Have you ever wondered why some people are more inclined to be productive and others tend to flounder? Ever have one of those projects that needed done but you just couldn’t get the wheels moving in the right direction? Overwhelmed by the tasks in front of you and don’t know how you’re going to get it all done?
I know that I’ve wrestled with these and many other hurdles in trying to be productive. This week’s book is another very practical type of read. Sean Covey writes a pretty simple to follow and sensible book on how to execute and create a culture of execution in life, business and ministry.
The four disciplines are pretty straightforward: Focus on your wildly important goals, Act on lead measures, Keep a compelling scoreboard, Create a cadence of accountability. Each of these are very important in their own right. A book could likely, and perhaps already is, written on each of these topics on their own.
Covey does a great job stacking these principles to show how each one builds on the one before it.
Your wildly important goal or WIG for short is that one driver that moves you. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s why you and your organization exist. It’s pretty much what it says the most wildly important thing in front of you right now.
Lead measures was the section that I found the most interesting personally. There are two kinds of measurements we generally use lead and lag measures. Lag measures are the ones that are the final outcomes. They’re often the big deals, or so we think. Lead measures however are the ones that need to be our focus in order to get to the lag measures and make them happen. If we can’t achieve the lead measures, we’ll never make our way to the lag measures. I’ll let you read it to figure out what he’s talking about in greater detail.
Compelling scoreboards are super important. How will you know if you won? This is a section devoted to the idea that the person who is being scored should have a say in and thoroughly understand the score card used for them. So often as leaders in various places in the world we use scorecards that make sense to us but give little thought to what the person being scored thinks of the score card or if they even understand it.
Finally the book addresses the idea of accountability. A regular rhythm of accountability is essential in making sure things get accomplished. If no one holds you accountable and you’re not a person with terrific drive, then there’s a good chance you won’t actually get done what you need to get done.
All in all this book is good for anyone but seems to really focus on those in a leadership capacity. It’s an easy read and has some strong take aways that can easily be implemented nearly immediately without disrupting much of your current schedule.
I think there are times in life when we actually do ourselves more harm than good. I mean we have great intentions but when we really look at it we haven’t done much good at all. As a matter of fact, the good we thought we were doing was actually undone by the negative things caused by our actions. Ok that’s ambiguous so let’s dive in a little more.
The thoughts that follow are my observations from my own life and ministry. These are my failures. They are things I’ve had to work through on a variety of levels. And they are things that I still monitor closely to make sure I don’t fall back into some of these same bad habits and destructive ideas again.
You are not God.
Now that goes without saying but the issue is that we don’t live like this. Ok so admittedly we don’t necessarily go through life thinking we’re God, but we often make decisions and plans acting as if we are the most important person in the world. We pursue things that are all about personal happiness and individual success. We seek attention and put ourselves on a pedestal as if we’re the most important person in the room or universe. Believe me, I know a few of those too.
Friend it’s not about you. If you’re a leader of a team, parent, spouse or even friend to someone – you are not the point. A good friend, teammate, employer, parent or spouse will make decisions and go in directions that put the other person first. If we want to set ourselves and those around us up for the greatest success, start putting their needs before your own and watch how not only do their needs get met but yours will also!
The more you work, the less you get done.
This one sounds a bit like an oxymoron but it’s also very true. It’s kind of like that line they say on airplanes about the oxygen masks. If you’re traveling with small children, please secure the oxygen mask to yourself before placing it on your child. For the longest time I found this to be wildly insensitive and a horribly wrong practice! I mean who in the world is going to watch their child suffocate while they get the good air?! So I asked one of those friendly Southwest flight attendants why in the world this was the rule. They were patient with my stupidity and didn’t make me feel like too much of an idiot in their answer. She simply told me that if I couldn’t breathe, how could I make sure my child was breathing? Wow. Then it all started to click. Side note: I wasn’t even traveling with children which made my question that much more strange.
Back to over working. So the whole put the mask on the child thing is like taking a needed rest in order to be more productive. It doesn’t make sense until you ask a few questions. Then step back and realize that like a parent with no oxygen can’t help their child, so also a person who’s overworked and exhausted can’t focus on the job at hand and will likely not be productive nor effective. Getting the rest you need and stepping away from the task at hand for a minute is often the most powerful way to get more done.
Give yourself traveling time.
I have a tendency to stack appointments in my calendar pretty tight. I know how long it takes me to get from one place to another under normal conditions. And when I have to be somewhere I generally like to arrive on time, which for me is about 5-7 minutes early. But there are those times when we stack so many things so tightly in our calendar that we just can’t get it all done. We have no time to get from point A to point B.
This is also true with general calendaring without travel. The premise is that we tend to stack our appointments or tasks so tightly that there’s no breathing room at all. We move from task to task without giving our brains a chance to change gears. We run from one project to a totally unrelated project and wonder why our mind feels like mush at the end of the day.
There’s nothing wrong with stepping away for even as little as 3 minutes to use the bathroom, walk down the hallway, listen to music, close your eyes or just stare off into space. These are simple techniques that can clear your mind and let your brain get the space it needs to restart in a different gear.
Diversify your diet.
Now this one might be a tad misleading, so let me explain. I am not talking about your food diet, although that’s very important as well. I’m referring to the diet of information that you feed yourself. If you continually feed your brain with the same content over and over without any variation, you’re going to be mentally malnourished to say the least. It’s like eating crackers all the time with no protein or vegetables. You just won’t perform at your peak.
The same is true for what we put into our minds. I tend to read or listen to a variety of books. Some of these are books related to my field as a pastor. Others are leadership books. Others are on finance or parenting or how to understand what’s going on in my preteen daughter’s mind (ok so there’s really nothing that will help with that one but it’s worth a shot). The point is to try to look at the world around you through the many lenses at your disposal. Consuming content from a variety of sources helps you see not only your thought process more clearly, but also helps you appreciate where others are coming from and have more intelligent conversations about topics on which you disagree.
These are just a few of the many things I’ve had to learn the hard way in life. I hope they are somewhat helpful to you and provide you with a shortcut of sorts to not stay stagnant.
As I was driving to the gym this morning, I had the chance to listen to one of my frequent podcasts. This one has been a regular for me the past 2 years. The topic was all about what we’ve learned in 2021. It was kind of the wrap up podcast for the year. The podcast guest was talking about the challenges of life he’d experienced in 2021 and something really stood out at me.
He said that he’s learned who his real friends are and who his seasonal friends are. He described the difference between real friends – those who are there for you no matter what, and seasonal friends – those who are there as long as you have something they want or need then they leave you as soon as you’ve fulfilled that felt need.
Wow. I have to say that was a pretty hard knock on the chin as I listened. I think I’ve felt and probably been both of those kinds of friends. Now some key take aways for me from this podcast, and how it has applied to my life. The speaker was a pastor so understand he is speaking from a perspective that I can very much relate to. As a pastor, it’s hard at times to fully invest in every relationship that comes my way. There are times when I have to honestly tell people that I just can’t invest a ton of time into a new relationship at the moment. I know that sounds weird but we only have so much capacity and I am becoming increasingly aware of my limits. With age evidently does come some element of wisdom. You can keep your comments to yourself here thank you very much!
Friendships take time and effort to be certain and a real friend is one who understands that these efforts have to be reciprocal but not always equal. The speaker on the podcast went on to say that throughout the past couple of years in his church, he’s lost several people he thought were real friends. Some left when things got challenging. Others bailed when they didn’t like how he handled a certain situation. And some just quit communicating altogether for reasons unknown to him.
I think we’ve all seen this to some extent or another over the past several months and even years. Maybe you’re the one who’s lost friends like this? Maybe you’re one of those who’s abandoned a solid friendship for something that is more to your liking in the moment? No matter on which side of this you land, know that relationships are a two way street that take effort which ebbs and flows over time.
The distinction between friends who are there for you until they get what they need then leave and those who are there when you have nothing left to offer was intriguing to me. Have you ever experienced that? Someone seemingly receives the encouragement, support, companionship and help from you for a period of time – then they vanish like the cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland?
I know this is a hard statement to hear and even harder to apply but don’t take it personally. If you’ve lost friends in this way, know that sometimes God has to remove some things from your life to free you up for new things. Not always better things but there will always be something new around the corner.
I think that many friendships will last beyond our apparent usefulness. There will be those people in your life who will always be there regardless of time and distance and even you ability to be helpful to them. Some of our friendships are just that solid. I know that I have several of these kinds of friends in my life and I value them highly. But we’ll also have some friendships that will be around for a season, then vanish like the fog as the sun rises. I value these friendships as well. All of those people who come into our lives are there for a reason. They are present to teach us something about life, friendship, and even ourselves.
To those I call friend thank you for being a part of my life in any variety of ways. To those who’ve come and gone, you’re likely not even reading this but thank you for the ways you’ve supported and influenced me through life. I value each of you for who God made you to be and the impact you’ve had on me.
As I grow older I realize that real friends who are there through thick and thin are much more valuable than I ever thought possible. Cherish the ones you have! Pour into those relationships because they are more precious than the finest gold.
Something I like to do at the end of each year is look back and see where we’ve been. Some of what follows is more personal while other parts are more general and I believe can apply to most of us. But none of this is intended to be depressing! As a matter of fact the point of this year in review is to see what we can learn about ourselves and the community around us. So buckle up for a trip down short-term memory lane.
Ok so we start with calling out the elephant in the room. The year for some flat sucked. And for others it was ok. But I don’t think many people experienced a banner year. That’s a pretty big overgeneralization, but I think it applies to most of the population. From constant guessing about what’s next to trying to figure out how to stay healthy to keeping the income more then the expenses has proven to be challenging to many Americans.
The year started off with many of us trying to get back to normal, or as close to it as possible. We quickly figured out that what normal means for one person isn’t the same as normal for the next. Enter 3 issues that I feel summarize this year.
Is mutual respect still a thing?
So this is going to sound negative but stick with me for a second. One thing the last year+ has taught us is that mutual respect isn’t really something we can all agree on. It depends on where we get our information, what we believe to be real, whose opinion we actually value, and who our true friends are. This year has tested all of these ideals. And the challenge we have faced in 2021 was to not let these differing opinions divide us.
Something that we’ve all seen this year has been the walk away or lash out methods. It’s heartbreaking to see family and friends disagree on something, then let that disagreement lead to division. We can have fun rivalries in sports, why not in other areas of life? We have thick skin with some topics, so why has 2021 thinned our skin so badly? I really think it’s an issue of respect. We want someone else to respect us but we’re not as willing to humble ourselves to let someone else have an opinion that’s different than ours.
A token to take into a new year is to watch our reactions. Think before you speak or act. It’s easy to yell at someone or virtually erase them when they say something we don’t agree with. It’s easy to talk behind their back and belittle them. But it takes maturity to open up and welcome an honest and heartfelt disagreement. Then walk away as friends who see things differently.
We’re all going to die…eventually
I get it no one wants to talk about it but it’s true. We can’t live our lives in fear and that’s unfortunately what I have seen a lot of the past 12 months. No this is not a political or even a simply health related statement. Just look at how we react when storms are predicted. If we get word that a snow storm is coming, we rush to the store to get all the batteries, water and bread we can find. This past year has seen some shortages of products on shelves in part because when bad news spills into the airwaves we jump to fear mode.
Something to take with us into the new year is to find a place where you can grab ahold of hope. For some it’s in their loving family. For others it’s found in their friendships. For me and many like me that hope is found in my relationship with Jesus. Not everyone is a person of faith but I can attest personally to the fact that when my faith seems less, my fear increases.
Surround yourself with people who can encourage you. If you have a group like this, know you are blessed tremendously! Don’t be so easily offended when one of your encouragers actually puts the screws down and challenges you. If you can’t take challenge from a friend, then you might have your hope in the wrong place.
Way more good has happened if you just open your eyes.
Have you ever purchased a new to you vehicle? Then you realize that everyone in the world drives the same car! I remember getting my Black Ram 1500. Then I realized three of my neighbors had very similar trucks. You tend to see what you feel most closely.
The challenge we’ve faced in 2021 has been a product of our society lusting after scandal and fear and the whole sex sells mentality. If there’s bad news or a juicy story, you better believe that will flood the social streams! And when that’s what fills our minds, that’s all our eyes will see. As we move into a new year, we have the chance to change what our minds see. We have the ability to alter what we put into our minds so that our eyes can actually focus on something totally different than scandal and all the negative floating around.
As a person of faith, one thing I like to do is join members of the church I serve in reading the bible. We read the whole New Testament in 2021 and it helped so many people! In 2022, we’re doing another reading plan but this time it will be a more chronological approach to the Bible. We’ll read a little bit from all over the Bible in order of how it would have happened. We’ll leave out some of the parts that are, well harder to get through. The point will be to fill our minds with the things we want our eyes to see.
So all in all the year 2021 wasn’t the best of my 45 years to be certain. I suffered loss in areas of my life that I never would have predicted. But the true blessing of 2021 was that something happened in my heart that made me appreciate the simplicity of certain moments. What used to really irritate me, doesn’t seem to take the same toll. I’ve been able to see the people who are really there for me to support, encourage and challenge me. I’ve also been able to see the ones that aren’t. They each hold a special place in my life. I wouldn’t be who I am without the disagreements, encouragement, challenge, support, accountability, and camaraderie of so many. Thanks for a great year in 2021 and I can’t wait to see what new things God has in store for us in 2022!
I’m always leery when someone comes back from a conference and starts to change everything. Once upon a time I was that guy who heard a powerful speaker and came back to try to do much of what the other person did. But that’s just not a good idea. It’s not healthy at all! And there’s a much better way.
