Joel Supeck Inc.

Entries in New Year (3)

Monday

Jan092012

A positive influence

Monday, January 9, 2012 at 11:34AM

In 2008, my creative mother gave my brothers and me a branding iron. This brand came in a nice wooden box and it was crafted in the shape of our initials. Accompanying this wonderful gift was a letter. It encouraged us to leave our mark on something or someone, to do something that would leave the world a better place than we found it.

We are now over a week into 2012 and many of us may have made resolutions to better ourselves. These resolutions may have come in the form of goals intended to improve our physical appearance, emotional state, mental abilities, or professional status. These goals are all important and I have set some of my own in these areas. But life is short and in light of some recent events, I have given myself to serious contemplation about how the goals and priorities we set may influence the lives of those people around us – our family, co-workers, and community.

Family

Firstly, I am going to focus on family. I love and value my family, but they are often the ones that get neglected while I am working at pursuing my goals and ambitions. We must make the conscious choice to cherish our family. They may infuriate you and drive you to despair, but they are the only family you have. Learn to get along and support each other. If you can do this, even when you do not see eye to eye, you will learn a lot about being mature and this will help you in your relationship with others. In many cultures, the family group includes children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. This is something that has been lost to great extent in Western cultures. Although they still exist, the break down of the nuclear family has cost us a great deal. Let us not be afraid to look to other cultures for the lessons they might be able to teach us about the importance of family.

Workplace

Secondly, we spend most of our lives working with others. At work it is easy to focus on our job responsibilities and career advancement. For those that are goal oriented, this sometimes means that we focus on our careers at the expense of others. If making someone else look bad makes us look good it is just the price we pay to get ahead. You may work for a terrible boss or (if we are honest with ourselves) we may admit that we are terrible bosses. For those in this category it is not too late to learn the ‘soft’ skills required to be a good manager or boss. If you are a manager you have within your power and influence the ability to make the lives of your employees wonderful or miserable. It is easy to make our employees lives miserable. All it takes is for us to decide that we want things done our way. A 2009 survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Development found that New Zealand had some of the worst managers in the world. This is not good news for our employees who we depend on to get things done. Improving workplace culture is almost solely in the hands of the management. But making these changes often means that the manager has to learn and adapt. In 2012 I plan to focus on helping the people I work with to perform to their fullest potential. This may mean that I have to get out of the way.

Community

Finally, there is room for me to reach out to others. I have always had a passion for politics and community service. My view of politics has always been altruistic – people making personal sacrifices in order to serve the greater good. Unfortunately this is not what politics is like. As with all things there are exceptions to every rule, but it seems that in many cases politicians focus on what they can get out from their position and influence. In contrast, community service is something entirely different. Community service is about helping others, being dedicated to local causes that help local people. These acts of service usually go unnoticed and unrecognized by the wider world. But that doesn’t seem to matter to those involved. They seem content to do what they love to do all while helping others. If you are not already involved in your community, consider in what ways you can get involved in 2012 to be a positive influence.

Kingdom seekers of righteousness

Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 10:16AM

A few days ago I posted my personal vision and mission statements. At the heart of these statements is my desire and passion to serve God and humanity with my gifts and talents. I’ve made many attempts at this in the past, but have always been kept back by my own sense of inadequacy for the task. Throughout 2011 I faced many life challenges. These events have been constant reminders that I am not an island. I’ve been reminded that:

I am one part of a body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31);
My life and hopes are sustained by God (Psalm 119:116);
God’s grace is sufficient for me in all situations and even in my weakness I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9);
My righteousness comes from God through faith (Romans 3).

It is this last point that has captured my attention most in the last few months of 2011. One of my life verses is Matthew 6:33 (NIV), “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (emphasis mine). As a young follower of Christ my imagination was captured and consumed by the idea of God’s “kingdom”. Much of my life has been spent trying to understand what this kingdom is, what it looks like, and how I might seek it. For years I have overlooked the second command in this verse: to seek his righteousness. Seeking the kingdom can’t be done with our own strengths and right-ness. To fully understand God’s kingdom we have to review it through the righteousness that we have through Him who died on the cross for our sins so that we might be returned to a right relationship with our Creator-God.

I’ve declared 2012 a year in which I will seek God’s kingdom and righteousness. I can’t seek the first without the latter. In my own strength I am capable of nothing of consequence. With God’s power and strength, nothing is impossible.

Many of you may already have your New Year’s resolutions sorted. You may know with some degree of certainty where you are going this year. But if you haven’t sorted this out yet it’s not too late. I’d like to invite you to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness this year. What significant changes might we be able to make in the world if we together focus on building God’s kingdom (not our own) through the righteousness we receive through him (and not from what we have done)? Can you imagine a world like this? I know I can.

Happy New Year! May the God of all creation bless you as you continue to serve others by seeking to serve Him.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV).

Joel D. Supeck |

Blank slate

Saturday, January 1, 2011 at 9:42AM

Two thousand and eleven has begun. With it we each get a new blank slate. I've been getting excited about what might be put on my slate this year. It's been a while since I've gotten excited about a new year. But after a few years of hard slog, I have a renewed sense of possibility and hope. I thought that this might be a passing phase, since this feeling started about two weeks ago, but it hasn't subsided. I actually found myself writing down goals and planning out activities that will help me be healthy and productive in the next twelve months. But it has helped me to think about the next seven years as well. Why seven years? Well, because in a few days I'll celebrate my seventh wedding anniversary. The first seven years have been great, but I know I can do better. So I'm starting this year with a few small changes, but I'm thinking long term about the big changes I want to make in life - changes in relationships, attitudes, finances, health, and career.

So I ask you, what's on your blank slate for 2011? Have you already chalked out the next few days, weeks and months? If it seems too overwhelming thinking about the next seven years and dream of what might be possible. Happy New Year!