It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Greetings to you!
Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.
Russ...
LEADERSHIP QUOTE:
"Living in a constant state of balance is mostly impossible." Russ Cline
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
Well, I had a birthday milestone this month and turned 60 years old. I don't think it's that traumatic, however being whisked away to a beach in Mexico by my wife for a few days helped a lot!
60 Years.
This month, I want to share some things that I've learned over the years by sharing some interpretations of some great quotes. I realize that nothing is really new, we just share ideas in new and fresh ways and it cycles around again and again. There is still much to learn from these ideas that have been around for a long time, so I'm going to share my top 4 quotes/ideas that I keep coming back to over and over again.
I'm going to close this month with a simple thought on BALANCE.
For years, I learned how to "balance my life", or better yet, how to "strive for balance". I felt that if I could achieve a level of balance in my life, then all would be well. I then taught people about how to find balance in their lives.
Listen to these definitions of the word balance:
"An even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady"
"Keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall"
I don't know about you, but even though I've thought about balance in my life, I've dreamed about balance and I've worked towards balance, it's been mostly unsuccessful.
This doesn't mean that I'm out of control, it just means that if I'm going to define balance in my life, being "steady" is not the way I would define it.
My life has been a series of "living in the extremes". While this might sound bad, it's been an incredible ride!
Living in the extremes means:
Moving from being busy to having rhythm
Being disciplined in areas and being undisciplined
Hitting goals and targets while sometimes failing
Being emotionally full and energized to being drained
I don't know if you've experience this or not, but striving for balance in my life has been difficult if balance is defined as being STEADY.
How do you define balance in your life?
DEEPER STILL:
Years ago, in a conversation with my friend Wes, we both shared that when we looked at our lives, God tended to show up when we were "living in the extremes".
In my case, when all is well, when I'm steady, when things are in perfect alignment, I don't need any help and I don't rely on God.
When I'm living in extremes, God has shown up and provided exactly what I've needed:
When I'm running too hard, He provides the opportunity for rest
When I'm undisciplined in areas, He prompts me to pay attention
When I fail, he reminds me that it's not about my performance
When I'm completely drained, He's restored me
When BALANCE is what I'm striving for, I tend to settle for mediocrity:
I don't take risks
I don't lead with my heart or my conscience
I take the easier route
I control things and manage them
I don't strive for BALANCE in my life anymore. I realize that my life is made up of season after season, of extremes in all areas of my life.
The BALANCE I strive for is to simply "Keep my eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2) and keep moving towards the life He has created me for.
What could real BALANCE look like in your life today?
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
James Clears book Atomic Habits is a great way to look at goals and habits in a realistic way. Check it out!
A LIFEPLAN is a way to look at all areas of your life and see how they integrate together in a healthy way: Personal, Family, Vocation, Community & Faith
Gina and I have started watching The Parisian Agency, season 4. It's a real estate show based in Paris, but shows beautiful real estate all over the world.
I liked this short article from Corp on 20 Traits of Balanced Leadership. It talks about different kinds of balance.
This past week we attended a BBQ for Hoving Home with some Barnabas Friends, an incredible home for women coming out of addiction in Pasadena. While there, Jason Gray entertained us with some powerful music and lyrics.