Back when I was a bodybuilder... well.... at least was single, working in a foreign town with hardly any friends and was committed to working out for hours everyday - I was able to discover principles to overcome plateaus.

These rules were: first consistency, second intensity, and thirdly method.

( And now while reflecting on the way I'm running my new company and blog Church Marketing TV - I'm realizing that those same rules could help me in my business.

So here's what it means.

First, unless you are consistent nothing else matters.

If you are not consistently working a plan and making constant effort; a sporadic or one time intense push will do nothing for the big picture. Working an all-nighter two times a year will do nothing if you not working a few hours a day over many months.

If you are not consistently working - it doesn't matter how much education you have, how many techniques you can learn or skills you can acquire. Skills do not equal diligence. No matter how much you learn, you will still have to go through the process of consistent and diligent work.

Second, intensity trumps methodology.

Returning to my bodybuilding days, I would read through fitness magazines and look at various website to see what "new" and "unique" technique I could learn to do things different. People often talk about changing things up with you're not seeing any gains.

But if I were to compare the results of the "latest technique" done moderately vs. doing an old technique with incredible zeal leaving me breathless and sore for days, the intense workout would alway bring more results.

I wrote in a previous post about an eye-opening conversation I had with a professional internet marketer where he suggested that I work like a mad-man for many months in order to really learn. He said that if I would put in a couple hundred hour weeks, I'd learn through experience things you would never understand via books or mentors.

Thirdly comes the method ( or education, skill or technique )

Once you have commitment and follow-through, have increased your intensity - tweaking your method is sure to bring great growth.

So if you're like me, you need to read less blogs, and write more of your own. Schedule and spread your work out so you can go the distance. Stop asking questions and start gaining more experiences.

Good luck!

P.S. If you have other ideas, please share how you overcome plateau and see growth.

In the best selling book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Steven Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind."

(Sorry I don't recall which habit that is. Probably number two or three.)

In my interpretation, he's somewhat saying people who live effectively have the ability to project themselves to their death bed and evaluate life from that perspective.

Meaning that we value things differently at the end of life as opposed to when we feel like we will live forever.

Pastor and author John Piper sent a tweet a few weeks ago saying something like, "true freedom is doing what you want and not regretting those decisions for a thousand years."

Wow. Now that's perspective!

Is what you're doing, deciding or valuing going to stand before the judgment seat of God? Or will your great great great grandchildren be better off, not just materially, but morally and spiritually because the person you chose to become?

This past summer, a group of new friends and I decided to share with one another our backgrounds. One guy began his story with six words that I will never forget. He didn't start with where he was born, nor how his parents met; but started with the life of one of his grandparents and said: "I come from an incredible heritage."

Now that's what I pray my grandchildren will say about their background.

Would you say these two are the same thing?

I don't.

Here are a few reasons.

Potential is a concept and measurement of human ability. It normally describes what someone could possibly achieve by accepting every opportunity.

The problem with pure potential fulfillment is that's its normally looked at thru an earthly perspective, not a heavenly one. Potential says that Michael Jordan could not 'only' be a great basketball player, but if retired right at his peak instead coming in and out- he could have trained harder and maybe became an ok major league baseball player - instead of the mediocre minor league player he was.

Potential says that your calling is not enough. It says that not only can you do what God wants you to do, but you can do more!! You can ALSO write books by transcribing your sermons. You can ALSO travel every other weekend if invited. You can ALSO get a TV show since hey, you've got a huge following, your books are selling, and you need to strike while the fire is hot!!

Seeking to maximize your potential, assumes God needs it in order to work through you. It assumes that your DNA is synonymous with God's will and plan. It assumes that quantity and quality are the same. Lastly, one who lives totally to fulfill their human potential can turn into a Matthew 7:21 individual who stands before God listing all of their accomplishments for God unbeknowing that they never had an intimate relationship nor received personal instructions.

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What do you think?

Please comment below:

It's not that happily ever after doesn't happen; it does.
And it's not that rags-to-riches turnarounds don't occur; they do.

But I think somehow we've come to believe that some lucky people can make it through life without real hardships. Our eyes have become dull to reality and redirected toward our hopes and wishes. We think that there is a way to escape the universal depravity which infects every sphere and strata of our existence.

So, there will be difficulty. There will not only be unexpected hardships, but there will very likely be incredibly heart wrenching challenges to overcome and pitfalls that we will have to crawl out of.

And if by chance, we find such luck that we ourselves are not the victims, I guarantee you that among the people we most love and care about there will be victims - and we’ll have to walk through it with them.

Sorry.

I don't think fairy tales are real.

Happily ever after? Yes, definitely! I believe in the triumph. I believe in victory at all costs. But there are always casualties in war that no one speaks of publicly.

Many times it's not just the difficulty of our circumstances that cripple us. No, it's the expectations that we had. Our theology. Our thoughts about God. 

We just KNEW, (or perhaps we were taught) that if we lived right, prayed right, and believed unwaveringly, that "big" problems would not come our way. So, when they do show up, we're devastated. We're shattered. And now we have to recreate reality. We don't know what's real anymore, since our reality was...you know...a fairy tale. 

But I do believe in happily ever after. 

I believe that through the storms of life, through whatever difficulties we encounter, God is faithful to those who trust in Him. Not trusting that things will go our way. Not trusting that everything will work out according to our wishes, but trusting that God is good, and that he is love, and that in the end he will work things our for our good - and ultimately for His own glory.

Nor in the mood to follow through with what you've set out to do.

For most people, they live and work within the obligations of others. And so for the sake of their pride or their job, they some how find the strength to press on and get the job done.

But then there are the other types. People like us who somewhat answer to no one. At least in the area of our dreams that we are quietly pursuing.

And so the problem with us is, since no one's making us or threatening us, we can always change our mind and/or procrastinate. And if your hustle, your dream, your "thing" requires a little creativity - you can also make the excuse of a "lack of inspiration".

Here's two things I've learned from watching other people who have a self-driven commitment and follow-through.

1). Inspiration will often not be there but you still must create. A lifetime of consistancy beats random one hit wonders.

2). Some of your greatest works will come when you're not inspired! Though they may not mean a lot to you at the time, they can still be inspiring and enlightening to others.

What does it take to drop a principle or piece of wisdom 12 inches from your head to your heart?

For over a month now and friend and I have been reading the 24 chapters from the book of Luke every week. The first three or four times I really hadn't got anything from it. I've been focusing on finishing the readings as opposed to gaining any insights from it.

Then around my fifth time or so, it's started challenging me.

Last week a certain verse popped out at me and slapped me in the face. I was just telling my sister-n-law about a new mind set I was developing and now I see it's about 180 degrees off from an admonishment of Jesus!

Oops!?

I've read this book many other scriptures for years. Some principles I have memorized. Some have been transcribed to my Moleskine. But unfortunately, most haven't come anywhere near my heart - nor changed the way I live.

In Luke 6, Jesus talks about the carpenter who built a house but didn't lay any the foundation. He says people who hear Him but don't change, have structures built on sand and unable to withstand storms.

I guess I've always assumed since I've obeyed the major (imo) sayings of Jesus, I don't have to sweat every single command.

But now, after a recent storm, I'm peering into my foundation and I see that it's incredibly thin. It has many unfinished areas, missing parts, and a few fractured sections. In certain departments I've talked a good game but haven't been able to carry the weight of the words to completion.

Head-knowledge, quotable quotes, and a life principles are easy to come by. But to live by them - it takes time; it takes meditation, reflection, and lots of repetition.

John Maxwell in Failing Forward says, "you know you've learned a lesson when your actions change."

Apostle Paul says, "Godly sorrow brings about behavior modifications." (My paraphrase).

Tim Story puts learning and growth as going from "revelation, to conviction, to movement."

That until information make us move it will always be vain.

Vanity is sweating, when you should resting.

Vanity is living by the slogan: "fake it, til you make it."

Vanity is building a life with no foundation.