5 Ways to Achieve More

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Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut? Do you have lofty ideas and goals, but they never seem to amount to anything more than dreams? We’ve all felt these frustrations from time to time. So how do you turn all of that around? How can you turn those frustrations into achievement?

Lead or Follow?

Someone once said, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” 1

On the surface, it would seem that leading and following are two very different – even mutually exclusive – activities. I submit, however, that you cannot be a good leader without first being a good follower.

Dad Talk: Leadership 3

(cc) heymarchetti - Flickr

(cc) heymarchetti - Flickr

When it comes to leading my children, in matters of principle or conviction I must stand my ground. I cannot compromise or “give in” when establishing and enforcing rules for their conduct that are based on God’s principles. My children need to know where the boundaries are. They need to understand that some things are wrong, period; and that some things are required of them, period. They must come to a realization of the life-critical truth that choices have consequences, both here and in eternity. If I fail to implant that truth deeply within their hearts, I have failed them. If I compromise the “rules” to be their “friend”, I may be jeopardizing their eternity.

Dad Talk: Leadership 2

(cc) Trevor J DeGlopper - Flickr

(cc) Trevor J DeGlopper - Flickr

God calls Dads to be the spiritual leaders in their homes. This is evident from the last part of Ephesians 5 and the first several verses of Ephesians 6.

  • “Wives, submit to your husbands.”
  • “The husband is the head of the wife.”
  • “Fathers … bring them [your children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

As a Christian husband and father, God has placed on my shoulders the responsibility to be a spiritual leader for my wife and for my children. I cannot abdicate that responsibility if I am to be pleasing to the Lord.

Dad Talk: Leadership 1

(cc) Maryland GovPics - Flickr

(cc) Maryland GovPics - Flickr

What comes to mind when you hear the word “leader”? A business executive at the helm of a successful corporation? A politician who has devoted his or her life to public service? Maybe a preacher or elder or other religious leader.

Much has been said about leadership through the years. A quick search on Amazon.com yielded a list of 78,788 books on leadership. Names like Stephen Covey, John Maxwell and Tom Peters come to mind as people who are considered experts in the field of leadership.