Ken Lawrence - Life Coach

Equip - Enthuse - Empower

Lawrence on Leadership Blog

Why I Do What I Do – My Big “Why”

When I coach others about vision and purpose one of the key ingredients is having a big “why” behind your vision. Your “why” is the motivation that drives you to take action to accomplish your goal. It is important for you to have a written “why” statement so you can articulate your life’s purpose and keep focused on your goals.

At church last week Pastor Steve Shaw spoke on vision. He said vision begins with a burden, begs the question “what if” and is bigger than “me.” At the end of his message he challenged us to think about the vision God has given us for our life and then share it with someone this week.

As part of my life coaching business I have been working on tools to help men crystallize their vision, gain control of their life, and develop a roadmap for carrying out their God-given vision. I thoroughly enjoyed Steve’s sermon. As a result of his challenge I took a look at my website, which I thought answered Steve’s homework assignment. As a result I discovered that there was a part of my story missing. My website did not convey my story, my big “why.” So I have added a page to the website called “My Big Why.” It is the “why” behind what I do. It is the burden, it is the “what if” and it is definitely bigger than me.

If you would be so kind, would you please visit the My Big Why page on my website at www.LifeCoachKen.com/mybigwhy and take a look at what I’ve written. Let me know what you think. Is it clear? Does it speak of where I’ve been and why I do what I do? Does it speak of my passion, my burden to help men reach their God-given potential? Is there anything you think is missing?

Finally, is there anyone you know who could benefit from a coaching relationship with me? If so, please pass the link on to them. I definitely have a God-sized vision and it will only be by Him working through me that I accomplish anything.

Thanks for your help!

Life Coach Ken

I lost 5 1/2 pounds in 5 days

As a life coach I help people succeed in the five Fs of life. One of those Fs is Fitness. When most people hear the word “fitness” they may think of a gym or jogging or other strenuous physical fitness techniques. That is not what I mean by fitness. I use the word fitness as a general term for anything that affects our physical or mental health and wellness. It includes things like a healthy diet, nutritional supplements, exercise, stress management, getting proper rest, taking time out to smell the roses, and things like that.

I am not what you would consider grossly overweight or unfit, but I still am not exactly where I want to be in the fitness area of life. Well it doesn’t make sense for me to try to coach others in this area if I am not at the fitness point I want to be. So I am putting into practice what I teach. I am getting back to the healthy living that helped me lose over 40 lbs a few years ago.

Over the last five days I did a health reset. What is a health reset, you ask? A health reset is a health program that resets your metabolism, resets your eating habits, and resets your cravings. It is done without putting your body in starvation mode or cutting a bunch of calories.
As a result of my health reset I lost 5 1/2 lbs and 2″ off of my gut in just five days. My wife lost 4 pounds. I feel great, I don’t fall asleep in the afternoon like I usually do, and I lost my cravings for sweets. This is just the start of the new, better fit me. Again, as I define it, fitness is more than just weight loss, but a great deal of our physical and mental health is based on healthy eating habits and being at a healthy weight.

I’ll be writing more about getting control of the fitness area of life in future posts. For now, I just wanted to let you know that I am the type of coach who practices what he teaches. I’m getting fit so I can help you get fit too.

If you would like more information about the health reset that my wife and I did email me at Succeed @ LifeCoachKen.com and I’ll send you the information.

Helping you live life abundantly,

Life Coach Ken

 

 

Giving to Gain

Life is full of paradoxes. For example, in order to keep your life you must lose it, and in order to lead you must serve. One of those paradoxes that is misused a lot in our society is, in order to gain you must give. Giving to gain is a biblical principle. Two good biblical examples are Proverbs 11:24-25 and Luke 6:8.

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” – Proverbs 11:24-25

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  – Luke 6:38

Giving to gain is a fact of life. Where this fact of life gets messed up is when our motives are wrong. If we give just so we will get, then this law breaks down. God never rewards a “what’s in it for me” attitude. If we serve just so people will follow us, no one will. If we give just so we will get, we will get nothing.

The heart of the matter is the heart of the matter. If you have a giving heart from which you give due to an honest caring for the needs of others, then you will be blessed. If you give and then think God owes you, you are in for a rude awakening.

There are a lot of people proclaiming the “name it and claim it” philosophy who will misuse these and other Bible verses about giving to gain. They teach all you have to do is give $100 and you’ll get $500 or $1,000 in return. That is not what God promises.

God is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him and His will for their life. Live according to His standards and these paradoxes make sense and come true. Live according to the self-centered, “what’s in it for me” attitude and you will miss out on so much more than the material blessings you were hoping for. When you focus on what’s in it for you, you miss out on the best God has planned for you. You miss out on a true relationship with Him.

So be generous, share the material blessings God has given to you. Give from your abundance and you will be blessed. Give from your poverty and you will be blessed even more. In all cases, give out of a grateful heart for your relationship with the Lord and you will be blessed for eternity.

Helping you live life abundantly,

Life Coach Ken

Two things that shape your future

“You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read.” – Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

I love this quote by Charlie Jones. It is so true. No two things affect our success more than the people we associate with and the books we read. If you surround yourself with negative people who complain about everything they will sap your energy and motivation and you will become like them.

If you surround yourself with successful people who talk about vision, overcoming obstacles, and achievement, they will energize you and motivate you to succeed. I don’t know who originated the thought but many have expressed it. It goes something like this: If you look around at your group of friends and you are the most successful, smartest of the bunch, than you need a new group of friends.

To put it another way, to be truly successful in life you need to surround yourself with three types of people. You need a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy. You need a Paul in your life, someone who is more experienced, more successful, a mentor or life coach who can help you achieve your full, God-given potential. You need someone who will push you, encourage you and inspire you to greater heights.

You also need a Barnabas, a peer, someone to travel this journey with. A Barnabas is a fellow soldier in the battle. He is someone who can pick you up when we stumble and someone you can help up when he stumbles.

Finally, you also need a Timothy, a younger person you can invest in, someone you can be a Paul to. Having a Timothy allows you to give back into someone else’s life. It gets your focus off of yourself and on to helping others. I have found in my life that it is by helping others that I really grow the most.

As for the books you read, I have never been a big reader myself. In the past the only regular reading I have done is to read my Bible. I also read an occasional business or self-improvement book and those were usually audio books. As I have learned the value of reading (that includes listening to audio books) I have slowly tried to increase the amount of reading I do each year. I still have a long way to go, but I have found that the more I read, the more I learn, and the more focused I become on achieving my goals.

The average person reads only one or two books a year. So you can become above average and be better informed than most people around you simply by reading more than two books a year. I have set a goal to read one book a month. I also have subscribed to several magazines that I will be reading throughout the year. My reading list will still be primarily the Bible, business and self-improvement books, but I will be reading more of them in specific areas that will help me reach my goals.

I encourage you to take a look at these two areas of your life: the people you associate with and the books you read. Are they helping you reach your life goals or are they stumbling blocks. Are the people in your life encouraging you to achieve your best, or are they joy suckers who discourage and hold you back? Maybe a change is in order.

What about the books you read? Are you reading books that breed discontent in your life, or are you reading things that inspire and encourage you to be successful and reach your God-given potential? Do you read your Bible regularly and base your life’s values and goals on God’s wisdom? Examine this area of your life and make whatever changes are needed to get on the path of success.

This week, take a look at the people you associate with and the books you read and ask yourself, “Are they helping me grow and change, or will I be the same five years from now as I am today because of them.”

Helping you press on toward the prize,

Life Coach Ken

Helping you live life abundantly

Life Lessons From Toilet Paper

I find some of life’s best lessons in the most unusual places. Today I learned something in the bathroom that I just can’t help but share.

I had just finished using the toilet and reached over for some toilet paper. To my displeasure I found nothing but an empty roll. I got a little upset and thought to myself, “What selfish person used the last of the paper and didn’t replace the roll?” Disgusted I leaned over and opened the door to the cabinet under the sink where we keep the toilet paper. This is when things got interesting.

I reached inside and found no toilet paper. Now I began to panic. There I sat, stranded on the toilet, in need of TP and there was none to be found. I looked on the back of the toilet. Sometimes we keep extra rolls there, but there were none there either. I looked all around the room in the usual places we keep TP hoping that somewhere in this bathroom I would find the much needed commodity.

Finding none, I sat pondering my options. I contemplated my situation for what seemed like minutes. I hung my head trying to figure a way out of this situation when suddenly I noticed just inches away from my feet a big, glorious, mega bag of toilet paper!

The answer to my problem was just inches away from me all the time but I didn’t notice it until I was desperate. I had looked in all the usual places: on the roller, in the cabinet, on the back of the toilet, but no solution was to be found. It wasn’t until I was forced to think differently that I found  an abundance of solutions right there at my feet.

Isn’t that so much like life? We get in such a rut. Whenever we are faced with problems or challenges we look for solutions in all the usual places. What awesome solutions might we be missing that are just lying at our feet just because we don’t know how to think differently?

Thinking differently is something a life coach can help you do. A life coach helps you identify the ruts in your life that are hindering your growth. It has become an overused cliché, but it really is true of life coaches: A life coach helps you “think outside the box” to get beyond your ruts and find new solutions, new ways of thinking that help you reach your life goals.

Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut? Do you feel stranded in life? Have you looked for solutions in all the usual places but come up empty? Have you been unable to move forward toward your goals but unsure why? Contact me and let’s see if I can help you find the toilet paper at your feet.

Helping you press on toward the prize,

Life Coach Ken

Helping you live life abundantly!