Do 1 Thing

Back on February 25th I blogged about an idea I had to determine and maximize your roles in life. If you haven't read that post or have forgotten it, go back and check it out.  It is called "A Simple Test."  Today I am going to encourage you to Do 1 Thing.  I want you to have a list of your roles in life readily available (either mentally or physically).  I want you to think about the most important parts of your life.  The People and Activities you wouldn't give up for $1,000,000.  Ok got 'em?  Mine are 1.) Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ 2.)  My Wife 3.)  My Boys 4.)  My extended Family 5.) Teaching and Leading Young People as a Full-Time Job 6.)  Coaching Basketball and Soccer 7.)  My relationships with Friends 8.)  Reading 9.)  Watching Sports on TV.  These are pretty much the activities that I want to be defined by and where I want to spend most of my effort and energy. Yours may be different (I am guessing people are near the top of your list) but we are probably pretty similar.  Values and Beliefs at the top, followed by family, followed by career and then some hobbies.

My encouragement today is to Do 1 Thing to benefit each of these roles this week above and beyond what you typically do.  When we merely accomplish the basics in each role we pretty much survive from one week to the next.  In our career we earn enough to pay the bills and hopefully save a little, our family gets our basic time and the relationships are preserved for another week.  Our spouses get just enough attention to keep them minimally satisfied.  I am challenging you and me to go 1 step further in each category than just the basics.  Spend time in prayer (or however you express your values and beliefs) that is above and beyond.  Serve someone, give a little more time at work, enhance your quality time with your family.  Whatever it is, find a way to do something extra in each category.  Let's say you devote an extra hour this week to each category.  10 hours may sound like a lot, but I bet if we turn off the TV and put down the smart phones we can get it done.

What are the advantages of Doing 1 Thing this week?

1.)  We move from merely surviving and advancing to a new week to thriving and seeking a better life.  There is great power that comes when we are in control.  When we exert the control over our lives that allows us to do extra things we get a great sense of accomplishment.  We feel empowered.  We feel more like we control our destinies and our situations instead of them controlling us.

2.) There is great momentum that comes by simply Doing 1 Thing.  What may start off slow can quickly build steam and become a great force.  Even the Mississippi River starts out very small, but as it grows it gains more and more water and thus power and prestige.  You can live the same way.  Start small and see your small 1 Thing multiply throughout the coming weeks.

3.)  The Power of Being Proactive.  It may sound like a huge requirement to give up 10 hours over the next week.  I believe that the time will pay incredible dividends.  When we are proactive now it saves time later.  Let me give you an example.  Let's say my wife and I spend 2 hours a week in disagreements and miscommunications (Probably low for us since I can be difficult some days).  What if we took an hour each week to go on a coffee date.  We sat down without phones or boys or anything else to distract us.  We are able to talk and have great communication.  We plan the week ahead and just get very open with each other.  My guess is that those 2 hours spent in misunderstandings the next week will shrink to virtually nothing.  I just saved myself an hour.  What if I stay at work an extra 30 minutes once a week.  I can get organized and ahead of potential problems.  Again I am saving myself time.  Being proactive allows me to operate in the realm of "What is Important in Life?" instead of in the realm of "I have to rush around to take care of this emergency."

Give it a try this week.  Write down 7-10 areas of your life that you consider most important to you.  Find an extra 30 -60 minutes this week to do 1 Thing Extra in each area.  I am betting the time pays off and you will see significant growth in that area of your life.

Small Things Over a Massive Amount of Time

Man, I wish it was a lot easier than it is.  I have goals I would like to accomplish, things I would like to get done and proficiencies I want to obtain.  I want to be really good at things, or maybe just something.  I want to reach success in some area.  But it takes a lot of work.  Success is best achieved when reached through many, many, many small steps forward and even a for steps backward.

Whenever I start a new venture I really hope that it is "my prodigy" moment and I can achieve a high level of success almost immediately.  I was this way with golf.  It looks so easy when you watch it on TV.  It looks (and is) really easy on the Nintendo Wii.  It is not easy when you try it in real life.  To illustrate how bad at golf I am I once shot a 48 on 9 holes and by 48 I mean that is how many balls I lost. 

I am constantly looking for the get- rich- quick investment where I can turn $1,000 into $250,000 in a matter of months.  I want to be able to have a great marriage quickly.  I want success in my professions of teaching, leading and coaching.  I want it now.  I want to be a great public speaker and I want to have hundreds of followers on Twitter.  I look at people who have made it and want what they have.  Oh yeah, and repeat after me, I Want it Now!

It is hard for me to comprehend how hard guys I admire have had to work.  How many times they were up at 2am for a flight or up past 2am to keep writing to make a deadline.  It is easy for me to say I want the success of a Coach K, Dave Ramsey or John Maxwell. But am I willing to work as hard as they have worked? Am I willing to undergo the amount of stress and trauma that they have?  Am I willing to work as hard as they have?  While no one will deny that Michael Jordan was an incredibly gifted athlete he was also one of the hardest workers ever.  Kobe Bryant was known for beginning his daily workouts before 5am.  They were naturally gifted for sure but they also paid the price and struggled to reach the top.  All we see is these phenomenal men at the pinnacle, we rarely see the struggle to get there.

Be encouraged.  While it can be frustrating and long journey to reach the heights in your career and dream that you want to reach, know that it can be done.  Almost none of the men and women that we admire reached it to their dreams because of natural talent alone.  The overwhelming majority of our heroes had to struggle and work to reach the top.  Even those who invented something (see Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison) there are countless hours and failures spent before the breakthrough.

Bottom Line is that it takes untold hours (more likely years) of behind the scenes work and sweat and tears to reach your dreams.  They can be accomplished if you are willing to take one step in the right direction each day.  Success is found in taking small steps towards your dreams over a massive amount of time.

I Want to Be the Best

Tina Turner sang her song "Simply the Best" and it became a famous commercial advertisements for a truck company.  Her song stated "Your simply the best, better than all the rest, better than anyone."  I assume this was a love song written to express her feelings for a husband or boyfriend.  That is not what this post will be about.  Recently, it has hit me that in many instances I am no longer striving to the best at whatever I am doing.  I am simply trying to get through the days and get the vital tasks completed before moving on and doing other vital tasks.  My guess is that I am not alone. 

We should all desire to be the best in every area of our lives.  We all have different roles and areas of responsibility.  I have found that most people have between 6-10 roles in life that they must perform.  Are you striving to be the best in each of those areas?  For me, my roles include Husband, Father, Teacher, Coach (2 Teams), Youth Leader, Blogger and several others.  What would it look like if I truly devoted time and effort into being the best in each role instead of just trying to accomplish the basic, vital tasks required of me in each one?

First, decide on what roles you have to fill on a weekly basis.  That should tell you what areas you should be trying to be the best in.  If you need help determining the roles you play or what roles are most important to you check out my blog post titled "A Simple Test."  That should help you narrow down the areas of your life where you can consciously decide to be the best.  To me I want to be the best Coach, Father, Husband, Youth Leader and Teacher that I can be.  My desire is to be the best in the world at each of these roles.  Remember the saying "If you aim for nothing you are likely to hit it."  I would rather set a big, ostentatious goal and fall a little short, than to set a small or no goal and hit it.  Simply put, I want to be the best.

Next, decide what it will take to get you to your goal.  Map out a vision for what it would look like to be the best in each area of your life.  Once you decide what it would look like to be the best decide what it will take to get there.  For me, several things have to go, or be significantly decreased, from my life.  I need to spend much less time on social media.  I need to spend much less time reading news stories on the internet.  I need to put down my IPOD and Phone and focus on reading articles and books that will help me reach my goal of being the best.  I also need to get in much better shape physically so I have the energy to pursue greatness in my life.  I need to eat better.  Hopefully you are getting an idea of what it will take for you to reach the top.  I need to make small changes in my life that will allow me to reach my potential.  What are some small changes that you can make today to step closer to being the best?  I like the saying "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a  single step."  Similarly, "You can eat an elephant by taking one bite at a time."  I can't become the best today, but I can take steps in that direction this morning.

Good Luck.  Get energized or maybe reenergized and start reaching for the best, not just satisfactory or good enough.