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Meeting Needs and Using Your Creativity
By Steve Sjogren | May 22, 2006
Meeting the needs of your customers is an important part of having a pretty good business. As a follower of Jesus, I eventually realized that Jesus’ words are literally true - “He who has an ear to hear let him hear.” For me, it’s a matter of looking around to see what the need is, first of all, and then, in a spirit of prayer, to simply ask God, “How can I serve others by your strength and power, to meet that need?” If you are not a big believer in prayer, you can simply quiet your mind and think about the needs of your customers.
Once we have a need in the crosshairs, I have found that there is no shortage of practical ideas that God will place upon my heart to meet it.
As I have written before, the two keys to capturing these inspired ideas are simply:
1. Journaling consistently, (maybe daily is difficult, but every other day for 10-20 minutes seems realistic) sitting down to capture ideas about specific issues at hand for which you are seeking God’s clarification. You can do this with an analog capture device, such as pen and paper, or with journaling software for your computer. A word processing document labeled Journal.doc can be a simple place to start.
2. Capturing your “inspired ideas” as they come to you throughout the day on a digital recorder that you keep close at hand. The best ideas tend to come when you are the least able to capture those ideas on paper.
That’s how the vast majority of new ideas have come to me over the years. Begin with an attitude of servanthood. Serve your way forward and see what God can do through your attitude of availability. Those who serve end up at the head of the pack. Didn’t Jesus say that somewhere?
Topics: Leadership, Practical Applications, Outward Focused, Journaling, Capturing Ideas |
