When it comes to celebrating New Year's Eve, I tend to follow the example of my dad: the best way to start the new year is with a good night's sleep. I don't believe there is anything magical about turning over a new calendar. That being said, I do believe that each new year is a great time to refocus, recalibrate, and renew. In our culture, we rarely set aside time for reflection. We rush. We hurry. The business of introspection gets lost in the busyness of life. As we approach 2012, will you spend a few moments, minutes, or hours refining your focus? Life is too short to live aimlessly. Without a clear sense of purpose, we surrender our effectiveness to the circumstances that surround us. Is that the best stewardship we can offer God? Will you also find time to recalibrate? If you're like me, you've probably recognized…
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I'm passing along a great article by Phil Cooke entitled, "Seven Things Every Leader Should do in the New Year." You may resonate with all seven or only a few. While it is written for pastors, there is something here for any leader. I personally resonate with 1, 5, and 7. Enjoy! ******************* 1. Start the project you’ve always dreamed of creating. The clock is ticking, and you’re not getting any younger. Remember the book manuscript in the desk drawer you’ve always wanted to publish? Or the radical new ministry you planned on the back of a napkin? Or the media outreach you always believed would change the community or city? Stop dreaming and start doing. There’s no better time than now. 2. Understand the power of a compelling brand. In a media-driven culture, a compelling brand is the key to breaking through the clutter and getting noticed by your…
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Enjoy this article from Seth Godin. ********************** Merry You can't be merry by yourself. Sure, you can be content, happy, possibly even delirious. But merriment requires a group, and that group is almost always a group you can see and touch, one that's sharing the same molecules of air, face to face. The digital revolution continues to get deeper, wider and more important. But it has made no progress at all at increasing merriment. That's up to us. Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/12/merry.html
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Do you have enough white space in your life? If you're like most people, the paper of life gets filled up with stuff. Things to do, appointments, and outright clutter. We're rushing from this place to that one. Even the margins of life have scribbles in them. The symptoms of too little white space include: Little-to-no down time. Uncomfortableness with silence. A feeling of always being distracted. Feeling rushed. Feeling guilty if you're not doing something. How do you recapture lost white space?
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Today is December 26, also known as "The Day After." Just as John 3:17 has lived in the shadow of its more famous predecessor, December 26 is the day that is privileged to follow Christmas. It's the day when we clean up, throw away, and rest. Some families have a tradition of opening a gift on Christmas Eve; none that I know of save one for The Day After. This morning, the morning of The Day After, I'm sitting at the table with my second pot of coffee and thinking about the past few weeks. Here are a few of my reflections: Christmas in America has become more than a season. It now begins before Halloween. The fourth quarter should be renamed the Christmas quarter. Many people are trying to do Christmas differently. They are trying to simplify and are more intentional about how they spend their money. People are…
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