Is Living Life To The Full Even Possible? 

In 2017 I hope to periodically give you a resource recommendation. Here’s the first one for the year: it’s a book written by Brandon Schaefer, Build a Better Life.
 
I first met Brandon at a Faith at Work conference for Business Owners and Business Leaders. I was intrigued by Brandon’s Five Capitals concept – we need to manage all five capitals wisely for sustainable professional and personal leadership. 

Of course, as a business owner, financial capital immediately pops into mind.  “What are the other four capitals?” I wonder, “And, what are their relationships to Financial Capital?”
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As I dove in, I recognize that the Five Capitals align with my Transformational Leadership work – our virtues and character are at the core of everything. Our character core ultimately impacts all areas of our lives, including the financial performance of our businesses (which is the first section of my upcoming book on Leading and Mentoring Millennials.)

I’ll let Brandon introduce his book further:
 
We live in a time where we’ve never been busier. Our endless spinning plates make us stressed, exhausted and on most days, barely surviving. 
 
Many of us, as business owners, executives and sales leaders live hectic, disintegrated lives of home, work, and church. We seem to be constantly playing catch up as we try to connect all these different areas.
 
Yet the goal as leaders, especially leaders who mentor Millennials, remains the same – to live one life that is fully integrated, fruitful and fulfilling. A life where we are investing in the people and tasks we care about. 
 
So, What Happens Next?

​Busyness causes us to stop investing in the activities and people we care about and it robs us of time with our spouse, kids, and church community and even with God. As we continue down this path, our lives begin to show the effects of this pace…  

• James felt confused and frustrated. He recognized that he could be one person at work and a totally different person at home, in the community, or at church – never having been able to bridge the two successfully. He is the president of a company in the highly specialized engineering world and has a crazy schedule. As much as he’s tried, his family has always seemed to get what was left over. The endless drive toward growth and keeping up with the current pace of life in the business world was intoxicating and exhausting.

 

• Liz’s life as an entrepreneur of a high-growth software company was very isolating. It wasn’t unusual to look back and see a surprising span of time that had gone by without genuine and lasting relational connection. Many areas of her life felt like she’d had fallen into a rut, as opposed to being in a groove. She also felt that her involvement with business wasn’t really Kingdom work and that the Bible didn’t speak to her business problems.

 
A Book to Help

Many Christian business leaders are feeling divided between their work, family and church. They’re searching for a life that is full and connected. 
 
They can continue to balance endless activities and tasks, or they can model their life after the best leader that ever lived: Jesus.
 
Build a Better Life is a book that offers seven Biblical frameworks to equip leaders to live more productive, healthier lives all centered on Jesus as the model. It provides practical assistance with proven strategies to help you develop and lead your life and business the way Jesus would, including stewarding the Five Capitals we are entrusted to manage.
 
These tools empower you to live a more productive and healthier, happier life. They will move you forward to discover the perspectives, priorities and practices needed to lead a more fulfilling and fruitful life, both at home and at work. 
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• James started establishing regular rhythms of rest and work, putting “rocks in the river” to promote health in his family and capacity in his business. Beginning to see his life as an integrated whole, he moved forward to discover the perspectives, priorities and practices needed to lead a more fulfilling and fruitful life, both at home and at work. Instead of feeling like he’s constantly stressed out and guilty for cheating his family, he says that he feels like he has his life back.

 

• Liz began reflecting on and implementing the book’s concepts to help her get reconnected to others. Today, she doesn’t feel so lonely anymore. She is excited to see how her business is a place where she can live out her passion. 

Leading and Living Like Jesus

Our hope is that through reflection on and implementing the concepts in this book you will be able to say, “I am discovering and living a more fulfilling and fruitful life.”
 
Jesus encourages you to write a bigger and better story—one that has more integration, satisfaction and lasting significance than you can even imagine.
 
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
 
Find out more about Build a Better Life and order a copy here.
 
By Brandon Schaefer