Posted on Monday, January 12, 2015

Suffer With Dignity – New Rules of Facebook #3

One thing I’ve noticed on FB is how often people complain. (And I would like to take a minute and complain about that.) People who complain on FB complain in life too. Your FB status can be a reflection of the status of your heart.

It’s easy to slip into a mode of complaining. It’s not hard to just concentrate on the negative like: How you do all the work and get none of the credit, how it is so stinking cold, gas prices, or poor customer service. I’ve even been wanting to complain about something on FB that has been driving me crazy…pot holes…I’ve even thought of a clever status update like: Colorado has gone to pot and New York has gone to pot holes. (You know that’s good!)

Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2015

Stop Taking a Stand on Facebook – New Rules of Facebook #2

Somewhere along the way a belief has emerged that social media is an effective means of persuasion, especially with hot button issues. At the very least if the platform doesn’t change a mind the user has “taken a stand” in the public square.

More often than not we need to keep the point to ourself to truly make a difference. I recognize that it is so much easier to make a point, shoot–it can even be more fun to use one liners and to share memes. But telling someone they’re wrong is not the same as leading them or inspiring them to do what’s right. (To quote Andy Stanley)

Posted on Monday, December 8, 2014

Never Delete THIS Email

Do you ever struggle with feeling discouraged? Do you ever wonder if you are making a difference and if your efforts even matter? Does it seem like the negatives outweigh the positives? I know I struggle with all of those things more frequently than I’d like to admit.

I’ve found one thing particularly helpful when I find myself wallowing in discouragement and despair. All it takes is a quick glance and I find my outlook and perspective begins to change almost instantaneously.

Posted on Monday, November 3, 2014

Writing Your Own Story

Each week you are writing your own story. You are creating and living the story that will one day be told about your life. The story that your grandkids will hear is being written today by you and the choices that you make. One day your kids will tell their kids a story about you. What would that story sound like from their perspective of you?

Don’t believe me? I’ve bet you’ve told some stories to your kids about your parents. Maybe you shared some fun stories about how your dad took you to the arcade every Saturday or how this time of year always reminds you of picking apples and making a pie with your mom. Possibly you’ve shared some painful stories about how a parent was never around or struggled with alcohol. The point is that you shared a story about someone who probably wasn’t aware they were writing a story that would be shared…and yet it was.

Posted on Monday, October 27, 2014

One Word that Guarantees Regret

A great way to ensure that you have a regret-filled future is living your life based on one word. What’s that word?

It’s…SOMEDAY. It’s a harmless word. A word that in some ways sounds infused with hope. Someday I’ll finish my degree, someday I’ll start my own business, someday I’ll settle down. That word can lull you into thinking that you didn’t just say “no” or “never” to your dream. That one word can make you think that the future will magically get better on its own if you just keep doing what you’ve always done. But that isn’t really hope.

Posted on Monday, October 20, 2014

Why You Should Be More Trusting

Not too long ago my wife and I were traveling to Virginia. We left right after church and were planning to drive through the night. Our kids were young at the time and had fallen asleep. As you know, your life goes a lot easier, especially on road trips, if you let your kids sleep. It was around 9pm and we hadn’t eaten yet so we decided to hit the drive thru of a hamburger franchise that will go unnamed (to protect the guilty). I had taken a few boring bites, but that next one did me in. The texture was all wrong. I slowly started pulling something out of my mouth that would forever shade my view of restaurants. I pulled out a straw wrapper! How in the world did that end up on my burger? Straws aren’t even in the same areas as food prep in ANY restaurant. It had to be deliberately placed on my hamburger. That got my wheels spinning…what else was on my hamburger? Was that really mayonnaise?

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2014

How To Rest Effectively

I don’t know about you but I have a hard time resting. I enjoy the idea of resting and I certainly think I need more rest, but when my day of rest rolls around I find that I’m tackling a different “To Do” list. That’s the list that consists of all of the personal things I need to get taken care of so my life stays together. I’m sure you have a list like that as well.

Everyone says they need more rest, but no one tells you how to rest. We all need a rhythm of rest but we haven’t been taught how to rest. For me, resting conjures up images of sleep and taking a whole day to sleep sounds extremely boring. Lying on the couch all day and watching Netflix would get old really fast and I certainly wouldn’t be looking forward to my day of rest.

Part of the problem is that it is easy to confuse active rest with passive rest. Passive rest is more of the lounging and napping variety, whereas active rest means that you are doing certain key activities that fill you up.

It has been helpful for me to imagine my emotional, spiritual, and physical energy much like a glass of water.

Posted on Monday, September 29, 2014

The Secret to Rest

I’m sure with a title like that is seems to be a bit of hype but I’ve found one simple practice to help me rest. I’ll give it to you right up front. Here it is: You must make a conscious decision to limit your work.

That means you have to decide how many hours a week you are going to work and stick to it. If you are self-employed this is really difficult. Trust me I understand. It is hard to stick to a schedule. There is never an end to my emails, FB messages, voicemail, and to-do lists, so I have to create an end. I have to make a conscious decision to end my work. So if you don’t get a response from me right away it isn’t because I don’t love you, it’s because I’m trying to put boundaries in my life.

Entrepreneurs, you have a tendency to never stop. You bring your work home, you work in the car, at the dinner table, even in bed. If you’re married there are a lot better things to do in bed than work.

Some of you are pushing back right now and thinking, “But if I take a break there is no one else who is going to do this. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid.”

Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Creating a Rhythm of Rest

What’s your rhythm of rest? Do you have a regular set schedule to take time to recharge and refuel? If not, you need one. Most people I talk with don’t take rest seriously enough. They all know they need more of it, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the priority list as other things seem to be significantly more urgent.