To realize measurable results in personal growth requires intentional actions, daily.

Dr. Benjamin Hardy in Be Your Future Self Now, advocates looking five to ten years ahead at the future self you desire. Then practicing behaviors today which are consistent with that person.

There are two fascinating takeaways. One is determining who you want to be in the future. This requires conscientious thought because we have the tendency to get swept up or swept away by the busyness of life or just trying to keep up. Unfortunately, we tend to not adequately think about and plan for our tomorrow.

The second one is we must intentionally practice these supportive behaviors daily. Many things we do today are out of habit. We are operating based on subconscious programming installed as far as childhood. Some behaviors we can explain but others we cannot. It follows then to break into new patterns requires conscious repetitious practice until the new behavior becomes unconscious. This is unconscious competence.

Remember when you were learning to walk, ride a bike or drive? You needed instruction because you didn’t know what you didn’t know, or you were unconsciously incompetent. Then by becoming aware that you needed education in this new area, you developed conscious incompetence. Even though you were practicing the correct steps you still needed to consciously think about them in sequence. This was conscious competence. Now you can walk and talk, ride and admire the scenery or drive and think about what you’re going to have for dinner. You developed unconscious competence. The time it takes to reach this end varies among individuals and there is no set time to get there. Yet the more often you practice, the quicker it becomes mechanical.

Because we are the product of our habits, we must strive to practice those habits which get us to unconscious competence in the person we desire. To get there faster, we must practice often. Everyday we do not practice the new behavior, is an opportunity for the old one to hang around. Old unsupportive habits can cause a cascade of other behaviors and inadvertent consequences. Recovery from these can take days, months or even years.

Wherever we are today, we desire a better tomorrow. When we place our future in God’s hands, then our steps today can be better ordered by Him.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(NIV, Ephesians 2:10)

Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago my dad was there to groom my siblings and me into contributing members of society. He provided love, presence, guidance, correction, encouragement, and praise as needed.

He values education immensely so he sacrificed time, energy, and money to ensure we had the tools needed for school as youngsters. He would regularly admonish us to focus on studies now and play would come later. Play included handheld games, riding a bicycle, the opposite gender, friends, pitching marbles, and remote-controlled cars. Today, we are all educated.

To instill a sense of responsibility, we had chores on the weekends and sometimes before school.

Every morning around 6 a.m. to start our day we had family devotions, where we read the bible and prayed. This significantly shaped my spiritual beliefs.

When everyone was home, we had meals together around our dining table. This was significant in shaping my family values.

As I grew older, dad remained available for words of wisdom as I navigated various phases of my life. Today I am thankful that I get to wish him another Happy Father’s Day!

To all fathers out there, know that you are making and will continue to make a difference in your children’s lives. Happy Father’s Day!

Our heavenly father remains watchful over us – His children – is attentive to our call and stands ready to provide mind-blowing wisdom. Heavenly father, Happy Father’s Day!

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.

(NASB, Psalm 34:15)

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

(NASB, Jeremiah 33:3)

So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

Jeremiah 18:3-4

How Products are Made, Volume 4, Potter, describes pottery, from history to process. Pottery is made from a combination of clay and other materials. Clay naturally occurs from decomposed rock caused by water erosion. However, “clay bodies are clay mixed with additives that give the clay different properties when worked.”

We as humans were formed from the ground when God made Adam. Yet we are all different clay bodies because of our various personalities. What differentiates us from inanimate clay is the power to make our own choices, which affects our lives. When God looks at us, He notices how we may have been spoiled. Spoiled from life: an accident, a layoff, a lost loved one, a thwarted deal, a missed opportunity, an unfortunate relationship – you name it.

Fortunately, our potter has the foresight and mastery to remake us into something, pleasing to Him, that is more beautiful, admirable, respectable, skillful, prosperous, forgiving, courageous – you name it.

Today is a new day. God is our potter, and we are His clay. We need not worry about our current state because it is just part of His process for our lives.

How much are you worth? An expert once said if you were to put a value on a human as compared to a high-tech robot, the price would be eight million dollars! No wonder the value estimate was so high for the “six-million-dollar man”.

Are you where you are because you are satisfied, or have you just stopped trying to improve? Maybe you feel you deserve a pay increase, your relationship is not nurturing, or you feel you deserve a better home than you have. Maybe you are pursuing a course and not operating at your potential and know you can do better? Questioning your current position is the first step in the process toward improvement. Unbearable discomfort about where we are enables us to not only stew over it but do something about it. We are provoked to take massive action!

A new direction can be tough because of inertia but forward motion builds momentum. In training for a marathon of 26.2 miles, you start by running what seems like a short distance on the first session. But after some practice running this amount, you naturally continue to increase your distance mile by mile. With consistency you eventually develop the endurance to finish the race.

Barney Zick, a successful businessman and speaker, once said “if you want more you ought to expect more.” It is said that a new habit takes three weeks or more to form. So, it is critical in the pursuit of a new behavior, to stick with it.

Watch your thoughts for they become words.
Watch your words for they become actions.
Watch your actions for they become habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
And watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
What we think, we become.

Margaret Thatcher, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Starting with our thoughts, let us strive to function in the way God intended for us (Phil 4:18).

Oh God, let my thoughts be aligned with my worth

Truly my potential depends on those that I give birth

I want to touch others one deed at a time

With a fulfilled life, and not wanting for a dime

I want to remain courageous to stick with rugged new habits

Even destroy the old me and blossom faster than birthing rabbits