To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Christian

This game will test your spirit

blog_765768_2847920_1455200994I’m not sure where I first heard this “phrase,” but likely a motivation read.  It stood out and I hope it does to you as well.  The truth is life is hard; it tests your spirit, sometimes multiple times a day.  Using the football theme for this week, Sunday’s game was hard at times for each of the players and coaches and God knows for the fans. (Thank you Joe and Sam for betting on the Panthers:  I officially won a bet and do expect my cash!).  While I don’t believe there is always a winner and a loser, I do believe we have to be “Game Ready” for whatever might happen.  As I’ve gotten older and a bit wiser, these unexpected tackles, or in some cases, “sacks” don’t (normally) take me by surprise anymore.  I have developed the following game plan to be as ready as possible:

  1. Assume positive intent-  Okay, so it’s true, Von MIller gets paid to go after the quarterback, but thankfully for us, most of us don’t have folks that are paid to take us down.  (Although sometimes it sure seems that way).  I have learned to always assume positive intent.  Heck, maybe they just had a personal loss, or their work life is just a wreck. Give grace and mercy every chance you get.
  2. Move on quickly- People have bad days, bad weeks and some people seem to live in constant chaos.  When you get tackled- don’t hang out there.  As you try to focus on giving grace (unmerited forgiveness is my favorite definition of that word-) you will find this step is much easier to embrace.  We were all wired with different talents and personality quirks, so take it all in, learn something from it and move on.

So here’s the deal-  tackles and sacks come in the form of rude or misunderstood comments, sarcasm, bad drivers, personal losses, illness, late alarm clocks, and the list goes on.  Some days they come at us hard.  My hope is that you will develop a personal game plan to not only pass the test, but be able to use the test to tell a great story (testimony), and help others along the way.

Cheers!

(Photo Creds:  We Heart It)

Enjoy the brilliance of the game

blog_764385_2844933_1454892455Peyton Manning is no doubt my favorite quarterback of all time. (Brett Favre is a close second!)

I realize I’m joining the thousands who would agree and who are cheering him on in what is likely his last NFL game. Win or lose tonight, Peyton Manning has served his gifts well and is someone we can all learn a thing or two from. He has been a class act all along the way. I love the photo above because it simply portrays his focus and undeniable passion. Those character qualities make it no surprise that he quoted the above, showcasing his desire to keep his team’s eyes on the prize despite what will be thrown at them during their games. This level of leadership has placed him in the big game again tonight,  and those same qualities help us to rise to our highest levels as well.

For this Super Bowl Sunday, while (most) will watch the big game, enjoy great food, friends, family, and some entertaining commercials, we should remember to enjoy the brilliance of the game. The on and off the field preparations will culminate in grit and the glory and will all be played out in 60 short minutes and at the end the champion will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

As we forge toward the week ahead, I hope that we all are playing at our highest level, refusing to fail at the gifts God gave us!  Have an amazing week!

Simple Thoughts Sunday – January’s End

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It should come as no surprise that God gave us big goals to achieve.  When our minds wonder with the “what ifs” and the dreams of using our talents to best serve him he is in that moment trying to shake us out of our comfort zone…planting seeds through ideas and hopes.

Philippians 3:13-14 is a passage that can be misunderstood. “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” This verse I don’t think is really about the “past” but most likely about how doing the same things (aka being comfortable) will not take us to the next level.  In order to do that we have to be willing to step out and into those dreams and develop plans to get us there. As we gear up to start the month of February, (short and sweet: Finish strong Peyton Manning and of course the Oscars, love ’em or leave ’em it’s an opportunity to see the best of the best in screen acting being honored, which I think is always fun.) let’s all pray about where in our lives we are maybe too comfortable. Here are some ideas to get you thinking…

Am I too comfortable in my role as mom? Dad? How can I step up my game? Am I being the spiritual leader I know I can and should be?

Am I too comfortable in my generosity? Am I maybe giving some here and there and helping where I can, but not really sacrificing to help others?

Am I too comfortable in my career? Am I spending time to always deliver excellence? Am I reading and staying on top of what’s new and relevant in order to be at the top of my game?

Have an amazing week. Bold prayers for you all!  I’ll try to stay focused on the topic of important conversations! Stay tuned!

(Photo Creds:  We Heart It)

Considering our assignment

blog_752840_2829812_1452094414I love this idea of “considering” our assignment. I also love this idea of ‘we are young!’ What are we here for? To make it more practical, let’s focus on this year only. I don’t know about you, but I want to thrive in the key areas of my life. I did a little “mind map” exercise to launch the year, and my key categories were:

– Family
– Career
– Financial
– Health/Wellness
– Spiritual
– Travel
– Community

Thriving in our “assignment” takes a bit of considering. I took the next step to document a couple of key points under each of them. Considering is hard for some of these. Family seems easy, but then not so much. With the years going by and my friends starting to lose their parents, I’m confronted with how to make the most of the years. Meaningful is the key word. With my boys in college, planning family time isn’t really easy either. (The next weekend we will all be together is Thanksgiving next year…)

For my career it’s a bit easier, but when you are 47, you want to go “deeper” in your knowledge and contribution and that gets a bit tricky, aka more time to consider.

Finances are pretty straightforward, as is health and wellness (for God’s sake stopping eating pasta and pie and get to the gym and quit hitting snooze!).

Travel… Now that’s fun!

Community – What aligns with my believes? Worthy of my time? Global, local?

Okay, time for you to consider… Bold Goal… Bold visions my friends… If this year was to be your best yet, what would it look like?

(Photo credits: We Heart It – comments added are mine)

Let us consider – Simple Thoughts Sunday

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Happy Sunday everyone and I hope you have already started 2016 strong!

This week we will tackle the idea above, “let us consider.” There are so many opportunities on how to best approach this, but I am thinking right now that the key is that we really must stop and considerif we truly want a life of excellence. That concept in itself is an act of excellence and intention!

I can’t  wait to dive in with you all into this year and see where God takes us! I hope these “Simple Thoughts Sunday” excerpts feed your mind and soul and nudge you along in your journey to achieve the best for your life. Whatever that looks like, I truly believe God is right there with us and cheering us along! It is my honor to cheer you on as well!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Word of the year

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A few years ago I started a new tradition (if you want to call it that) where I essentially set in play a “word of the year.”

I cannot begin to tell you how powerful this practice has been for me personally. I can look back at the word choices, which I pray about and would like to think God planted in my thoughts, and see where God showed up and in some cases showed off! So cool!

I love practical examples, so let me share one: Four or five years ago my “one word” wasdiscipline. Discipline physically and spirtiually were the primary areas. In that year, I honestly stayed in prayer on the word and in that year I transitioned to a healthy lifestyle and I read through the Bible for the first time all of the way through. Not only did I read it, but I developed a practice of journaling the highlight of the day from that scripture reading and applied it to my days and life.

That word and those habits become my reality, and I haven’t strayed away from them since! I love that example.

Last year my word was trust. I am a work in process on fully trusting God’s plan, especially since I have such a gift of knowing what is best for me and my family. (Ha!) Fully submitting has always been a challenge. God is working on that still but I’m much better than I was 365 days ago!

This year, my word became clear about a month ago now… it is deeper. Deeper in all key areas of my life. I can’t wait to see where God takes it!

I would highly encourage you to jump in and take the one word challenge. It is awesome! There is a fun website that outlines this as well. Check it out!  I’d love to hear from you if you choose to do this! We can encourage one another!

Big Blessings to all of you!

Christmas Eve, the gift of anticipation

blog_749488_2826667_1450980610Christmas Eve for a child, young and sometimes old, is filled with anticipation.

Anticipation being that waiting period before something exciting happens. In this case, celebrations unfold and hearts are filled with the expecting of what’s to come. While researching for this post, I ran across the amazing blog below by Jeff Goins.

Jeff is one of the great writing talents in the United States today and worth your time if you appreciate this type of work.  I believe you will find his words full of wisdom on this topic of waiting.  I for sure learned some new concepts that help me to frame up this amazing season in a way that is deeper and richer.

“After years of learning important lessons about life, I now realize that the magic of Christmas was never about the day. It was always about the waiting.”  – Jeff Goins  See full post here.

Ultimately, the primary point is how great it is that the birth of Jesus was just the beginning, the anticipation of what is to come!  His birth merely started the story of what was to come.

I pray today that your hearts will be filled with the anticipation of what God will do in your lives and those of your family and friends during the next year. Have the merriest of days and embrace the moments. You all are a gift to me personally and I am forever grateful.

Simple Thoughts Sunday – 12/20

blog_748284_2825205_1450655586It’s the Sunday before Christmas, my bold prayer for all of my readers, friends and family this week is that you will truly try find love, peace and joy. That you would look up and see the beauty of the season. There are so many opportunities including the joy found in a child’s smile, or the love found seeing an adult child walking their elderly parent into a restaurant.

Most of all this year, we need to find peace. Peace that for me can be found in moments of silence that I am forced to carve out of my hectic days. Wherever you find yourself, pray that God will give you eyes to see the love, peace and joy that surrounds us.

(Photo Creds: Pinterest: Look at who is driving the car! Cute!)

3 ways to improve your energy at work!

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I love reindeer (otherwise known as caribou in case you need a game winning trivia question)! I have just now realized this – why it took 47 years I have no clue – they are just flat out cool!                __________________________________
So, how in the world do we get more energy? We have the obvious: Fueling our body with healthy foods, getting enough rest… We will hit some of those on Thursday, but for today, I am talking about energy at work (work being loosely defined, whether you are in the workplace, the community or home). Energy at work is defined by what activities that you work on that give you positive energy? What could you do all day? What activities make you feel at the end of the day fulfilled and if tired, a “good tired.” The goal of today’s blog is to encourage you to figure out what those are and play to them regularly! You’ll be better for it, I promise!

I wanted to figure this out in 2015, and so I found this really great Executive coach, Mike Miller, who works with Forte.  Their consulting firm focuses on a great tool called “Strengthscope” which is all about finding out what your top seven areas are that give you energy at work. After you take the assessment you get a great review that outlines the strengths that give you energy.

If you head over to their website you’ll find a few fun facts: People who use their strengths every day are …

  • 6X more likely to be engaged on the job
  • 3X more likely to be happier with their lives.  (I’LL TAKE THAT!)

Teams with leaders who take a “stength” based approach are…

  • 86% more effective than teams which don’t.

For those that know me, they won’t be surprised at my seven: collaboration, decisiveness, developing others, optimism, relationship building, self-confidence, self-improvement. So essentially, if I’m “playing” in areas that allow me to be doing these things, I am one happy camper. If I’m not on a consistent basis, I may be drained!  A key learning from my time with Mike this year, is that I can “over play” to these. For example, if I’m playing in the collaboration/relationship building space and the colleague I’m working with doesn’t have that in their top seven (or maybe even in their top 25 – haha) that I may be draining them, creating conflict. I need to shift to one of my other top seven deciveness for example, to work better with them, therefore giving me energy. Pretty interesting stuff!                          __________________________________________________________________________________________

So this is longer than my normal post, but worthwhile information! Here are the top three posted in the blog title to wrap it up! I encourage you all to find out in 2016 what gives you energy, and play to those! You will improve your “game” and your life! Top 3 ways to improve your energy at work:

  1. Find out what give you energy and play to those. Use Mike’s tool, or stengthfinders, or even make a list. If you don’t think you know, ask your closest colleagues at work, or friends… they will know!
  2. Get organized! Yep, sorry to the folks who may not like this one, but honestly, you have to have a gameplan and that includes making a list and reviewing and editing ofte. I do this at least one time a day and often twice a day. Priorities change quickly, at work and in life, and I have to ensure the top items stay at the top of the list, otherwise I’m drained of energy! You will gain energy only by achieving what you know you need to achieve.
  3. Make time for fun. I talk a lot about culture, and my friends, no matter if your leader is a culture builder or something more like a culture hit man (or woman) you can influence the culture in your area! Make a decision that you will be the difference within a reasonable radius around your area! Schedule time to walk around and be a culture guru wherever God has placed you! It will give you energy and those around you as well! DOUBLE BONUS!

Top books of 2015

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Honestly, this is a huge deal for me to try to identify the top booksI have read this year.  My boys will tell you that I read a book every 10 days or so, and that Amazon Prime loves to visit our front door step! I have however narrowed it down to 10 books! I hope that you will find one or two that you find as inspiring as I did!

  1. Life Is Good – Bert and John Jacobs: Let me tell you that I dismissesd this book several times while walking through airport shops, but finally decided to bite the bullet. I’ve never been a big fan of the “Life is Good” shops (t-shirts, etc.) for some reason, though my sister has always loved them. Now I’m a huge fan! This is a simple book, great story and full of simple life lessons. The brothers and founders of ‘Life Is Good,’ outline the 10 superpowers of a happy and fulfilling life. This is a great one for all ages! Great graduation gift idea!
  2. Essentialism – Greg McKeown: Mark Batterson, my favorite Christian author and also listed below, recommended this one from his summer reading list. The book does not disappoint and is useful for just about anyone trying to survive in our chaotic society. It’s all about a “mindset” versus a task and time management. Solid read!
  3. Fervent – Priscilla Shirer: Priscilla is one of my favorite authors and speakers and this short and simple book on crafting prayer strategies is one to hold on to or buy multiple copies and give away. I believe this book is a part of the resoures for the also now famous movie that came out in the Fall, War Room.
  4. For the Love – Jen Hatmaker: Jen is an author that will have you laughing the entire way through. She approaches the topic of fighting for grace in a world of impossible standards.
  5. Creativity Inc. – Ed Catmull: Ed is a co-founder of Pixar Animation studios (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter). If you saw the 2015 blockbuster movie Inside-Out, you know why this is a must read. (Inside-Out was simply the most clever and creative movie I believe ever on the big screen.)  It’s really a quite powerful management book.  We all are being called to a higher level of creativity in our roles and this book is sure to take you to a different dimenision in your thinking.
  6. Anything – Jennie Allen: Jennie was a new author to me this year and I am thrilled I read this book. It’s actually a new edition of a book with the same title, with an eight-week bible study added. Essentially, it follows a story of what might happen if we were ready to do “anything” for God and truly walk in his will. It is short and powerful. It will keep you up thinking!
  7. The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James: This book is a true story based on how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit is all about. True grit is a characteristic we all need and you will get lost in this story! Well done!
  8. IF – Mark Batterson: My all-time favorite author- (Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, etc.) nailed another great book! I was lucky enough to be selected to serve on the “launch” team for this book which meant I got an early copy. I loved that opportunity because I truly think Mark’s writing is the best. Easy to read, and a combination of real life stories and use of history and science to bring home the sometimes tough topics. IF is all about possible “regrets” and “what if” possibilities. Mark unpacks the promises of Romans 8 and helps us to become conquerors in this read.
  9. LinchPin – Seth Godin: I wrote an earlier blog on this book which you might want tocheck out here. Seth is simply one of the greatest business authors of our time. He is one you should follow in every social media channel you can find! I have read almost all of his books, and he is a marketing genius. This book is all about being indispensable!
  10. Optimism – Helen Keller: First of all, who knew this book even existed? Thanks to Twitter, someone shared this little gem with me! If you buy one book from this list, buy this one! (I just checked Amazon and it’s $5.99 so a great price as well!)   It will take you less than two hours to get through – probably less – but it is essential for all to read! Now that I looked back on the list, it’s the most unlikely favorite, but the favorite for sure.

(Photo Credit: Life Is Good)