LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"The oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought." Pythagoras

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

This month we're looking at these words, YES and NO. Powerful words with some great prompts, challenges and reminders around them. To read past posts, visit my full site HERE.

I don't know about you, but from my perspective, the words YES and NO are often the words I most quickly respond with because they are short and simple words.

Pythagoras pushes us to think about these words, emphasizing that we should only use these words with careful consideration and thoughtfulness, rather than our impulsive nature which doesn't require much thinking.

I've learned a lot about saying YES and NO. I've found myself in situations where I'm asking the question, "How did I get here?" And honestly, as I look back, it's a series of decisions that I made without thinking, without "careful consideration".

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 5 while teaching, he says in verse 37: "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." He's talking about us keeping our word, but the simplicity of his challenge is clear: YES and NO Matter!

I remember a situation many, many years ago where I had agreed to do something without much thought. I agreed to speak to a group of junior high students, on a boat, cruising around Catalina Island in Southern California. I guarantee that when I said YES, I was thinking about living on a boat for 3 days, as well as the $250 honorarium check I was earning (this was significant in my life at the time).

What I didn't think about was this...

• I was on the boat with 60 Junior High Students... for 3 days!

• My speaking part was 30 minutes a day... the rest of the time, I was with 60 Junior High Students... for 3 days!

• It was over my Birthday Weekend, and my wife had bought me tickets to a concert to surprise me (I hadn't mentioned the speaking gig)

• So while my wife and a friend enjoyed a great concert, on my birthday... I sat on a boat, with 60 junior high students, for 3 days.

Yes, this led to some reflection and the lesson was to THINK before responding with an immediate YES. Three Full Days....

Looking back, it's often easy to see impact of saying YES or NO. What do you do to "carefully consider" whether it's a YES or a NO?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"It is not forgivable to be highly efficient but ineffective." Tim Ferriss

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm on a real-life journey to understand more about the "RHYTHM OF MY LIFE" and over the next number of weeks I want to drag you on this journey with me. To read past posts, visit my full site HERE.

Thanks for being on this journey with me over the past month as I've talked about RHYTHM and shared with you some of my journey. Thank you also to those who have reached out and shared your stories along the way. That's been encouraging to me. We're going to keep going, because surprisingly enough, I haven't arrived! There are still lessons to learn, so let's keep going....

There are a couple of final reminders I want to share with you that I'm talking to myself about.

I was listening to a question/answer podcast with Tim Ferris this past week, and in the midst of the conversation, he shared the thought that many of us focus on efficiencies instead of focusing on effectiveness. While I pulled this quote from the podcast, there are many people who talk about "effectiveness vs. efficiency" so today I'm just going to camp out here a little bit.

In Gary Kellers book, "The One Thing", he writes about the benefits of prioritizing a single task with a singular focus.

I'm a fan of the concept, although life is often much more complex, but the goal to focus on something that is a true priority and in accomplishing that one thing, it affects everything, is something that I've worked towards and aimed at.

Again, my problem is that I have "5 One Things" at a time, so even as I narrow them down, it's still a challenge to identify the most important.

The key reminder to me today is to focus on EFFECTIVENESS and not get lost in the system, the plan, the flow and the routines.

What is the One Thing that helps me to accomplish things that make a difference?

In my quest for re-discovering my RHYTHM, I come back to my desire to be effective and impactful on all levels vs. my work to have things all managed by discipline, habits and systems.

What's the ONE THING I can do today that will drive greater effectiveness towards the mission & vision of my life?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Joy is not a season, it's a way of living." Kalley Heiligenthal

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm on a real-life journey to understand more about the "RHYTHM OF MY LIFE" and over the next number of weeks I want to drag you on this journey with me. To read past posts, visit my full site HERE.

Thanks for being on this journey with me over the past month as I've talked about RHYTHM and shared with you some of my journey. Thank you also to those who have reached out and shared your stories along the way. That's been encouraging to me. We're going to keep going, because surprisingly enough, I haven't arrived! There are still lessons to learn, so let's keep going....

This past week, the word that has been rolling around in my head is simply the word JOY.

I love this definition: "A deep and abiding sense of happiness and contentment". That describes it really well. Webster defines it as: "a feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being."

I love this quote because I often get caught up in the "seasons of life"... and I define these as a "busy season" or a "stressful season" or a "full season" or a "fun season" or whatever other words I choose.

Heiligenthal says it so simply: Joy isn't a season, it's life!

We've been talking about RHYTHM over the past number of weeks and I've shared with you honestly some of my journey, some of my questions and some of the process, and if I went back and read each of my posts, I'm sure somewhere I said something about "the season I'm going through".

Today, I simply choose JOY.

No matter what is going on around me, what is going on in me, what is coming out of me, I choose JOY.

I choose JOY because sometimes that's the last thing I want to respond with. Life is hard. There are twists and turns, surprises and challenges every day, but instead of responding instantly with despair, I choose to respond with JOY.

What would it look like in your life if you CHOSE JOY today, when things come at you? Especially the unexpected things…