Say Yes When Life Says No Workbook

By DeForest B. Soaries

Turn life’s nos into yeses. The companion workbook to Say Yes When Life Says No is an exciting and encouraging 31-day guide that restarts dreams and goals that seem out of reach. With insightful anecdotes and moving biblical references from Rev. Dr. DeForest Soaries, this hands-on workbook encourages us to dig in and work toward setting personal goals, completing daily action items, and gaining clarity on reflective questions that will ignite our potential and move our response from “no” to “yes!” You will address key areas like:

• Your dream job
• Financial freedom
• Your life’s mission
• Companionship
• Health
• Life, death, and more

Intended to be filled out alongside the compelling trade book, this workbook is engaging, thought-provoking, and inspirational. Although overcoming life challenges is daunting, this workbook will help each of us to see the value and vision of life as revealed in the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David C Cook
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780830777754

Book preview

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SAY YES WHEN LIFE SAYS NO WORKBOOK

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

Integrity Music Limited, a Division of David C Cook

Brighton, East Sussex BN1 2RE, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.)

ISBN 978-0-8307-7732-7

eISBN 978-0-8307-7775-4

© 2019 Corporate Community Connections, Inc.

The Team: Alice Crider, Jeff Gerke, Rachael Stevenson, Kayla Fenstermaker, Susan Murdock

Cover Design: James Hershberger

First Edition 2019

This workbook is dedicated to the memory of my teacher and mentor, Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Now or Never

2. A Complete Life

3. Passion

4. Mission

5. The Difference between What and How

6. Reflection

7. Age

8. Help Me—I’m Stuck!

9. Personal Goals

10. Intellectual Goals

11. Vocational Goals

12. Financial Goals (Part 1)

13. Financial Goals (Part 2)

14. Financial Goals (Part 3)

15. Spiritual Goals

16. Fine-Tuning Goals

17. It’s about Time

18. Setting Priorities

19. Are Your Goals Big Enough?

20. Control What You Can Control

21. Live outside the Box

22. Don’t Get Tricked into Giving Up

23. Friends Matter

24. A Real Friend

25. Plan to Do Nothing

26. Personal Mission Statement

27. Stuff Happens

28. Make Failure Work for You

29. Keep the Faith

30. Plans Are Not Enough

31. Prayer Changes Things

Appendix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many great influences in my life contributed to this workbook becoming reality. I am grateful to God for all of them—my parents, my church families, my employers, and my teachers. The Bible has been the most influential book in my life, followed by the works of many great authors—Rick Warren, Gordon MacDonald, Tim Keller, Stephen R. Covey, David J. Schwartz, Charles Duhigg, Darren Hardy, and Juliet Schor.

Because of the positive impact these authors have had on me, I have committed significant time to writing, hoping that I can help others similarly. Aiding me in this effort are people whose roles are indispensable: my wife, Donna; my writing assistant, Jen DaSilva; my capable operations coordinator, Michelle Charles; and my transcriber, Angela Dadson.

A special thanks to the many people who participated in our thirty-one-day makeover experience that was the basis for this workbook. Their comments and feedback contributed significantly to the final form of this project.

This workbook would not have become reality without the support, guidance, and critique of the outstanding editorial team at David C Cook, including Alice Crider and Jeff Gerke. Their participation throughout the publishing process helped my work make so much more sense than it otherwise would have. Special thanks to them.

I am thankful most of all to God for granting me the privilege of sharing what I possess with those who can benefit from my sharing. Thank God for the grace that makes my life and ministry possible.

INTRODUCTION

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Whenever I experience something positive, I try to share it with others. In John 9, I discovered a man who was born blind and was healed by Jesus. After I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought perhaps this man could teach me how to access the healing power of Jesus.

What ended up happening was that Mr. Blind Man, as I like to refer to him, taught me to make some key decisions and take some needed actions, even though Jesus has the power to do anything for me. This blind man’s teachings changed my life. He taught me to say yes when life says no.

After learning these principles, I worked to apply them to my entire life. I used a systematic process to do this. And while I don’t believe in being a slave to a system, I do think it’s not enough to have principles without having a concrete approach to using those principles. So I have summarized my own practices in this workbook.

The best way to use this workbook is in a thirty-one-day process that includes life-changing exercises and decisions. This workbook will introduce you to a season of self-discovery that I think you will benefit from greatly. The material you learn here lends itself to being regularly reviewed, and your plans and goals can be updated on a regular basis. This journey may even involve you sharing with a coach or a small group. As a companion to Say Yes When Life Says No, this workbook will become as helpful to you as the blind man of John 9 was to me so you can be equipped to say yes when life says no.

God