Have you ever lost an inspirational idea? Or, have you ever felt trapped in your own mental clutter? For the next three days I want to share these no-nonsense tips that will keep you motivated toward achieving your aspirations! Let’s get started equipping our toolbox!

Tool #1: Take a Personality Test

Personality tests can identify how we function in stressful environments, how we approach practical problem solving, whether we are competitive in nature, how well we work in teams, as well as pinpointing our best career choices. For my English speaking friends, I recommend the Kendall Life Languages test at www.lifelanguages.com. This test identifies communication style and recommends related career paths.

The internet offers many resources such as Queendom.com, providing a full range of psychological assessments that empower you to reach your potential. These include emotional intelligence tests for improving how you lead and interact with people. Recently, I found the Oxford Happiness Test on theguardian.com. From curiosity, I took one of their brief personality tests which, not surprisingly, indicated I should be a public speaker!

Did you know that the average person has between 25,000 and 50,000 thoughts per day? And much of your behavior depends on your thoughts and attitudes! While playing athletics I developed a saying to motivate me each morning: “I am alive, alert, awake, joyous, and enthusiastic about life!”

Although I had to rise each morning at 5 am for basketball practice, I would lie awake most nights with aching joints due to my rapid growth. How did I get up each morning? I programmed myself!  I learned that getting control of my thoughts allowed me to control my actions!

Behavior is defined as the way in which one conducts oneself, especially toward others. It is also defined as the way in which a person responds to a particular situation or stimulus. By evaluating our behavior patterns, both to internal and external stimuli, we discover new levels of self-awareness.

For the next two days I will be sharing some tips that can help you take control of your thoughts and attitudes and move toward a healthier you!

Here are some soul-searching questions to direct you toward discovering both the talent you possess, and the talent you are willing to pay any price to develop!

First, ask yourself the all-important purpose questions.

What do I want to do? What am I passionate about? What brings me joy and fulfillment? Am I living my personal values? Sometimes your very first thought is the answer you have been seeking! Liberate the idea that’s in your heart! Write it down! If you do, you will discover that with a little attention the idea will grow!

Belva Davis, the first black TV journalist in the Western United States said, “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.”

Second, ask the vital “What If” questions to expand your horizon. What would I attempt if I knew I couldn’t fail? Most talent remains undeveloped on the trash heap of If only I had…tried that new job, achieved that degree, written that book. What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? Think about it. Document your thoughts. Raise your expectations and dare to dream the impossible! You can get out of the box! God-given talent and desires have been placed within you to impact the world for good!

According to success coach, Brian Tracy, “the key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear.” These ‘what if’ questions will help you identify your fears and expand your boundaries! President Franklin D. Roosevelt is famously quoted as saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Third, ask others their perspective to gain insight.

Who knows you better than your family and closest friends? Ask a friend, family member or co-worker what they perceive as your strongest characteristic, special gifting or unique ability. Write down the names of at least two people you can consult with.

Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your strengths and your weaknesses. You might be surprised at what you discover when you give others the permission to speak into your world! Remember: People pleasers will tell you what you want to hear. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear!

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why don’t I have the talent I need? If I did, I’d accomplish my goals much faster!” However, I’ve discovered that talent is never enough!  I was reminded of this during a long writing session preparing for my training seminars. It seemed that though I loved writing, if I were really good at it I would do it much faster. But I have learned in over 25 years of inspiring spiritual leaders, business people and the general public, that there are no short cuts in life! Only determined, hard work focused on a quality outcome with intentional effort will produce results that set you apart from the pack.

What is hard work? It’s not just lifting a 100-pound package or moving a pallet of bricks with your bare hands. No! It is the discipline required to remain focused and meet your deadlines. Movie producer Stephen King says, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

What is a quality outcome? It is creating something worthy of your approval, knowing that you gave it your very best! It is working and re-working that piece so it stands out above the rest. It is being willing to re-edit, again and again, your thoughts and dreams! It is raising the bar and setting your goal even higher when you think you’ve already finished!

What is intentional effort? It is deliberately putting your energy levels to the test when your body, your mind, and even your friends say, “Ah, you can finish tomorrow,” or “is this really worth all the effort?”

Tomorrow I will be asking some “Soul-Searching Questions” that will direct you toward discovering both the talent you possess, and the talent you are willing to pay any price to develop!

One of the real challenges that stands as a mountain before a person is the delay of their dreams. It is difficult for people to deal with time, they expect solutions instantly. They want it now, not five minutes from now!

This time expectation is most acute and unique to American society. They are inventors of fast food because it is believed that fast is always better! Now, let me help you understand time. God has no time frame that controls Him. The whole spectrum of time is always laid before Him, so He does not experience time as a limiter.

Faith is what He has given us to enter into the reality that He lives in.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith is the quality of a human being that allows us to see and be happy about our answer now. We are not waiting for the physical manifestation to be happy, or fulfilled, or confident. We enjoy what we believe as if we had the things we believe for now in our possession. What does this do for us?

It puts eternity into our heart!

What we have received as our inheritance from God is ours right now. Get happy about it and you will see it!

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1

Today we continue with the last 4 steps to begin initiating your creative process:

The fourth step, wait for it! What do we wait for? Clarity!  The moment when the light suddenly comes on, the darkness disappears, and your mind clearly pictures the idea you’ve been searching for. It often occurs when you least expect it…like while you’re sitting in a beautiful garden listening to the birds.

Fifth, test it! Give your idea a try! Confirm it. Your brilliant solution must now be verified. Are you open to evaluation and criticism? Can you sincerely assess possible shortcomings and faults?  Honest assessment is a vital part of the creative process!

Remember, creativity requires courage! Sir Ken Robinson, author and international advisor on education in the Arts says, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.”

Sixth, get up again! As an inventor, Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts to invent the incandescent light bulb! Edison’s teachers had said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” When asked about his repeated lightbulb failures, he simply said that he had discovered 1,000 ways not to build a lightbulb!  Edison’s 1,000 attempts were not failure but discovery!  Learn to celebrate your failures and embrace discovery!

Seventh, remember, you are in it to win it!  Now that you’ve refined your idea, it’s time to plan it, grow it, and build it. This is where the real work begins. Like a long distance runner, you are now launching a journey that will require training, resources, and energy. Keep looking forward! Some of the greatest creativity ever displayed by humanity is a result of thousands of hours of laborious experimentation.

How do we initiate the creative process? Does it require hours of educational training?  For years, my husband has been committed to some type of daily writing.  In the early years of our marriage he wrote 6 pages a day on the topic that he was studying. As technology progressed he moved into writing a daily blog. Now he writes books by writing at least one well thought out page each day. His structure for writing is much clearer and his goals are simplified, but he continues to place a constant demand upon his creativity.

How do you begin? For the next two days we will look at 7 steps essential to unlocking your Creativity.

First, see it!  Define the problem you need to solve or the project you want to create. Look at it from different perspectives. In other words, keep reframing the idea, researching for insights from different viewpoints.

Second, go for a plunge! Dive deep into the materials you’ve gathered. Don’t just stick your toe in the edge of the water, immerse yourself. Allow the reality of what you expect to solve or create to consume your thoughts.

Third, think on these things! The point is to let the information steep like a tea bag in hot water. All the seedlings of information you have gathered can now sprout in the soil of your mind. How? Take a break! Go for a walk—ponder the information!

My brother-in-law Pat is one of those amazing individuals who exemplifies the “courage to care.” Several years ago he was fighting a fire in downtown Detroit, a city that is infamous for the fires set in its scores of abandoned buildings.

What did Pat do? He jumped through a tiny basement window just in time to stop a man from setting a policewoman on fire! Somehow Pat wrestled her free of the assailant who had just doused her with gasoline and had a lighter in his hand!  His act of courage saved the woman, the house, and possibly his entire company.

I asked Pat, “How did you do this?” His response was simple: “You do the things you must to protect people. I am not sure I even thought about it…I just acted!”

I want to challenge you today to act on your instinct to help! Don’t be a bystander in life when you can be a participator! You can find the courage to care and you can change your nation, your family and your life!

Don’t ask what life can do for you, but ask, “What can I do to better the lives of others?” Remember Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends!

Scripture: John 15:13 (NIV)

In the spring of 1883 two young men graduated from medical school. The two differed from one another in both appearance and ambition. Ben was short and stocky. Will was tall and thin. Ben dreamed of practicing medicine on the affluent United States East Coast. Will wanted to work in a rural community.

Ben begged his friend to go to New York where they could both make a fortune. Will refused. His friend called him foolish for wanting to practice medicine in rural USA. “First of all,” Will said, “I want to be a great surgeon. The very best, if I have the ability.”

Years later the wealthy and powerful came from around the world to be treated by Will at his clinic. Today, the Mayo Clinic is one of the leading educational and research hospitals in the world. Why? Because someone chose a life mission to be the very best they could be, and in doing so opened a pathway for scores of others to follow!

Who is your neighbor? Who are you required to help in this world? Should you be involved in the business of rescuing others, or is it just better to sit by and watch people suffer?

A religious leader asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story about a man who was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes and beat him, leaving him almost dead.

A priest saw the injured man and quickly passed on the opposite side of the road. So did a second priest! Then a Samaritan man, considered lowlier than a dog but evidently having some wealth, took pity on the stranger, bandaged his wounds, put him in an inn and cared for him.

Jesus then posed this question, “Which of these three men was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hand of the robbers?” The religious leader responded, “The one who had mercy on him.”

In every human soul, there is a void—an emptiness, waiting to be filled. What will you pursue to fill that void? Success? Family? Prosperity? Education? Or are you willing to step out and set a different standard for your life? A standard that can make a difference?