Monthly Mash Up (August 2017)

Every day is a chance for you to grow, get better and improve. All it takes is a willing attitude and the willingness to work hard and stretch yourself. 

I surveyed some great resources in August in my attempts to do just that. I’d like to share a few of them with you here. Below is a quote I’m thinking on, four books I’ve read or am reading, and five articles or services I found helpful.

Each taught me some incredibly valuable lessons. Lessons that made me think, re-evaluate points of view, and better that I would be otherwise. Hopefully they do the same for you.

Quote I'm Chewing On

“People tend to focus disproportionately on results, while neglecting the day-to-day things that will get them there.”
— Ben Bergeron, Chasing Excellence

Big lofty goals are nice, but more is required to make them a reality. To do that takes daily work. Work that isn’t pretty and that’s not always fun. But work that must get done if you’re going to get there. 

What I'm Reading

  1. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa - This is an epic tale of Japan’s most famous warrior. Jocko will be reviewing it on episode 100, and I’m rushing to finish this near thousand page tale in the next few weeks.  

  2. Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergeron - Perhaps one of the most encouraging and inspiring books I’ve read in awhile. Every page is littered with highlighted sentence after highlighted sentence that I read and reread day after day.

  3. Romans 8-16 For You by Tim Keller - I read the first of Keller’s books on Romans earlier this summer and this one was just as good. Few resources on Romans have balanced deep theological truth with easy going style as well as Keller’s. If you want to have a deeper understanding of the theology of the New Testament, get this resource.

  4. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount And His Confrontation with the World by D.A Carson - Our community group is reading through the Gospel of Matthew the next several months. Which means I’m on the hunt for awesome resources to help me wring all the Biblical truth and wisdom from it. My mentor mentioned D.A. Carson’s work on the Sermon on the Mount and I can’t wait to dig in.

From the Internet

  1. Marketing about power and with power via Seth Godin - It’s no secret that Seth’s is one of my favorite blogs. I read his stuff every day, and is a large part of why this blog has gone daily in recent months. In this post, Seth discusses the wide ranging difference between two marketing approaches. Which one do you use? Which one best fits your business?

  2. Why I love my paper dictionary via Austin Kleon - I appreciate Austin’s approach to art and its creation. He offers us a glimpse of the blend between digital and analog. The two really can coexist. This post is a perfect example of how.

  3. Both Lincoln and the Confederacy Were Awful via FEE - It seems we’re in the middle of rehashing the Civil War anew of late. While reasoned discussion is never a bad thing, that’s not we’ve been in the middle of these last several weeks. This article is a quick look at what few are willing say: both sides were in the wrong.  

  4. MoviePass - Monthly movie subscription service that allows you to see unlimited movies for $10 per month. Hannah and I will definitely be checking this out!

  5. Texas Price Gouger Are Heros via FEE - This might be one of the most important articles I’ve read in the last week. It offers an excellent explanation of exactly why price gouging isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Monthly Mash Up (April 2017)

It is hard to believe that our little Hud is a month old. April seems to have flown by. As we continue to bask in the sheer joy of being parents for the first time, I’d like to share with you what I'm reading, pondering and enjoying.

The last Monday or Thursday of each month I peel back the layers and share the things that had the greatest impact on me in the previous month. I hope the resources I share with you are helpful and brighten your day. If you do enjoy it, pass it along to family and friends.

Verse I'm Chewing On

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! —Psalm 37:1

Todd Wagner mentioned Psalm 37 in a talk this past month. I found it such solid gold, that I’m trying to memorize the first several verses. I’ve only nailed this first verse so far, but find it the perfect reminder not to value the same things as the world. I shouldn’t look at their lives and be envious of any part of it.

What I'm Reading

  1. The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. - We brought our son Hudson home from the hospital, and had to figure the sleep thing out. Fast forward a month, and he slept four hours between feedings last night. I call that a win!

  2. The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl - Reality, or the way the world actually is, is the most compelling apologetic the Christian has at his disposal. It’s not a cooked up theory or tale. No, the Christian story fits and explains what we find in the real world. Greg Koukl makes this important argument in his new book The Story of Reality.

  3. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - You’ve seen the popular Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Hannah and I have watched and rewatched the entire series many times. It’s great. I decided it was time to read the source material. I’m part way through and loving it.   

  4. The Reason for God by Tim Keller - I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never read this modern classic from the mind of Tim Keller. It is a fine book covering much the same ground as Koukl’s Story of Reality, only in greater details and depth.

  5. Romans 1-7 For You by Tim Keller - I’ve wanted to read this helpful resource for some time now. It was on sale for $2.99 this month so I grabbed it. I’m not too far in, but find it a helpful companion through the first half of Romans.

What I’m Listening To

  1. Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore by Chris Stapleton - I stumbled upon the greatness of Chris Stapleton this month while sifting through Spotify’s endless cache of tunes. This song touched my heart in a deep way. In it, Chris describes a father who has been a faithfully committed follower of The Lord and how his son remembers it. “I remember when times were bad,” Chris sings, “he’d thank Jesus for everything he had. A good wife and three children and food upon our plate.” My prayer is that our son will be able to remark the same about how I lead and love him.   

  2. A Life That Lost Its Focus: Saul by Ravi Zacharias - I’ve listened to Ravi for several years now, and it never gets old. He communicates truth in a manner as entertaining as it is winsome. In this four-part series, Ravi takes a look at the life of Israel’s first king, Saul.

  3. Lead Like Jesus: Leaders, Marriage and a Local Church - I’m so glad I clicked download on this bad boy! “People need to be reminded,” Samuel Johnson said, “more often than they need to be instructed.” He couldn’t have been more right. This episode was such a great reminder of the stakes in marriage, and a refresher course on why Hannah and I do what we do.

From the Internet

  1. Calling Good People “Racist” Isn’t New: the Case of Ty Cobb - Growing up I obsessed over the legends and stories surrounding Ty Cobb. Who knew so many of the things I believed about this man, turn out to be wrong. If this is the case with Cobb, who else has history cast in a light resembling little of the truth?

  2. A Quiz on the Atonement via Tim Challies - Tim published a helpful quiz on the Atonement in the weeks leading up Easter. If you’re unsure what Christians are celebrating on Easter Sunday—and every other day of their lives—it's worth your time to give it a shot. If all you want to do is measure how well you understand this important doctrine, like I did, that's ok too.

  3. A handful of people via Austin Kleon - You can’t make everyone happy, and you shouldn’t even try. Identify the small number of people whose opinion matters to you, and make your stuff for them. That’s what I’m attempting to do with this blog; write and share things that a few people might find helpful. I hope a good number of others see and enjoy it, but at its core, a smattering of people are in mind with each new post. First of which is my wife, who’s good at telling me the truth.

  4. The Income Tax Implies that Government Owns You - The 18th was national charity day, or as most of us call it—Tax Day. We send money pouring into the coffers of government this time each year. You may find this hard to believe, but it wasn’t always so. Once upon a time, American were free. They got to keep the fruits of their labor. Jeffrey Tucker presents a discussion we need to have about the fleecing of our pockets we allow every April.

  5. Why I Love To Read via Randy Alcorn - Some people play golf, while others brew beer or coffee. Those are fine hobbies that bring immense joy, but they’re not the hobbies I’ve glommed onto. Instead, I read a lot. It’s my favorite pastime. Which is why I am excited and grateful for Randy Alcorn’s article this month. It served as the perfect reminder of the all important why behind picking up books.

5 Ways To Fend Off The Deadly Burnout Monster

Hannah and I work a lot. Our schedule is filled with photo shoots, client meetings, mentor sessions, and more. Few days pass without us having something. We closed out 2016 busier than ever before, not taking a day off for nearly two months. The blistering pace we run often has our calendar busting at the seams, leaving just enough room for friends, family and community group have to be fit in where room is left on the slate.

Working too much is a trap you can quickly fall into when you’re self-employed. Since you don’t have a boss screaming down your neck and passing out deadlines like pezz, you fulfill that role by rarely give yourself enough slack—you know how every ounce of your time is spent after all. When you love what you do, this is especially true. When work is something you enjoy, it doesn’t feel like work. You lose yourself in it, forget the time, and look up only to realize it’s 9:30pm and you haven’t had anything to eat since lunch. Do this too often however, and it can lead to burnout.

Burnout appears to be an American problem. As American’s we glorify work. The 20 something launching a startup who works 90 hours a week, is a hero. The same goes for the normal bloke with a job, and mouths to feed. Ask anyone how they are, and you’ll no doubt receive a list of all that they are doing—completely ignoring that you asked how not what. Busy, busy, busy. It’s a badge of honor. I haven’t traveled abroad nearly enough but, I don’t read of workers in Spain, Italy or Nicaragua struggling with burnout. There is something unique to the American experience going on here.

Our obsession with work has led to amazing achievements and ushered in wave after wave of breakthrough and progress, but it also has an ugly side. Parents regularly work so much their children never see them. Many do so until they end up sick or worse. Robin Williams’ character in Hook is the perfect example. He worked and worked and worked, missing Jack’s baseball games and leaving a dad shaped hole in the lives of his wife and two children. His situation was so off the rails he had to become Peter Pan in order to figure things out and put his life back in order.

Sacrificing family at the altar of success isn’t worth it. Neither is working so feverishly that you end up wearing a paper gown that splits down the back. Your family and your health are important to you. I don’t see you arguing with me on that point. But what about your mental health. Isn’t that just as valuable?

You wouldn’t drink poison—at  least I hope not—but many of you will run and run and run until you hit a wall. You’ll run until you ‘just can’t take it anymore.’ You’ll lose control, swerve and hit the guardrail going 110. Bits of glass, and plastic will go flying through the air and come to rest among the gravel and blood on the roadside. At least that’s how I picture it in my mind. All momentum, and forward progress will stop as you throw up your hands and want to quit. That’s what we call burnout.

Burnout isn’t a pretty sight to behold, but unless you do something to fend it off, you’ll most likely experience it in the not too distant future.

Hannah and I have reached that point far too many times. We used to reach the point of burnout at least once a year early on, in fact. It was debilitating. We wouldn’t want to think about work, much less actually go in the office. We were letting work take over our lives. It was what we talked about on date nights, and what we thought about around the clock, no wonder it was crushing at times.

Since then we’ve decided to do something about it by coming up with a strategy to keep burnout at bay. Like any good game plan it’s two fold—offense and defense. We’ve implemented both solid defensive measures to slow burnouts roll, as well as positive forward moving steps to beat it to the punch.  

1.) Schedule your day, setting time limits for each task on your to-do list. You can write this out on paper, log it on your calendar or use a task manager, but the important thing is that you sit down and think through your day ahead of time. If you don’t plan your day, someone will plan it for you. When you’re making your plan, schedule what you’re best at, for when you’re at your best. Then set a window of time for each project. Maybe two hours here, 30 minutes there, so that you move throughout your day in control of it not the other way around.

2.) Do more than one thing. Bounce from one project to another throughout the day. If what you’re currently working on gets boring or starts to grate on you, drop it for a while and do something else. When you get tired of that, switch back to your first project. You’ll still be getting stuff done, but without feeling like you’re beating your head against the wall.

3.) Take a day off, maybe two. Your mind and your imagination have to recharge. They can’t keep going forever without a reset. Schedule time off into your regular routine. Go for a walk, spend time with your family, and enjoy a bit of time away from your work.

4.) Begin each day in God’s Word. People still call this a quiet time every now and then, but it can be as noisy as you’d like. Plug in your headphones, crank up some Shane & Shane and start your day reading the Bible. No discipline is more important than reading God’s Word. It is the most transforming practice available to us. We face trouble, temptation and pressure every day. God’s Word provides just the encouragement, guidance and instruction we need to face the day.      

5.) Have other irons in the fire. Have creative outlets and hobbies that recharge you. Whether it’s painting, reading a book, or writing a story, find another creative endeavor that fills your warms your soul and breathes life into your lungs. You’ll find, the side projects often lead to new and exciting opportunities for your “real work.”

“All advice,” Austin Kleon said, “is autobiographical.” It peels back the layers and gives you the path previously walked by its giver. Hopefully this foray into our world and how we fight burnout will help and inspire you to turn and face the challenge head on, before it forces you off the road.