Clay: I actually lost my faith and became a non-Christian as a result of that process of having to remember bible stuff for school. I just wanted to be a Christian business coach.
Vanessa: True story.
Clay: And I didn’t convert back until my son was born blind and was healed. And I still to this day am afraid of that book. Because there’s just so many things in it that freak me out. This is an example. One example.
I remember going, I’m reading the Bible, reading along here, just having a good old time, and I get to the part where it’s like “And God said, kill every last one of them. Don’t leave their animals, don’t leave their kids.”
Sharita: I love that you were having a good time until you get to that part.
Clay: And I read it and I’m like, “What?” And I go to my professor and I’m like, “Is this what God said” And he’s like, “Yes.” And I’m like, “What about forgiveness?” And he’s like, “Well, you know in the new testament it’s all good.” I don’t know if it would all be good, if I knew anybody or anything that said “Kill everybody.” I don’t know that I could be all good. And he’s like, “You just don’t quite understand.”
So I came up with my business coach thesis, my thesis on religion and Christ is this. I have a cell phone that I use every day. And I have no clue how it works. And if you try to explain it to me, I go “No no no, I’m not going down that rabbit hole.” Because if I do, I’ll be reading books and manuals and trying to figure that crap out, trying to make my own phones out of rocks and vegetation on our property. And so I’m just saying I can’t do it.
So all I’m saying though to you, Thrivers, if you have a big thing you want to know or a big quest to become a master, you’ve got to commit to one thing. Because the theologian that teach at ORU, that’s what they’re committed to. So they know, like, the answers to my questions, and then the questions I’m going to have, and then they know all the fears and all the doubts, and they’ve been through this before. “Listen here, young sophomore, we have the answers.” All I’m saying is you don’t want to be a guy that knows a little bit about everything, you want to be a master of one thing because mastery is what the world will praise, and that’s what will give you a financial raise. You feel me? It’s mastery.
A notable quotable comes at you hot from Napoleon Hill. He says, “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” So if you have a big dream that you’re not breaking down into steps, it’s not actually a goal according to Napoleon Hill and as a Christian business coach, I could not agree more.
Well, John Maxwell piles on, the bestselling author of 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, he says, “Nothing separates successful people from unsuccessful people more than how they use their time.” Successful people understand that time is the most precious commodity on Earth.
Sharita: Here he goes.
Vanessa: Here he goes.
Sharita: Do it.
Vanessa: Gird your loins.
Clay: Now, this was on Friday of this past week, and I’m at the office. And if you ever come up to the office, if you ever want to come up here and high-five me, give me a fist bump, a boo, just run up to me and boo me in person, “Boo! Boo!” The thing is, I don’t take breaks and I don’t stop. I just go. Because I know what I want to get done today as a Christian business coach. And on that list is not eating. So here’s the deal. I’ll see people in my office who have a functional mind, who are probably great people, and they miss a deadline, let’s say.
So the way it works is we have deadlines that are due the day before they’re due. So if they’re late it causes me frustration, but it’s not late for the Christian business coach customers. That’s how that works. But what happens is these people will be late by like a day on their project, and I’ll watch them, at about 11 o’clock, they all start gathering around the bar area. “Hey, what do you want to eat?” “I don’t know. You want to go to Domino’s?” “Well I don’t want to go, but I’ll probably order online.” “You probably will?” “Yeah, what are you thinking?” “Well I don’t know, have you had those knots.” “No, I haven’t had those knots.” “You want to do small, medium large?”
Vanessa: Meanwhile this conversation is just building in you, right? You’re just listening to this.
Clay: And more people are gathered around going, “I probably do want a medium.” “Well if the three of us are going in together why don’t we get large?” “Well after tax that’s six bucks each.” “Well I don’t have six, but I tell you what-” “Do you have a car?” “I think I have a card.” “Let me go to my car.” This is a 45-minute deal. And then they order it online and a guy shows up and he’s like, “Hey I’m looking for such and such who ordered a pizza.” Then they’re not available and six more people get distracted going, “Hey let me see if I can find them.” As if they’re some kind of missionary that’s going in to the uncharted office to find the man who ordered the pizza, and this sort of jackassery goes on and an hour of the day is wasted. And I don’t get it. Maybe it’s just normal, but I don’t get that stuff because I am a business coach with a mission.
And so I’m saying is if you really do want to get things done you’ve got to be very specific about how you’re going to prioritize your day. And so john Maxwell advises us to do this. He says, “Put a five by the items on your list that you have to get done no matter what. Put a four on things that, once the fives are done, you’ve got to get that done. A three is something where if you have the fours done then you get the threes done. And then a two is helpful, that would be great if I have time. And then a one is like I’m not going to do it.”
Vanessa: One is it’s on the list but who’re we kidding.
Clay: The thing is though, I encourage you. If you’re an ambitious person, people will come to you all the time with ideas and things they want you to do but you have to ask yourself, “Is this going to move the needle? Is this going to help my business?” And so when we come back we’;re going to get more into the details on how to become a master of your trade.
We’re stepping back into the 90s here on the Thrive Time Show, we’re listening to some PM Dawn. PM Dawn, where have you gone? I remember this song it was awesome. You remember the movie Boomerang? That was a great movie.
Welcome back Thrivers into the Thrive Time Show. Many of you are joining us after a bathroom break. Some of you are coming back after having some drive-through. Some of you have just met with Tulsa’s second best financial planner and you’re wanting to meet he best financial planner. Some of you are wanting to know about my foresting and not about me being a business coach.
Phil you studied this in college. When you want to forest, when the land was deforested and you want to begin to forest, what do you call that?
Phil: I’m not actually sure what you would call that.
Vanessa: Planting trees.
Phil: I actually didn’t study that in college. I actually went to State and Forestry my senior of high school. But that’s a long time ago.
Clay: But foresting here, we’ll get into it later, but it’s basically the growth of trees and other plants covering a large area. So maybe that’s what I’m doing. I’m foresting. I feel good about owning that. So I’ve committed recently that I’m going to plant a tree every weekend.
Vanessa: But you’ve over delivered. I think you’ve been planting about ten a weekend, right? You’ve over delivered.
Clay: I did plant- Now here’s the thing. I’m not a tree hugger. But if I was there’s nothing wrong with that, right? But we’re talking about mastery. And this relates to this. But what happens when you plant a tree, nothing spectacular happens, and then all of a sudden you look up and it’s been like ten years.
Vanessa and I used to live in a house in this Silverwood neighborhood where I planted a bunch of trees to hid my commercial business from my neighbors.
Vanessa: It’s forest back there now.