“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Gen 1:28

For this to make sense to you, you really need to read the previous blog. We’ve already discussed the basic 4 step business plan in the first half of this verse. We could write a book about taking dominion over our lower nature as pictured by the fish of the sea. Now I want to show you a second critical factor for succeeding at the 4 step plan…

You must take dominion over the fowl of the air. Can you guess what that might represent? I submit to you, it very well represents your thought life, specifically taking dominion over the unsolicited thoughts that come to set up nest in your mind. Some of those thoughts feed your lower nature. Others just keep you down or depressed. If you don’t take dominion over what you think, you will be at the mercy of the fowls of the air and they will pluck your eyes out (steal your vision), given half a chance.

We have a responsibility to cast down every vain thought and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are duty bound to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) We need to direct our thoughts into things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praise worthy.

Your thought life more than anything I know can make or break you. If you don’t take dominion here, don’t think you will succeed in the 4 step business plan. It will break down when troubles come. Rest assured, they will come.

Note to those in Southwest Florida: David Johnson is hosting an intimate gathering of marketplace warriors who want to successfully market their business. It will be this Saturday, September 27th. I assure you, it will be well worth your time to attend. Click here for details…

Note to those in the Charlotte, NC area: Join me as I attend a training conference to improve my ability to provide coaching to many of you beginning later in October. Click here for details…

One of our most responded to blog entries was when I recently mentioned (Feb 12^th) the need for soft skills. I am proud to say I began with a discussion on humility. (o-; Today I want to introduce a soft skill Paul calls the greatest of all. It’s an awkward one to bring up in a business environment but it has the most transformational power.

I am talking of course about “love.” Talking about it is far less important than actually demonstrating it and there are countless ways we can do that. For example, love lays down its life for another. That’s what service is… laying down your life for the benefit of another. If you do this particularly well in business, you will generate high customer satisfaction and an incredible reputation.

As an example, my friend Wes Cantrell, the former CEO of Harris 3M and Lanier Worldwide told me when he became the CEO of Harris 3M he was in the position of actually chartering the purpose and vision for that company. That’s when they decided to build their purpose and business around the Scripture that says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than riches….” They focused on customer satisfaction and as a byproduct of that quality decision had tremendous growth and tremendous profits. He assumed the reins of a $93 million company and retired leaving behind a $1.5 billion company built on loving your customers.

P.S. By the way, if you’d like to hear more from Wes Cantrell, ChristianBusinessDaily.com is holding a teleseminar featuring him this week called “Insider Information - A Retrospective.” It gets underway on Thursday at 1PM Eastern, and is a fascinating look into the world of a major CEO who integrated his faith into the world of publicly-traded companies. Learn more about this event here.