When I first started going back to church in 2008, it was with one foot in and one foot out. It felt good to go on Sundays and check church off my checklist of great ways to start my week. As I began to grow in my faith, I learned that in order to include God more in my business and find out what the CEO has in store for me, I needed to get to know Him more. I began reading the Bible in the mornings periodically. It started out with small devotionals, daily emails, and blogs like the one you’re reading. Eventually, that turned into wanting to read through the entire Bible. Then something incredible began to happen. I started to see the Bible as one big business book! It was like I was at Cornell all over again. Now, I read the Bible daily and God has an incredible message for me and my business every time. When we want to know things more, we spend more time with them. More time at the gym will lead to better bodies and health. The more we learn about diets and exercise, the more we begin to see our habits change and, over time, we become healthier as long as we stick to it. Some of us don’t have the habit of reading the Bible daily. I get it, I was there. Others have realized it and do it once in a while. Still, others haven’t connected their businesses and their relationship with God. Here is what I’ve learned: God wants to permeate our businesses and become the catalyst for our success as we look to grow and conquer. He wants us to prosper. He wants to lead the charge into growing your business beyond your imagination. He wants to fill your heart with visions that will take the rest of your life to accomplish. That’s the amazing business partner that we have waiting for us every morning. But this doesn’t happen by chance or luck. God has told us how this is going to happen. And today I’m going to share the formula you have to follow from this point forward if you’re serious about having your business succeed and prosper. I’m writing a parallel through the book of Joshua as it relates to us stepping into our entrepreneurial promised land. Joshua has been commanded by God to conquer the land promised to his ancestors. Joshua 1:5-9 says: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” First off we are given assurance that God will be with us and ride with us during the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. He knows that the journey won’t be void of battles and hardships, but He promises to stand with us. But then the word “only” comes into the picture. Here He wants to throw an asterisk and say that He wants to be by your side and give you victory, but you have to keep to the law He has set and meditate on it day and night. This may seem challenging at first, but it becomes easier over time when you purpose to develop the habit of daily reading. And then God says we will have success if we can keep to His laws. “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” You can try to run your business on your own. Many, including myself, have gone out to fight the battle of growing the business on our own. You may have had success, but you’re likely burnt out and overworked. What would it look like if all Godpreneurs took God with them into every new business venture, every new negotiation, every new idea? What if we all took the time every morning to draw closer to God? If we can know that God wants to go with us and meditate on His word daily, we are setting ourselves up for prosperous and successful businesses. #WorkLifeBalance #FindMyCalling

I read a lot of motivational books, attend personal development seminars, and watch successful entrepreneurship videos.  Can’t I admit….its all a bit frustrating sometimes.  I know what I need to do, I’m pumped when I learn something new, but if I only had the TIME to implement it all. Wanting to implement everything I learn leaves me more frustrated because I know it takes time…time that I’ve convinced myself I don’t have. We can take the lessons from the last 4 posts on Overcoming Busyness in Business and get the same feeling.  Yeah, this all sounds awesome Alex, but its another thing on my ‘to do to be perfect’ list. Can I share something deeply impacting that I’ve learned over the last year:  God didn’t intend for us to be a ‘solopreneurs’.  He never wanted us to walk this journey on our own.  Instead, its made difficult on purpose – so we always rely on His help Philippians 4:6-7 says "Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." God wants us to 1) Not worry, and instead 2) Pray and ask God for help 3) Praise God for all he is, has done, is doing, and will do in your life. When God is our CEO, its not just to bark down commands to you.  CEO’s help their people grow, find solutions, work in the background to get things done.  That’s the ‘boss’ you work for!  He wants to partner with your success. When we develop our prayer life to God and lay down our wants and desires to grow into better Godpreneurs, God honors that and see our hearts are in the right place.  Your big growth is coming, in Jesus name! Let me pray for you: Dear God I thank you for the gift of entrepreneurship you’ve given us.  You’re the best boss we’ve ever had and we just want to please you.  Help us to overcome the lies of Busyness that can hurt our families, our bodies and our businesses.  We know we have a lot of work to do, so at this time we bring that to you, lay it at your feet, and trust that you will inspire us to bring the change you so desire for our hearts and minds to be the best Godpreneurs we can be.  In Jesus name! #TimeManagement #WorkLifeBalance

I’m horrible at accounting. Ok, let me rephrase this.  I took finance and accounting in Cornell and lets just say that I loved the marketing and business organization classes better. In the early days of my company, I ran us into a lot of financial problems.  Backed taxes, overpaying employees, bad accounts receivable, you name the financial mistake, I did it. But I never admitted it to anyone. Mr. Cornell business graduate needs to know everything there is about business and can’t look like a failure. Only my accountant knew the extent of the problems. He tried to sell me on a monthly package where I would come in for consulting but I always declined it and committed to doing better that year.  Things got worst. We have difficulty accepting help from others. It makes us feel weak, incompetent, and vulnerable. Receiving help requires letting go of my self-sufficiency – even if it’s just for a moment, its uncomfortable. Instead of feeling vulnerable, many of us prefer to hide behind a mask of confidence and capability. Sadly, this affects our relationships with our employees, business partners, vendors who want to help, our customers, and even God. Sometimes we have it so “together” that it’s hard for anyone to see we are Christians and we need a Savior. We may think we are being strong, but when we fail to admit our needs and struggles, our employees and partners are often reluctant to share theirs. They may feel inadequate in comparison and compelled to hide behind their own masks. This verse in the bible has helped me tremendously grow as an entrepreneur: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) When I realized that all God wanted from me was for me to admit my need for Jesus, then He could begin helping me out. Furthermore, when I showed others my need for Jesus, I was allowing God to work through them to help me out. In 2014 I hired an accounting agency to meet with me every week.  Money is an area of weakness for me, and now my employees know and they step up to help with accounting too.  Since meeting with my accounting firm, my profits have gone up 4000%.  Yes, you’re reading four-thousand.  It’s incredible what God can do when we admit our weaknesses. Godpreneurs, ask God to reveal where you’ve been depending on yourself instead of Him and remember He often meets our needs through others…even the lowliest employee on your team. Godpreneur Rule #44:  Godpreneurs take risks and allow others to help them in areas of major importance — maybe even one of your employees! #HiringtheRightPeople #AccountingHelp #DebtFreedom

Mystery movies are fun!  I bite nearly all of my nails off thinking WHAT’S NEXT!? But the mystery of owning a business is not so much fun, right?  We don’t really know what tomorrow will bring us. We try our best to predict and prepare. We long to prevent dips in the income, unsatisfied clients and preventing our employees from destructive choices. But even though we do our best to honor God in our business, we will almost certainly face the pains of owning a business. The truth is that we have two options with every marketplace challenge – to follow God’s plan or our own. Most times our plan fails because we try to control our circumstances – and God, when we should be trusting God’s eternal plan and purpose for our entreprenurial careers. Godpreneur Rule #25: Trust in God’s goodness and live with the mystery of entrepreneurism. #NewEntrepreneurs #IncreaseEnergy