So I was intrigued to come across this tweet from Sally Hogshead (great name, slightly scary Twitter page!):

The greatest value you can add is to become more of yourself.

I’m inclined to agree.  If we all played to our strengths, rather than focussing a lot of energy on addressing our weaknesses, I think there would be a significant net gain.  And I’m sure there would be a significant boost to our confidence and well-being.

Any thoughts?

Image by @Doug88888 via Flickr

“Churches that follow Jesus, that really are practising in the Jesus’ way, are never going to be completely conventional churches… and that’s OK.  It’s more than OK – it shows that we’re faithful… having tension with the conventionality of the world, or the dominant narrative of the world, is a good thing for Christians.  We should never entirely fit.”

Diana Butler Bass

Maybe a better title for this entry would be:

‘Standing up or sitting back?’

(The full version of this short talk can be found here.)

Do you set the standard for caring in your organization?

He was referring to a blog entry by Seth Godin, about caring for the details in your business.  Interesting, but not track-stopping.

By contrast, Mark Sanborn’s question carries a whole different layer of meaning and challenge.  As a Christian, it leads me to ask – ‘if not me, then who?’  Actually, that should be, ‘If not me, then why?’

And, if I don’t set that standard, then I need an attitude adjustment – starting right now.

I wonder who sets the standard for caring in our churches.  No, wait… I know the answer – that’d be me.

A simple question; a difficult reality check!

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.

Lewis Mumford

Solution?  Repeat it silently and often.

“As the year 2012 suggests, stay consistent in your beginnings and your endings.”

(From pupil people.)

Image via Wikipedia

“Once upon a time, two frogs were sitting on a log in the middle of a lake, and one frog decided to jump off, how many frogs were left sitting on the log?”

Answer: Two frogs.

Why? The same reason only 3% of the population set and actually achieve their goals or maintain positive, well-intentioned change in the first place.

I came across this recently – and it appealed to me.

Deciding is easy; moving to action is the hard part.  But sitting on the log isn’t progress.

The idea behind the notebook is influenced by Dave Allen’s concepts around Getting Things Done.  That is, rather than cluttering your head trying to remember stuff, capture it somewhere.  So I decided to keep a separate notebook for things that popped into my head, or that I stumbled across.  Having captured them, my brain is freed to go a-wandering again, find new morsels, and so the loop continues.

The intention is to then do something with these ideas – expand them, add to them, join them to others.  Some of them even end up on these pages – directly or indirectly.

As you can see the idea shown above hasn’t been developed (at all).  But since it seemed to follow some of yesterday’s thinking, I decided to post it anyway.  Why wait for perfect, if imperfect will do?  (Regular readers will have noticed a lot of imperfect around here!)

Realising that the having ‘the last word’ is not a triumph;

Recognising that ideas without opposition are probably flawed;

Learning that success (whatever that looks like) is limited to a few, brief moments;

Remembering that uphill is the direction that brings satisfaction;

Understanding that your attitude is a choice.

Please feel free to add to this list.

(photo from www.MorgueFile.com)