GOALS 101

January 2, 2019 • Benham Brothers

A dream written down is a goal. A goal broken down is a plan. A plan acted upon leads to profit (Proverbs 16:9). You cannot accomplish your goals apart from discipline and diligence. You cannot maintain discipline without knowing WHY you have the goal in the first place. Seven Keys to creating goals: 1) Establish Long Term and Short Term Goals - a long term goal is what you want to accomplish or become in 5 years, 10 years, lifetime. Short term goals are the ones that are measurable and include more of your day-to-day activities. 2) KISS - keep it simple stupid! When you start thinking of all the things you want to accomplish you'll end up writing a book. Refine this down to one or two points for each category. 3) Categorize - you can split them up however you want. Financial, Personal, Business, Spiritual, etc (you can have one or two sub-categories under these as well). It doesn't matter what categories you use - just do something that helps you keep track. 4) Write them down - that's what your Memo App is for! Put it on your PDA and carry them with you everywhere. 5) Measure them - every quarter take inventory and then write a date beside the ones you've accomplished. You have to put goals that can be measured - don't just put "Become a better husband." Instead, put "One date night a week" or something like that. 6) Refine - take inventory to see if you need to change a goal. There's nothing wrong with that. We plan our way but God determines our course, so sometimes you'll end up on a different course which makes your previous goal moot. 7) Pray over them daily - at the bottom of my goals list I put Proverbs 16:3 - "Commit your way to the Lord and your plans will succeed." The beauty of this is that when you're walking with the Lord He will give you the plans He wants you to follow - so just make a plan and stick to it. He'll change them when/if He sees fit. Either way, your/His plans will succeed.

Producer vs Consumer

January 16, 2020 • Benham Brothers

How to be a Good Worker

January 19, 2017 • Benham Brothers

​ Jacob was a producer, not a consumer. When Laban asked Jacob what he wanted Jacob didn’t ask for a hand-out. He wanted to earn his keep. He asked for the runt of the litter as his keep. Laban made a dumb deal, but this was God’s way of increasing Jacob’s wealth. God gave Jacob a creative idea on mating certain sheep in front of sticks to give them streaks (Genesis 31:10). Jacob took the junk and turned them into a fortune. We did the same with foreclosures in 2003. No other brokers wanted to sell them, but God gave us a vision on how to do it. This is a great picture of God and man working hand-in-hand. Jacob still had some “conniver” in him, but God was still with him none-the-less. Genesis 31:38-42 - This is the type of worker Jacob was: 1) He cared about his work (vs 38a). 2) He did quality work (vs 38b). 3) He didn’t take advantage of his position (vs 38c). 4) He took personal responsibility for losses (vs 39). 5) He worked hard and didn’t complain (vs 40). 6) He never asked for handouts (vs 41). 7) He partnered with God (vs 42). Genesis 32:10 - the reward for partnering with God in your work!