each other. And, as usual there were throngs of businesspeople who stepped into the gap
If we are going to figure out how to finish well, we have to decide what we truly believe about money and things. Thankfully, Jesus gave us a blueprint to follow, and I am here to tell you it works. Should we be surprised by that? His blueprint is also countercultural and pushes back hard against almost everything you and I see and hear every day about how much is enough. So, let’s check in to Matthew 6:24, where Jesus begins to lay out a beautiful and air tight
At the Halftime Institute we care more about how you’re doing 30 years from now, than 30 months from now. A few years back we created a 2-day experience for business leaders around the topic of "finishing your life well." We did it for several years in partnership with Jim Collins, the author of books like Good to Great -- about great leaders and great companies. After more than 25 years studying how great leaders help companies become great, Jim is also interested in why many of those great
After more than a dozen years of coaching people through the Halftime Institute, I see a trend, an obvious and recurring barrier to a life of joy, impact and balance: a lack of focus. The truth is, we all struggle with focus on a daily basis. It’s not a stretch to say that there are more available distractions in our lives now than ever. Did you know that the average knowledge worker in the U.S. is interrupted every 11 minutes by some form of communication or another? In this
“You have to live like there’s a God. God is wanting us to do something that requires His help. Let’s do something that’s only going to work if God does it.” Halftime Alum JT Olson is clear on what matters to him at his core - making an impact. After spending even ten seconds with JT, his energy, excitement, encouragement, and inspiration are sure to rub off on you. In his second half, JT is channeling his infectious energy and all his time into making an impact on
It would be safe to say that almost none of us ever starts out on a journey with no idea about where we are going. If we are not sure about the route, the destination is plugged into our GPS, and off we go. But what about our life destination, that long term perfect scenario that we dream about? Do we have the coordinates for that so that we not only arrive there someday, but know we are there when we get there? The truth is most of us
