When Are You At Your Best?

Sisters, you have innate strengths and abilities. There are certain conditions, people and God-given resources that empowers you to be at your best. Do you know what they are? If you are going to succeed at higher levels and in new areas of life, it is important that you know who you are at your best.

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3)

Words of Wisdom: Even if you're lost and don't know your way out through a difficult situation right now, give it all up to God. Make a promise with him that you will see it through the end, and he will lay a path down for you.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

Words of Wisdom: At the end of the day, God is on our side. We can do anything thanks to him. We just need to ask for his support.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:58

Ladies, your natural instinct is to worry. You worry about your children, your health, your relationship and everything else under the sun. It's a classic case of worrywart syndrome. If you tend to worry needlessly, you are not alone. Welcome to the She Strives With Faith podcast with Berthena Jackson. Berthena is a two time divorcee, single mother and war veteran who suffered from anxiety, but learned to let go and let God. Berthena will share captivating and down to earth conversations on how to strive by faith. Here's your host Berthena Jackson.

BERTHENA JACKSON: 1:56

Hello, Sister friends, welcome back to the She Strives with Faith podcast, I am so happy to be with you again. And I thank you for listening to this episode listening to my podcast, I don't know where you are in the world. But I hope you're having a phenomenal day. You know, God put it on my heart just to remind you to take care of yourself. As women, we don't do that good enough. We're all the time giving right? To our children, husband, the church. We put in a lot of time on the job, man, sometimes we don't know when to stop. And God says Listen, don't forget to give yourself the gift of self care because you don't want your body to shut down. We see the signs. We know. We're familiar with those signs. And yet we ignore them and we just keep on going, going going until we have no choice but to succumb to the stress and the tiredness and the weariness. And we find ourselves either in the hospital or just taking, being forced really to take a vacation because we have just worn ourselves out. And sometimes we just don't know how to say no to some things. So God put that on my heart just to remind you, take time out for you. Take time out to enjoy some of the things that you enjoy doing before things get out of hand. So take time to read a book, watch a good movie, listen to some music, read your Bible. Worship God. Okay, spend some time in prayer. Just want to remind you to do that. Okay, don't forget about you because you're important. And if you don't take care of you, you're not going to be able to take care of anyone else. So anyway, that is what I wanted to share with you. That's what God put on my heart. I'm going to go ahead and get into this episode, and I am titling this. When are you at your best? When are you at your best? Can you think back to a high point or an experience in your life in which you were at your best? Whether it was in a relationship or at work in your finances or health? What conditions empower you to be at your best? What character strengths did you tap into? What lessons could you take from the experience and apply to a challenge or opportunity you face now in the business world, or even in the entrepreneurship world, this type of approach is used in a process called appreciative inquiry, and it was developed by author and researcher David Cooperrider. But it is a process that can work wonders for us in our own personal and professional lives. Consider for a moment a challenge you are having or a dilemma you'd like to resolve. Chances are you could easily make a list of the weaknesses and mistakes on your part that led to the problem. And often when we are trying to fix a problem or improve a situation, we tend to focus on all that is wrong in an effort to try to correct it. But this week, I like to challenge you to a different approach for creating what you want. Rather than focusing on everything that is wrong in a situation pinpoint the steps that would lead to success. Failure, believe it or not can indeed be a learning tool. But so can success. Appreciation for the steps that have led to your best moments in life may give you the roadmap you need to get unstuck. You know it's so easy to focus on what's wrong with with you or others and setting your mind to try to fix it. Stop focusing on what's wrong and start building on what's right. As women, we are wired for finding flaws. Our culture encourages it. As women we are bombarded with messages about fixing what's wrong with us. Whether it's our body shape, or hair or skin, or mothering skills or housekeeping habits, you get the picture right? If we are not careful, our inner dialogue can begin to sound like the television and magazines that are so good at letting you know what's wrong with you. I want you to be intentional about making a shift from weakness based personal improvements to strength based personal improvement. Ladies, this is the key to success that is not only empowering, but makes your journey to victory so much easier, and also so much fun. You see much of the self help coaching and psychology has been about helping people figure out and fix what's wrong with them so that they can finally be more successful. But both scripture and research show that when you focus on building on your innate strengths rather than fixing your weaknesses, success flows more easily and authentically. Believe it or not, ladies, there is power in being imperfect, if you identify and use your unique strengths to overcome your so called weaknesses. Does that make sense? I hope it does. There's a gentleman by the name of Peter Drucker. He is an esteemed business consultant. And here's what he said, the ageless essence of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make a systems weaknesses irrelevant. Your weaknesses do not have to become an obstacle to getting what you want in life. In fact, God's strength is perfected in our weakness. We are made strong through our weakness. Second Corinthians chapter 12, verses nine promises, My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Wow. That's awesome. We all know that. We all know that hard work. We all know that hard work and dedication is the way to success. But the path isn't always easy or exactly clear. This is just a part of life. But the Bible is here to guide and motivate us during even the toughest of times. God wants us to thrive in all aspects of our lives. And he gave us the tools, talents and gifts to do just that. It's so easy to forget sometimes, right? Because we have all these different things going on in the world that would distract us, from believing that we can have the best life there's so much crime and murder and ugliness in the world. That it is easy to forget the promises of God. But there are Bible verses out there that are reminders that the Lord is always here standing by our side. So whether you're not sure what step is next, if the long journey is worth the reward, or if you just need a little reminder that God is always watching. There's a lot of Bible verses to inspire you. Whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. The good news for you. No matter what you do, you are using the gifts that the Lord gave you. If you put your talents to use, you are proving to God that you love Him and worship Him. Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among who whom you shine as lights in the world? The good news, even in dark and confusing times, do whatever is needed without a doubt or hesitation. If you choose to work hard and keep your head down, others will follow your lead. And let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. What this means for you is that although you may not immediately see the reward for your good doings, they will come, do not give up. Perseverance is the key. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands, you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. What does that mean for you? God rewards those who work hard. And that can come in a variety of ways. It can come in a variety of ways, ways in which you have never even thought of. But if you continue to put in a solid work ethic, whether you're building your ministry, your business, whatever it is, your marriage. Whatever it is, you deserve, whatever is the outcome. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon you at a stop, establish the work of your hands upon you. Yes, establish the work of your hands. Ladies, anything that we set forth to do without God's initial blessing is meaningless, it's important to make sure, whatever we do is in the eyes of the Lord, and therefore, we should be asking for his blessing over our work. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit serve the Lord. You know, just as the Bible preaches, don't lose your energy, find passion and your work and remain steadfast in your love for the Lord, then you will see success. These are beautiful reminders of God's words. Success doesn't happen by accident. There are conditions, strengths and actions that empower your success and resilience. I know about that. I know operating within my natural gifts and talents empowers me in my work. Trying to accomplish goals that lie outside of my divine purpose drains my energy. And this is why at the age of 52 years old, I am taking a leap of faith to focus on building a business based on my strengths. I'm taking a leap. There are sometimes areas in which we have not succeeded. And I can raise my hand. And I can tell you at least three to four businesses that I started. And they did not go well. I did not succeed in those businesses. But that's okay. Because in those instances, that's where we must pinpoint the root causes of success. And other people who have achieved the thing that we wanted to achieve, they are role models. These people are role models, so you can go and read their story. You can listen to their podcasts, you can listen to their YouTube channel. You can even ask them, reach out to them, if you know them and you feel comfortable doing that to share with you the high point of their success. And if you don't know them pinpoint the root causes based on what you and others know. Learning and growth often happen through the failures and adversities of life. But if you make a habit of also learning and appreciating the lessons of relationships, work careers that soar in lives that are meaningful, you empower yourself to overcome the inevitable obstacles you'll face on the path to success. Here's the story. It is not my story. This is someone else's. But I think this will be something that will help you in this journey. Christine is a woman who used the power of appreciative inquiry to build a network that transformed her business and personal life. She was a seasoned salesperson who had the top sales person in the company three out of the previous five years. So throughout most of her 10 year career, Christine had traveled a lot. She had lived in five cities and 10 years and moved to her sixth city when she decided she was simply tired of moving around. The constant change at once felt glamorous and exciting, but now it was just taking a toll on her, not just professionally but personally. In fact, it was her personal life or seeming lack thereof. That led her to make a change. But change did not come without trepidation, she decided to ask for a lateral move from the sales division of the company to training. She knew her prospect. She knew her prospects for raises and promotion would be stifled by this move, but it was worth it. How much money did Christine really need to be happy? That was the question that she was asking herself how much money do I need to be happy. For years, she measured her worth and success by her ability to increase her paycheck. With each new account she landed and subsequent bonuses and promotions, she would experience a high that only seemed to last for a couple of weeks, then it was back to the grindstone to do it all over again. And through honesty and self coaching. Christine made a decision to make an intentional shift in her career. This shift allowed her to have a balance of professional gratification and personal happiness. Through this process, she figured out that her ultimate goal was to launch her own business. She had been terrific at sales, she did a great job at sales. That meant that if she could figure out what enabled her to be at her best during those pivotal sales that led her to be number one in the company, she could teach those same techniques to other salespeople, and give them the tools to be their best. She could take those same lessons and eventually apply them to a company of our own. Wow. Wow, awesome. And that's exactly what she did. She went on to build her own company, which is amazing. Christine says that she thinks one of her strengths was that she had lots of energy. And she used that energy to get where she was. She says she woke up every morning she was excited about the future that was unfolding. She woke up every day knowing that her actions could lead her to her goals. She said she kept her goals in front of her. It was taped on the inside of her medicine cabinet. So when she opened the cabinet to get her toothbrush in the morning, she was see it. That's amazing. I love that. I love that. And she said before she went to bed at night, she would remind herself of her goals. She said she typed out the goals on a sheet of paper as a one sentence statement. And she read it every night, she would do this, she would put our goals on a piece of paper one by one. And she would read them every night. Wow, that's so cool. We can learn something from that. That's something I need to definitely take upon myself and do the same thing. She also said that when she started her business, she always had a very pleasant attitude. And her question to her clients was, what can I do for you? Mm hmm. Wow. She also watched what most successful people did, and aimed for the highest dollar account upon opportunities. And then she strategically and persistently found ways to develop a relationship with the decision makers for those accounts. Wow. She said in her seventh year, she was on fire, nothing could stop her. She had momentum. And that momentum was the result of several years of consistently working towards her goal to being number one. She said every day she went to work because she knew what her goal was. And she did not stop to achieve her goals. Awesome. Awesome. So as you can see, Christine had some great, great strengths right that we can even learn from. She was tenacious she had a positive attitude. She didn't give up. She was bold, courageous. She went after what she wanted and developed rapport with her clients, with businesses to get their accounts She was optimistic. Positive. She was at her best, she was at her best. So I commend Christine and I hope that we'll strive to, to do the same. You see, she might be able to take the knowledge of what empowered her previously. And use it to reach even greater goals. What I like about Christine is that because she became an expert at what she wanted to soar in, what she wanted to achieve, she became an expert. She used her strengths from working at a company to start her own business. And she had a great deal of optimism and future mindedness. She set a goal and envisioned it for herself, she stayed focused on where she was going. Amazing. You also have innate strengths and abilities. There's something in you that will cause you to be at your best, and you have to figure that out. So as I said before, stop focusing on what's wrong and start building on what's right. Use the resources that God has given you. Use the talents that God has given you. Start thinking of the strengths that you have, and how you can use them specifically for the dream that you want to achieve. Think about your character traits. And how they have enabled you to be at your best. As you proceed towards your vision and your goals for the future, what could you replicate from the past to ensure your success. So ladies, that's all that I have for you. I hope you enjoyed this episode, it's always a pleasure to bring you good information. And so before I leave, I just want to ask you do you know, Jesus, because that is always always so important to make a decision to give your life to the Lord. Because the Bible says that it's not a good thing to be trapped in sin because that sin results in eternal punishment. And as I said before, tomorrow is not promised. And God does not want to see anyone perish. So I know He's been calling you to come back to Him. I know he has been calling your name. And so I asked you today are you ready to give your life to Jesus? And if you are, say this prayer with me, dear Lord, I am a sinner. I repent of my sins, and I need your forgiveness. I believe you died in my place and rose from the grave, to make me new and to prepare me to live in your presence forever. Jesus come into my life. Take control of my life, forgive my sins and save me. I place my trust in you alone for my salvation, and I accept your free gift of eternal life. Thank you, Lord, in the name of Jesus. I have prayed. Amen. Congratulations, and welcome to the family of God. So happy you decided to make that decision. And I pray that God will continue to bless you and show you favor each and every day. Thank you for listening. It's been a pleasure sharing what's on my heart with you. I hope you enjoyed the chat and that it was helpful. Until next time, keep striving with faith. Bye for now.

Unknown: 25:27

Thank you for listening to the she strives with faith podcast. To hear more about how you can tap into the power of striving with faith. Join her next week. If you found value in the episode, give her a rating or tell a friend about the show. Follow Berthena on Facebook and Instagram for a more personal chat. Until next time, strive to keep faith alive