February 26, 2025 • 32 mins
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Feeling stuck in your professional or personal life? Uncover the path to renewal with godly business principles as we explore how to break free from stagnation. Join me, Harold Milby, on Christian Business Concepts as we promise to equip you with ten transformative strategies to reignite your passion and align your vision with God's purpose. Drawing wisdom from Ecclesiastes 3:1, this episode unravels the mysteries of life's seasons, offering insights into overcoming emotional burnout, lack of motivation, and spiritual dryness.
In this enlightening conversation, we delve into effective leadership renewal tactics that empower teams and foster innovation. You'll discover the importance of reevaluating your leadership style, setting clear goals, and establishing daily success routines to escape unproductive patterns. As we embrace the power of intentional action and spiritual renewal, listeners are reminded of the blessings available through faith, bolstering their journey toward godly success in both personal and professional realms. Let’s embark on this transformative journey together, unlocking the potential for divine breakthroughs in every aspect of your life.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome everyone to this week's Christian Business
Concepts podcast.
You know I'm so thankful thatyou've decided to download and
listen to this week's ChristianBusiness Concepts podcast.
You know I'm so thankful thatyou've decided to download and
listen to this episode.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and each week I discuss business
and professional biblicalprinciples to help business
leaders and owners, and evenorganizational leaders and other
(00:42):
people, find true godly successin their lives.
Not just worldly success, butgodly success.
And not only do theseprinciples work, but they work
in your career and in yourpersonal life as well.
So each week, I pray that thosewho listen will be encouraged,
(01:02):
enlightened and empowered to bethe best leader and person they
can be, and I believe that Godwants you blessed.
I believe that His Word is theblueprint for these blessings,
and so each week, I'm sothankful that you are a part of
(01:26):
what we're doing and that youtune in, that you download and
listen to these podcasts everyweek.
You know it's exciting for meto see the countries that are
represented and the placesaround the world that are
represented that have a desireto learn more about what God
says about them being successfuland what God says about them
being successful and what Godsays about them being able to be
(01:47):
great leaders and that they canlead their organizations or
companies to great successaccording to God's standards.
Now, before we get into today'stopic, let me give a big shout
out to a couple of places.
Number one is Colorado Springs,colorado.
Shout out to a couple of places.
Number one is Colorado Springs,colorado.
(02:08):
For the last few weeks, theyhave downloaded a lot of our
podcasts and we're excited tohave them, and their listeners
will be a part of this ministryand podcast.
And then also, I want to give abig shout out to the country of
New Zealand.
Again, they have just continuedto be a great partner and they
just are really hungry for whatGod has to say, and so we're
(02:32):
thankful for you being a partand for all of you who listen,
even on a weekly basis, to thispodcast.
So thank you for being such abig part of the CBC community,
and I appreciate all of you wholisten and help us to continue.
I pray that you help us tocontinue to grow the CBC family,
(02:53):
and you can do that by sharingthis podcast with four or five
others and, of course, byposting a link to the podcast on
your Facebook and your LinkedInpage.
You know each of you are a partof helping us to reach a
million business leaders andindividuals with this message of
(03:13):
having godly success,overworldly success.
So let's jump right in.
You know every leader and personfaces seasons of what you'd
call stagnation or frustration,or even exhaustion.
As a Christian business leader,these moments can feel
(03:36):
particularly heavy as yourleadership carries both
professional and spiritualsignificance and spiritual
significance and getting out ofa rut, which is what we're
talking about today, getting outof a rut really requires
(03:56):
intentional action.
It requires intentional faithand intentional practice and
certain steps to reignite yourpassion and to kind of refresh
your vision and realign withGod's purpose.
Being in a rut can affect yourdecision-making.
It can affect innovation andoverall effectiveness.
However, getting out of a rutis possible with very
(04:22):
intentional action and mindsetshifts and practical strategies.
So first you have to recognizeyou know what are some of the
characteristics so that you cansee and actually recognize that
you're in a rut, because beforeyou can overcome that stagnation
, you've got to know andidentify the signs.
(04:43):
So first is a lack ofmotivation.
That's a sign that you may bein a rut, you know.
Feeling uninspired and you know, possibly disengaged, you know,
from your business mission.
Another is a decline inperformance.
You know the business growthhas plateaued or maybe declined,
(05:07):
but you recognize a decline inperformance of the business
organization and even ofyourself.
Another is emotional burnout.
You know constantly feelingtired or fatigued or you know
you feel like there's a lot ofstress going on or maybe a lack
(05:27):
of enthusiasm, so emotionalburnout.
Another is spiritual dryness.
You feel distant from God andunsure of his direction for you.
You may be in a rut Lack ofinnovation.
You know you're struggling todevelop new ideas or strategies.
Another is repeating the sameroutines without any noticeable
(05:52):
progress.
That sometimes means you're ina rut, experiencing low energy
levels.
Again, it kind of leads you tobelieve that you could be in a
rut, struggling, you know, witha feeling of being overwhelmed
or frustrated without any clearsolutions.
(06:14):
You may be in a rut.
You may be in a rut if you'reseeing stagnant business growth.
That kind of tells you thatmaybe your leadership or other
leadership is stagnant, it's noteffective, it's not growing.
(06:35):
Now, once you recognize thesesigns, I believe then you can
begin to take steps towards Idon't know, I guess a real
renewal in your life.
A real renewal in your life.
You know, Ecclesiastes 3 and 1says for everything there is a
season and a time for everymatter under heaven.
This verse really encouragesthe idea that life has seasons,
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meaning that even when you feelstuck in a rut, there is a time,
a time for change and renewalthat's coming ahead.
You're not going to have tostay in that rut forever.
It reminds us that God's alwayspresent and he can help us move
forward, even when we feelstagnant, you know, by providing
strength and guidance to reallybreak out of that rut, you know
(07:24):
.
So that's really, reallyimportant.
You've got to look at severalthings, I think, that can help
you to get out of a rut, andwe're going to look at 10 of
them.
We're going to look at 10 waysthat you can get out of a rut,
and first and foremost isreconnecting.
And first and foremost isreconnecting reconnecting with
(07:46):
God's vision, reconnecting withGod's vision for your life and
for your business organization.
You know, your role really as aleader is, first and foremost,
a calling from God, and so ifyou feel stuck, if you feel like
you're in a rut, you need torevisit that purpose, that
purpose that God established foryou and your business.
(08:07):
Now some action steps might beyou need to pray for clarity,
ask God to reveal his directionfor you and your business.
You know James 1 and 5 talksabout asking God for wisdom and
he will give it to you.
So I think you'd have to prayfor direction.
(08:27):
Another action step is seekspiritual renewal.
Seek spiritual renewal.
Take some dedicated time awayfrom your daily routine to seek
God.
You can never seek God morethan you should.
You can never dedicate time toGod more than you should.
(08:50):
So just seek his spiritualrenewal for your life.
Next, reflect on past promises.
Revisit the scriptures orprophetic words that encouraged
you in the past.
Revisit those things, look atthem again, get your mind on
them and begin to meditate uponGod's word.
(09:12):
Next is to kind of reflect onpast promises or I should not
say that, I just talked aboutthat.
But reading biblical stories, Ithink of overcomers, study
leaders like Joseph and Nehemiahand David.
(09:32):
These guys all faced challenges, but the great thing is that
they overcome and overcame thosechallenges.
So you want to reconnect withGod's vision in your life.
You know, proverbs 16 and 3says commit your works to the
Lord and your plans will beestablished.
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God wants to give you the plan,and when you get God's plan,
it's automatically blessed.
You know, if you come up withsomething on your own, then you
got to go to God, you got to askhim to bless it, but when you
get God's plan, it'sautomatically blessed.
If you come up with somethingon your own, then you got to go
to God, you got to ask him tobless it, but when you get God's
plan, it's automaticallyblessed.
So you need to reconnect andfind out what that is and
revisit your purpose with God.
(10:15):
The second thing you can do toget out of a rut is to reset
your mindset.
So, again, part of that isreconnecting with your purpose.
You know, kind of revisit whyyou started your business or
leadership journey or identifythose core mission and vision
values and what they may be.
(10:36):
Maybe you need to journal orreflect on the impact that you
want to create in others' livesand the world around you,
obviously.
So what's an action step here?
What can you do?
Well, why don't you spend sometime and write down three
reasons why your leadershipreally matters and the
(11:01):
difference you want to make?
That's a great exercise.
And just let me say this to youIf you go to
wwwchristianbusinessconceptsorgand click on the resources
button.
You'll find a lot of resourcesthere that are available to you,
(11:22):
and I did some handouts andsome worksheets for this
particular podcast, so feel freeto go there and download those
and print those off for your use, and it'll help you as you work
towards getting out of this rut.
(11:43):
So write down three reasons whyyour leadership matters and the
difference you want to make, andthen another way you can reset
your mindset is to shift yourthinking from being
problem-focused and beingfocused on the problems to
solution-focused.
So begin to think about thesolutions instead of just the
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problem.
You know, instead of dwellingon what's not working, ask what
small changes maybe can you maketoday to make changes and to
change that course and get outof that rut.
You can seek opportunities forgrowth and learning and you can
do that just about in everychallenge and then replace this
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negative self-talk that you mayhave right now with some very
positive affirmations accordingto the Word of God.
You know you may have to tellyourself I am capable of leading
through these challenges.
You know you can tell yourselfthat because yourself, that
because the Word of God backsthat up, because it says that
you can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens you.
(12:51):
I think there's a lot ofpositive affirmations that you
can tell yourself that alignswith the Word of God.
So identify what you want to doin that case.
When you're talking about beingproblem focused versus solution
focused, if you want to becomemore solution focused, then
identify maybe one challengemaybe and then list three
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possible solutions to that oneparticular challenge.
That'll help you.
Number three you know, refreshyour leadership approach.
You know if you're in a rut, itmay take, it may be time to
maybe rethink how you lead.
Maybe you make some necessaryadjustments.
(13:37):
So some of those action stepsthat you can do here would be to
reevaluate your leadershipstyle, identify what's working
and what needs to change, andthen seek out some very wise
counsel.
Talk to some mentors, maybesome other Christian business
leaders or a coach, but get somegood counsel and then empower
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your team.
You know you need to involveothers in problem solving and
vision casting and then learnfrom your failures.
Learn from your failures, youknow.
Use setbacks really as anopportunity for growth and
adjustment.
You know Proverbs 11 and 14says where there is no guidance,
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people falls.
But in the abundance ofcounselors there is safety.
So, you know, kind of refreshyour leadership approach by
doing some of these things.
Number four is re-evaluate andadjust your strategies.
(14:44):
You know, re-evaluate them.
You know strategies should bere-evaluated on an annual basis.
Now, if you need to do it moreoften, then you do it more often
, but they should, at least oncea year be evaluated and you
need to assess at that pointwhat's not working.
You know, do a business andleadership audit and you need to
(15:06):
assess at that point what's notworking.
Do a business and leadershipaudit.
What areas do you feel stuck in?
And then get some honestfeedback from maybe some of your
team members, maybe somementors or peers that you have
in your life, and maybe you seektheir feedback and then use
performance metrics.
You know what I'm saying.
So identify what thesestagnation points are and then,
(15:31):
you know, develop some metricsto get out of that.
So, again, action steps couldbe.
You know, list three thingsthat need to change in your
leadership or business strategy.
Just list them, put them onpaper, put your eyes on them,
all right.
Number five you need to reigniteyour passion for your work.
(15:54):
Losing passion can be a signthat you need to get out of a
rut.
It may be a sign that you needrenewal or inspiration.
So what can you do to do that?
Well, revisit your why.
That's what I like to say.
Why do you do what you do?
Why do you lead the way youlead, why?
(16:16):
And just continue to peel backthat onion, so to speak, and
pull back those layers until youget to the very root of why.
Remind yourself why you startedthat business, and then take a
strategic break.
You know, just kind of stepback for a few days and just get
a better, fresher perspective.
(16:37):
Sometimes that's all you needto do to get out of a rut.
And then maybe attend abusiness leadership conference,
you know, kind of engage in somenew learning, some networking,
and then find a new challenge.
You know, set some fresh goalsthat excite you and stretch you,
(16:58):
and then obviously make sureyou celebrate any small wins
that you have, recognize andappreciate progress, even in
small steps.
You know, colossians 3.23 saysWhatever you do, work heartily
as for the Lord and not for men.
(17:18):
So you know you want toreignite that passion, because
you want to do everythingheartily as you do unto the Lord
.
Number six, you want to createnew habits and some new routines
.
So if you've got someunproductive patterns, then you
(17:39):
want to change those.
You want to identify whatevertime wasters that you have Maybe
, identify whatever distractionsare maybe going on in your life
right now, and then youdelegate or even eliminate
certain tasks that don't reallygive much value for it.
I say a lot to people.
(18:00):
I'll say, well, I just don'tthink that the juice is worth
the squeeze.
It's not worth the effort tosqueeze the lemon for what
little juice you're going to getout of it.
And so you need to eliminate ordelegate some of those tasks
that just don't add a lot ofvalue, and maybe you just get
(18:20):
rid of them altogether that justdon't add a lot of value, and
maybe you just get rid of themaltogether.
But then you need to reduce,maybe, your I guess I'll call it
decision fatigue.
You know, when you're just sotired of making these tough
decisions, it just plays on youemotionally.
You know, try to simplify somechoices.
Try to simplify some choices.
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Now, you know, when you createnew habits and routines, one of
the things that you got to do isyou got to build momentum.
And so, because when you buildmomentum, it's like when a
rocket takes off from the planetEarth, you know, and tries to
go to the moon or wherever, ithas to build momentum as it
begins to leave the Earth'satmosphere.
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That momentum is where it'sgoing to see them through,
because those rocket engines aregoing to cut off and when they
do, if you've built up theproper momentum, you're going to
get to that destination inspace, whether it be the moon or
circling the globe or whateverit may be.
So start each day with somevery intentional planning and
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some very intentional prayer andmeditating upon his word.
That's how you need to starteach day and then commit to just
little, simple dailyimprovements, maybe in some very
specific key areas, and youhave to be the one to identify
those areas and then make sure,again, you celebrate the little
wins.
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It helps you really to staymotivated.
So, just you know, as an actionstep, why don't you just
identify one daily habit thatyou could begin?
That will boost productivityand help you increase your
motivation.
(20:07):
Number seven develop a plan forbreakthrough.
Breaking free from a rutrequires some pretty actionable
steps towards a newness in yourlife.
What are some things that youcan do to do that?
First, you should set some very, very clear goals.
Very clear goals.
(20:34):
Define, you know, probablydefine three to five, you know,
short-term goals to really tryto get some momentum going.
And then what you want to do iscreate a daily success routine.
I've always said that a success,a person's success, is found in
his daily routine.
A person's success is found inhis daily routine.
So you want to maybe change upyour daily routine.
Make sure you include prayer,make sure you include planning.
(21:01):
You just want those habits tobe very productive, and so the
other thing that you can do isreally look at maybe developing
some new business strategies,experiment maybe with some very
innovative ideas.
But you want to do that and youwant then also to find some
accountability partners.
So you've got to find somepeople that you can connect with
, that you trust and who willchallenge and yet encourage you
(21:24):
as well.
You know Habakkuk 2 and 2 sayswrite the vision, make it plain
on tablets, so he may run whoreads it.
That's why this is so important.
What we're talking about whenI'm talking about developing a
plan for breakthrough.
All right.
Number eight take some boldactions.
You know the Bible says thathis people, that the righteous,
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they are as bold as a lion.
And so you know.
You've got to overcome fear,that his people, that the
righteous, they are as bold as alion, and so you've got to
overcome fear.
You've got to overcomeperfectionism.
You don't have to be perfect,you just got to put in the
effort.
But you don't have to beperfect and you need to just
accept the fact that failure attimes is part of growth.
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You're not going to grow a lotunless you fail a lot, because
failing a lot tells you thatyou're trying a lot of things
and you're doing a lot of thingsdifferently than you've done
before.
So take some calculated riskthere's nothing wrong with that
to break out of that stagnationor that rut.
Embrace progress overperfection, because I've always
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said perfection is the enemy ofprogress, perfection is the
enemy of progress.
If you're waiting for all thestars to line up or just waiting
for things to be perfect beforeyou pursued any further, then
that's a mistake, because youwant to take some calculated
risks, okay, and you just wantto make progress.
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You don't have to be perfect.
Another thing that you can dowhen you're taking bold actions
is to implement at least one newinitiative.
Maybe introduce a new productor a new strategy or
collaboration with anothercompany or organization and you
want to experiment with somefresh marketing approaches.
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You want to look at somethingnew to try to get out of that
rut.
You may have been doing thesame thing in the same way and
getting the same results for thelast 20 years, but what I'm
saying is that you should try totake some bold action, and part
of that is to try something new.
You can look at some newmarketing approaches, or even
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maybe some new opportunities, ormaybe even new partnerships,
for that matter.
So what can you do?
What's an action step that youcan do?
Well, identify one bold actionthat you can take within the
next 60 days.
So write that down Again.
These are a part of the studyguide and some of the handouts
(24:01):
that I have in the section ofthe website for you to look at
and for you to download andwrite in.
So those things will help you.
But that's just one of theaction steps.
And then what you want to do isyou want to strengthen Number
nine.
You want to strengthen yourfaith, strengthen your community
(24:24):
.
So isolation can make you feellike you're in a rut that's even
deeper than what it is.
So you want to surroundyourself with faith-driven
leaders.
So what are some action steps?
Well, why don't you join aChristian business network
there's a lot of those out thereand then surround yourself with
like-minded entrepreneurs?
(24:45):
You know, get involved inchurch ministry.
You know, when you serve others, it can bring really a new joy
and perspective in your life.
So get involved in your localchurch, because most churches
have a list where they needpeople to help and you can
decide on a scale of one to 10how committed you can be with
(25:06):
your time, because we all knowthat you don't have all the time
in the world, especially ifyou're a business leader.
Proverbs 27 and 17, it says asiron sharpens iron, so one
person sharpens another.
So he's talking about havingother people in your life and
don't make decisions in a vacuum.
Talk to some of these people,talk to some of these people.
(25:29):
Vacuum, you know.
Talk to some of these people,talk to some of these people,
and then you can connect withthose new mentors and coaches
who may be able to just give youa new perspective or a new
insight.
You can join a mastermind group.
That's a big thing.
If you don't know what that is,you can Google that.
But you can join a mastermindgroup.
You can be open, be very opento accountability and
(25:50):
constructive feedback and makesure you learn with others.
You can also attend conferences, workshops, just kind of some
networking events, and readbooks like Think and Grow Rich
or listen to leadership podcasts.
(26:11):
You can also take some onlinecourses and then surround
yourself with growth-mindedindividuals.
Don't hang around with peoplewho don't have any aspirations
at all.
Surround yourself with peoplewho are growth-minded.
Now what can you do?
Action stepwise.
Well, why don't you pick up onenew book, one new podcast to
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listen to or one new event toengage with this month, this
month?
Why don't you try that?
Maybe do a SWOT analysis.
You know strength, weaknesses,opportunities and threats.
Why don't you do a personalSWOT assessment and this can
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help you to include how yourfaith can be a strength and it
can mitigate weaknesses.
That's just an example.
And then number 10.
Number 10.
Why don't you trust God?
Trust God in the process.
You know, finally breaking outof a rut takes faith.
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It takes perseverance.
Some of those action stepswould be to surrender control to
God.
Stop trying to control it.
You can't control it anyway.
You can get lucky with some ofthe things that you're trying to
do, but the bottom line is isyou have to trust God to control
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what's going on in your lifeand to be a part of that, and
then the next thing you can dois just speak life over your
business or your organization,declare what God's promises are
over your work and over yourbusiness and over even your
leadership, and then remainpatient, be patient, you know.
(28:06):
Trust that God's plan isworking.
You can still trust God in thisprocess, even when you don't
see things.
So what can you do?
Why don't you write down threecommitments that you're going to
(28:31):
make to break out of your rutand move forward?
And I can share with you evensome additional resources.
You know there's some greatbooks like Business for the
Glory of God by Wayne Grudem.
That's G-R-U-D-E-M as in Mary,wayne Grudem, that's a great
book, business for the Glory ofGod.
Then one of my favorites, byJohn Maxwell, the 21 Irrefutable
(28:53):
Laws of Leadership.
Read that book if you haven't,and maybe certain organizations
like Christian Businessmen'sConnection.
There's another one called C12Business Forums, and then you're
just hanging out in a chat roomwith some of these great
leaders from around the country,around the world even, and
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you're in good company, and so Ithink that's important to do
and those are some additionalresources.
Now, every Christian businessleader is going to face
challenges and they're going tobe in a rut, from you know, at
one point in their life, maybemultiple times.
But you know God's vision foryour life and your business is
(29:43):
greater.
Keep this in mind.
It's greater than any rut thatyou could ever be in.
So by seeking him, by seekingGod could ever be in.
So by seeking him, by seekingGod and then adjusting your
strategies and reigniting yourpassion, I believe that you can
break free and move forward insuccess.
So keep pressing on with faith,with wisdom and bold action,
(30:04):
because breaking out of a rut asa Christian business leader, it
really involves more than justbusiness strategies.
It's about aligning yourbusiness practices with your
faith.
By integrating, say, spiritualdisciplines, we'll say with
(30:25):
business acumen, I believe thatleaders can find a really I
guess I would say a new vigor,more creativity and direction.
Remember, the journey out of arut is also a journey towards
deeper faith and deeperunderstanding in business
(30:49):
stewardship.
And deeper understanding inbusiness stewardship.
Father, I come before you rightnow on behalf of those who have
been listening today and thatare struggling and that feel
like they're in a rut, or maybethey have an employee or a
coworker or friend that's in arut.
Lord, I just ask that you helpthem apply these principles,
share these principles withothers and help them.
(31:10):
Oh, lord, I pray for them rightnow, that, lord, that they
would break free of that rut,that they may feel like they're
in.
Lord, thank you for ministeringto them, because I know that
you love them and, lord, I knowthat you want good for their
lives and, lord, I pray this inthe name of Jesus Christ, amen.
(31:31):
Well, I hope you've enjoyedthis podcast today.
I hope it's encouraged you, andthis is all the time we have
for this week.
So I want you to remember thatJesus is Lord and he wants you
blessed.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast, andhe wants you blessed.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome everyone to this week's Christian Business
Concepts podcast.
You know I'm so thankful thatyou've decided to download and
listen to this week's ChristianBusiness Concepts podcast.
You know I'm so thankful thatyou've decided to download and
listen to this episode.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and each week I discuss business
and professional biblicalprinciples to help business
leaders and owners, and evenorganizational leaders and other
(00:42):
people, find true godly successin their lives.
Not just worldly success, butgodly success.
And not only do theseprinciples work, but they work
in your career and in yourpersonal life as well.
So each week, I pray that thosewho listen will be encouraged,
(01:02):
enlightened and empowered to bethe best leader and person they
can be, and I believe that Godwants you blessed.
I believe that His Word is theblueprint for these blessings,
and so each week, I'm sothankful that you are a part of
(01:26):
what we're doing and that youtune in, that you download and
listen to these podcasts everyweek.
You know it's exciting for meto see the countries that are
represented and the placesaround the world that are
represented that have a desireto learn more about what God
says about them being successfuland what God says about them
being successful and what Godsays about them being able to be
(01:47):
great leaders and that they canlead their organizations or
companies to great successaccording to God's standards.
Now, before we get into today'stopic, let me give a big shout
out to a couple of places.
Number one is Colorado Springs,colorado.
Shout out to a couple of places.
Number one is Colorado Springs,colorado.
(02:08):
For the last few weeks, theyhave downloaded a lot of our
podcasts and we're excited tohave them, and their listeners
will be a part of this ministryand podcast.
And then also, I want to give abig shout out to the country of
New Zealand.
Again, they have just continuedto be a great partner and they
just are really hungry for whatGod has to say, and so we're
(02:32):
thankful for you being a partand for all of you who listen,
even on a weekly basis, to thispodcast.
So thank you for being such abig part of the CBC community,
and I appreciate all of you wholisten and help us to continue.
I pray that you help us tocontinue to grow the CBC family,
(02:53):
and you can do that by sharingthis podcast with four or five
others and, of course, byposting a link to the podcast on
your Facebook and your LinkedInpage.
You know each of you are a partof helping us to reach a
million business leaders andindividuals with this message of
(03:13):
having godly success,overworldly success.
So let's jump right in.
You know every leader and personfaces seasons of what you'd
call stagnation or frustration,or even exhaustion.
As a Christian business leader,these moments can feel
(03:36):
particularly heavy as yourleadership carries both
professional and spiritualsignificance and spiritual
significance and getting out ofa rut, which is what we're
talking about today, getting outof a rut really requires
(03:56):
intentional action.
It requires intentional faithand intentional practice and
certain steps to reignite yourpassion and to kind of refresh
your vision and realign withGod's purpose.
Being in a rut can affect yourdecision-making.
It can affect innovation andoverall effectiveness.
However, getting out of a rutis possible with very
(04:22):
intentional action and mindsetshifts and practical strategies.
So first you have to recognizeyou know what are some of the
characteristics so that you cansee and actually recognize that
you're in a rut, because beforeyou can overcome that stagnation
, you've got to know andidentify the signs.
(04:43):
So first is a lack ofmotivation.
That's a sign that you may bein a rut, you know.
Feeling uninspired and you know, possibly disengaged, you know,
from your business mission.
Another is a decline inperformance.
You know the business growthhas plateaued or maybe declined,
(05:07):
but you recognize a decline inperformance of the business
organization and even ofyourself.
Another is emotional burnout.
You know constantly feelingtired or fatigued or you know
you feel like there's a lot ofstress going on or maybe a lack
(05:27):
of enthusiasm, so emotionalburnout.
Another is spiritual dryness.
You feel distant from God andunsure of his direction for you.
You may be in a rut Lack ofinnovation.
You know you're struggling todevelop new ideas or strategies.
Another is repeating the sameroutines without any noticeable
(05:52):
progress.
That sometimes means you're ina rut, experiencing low energy
levels.
Again, it kind of leads you tobelieve that you could be in a
rut, struggling, you know, witha feeling of being overwhelmed
or frustrated without any clearsolutions.
(06:14):
You may be in a rut.
You may be in a rut if you'reseeing stagnant business growth.
That kind of tells you thatmaybe your leadership or other
leadership is stagnant, it's noteffective, it's not growing.
(06:35):
Now, once you recognize thesesigns, I believe then you can
begin to take steps towards Idon't know, I guess a real
renewal in your life.
A real renewal in your life.
You know, Ecclesiastes 3 and 1says for everything there is a
season and a time for everymatter under heaven.
This verse really encouragesthe idea that life has seasons,
(06:58):
meaning that even when you feelstuck in a rut, there is a time,
a time for change and renewalthat's coming ahead.
You're not going to have tostay in that rut forever.
It reminds us that God's alwayspresent and he can help us move
forward, even when we feelstagnant, you know, by providing
strength and guidance to reallybreak out of that rut, you know
(07:24):
.
So that's really, reallyimportant.
You've got to look at severalthings, I think, that can help
you to get out of a rut, andwe're going to look at 10 of
them.
We're going to look at 10 waysthat you can get out of a rut,
and first and foremost isreconnecting.
And first and foremost isreconnecting reconnecting with
(07:46):
God's vision, reconnecting withGod's vision for your life and
for your business organization.
You know, your role really as aleader is, first and foremost,
a calling from God, and so ifyou feel stuck, if you feel like
you're in a rut, you need torevisit that purpose, that
purpose that God established foryou and your business.
(08:07):
Now some action steps might beyou need to pray for clarity,
ask God to reveal his directionfor you and your business.
You know James 1 and 5 talksabout asking God for wisdom and
he will give it to you.
So I think you'd have to prayfor direction.
(08:27):
Another action step is seekspiritual renewal.
Seek spiritual renewal.
Take some dedicated time awayfrom your daily routine to seek
God.
You can never seek God morethan you should.
You can never dedicate time toGod more than you should.
(08:50):
So just seek his spiritualrenewal for your life.
Next, reflect on past promises.
Revisit the scriptures orprophetic words that encouraged
you in the past.
Revisit those things, look atthem again, get your mind on
them and begin to meditate uponGod's word.
(09:12):
Next is to kind of reflect onpast promises or I should not
say that, I just talked aboutthat.
But reading biblical stories, Ithink of overcomers, study
leaders like Joseph and Nehemiahand David.
(09:32):
These guys all faced challenges, but the great thing is that
they overcome and overcame thosechallenges.
So you want to reconnect withGod's vision in your life.
You know, proverbs 16 and 3says commit your works to the
Lord and your plans will beestablished.
(09:55):
God wants to give you the plan,and when you get God's plan,
it's automatically blessed.
You know, if you come up withsomething on your own, then you
got to go to God, you got to askhim to bless it, but when you
get God's plan, it'sautomatically blessed.
If you come up with somethingon your own, then you got to go
to God, you got to ask him tobless it, but when you get God's
plan, it's automaticallyblessed.
So you need to reconnect andfind out what that is and
revisit your purpose with God.
(10:15):
The second thing you can do toget out of a rut is to reset
your mindset.
So, again, part of that isreconnecting with your purpose.
You know, kind of revisit whyyou started your business or
leadership journey or identifythose core mission and vision
values and what they may be.
(10:36):
Maybe you need to journal orreflect on the impact that you
want to create in others' livesand the world around you,
obviously.
So what's an action step here?
What can you do?
Well, why don't you spend sometime and write down three
reasons why your leadershipreally matters and the
(11:01):
difference you want to make?
That's a great exercise.
And just let me say this to youIf you go to
wwwchristianbusinessconceptsorgand click on the resources
button.
You'll find a lot of resourcesthere that are available to you,
(11:22):
and I did some handouts andsome worksheets for this
particular podcast, so feel freeto go there and download those
and print those off for your use, and it'll help you as you work
towards getting out of this rut.
(11:43):
So write down three reasons whyyour leadership matters and the
difference you want to make, andthen another way you can reset
your mindset is to shift yourthinking from being
problem-focused and beingfocused on the problems to
solution-focused.
So begin to think about thesolutions instead of just the
(12:06):
problem.
You know, instead of dwellingon what's not working, ask what
small changes maybe can you maketoday to make changes and to
change that course and get outof that rut.
You can seek opportunities forgrowth and learning and you can
do that just about in everychallenge and then replace this
(12:29):
negative self-talk that you mayhave right now with some very
positive affirmations accordingto the Word of God.
You know you may have to tellyourself I am capable of leading
through these challenges.
You know you can tell yourselfthat because yourself, that
because the Word of God backsthat up, because it says that
you can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens you.
(12:51):
I think there's a lot ofpositive affirmations that you
can tell yourself that alignswith the Word of God.
So identify what you want to doin that case.
When you're talking about beingproblem focused versus solution
focused, if you want to becomemore solution focused, then
identify maybe one challengemaybe and then list three
(13:17):
possible solutions to that oneparticular challenge.
That'll help you.
Number three you know, refreshyour leadership approach.
You know if you're in a rut, itmay take, it may be time to
maybe rethink how you lead.
Maybe you make some necessaryadjustments.
(13:37):
So some of those action stepsthat you can do here would be to
reevaluate your leadershipstyle, identify what's working
and what needs to change, andthen seek out some very wise
counsel.
Talk to some mentors, maybesome other Christian business
leaders or a coach, but get somegood counsel and then empower
(14:01):
your team.
You know you need to involveothers in problem solving and
vision casting and then learnfrom your failures.
Learn from your failures, youknow.
Use setbacks really as anopportunity for growth and
adjustment.
You know Proverbs 11 and 14says where there is no guidance,
(14:23):
people falls.
But in the abundance ofcounselors there is safety.
So, you know, kind of refreshyour leadership approach by
doing some of these things.
Number four is re-evaluate andadjust your strategies.
(14:44):
You know, re-evaluate them.
You know strategies should bere-evaluated on an annual basis.
Now, if you need to do it moreoften, then you do it more often
, but they should, at least oncea year be evaluated and you
need to assess at that pointwhat's not working.
You know, do a business andleadership audit and you need to
(15:06):
assess at that point what's notworking.
Do a business and leadershipaudit.
What areas do you feel stuck in?
And then get some honestfeedback from maybe some of your
team members, maybe somementors or peers that you have
in your life, and maybe you seektheir feedback and then use
performance metrics.
You know what I'm saying.
So identify what thesestagnation points are and then,
(15:31):
you know, develop some metricsto get out of that.
So, again, action steps couldbe.
You know, list three thingsthat need to change in your
leadership or business strategy.
Just list them, put them onpaper, put your eyes on them,
all right.
Number five you need to reigniteyour passion for your work.
(15:54):
Losing passion can be a signthat you need to get out of a
rut.
It may be a sign that you needrenewal or inspiration.
So what can you do to do that?
Well, revisit your why.
That's what I like to say.
Why do you do what you do?
Why do you lead the way youlead, why?
(16:16):
And just continue to peel backthat onion, so to speak, and
pull back those layers until youget to the very root of why.
Remind yourself why you startedthat business, and then take a
strategic break.
You know, just kind of stepback for a few days and just get
a better, fresher perspective.
(16:37):
Sometimes that's all you needto do to get out of a rut.
And then maybe attend abusiness leadership conference,
you know, kind of engage in somenew learning, some networking,
and then find a new challenge.
You know, set some fresh goalsthat excite you and stretch you,
(16:58):
and then obviously make sureyou celebrate any small wins
that you have, recognize andappreciate progress, even in
small steps.
You know, colossians 3.23 saysWhatever you do, work heartily
as for the Lord and not for men.
(17:18):
So you know you want toreignite that passion, because
you want to do everythingheartily as you do unto the Lord
.
Number six, you want to createnew habits and some new routines
.
So if you've got someunproductive patterns, then you
(17:39):
want to change those.
You want to identify whatevertime wasters that you have Maybe
, identify whatever distractionsare maybe going on in your life
right now, and then youdelegate or even eliminate
certain tasks that don't reallygive much value for it.
I say a lot to people.
(18:00):
I'll say, well, I just don'tthink that the juice is worth
the squeeze.
It's not worth the effort tosqueeze the lemon for what
little juice you're going to getout of it.
And so you need to eliminate ordelegate some of those tasks
that just don't add a lot ofvalue, and maybe you just get
(18:20):
rid of them altogether that justdon't add a lot of value, and
maybe you just get rid of themaltogether.
But then you need to reduce,maybe, your I guess I'll call it
decision fatigue.
You know, when you're just sotired of making these tough
decisions, it just plays on youemotionally.
You know, try to simplify somechoices.
Try to simplify some choices.
(18:43):
Now, you know, when you createnew habits and routines, one of
the things that you got to do isyou got to build momentum.
And so, because when you buildmomentum, it's like when a
rocket takes off from the planetEarth, you know, and tries to
go to the moon or wherever, ithas to build momentum as it
begins to leave the Earth'satmosphere.
(19:03):
That momentum is where it'sgoing to see them through,
because those rocket engines aregoing to cut off and when they
do, if you've built up theproper momentum, you're going to
get to that destination inspace, whether it be the moon or
circling the globe or whateverit may be.
So start each day with somevery intentional planning and
(19:25):
some very intentional prayer andmeditating upon his word.
That's how you need to starteach day and then commit to just
little, simple dailyimprovements, maybe in some very
specific key areas, and youhave to be the one to identify
those areas and then make sure,again, you celebrate the little
wins.
(19:45):
It helps you really to staymotivated.
So, just you know, as an actionstep, why don't you just
identify one daily habit thatyou could begin?
That will boost productivityand help you increase your
motivation.
(20:07):
Number seven develop a plan forbreakthrough.
Breaking free from a rutrequires some pretty actionable
steps towards a newness in yourlife.
What are some things that youcan do to do that?
First, you should set some very, very clear goals.
Very clear goals.
(20:34):
Define, you know, probablydefine three to five, you know,
short-term goals to really tryto get some momentum going.
And then what you want to do iscreate a daily success routine.
I've always said that a success,a person's success, is found in
his daily routine.
A person's success is found inhis daily routine.
So you want to maybe change upyour daily routine.
Make sure you include prayer,make sure you include planning.
(21:01):
You just want those habits tobe very productive, and so the
other thing that you can do isreally look at maybe developing
some new business strategies,experiment maybe with some very
innovative ideas.
But you want to do that and youwant then also to find some
accountability partners.
So you've got to find somepeople that you can connect with
, that you trust and who willchallenge and yet encourage you
(21:24):
as well.
You know Habakkuk 2 and 2 sayswrite the vision, make it plain
on tablets, so he may run whoreads it.
That's why this is so important.
What we're talking about whenI'm talking about developing a
plan for breakthrough.
All right.
Number eight take some boldactions.
You know the Bible says thathis people, that the righteous,
(21:47):
they are as bold as a lion.
And so you know.
You've got to overcome fear,that his people, that the
righteous, they are as bold as alion, and so you've got to
overcome fear.
You've got to overcomeperfectionism.
You don't have to be perfect,you just got to put in the
effort.
But you don't have to beperfect and you need to just
accept the fact that failure attimes is part of growth.
(22:07):
You're not going to grow a lotunless you fail a lot, because
failing a lot tells you thatyou're trying a lot of things
and you're doing a lot of thingsdifferently than you've done
before.
So take some calculated riskthere's nothing wrong with that
to break out of that stagnationor that rut.
Embrace progress overperfection, because I've always
(22:27):
said perfection is the enemy ofprogress, perfection is the
enemy of progress.
If you're waiting for all thestars to line up or just waiting
for things to be perfect beforeyou pursued any further, then
that's a mistake, because youwant to take some calculated
risks, okay, and you just wantto make progress.
(22:49):
You don't have to be perfect.
Another thing that you can dowhen you're taking bold actions
is to implement at least one newinitiative.
Maybe introduce a new productor a new strategy or
collaboration with anothercompany or organization and you
want to experiment with somefresh marketing approaches.
(23:13):
You want to look at somethingnew to try to get out of that
rut.
You may have been doing thesame thing in the same way and
getting the same results for thelast 20 years, but what I'm
saying is that you should try totake some bold action, and part
of that is to try something new.
You can look at some newmarketing approaches, or even
(23:38):
maybe some new opportunities, ormaybe even new partnerships,
for that matter.
So what can you do?
What's an action step that youcan do?
Well, identify one bold actionthat you can take within the
next 60 days.
So write that down Again.
These are a part of the studyguide and some of the handouts
(24:01):
that I have in the section ofthe website for you to look at
and for you to download andwrite in.
So those things will help you.
But that's just one of theaction steps.
And then what you want to do isyou want to strengthen Number
nine.
You want to strengthen yourfaith, strengthen your community
(24:24):
.
So isolation can make you feellike you're in a rut that's even
deeper than what it is.
So you want to surroundyourself with faith-driven
leaders.
So what are some action steps?
Well, why don't you join aChristian business network
there's a lot of those out thereand then surround yourself with
like-minded entrepreneurs?
(24:45):
You know, get involved inchurch ministry.
You know, when you serve others, it can bring really a new joy
and perspective in your life.
So get involved in your localchurch, because most churches
have a list where they needpeople to help and you can
decide on a scale of one to 10how committed you can be with
(25:06):
your time, because we all knowthat you don't have all the time
in the world, especially ifyou're a business leader.
Proverbs 27 and 17, it says asiron sharpens iron, so one
person sharpens another.
So he's talking about havingother people in your life and
don't make decisions in a vacuum.
Talk to some of these people,talk to some of these people.
(25:29):
Vacuum, you know.
Talk to some of these people,talk to some of these people,
and then you can connect withthose new mentors and coaches
who may be able to just give youa new perspective or a new
insight.
You can join a mastermind group.
That's a big thing.
If you don't know what that is,you can Google that.
But you can join a mastermindgroup.
You can be open, be very opento accountability and
(25:50):
constructive feedback and makesure you learn with others.
You can also attend conferences, workshops, just kind of some
networking events, and readbooks like Think and Grow Rich
or listen to leadership podcasts.
(26:11):
You can also take some onlinecourses and then surround
yourself with growth-mindedindividuals.
Don't hang around with peoplewho don't have any aspirations
at all.
Surround yourself with peoplewho are growth-minded.
Now what can you do?
Action stepwise.
Well, why don't you pick up onenew book, one new podcast to
(26:33):
listen to or one new event toengage with this month, this
month?
Why don't you try that?
Maybe do a SWOT analysis.
You know strength, weaknesses,opportunities and threats.
Why don't you do a personalSWOT assessment and this can
(26:53):
help you to include how yourfaith can be a strength and it
can mitigate weaknesses.
That's just an example.
And then number 10.
Number 10.
Why don't you trust God?
Trust God in the process.
You know, finally breaking outof a rut takes faith.
(27:16):
It takes perseverance.
Some of those action stepswould be to surrender control to
God.
Stop trying to control it.
You can't control it anyway.
You can get lucky with some ofthe things that you're trying to
do, but the bottom line is isyou have to trust God to control
(27:37):
what's going on in your lifeand to be a part of that, and
then the next thing you can dois just speak life over your
business or your organization,declare what God's promises are
over your work and over yourbusiness and over even your
leadership, and then remainpatient, be patient, you know.
(28:06):
Trust that God's plan isworking.
You can still trust God in thisprocess, even when you don't
see things.
So what can you do?
Why don't you write down threecommitments that you're going to
(28:31):
make to break out of your rutand move forward?
And I can share with you evensome additional resources.
You know there's some greatbooks like Business for the
Glory of God by Wayne Grudem.
That's G-R-U-D-E-M as in Mary,wayne Grudem, that's a great
book, business for the Glory ofGod.
Then one of my favorites, byJohn Maxwell, the 21 Irrefutable
(28:53):
Laws of Leadership.
Read that book if you haven't,and maybe certain organizations
like Christian Businessmen'sConnection.
There's another one called C12Business Forums, and then you're
just hanging out in a chat roomwith some of these great
leaders from around the country,around the world even, and
(29:18):
you're in good company, and so Ithink that's important to do
and those are some additionalresources.
Now, every Christian businessleader is going to face
challenges and they're going tobe in a rut, from you know, at
one point in their life, maybemultiple times.
But you know God's vision foryour life and your business is
(29:43):
greater.
Keep this in mind.
It's greater than any rut thatyou could ever be in.
So by seeking him, by seekingGod could ever be in.
So by seeking him, by seekingGod and then adjusting your
strategies and reigniting yourpassion, I believe that you can
break free and move forward insuccess.
So keep pressing on with faith,with wisdom and bold action,
(30:04):
because breaking out of a rut asa Christian business leader, it
really involves more than justbusiness strategies.
It's about aligning yourbusiness practices with your
faith.
By integrating, say, spiritualdisciplines, we'll say with
(30:25):
business acumen, I believe thatleaders can find a really I
guess I would say a new vigor,more creativity and direction.
Remember, the journey out of arut is also a journey towards
deeper faith and deeperunderstanding in business
(30:49):
stewardship.
And deeper understanding inbusiness stewardship.
Father, I come before you rightnow on behalf of those who have
been listening today and thatare struggling and that feel
like they're in a rut, or maybethey have an employee or a
coworker or friend that's in arut.
Lord, I just ask that you helpthem apply these principles,
share these principles withothers and help them.
(31:10):
Oh, lord, I pray for them rightnow, that, lord, that they
would break free of that rut,that they may feel like they're
in.
Lord, thank you for ministeringto them, because I know that
you love them and, lord, I knowthat you want good for their
lives and, lord, I pray this inthe name of Jesus Christ, amen.
(31:31):
Well, I hope you've enjoyedthis podcast today.
I hope it's encouraged you, andthis is all the time we have
for this week.
So I want you to remember thatJesus is Lord and he wants you
blessed.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast, andhe wants you blessed.
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