Wouldn’t it be Nice to Have the Solution to the Puzzle of Life?
Life can be a bit complicated and difficult to find solutions, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. Solving life’s problems is similar to the Rubik’s Cube.
The Rubik’s Cube is one of the most famous puzzles of all time. Invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor of Architecture, Erno Rubik, the cube was not originally intended to be a game; its original purpose was for science.
The first time he scrambled the cube he thought it would be unsolvable. However, after a month’s time, Erno was finally able to solve the first Rubik’s Cube.
The purpose of the cube was to be able to rearrange the colors of a scrambled cube so that each of the six faces contained only one solid color. This is an extremely difficult feat…
There are over 40,000 ways to arrange the cube!
Rubik’s Cube enthusiasts have developed standard protocols for solving even the most difficult cube permutations. Today, these protocols are followed religiously by competitors in the worldwide Rubik’s cube speed cubing competitions. Most of these allow for solving the cube using less than 100 moves.
Many still struggle to solve their first cube, but the competition for speed cubing remains high, with the current record being 3.13 seconds.
The Rubik’s Cube is a fun and entertaining device that engages the minds of people around the world.
Life is like the Rubik’s Cube in that it is made up of a variety of colorful pieces, some the same, some different. All these pieces can be moved around, but they’re still connected to the bigger story. As we’ve been going through the Bible, we’ve seen examples of some colorful characters trying to figure things out.
Getting one side of a Rubik’s Cube done is pretty simple, but the further into it we get the harder it is. Life is like this as well, some parts of it are easy, some, not so much. Once we’ve figured out the puzzle and continue to do it, it gets easier. But, if you quit doing it for a while, it can be hard to pick it up and start again.
Solving a Rubik’s Cube can be done without help, but it’s easier with some. This help can come in the form of people with experience showing us or it could be written instructions. The same is true in life. We can figure it out on our own, but it’s quicker and easier with help. This is where spiritual mentors, our church families, and the Bible can help. In both the Rubik’s Cube and life, if we don’t accept the help, it’s going to be harder and take longer. And we might never get it right.
Embrace this puzzle called life, seek help and keep working to find its solutions.
So Wouldn’t You Like a Plan for Doing Construction Proposals
It’s Saturday, and today will be Gene’s third meeting with John. Even though there’s been no change in Gene’s overwhelming workload, today is the first time he’s not considered canceling. He knows the value of this information and is looking forward to the opportunity to learn more from his mentor.
It’s Gene’s turn to provide lunch and John’s in for a treat…Gene’s bringing chili-cheeseburgers and fries from the Burger Station. Driving to John’s office, the smell of those burgers is more than Gene can bear, so he samples a few fries on the way, just to be sure they’re okay.
Gene had barely gotten in the office door before John yelled out from the conference room, “You brought Burger Station!”. Over the years when Gene was working for John, the two of them frequented this fine establishment often.
As Gene gets lunch out, John says, “We have a lot to cover today, so we better get started. As we go through this today, think about building a proposal as compared to building a construction project. Now let’s review…
First, we started with WHY…
Why do you do what you do? Why should you do proposals? Both these questions are similar to the question we should ask customers when they’re considering a construction project. Why do you want to do this project?
Second, we discussed that communication is the contractor’s responsibility.
We are the professionals in this arrangement. We shouldn’t expect the customer to know everything about construction. This is why they are looking to hire someone to do their project. It’s up to us as contractors to communicate clearly.
Third, we discussed bid mistakes.
These mistakes are commonly made and are costly. Being aware of them ahead of time helps you know what to avoid and increases the opportunity for happy customers. Not to mention it gives you a big advantage over your competition.
In our meeting two weeks ago I gave you the proposal overview to take and review. Today we’ll go through it and break it down. I know it seems like we’ll never get to actually doing a proposal, but think about it like a construction project…
The designing and planning take as long as the construction.
Let’s start by looking at the documents included in the system and a brief description of each.”
Bid sheet – A Word document with the various construction categories and individual tasks listed with space for filling in the scope of the work to be done, dimensions, materials, locations, etc., for each category as needed for clear communication.
Worksheet– An Excel spreadsheet with all the construction categories and individual tasks listed with overhead and profit markup formulas.
Proposal– A Word document with space to fill in pertinent information, i.e. customer’s information, what will or will not be supplied by the contractor, the scope of work, the proposed price for each specific element, a total project price, payment arrangements, and project duration.
Data Base – An Excel spreadsheet with prices for material and labor for a wide variety of specific construction tasks. This information will be used in the worksheet template.
After reviewing and discussing these documents and definitions, they looked at the process of doing a proposal.
STEP 1 – Gathering Information
Gathering the right information correctly and effectively is critical to preparing an accurate and thorough proposal. Once you’ve been contacted by a potential customer, start by scheduling a meeting to discuss their project and find out what they hope to accomplish. At this initial meeting gather –
Measurements and dimensions, existing and new
Building materials, existing and new
Pictures of pertinent areas and existing construction
Customer’s design ideas and finishes
The information gathered at this meeting can be recorded in whatever way works best for you. The important thing in this step is to gather any and all information needed to prepare an accurate proposal. It can be handwritten on a printed out Bid Sheet template, or it can be entered directly to a Bid Sheet on a tablet, smart phone, or laptop. Using the Bid Sheet minimizes overlooking things because the different areas of a construction project are already listed.
STEP 2 – Preparing the Scope of Work
After the preliminary information has been gathered it’s time to clarify the scope of the project by writing out the description of each specific task in terminology that both the customer and the contractor understand. It needs to include enough specifics to be thorough without being too technical. It doesn’t help communication if the terminology is confusing to the customer. This written description on the Bid Sheet will be transferred to the Proposal and serve as a written scope of work to be performed and materials to be provided.
STEP 3 – Pricing the Project
Next is putting prices to the project. This process involves two different Excel spreadsheets, the Worksheet and Data Base. Based on the descriptions written on the Bid Sheet, content from the Data Base will be copied and pasted into the correlating cells on the Worksheet. After the pertinent information from the Data Base has been placed on the Worksheet, it’s time to fill in the quantities.
STEP 4 – Quantities
On the Worksheet you will fill in the quantity needed to do the work on that line item. This may be lineal feet, square feet, square yards, cubic feet, cubic yards, numbers of pieces, etc. Once this is completed you will now have prices for each of the different tasks listed on the Proposal.
STEP 5 – Preparing the Proposal
Now you have everything you need to complete the Proposal. You will take the descriptions from the Bid Sheet and the prices from the Worksheet and put them both on the Proposal. After filling out the customer’s information at the top of the page, the scope of work, the price for each task, the total project price, how payments are to be made, and the duration of time to do the project, the Proposal is ready to be presented to the customer.
As they wrapped up the meeting, John looked at Gene and asked him what he thought so far. Gene said, “I had no idea there was this much to doing proposals.”
John said, “I know. That’s why most contractors either guess at their bids or just give estimates…and we’ve all seen how that well that works out.
Next week we’ll dig deeper into GATHERING INFORMATION.
As we continue our journey through the Old Testament this week, we look at Jacob and Rachel leaving Laban and the continued disfunction within this family.
Previously we talked about Jacob, with the help of their mother, cheating his brother Esau out of Esau’s inheritance. (Genesis 27:41-46) Jacob then escaped and went to his uncle Labon’s home and fell in love with Rachel, agreeing to work seven years so he could marry her. (Genesis 29:16-20)
Labon tricked Jacob and gave him Leah instead. Then Laban agreed to give Rachel to Jacob to marry, if he would work another seven years. (Genesis 29:21-30)
In an ironic twist, Jacob the deceiver had been deceived.
It seems that conniving runs in the family. In addition to Laban’s deception, a rivalry developed between the sisters. I don’t know about you, but being married to sisters sounds like a recipe for disaster. This is a big enough issue that in Leviticus 18:18, there’s a law that says as much.
Jacob had worked for a total of twenty years for Labon (Genesis 31:38-41) before he decided it was time to go back home to his family. So, he gathered his wives, children, and belongings and left without telling Laban. (Genesis 31:17-23)
Being true to her family heritage, Rachel stole her father’s idols and took them with her when they left. I’m not sure if this family drama was blood-line related or just influenced by association.
We don’t have to be related to someone by blood to be influenced…either bad or good.
We can’t control who our family is, but we can control who and what we let influence us.
Too often we don’t take control of things that we have control over. Andy Andrews points this out in the “Guided Decision” of his Seven Decisions, ”I will seek wisdom”. He points out that what we put into our minds and who we associate with influences us, so we should choose these things wisely.
Knowing that wisdom waits to be gathered, I will actively search her out. My past can never be changed, but I can change the future by changing my actions today. I will change my actions today! I will train my eyes and ears to read and listen to books and recordings that bring about positive changes in my personal relationships and a greater understanding of my fellowman. No longer will I bombard my mind with materials that feed my doubts and fears. I will read and listen only to what increases my belief in myself and my future.
I will seek wisdom. I will choose my friends with care. I am who my friends are. I speak their language, and I wear their clothes. I share their opinions and their habits. From this moment forward, I will choose to associate with people whose lives and lifestyles I admire. If I associate with chickens, I will learn to scratch at the ground and squabble over crumbs. If I associate with eagles, I will learn to soar to great heights. I am an eagle. It is my destiny to fly.
I will seek wisdom. I will listen to the counsel of wise men. The words of a wise man are like raindrops on dry ground. They are precious and can be quickly used for immediate results. Only the blade of grass that catches a raindrop will prosper and grow. The person who ignores wise counsel is like the blade of grass untouched by the rain—soon to wither and die. When I counsel with just myself, I can make decisions only according to what I already know. By counseling with a wise man, I add his knowledge and experience to my own and dramatically increase my success.
I will seek wisdom. I will be a servant to others. A wise man will cultivate a servant’s spirit, for that particular attribute attracts people like no other. As I humbly serve others, their wisdom will be freely shared with me. Often, the person who develops a servant’s spirit becomes wealthy beyond measure. Many times, a servant has the ear of the king, and a humble servant often becomes a king, for he is the popular choice of the people. He who serves the most grows the fastest.
I will become a humble servant. I will not look for someone to open my door—I will look to open the door for someone. I will not be distressed when no one is available to help me—I will be excited when I am available to help.
I will be a servant to others. I will listen to the counsel of wise men. I will choose my friends with care. I will seek wisdom. (2nd Decision)
Not only are we influenced by what we put into our minds and who we associate with, but our actions can have an influence on others.
We need to remember that the things we do can affect those around us, so we should act in a way that will have a positive influence rather than negative.
This is the First Step in Building a Better Proposal
Even though Gene was still overwhelmed, and his schedule was packed, he knew the only way to ever get control was to keep his upcoming appointment with John.
Gene had spent a lot of time this past week considering the questions John had asked at the first meeting.
Why do you do what you do?
Do you love what you do?
Why do we need to do proposals?
As Gene was driving to the office of SMR Construction, these questions were still banging around in his head with a wide variety of answers and no real clarity.
As he entered the office, Gene smelled something amazing. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. John was providing lunch this week, and the smell made his hunger apparent.
In the conference room John was stirring some chili. “Lunch is ready. Grab a bowl and let’s get started.”
As they sat down John asked, “Did you come up with answers to the questions?”
Gene sat there for a minute and said, “I’ve come up with way too many answers. About the time I think I have it figured out; another answer shows up.”
John grinned, “That sounds about right.
The important thing is not having every answer to every question, but rather to continually be asking the questions and actively looking for the answers.
I still ask and answer questions every day.”
“A good way to find WHY answers is to figure out things that work and things that don’t. Let’s start with a WHAT question. John handed Gene some papers and said,
Here are seven mistakes that construction companies consistently make that cost them a fortune in both time and money. The first one is…
#1 Customers lack clarity – You remember the story I told you last week about that misunderstanding I had with a customer? This is a perfect example of how the lack of customer clarity is a problem. You need to provide a clear detailed description of the work and the materials you’re going to provide. A clear scope of work helps avoid customer confusion. The Building a Better Proposal provides a system to give clarity to your customer.
#2 Production crews lack clarity – The scope of work not only provides customers with clarity, but it also gives the production crews a clear understanding of the work to be done. This prevents subcontractors and employees from doing more or less than the project includes. Too much work done means cost overruns. Too little and the customer is unhappy. The Building a Better Proposal system gives the production crews a clear description of the work to be done.
#3 No production budget – When the production crews don’t know what the budget for the project is, they often spend more than expected. These cost overruns mean less profit.
When I was just starting out in business a banker told me…
If you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.
Let your production crews know how many pennies they have to spend. This will lead to more dollars of profit. The Building a Better Proposal system provides the production crew with budget numbers.
#4 Unsatisfied customers – Unhappy customers can be a series problem. Not only can they be a drain on company morale, but they can cost you money and hurt your reputation. They’re paying you to have their dream turned into reality. When they don’t have an accurate project amount before the work’s done, they won’t be happy when it’s finished and costs more than they expected. The Building a Better Proposal system gives the customer a clear expectation of cost before the work starts so that when it’s done for that price, they’ll be happy.
#5 Unprofitable projects – One of the biggest problems in construction is Guesstimates. Guessing at the amount of time and material it’s going to take to do a project is a big risk. Different size projects require different overhead and profit margins. The Building a Better Proposal system provides predetermined options of overhead and profit when preparing a proposal.
Proposals done this way can increase the profitability of your projects.
#6 Trying to do everything yourself – Most small construction companies only have a few employees. Their focus is usually on the physical construction which doesn’t leave time for doing accurate detailed proposals. Most contractors don’t like paperwork. This leads to hasty, inadequate, and oversimplified proposals. The Building a Better Proposal is a system that allows you to focus on doing construction while office staff does paperwork.
#7 Your bidding system isn’t customizable – Most construction projects consist of a variety of different areas of construction. You need a system that gives you the freedom to pick and choose what’s included and what’s not. Because markets vary greatly based on geographic locations, you need a system that you can adjust to your area’s specific requirements and rates. The Building a Better Proposal system allows you to customize proposals in these ways and more.”
John could see that Gene’s eyes were glazing over. “I know this is a lot to take in and doesn’t feel like we’re getting any closer to actually doing proposals, but I assure you…
Getting clear on these mistakes is the first step to providing better proposals.
If you have questions about the Building a Better Proposal tool or how we can help you take control of your construction business, set up a free 30-minute construction company consultation.
As we’ve been going through the Old Testament these past couple of weeks, one of the things that has become obvious is how human these people were. We seem to have a preconceived notion that the people in the Bible were near perfect.
As we look at the people of the Bible, we tend to place them at a superhuman level. Many of these people are a part of Jesus’ lineage after all. Doesn’t this mean they were better than we are? Not so much.
As we read about these people, we see that they did some pretty questionable things, like giving their husbands other women to sleep with and then being mad about it after wards, or sleeping with multiple women, or stealing a brother’s blessing, or lying and saying that your wife is your sister. (Genesis 26:6-7)
These things seem to be quite a bit less than superhuman.
Okay, so these people were people, just like us.
Isaac is the person of focus this week. He is one of the three consistently referred to throughout out the Bible in Jesus’ ancestry known as the triad. This is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of these three, Isaac’s story is probably the smallest.
Even though it may not be as big as Abraham or Jacob’s it is still an important part of Jesus’ family tree.
One of the things we discussed in Sunday School was Isaac’s age when his father took him to the mountain to be sacrificed. The common picture we get when we think about Issac being placed on the altar to be a sacrifice is of a small boy, maybe eight to ten.
Issac was conceived when Abraham was 99 years old, Sarah was 90, and Ishmael was 13 (Genesis 17:1, 17, 25). When the boy was weaned (2-5 years) later, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away and the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech took place (Genesis 21:34).
In Genesis 22:1-18, God tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Issac.
Sarah died at the age of 127 when her son was 37. So, there was a period of 35 years from weaning till the death of Sarah to allow for chapter 21 and 22 to take place.
Issac must have been a young man to be able to carry the wood necessary for the large sacrifice (Genesis 22:6) because we are told that Abraham left his servants at the bottom of the mountain and went alone with his son to the place of offering. A small boy could not carry the bundle of wood.
I’d never thought about Issac being this old and still being willing to let his father tie him up on the altar (Genesis 22:9-10).
When thinking about this story of Abraham and Issac, we always see it as Abraham’s strong faith…and it was. But what about Issac’s faith in being willing to let his father tie him up on the altar? This took as much or even more faith.
I don’t know if I could have done either of these things.
So, maybe these people in the Bible were pretty amazing.
It’s Friday, and Gene is in his normal state of overwhelm. He’s supposed to be meeting with John tomorrow afternoon to go over the Building a Better Proposal system, and he doesn’t know how he can fit it in.
There are still so many things that need to be done.
“Maybe we can reschedule,” thinks Gene, “I’ll just give John a call and see about moving the meeting back a week… Okay, that’s enough.” Gene says to himself. “The whole purpose for this meeting is to change things, so that I don’t have to feel this overwhelmed.”
“I’m tired of always feeling out of control.”
A few minutes after noon on Saturday, Gene pulls up in front of the SMR Construction Company office and admires the building. As he gets the pizza out of the truck and goes up to the front door he thinks, “I sure hope I can have a place like this someday.” As he walks through the door John greets him with a solid handshake and a grin as he says, “I wasn’t sure that you would make it.”
“I wasn’t sure either.”, Gene says with a smile. “I came really close to calling yesterday, to see about rescheduling.” “I’m glad you didn’t.”, replies John. “You’ve taken the hardest step in a series of hard steps.”
“The first step is the hardest. It requires a change of thinking and direction.”
“Bring the pizza and let’s go into the conference room.”, John says. As they make their way into the spacious comfortable room Gene thinks back on when they used to have their weekly production meetings in this very room. Looking back, he realizes how much he had taken what John had accomplished for granted.
John hands Gene a plate and they both get some pizza. “There’s water and soda in the fridge like always.”, says John, “Help yourself.” As they set down and start eating John asks Gene, “Why did you start your own construction company?”
“Why do you do what you do?”
Gene sat there for a while chewing his pizza at the same time chewing on this question. “Why was he doing this?” He had asked himself this question a lot, but it was usually a question of frustration, not really looking for an answer.
After what seemed like an eternity, Gene answered, “I really don’t know. I suppose that seeing what you had accomplished, I wanted the same thing.”
“That’s the same answer I would have given if I’d been asked why I started SMR Construction.”, agrees John. “It wasn’t until I realized that to have a successful and profitable business, one that I was running rather than it running me, I needed to make some changes. One of those was to answer that question.”
“The WHY is more important than the HOW. Maybe your why is to make a lot of money, the enjoyment of building, the control that comes with owning your own company, something completely different or a combination of things.”
“Do you love what you do? In your current situation, do you even like it?”
Now Gene has another unanswered question to ponder. Does he like what he does? Life sure was easier when he worked for John. What was it that prompted him to go into business?
John interrupted Gene’s thinking, “Gene, you probably won’t get the full answer to these questions today, and we’ve already been discussing this for a while now. I would suggest that you take some time to think about these questions and dig down deep to find the answers.”
“The answer to these questions is the foundation your business will be built on.”
“Before we run out of time today, let’s move on to the topic you came for, a better proposal system. Here’s an overview of the proposal system that we’ll go over today. These are yours to make notes on and take with you.”
“Just like the why question for your business, you should answer the why question about proposals.”
“Why do we need to do proposals?
“Gene, there is a huge misunderstanding between construction companies and customers. The biggest part of this gap is poor communication. Even when attempting to communicate clearly, it often goes badly. Let me give you an example.”
“Several years ago, I met with a customer early in the process of building a new home. The customer pointed out that the distance from the electric meter to the house was more than the 50’ allowance, as per the agreement. He asked if this was a problem. I told him it wasn’t a problem. Guess what…”
“It was a problem.”
“The problem didn’t surface until later when the customer was billed for the additional 100’. After some research, the communication breakdown was uncovered. The customer asked, “if it was a problem”. What he was really asking was…”is it going to cost more?”.”
“The response ‘in reality’ was, “It’s no problem to dig the additional 100’, but it will cost you more.” Neither party intended nor expected this to be a problem. It was a simple matter of misunderstanding…a lack of communication.”
If you follow along on the overview, on page 2 you can see the importance of a proposal system and why you need it. Page 3 has reasons for and common reasons against doing proposals. Page 4 is a list of documents included in the system and descriptions of how they work. Pages 5 and 6 are an overview of the proposal system.”
“As we wrap up today, Gene, I would recommend that we schedule some time weekly to work through the proposal system. I know that you don’t feel like you can spare the time, but I would point out that if you want things to be different, it’s going to require you to do some things differently.”
Gene thought about this for a few minutes, “I get excited about the possibilities for my future every time we talk about this. Let’s do it. How does next Saturday sound, same time and place work for you?
“If I don’t commit to doing something different, nothing will change.”
John smiled wide and remembered when he had made this same decision. He was encouraged about Gene’s future and excited to be a part of it. “Remember when you called me a few weeks back and how frustrated you were? And then in the next call we discussed the possibilities for your future? Think on these things and your why as you study the pages from today. When we get together next week, I want to hear about your why, and we’ll go deeper into the Building a Better Proposal system.
“As you go through these pages write down any questions you have, and we’ll discuss them next week.”
If you’re interested in the Building A Better Proposal system that John and Gene are working on, check out Solution Building’sBusiness BUILDing Toolbox. To discuss how the proposal system could help your construction company, you can schedule a meeting with me here. As always, feel free to post any questions you have in the comments!
Here we are, already a week into the new year, and I’m not done with my annual planning yet. This is something that every year I intend to do before the end of the year, but it rarely gets done on time.
I know I’m not the only one struggling to get everything done, and I get it. Our lives are busy and just keeping up with daily things is usually more than we can accomplish. And now I’m suggesting adding annual planning and goal setting to the list!
I know I’m not going to get everything done, but this doesn’t mean I should quit trying.
The question is, how can I be the most productive with the time I have?
I think it comes down to intentionally balancing time spent focusing on the past, present, and future.
We can focus on the past and everything we didn’t get done. We can focus on the future and all the things we want to get done. Or we can focus on the present and all the things that we need to get done today.
Constantly giving an unbalanced amount of attention to any one of these will make us less productive. This is why I always try to remind myself to…
Learn from the past, look to the future, and live in the present.
This is a process for prioritizing the things on my list.
Here’s an example. This morning as I was checking the weather, I saw that late next week it is predicted to have low temperatures in the single digits. I live in a house that was built in 1916 without running water. When running water was added, it was installed just inside the north side of house. I’ve learned from the past that when it gets this cold the pipes can freeze.
Of course, when this happens it requires additional time to thaw them out. And if not thawed out soon enough it might freeze to the point of causing a leak which would take more time to repair, not to mention the cost in dollars.
After years of experience, I now know that a couple of rows of small square bales of hay stacked along the north wall of the house will help insulate the pipes. I also know that it’s hard for running water to freeze, and if we leave faucets trickling, they won’t freeze.
I could spend all my time focused on the past and the things that I experienced from previous frozen pipes, or I can glean what I learned from the past.
This brings us to looking to the future. If I need bales of hay stacked along the house…I need to get that done. This means I need to find some bales and pick them up. Where I normally get them, I can’t get to when it’s muddy, and it’s snowing and raining today. This means that I need the ground to either dry out or get cold enough to freeze. But I don’t want to wait until it’s too cold and the pipesfreeze.
This is going to require the coordinating approval of getting the bales, the weather, and my schedule.
I could spend all my time focused on the future and the what ifs, or I could use what I do know, and plan for the future.
This brings us to living in the present. I already have more things to do than I can get done, and now I need to add getting bales to the list. When am I going to have time to go get hay bales and put them along the north wall of the house?
I know that spending time thinking and planning can seem like a waste, but if my pipes freeze, fixing the issue will take a lot more. The same is true for everything in our lives. We can take some time to plan or just deal with the frozen pipes as they come.
Everything comes down to what I choose to do, and it’s up to me to prioritize wisely.
This is where learning from the past, looking to the future, and living in the present intersect. These three things help us to prioritize what we’ve learned from our experiences, what we desire going forward, and what the first next thing is that should be done.
Planning for the new year is the same process as the water pipes. You should look back to past years and learn from them. Look to the coming year and what you hope to achieve. Live every minute of every day like it’s the only one and all the others depend on it.
The investment of time spent planning is worth every second.
Here we are at the start of another new year. It’s hard to believe that it’s 2024 already. It’s amazing how quickly a year goes by. It seems like it was just yesterday that we welcomed 2023.
The unknown of a new year can be scary. Wouldn’t it be great if we could look forward and know exactly what the future holds? It would be nice if it were that easy. The problem is that there would be no need for faith or to trust God if it were all mapped out.
The best way to prepare for a new year is to be intentional in what you want to accomplish.
So, how do you prepare for the unknown?
I think the best way to prepare is to look back at the past, at what you’ve learned up to this point. Reflecting on the things that went well and the things that didn’t. With this information you can make wiser, more informed decisions going forward into the new year.
As you look back through the past year, I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at how many of the things you wanted to accomplish…you actually did!
The next step is to look forward. What do you want to accomplish in 2024? This is where faith comes in. You can set some pretty big goals for the year, but they need to be realistic. I could set a goal of owning a NASCAR team in 2024, but that’s not very realistic.
However, this doesn’t mean that I can’t begin taking steps in that direction this year. We’re told in Mark 11:23-24 that we shouldn’t be afraid to dream big. Luke 1:37 says nothing is impossible for God. So we need to have faith.
The other part of this is…
Our dreams and goals need to be in alignment with God’s plans.
There have been a lot of new things happening at Tisdale Church throughout this past year. We disaffiliated from the UMC. We got an amazing new Pastor. We’ve seen an increase in attendance.
Looking forward, we have some pretty big dreams and have set some big goals for 2024!
We can’t see the future, but if we align our plans with God’s, have faith, and do the work…He’ll take care of the rest.
This brings us to the remaining piece of the puzzle.
Learning from the past is good. Looking to the future is good. The thing we need to be careful with is not getting stuck in one or the other.
We need to remember to live in the present.
This can be hard if we dwell on the mistakes of the past or are only looking forward. This leaves us missing out on the important things around us every day.
This past Sunday, Pastor Lisa had everyone randomly draw an individual word for the year. These words, specific to each of us, should help us to bring all three areas together. This word is something that we can use to help us learn from the past, look to the future, and live in the present.
I’m excited to find ways to incorporate my word of the year.
As usual, Gene had been on the go, nonstop, trying to keep construction projects moving forward, collecting money, paying bills, and meeting with new potential customers when he realized he still had six projects needing proposals. As he thought about this, he realized it had been more than two weeks since he had talked with John about how he did construction proposals.
It’s so easy in business to get caught up in fighting daily fires.
Gene picked up the phone and dialed John’s number. “Hey John, this is Gene, have you got a few minutes?” “Sure,” John said, “What can I do for you?” “I just realized that I’ve got six projects that need priced, this reminded me of our conversation a few weeks back, when you offered to go through your bidding process with me. Does that offer still stand?”
“Sure,” said John, “when would you like to meet?” Gene thought for a minute, realizing he wasn’t sure when he would have time to squeeze in anything else. “I don’t know John, as usual, I’m booked pretty full.” John waited for a minute and then said, “I understand. Think back to what you said in our previous conversation. Do you remember how frustrated you were?”
“Your situation isn’t going to change until YOU decide to change it.”
Gene rubbed his forehead. He knew John was right. “Okay”, Gene said, “I can probably squeeze in an hour or maybe two Saturday. Would that work?” John shook his head and smiled, remembering what it was like to be where Gene is.
Then he said, “Gene, I appreciate where you are, but the process of getting from where you are, to where I am, isn’t going to happen in an hour or two. I’ve been doing it for forty years. If you can commit to four hours Saturday, I will be glad to meet with you and we can start the process.”
“YOU are the only one that has the power to make this change.”
Gene sat there with all the things that needed to be done, bouncing around in his head. Then he thought about how tired he was of feeling out of control. Once again, he knew his mentor was right. John had taught him so much about construction and how to build things.
Now it was time to learn about the business part of construction.
“Okay,” said Gene, “How about we meet at noon on Saturday, and I’ll bring the pizza.” John said, “That sounds great, and we can get started, but that’s all this meeting will be…getting started. Like I said before I’ve being doing this for years. It takes work, it takes commitment, but the end result is worth it.”
“It’s more than just learning. It’s a lifestyle change.”
“Gene, most people in construction never learn the business side of operating a company. This is where they struggle until they get to a point where they give up. Bring an open mind and an open heart and be ready to have them both filled.”
“Nothing is going to change until something gets done”
Now Gene was getting excited and looking forward to meeting with his friend and mentor and making some changes in his business and his life. He was beginning to realize that a construction project started out right, begins long before any actual construction takes place.
It takes the right tools, training, and action to build a successful construction business. It requires you to do more than just talk about it.
If you or someone you know is feeling out of control like Gene, there are tools and training available to help get control of the business. The Business BUILDing Toolbox is filled with construction business tools.
If you would like to dive into the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal, we’re hosting a free 90-minute workshop for Building a Better Proposal on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 10:30 CST. Register for the workshop here.
If you have questions about the workshop or business systems, you can schedule a free 30-minute construction company consultation here.
Probably the most well known Bible verse ever is John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”
Eternal life sounds like a good deal, and all we have to do is believe.
Believing is a little more difficult than it appears at first. True believing requires action. It means you believe what Jesus said. This means believing what the Bible says and living your life accordingly.
It’s no good if you just say you believe.
God’s promise to us is a covenant. The word covenant is commonly used in legal, social (marriage), and religious conversations.
The term “covenant” is of Latin origin (con venire), meaning a coming together. It presupposes two or more parties who come together to make a contract, agreeing on promises, stipulations, privileges, and responsibilities. It is used in various in biblical contexts. In political situations, it can be translated treaty; in a social setting, it means a lifelong friendship agreement; or it can refer to a marriage.
A covenant is a binding promise of far-reaching importance in the relations between individuals, groups, and nations. It has social, legal, religious, and other aspects.
God made a covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve didn’t keep their part of the covenant.
God made a covenant with Noah, but the people didn’t keep it. God made a covenant with Abraham, and once again…the people didn’t hold up their end of the agreement.
As humans, we struggle to do our part in the covenants that we have made with God. That’s why He sent His Son.
As we come to the end of the Roots: Advent study we look at the last part of Jesus’ family story.
Jesus is the final covenant.
If we don’t follow through on this agreement, we will get no more second chances.
We are living in the “Already, but not yet”. This statement summarizes the past, present, and future of the Bible.
We live now in the light of what God did in the past through Christ, but also looking to the future when Christ will come again.
We live between the already—what Christ has done—looking forward to the not yet—what He is still to do.
Christ became incarnate, lived, and died, and rose again. He ascended, and is now reigning, still the same incarnate Savior. But He has not yet brought about the consummation that will occur when He returns in majesty and glory.
We need to learn from our past, look to the future, and live in the present.
This Christmas season remember how much God loves us and the price Christ paid for this final covenant. Don’t let that payment be wasted.
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