Are You A Black Crab? Are You Hanging Out With One?

Tonight was the first meeting of our Career Coaching class and what an awesome meeting it was!  I want to sincerely thank everyone for sharing their story and for offering encouragement to each other.  Each week, I want to summarize the key points that we learned from the DVD and our discussion.  As you read through it feel free to add comments or any additional insights.

We all agreed that the story about the Black Crabs was quite an inspirational one that spoke to each of us in a slightly different way.  Here's how the story goes:  If you go down to the beach early in the morning you can find black crabs and put them in a bucket.  Eventually those crabs start thinking, "Here we are bumping around in this little bucket making a lot of noise but going nowhere."  One crab then looks up and thinks, "There's a whole new world up there.  If I could just get my foot up over the edge, I could get out, get my freedom, and see the world in my own way."  So he stretches up, pushes a little, and sure enough, gets one foot over the edge.  But just as he is about to tip the balance and go over the edge, a crab from the bottom of the bucket reaches up and pulls him back down.  You see, instead of encouraging him and  helping each other get to freedom one by one, they pull anyone attempting to get out, back down into that confining bucket where death will come quickly.

One of the interesting facts that Dan Miller shared with us in the DVD was a statement made by Jim Rohn,  "We are each most like the average of the five people we hang out with the most."  Makes you stop and think doesn't it?  Are you hanging out with black crabs?  Are you one yourself?  One of the key characteristics of successful people is that they hang around people who are performing at the level at which they want to perform.  Find winners and spend time with them!

Another powerful statement made in the DVD was that rich people understand that to be successful you must:  Be. Do. Have.  But poor people believe that the order is: Have. Do. Be.  In order to Be you must first identify your gifts, talents and strengths.  Finding work you love is 85% inward and 15% is actually application.  Use your dream journal in any way to help you begin to BE who God meant you to be.  Write, draw, outline, make notes, lists whatever appeals to you.  This week, focus on identifying the situation you feel you are in now and then envision a positive outcome.  What would that be?  What would be the smallest change that you could hope for?  What would be the BIGGEST change that you could hope for?  Know that God has a plan for your good and is encouraging you all the way.
Jeremiah 29:11  See you next Sunday!