Below is a post I wrote almost six years ago - on the first day of school back in 2013. As I was re-reading, I realized that this is exactly how I’m feeling now - I CAN’T WAIT FOR SUMMER TO BE OVER! And it’s not just because I’m a party-pooper and the “fun police” as my kids call me, it’s because I see the value of structure, routine and SYSTEMS! And as I’m prepping for my second message in our latest series, STARTING SMALL, I thought this post would be the perfect lead in to prime the pump for Sunday. Enjoy!
Read MoreWould You Ever Build a House without a Plan?
The late Dr. Stephen Covey, best-selling author who helped change my life with his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, used to always say that “all things are created twice.” What he meant by that is that every new idea or concept or dream must be created twice: first in one’s mind and secondly in one’s life.
For example, let’s say you want to build a house. What do you do first? Start digging a hole? No. Before you start the actual work of building a house, you sit down and come up with a plan. You can’t just start digging and figure it out as you go. You first create the house on paper – in as much detail as possible – and then you begin the actual work of building the house physically.
The same holds true for a dream. Recently I wrote about the starting point of making your dreams a reality.
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Making My Dream a Reality
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh That’s one thing that we don’t do enough of. We don’t dream enough. I believe that my life will ultimately be defined by my dreams. And so will yours. Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you the ceiling of your life. Dreams set the destination and direction of our lives. You’ll never reach a point past your dreams.
Yesterday I spoke about having dreams and about how our heavenly Father has big dreams for us. Today I want to talk about the steps we need to take to turn those dreams into reality. I’ll talk about the first two steps today and then continue in my next post on Thursday.
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Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
Nothing’s better than dreams. Not the kind of dreams that come when we’re asleep (even though those are great too). No, I’m talking about the kind of dreams we have when we’re fully awake – the dreams about what we want our lives to look like and where we’re headed.
Some dream of graduating Harvard Law school one day, while others dream of discovering the cure for cancer. Some dream of making it on Broadway, while others dream of making it to the NBA.
Dreams dreams dreams. We all have dreams. And let’s be honest. WE LOVE OUR DREAMS! A life without a dream isn’t much is it? Dreams are what keep us going. They push us to fight through obstacles and barriers. Without them, life can be boring and quite difficult. Agree?
Read MoreWhat Does It Take to Be Great?
“Greatness is not given. Greatness is taken.”That’s a line from the new Gatorade commercial starring DC’s newest celebrity – Robert Griffin III, quarterback of the Washington Redskins.
In addition to being a fan of RGIII and hoping that he is the long awaited franchise quarterback that the Redskins have been waiting for, his commercial got me to thinking:
what does it take to get great? What defines greatness?
What makes a great doctor or a great lawyer? What makes a great husband or wife? And in a spiritual sense, what makes me great as a child of God?
I’ve always believed that the measure of success in any field isn’t based on what you DON’T DO, but rather it is based on what you DO DO. I even said that once at a retreat and it quickly became the catch phrase of the retreat: SUCCESS = DO DO (copyright coming soon, once I figure out how to do that :)).
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What I Learned from Running a 5K (Part 2)
SETTING a goal and ANNOUNCING the goal makes it easier to ACCOMPLISH that goal. That is what I learned from my recent 4th of July 5k run. Yesterday I spoke about step 1, SETTING THE GOAL. Today I want to talk about the second step – a step that I believe will increase your likelihood of accomplishing your goal exponentially.
Step Two: ANNOUNCING YOUR GOALS HELPS YOU OVERCOME OBSTACLES
Setting a goal is good, but there’s something extra motivational about announcing it publicly. Maybe it is just the competitive nature inside of me, but once I announce I am going to do something, I am going to do everything in my power to accomplish it.
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What I Learned from Running a 5K (Part 1)
I DID IT! YES! I DID IT!!! That was one of the first thoughts that entered my head yesterday shortly after I crossed the finish line of my first 5k race. I ACCOMPLISHED MY GOAL! I DID IT!
Of course, I’d be lying if I said it was the first thought – to be fully honest, I think my first thought was closer to “I NEED WATER AND A PIECE OF OPEN SPACE TO COLLAPSE ON FOR A FEW MINUTES.” But it wasn’t long afterwards that the feeling of exhaustion was replaced by a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
I think I finally understand why so many people like to run in these races. It never made sense to me before, but I think I get it now. I learned a lot in the process and I want to share some of lessons with you to hopefully make a believer out of you too.
The most important lesson I learned is this: SETTING a goal and ANNOUNCING the goal makes it easier to ACCOMPLISH that goal.
Read MoreBig Rocks First
A simple concept that will transform your life – if you learn to live by it daily. No one other concept is more important to the idea of “time management,” and more importantly “life management,” than this.
Here is a video by Dr. Stephen Covey which illustrates the concept of BIG ROCKS FIRST. The video is about 6 minutes long but trust me, it's well worth watching. The visual illustration is much more powerful than any words can say and it will stick much longer too.
After you watch the video, consider what are the BIG ROCKS in your life? Part of living intentionally means realizing that not all tasks were created equal. The appropriate question to ask is not “did I get stuff done today?” but rather “did I get the important stuff done today?” Like I said yesterday, the issue isn’t working harder; the issue is how to work smarter and focus on the important tasks that really need my attention.
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