DAY 41: "The Blessing of Consistency"

ENGAGING THOUGHT

Do you have a life motto?  I do.  It's a Latin phrase that I like to impress people with - it makes me sound really smart and high-brow.  It looks like this:

Gutta Cavat Lapidem Non Vi Sed Saepe Cadendo. 

Are you impressed yet?  Maybe if I told you the meaning it would inspire you as much as it does me.  Are you ready for it?

"The drip hollows the stone, not by force, but by repeatedly falling."

I can tell you're impressed and inspired.  In all seriousness, however, this is the phrase I repeat to myself every day - and several times throughout any given day.  It reminds me that if I focus upon being consistent in the things I do I need not worry whether any single thing I do be all that monumental. 

In fact, we are far more effective in just about anything we undertake when we approach it with consistent, steady effort rather than hitting it with bursts of energy or attention.  That is, of course, the whole theory behind the 60 Days of Dreaming challenge: that we accomplish far more forward motion toward fulfilling God's DREAM for our life when we give it just a little bit of daily attention and effort.  If we were to wait until we had all the time necessary in one span of time or season of our life - well, we'd be waiting forever and never get around to pursuing the DREAM, right?
 
Recognizing the blessing of consistency helps us as we make progress - even through the oftentimes boring parts (more on that tomorrow).  Let's use another analogy from the sports-world: think of an Olympic figure-skater.  We know the tremendous sacrifices she must make daily in order to compete at that level - the things she must deny herself, the pain and agony she must physically endure - all of it pointing toward those few moments as the world watches her grace and beauty and artistry.  Here's the reality behind her moment in the spotlight: no single work-out put her there.  No one instance of climbing out of her warm bed at O'Dark-Aweful in the morning to hit the ice got her into that kind of shape.  It was every single work-out; it was every single morning that affords her the possibility of feeling that medal being placed around her neck.  Because she chose to be consistent in her efforts she gets to enjoy the blessing.

Knowing this won't make the "workouts" any easier for us in our pursuit - but it does put into perspective that when we choose consistency we allow for that kind of growth and development and forward progress that might cause us to one day look up and realize just how far we've come and how much closer we are to the DREAM becoming a reality in our lives. 

...drip...drip...drip...

ACTION STEP

Today's ACTION STEP is a tough one to limit to just today.  In fact, I don't want you to limit it to today, at all.  I want you to do it many times on many different days.

Take the time you've normally set aside for doing the ACTION STEPS throughout the 60 Days of Dreaming challenge and instead work on whatever your current task is in your DREAM-pursuit.  Think of it as a bit of bonus time.

What might happen if you were to do that regularly?  You should have regularly-scheduled and prioritized time dedicated to your DREAM-pursuit, but what if you used the unexpected times on your DREAM-pursuit, as well?  What if you developed a habit of consistently using these unexpected bonus-times?

Tomorrow we'll bravely stare down the monster called "Drudgery" and remind ourselves that we need not be afraid of it.  

DAY 40: "A Drink of Water"

ENGAGING THOUGHT

Several years ago I built a couple large retaining walls on my property.  17 tons of blocks...to be precise...and yes, sometimes I think I can still feel them in my back.  Did I mention that I unwisely chose to do this in the Summer?  You know, when the sun shines.  A lot.  My wife and I had planned on building these walls together but she sprained her elbow on a different project a few weeks before - so I was left to do all the heavy-lifting myself.  She brought me cold water when I needed it - which was often, trust me.

Those many water breaks served a different purpose than just refreshing me - they afforded me the opportunity to step back and take a look at my work from a distance.  A few times, while sipping (okay, gulping) ice-cold water I noticed that my wall was starting to wander a bit.  I had placed the last several blocks next to each other where they belonged, but each was a few millimeters off from the last, resulting in a slight curve to the wall.  I hadn't noticed this at all when I was standing over the top setting each 70lb. block in place.  Had I not taken the time to step back away from my work and look from a different perspective I would have built a wall with a wobble in it.  Several months later I was showing the completed walls to a friend and he asked how I got the walls so straight.  "A glass of water," I replied.

When we resolve to get serious about a task - such as pursuing God's DREAM for our lives - it often feels good to roll up our sleeves, put our head down and just start going hard at it.  That's a great trait in us and those spurts of hard, determined work can accomplish a lot - but they can also be a danger if we don't stop once in a while and check how we're doing.  Take a step back and see how "straight" our line is.

Remember back to Day 21 when we talked about the value of our Written Plan?  It's important that we get that thing out once in a while and check to see if we're still on track.  Small deviations probably won't hurt at all - but what if they get repeated several times?  What if they start compounding?  Pretty soon we may find ourselves way off track from our original plan.  That might be fine, as well, but you don't want to be surprised by this.  In fact, I can almost guarantee you that your actual path will be somewhat different from your Written Plan.  That's to be expected.  You just don't want to look up after several seasons or stages of your pursuit to find that you built a wobbly wall and then be faced with the proposition of either tearing down and rebuilding or modifying the DREAM in a way you don't really want to.

So, get into the habit of grabbing a glass of water, taking a step back and admiring your handy-work (and a little bit of critiquing of your handy-work).  Ask yourself questions about the progress you are making, such as: Is this where I expected to be by this point?  How is my progress lining up with my timeline?  Am I still on course, or have I gotten distracted?  Is that distraction a good thing (leading to something I didn't anticipate in my initial planning)?  Should I incorporate this course-deviation or should I back-track and correct it?

If, in one of your water-breaks (figurative or literal), you discover that you've gotten off-course or behind schedule, don't panic or get discouraged - and, by all means, do not give up!  Your goal is to keep making progress in pursuit of the DREAM - and that's exactly what you are doing.  So what if you got a bit off track?  So what if you wasted a little bit of time (it isn't really a waste if you learn from it)?  God isn't giving up on His DREAM for your life just because you got off course.  He isn't panicking about it.  Finish your glass of water and get back to it - making whatever corrections you need to make.

ACTION STEP

For today's ACTION STEP you'll need two things:
1) A pen or pencil;
2) A glass or cup of your favorite beverage, cold or hot, whatever you wish.

Take a moment, step back from your work and look over what you have accomplished so far.  How does it make you feel that you've begun making real strides forward in the pursuit of God's DREAM for your life?  Do you deserve an "atta-boy" or "atta-girl" ?  Give yourself one.  Brag to someone a little bit.  Who cares if you haven't finished a specific task quite yet - at least you're doing something and making progress.

Write down a few of your thoughts about your progress so far.

Tomorrow we explore what happens when we do the same thing...over and over and over and over and...  

DAY 39: "Going the Extra Mile"

ENGAGING THOUGHT

Have you ever heard the cliche, "Triumph is just a little 'umph' added to try" ?  Maybe a better question is, can you recall a moment that you needed to hear that? 

Yesterday we looked at the need for understanding when it's wise for us to back-off a bit in our pursuit; today is the other side of that equation: when we need to give it just that little bit of extra effort and push through to completing a task.  In the pursuit of God's DREAM for our lives we will have myriad tasks and little "projects" that lead to the larger goal.  Often these tasks will serve as nothing more than parts of the whole or steps in the process.  We may be tempted to "fudge" a bit on the quality or stop a bit earlier than we need to - after all, it is just one little piece of the puzzle, right?

Don't do it.  Don't give in to that temptation to do less than your best, no matter how seemingly insignificant the task.  If this pursuit is worth it at all, then it is worth doing so with our very best effort and with the fullest of diligence.  Some people take this concept too far and develop a critical perfectionism for themselves and everyone around them: nothing is ever good enough or finished enough.  They think that nothing but the absolute best will ever suffice for any task of any kind.  The sentiment behind this may be fine, but it rapidly becomes an obsession that causes one to miss out on the joy of the pursuit as every moment becomes a struggle - even if it doesn't need to be.

This is another one of those areas where we need to be very in-tune with ourselves and our motivations.  We do want to push ourselves to excel and strive to become better at everything we can; we do need to understand that not every task requires the greatest example of perfection ever performed.  The question isn't so much, "will this be good enough?" as much as "is this the right amount of effort/excellence/diligence?"  If we're stopping because we're bored or not interested at the moment (or tired) rather than stopping because it is the appropriate time to stop - then we need to recheck our motivations.  Maybe go back and read some of our encouragements from earlier or check in with some of our team-members to see what they think.  If we find ourselves saying, "Oh, who cares?" or, "It's not that big of a deal," we need to be careful as these sound very much like excuses for giving in too quickly.

Sometimes the best answer to these moments when we want to give in is to push just a little harder, go that extra mile until we reach the next goal - then we can take a break and look back at what we've accomplished.  A marathon runner knows themselves and their body well enough to predict when they will hit "the wall" in their race.  They anticipate it and plan for it - staging a friend at that location to cheer them on in the moment they need it most, maybe planning a reward for themselves at the mile-marker after they've hit the wall and pressed through it.  Whatever it takes for them to just keep running that extra mile.

"Good enough is the enemy of the best."

ACTION STEP

Today's ACTION STEP is very similar to yesterday's -though for the opposite purpose.

Write out two or three statements that you can tell yourself in those moments when you feel the temptation to settle for "good enough."

EXAMPLE  "I know that I am tempted to settle for less than the best at this moment, however, there is no legitimate reason why I cannot or should not go the extra mile and finish this task with excellence." 

Tomorrow we'll talk about developing the habit of regular checks on our progress.  

DAY 38: "Something's Gotta Give"

This far into the 60 Days of Dreaming challenge you will likely have discovered that several of the steps along the way  (especially these in the Implement phase) are difficult to do in a single day.  Some of them take a few, or even several, days to accomplish - putting you "behind" in the 60 days progression.  That's not a problem at all.  Your goal is to make daily steps forward in the pursuit of God's DREAM - not stay in step with a silly blog schedule!  Complete each day's ACTION STEP in order, then move on to the next at your own pace.   

ENGAGING THOUGHT

Have you or someone you know had surgery and found that afterwards they've hooked you up to one of those self-dosing painkiller machines?  You know the ones I'm talking about - with the little red button that you push to give yourself your next round of drugs.  Do you know why they do that?  It isn't because the nurses are lazy and uncaring.  Believe it or not, it's because you are uncaring and cruel to yourself.  Well, maybe that's stretching it, but the fact is that when patients have the control over the dosing they tend to use far less painkillers than when there is a prescribed regimen.  The truth is, we can be downright mean to ourselves sometimes.

Pushing ourselves to perform at our highest level is obviously not a bad thing - but we do need to know when to back off a bit and give ourselves a chance to recuperate or recover.  It isn't really a question of how much we can endure - because we humans can endure quite a bit - it's more a question of at what level we perform with consistent quality.  If you're serious about pursuing God's DREAM for your life then you should be more interested in quality forward momentum than just forward-motion-at-any-cost.

Knowing when to back off and give ourselves some breathing-room or when to even set things aside for a moment (or a season, even) could be the difference between burning out in the pursuit of the DREAM or successfully fulfilling it.  Make no mistake: God's DREAM will require toughness, sacrifice, and stick-to-it-iveness.  We will have to bring diligence and perseverance to the table if we truly desire to live everything He has for us.  We are still human, though.  We do have limits.  Those on the journey with us have limits.

We need to be smart about this pursuit and that means sometimes we need to give ourselves a break or, at the very least, allow for the unexpected (or expected) events of life.  Work may have deadlines, kids have events, families have vacations or yardwork - many of these things are non-negotiables and just are not subject to being set aside for our pursuit. 

Careful here: you must recognize the difference between needing to set a task aside for a while in order to tend to your family or health versus setting a task aside because you dread it.  No matter how good the excuse may sound in your head those are probably not the times you need a break - they are probably the times you need to push through even harder.  Even the painkiller machines have a timer so you can't pump yourself full of drugs to make the pain go away!

ACTION STEP

Today's ACTION STEP is another one of those seemingly simple steps that can have a great impact upon us emotionally.

Write out two or three statements that give you "permission" to momentarily back off on your DREAM pursuit when the pressure becomes overwhelming.

EXAMPLE  "I am giving myself permission to set my DREAM-pursuit tasks aside for one week during a season of extreme pressure."  

You might find it helpful to write out a different version for a few different occasions, i.e. a week when work/school deadlines are looming, or a day when celebrating a Holiday or someones birthday, a month to ward off a zombie apocalypse, etc.

Tomorrow we'll look at giving an extra push towards excellence that can make all the difference in the world!

DAY 37: "Self-Talk = Reality"

ENGAGING THOUGHT

It is no secret to any of us that our words can have a tremendous impact.  Wars can be started or averted depending upon the construction of a single sentence.  Words have the power to attract and to repel; to make a young girl swoon in romantic imaginings or to rally a young man to volunteer his life for a cause.  From childhood on we've been instructed to choose carefully our words when we speak to another.  How many times, though, did someone instruct you to choose carefully the words you spoke to yourself?

Every one of us has the equivalent of an internal tape-recorder that plays certain thought or phrases over and over inside our minds.  These are the things we tell ourselves - often as we perform a task or set out to accomplish something.  Does your self-talk follow a negative path?  "Don't make a mess of things!"  "Careful, you always get into trouble like this!"  "You're not going to make this work."  Maybe you are one who encourages themselves?  "You can do this!"  "This should be interesting."  "Not a problem, I'll figure it out."

Whatever it may sound like inside your head - that is the realty you are creating for yourself.  We've already talked a bit about the phenomena of the self-fulfilling prophecy (Day 12), and the importance of communicating such that we are understood (Days 23, 24 & 25) - but there is more going on than just those elements of communication.  Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman, both professors of Sociology, write in The Social Construction of Reality,

 "I encounter language as a facticity external to myself and it is coercive in its effect on me.  Language forces me into its patterns."  

That's really just their fancy way of saying that our reality is shaped by the words we use.  Placed into the context of self-talk it becomes this: what we say to ourselves becomes the reality we believe about ourselves, and eventually becomes our actual reality.

In the pursuit of God's DREAM for your life you'll have many occasions to hold conversations with yourself - some of them over and over and over.  Like it or not, the statements you make to yourself reveal what you believe about yourself.  With that said, however, I truly believe that you have the ability to retrain yourself to speak differently - to record different messages on your internal voice recorder.  Choosing to speak life and encouragement to yourself pays off as it reconstructs your own perceptions and your behaviors - eventually becoming your reality.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."   - Proverbs 18.21

ACTION STEP

Today's ACTION STEP will require you to be brutally honest with yourself.

Make a list of the things you "say" to yourself most frequently.  Good, bad, or ugly - put them down in a list.  When you are finished, take a good hard look at each of the things you wrote and ask the question: Do I want this to be a defining reality of my life?

For each "no" answer write these words after it: "I no longer believe this about myself."

For each "yes" answer write these words after it: "I know this to be true of myself."

Tomorrow we'll plan for those inevitable moments in the pursuit when the pressure seems too much. 

DAY 36: "Just Do It!"

ENGAGING THOUGHT

In 1988, at a meeting of the advertising company of Wieden and Kennedy, Dan Wieden expressed his admiration of the Nike shoe company's can-do attitude to a group of their employees: "You Nike guys, you just do it."  The result of that innocuous little statement is the stuff of marketing legend.  Nike jumped all over that sentiment and turned it into a fierce marketing campaign that became the iconic motto which, some argue, saved the company from obscurity and launched Nike into the stratosphere of success-stories.  "Just Do It" is as much a part of American culture as any corporate motto can be.  It's also good advice.

There comes a moment when we have to shut up and start doing something - it's no different when it comes to pursuing God's DREAM for our lives.  We can blather on and on, we can strategize, we can plan, we can recruit - all necessary steps, indeed.  At some point, however, we need to just get started on the plan.  You've been crafting the plan, writing it out and committing to it - all tantamount to walking up to the edge of that cliff we've been talking about.  Now it's time to jump!

So...just do it. 

Could it really be that simple? 

You won't know until you try it, will you?  Just in case you need them, here are several maxims and cliches that might help you kick-off the edge into your full-fledged DREAM-pursuit:

"Winners never quit, and Quitters never win."
"The greatest plan will never work unless you do."
"Genius 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." - Thomas Edison
"Plan your work and work your plan."
"Action is the foundational key to all success." - Pablo Picasso
"Defeat is not the worst of failures.  Not to have tried is the worst of failures."
"Success is dependent on effort." - Sophocles
"Go out there and succeed because I know that you can and will do it." - Me

ACTION STEP

Your ACTION STEP for today depends entirely on how diligent and thorough you've been with your previous ACTION STEPS.  Why?  Because today you're going to just do it!  Grab your written plan and do whatever you are supposed to be doing in pursuit of the DREAM. 

Tomorrow we'll either turn the volume up on our internal tape-recorder or erase it and record some new things.  

DAY 35: "A Dash of Realism"

Today marks the beginning of the Implementation phase of your DREAM-pursuit.  You've been making strong forward movement all along - but all that has transpired up to this moment has been preparatory and planning.  Now you fire up the "machine" you've created and see how it runs!

 
ENGAGING THOUGHT

Do you remember back to the beginning of the 60 Days of Dreaming challenge?  You were at the edge of the cliff and peering over the side, wondering what was down below.  Here we are, over half-the-way through the 60 days, and you should be wondering a lot less about what lies over that edge - you know it will be somewhat different than you've envisioned and planned - but you also know that you've taken a high degree of ownership and control over the "fall."  Put simply: you now have a pretty-good idea what awaits you over that edge.

So, let's pause here for a moment.  Take a brief look around and consider what you are about to do: you are about to jump off a cliff and begin falling headlong into the full-on pursuit of God's DREAM for your life.  This is truly a moment where everything changes from here-on-out.  All your planning and strategizing; praying and wondering; recruiting and resourcing is about to come into play as you move forward into the most obviously active phase of the pursuit.

Are you really going to do it?  Will you really jump into an entirely new definition for your life?  Maye this is a good time for a dash of realism. Be very careful here, however.  This is one of those moments when your old tendencies to shrink back from the edge will try, once again, to get you to back off and compromise in the pursuit of your DREAM.  You want to be smart and understanding of what you are about to do and jumping off this cliff-edge is about more then just rational understanding - it is also a leap of faith that God has created you for this very pursuit. 

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a 2nd-Century teacher in the Christian Church, wrote to this end: "Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God."  Another translation of Irenaeus' famous quote reads, "the glory of God is man fully alive."  Consider that statement for a moment: when we pursue and live all that we were designed for - the fullest expression of our humanity - we bring the greatest glory to our Creator.  We fulfill the purpose for which He designed us and for which He carefully crafted the plan of our days.

We were created for the pursuit and fulfillment of God's DREAM for our lives.  To some that may seem a fanciful and unreal approach to life.  They could not be more mistaken.  Spending our lives in pursuit of God's DREAM is the most complete expression of our humanity; the most honoring to Him and the most edifying to all around us.  That is reality. 

Now, JUMP!

ACTION STEP

Today's ACTION STEP is somewhat like that last pause before the rush of adrenaline kicks in...as you jump over the cliff-edge and begin to fall into the full-on pursuit of the DREAM!

Take a few minutes to write out your thoughts and feelings at this stage of the pursuit.  You'll return to this page later on and be glad to have a record of your thoughts. 

Tomorrow we begin the active phase of our DREAM strategy.