STRATEGIC MOVES

Lima didn’t just happen. Neither did Dayton. Strategic moves were made. Plans were put into motion. Action was taken. Every successful endeavor, whatever the field, happens because someone made strategic moves.

Lima began as a feeling. As I gained notoriety in northwest Ohio though a series of protracted revivals I went on a large radio station with a daily broadcast. People listened. I was invited to speak in Lima. The building was packed night after night. I was asked to take the church, an invitation that I declined. It was a strategic move—I wanted to start with a clean sheet of paper. Plans were made. A storefront secured. A date set. Groundwork was laid. People were contacted. The news spread. Strategically. The kicker is—I didn’t know that I was moving strategically. It was all instinct, translating the transitory revival experience to a stationary pastoral experience.

One strategic move leads to another, they build in each other, they mesh together to create the desired result. I’m sharing my experience but my experience parallels you experience and regardless of the experience they all require strategic moves to be successful. Learning to think strategically will enable you to succeed where others fail.

Dayton was a word in my heart. We began to move strategically buying radio and television time. I did a few small independent meetings in the area. A following was built. A location secured. A date was set. It sounds like the same scenario but it was different because I was different—I knew the power of moving strategically.

(You might remember that this was before the days of social media. Social media would have opened another series of strategic moves.)

I did some teaching recently on the need for strategic planning and a very nice person, quite intelligent, and with a good job bought a CD saying, “I’ve never thought about planning for life.” Alas, that has been said more than once and those who know the need for planning don’t plan strategically.

There is a difference between a plan and strategic moves. A plan sets a course. Strategic moves outline a series of actions that work together to achieve a desired result. A plan is affected by its environment. Strategic moves utilize the environment to achieve the desired results. A plan is static—it works or it doesn’t. Strategic moves are adaptable because they build on the last move, always keeping the end result in sight. If one move doesn’t work exactly as planned the next move is adapted to take advantage of the way it did work. The difference between planning and moving strategically is the difference between chess and checkers.

Let me give you a real world example. You want to pay off your credit cards. That’s a worthy goal. So you pay a little extra on each one each month. That’s planning. But if you’re moving strategically you pay the minimum on all your lower interest cards and apply all of the money to your highest interest card until it’s paid off. Then go to the next highest and do the same. Each move is strategic, builds on the one before it, and before you know it you’re out of debt.

When you join me “Behind The Door” I’m going to show you a series of principles that you can apply in any situation to achieve any goal strategically. Think about that! Any situation. Any goal. This may be one of the most powerful things that you read this year but remember—they’re called strategic moves not strategic reading.

BTW—My friend Stuart Halfacre, creative person par excellence, said to me this week, “You’ve got a lot of content on your blog.” Truth is—I’m don’t write just to write—I write to communicate insight, information, and motivation that will get you from where you are to where you want to be in life.

If you have the password you can go “Behind The Door” right now. If you don’t you’ll need to hit the “Sowing” button, sow a seed of any size and the password will be emailed to you. The default setting is twenty dollars but you can raise or lower that amount. The password is good for the rest of the month. Why don’t I give free access to “Behind The Door?” Because the investment that you make in yourself, large or small, places a value on what you’re receiving “Behind The Door.” You have to put a value on a thing for it to help you. I don’t want you to just be motivated—I want you to prosper. I’ll meet you “Behind The Door.”