My EASY test.

Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete.
If you're alive........             it isn't.  

-Richard Bach






This is the beginning of a new day. 
 
I have been given this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good. 
 
What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
 
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever,
in its place is something that I have left behind......

It is easy to waste a minute, hour, day.....week.

I don't want to leave behind unproductive days....but it is very easy. 

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.  Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. -Cherokee Indian expression

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God has for you is the best you can do for Him."

Romans 12:1-2, (The Message)

Should I move to ICELAND?

Imagine, just for a moment, a country the size of England. Position it just outside the Arctic Circle so it receives 24 hours of daylight in summer and constant darkness in winter. Liberally sprinkle it with some of the world's most dramatic geysers, waterfalls and glaciers. Make room for Europe's largest desert and the world's third-largest ice cap. Then populate it with 300,000 people descended from Vikings.

You've just created Iceland.

According to the World Database of Happiness (yes, there is one*), Iceland is one of the happiest nations on earth. That's right, Iceland.

The secret to their happiness? Eric Weiner, Author of, The Geography of Bliss, traveled to Iceland to find out. After interviewing a number of Icelanders, Weiner discovered that their culture doesn't stigmatize failure. Icelanders aren't afraid to fail — or to be imperfect — and so they're more willing to pursue what they enjoy. That's one reason Iceland has more artists per capita than any other nation. "There's no one on the island telling them they're not good enough, so they just go ahead and sing and paint and write," Weiner writes.

Which makes them incredibly productive. They don't just sit around thinking they'd like to do something.  

They do it.

According to the psychologist Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi,

"It is not the skills we actually have that determine how we feel but the ones we think we have."  

So if you think you're good at something, whether or not you are, you'll do it. The converse is also true: if you think you aren't good enough at something, you won't do it.

Most of the time we measure ourselves by that last statement, "the things we believe we can't do perfectly or good enough", are the things we simply avoid or we become frozen (Iceland get it?) and do nothing.
 
But here is a practical principle I am continually learning:

the world doesn't reward perfection. It rewards productivity. And productivity can only be achieved through imperfection.

Don't get me wrong, I strive for excellence and quality in all I do but the cold hard fact (another Iceland pun...ok no more) of the matter is, I am not perfect....period.  So, this leads me to a choice, I can do something imperfectly and make progress or I can do nothing because there is a chance I won't do it perfectly.

I don't know about you but "doing nothing" is not an option for me or my family most days, so I have a process....maybe this will help you other perfectionistic (not sure that is a word) people out there:

1.  Make a decision.

2.  Follow through.

3.  Learn from the outcome.

4.  Repeat over and over and over again.

It is not rocket science....it's the scientific method of trial and error.

Only by wading through the imperfect can we begin to achieve glimpses of the perfect. Which leads us to another and more important realization, there is only one place we can go with all of the imperfection that helps us move toward the future.

The apostle Paul caught glimpses of the perfect compared to his own imperfection in his letter to the Philippians, he said this:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

So, press on my friends and be encouraged that there is happiness in the imperfect process.....and it can happen right where you are....you don't have to move to Iceland!

*sources:
Veenhoven, R., World Database of Happiness, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Peterbregman.com
The Message Bible; Eugene Peterson
Stumbleupon
monogramstravel.com

From POTENTIAL to POTENT

There’s so much talk about potential in our culture, as if it’s the end-all of success. Has anyone ever said about you, “He/She has so much potential”?  Potential is a glimpse of what could be, yet there must be a shift from where we have potential to where we are potent.” – Erwin McManus

I am traveling this week with my son to see 5 universities that are possibilities for him to attend.  We are trying to be wise and seek God's guidance, look at possibilities, and give opportunity to take his potential and turn it into something potent!  This is an exciting moment, there is really a blank slate even though he has a direction of what he wants to do and the potential meter is reading "full", this is the moment we start to make that shift in thinking from potential to potent! 

Training

Pablo Picasso once said; that he is always doing that which he cannot do, in order that he may learn how to do it. I am not a huge Picasso art fan but he is a good example to the unlimited potential in each of us because he did not just sit with his potential, he pursued it. He openly admitted that there were things that he could not do, but at the same time, he constantly challenged himself for the purpose of building upon his talent. Most people will dismiss this logic by pointing out that Picasso had a natural God-given talent. True, but even with his talent, he still underwent formal academic art training from the time he was a child. From childhood on, his life consisted of creating works of art in unique styles of painting as he further developed his talent.

Persistence

This takes persistence! We have commit to be persistent in our efforts. Persistence is the secret ingredient to realizing potential. Without it, we will likely stop digging just two feet short of oil.  Without persistence, our life will be full of could haves and should haves. The uncertainty of what may have been will eat us alive if we do not see things through to the end. Worst of all, we are not even giving ourselves the opportunity to succeed.

Wisdom

We are also lost if we don't seek wisdom in all of this.  The need for God becomes more evident with each step. Here is a good word on seeking Gods wisdom:

Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God. It's through Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you.  Proverbs 9:7 (The Message)

It is an interesting journey we all are on....making ourselves available to be consistently learning, pursuing our God given talents with persistence, and the finding of our direction and path through seeking God's wisdom!

Be encouraged....your potential meter is on and it shows "FULL"....now go and make it something potent!

Love Like No Other

We have a new music release I want to share with you.  It is Love Like No Other from our friend Lenny LeBlanc. 



Lenny has been a part of my life since high school.  First, with a major pop hit "Falling" that was part of the soundtrack of the music that my friends and I were listening to and then I had the privilege of actually meeting him.  As a "wannabe" musician/songwriter/producer myself it was of course pretty awe inspiring to meet him but he was also very encouraging in my career pursuits and became a friend.



Through the years as God moved me in the direction of a clear career path, Lenny and I continued our friendship.  He was on a journey too...you see he had encountered God in a life changing way and now his journey was from being a "pop idol" to worshipping the One who gave him his incredible talent.



Lenny has and continues to penn songs that have impacted "pop" culture and church culture. Some of these songs you know well like "Falling" and "Treat Her Right" (recorded by Sawyer Brown) or "Above All" (recorded by everyone but Michael W. Smith stands out in this group) and "There is None Like You" and then there are songs you have heard and sung that you did not know were his but moved you into the next step in your journey with God. I literally do not have space here to list them all!



I have been honored to travel some of this road with him and this will be amazingly our 6th project together...."All My Dreams", "The Bridge", "Above All", "One Desire", "Christmas Night", and now "Love Like No Other".  I am grateful and blessed.



I still believe music and songs have the ability to communicate and change lives! Mainly, because I get to see it happen on a regular basis.  I believe these songs have that same potential for your life. 



I encourage you to make Love Like No Other a part of your journey.



You can get it at your favorite Christian Retailer, iTunes, or one of our favorite places worshipmusic.com.  You can also read more about Lenny at our website www.inciite.com and his website www.lennyleblanc.com.

The unseen ELEPHANT!

There is a story about a group of blind men who touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one touches a different part, but only one part.

In John Godfrey Saxe’s version (1816–1887), one man falls against the side of the elephant and proclaims the elephant is a wall.  Another leans on the tusk and proclaims an elephant is a spear.  Another touches the trunk and proclaims the elephant is a snake.  Another touches the knee and proclaims the elephant is a tree.  Another touches the ear and proclaims the elephant is a fan.  And the last one grabs the tail and proclaims the elephant is a rope.

The four blind men fell prey to a common mistake: reaching conclusions without sufficient information. Based on one part of the elephant alone, it is unlikely anyone will come to an accurate conclusion. 

But I believe there is another truth here; 

we may never grasp the concept 

of the entire elephant! 

If that is the case where does that leave us?  Do we give up?  John Maxwell says this in his book, Put Your Dreams To The Test:

Don't limit your possibilities to the visible.  Don't listen only for the audible.  Don't be controlled completely by the logical.  Believe there is more to life than meets the eye!  People who keep pursuing their dreams-even as other express their doubt and criticism-always believe that there is more than meets the eye.  It's one of the things that keeps them going.

Hebrews 11:8 (The Message) describes this very faith journey that kept Abraham going:

By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

Ok, so today you and I may not see the entire
"elephant", you may even have others telling you there isn't an "elephant" at all!  Don't believe it...keep your eyes on the unseen and don't let it stop you from pursuing your God given dreams!

The way to MEDIOCRE

“He has lulled himself into a false sense of competence.”-Vanna Bonta

I'm scared of mediocrity...a false sense of competence
...average....unimaginative ideas.....settling.

Settling for just "ok" ideas, or not maximizing creativity in strategic meetings.

Settling for "it is almost right", or  "that's good enough."

Settling for low expectations....."not living up to"....."not up to par"......"substandard"

How does this happen?

“The only way to get to mediocre is one step at a time. You don’t have to settle. It’s a choice you get to make every day.”-Seth Godin

I will make the positive choice....I will not settle....I will excel....I will create, imagine, dream.....I will not settle...I will not step toward mediocrity!

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”-Michelangelo

I will not settle!