Every Tuesday at 12noon Pacific Time, I do a free Six Minute Seminar on my Facebook wall. This weeks seminar was for people that are getting ready to start a new venture, program, business, or idea.
Here are the notes from the seminar.
The five things you need to know before you start your next venture all wrap around five words.
Calling Mission Vision Team Initiative.
1 - Calling:
If you can do anything else and be content then don't start this new thing.
What do I mean by this? If you want to start something, but you could take it or leave it? If you do it, you would be happy, but you also could be happy doing something else …then don't launch this venture.
There is a difference between a career, a job and a calling. If this idea you have in your head is ever going to really work, then it has to first be in your heart, you have to be ate up with it. I can’t shake this, This is a sign that you are actually called to do it. When you are called, you are less likely to quit when times get tough…. and they will.
2 - Mission
Know why you are doing what you are going to do.
In launching and being successful at any endeavor you have to know, why you do what you do.
The WHY must always come before the WHAT.
Here is a tip that will help you discover your WHY. Answer the question, what problem are you going to solve? When you know the problem you are solving, you know, why you are doing it.
3 - Vision
Know what steps you are going to take to accomplish it.
When you know the why, the next step is to know the steps you have to take to accomplish it.
If you are going to help people find a home they love, help educate underprivileged children, or supply affordable print materials to businesses across the country, you have to know how you are going to do it. What steps are you going to need to take on a consistent bases to accomplish your mission?
4 - Team
Don’t try and do alone.
Nothing can be done alone.
Let me say that one more time, nothing can be done alone. You have to build a team.
To launch and run whatever initiative you have in your heart, there are probably about 10 to 15 tasks that will need to be done on a regular basis. However, you are only good at about 2 or 3 things at most. I know you think you are gifted at more than 2 or 3, but you’re not. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you are good at it, or that you even should do it.
If your idea is going to work, you have to surround yourself with people that have the skillsets and initiative to complete the tasks that have to be done … but you cannot or should not do.
No matter how strongly you feel about your skillsets and call to complete the task, you are not good enough to do this alone. Build a team.
5 - Initiative
Nothing is going to happen until you start.
You can dream, plan, talk, and prepare all you want, but at some point you are going to have to get up off the couch, push away from the white board, and actually start.
You and your team are going to have to start making the website, start making the cold calls, start writing your messages, start training more teenagers. Nothing is going to happen on its own, you are going to have to start.
How I've walked this out.
In the past few years, there has been two major things that I've launched. One is Youth Ministry University, a one year online training platform for Youth Pastors and the other is The Church - a body of believers that are giving our lives to bring people to Jesus and help them live like him.
For time sake, I can’t break down the details of both today, so I will take just a few minutes to walk you through how we applied these 5 things to launch the church.
1 - Calling
In 2012 I started to feel this stirring in my heart to launch churches, train leaders, and send shepherds out to launch more churches. I tried to forget about it, but I could not shake the idea. During this same time, I had other opportunities thrown before me. I was offered to stick around and possibly Pastor the church that I was serving in. Close friends in ministry threw out the idea to come serve on staff at other churches around the country. However,I just could not do those things. I had this one burning desire … to plant TheCHURCH.
2 - Mission
I live in a community where statistics say around 94,000 people are not following Jesus. And a lot of the people that I do know that go to church, have not actually turned, changed or decided to follow the teachings of Jesus in a personal way. That is a real problem. So we knew that God was calling us that would be both evangelistic and discipleship driven at the same time. Our mission is to “Bring people to Jesus and help them live like Him”. That is the why that drives our what.
3 - Vision
The way we would accomplish our mission is by walking out Acts 2:42-47. Gathering on the weekend, Growing in a group, Giving to Gods kingdom, and Going back out into our world. Each week would would simply inspire and equip people to gather, grow, give, and go! This is our vision.
4 - Team
Even as passionate as I was, I knew there was no way in the world could do this alone. So I started contacting and learning from my ministry mentors that were way farther along that I was. We set up a board, we trained up our worship team leader, media director, kids ministry team leader, and first impressions director. We had a small but passionate team of leaders ready to walk our vision.
5 - Initiative
We did not have much, but we had enough to start. So we did. We started meeting in our home all the while using social media as a platform to release our online sermons to the masses. We started growing so we rented a facility on the weekends. We filled out the legal proper paperwork, raised money, and started TheCHURCH.
Today, a few hundred people call TheCHURCH their home. We have incredible team members serving in our ministries and disciples are being made every week.
This has happened … because we know we are called, we understand our mission, we built a team to walk out our mission, and we just started.
Three hard truths that few people will tell you when you are starting a new program, ministry, church, or initiative.
1 - You are not going to be the next big thing.
You are going to make a big difference in the lives of people. You are going to accomplish your goal. But you are not going to be famous, well known, or the next big thing. If those things are your motivation ... you will not last long.
2 - You are going to fail more than you think you will.
It is not if you fail ... but when. You cannot have great success, without failing. Their are two keys in failing, 1. Don't make the same mistake twice. 2 . When you fail ask yourself and your team is, "What can we learn from this".
3 - Not everyone is going to like what you do.
The other businesses in town are not going to cheer you on. Other churches most likely will not be calling you to say, good luck. In fact, family members and friends might even think that you are crazy. We don't what we do for the pleasure of those around us, we perform for an audience of one. Our creator.
When you know that you are called, develop a strong mission, walk out your vision, by building a team, and simply starting.
Good luck!