To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Lift Others Up

Today I will do one push up.

(Photo creds: Canva)

Our own personal growth happens over time, whether or not we’re aware of it. Growth can be real growth, as in getting stronger. But it can also be more meaningful or purposeful.

We can stunt our growth with our habits we’re unwilling to confront head on. One of my habits is hitting the snooze button daily, and oftentimes more than once. I recently decided it was time to stop the silliness and get the heck up. It’s still January – and anything could change – but for now, I am putting in place a firm call to action to get up at the sound of the first alarm.

We all know that growth is achieved by making consistent healthy decisions over time… an apple a day-type thinking. In his book, “Mini Habits,” Sam Davis lays out that the foundation in establishing habits. He explains that we should put in place “stupid-small” steps to help us move toward success. (Hence, the example in the title of this blog.) It gives you the notion that you are creating steps that set you up for “too small to fail.” In other words, you’re set up to succeed. Even if your goal is to do 25 push ups a day. By the end of the day, you’re not going to let the hurdle of doing one stop you from achieving your goal. (Thank you Levi Lusko for the example.) Here are some others:

Goal: To eat more greens each day.

Stupid Small Step: To eat one piece of lettuce a day.

Goal: To walk two miles, or 30 minutes, every day.

Stupid Small Step: To walk to the end of the driveway and back each day.

Goal: To develop a habit of sending three thank you notes out each week.

Stupid Small Step: To send one thank you text in a week.

I think you get the concept here. Small steps repeated over time equal new habits that create GROWTH. If you stay focused, they will produce MASSIVE GROWTH! I like that idea a lot!

Where do you need to start today?

Today is a great day to SPREAD JOY

While I love January and the fresh start this month offers, it also happens to be a bit too cold and dreary. Like, the kind of cold and dreary where your shoulders are hunched over and your face is pummeled with cold wind, snow or freezing rain.

It’s also the month many of us get the latest virus that steals a few days – or a week – of our productivity. Yuck!

Now that we’re halfway through the month, I hope you are feeling the great energy and hum of life and business. I sure am. Whether you’re in the community, school or work place, there’s something about an extra dose of energy as everyone embarks on their goals with refreshed boldness. So special.

Right about now, we need to remember that to truly serve well (ourselves and others), we need to take designated time to honor others. I call this “spreading joy.” I have shared this before but it’s helpful to share again and again.

My practice was to do this at least once a week, putting it in my calendar to make sure I didn’t miss this opportunity. I would then send out a reminder to our company leaders and ask them to do the same. Imagine the power if everyone took time out of their week to go spread joy. We had a goal for each of us to do this for at least three people. It could be a hand-written note, a call or, best yet, a meet-and-greet. Heck, even a text with an authentic “thank you” goes a long way.

I hope that you will come up with your own personal strategy for SPREADING JOY. If you can, start now. Stop what you are doing and reach out to three people who you really appreciate! It will make your day – and theirs!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: The anchor that holds you

This is what I know for sure:

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
— Hebrews 6:19

As you step into this week, bold and ready to continue a strong start in the first month of the year, this truth should give you great confidence. I personally like the idea of knowing that God has me anchored. As long as I stay close to His word and listen for His guidance, I can know for sure that He has me. He has you, too!

I like this quote by Charles Stanley, “Life Principles #3: God’s word is an immovable anchor in times of storms.” I have found this to be true. I believe He has us anchored in the great times and, most importantly, during those “every day days.” (We can use this when it’s cold and dreary!) He holds us tight and I believe we can rely fully on his direction for our lives.

How about you? I hope today finds you feeling anchored. And if not, renew your commitment today to fully trust God’s promise that He has you completely covered.

It’s that time of year…What is your one word?

It’s that time of year! I introduced this concept on the blog two years ago after having done it for a few years on my own.

I love this idea so much that it has great meaning to me. The stories I’ve heard have been equally cool. Many of you shared your words with me, and even yesterday someone already shared their word for 2018. I love it! Some of the words shared in past years have been:

Curiosity

Joy

Committed

Amplify

Discipline

Enough

Trust

Fun

Accelerate

Focus

My word this year has been “significance” or “stretch.” Reaching a level of “true” significance. Digging deeper into how to best use my gifts and skills in every area of my life. Honestly, I would say in retrospect it was way more of a “stretch” year than I imagined when I wrote this. In fact, I’m quite sure I’m still in that mode, trying to unwind that stretch a bit. I believe that I am always moving toward using these gifts, and that is something to celebrate.

Many ask how I come up with the “one word.” I start with praying that God will give me the word that I should focus on. As you all know, I read a lot. I will often see themes pop up and that guide me to my word. For this year, going into the last few days I believe I have been given the word “revival.”

There is a passionate, wise teacher I like named Dharius Daniels. He gave a sermon about revival as a “season or space of reintroduction.” God introduces himself again, exposes you more to your next assignment and gives you the insights needed to conquer that level, so to speak. That resonated with me. I’d like a REINTRODUCTION please! (We just saw Jumanji as a family on Christmas, so “levels” of the game are on my mind. Go see it if you want something fun and clever that requires no thinking.)  

As I shared last year, life is an incredible journey. One thing I know for sure after nearly five decades  is that we do not know day to day where the road may take us. So we do what we can, living with intention and moving toward what we believe will create the most fulfilled and well-lived life.

So, what is your word? Please share!

*For those who want to go deeper, there is actually a website where a community of people share their words, stories etc.

Why we MUST build energy, perspective and immunity

Constant growth is what makes us who we were designed to be. Three thoughts for you today.

We must BUILD ENERGY: Be it physical energy or mental energy, we simply must be working on our health game. Even Instagram is a showcase of opinions, thrashing politics and personal agendas… (Aside: Please make it go back to a place for cool pictures and powerful messages!) Staying on top of this is a must have if you are to maintain a healthy mindset. Be thinking about BUILDING ENERGY!

We must BUILD PERSPECTIVE: Your perspective determines your ability to perceive opportunities, pursue optimism and to embrace chaos. Focusing on your perspective — what you know to be true — is a game changer. When problems arise, it’s our perspective that allows us to move to the other side and deal with it in a way that encourages and helps us and others grow. How is your perspective?

We must BUILD IMMUNITY: This one was a wild card, but it was top-of-mind so I had to include it. My point here is immunity against anything that has the ability to alter our days and our minds. Anything that can get us off track. As with sickness (those ugly winter colds going around), the world can get to us. People — even our families — may say something that can shift our mood in seconds. Build IMMUNITY against that.

At the end of the day, life is too short to get our feelings hurt easily and we can decide up front that we are not going to be distracted from joy.

Have the most amazing weekend.

Real love is lived out

(Image from post via 11/2015)

I guess I’ve been doing this over two years now since this popped up on my Facebook timeline and I loved the image. (My website has changed since then, but I’m reusing and recycling anyway.) Maybe we could even call this upcycling, which is the trendy term for the “creative reuse” of something.

I don’t know about you but my heart is always warmed when I see someone open a door for someone, walk somebody across the street, bring a neighbor’s trash can up the driveway (or any other means by which we see a person go out of their way to help another person). I love the people that say yes when the grocery store clerk asks if they’d like to donate $5 to Harvesters or some other good cause.

As you go through your week, look around and I promise you’ll find someone that could use a helpful hand. There is a lot of need in every circle of the world. It may be as simple as a smile or compliment.

By the way, you DO LOOK GOOD TODAY! Just sayin’!

Let your SOUL catch up this weekend!

(Photo Creds: Our recent Paul’s Journey adventure)

I REALLY like this idea. Boy does my SOUL NEED TO CATCH UP. How about yours?

As you get ready for the weekend, I’d like to get your thoughts rolling around what this means to you.

Does it mean you need to hit the gym?

Spend some time in nature?

Spend some time alone? As in really alone… listening to what the universe is speaking to you?

Do you need to take a hot bath and think through a problem on your heart… or perhaps think about nothing at all?

Find some time to spend with your favorite sounding board?

Put together your master list so this holiday season is full of  joy and not flying by the seat of your pants?

A one or three-day juice fast to cleanse your body?

I can assure you I need more than one of these and I’d love to hear yours. Taking care of our SOUL and spirit is perhaps the most important thing we can do to ensure we are at our best and able to truly SERVE WELL!  Think about it. 🙂

Check your complaints at the door

Have you ever stopped to listen to people around you, and even the conversations and comments that happen in your own home?

“The weather is awful. I can’t believe I have to go out this early in this cold.”

“We have nothing to eat.”

“Everyone else has their holiday stuff out already. I have no idea when I am going to do that.”

“The traffic was so bad this morning.”

“He/she is so rude.”

“I weigh 1,000 pounds right now.”

“I am so tired.”

“The line is so long.”

“Parking is disastrous.”

“I can’t believe we have to wait.”  And even: “What, they don’t have a Starbucks?”

All of this seems harmless, right? Except it’s not.

Too often I am struck by the ease by which we simply fill the world (as in the one we live in… in our cars, homes, workplace and yes, even when we are out actually doing something fun). The feeling I get from the barrage of these types of comments can be draining and honestly, I think it can make us physically sick.

I thought it was timely to point this out so we can redirect. It goes along well with the conversations we have had on joy, wonder and living positive lives so that we can serve our purpose here in the best way possible. I heard a message not too long ago where they suggested you pray for a spirit of conviction when you complain. Let me tell you, it’s dangerous… but good. You may feel like you are generally always positive, and this could surprise you. You for sure will notice the conversations around you need to be infused with something different.

Our words impact the ability for us to be AWESOME. Let’s do better!

Have a great week!

BETTER

I am always fascinated by what makes a place “all of the rage.”

You know, those cult-like places where folks like us stand in line for hours waiting for our share of their awesomeness. In KC, there are several of these, but my favorite stand out right now is an ice cream place called BettyRaes.

(Photo creds: Canva)

It is SO HOT that Trip Advisor named it a top 50 “ice cream shops worth traveling for.” And it’s only a few years old, if that. Believe me, folks do travel for it and most days the line is out the door. But why? (Other than the s’mores sundae with coffee ice cream — pretty much is the best thing I’ve ever had…)

My perspective: It’s better. As in truly better.

It has created a unique offering via it’s menu. The service is better. The shop is community focused.

As Seth Godin, the famous marketer, would say: it’s achieved the notion of BETTER.

As we think through how we serve better, let’s think about what else we can do better. Be kinder, more focused on those around us, more open minded, more giving, more courteous drivers, more patient (that one resonates with me!), etc…

If you are in business — profit or non-profit — how can we be deemed “worthy” of a line out our door? We start by looking in the mirror and identifying areas where we can be better, and then we dive deep to get to worthy… and ideally, sustainable.

Your ideas are welcome!

(Here’s a song to get you in the mood and the mindset!)

What is required: Getting to JOY

Honestly, I don’t know why the first quote on the photo caught my attention. I try to write about the things I feel the universe is telling me is relevant to me and you, the readers of this blog, right now. I hope you agree!

I am a visual thinker, and I immediately thought of this as a full-circle issue. We start with joy as a child… How could we be born any other way? We either learn to accept grace (my favorite definition is ‘undeserved forgiveness’) and give grace, or we don’t. That determines whether we can build strong relationships, because God knows it is required to do so. Life then puts us through trials, starting too young for some. We develop our character and, in the process, we strive for joy despite those challenges – and the process continues.

As I write this, I’m developing a better understanding of why the quote stood out to me.

You see, I, like most of you I’m sure, have faced some trials. Some pretty big ones, and some starting out way too young. I have often been asked where I find my joy. The answer is the faith I have in God. I think it’s worthy to note that I have been tested and I give grace and strive for joy because I truly want to add value to this world I live in. I want to use what I learned through each challenge as a tool to sharpen me as a human being. My little “carpet square” of the world wants to radiate happiness and inspiration.

We have a choice to turn our trials into joy. I hope you’ll choose that with me. The world needs us right now. My promise is that I’ll continue to encourage you to do so… It’s hard some days, I know.