Month: September 2016

Self Leadership–Part 5: Managing Energy Through Relationships

We all have relationships that drain energy from us, and thankfully those that add energy, too. As we continue looking at Michael Hyatt’s five “R’s” as a way of examining our self-leadership, today we turn to the fourth “R”: Relationships. (If you’ve missed the previous posts on this topic, you’ll want to read them, but as a quick review, the Michael Hyatt contends as we seek to lead ourselves to be more productive, we can’t manage time, because it is a fixed resource. What we can manage is our energy. We do that through effective management of the five “R’s”: Rest, Refreshment, Recreation, Relationships and Reflection.)

Relationships whether personal or business certainly have the potential to build or destroy energy in our lives, don’t they? When our relationships are going well, we not only have greater energy, but greater peace and an overall sense of well-being. When we go through tough times, but our significant relationships are solid, those storms are much easier to weather than when we go through the same situations, but our relationships are draining.

One of the most important comments Hyatt makes in his consideration of relationships is that we are human beings not human doings. While we may jump to activity first in our lives, or at least be prone to do so, all activity is more meaningful in relationship and community. For example, I have taken this week as vacation. When I originally scheduled it, Nancy and I were planning to take a trip to the New England states. Over this year though, Nancy has decided that we ought to finish our basement before Christmas so we can have the staff Christmas party there. I told her a couple of weeks ago, that if that were going to happen, I needed to work in the basement on vacation instead of traveling.

Both activities have merit, but working in the basement doesn’t seem to lend itself to building meaningful relationships. If all I did was work in the basement by myself it wouldn’t have built relationships, so each day we took some time and did something fun together. It served to build energy in the recreation area as well as the relationship area. We went out to dinner together on Monday. We went to dinner and a Pirates’ game on Tuesday. We took some friends out to dinner on Wednesday, and last night we stayed home and dreamed about what the basement is going to look like, and how we’re going to use the various areas once it’s finished.

While most of the week I worked on the basement, I also took time to build my relationship with God and Nancy, and even squeezed in an evening with friends. As with every one of the five “R’s” intentionality is the key to success. Self Leadership is about intentionality–planning our work (or play) and working our plans. As we do that our lives gain energy. I must say that while I have worked hard all week, I am more energized now than I was when the week started. Taking a break from the routine of daily work has added energy. I’ve rested more than usual, and eaten better over all, which has been a challenge since we’ve eaten out three evenings. While I didn’t exercise as in do a P90X workout or ride my exercise bike, the work in the basement has provided both aerobic and strength building activity. (I even dropped a couple of pounds.)

So, what are you doing to build your meaningful personal and work relationships these days? Are you being intentional? If you’re married do you have your spouse in your schedule? Some contend all we need to do is invest a little quality time with the significant people in our lives to build relationships. In my experience, it takes a quantity of time to build quality time. My evenings with Nancy have been good, and overall we have invested more time together than we typically get to have. The rejuvenating effects of intentional rest, refreshment, recreation, relationships and reflection (more about that on Monday) are essential for us if we’re go to be healthy over the long haul.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll conclude our consideration of self leadership on Monday. In the meantime, here’s to leading better by investing in our important relationships–today!

 

Self-Leadership – Part 4: Managing Energy Once More

A quick review for those who haven’t been following this week’s posts on Self-Leadership: The past couple of days we’ve been looking at Michael Hyatt’s five “R’s” of managing energy. Hyatt contends that we can’t ultimately manage time, because it’s a fixed resource, but we can manage our energy, and to do so, we must use the five “R’s” effectively. The five “R’s” parallel the seven principles of Life Management, which I introduced back in July. The five “R’s” included: Rest, Refreshment, Recreation, Relationships, and Reflection.

Today, we turn to Recreation. For Hyatt recreation includes exercise and play. Once again, Hyatt doesn’t break any new ground when he talks about exercise, noting that we need exercise that addresses the aerobic, strength-building, flexibility and balance areas of our bodies. It is a helpful reminder, though, when we’re talking about energy to focus on exercise, because while it seems that exercise would deplete our energy, it actually builds energy over time. Healthy and fit bodies have more energy than those that are weak and out of shape.

Once again, I have experienced this personally both in practicing healthy exercise patterns and in not practicing them. For my entire adult life, I have let the pendulum swing back and forth in this area. To give an example of the extremes to which the pendulum has swung, ten years ago I was so out of shape that I could only “run” an 1/8 of a mile, so I decided to do something about it. Six months later I ran in, and completed, the Cleveland Marathon. Over that time my weight went from about 215 pounds to 180 pounds. I felt better than I had in years. Over the ensuing years, I continued running for a while, then after an injury swam a mile a day for a year or so. Following that, I “took a break,” which is a euphemism for saying I didn’t exercise regularly for six months. Then I started P90X and over the next two years completed P90X twice, P90X2  and P90X3.

The point here is that exercise is part of Recreation, which is part of self leadership. What is your routine? Do you exercise regularly? Do you swing back and forth from maintaining an exercise regimen to not doing so? In order to maintain the energy we need to live productive lives, and particularly to do so as leaders, we need to include exercise in our daily schedule.

Hyatt adds play to recreation, which I found both interesting and helpful. After all, as the old saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” We do need to play, to take time to have fun with our spouses, our families and with friends. The other night Nancy and I went to the Pirates’ game. While the game itself was a disappointment, we enjoyed the evening together, as well as with those who sat around us. A couple from Wisconsin, who were there to root for the Chicago Cubs, provided an evening of light-hearted jabbing back and forth. The great thing about fun is it doesn’t have to be expensive. We can play a board game with our family, or get together with friends to watch a free concert in a local park during the summer months.

Hyatt points out that recreation is intended to re-create us, and when we maintain appropriate levels of exercise and play that’s precisely what happens. Our bodies respond with greater health, our attitudes grow more positive and our overall demeanor becomes more positive. Recreation is definitely an energizer when we include it regularly in our lives, so if we want to be great leaders, it’s important to include it as a priority in our lives.

Here’s to leading better by including recreation–exercise and play–in our lives–today!

Self Leadership – Part 3:

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday with considering how we practice self-care through practicing the rejuvenating principles of the five “R’s” as presented by Michael Hyatt. In case you missed yesterday’s post, the five “R’s” are: Rest, Refreshment, Recreation, Relationships and Reflection. I compared these five “R’s” to my seven principles of Life Management yesterday, and if you want to see the parallels, you can read or reread yesterday’s post. Remember, too, Hyatt’s premise is we can’t manage time, because it is a fixed reality. What we can manage is our energy.  Through practicing the five “R’s” effectively, we increase our overall energy, which allows us to use our time optimally, and increase our overall productivity.

Let’s look at Hyatt’s second “R”: Refreshment. Hyatt uses the word refreshment to refer to food and drink. It is one of the three aspects of physical care in my seven principles of Life Management. Hyatt points out that he is neither a dietician nor a nutrition and that hundreds of plans for proper eating are out there. He points out a few simple truths when it comes to Refreshment: 1) We need to reduce our intake of high glycemic carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, potatoes and processed foods containing high fructose corn syrup and processed sugar; 2) We need to increase our intake of low glycemic carbohydrates such as legumes, most vegetables, sweet potatoes, and rice; 3) we need to get our protein from meats that have been grilled rather than fried, or coated with high glycemic carbohydrates; and 4) we need to drink a lot of water. Hyatt recommends drinking half the number of ounces of water as your weight in pounds each day. (For example: if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to drink 100 ounces of water.)

None of this is news to anyone who has been practicing even a modicum of self leadership in the area of “Refreshment.” As with Hyatt’s advice concerning rest, there is nothing groundbreaking here. This is common sense advice, we all know, but few practice. I have gone through seasons in my adult life when I practiced Life Management effectively in all seven areas, and in those seasons my energy was high and my effectiveness increased. Certainly, when we rest well on a regular basis, getting enough sleep each night, and taking regular brief naps during the day, and practice eating healthy foods and staying hydrated through drinking water, our energy and productivity will increase. That is common sense.

It is also effective self leadership. the challenge is to do what we know to do, isn’t it? None of us can disagree that it is effective self leadership to rest enough and eat well, but how many of us do it? For many years, I have focused on the challenge of discipline. I know what to do, but I’m not disciplined enough to do it. Hyatt has a response to such thinking. He calls it self-defeating thinking. After all, if I say, “I know what I need to do, but I’m not disciplined enough to do it,” then I’m saying I am going to fail at self-leadership. Hyatt points out that we need to stop seeing practicing these rejuvenating activities as a discipline to be exercised. They are rather freedom producing behaviors. They free us to live energized, productive lives.

For me the difference in those two perspectives is huge. After all, when I’m telling myself I don’t want to practice the discipline I “have” to practice in order to be healthy and effective as a leader, I’m convincing myself that it’s a battle I am eventually going to lose. When I see those activities as stepping stones to greater self leadership, greater health, effectiveness and productivity it makes a difference. 3,000 years ago, King Solomon of Israel said, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” How we think whether men or women, how we see ourselves, becomes what we are.

I’ve been taking Hyatt’s approach to self leadership over the past several days, and I can already sense the difference. Rather than thinking about my lack of discipline, I’ve been thinking about the freedom I’m going to experience when my energy level increases, when I’m back at my old “playing weight,” and when my key relationships are stronger, including my relationship with God. As we consider self leadership, managing our energy becomes a major factor in seeing ourselves grow. While each of us is unique, and varying personalities may have a different response to the concept of energy management as opposed to time management, I hope this framework helps you to become more effective in your own self leadership

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at another of Hyatt’s means of managing our energy, so we will become more effective at using our time and more productive in our lives.

Here’s to leading better by using the refreshment of food and drink effectively–today!

Self Leadership – Part 2: Managing Energy

Back in July, I did a series of posts on “Life Management.” Life Management is a seven-part process for leading ourselves in the most important areas of life, what many would call the “Quadrant II” areas, those matters which are important, but not urgent. Recently, I was exposed to a different framework for talking about these same things by Michael Hyatt. Hyatt makes an incredibly insightful point: we cannot manage time, but we can manage our energy. Hyatt’s point is that time is fixed. Each of us has 168 per week. We can’t manage a fixed reality. Therefore, we must manage something that we can truly manage: our energy.

You may remember that the seven aspects of Life Management are: rest, prayer, physical care, relationships, study, work and finances. Hyatt states our energy can be managed through five “R’s,” which as you will see correlate closely with the seven aspects of Life Management. His five “R’s” are: Rest, Refreshment (physical care), Recreation (more physical care), Relationships, and Reflection (prayer, study). I like Hyatt’s framework for two reasons: 1) The ideas of managing energy makes a great deal of sense; and 2) the five “R’s” are easy to understand and remember.

When it comes to self leadership we must have some framework for managing ourselves, whether we think of Life Management, or what Hyatt calls Rejuvenation, having an actual framework makes it possible to examine whether we’re making progress. For example, both Hyatt and I emphasize rest first. My saying is, “If you don’t rest, you won’t be able to do the rest.” Hyatt points out that without rest, we won’t have energy and without energy we will use our time poorly. We’ve all experienced the afternoon swoon, when we feel like we just have to take a nap. Hyatt’s advice is to take the nap. He says he has taken a twenty-minute nap virtually every day of his adult life.

Hyatt recommends getting 7-10 hours of sleep each night and taking a nap of twenty to no more than thirty minutes every day. When we’re rested, we have more energy and our lives are much easier to manage. If you choked on the idea of getting 7-10 hours of sleep each night, because it doesn’t “fit” into your schedule, you aren’t alone. Many leaders have been taught that sleep is a luxury that leaders can’t afford. Books have even been written to advocate for sleeping only 4-5 hours per night. They contend that the extra time will produce extra productivity. Hyatt contends that such bursts of extra productivity are short-lived, and cannot be sustained over time.

My experience confirms Hyatt’s contention about rest, and he backs it up with statistical evidence. Having just come through a two-week period of working more than 80 hours each week, I know how my energy level has waned. Being on vacation this week has given me the opportunity to catch up on a little sleep and to relax a bit through the days as well. I encourage you to stop and consider how rest factors into your self leadership. If it’s at the proper level, and your energy is high that’s great. If you’re dragging yourself down, then what are you going to do to bring it into a proper proportion? Remember this: the only way to sleep 8 hours a night and get up at 5 am is to go to bed at ______. (That’s right: 9 pm.)

If you’re thinking that isn’t realistic, the truth is it is realistic. It’s a clear fact. You must decide whether you need 7, 8 or more hours of sleep and then it’s a simple math problem.  When do you want to get up? Subtract and determine when you need to go to bed. Most of us don’t like the results of that equation, because we want to stay up late and get up early, but the math doesn’t work, and over time that’s why our self leadership suffers. We start from a point of depletion rather than a point of energy.

More about Self Leadership tomorrow. We’ll pick up on the second of Hyatt’s five “R’s”. In the mean time, get some rest!

Here’s to leading better by getting enough rest–tonight!

Self-Leadership–Part 1: A Personal Vision

It was probably John Maxwell who said, “All leadership starts with self-leadership.” Whoever said it was right. After all, how will you and I ever lead anyone else if we can’t lead ourselves? When we get out of the bed in the morning, or perhaps before we even get out of bed in the morning, we must understand the day ahead will be filled with opportunities to fulfill our personal vision and the corporate vision over which we are responsible for leadership.

What is a personal vision? As with all visions it is a picture of a preferred future. My personal vision includes a glimpse of the corporate vision of New Life, but it extends into the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realms of my life. I am a follower of Jesus, so my worldview comes from the Bible. That worldview includes an understanding that each human being consists of three parts: body, soul and spirit. The body is physical. The soul incorporates the mind, the emotions and the will. The spirit is that part of us that connects with the Holy Spirit once we have been “born again” to use Jesus term from John 3.

Give that worldview, my personal vision includes my body, soul and spirit. I am fifty-nine years old, which means my vision for my body is different than it was when I was nineteen, or thirty-nine. I will never again run a five minute mile (or a seven minute mile for that matter.), but far too many folks in their fifties, sixties and beyond assume their bodies will be unable to function well. I have struggled all of my adult life with maintaining the fitness level that is possible for one of my age. That’s because I have sometimes forgotten to establish and clear vision, and at other times to follow through with my plan to attain and maintain that vision.

A number of years ago, I read a book titled Younger Next Year. The book transformed my vision for my body, because it offered seven simple, not easy, but simple habits, which if maintained would keep a person in their fifties and beyond healthy and functioning well physically. Having incorporated the premise of the book into my personal vision and having carried the plan out to lesser and greater degrees over time, I know the book’s premise is sound. Do you have a vision for your body?

When it comes to the soul–the mind, the emotions and the will–this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to a personal vision. We must engage the mind, emotions and will in order to establish any kind of vision, and to carry the vision into practice. I have often “seen” a vision of a preferred future both personally and corporately quite clearly with my mind. I have been on board with it emotionally. I have become my own best cheerleader. But the will has not cooperated. It will be too hard, or too boring or too ________. Because all of us operate out of a state of fallenness or sin, even once we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, we will struggle to a greater or lesser degree with getting our mind, emotions and will on board with a godly personal or corporate vision for our lives, but it is essential that we do.

The spirit is crucial when it comes both to formulating and carry out our personal vision, because aside from the Spirit of God connecting with our spirits to develop a godly vision and empowering us to living it out, we will always be struggling and battling at the level of the soul. The good news is our bodies will follow wherever our spirits or souls take them, so we need to ensure only that we give the Holy Spirit control of our spirits in order to win the battle of formulating and living out our personal and corporate visions. It still won’t be easy, because our souls will often fight against what’s best for us, because what’s best for us is seldom easy at first.

When it comes to formulating and living out a clear, compelling and godly personal vision, we must hear from God by reading His word, by listening in prayer, by considering our circumstances and by listening to others who hear from God and speak into our lives, and then we must commit to carrying out that vision in the power of the Holy Spirit. If you ever want to see an example of someone who had a great personal vision, but was ineffective at living it out until he gave the Holy Spirit charge over his life, look at the biblical character known as Simon Peter. Before, he received the Holy Spirit in his life, he was clear and bold about his vision. He was going to follow Jesus whatever that meant. He would preach, teach, heal and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. He had more than a modicum of success, too.

Then Jesus was arrested, and it looked like Peter would also be arrested. In that moment of trial, Peter denied three times that he knew or had even met Jesus. The experience devastated Peter. But after Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the believers, including Peter. When we read the account of the turnaround in Peter’s life in Acts chapters 2-10 it is incredible. The vision is the same, but the ability to carry it out is multiplied.

I recognize some who read these posts may not believe in God, or may not believe that Jesus Christ is God, or that there is a Holy Spirit or even that we have a spirit. You may certainly develop a personal vision and implement it in the power of your mind, emotions and will. Many have done so and have accomplished great things. In my experience, the ability to do great things is within human capacity. What I am writing here is to demonstrate that the greatest things personally and corporately are accomplished when divine capacity is added to human capacity through the Holy Spirit. My hope and prayer is that all of us who are Jesus’ followers will let His Spirit work as we formulate and live out our personal and corporate visions.

I also hope and pray those of you who read this who are not Jesus’ followers will consider what I’m writing and take the step of faith necessary to trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord and let His Spirit work in your spirit as you formulate and live out your personal and corporate visions, too. That will give you the greatest opportunity to develop and live visions that matter both for this life and for eternity.

Here’s to leading better by letting the Holy Spirit work in our spirits as we formulate and live out our personal and corporate visions–today!

Time: The Ultimate Nonrenewable Resource

I stayed up to late last night–again. It was for a good cause. I’ve been working an inordinate number of hours, so Nancy and I stayed up after I got home from a meeting at 9:30 pm. We talked and watched a couple episodes of our favorite Netflix show, Heartland. When we looked at the clock it was 12:14 am. That meant if we were going to get eight hours of sleep, we would need to be in bed until at least 8:14 am. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen, so we cheated our sleep hours and got up at 6:30, which is one of the reasons why this post is late.

As we’ve considered the changing of seasons the last couple of days, we’ve focused on reflecting on time and planning our time. Those habits are crucial to our growth, as is living our time effectively. While staying up until 12:14 am with one’s spouse is a good thing, in the overall scheme of things, it isn’t the best thing. Once in a while, such an activity may be necessary, but when it becomes a habit, it means failing to take the greatest advantage of our time our ultimate non-renewable resource. So many times over the years, I’ve read someone’s post or article about choosing the best over the better or the good, and said, “Amen.” I know how important that choice is for living a life that is effective.

But then again, to know and not to do is really not to know. How many times can a leader say, “I know,” while not doing what he or she “knows,” and really claim to know whatever the piece of knowledge is supposed to be. As I’ve said to myself and others so many times Information – Application = Information, but Information + Application = Transformation. As we read and even write leadership advice the key question becomes, “When am I going to apply what I’m reading or writing on a consistent basis in my own life?”

I love investing time with Nancy and I need to do it. It is a Quadrant II activity, and my marriage grows when I do it. That is a good thing, a great thing. But. There’s often a but after such statements in my life it seems. But, as good and even great as it is to invest time with Nancy, in the grand scheme, I need to make sure I’m doing that great activity in a timely manner. Last night I needed to connect with Nancy. I could have done that and then gone to bed at 10:00 or 10:30 pm. That would have meant getting up at 6:00 or 6:30 (as I did), but being well-rested and being better equipped to live today effectively. To be sure, I’ll live today effectively, but not as effectively as if I were well-rested. And missing out on a couple hours of sleep isn’t a rare occurrence for me, I do it often.

That means there’s a cumulative effect. Conventional wisdom might say, “Yes, but think of all the extra hours of time you’re getting by not ‘wasting’ them on sleep.” Indeed, we often applaud those who sleep only 4-6 hours a night and “maximize” their time. Time is a nonrenewable resource, so we pat folks on the back for living 18-20 hours a day rather than only 16-17. The fallacy in that kind of thinking as we’ve mentioned in previous posts is over time those “extra” hours of awake time are gained at the expense of our long term physical and mental health, as well as our spiritual health.

Once again, as I’m encouraging you to make the most of the time, by getting enough rest, I’m talking to myself first. While getting enough rest is viewed by many as a “waste” of time, it’s part of “sharpening the saw,” of ensuring that our most important tools: our bodies, souls and spirits, are sharp, renewed and refreshed as we plan and live each day. I’m feeling a little groggy right now, even as I’m being productive with my time. I apologize that this post is getting to you later than usual. I typically write my posts the day before their posted so those of you who are effective with your time and get up early can include reading them in your morning routine. I’m investing some time today in big picture planning once again, because I’m seeing my effectiveness waning a bit, and I’m living with more “spontaneity.” I put spontaneity in quotes, because that’s a euphemism for lack of planning.

Again, spontaneity can be a great thing. When I have planned effectively and have margin in the area of time in my life, spontaneous opportunities add spice and fun. On the other hand, when I’ve failed to plan and have no margin, spontaneous opportunities present one more challenge to managing my time and my life effectively. In order to lead as effectively as possible, we must start with leading ourselves, and that always starts with  planning and living our time in ways that maximize them to God’s glory and our gain. As we do that, those we lead will also gain, because our investment of time in the matters of life that matter most will mean they receive the maximum benefit from our lives, too.

Here’s to leading better by maximizing our ultimate nonrenewable resource–time–today!

Seasons-Part 2

Welcome to fall! If you’re anything like me, you’re wondering how in the world it’s fall already. We’re nearly three-quarters of the way through 2016, and time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future… Anyway, the first day of fall is a great day to stop and make an assessment of what you’re going to do for the next three months. What is the number one goal you have for your personal leadership and for your corporate leadership? Is there an area in your personal life that needs to be addressed so you can move forward in every area of your life? Yesterday we took the time to reflect on the recent past–summer. Today we’re taking the time to ponder about the immediate future–fall.

While one of the dangers of reflection and pondering is that we fail to live fully in the present, another danger is that we are unable to live fully in the present, because we haven’t learned from the past or planned the future. Drifting through life is not an option for leaders, because drifting isn’t leading. On the other hand, dwelling on the past, focusing on the “if only’s” of our lives keeps us anchored to the past and unable to move forward. When I start to walk down the rabbit trail of “if only”–if only I hadn’t made that decision, if only I had built that relationship, if only… you get the idea, my focus becomes the rear view mirror of my life, and I don’t lead. Make sure the if only’s of your life don’t become the focus of your life.

When I look to the future with a “what if” mindset, in the negative sense of “what if” I can also become paralyzed. For example, if I’m constantly asking: What if the economy turns south? What if that decision I made doesn’t produce the results I’m counting on it to produce? What if…the list goes on and on. When I camp in the what ifs as I think about the future that season is not going to produce the results it could.

So, here we are on September 22, 2016, the first day of fall. Have you already planned this next quarter? Have you reflected effectively on summer and gleaned the information from that reflection that has allowed you to celebrate the wins, debrief the losses and glean the information that will allow you not to make the same mistakes again, and recognize that 90% of the quarter was simply showing up and persevering through the relationships and processes necessary to move your life, family and work place forward? If yes, then learn from the past, live today fully and plan for the future. If no, there’s no better time than today to sit down and do a postmortem on summer, and set forth a few plans for fall based on what you find.

Notice I wrote “…set forth a few plans for fall…” My tendency is always to assume I can accomplish far more in a day than I can, but to underestimate how much I can do in a season or a year. Whatever your tendency remember that failing to plan is planning to fail. That reminder has helped me so many times, because I am not a planner by nature. Today and yesterday’s posts are at least as much for me as they are for any of you. When I challenge you with Socrates’ quote about the unexamined life not being worth living on a regular basis that is as much for my benefit as for yours. I want each of us to be the best leader we can be, and taking the time to look back at the end of a season, and forward at the beginning of a new one will help each of us do just that.

Here’s to leading better, by looking forward–today!

Seasons-Part 1

It’s the last day of summer. While it seems that some has been over for a while, because school has started and we’re all back into different routines than during June through August, on the calendar we’re told today is the last, official day of summer. So how did the summer go? Do you move forward as a leaders? Did you invest time away with your family if you have one? Did you read, watch or listen to any leadership development books, videos, or podcasts? What did you do during the summer season to move forward as a leader and in your relationships with family members, with those you lead, and with folks in your life in general?

We of think of seasons in three month chunks, which is a large enough quantity of time to make significant changes when we’re intentional. We get four seasons every year, and while each has its own dynamic, measuring life by seasons helps us set bigger picture goals than just seeing life as chunks of days, or weeks, or even months. We’ll be thinking about what it means to enter a new season tomorrow, but for today let’s take a moment to debrief summer. I’ve already asked several important questions, so what are you answers? Did you move forward intentionally this summer?

As I consider those questions, I realize that as always I get to answer them with: Yes, I moved forward intentionally, but not as intentionally as I could have. I read a number of important books over the summer. My mainstay is always the Bible, and I read about a quarter of it over the summer, because I typically read through the Bible each year. Using an online Bible reading plan breaks the Bible down into 365 “bite size” pieces, that I read daily. I was able to keep up with that reading over the summer, only missing a few days, and doubling up to stay caught up when I did. It’s healthy for me to stay rooted in God’s word, because it is the guide for my life.

In addition to the Bible, the book that changed me the most is one I’m going to be addressing in more depth next week: Leadership and Self-Deception. While the book is not a “Christian” book, indeed it never mentions God, it has done more to help me understand how easy it is for me to live self-deceived, or in sin, than any book I’ve read. That’s why will pick up on it next week. For today, I wanted to mention that I read it at the end of the summer season, in late August, and it has been transforming me as I’ve applied it in September.

Nancy and I had the opportunity to take some time away to visit our daughters over the summer, and I took an extended weekend with Kenn, my younger brother, and his son, Matt, to visit the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in July. Those times away deepened my relationships with my family, and also gave me an opportunity for some needed rest and renewal.

The Cambodia mission trip in August was another summer activity that deepened my faith in Jesus, and broadened my leadership capacity and ability. I wrote five posts about what I learned on that trip a couple of weeks ago, so you can look back if you want to read more about that. Suffice it to say that living for a couple of weeks in a third world nation, gives one the opportunity to gain a perspective that is challenging if not impossible to gain while living in middle class America.

I hope you’ll take some time today to sit down and reflect on your summer season. What were the highs and lows? The good, the bad and the ugly? What will you do again next summer? What will you continue into the fall? What will you never do again? Remember: the unexamined life is not worth living, so let’s take some time to examine who we are, whose we are, and what we have done over the summer and why?

Here’s to being a better leader, by taking time to reflect on the summer season–today!

Distractions

I had the opportunity to meet with a young woman from our church family who has been serving as a missionary for the past eight months in Cambodia, and is now home for a month before returning to continue to serve Jesus there. I asked her what is one of the most important things she has learned during her time here and after giving it some thought replied, “I had forgotten how intentional you have to be in order to spend time with God. It’s easier to serve God in a third world country than it is here.” Then she added, “Do you know what I mean?”

I do. Having invested short periods of time many times in places such as Cambodia, Mexico, and Cuba, I know what it’s like to have the lights go out when it gets dark, meaning it’s bedtime. That can be as early as 8:00 or 8:30 pm. That means I’m awake at 3:00 or 4:00 am and I don’t have to get up until 6:00 or 7:00 giving me three or four hours to do what? To be with God. To pray. To read the Bible. In short, In those places I start my day steeped in God and His word. It makes it much easier to serve God, when I have already invested the first several hours of the day with Him.

Then there’s here. While I could go to bed at 8:00 or 9:00 pm, I seldom do. After a long day of work, I want to “wind down.” That usually means watching a television show with Nancy. A good thing to be sure, but not the best thing. After a long day of work, it would be better to catch up with Nancy and then go to bed. That way I would be able to get enough sleep to stay healthy, to be refreshed, and still get up early enough to invest the first two to three hours with God.

What does that have to do with leadership? Because I’m a pastor, that has everything to do with leadership for me. After all, I serve God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so investing the first several hours of the day with Him is the best way to lead as a pastor. If you’re not a pastor, but you’re a believer, the idea of going to bed early and getting up early is hardly a new concept for leadership. Benjamin Franklin, one of the great leaders of history said, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

Distractions keep us from it, or distractions can keep us from it. The young woman pointed out that it takes so much more intentionality to serve Jesus here in the U.S. than in Cambodia. The pace of life may be the biggest distraction we face here. We are expected to go from 0 to 60 in as little time as possible in everything we do. I noted last week that I am in a particularly full time right now, that I’m going through a two-week period with a lot of additional hours, and night meetings every night. I’m on the downhill side of that with only six more of those meetings to go. I have to say I enjoy the pace. I like going sixty.

That’s part of the distraction. Whether we like the pace or not, most of us keep it. It threatens our health over time. It threatens our effectiveness over time. It threatens our leadership over time, because Benjamin Franklin wasn’t wrong. Starting the day early regardless of our belief system gives us a head start on everyone else. If we start the race several hours before everyone else we don’t have to sprint to be ahead. We can even start the day “sharpening our saw,” as Steven Covey called it. We can prepare ourselves for what’s coming. We can get instructions if not from God and His written word, then from other sources of wisdom. As we do those things we set ourselves up for success.

The distractions will come. They are part of our lives here. The only question is: Will we handle them intentionally? Will we set a course for our days, weeks, months and years that keep the main thing the main thing in our lives. As we do, we grow as people, as husbands and wives, as moms and dads, as leaders. How we handle the inevitable distractions of life determines how well we serve God or whomever or whatever it is we serve. I remember a cartoon in a Christian leadership magazine that showed a pastor sitting on the couch with his calendar in his lap. His wife stood behind him and she spoke these words, “God loves you and everyone else has a wonderful plan for your life.”

How true. If we don’t live our lives someone else will. If we don’t set the agenda, someone else will. By definition, leaders set the agenda for our own lives, and help others set vision-based agendas for their own. That requires an intentionality that slices through the distractions and brings us to a point of clarity that allows us to keep the main thing the main thing. It’s easier to do that in Cuba, Cambodia and other places in the developing world. That means in order to do it here, we must be intentional.

Here’s to leading better by being more intentional about cutting through the distractions–today!

A Funny Thing Happened…

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been in the process of finishing up the publication of my third book A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Beach* (When an Extraordinary God Reveals Himself to Ordinary People). I’m writing about that here for a couple of reasons. First, I want to let any of you who are writers know that I’ve had a positive experience with Xulon Press, who is a Christian self-publishing company that markets several different book packages from a basic to an elite version. I went with the elite version and am glad I did. I had forgotten that the elite package included a video trailer for the book, but it does, and the trailer was release on Friday. If you’d like to take a look, you can find it at: GodTube: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=191FJJNU
YouTube: https://youtu.be/yZfYnnMpGfk

The other reason I’m writing about finishing my third book is to encourage you who may be ENFP, as I am, to stick with your dreams whatever they may be, particularly if they are in the area of legacy building. A couple of years ago I heard Mark Batterson say the reason he writes books is for his grandchildren. What he meant by that is what is written down may be passed on from one generation to the next. The moment I heard him say that, I realized that all the unwritten books I have outlined need to be written. They need to be written, because I can leave a legacy to unborn generations through those recored words. So can you!

If it isn’t writing books, maybe it’s journaling, or photo journaling, or video recording that will be your media for leaving your legacy. As leaders we need to be focused both on today and the future. If we’re always focused on the future, we miss out on the opportunities today presents to us. If we’re only focused on the day, we’ll live in the moment, and forget that we have something to offer those who come after us. The worst thing of all is if we live in the past, regretting what we did or didn’t do, and missing out on the opportunities to live today to the fullest and plan for the future.

What is it that you want to do that will last after your lifetime? Having just completed a book project, and getting into the marketing phase, I know I need to keep my attention on the here and now, because I believe the book has value to others and want to get it into the hands of as many people as possible. At the same time, I need to start on the next book. At this moment I have a couple dozen book outlines, and if I write one a year, I’ll need to live to 84 to complete them. I’d prefer to write several books a year, and add more to the list of books I’ll write, so i can leave a legacy to future generations that is not just quantitively significant, but much more importantly qualitatively significant.

I urge you to take some time today, tomorrow or sometime this week to consider what your legacy may be, and to start to plan for its development. Schedule some time each week, if not daily then at least weekly to flesh it out and see that it becomes a reality over time. I know the satisfaction I’ve had over the past several days as people have come up to me and said, “I just read your book, and it impacted more,” or “I just read your book on my Kindle, and I’m ordering the book, because I want to highlight so many passages to remember for the future,” or “I read your book in one sitting, and I don’t usually do that. I couldn’t put it down,” makes the time and effort put into worth well.

Here’s to leading better, by taking the time to start planning and carrying out your legacy plan–today!