Many years ago I was in a job I wasn’t sure about and living in a place I didn’t like that much. I was unsure about the future and while apparently feeling a bit melodramatic I wrote this little poem:
A cork adrift
Tossed by every wave and gale
“God’s Will,” he smiles
But Oh, for a rudder and sail!
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like life was just happening to you and there wasn’t anything you could do about it? John Maxwell puts it like this, “Most people don’t lead their life, they accept their life.” Sir Ken Robinson says it this way, “Many people spend their entire lives doing things they don’t really care for. They endure their lives and wait for the weekend with no real sense of fulfillment, with a general sense of tolerance for it, or not.”
Live On Purpose
Earlier this week I finished reading a book by John Maxwell called Intentional Living: Choosing a Life that Matters. It’s all about choosing to take certain actions in your life that will lead to what he calls a life of significance. He defines significance as using what you have and what you’ve achieved to add value to other people. Maxwell believes once you’ve tasted significance, success will never again be enough.
I keep all my notes in a program called Evernote. I’ve been doing it for years so there is a lot stored in there. After finishing the book, I started looking through my notes and I ran across something I wrote a year and a half ago. I have reproduced those notes verbatim below. The graphic with this post is something I created in Powerpoint to represent what you will read here.
Quoted Notes
Yesterday (April 5, 2018) I listened to three podcasts that all had a similar theme – being intentional (having goals, living on purpose, etc.). I took this as being from the Lord.
- One was by “Z” who wrote “13 things you have to give up to be successful,” It was called “The Ultimate Productivity Cheat Sheet.”
- Two were Morris Invest podcasts. One was with David Hoyt who used to work with John Maxwell. It was called “Men and Limiting Beliefs: How to Make a Change.”
- The final was with Ken McElroy of Rich Dad renown. It was called “The ABCs of Real Estate Investing.”
David, in particular, sparked this idea. He talked about 10 buckets of life where he works to be intentional. I want to think about it in terms of several (may not be 10) points where my life connects to the world and how I can be intentional there.
Last night I had dinner with Suzi at Baja and asked her about 3 top places she would like to travel. She doesn’t know this was part of me thinking about being intentional as a husband. She said she would like to visit the Holy Land, Sweden, and Peru or Chile or Uruguay or Paraguay.
Follower: My connection to Jesus as a disciple (learner and imitator) – pray, memorize, transformational interaction with others
Husband: My connection to Suzi as a protector, lover (warrior poet) – initiate fun (travel), complete house projects, hear and remember what she says about everything (Focus attention), take a stand for her
Father: My connection to Joshua, Justin, Juliana, Jordan, and Janessa as a teacher and guide and reflector of God’s image – don’t flare up (patience), be fun during work, not preachy but share openly my motivations, advocate for them
Son: My connection to Mom and Dad as an honorer – more frequent contact
Brother: My connection to Steve and Dan as a friend and supporter (as well as to their children). This extends to Tom and Becky and their families as well – initiate contact, stay up to date on their lives
Friend: My connection to (List) as a rememberer and channel of God’s love – initiate contact to show I’m thinking about them.
Steward: My connection to Wealth as a conduit to my family and the Kingdom – work on new job, engager dynamics, real estate investing
Colleague: My connection to Work as a Listener/Learner/Teacher – Leader – continuous learning about the job at hand (at this writing it is the 3 KP regional projects for Xanitos)
Neighbor: My connection to Community (larger or smaller) as a contributing member/Leader – Community involvement, get to know my neighbors
I have spent most of my life in a passive mode (“A Cork Adrift”). Leaders are prone to taking action. What actions do I need to take to be intentional about strengthening these connections? I need to set some goals for each connection and develop the skills necessary to reach those goals. Each day I must take action on developing these skills and reaching the goals.
The List above has 9 connections. They seem to break down into three levels of closeness (?), Intimate, Immediate, Infinite.
Update
Ten days after writing those notes I published my first Engager Dynamics post and have consistently posted every Monday since. My hope is that some of what I share will be helpful to you. I’ve changed jobs since then. We’ve purchased one rental property. I’ve become a certified John Maxwell speaker, trainer, and coach with a license to train on the DISC model to improve workplace relationships.
We haven’t yet visited any of Suzi’s places but we did make a road trip that was important to her earlier this year. I haven’t done as well on some of the others but I will get better. The point is I do have a rudder and sail and so do you. I hope this encourages you to take action and make a difference in your world.