Focus On The Right Thing!

I recently took my 15 year old grandson, Josh, on vacation with us to Washington DC. Guess who had just gotten his learner’s permit and wanted to drive. Since I am the ‘cool grandpa’, Josh got to drive – on the interstate when traffic was not too heavy.

When he first got behind the wheel, I noticed he had a tendency to weave a little. After a couple of minutes, I asked him how he was maintaining his lane. He said, “I am judging where I am by the white strip on the side of the highway and the broken line that separates the lanes.” He was steering the car based on where he was instead of where he wanted to go.

Very calmly (depending on whom you ask), I suggested he begin to watch the horizon and drive toward it without paying so much attention to the dividing lines. Once he began to trust that technique, his control of the car improved greatly and the ride was so much smoother. His confidence in his driving ability was at an all-time high!

This reminded me of the Apostle Peter when he walked on water with Jesus in Matthew 14. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on the water. But when Peter noticed the high winds and rough waves, he began to sink! Did you know that the same wind and waves were present while Peter was both walking and sinking? So, what made the difference in Peter’s success? Peter’s focus!

What a great life principle for the busy adult who is pursuing their degree while maintaining their professional life, their family life, their church life and their sanity! The ultimate goal is to earn the degree. As long as the focus is on that goal the distractions of life that could derail that pursuit can be navigated. But when the focus shifts from the goal to the distractions, the circumstances can be overwhelming!

The encouragement is to maintain the focus on finishing the degree no matter what is going on around you. Life is going to happen. Keeping your focus on the goal of your degree will enable you to handle the challenges of life and earn your degree at the same time!

Be Today Who You Desire to be Tomorrow: 3 ways to insure you reaching your desired career

1st – Invest in yourself
Do you have a tendency to put yourself on the back burner? Do not worry, you are not alone. Many people do including wives, husbands, parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters in order to take care of their loved ones. This is what we are supposed to do, however we are not supposed to neglect ourselves in the process. If we take better care of ourselves then we are able to better take care of others, right? Makes sense! Many times we are tricked into thinking just the opposite. We think we have to neglect ourselves, our needs, our wants and our desires. Continue pushing hard in school, sometimes it will be tough but you must, invest in yourself, YOU are worth it!!!!
2nd- Couple Your Education with Your Work Experience
Working in education I have heard time and time again that people have numerous years of experience, but cannot get that promotion or pay grade they want due to not having a degree. I can personally testify that after I completed my degree I gained an array of options pertaining to my employment, one of which I hold today as Director at Belhaven Houston. I felt many years ago that God was moving me to get my degree. I personally did not start college until my late twenties. I am so glad I did because otherwise I would not be encouraging you today to consider doing the same. If you felt the Lord lead you here to get your degree, go for it with all of your might, and when you get weary, call us we are here to help!!!
3rd- Understand Your Value
Too many times we go into an interview thinking, “I need this job.” The demands of bills and debt cause us sometime to settle for jobs that we would not want otherwise, but feel obligated to take due to necessity. What if we changed our way of thinking and decided to not settle for anything less than what we want. Instead of letting the employer interview us, what if we interviewed them? Just changing this perspective going into the interview will boost yourself confidence. Know your value, the asset that you are going to be to the company you are interviewing for and articulate it in such a way that you are not cocky, but confident. Whatever you do, do not settle for less than God’s best!!!

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