I get distracted easily.
For example, this post. Immediately after typing that first line, I got curious about where the Full House cast was today and spent a few minutes Googling this information. Why? Eh...because it's critical to the growth of my work as a photographer? Not really, but nice try, right?
Like I said, waaay to easily distracted.
Distractions come in all forms in my world. The funny ways like the sale window at my favorite shoe stores, the Toblerone bar at the side of the checkout line at Target, the dishes that caught my attention when I was on my way to fold the laundry instead.
Many a Toblerone bar and pair of shoes have made their way into my heart and home this way.
But....I also can get easily sidetracked by things that I know shouldn't hold my time or attention for too long.The more serious/I-need-therapy-kind-of-stuff. My list of distractions can include: worry about the future, dwelling on what I think that person meant, analyzing a critical comment I can't seem to forget, procrastination on time-wasting activities because to face a challenge and push through is just, well, too scary.
One of the things that I'm learning is that these kinds of distractions can severely impede my ability to lead. And for most of my life, I never thought of myself as much of a leader and hence these kinds of distractions hardly bothered me - they're only little things and who cares since it only affects me, right?
Wrong.
"Leadership isn't about personality or attention or charm. Leadership is about accountability, responsibility and service. God is calling us to lead in our marriages, to lead in our friendships, to lead in our communities, to lead in our workplace. He's calling us to lead in our churches, to lead ourselves into new ways of thinking, to better decisions. He's calling us to lead in our neighborhoods and on airplanes and in elevators." - Allison Vesterfelt
Whew. Ain't that the truth. The little things matter because they affect the big things. The important things like the ability to lead. What seems to be a harmless distraction of worrying over the what-ifs of the future can impede the ability to be effectively used today for service to others. Over-analyzing a critical comment said to me years ago distracts me from the freedom that forgiveness can give my heart and mind. Avoiding a challenge for the easier and seemingly fun distractions may mean a missed opportunity to grow in something even better not only for myself but for others around me.
It's a tall order, but I reckon that viewing leadership from this standpoint today can produce so much more good in a day than what distraction has produced in years.
Happy Tuesday!
For example, this post. Immediately after typing that first line, I got curious about where the Full House cast was today and spent a few minutes Googling this information. Why? Eh...because it's critical to the growth of my work as a photographer? Not really, but nice try, right?
Like I said, waaay to easily distracted.
Distractions come in all forms in my world. The funny ways like the sale window at my favorite shoe stores, the Toblerone bar at the side of the checkout line at Target, the dishes that caught my attention when I was on my way to fold the laundry instead.
Many a Toblerone bar and pair of shoes have made their way into my heart and home this way.
But....I also can get easily sidetracked by things that I know shouldn't hold my time or attention for too long.The more serious/I-need-therapy-kind-of-stuff. My list of distractions can include: worry about the future, dwelling on what I think that person meant, analyzing a critical comment I can't seem to forget, procrastination on time-wasting activities because to face a challenge and push through is just, well, too scary.
One of the things that I'm learning is that these kinds of distractions can severely impede my ability to lead. And for most of my life, I never thought of myself as much of a leader and hence these kinds of distractions hardly bothered me - they're only little things and who cares since it only affects me, right?
Wrong.
"Leadership isn't about personality or attention or charm. Leadership is about accountability, responsibility and service. God is calling us to lead in our marriages, to lead in our friendships, to lead in our communities, to lead in our workplace. He's calling us to lead in our churches, to lead ourselves into new ways of thinking, to better decisions. He's calling us to lead in our neighborhoods and on airplanes and in elevators." - Allison Vesterfelt
Whew. Ain't that the truth. The little things matter because they affect the big things. The important things like the ability to lead. What seems to be a harmless distraction of worrying over the what-ifs of the future can impede the ability to be effectively used today for service to others. Over-analyzing a critical comment said to me years ago distracts me from the freedom that forgiveness can give my heart and mind. Avoiding a challenge for the easier and seemingly fun distractions may mean a missed opportunity to grow in something even better not only for myself but for others around me.
It's a tall order, but I reckon that viewing leadership from this standpoint today can produce so much more good in a day than what distraction has produced in years.