TommyNewberry.com | Best-selling Author Tommy Newberry

Finding Your God-given Genius

Your area of Genius is the specific point where what you enjoy doing most intersects with what you do best.  This is where you are capable of making the greatest contribution in the world.

So, how do you find it?  How do you find this unique strength God has specifically designed for you?

Think about what you naturally enjoy.  Ask yourself what you’d do all day long if money were not a factor.  Only when you really love what you do will you have what it takes to generate tremendous results.

What is God whispering in your ear?  Exercise the courage to honestly identify where you have been uniquely blessed–where you have special talents and abilities.  If you don’t know, pray about it.  Ask your friends and family.  You have the ability to become outstanding in at least one thing if you are selective and if you throw your whole heart into becoming the best.

Also, whether you are a star athlete, a pastor, or a business leader, you have a marketplace–a group of people you are charged with serving.  Your Genius is a set of related activities that collectively produce superior rewards in the marketplace.  When you operate in your Genius, excellence is inevitable and you will produce outstanding results.

You have been custom-made by God to serve an exclusive function in this world.  It is in your charge to discover what that purpose is for you specifically.  Believe in the idea that God sends you and plants in your heart–and then take action!

Mental Fitness

We all recognize the need for a healthy body.  Most of us also recognize the need for a healthy mind.  But what exactly is a healthy mind?

Consider your mind healthy if it works for you instead of against you.  A healthy mind serves up thoughts that release your full potential.  It looks ahead and harbors a clear vision for the future.  It agrees with God’s promises.  It craves direction, growth, and challenge.

So what can we do to achieve a healthy mind?  Think about it like this:  If your goal is to lose weight, then you know what you have to do.  You must change your diet.  You have to decide in advance what kind of food and drink is consistent with your weight-loss goals and what kind is not.  And for this change in diet to be effective in the long run, you’ll need to remove the junk food and unhealthy snacks from your environment and replace them with healthy, energy-producing choices.  In other words, you have to align your refrigerator and cupboards with your health goals.  Otherwise, trying to lose weight will remain “trying” indefinitely.

Likewise, if your goal is to have a healthy mind, you have to change your mental diet!  You must develop mental goals and a plan to fulfill those goals.  You must toss the junk thoughts that oppose God’s promises, and stock your surroundings with joy-producing inputs that encourage right thinking.  These surroundings include our relationships and exposures.  Are we spending time with the right people?  Are we daily feeding our mind with God’s word?

This discipline is an ongoing process.  It will require some throwing out and some bringing in.  Fortunately, this is not an all-or-nothing proposition.  You know the answer to how “mentally lean” you want to be.  Each day opens up opportunities to fulfill your goals, no matter how big or small, and become the person Christ wants you to become.

Loving the Not-So-Loving

Compassion is a feeling which arises in our hearts when we perceive misfortune in others.  But how can we extend compassion toward the people who seem to be the source of our negative emotions?  How can we love them in that moment?  Let me share some practical ideas with you.

1)  Assume that they are struggling or are in pain.  This interpretation may not always be true, but what harm does it cause?  When people respond negatively, attribute it to something they are dealing with that you don’t know about.  They are likely just having a tough day.  Maybe they are dealing with a heavy burden.  Maybe they got only two hours of sleep last night.  It is helpful to remember that when someone treats you harshly, it says much more about him or her than about you.

2)  Get curious.  If I snapped at you right now, you might choose to think something like this:  I wonder what Tommy’s story is?  He doesn’t seem exactly like himself today.  I wonder what’s going on there?  You become curious, almost like you are a researcher on a mission.  The simple attempt at becoming interested in other people causes you to detach from negativity.

3)  Remember that most negative outbursts are conditioned responses and not really so menacing.  Use this understanding not to make excuses for yourself, but to show compassion to others.  Remind yourself that other people are living out scripts that were placed in their heads long before you ever met them.  You may have acted as the trigger for their response, but you are not the source.  Challenge yourself not to be rattled by the reactions of others.

4)  Realize that most stress and tension is just growth trying to take place.  No one would ever expect to build stronger leg muscles without the resistance provided by weights and by running.  To continue growing emotionally, we must experience resistance from time to time.  When we experience a difficult circumstance, consider it as an opportunity for growth.  Our response to it will determine whether we will grow closer to our full potential or further from it.

All lasting progress starts with a challenge to raise the bar, push the envelope, or otherwise cut a new, better path.  When putting Philippians 4:8 into practice and living with joy, we focus on the potential in others rather than their flaws.  This will equip us to treat others, especially those who challenge us the most, with more patience and kindness.