For the most part, I really like driving my F-150 but there are certain times I don't. Parking is one of those times. It is a pain to back it out of a space so I almost always back into the spots. This allows me an easy departure.
Could this apply to life in general? How often do we have a choice of two options? One is easy now and postpones the difficulty. One is difficult now but makes the future easier. Dave Ramsey says, "live like no one else now so that you can live like no one else tomorrow." Truett Cathy's first book was entitled "Its Easier to Succeed than to Fail". The point was that it is easier to do it right the first time. Its easier to do the hard work up front.
Which one do you choose? Do you back into spots or back out of spots?
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Change the Batteries
The fire department suggests we change the batteries in our smoke detectors on New Years Day. Why? The batteries aren't dead. Why not do it every March 1st? I'm frugal, or some may say "stingy". I don't like changing the batteries when they are still good. Well, I have 7 smoke detectors. That means 7 nights a year, at 2:43 AM, I wake up to a chirping smoke alarm in a dark house. Trying to find the one that is chirping isn't fun when it goes 3-4 minutes between chirps. So, this year, I changed the batteries at New Years. Now, I look at it as planning ahead and investing in my family's safety AND 7 nights of sleep.
They say New Years is when you should change them because you are more likely to remember it. If I plan to do it any other time of the year, I'm likely to forget.
Another New Year's tradition is New Years Resolutions. I hate them. But, New Years is a great time to plan for the upcoming year.
I've noticed I remember events in the past by the year they happened.
1997 was when I learned my first lessons of marriage
1998 was when I learned my first lessons of business ownership vs. management
2006 was when I relearned that I could accomplish what I commit to with a marathon.
2008 was when I learned about the value to serving others while participating in a test.
2011 was when I learned about the value of a good mindset.
2012 was when I learned more about trusting God.
2013 is gonna happen. Am I going to be intentional about my growth or just react to what comes?
Why plan at the beginning of the New Year? So I don't forget. Why plan ahead? So I can sleep better.
They say New Years is when you should change them because you are more likely to remember it. If I plan to do it any other time of the year, I'm likely to forget.
Another New Year's tradition is New Years Resolutions. I hate them. But, New Years is a great time to plan for the upcoming year.
I've noticed I remember events in the past by the year they happened.
1997 was when I learned my first lessons of marriage
1998 was when I learned my first lessons of business ownership vs. management
2006 was when I relearned that I could accomplish what I commit to with a marathon.
2008 was when I learned about the value to serving others while participating in a test.
2011 was when I learned about the value of a good mindset.
2012 was when I learned more about trusting God.
2013 is gonna happen. Am I going to be intentional about my growth or just react to what comes?
Why plan at the beginning of the New Year? So I don't forget. Why plan ahead? So I can sleep better.
Kindling
I'm a big fan of quotes. But, recently I have been wondering what their value is. It made me think about why I like them. Here is what I came up with.
Kindling.
Kindling, as in the stuff you use to start a campfire to keep warm, prepare food or just to gather around, relax and maybe tell stories.
Good kindling catches fire quickly and burns long enough to allow the larger, longer burning logs to catch fire, which ultimately enable you to keep warm, cook, or tell ghost stories. Without kindling, it is very hard to start a fire simply with a large log. But, if all you have is kindling, your fire will burn out pretty quickly.
A good quote "kindles" your thoughts and imagination, which are the logs in your fire. The resulting fire can enable growth and change through actions, just like the camp fire enables you to cook food or keep warm on a cold night.
Like kindling, though, by itself, a quote will burn quickly and won't provide much heat.
Have you collected the kindling for your camp fire?
Kindling.
Kindling, as in the stuff you use to start a campfire to keep warm, prepare food or just to gather around, relax and maybe tell stories.
Good kindling catches fire quickly and burns long enough to allow the larger, longer burning logs to catch fire, which ultimately enable you to keep warm, cook, or tell ghost stories. Without kindling, it is very hard to start a fire simply with a large log. But, if all you have is kindling, your fire will burn out pretty quickly.
A good quote "kindles" your thoughts and imagination, which are the logs in your fire. The resulting fire can enable growth and change through actions, just like the camp fire enables you to cook food or keep warm on a cold night.
Like kindling, though, by itself, a quote will burn quickly and won't provide much heat.
Have you collected the kindling for your camp fire?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Slow Down! So you can SPEED UP!
I was talking with a friend about golf while driving back from a fun weekend at a daddy/daughter camp. I am not a golfer and I don't find any enjoyment on the golf course mainly because I am SO bad. I have not made the attempt to adopt a "growth mindset" with golf. Why am I so bad? Well, we could probably list 150 reasons but one big one is that I try to swing too hard. More than one person has told me that you shouldn't swing the club hard if you want to be good. A good steady swing is all you need and let the club determine the distance. When I swing hard, the ball goes everywhere except straight. Which means par for me is losing 1 ball per hole (I'm not kidding). It takes me a long time to get from tee to the cup. Maybe if I didn't swing so hard I could play better.
Similarly, as I watch stock car racing, I often hear the announcer or spotter tell the driver to ease into the corner instead of driving into the corner so hard. Sometimes it is in the effort to use less gas to extend their mileage. This adjustment often results in faster lap times. So, driving smoother, letting off the gas, and using less braking can result in faster laps.
I know when I do go-kart racing I see this first hand. If I go full speed into the turns, I end up losing control or being passed by people that are driving more smoothly.
So, in what areas of my life am I "swinging too hard or driving into the corners at full speed, just to end up slamming on my brakes?" Could this tie into micro-managing and frustrsting my team? How about pushing too hard with fitness and getting injured? Parenting? How about even in my faith?
The tough part, for me, is knowing where the line is between pushing enough and pushing too much. If you don't push enough, you leave results "on the table" and don't reach your potential. If you push too hard, you may get good results today but at the cost of poor long term results.
I think the key is being aware that the line exists and looking for indications that you are approaching it. Watch your "laptimes" as you push harder. Listen for indications from your team, spouse or children.
So far, it seems that the best I can do is to be aware that the line exists and be alert to indications that I am approaching it.
Similarly, as I watch stock car racing, I often hear the announcer or spotter tell the driver to ease into the corner instead of driving into the corner so hard. Sometimes it is in the effort to use less gas to extend their mileage. This adjustment often results in faster lap times. So, driving smoother, letting off the gas, and using less braking can result in faster laps.
I know when I do go-kart racing I see this first hand. If I go full speed into the turns, I end up losing control or being passed by people that are driving more smoothly.
So, in what areas of my life am I "swinging too hard or driving into the corners at full speed, just to end up slamming on my brakes?" Could this tie into micro-managing and frustrsting my team? How about pushing too hard with fitness and getting injured? Parenting? How about even in my faith?
The tough part, for me, is knowing where the line is between pushing enough and pushing too much. If you don't push enough, you leave results "on the table" and don't reach your potential. If you push too hard, you may get good results today but at the cost of poor long term results.
I think the key is being aware that the line exists and looking for indications that you are approaching it. Watch your "laptimes" as you push harder. Listen for indications from your team, spouse or children.
So far, it seems that the best I can do is to be aware that the line exists and be alert to indications that I am approaching it.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Olympic Training: Life or Death Motivation
One of the few Olympic sports that uses judges to determine scores that I enjoy watching is gymnastics. The process of determing a winner still frustrates me but those gymnasts are amazing athletes. What guy wouldn't love to snap his fingers and have the muscles that the olympic guys have? To be able to do what they do on the rings is amazing. But, this isn't about one of the guys. It is about one of the women. Yes, I said "women", not girls. Most Olympic "women" are 16-21 years old and they are pretty old at 25. But, there was one woman that was representing Germany that was 37 years old.
Oksana Chusovitina is the only female gymnast to compete in 6 Olympics and she began performing internationally in 1989. Many of the girls she was competing against this year weren't even born at that time. What has motivated Oksana to continue so long in a sport ruled by teenagers and 20 year olds?
Well, in 2002 her son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and the best option for his survival was for Oksana and her family to move to Germany where he could be treated. Oksana depended on prize money and relationships in gymnastics to help fund the treatment. Her son's life depended on her not just doing gymnastics, but doing it well enough to win.
What do you do for a living? Could you do it better if your son's life depended on you being the best? Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, often asks if we are giving our best effort and if we aren't he asks, "why not... why not.... why not?" Does it take a life and death situation to motivate us to do our best? Should it?
Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Oksana Chusovitina is the only female gymnast to compete in 6 Olympics and she began performing internationally in 1989. Many of the girls she was competing against this year weren't even born at that time. What has motivated Oksana to continue so long in a sport ruled by teenagers and 20 year olds?
Well, in 2002 her son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and the best option for his survival was for Oksana and her family to move to Germany where he could be treated. Oksana depended on prize money and relationships in gymnastics to help fund the treatment. Her son's life depended on her not just doing gymnastics, but doing it well enough to win.
What do you do for a living? Could you do it better if your son's life depended on you being the best? Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, often asks if we are giving our best effort and if we aren't he asks, "why not... why not.... why not?" Does it take a life and death situation to motivate us to do our best? Should it?
Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Olympic Training: Gold Medal Leadership
I love watching the Olympics! Not because I like all the "sports" (ping pong, trampoline and horse dancing? But that is another blog of some sort). I like hearing the stories of how the Olympians got to the level they are at. This often includes overcoming personal challenges as well as intense training. Sometimes the story is just as much about the coach, parent or mentor.
One story was about Michael Phelps. We've seen him win just about every event in the pool. We've seen him on Wheaties boxes and endorsing all sorts of stuff. We've seen him interviewed by everybody. But, how did he become the dominant swimmer he has been?
Of course, his training included lots of weights, a proper diet, practicing specific techniques, etc. His coach also pushed him in other ways. When Phelps was swimming his coach took his goggles and stepped on them so they wouldn't keep water out and made Phelps continue swimming with water filled goggles. I bet Phelps didn't like that. I bet he wasn't happy with his coach at that moment. But, during a swimming final in the Olympics Phelps had his goggles come lose and allow water in. I'm far from an Olympic swimmer but I imagine having your goggles fill with water can be a bit distracting and these swimmers separate themselves by thousandths of a second. Phelps showed no sign of problem during the race but when he finished you could see him take his goggles off and water empty from them. Oh, and he won by a fraction of a second.
His coach had prepared him to overcome challenges not just by training him to be the most fit and having the best technique. His coach forced Phelps to encounter challenges and learn to overcome them.
As a leader, are you preparing those around you to overcome adversity or do you seek to prevent them from encountering it? Do you care enough about your team to step on their goggles?
Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
One story was about Michael Phelps. We've seen him win just about every event in the pool. We've seen him on Wheaties boxes and endorsing all sorts of stuff. We've seen him interviewed by everybody. But, how did he become the dominant swimmer he has been?
Of course, his training included lots of weights, a proper diet, practicing specific techniques, etc. His coach also pushed him in other ways. When Phelps was swimming his coach took his goggles and stepped on them so they wouldn't keep water out and made Phelps continue swimming with water filled goggles. I bet Phelps didn't like that. I bet he wasn't happy with his coach at that moment. But, during a swimming final in the Olympics Phelps had his goggles come lose and allow water in. I'm far from an Olympic swimmer but I imagine having your goggles fill with water can be a bit distracting and these swimmers separate themselves by thousandths of a second. Phelps showed no sign of problem during the race but when he finished you could see him take his goggles off and water empty from them. Oh, and he won by a fraction of a second.
His coach had prepared him to overcome challenges not just by training him to be the most fit and having the best technique. His coach forced Phelps to encounter challenges and learn to overcome them.
As a leader, are you preparing those around you to overcome adversity or do you seek to prevent them from encountering it? Do you care enough about your team to step on their goggles?
Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Honey Bees
Want to accomplish your objective? Here are 3 bees that will help.
Bee Early
Get started before everybody else. Show respect to others by ensuring they won't have to wait on you. Get ahead of the game.
Bee Fast
Don't waste time. Take action. Turn the idea into a behavior. Get their quicker than everybody else.
Bee Intentional
Do what matters. Do it right. Do it the best you can.
Then your results will be as sweet as honey!
Bee Early
Get started before everybody else. Show respect to others by ensuring they won't have to wait on you. Get ahead of the game.
Bee Fast
Don't waste time. Take action. Turn the idea into a behavior. Get their quicker than everybody else.
Bee Intentional
Do what matters. Do it right. Do it the best you can.
Then your results will be as sweet as honey!
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