I read two to three hours per day, perhaps more on weekends. Rather than watching reruns of Shark Tank or most nightly news programs, I’ll pick up a book or read one on my iPad.

I read books for a number of reasons: recreation, information, spiritual guidance and business information. When I read business books I give thought to the true cost of the book.  I buy books from $10-$75 on Amazon.com.. At times I recommend these books to a client or friend. They wince at a $35 to $50 price tag. I can see they think the cost is too high.

The other day I woke up late and started my day significantly behind schedule. I had a phone message that needed attention and a number of e-mails in my inbox that required responses as well as a full schedule for the day. In an effort to save time, I read my scripture study quickly, with little attention, and skipped my regular prayer time.

Predictably my day didn’t go well. I started behind and seemed to get further behind at every turn. I went from one ineffective action to another, accomplishing little.  Halfway through my day I realized what my biggest issue was. I failed to honor the Lord by giving Him my attention first.  I didn’t commit my entire day to Him through prayer.  I confessed my shortcomings, reread my scripture, and prayed through my prayer list for the day. While my day was still off-balance, the Lord provided peace for the rest of my day.

This reinforced a key Bible verse that most of us know: “pray continually.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV) It is a good reminder for me and the rest of us.   When we slip, we need to stop what we’re doing, confess our shortcomings to the Lord, and alter our path. On this particular day I never fully recovered but when I stopped and took time I didn’t believe I had, my day improved. A wise pastor once preached, “The more responsibility you have and the busier your schedule with more demands on your time requires more prayer to accomplish those activities than when you have little to do.”  This was good counsel.

I encourage you to place personal devotional time on your schedule and maintain that commitment as a high priority. My experience is that my days go better when I do.  I believe yours will also.

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Each person has a natural style for conducting business. You are more effective the better you understand the style the Lord has gifted you with. Embrace that style rather than fighting against it. Your style matters.

Pastor Steve is a gifted communicator through his Sunday messages.  He writes out his entire message word for word and it reads his message. His presentation doesn’t let you know that he had word for word preparation.  Pastor Steve needs to write everything out in advance; it’s his style.

The New York Times recently ran an article titled, “Work. Walk 5 Minutes. Work.” The message was that by taking short walk- around breaks was very effective in improving overall productivity in the personal health.  I agree.

I may be dating myself with this article and I know many younger workers will not agree with my premise. Years ago John T. Molloy wrote a best-selling business book, Dress For Success, which I believe is out-of-print. The theme of the book was dress for the job that you would like not the one that you have.
 
I’ve counseled a number of younger workers about their business career. One piece of advice that I always provide is to upgrade their wardrobe.  I’ve heard the same response many times, “It’s not how I look; it’s what I know and do.”  I usually respond by saying, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’" (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV) My point is that most people do look at outward appearances.