Recently, I was listening to the fabulous leadership podcast from Andy Stanley. In this particular installment, he mentioned something about doing something "with your team" (as well as in every other episode, I'm sure) and I started thinking about the kids in my youth group... What would they say if they heard someone advising them to spend time learning from, being with, consulting with, brainstorming with their team? I quickly became mortified at the thought of one of them shrugging, flipping their hair out of their eyes and saying "I don't have a team." with a squint in their eye to fill in the rest of the statement..."What does that have to do with me?"
Even worse than all of that, I'm afraid that middle and high school students aren't the only ones who would be prone to that kind of reaction. Way too many of us who have...eh...put our school years behind us, per se... are completely clueless how statements about "team" have anything to do with us. You don't have to be a manager, supervisor, principal, director, etc. to have a team. You don't even have to be old enough to drive.
Everyone has a team, whether you know it or not. We all have people we talk things over with, people who are in a similar place in life, who face similar struggles, from whom we find strength. Co-workers, relatives, colleagues, our best friend from preschool... unfortunately, we don't often think of these people as being on our team, but if they are interested enough in your well-being to give you even a little bit of their time, they're on your team.
Clearly, not everyone will give you solid advice every time, and not everyone will even manage to steer you right most of the time (you know who I'm talking about). However, if you can think of 3-5 people, in whom you can truly place your trust, please allow me to make a suggestion.
Recognize the significance they have in your life and reach out to each of them to personally and officially invite them to be "on your team." It will be like having your own personal Board of Directors.
I know this kind of thing isn't for everyone and you can certainly live a pretty awesome life without following such advice, but if you do actually reach out to these folks and extend such an invitation, you can expect two things. One, they will be greatly flattered, honored, and humbled by your request. Its never a bad idea to do that for someone else. Second, you just might find them being more intentional in pouring into your life and helping push you to do greater things... which will never be bad for you.
I know there's a chance that you're not convinced and you still say you have no team. I still beg to differ... let me leave you with this...
In Hebrews 11, the writer expounds on all kinds of biblical heroes of faith... Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Noah... He tells their stories and drives home the point that their faith in God and in His intent to keep His promises to His people were the driving force behind all of the stories that made their lives so exceptional. Then, to begin chapter 12, the writer says this:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
You may not be able to call up Moses or Abraham on the phone and talk things over with them, but, essentially, the writer is telling you that all of these saints who have gone on before us, those mentioned in scripture and the ones who aren't... including your grandmother and her sweet next door neighbor who always gave you a glass of sweet tea when you were outside playing...
They are all cheering for YOU.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Preparing For the Attack That Is Coming Today
It's going to happen today... I promise...
You'll be tootling along (that's a real phrase where I come from), minding your own business, taking that thing for which you woke up this morning and wearing it out. Then, before you know it, you'll find your focus helplessly scattered like that plastic grass we so foolishly placed in our easter baskets as kids... You remember that stuff. It was so easy and fun to throw around all over the place and nearly humanly impossible to gather back up.
For people like me, a stimulant medication prescribed by your physician may help, but at the end of the day, against this kind of thing, there is only one true game plan, and that is to define your hit list from the beginning.
Not everyone's list should be the same, because we aren't all gingerbread men (or people...take your pick). However, because we are all human and made out of the same stuff, we do all have a lot more in common than you might think. I'm not gonna pretend to know all about you or be the boss of you, I'm not even going to pretend to be good at all of these things, myself (seriously...just ask my wife), but let me share some things I believe make me a little better at focusing my time and, more importantly, living a life of wholeness... hopefully, you'll find them helpful, too.
1. It should be true to who you are. Not in a selfish way that says "It's a free country and I'll do whatever I dang-well please!", but in a way that genuinely allows who you are to be expressed by the way you spend your time. It's cool to spend time improving on skills that you need to sharpen that don't come naturally to you, but that's not the kind of thing that will leave you sleeping well at the end of a long day, unless it's balanced out in good proportion to doing things with which you're already super awesome. Who you are determines your task, not the other way around.
2. Make sure others are benefitting from how you spend your time. This one can be tricky. There's a certain amount of self-care that is necessary to be useful to the world around you. You can't forget all about yourself and then wonder why you have a hard time helping others. Your body, mind, and soul all need to be kept in order to allow for your life to be as effective as possible when pursuing service to others. At the same time, we have to be careful not to become self-absorbed and turn inward. That will only leave us an atrocity in one who is supremely prepared, but completely blinded to all scenarios in which we may be of help.
3. The shorter the list, the better. Would you rather be okay at lots of things or really amazing at a few things? If you're the kind of person who loves to know a little bit about everything and has a head full of typically-useless information, you and I should think twice before spending time together... It could be bad... In the Egon Spengler sense. There's nothing wrong with being the naturally curious type and having a well-rounded education, but when your greatest skills, and the use of those skills, begins to suffer on account of just having too much going on, you gotta do some pruning. In the end, the more focused you can manage to be with how you spend your time, the more likely you are to be remarkably effective.
What would you put on this list of "tips?" Is this good stuff or is it all bunk? What's been your greatest key to effectiveness?
Before I wrap this, let me give you one specific thing that is on my list... I have to take time, every day, to maintain and polish the relationship between me and God. Piece of cake, I know...but I have experienced, all too often, how messed up things can get in my life and in everything I do, when I'm spiritually starving. When the wheels are falling off of everything and I'm rattled to my core by the circumstances in my life or by what I have been unable to accomplish, I've seen time and time again that the problem is no further away than in my own soul.
Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me today. I know your time is valuable, so let me share my prayer for you today and send you off to go kill whatever is to be on your plate today...
You'll be tootling along (that's a real phrase where I come from), minding your own business, taking that thing for which you woke up this morning and wearing it out. Then, before you know it, you'll find your focus helplessly scattered like that plastic grass we so foolishly placed in our easter baskets as kids... You remember that stuff. It was so easy and fun to throw around all over the place and nearly humanly impossible to gather back up.
For people like me, a stimulant medication prescribed by your physician may help, but at the end of the day, against this kind of thing, there is only one true game plan, and that is to define your hit list from the beginning.
Not everyone's list should be the same, because we aren't all gingerbread men (or people...take your pick). However, because we are all human and made out of the same stuff, we do all have a lot more in common than you might think. I'm not gonna pretend to know all about you or be the boss of you, I'm not even going to pretend to be good at all of these things, myself (seriously...just ask my wife), but let me share some things I believe make me a little better at focusing my time and, more importantly, living a life of wholeness... hopefully, you'll find them helpful, too.
1. It should be true to who you are. Not in a selfish way that says "It's a free country and I'll do whatever I dang-well please!", but in a way that genuinely allows who you are to be expressed by the way you spend your time. It's cool to spend time improving on skills that you need to sharpen that don't come naturally to you, but that's not the kind of thing that will leave you sleeping well at the end of a long day, unless it's balanced out in good proportion to doing things with which you're already super awesome. Who you are determines your task, not the other way around.
2. Make sure others are benefitting from how you spend your time. This one can be tricky. There's a certain amount of self-care that is necessary to be useful to the world around you. You can't forget all about yourself and then wonder why you have a hard time helping others. Your body, mind, and soul all need to be kept in order to allow for your life to be as effective as possible when pursuing service to others. At the same time, we have to be careful not to become self-absorbed and turn inward. That will only leave us an atrocity in one who is supremely prepared, but completely blinded to all scenarios in which we may be of help.
3. The shorter the list, the better. Would you rather be okay at lots of things or really amazing at a few things? If you're the kind of person who loves to know a little bit about everything and has a head full of typically-useless information, you and I should think twice before spending time together... It could be bad... In the Egon Spengler sense. There's nothing wrong with being the naturally curious type and having a well-rounded education, but when your greatest skills, and the use of those skills, begins to suffer on account of just having too much going on, you gotta do some pruning. In the end, the more focused you can manage to be with how you spend your time, the more likely you are to be remarkably effective.
What would you put on this list of "tips?" Is this good stuff or is it all bunk? What's been your greatest key to effectiveness?
Before I wrap this, let me give you one specific thing that is on my list... I have to take time, every day, to maintain and polish the relationship between me and God. Piece of cake, I know...but I have experienced, all too often, how messed up things can get in my life and in everything I do, when I'm spiritually starving. When the wheels are falling off of everything and I'm rattled to my core by the circumstances in my life or by what I have been unable to accomplish, I've seen time and time again that the problem is no further away than in my own soul.
Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me today. I know your time is valuable, so let me share my prayer for you today and send you off to go kill whatever is to be on your plate today...
God, thank you for the day that you have given us and for the greatness we see in the world you have created. It can be a tough thing to know our place in this world, but I know that, through you, we can know ourselves and our role in the world better than ever. Please bless everyone who reads this post with a renewed sense of purpose in life and help them to know that purpose deeper with every day that passes. Thanks for loving us and being intricately involved in our lives. Thank you for sacrificing your son so that we can know you and be fully known by you. In the name of Jesus I pray all these things. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)