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:
"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." Steve Jobs
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
This month I want to look at some words from the late Steve Jobs. I'm an "Apple Guy"... there are Apple People and Non-Apple People, however I think there are some things that Jobs said and did that can potentially impact all of us.
This quote was so timely when I found it this past week.
We're living in a time of FEAR.
We're afraid to share what we believe because it might offend someone else.
We're afraid to have an opinion, so we remain quiet.
We care, but we choose not to engage because of the noise.
Basically we're paralyzed because we're not sure what we should or shouldn't believe.
I love this quote from Steve Jobs, because he reminds us what is really important.
We are surrounded by noise... all kinds of noise. Some of the noise is really good noise, and some of it is just distracting.
I don't know about you, but sometimes when I go on a walk, I put my headphones in (Airpods) and instead of listening to a book, a podcast or music, I just enjoy the silence!
There is noise all around me. Often I leave a meeting to jump in my car and either make a phone call, or listen to my favorite radio station. I then will watch the news or a tv show at night, and many days the first thing I listen to in the morning in a news podcast.
I go from noise to noise constantly.
I'm not saying those things are necessarily bad, but to Jobs quote, sometimes the noise around me is louder than my own voice, or the Spirit who lives within me.
How would you define your life as it relates to noise? Are you operating at FULL VOLUME? 1 - 10?
DEEPER STILL:
Here are some tips I've picked up over the years, addressing 2 different things:
First, how to enjoy silence in your life regularly:
Turn off the radio/music/podcast in the car
Take a walk in silence
Turn off notifications on your phone or device
Simply sit in silence
Plan your screen/TV time. Watch what you want to watch, and when it's done, turn off the tv instead of flipping.
Identify a "place" you can regularly go to find silence
Second, how to listen more clearly to your inner voice:
Take 5 minutes each morning and just journal what you're thinking about... it's a "brain dump". Just write what comes to mind
Know your purpose and values and live in accordance with what you've defined. If you're not doing this, you'll have some "alarms" going off creating some chaos & noise.
"Worship aligns us with God". Let worship be a part of your daily experience: walking, singing, reading His Word, relationships.
Have some people in your life that ask you tough questions, then in your silence, answer those questions to yourself.
Learn to identify the voice of God in your life. This takes practice, but when you need to identify it the most, you'll be able to.
Pretty profound thoughts coming from a tech giant, but so important for us to think about, examine and explore!
Learn to identify either your OWN voice inside of you, or the voice of HIM who has called you.
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
Dr. Gayle D. Beebe just sent me a copy of his new book, The Crucibles that Shape Us: Navigating the Defining Challenges of Leadership. Dr. Beebe spoke to our Barnabas Community last year, and spoke from this book. I'm into just the second chapter it's rich!
I have no idea why I enjoy watching tennis so much. I'm trying to catch highlight from Roland Garros this week. Some great tennis being played! I think it's from watching Break Point on Netflix over the past couple of years.
This past week, besides the silence, I did enjoy a couple of good podcasts. I listened to this "new to me" podcast called "The Big Flop". I listened to a couple of stories on WeWork, George Santos & MoviePass
I shared this link with a Non-Profit Leaders Cohort this past week. This book has some great reminders for all of us! The One Thing by Gary Keller
OK, the radio station that is often playing in my car or on my desktop is KRTH Los Angeles... Soft Classic Rock All Day!