I was tagged by Ike Graul a long time ago- sorry I've been slow on the uptake.
*Note: Most questions were in the singular, but I'm not an either/or kinda guy so I changed the questions to the plural to reflect my both/and-edness(!?)
Books that changed my life besides the Bible:
Tom Peter's The Circle of Innovation, Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Rudolph Arnheim's Art and Visual Perception.
Books I’ve read more than once:
Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant, the Harry Potter series (read twice with wife, currently on round three with my kids), Norman Mailer's Picasso
A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island:
SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea
(Ok- I copied that answer from Ike, seemed like a wise choice)
Books that made me laugh:
Any and all Calvin and Hobbes books
A book that I wish had been written:
Upcoming Winning Lottery Numbers
Books that I wish had never been written:
trashy romance novels
Books I’ve been meaning to read:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Cost of Discipleship
Richard Foster Prayer
F.F. Bruce Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free
(I think I've started each of these at least once, some twice, but haven't made it through them yet.)
I’m currently reading:
(See reading list on the left.)
10.24.2006
6.14.2006
Crosswalk
I always laugh at people who stand on the street corner, constantly mashing the little button to signal the crosswalk sign to allow them to continue their course. They push it faster and harder, trying against hope that it will 'hear' them sooner and change on account of their persistence. Don't they understand that it is timed with the traffic? That they must wait until they are flowing with the traffic and not across the traffic? The timings, are to some extent, preset. Yes, there is an element of cause and effect. Pushing the button signals the presence of traffic, just as cars trigger the weight sensitive plates in the middle of the road. But even if nobody pushed the buttons, eventually the light would change on its own. The path is already open to them, if they could only see the larger picture.
Then I think about God's timing. The Way is already established. It is open to us. Our 'pushing the button,' accepting the call, in essence, is a signal that we are there, that we are ready. But God's timing isn't our own. We mash and push the button, demanding that the light change for us. But we fail to see the larger picture. We fail to see the wisdom of God's timing, not to allow us to be broadsided. The Way is there, and we will journey along our path, in His time.
Yet, there is a response. Push the button and the traffic sensors now know there is other traffic, and in due course the lights will change. And they will change, albeit sometimes seemingly imperceptibly, faster than if the button were not pushed. Hence, 2 Peter 3:12 where we "look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."
Then I think about God's timing. The Way is already established. It is open to us. Our 'pushing the button,' accepting the call, in essence, is a signal that we are there, that we are ready. But God's timing isn't our own. We mash and push the button, demanding that the light change for us. But we fail to see the larger picture. We fail to see the wisdom of God's timing, not to allow us to be broadsided. The Way is there, and we will journey along our path, in His time.
Yet, there is a response. Push the button and the traffic sensors now know there is other traffic, and in due course the lights will change. And they will change, albeit sometimes seemingly imperceptibly, faster than if the button were not pushed. Hence, 2 Peter 3:12 where we "look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."
6.13.2006
In Theory
I love ideas. I love to talk about, follow where they meander through the intellectual landscape, and I love seeing how everything fits together (because everything fits nicely in theory-world). However, I've recently been uneasy about dwelling on the theoretical as I become more and more aware that the practical concerns of everyday existence, and the experiential aspects of Christianity, in particular, are so often divorced from theory. Being 'purely academic' was becoming distasteful. And this change sounded good- in theory. But I've realized it's become a problem for me- I'm hardwired to be more theoretical. I draw a sense of life and a certain energy from mental pursuits. And, on the flip side, I've become more aware of my inadequacies in the practical, real world where you are supposed to get a job and earn money. I don't play that game very well, partially because it zaps me. There is nothing there to feed my spirit.
So I've been feeling a little down lately. But I think I'm on the beginning of an upswing thanks to a couple of books borrowed from my good friend Ike, The Divine Conspiracy and The Signature of Jesus. The latter does emphasize the experiential, which I still feel is crucial, but The Divine Conspiracy reveals that our actions stem from our thoughts. In essence, the practical stems from the theoretical. Everything that has ever been accomplished was born of an idea, relates Napolean Hill Theory may be divorced from the realm of the practical but only in the terms of time- it precedes the everyday, sometimes by a few months, sometimes a lifetime, sometimes even centuries may pass before an idea translates into life changing activity.
Ironically, now that I look back, the times when my practical life and behavior were most aligned with my spiritual values, was when I spent a lot of time in my head. Making connections, articulating new discoveries, developing awareness and understanding. It was only after I strayed away from these activities and concentrated on how I should be and behave, that my actions began to go to pot.
So I'm coming to grips with my God given talents and abilities- though they seem to have little to no application to life and they don't produce an income- and to not be ashamed. My ideas may have a vital role to play in the actions of myself and others. At least, it sounds good in theory.
So I've been feeling a little down lately. But I think I'm on the beginning of an upswing thanks to a couple of books borrowed from my good friend Ike, The Divine Conspiracy and The Signature of Jesus. The latter does emphasize the experiential, which I still feel is crucial, but The Divine Conspiracy reveals that our actions stem from our thoughts. In essence, the practical stems from the theoretical. Everything that has ever been accomplished was born of an idea, relates Napolean Hill Theory may be divorced from the realm of the practical but only in the terms of time- it precedes the everyday, sometimes by a few months, sometimes a lifetime, sometimes even centuries may pass before an idea translates into life changing activity.
Ironically, now that I look back, the times when my practical life and behavior were most aligned with my spiritual values, was when I spent a lot of time in my head. Making connections, articulating new discoveries, developing awareness and understanding. It was only after I strayed away from these activities and concentrated on how I should be and behave, that my actions began to go to pot.
So I'm coming to grips with my God given talents and abilities- though they seem to have little to no application to life and they don't produce an income- and to not be ashamed. My ideas may have a vital role to play in the actions of myself and others. At least, it sounds good in theory.
6.12.2006
Disappear
I attended the Rose Festival in Portland last night and heard a performance by a Christian artist named Mark Harris and he sang a song that had a chorus line talking about when we get to Heaven, there we will disappear. And something struck me.
I once had a nightmare that is the closest thing to a vision I've ever encountered. Visually there wasn't much to 'see' like you would with ordinary dreams, but there was a feeling, a sensation. I felt like I wasn't just going to die, but that my entire existence would be eradicated- there would be no me past, present, or future. There would be no record or memory of me having ever existed. (There is a minor controversy in the church regarding what happens to those going to hell. Do they live in eternal suffering and torment? Or do they experience a 'second death' and get completely obliterated? I now side with the latter due to 'personal experience.')
I've always been afraid of dying young. I guess in my vaulted self-image I felt I had too much to contribute and it would just be really sad if I expired before I could make a valuable contribution to this earth. But I've always been afraid of losing...me.
Yoda once said to Anakin Skywalker, "You must train yourself to let go of that which you fear to lose." I like the concept of training oneself- I think that is a key concept that we miss out on in our daily lives. A concept I, admittedly, am very poor at, but at least I'm thinking about it with the conviction that those thoughts will translate into action someday. But I suddenly saw a new application for this statement. I had thought about losing a loved one, or having to give up my art, my passion. But what about myself? I'm afraid of losing myself. And though it might not be generally wise to follow the advice of a computer animated green 'person,' I think there is some truth to what he said.
Jesus said whoever saves his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life, for Christ's sake, will find it. Ironically, the thing that I fear the most, losing my life, is the very thing I must do. Either way, truthfully, I'm going to lose my life. The choice is whether I'm going to have it obliterated, or if I'm going to choose to give my life up, and contribute to the praise and glory of the One who gave it to me in the first place.
I once had a nightmare that is the closest thing to a vision I've ever encountered. Visually there wasn't much to 'see' like you would with ordinary dreams, but there was a feeling, a sensation. I felt like I wasn't just going to die, but that my entire existence would be eradicated- there would be no me past, present, or future. There would be no record or memory of me having ever existed. (There is a minor controversy in the church regarding what happens to those going to hell. Do they live in eternal suffering and torment? Or do they experience a 'second death' and get completely obliterated? I now side with the latter due to 'personal experience.')
I've always been afraid of dying young. I guess in my vaulted self-image I felt I had too much to contribute and it would just be really sad if I expired before I could make a valuable contribution to this earth. But I've always been afraid of losing...me.
Yoda once said to Anakin Skywalker, "You must train yourself to let go of that which you fear to lose." I like the concept of training oneself- I think that is a key concept that we miss out on in our daily lives. A concept I, admittedly, am very poor at, but at least I'm thinking about it with the conviction that those thoughts will translate into action someday. But I suddenly saw a new application for this statement. I had thought about losing a loved one, or having to give up my art, my passion. But what about myself? I'm afraid of losing myself. And though it might not be generally wise to follow the advice of a computer animated green 'person,' I think there is some truth to what he said.
Jesus said whoever saves his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life, for Christ's sake, will find it. Ironically, the thing that I fear the most, losing my life, is the very thing I must do. Either way, truthfully, I'm going to lose my life. The choice is whether I'm going to have it obliterated, or if I'm going to choose to give my life up, and contribute to the praise and glory of the One who gave it to me in the first place.
5.04.2006
What Christ means to me
What Christ means to me.
So I'm 'Sub-ing' for Columbia Christian School and I was asked to give a personal testimony of 'What Christ means to me" to a freshman class looking at the Life of Christ. I thought I would use it as my re-entry into bloglife. Thank you, I'm honored to be back.
I think this came at a good time (providence?) as I feel my relationship to Christ, or perhaps, more accurately, my understanding of Christ is in transition, and so this gives me opportunity to evaluate where I am and where I feel called to go. I am currently fascinated by Paul's words that "to live is Christ." That is what I'm currently trying to figure out- what does it mean that my living is Christ? To discover this, I am trying (also according to Paul's verbage) to "know nothing except Christ and Him crucified" and/or "to know Christ and the power of His resurrection." More on this later.
I've recently read a statement that goes to the tune "it's not what happens to you that is important, but the meaning you ascribe what happens to you is important." The crux of the matter is our interpretation of events. So here are some of the events of my life and my interpretation.
I, first and foremost, feel I am called to be an artist. It was like scales falling from my eyes when I saw, completed, one of my first semi-abstract paintings in my first painting class as an art major at Pepperdine University. Art was chosen as a major more because I had always drawn well my entire life and I didn't know what else to do. But that moment, that came halfway through my Junior year, confirmed my decision- I was going to be an artist for the rest of my life. My initial thought, perhaps also prompted with a lifelong desire to teach, was to become an art teacher and that would give me a steady income to provide my livelihood and give me time (especially during summers) to do my art and become a fabulously famous art star. So I pursued my studies and received my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) so that I could teach at the college level. Graduation day came but there were no teaching jobs on the horizon, and I had already started a family that now, for some reason, needed me to provide for their food, clothing, and shelter. Go figure. So we jump ship to Kentucky to live with my wife's parents (free shelter and sometimes food) so the financial burden was lighter. A job as a customer service rep for a company that sponsored business leadership seminars provided, somewhat meagerly, for other necessities of life (school loan payments not being one of those necessities- a life of financial hardship had begun). Oddly enough, I was introduced to the ideas of quantum physics while in Kentucky. Many of the leadership material drew lessons from implications of a new understanding of the world afforded by quantum mechanics. Again, more on this later.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. My wife's parents became missionaries in Croatia and decided to sell the house. Goodbye free rent. But- that same week I received a call from Pepperdine asking me if I wanted to teach on a temporary contract. Cool- my teaching career will begin; I'll get some teaching experience, I'll be back in the LA area and can get connected to the art scene; this temporary position will lead to other teaching positions and initial success in the art world- all is coming together.
What started as the hope of three years of teaching ended with only one year (budget constriants, not enough art students to support another faculty member) and things went into emergency mode. (By the way, there are now two children wanting to be fed! Economics- demand increases but the supply was decreasing.) Through some initial contacts throughout the years, I was able to begin teaching, albeit part time, at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX. Cross country move #3 in 4 years of marriage- not recommended, by the way.
Abilene was both an incredible blessing and an incredibly difficult period at the same time. (Interesting side note- quantum physics is still rolling through my head and one of the basic starting points was the discovered fact that light is both a particle and a wave. This duality is now played out in my life- blessing and hardship are two sides of the same coin.) I taught, and learned much about art- still believed to be my calling. But the art market in Abilene is a far cry from the environment to accept my 'difficult' work (as my wife describes it, mine is the work that people question, "Oh, so that's art?") Teaching part time is the interesting combination of working full time but being paid less than minimum wage, if calculated over the entire year. So the financial struggles continued, in fact worsened, as two more children are thrown into the mix. Having failed to secure, twice, a full time teaching position at ACU (for 'political' reasons) I was at my wits end. The teaching thing wasn't working which meant that nothing else was working out either.
In the background, though, was a plan unfolding. Rewind to my wife's childhood, before we even met. She spent the better part of her growing up in the Pacific Northwest- Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. Through her connections there she met some people that eventually started an inner city church called PUMP. Melinda has always felt a calling to inner city missions and particularly felt compelled to help pregnant teens. In a moment where I was questioning whether to pursue teaching or try a career change she came to me and said, "Instead of pursuing your career, why don't we move to Portland and we start a non-profit working with PUMP to help pregnant teens?" I agreed instantly.
Financially we're not in the clear. We are beginning to fundraise and I'm looking for employment (after a failed attempt at selling mortgages) to pay the bills until we're on our feet with this and/or other endeavors (the art career is beginning without the aid of teaching). So I can swap tales of woe with some of the best of them. But I'm back to 'it's not what happens but the meanings that you attribute to them.' Again, I feel called to be an artist. That means I need to understand my art, or at least have a notion of what it is about and where I'm trying to go. Every place I've been has fed into that. Quantum physics has given me a set of reference points to approach the reasons why things happen. Those cause-effect relationships are what my art is about. And I wouldn't have known that without Kentucky, and the years teaching at Pepperdine and ACU. Abilene was hard but was a blessing, medically (won't go into the details here) for some of our children.
So what does it mean to "live is Christ?" Don't know. But I think maybe part of it is that it is not about me and how (financially) comfortable I am. But it's about what Christ is trying to teach me. It is about the preparations for the life to which He has called me. There is a power in Christ, signified by His death and especially His resurrection, that I feel is beginning to unfold for me. I don't feel as focused and compelled as Paul in his quest for understanding, but I feel I'm getting there. It has certainly helped going over my recent history. Because I know there is a God- I don't believe I would be having these thoughts were He not alive and guiding my thoughts. The fact that I am learning from these events, that I feel there is something to learn and am searching for it, means that He is in me. His power is in me. It's been guiding me all along, whether I saw it or not. His plan for me has been unfolding. Instead of a life of failure, which I can construe the events to be, it has been a life of preparation. I haven't missed the boat, I just haven't reached it yet. Christ means there is something more for me. And there is something more for you.
So I'm 'Sub-ing' for Columbia Christian School and I was asked to give a personal testimony of 'What Christ means to me" to a freshman class looking at the Life of Christ. I thought I would use it as my re-entry into bloglife. Thank you, I'm honored to be back.
I think this came at a good time (providence?) as I feel my relationship to Christ, or perhaps, more accurately, my understanding of Christ is in transition, and so this gives me opportunity to evaluate where I am and where I feel called to go. I am currently fascinated by Paul's words that "to live is Christ." That is what I'm currently trying to figure out- what does it mean that my living is Christ? To discover this, I am trying (also according to Paul's verbage) to "know nothing except Christ and Him crucified" and/or "to know Christ and the power of His resurrection." More on this later.
I've recently read a statement that goes to the tune "it's not what happens to you that is important, but the meaning you ascribe what happens to you is important." The crux of the matter is our interpretation of events. So here are some of the events of my life and my interpretation.
I, first and foremost, feel I am called to be an artist. It was like scales falling from my eyes when I saw, completed, one of my first semi-abstract paintings in my first painting class as an art major at Pepperdine University. Art was chosen as a major more because I had always drawn well my entire life and I didn't know what else to do. But that moment, that came halfway through my Junior year, confirmed my decision- I was going to be an artist for the rest of my life. My initial thought, perhaps also prompted with a lifelong desire to teach, was to become an art teacher and that would give me a steady income to provide my livelihood and give me time (especially during summers) to do my art and become a fabulously famous art star. So I pursued my studies and received my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) so that I could teach at the college level. Graduation day came but there were no teaching jobs on the horizon, and I had already started a family that now, for some reason, needed me to provide for their food, clothing, and shelter. Go figure. So we jump ship to Kentucky to live with my wife's parents (free shelter and sometimes food) so the financial burden was lighter. A job as a customer service rep for a company that sponsored business leadership seminars provided, somewhat meagerly, for other necessities of life (school loan payments not being one of those necessities- a life of financial hardship had begun). Oddly enough, I was introduced to the ideas of quantum physics while in Kentucky. Many of the leadership material drew lessons from implications of a new understanding of the world afforded by quantum mechanics. Again, more on this later.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. My wife's parents became missionaries in Croatia and decided to sell the house. Goodbye free rent. But- that same week I received a call from Pepperdine asking me if I wanted to teach on a temporary contract. Cool- my teaching career will begin; I'll get some teaching experience, I'll be back in the LA area and can get connected to the art scene; this temporary position will lead to other teaching positions and initial success in the art world- all is coming together.
What started as the hope of three years of teaching ended with only one year (budget constriants, not enough art students to support another faculty member) and things went into emergency mode. (By the way, there are now two children wanting to be fed! Economics- demand increases but the supply was decreasing.) Through some initial contacts throughout the years, I was able to begin teaching, albeit part time, at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX. Cross country move #3 in 4 years of marriage- not recommended, by the way.
Abilene was both an incredible blessing and an incredibly difficult period at the same time. (Interesting side note- quantum physics is still rolling through my head and one of the basic starting points was the discovered fact that light is both a particle and a wave. This duality is now played out in my life- blessing and hardship are two sides of the same coin.) I taught, and learned much about art- still believed to be my calling. But the art market in Abilene is a far cry from the environment to accept my 'difficult' work (as my wife describes it, mine is the work that people question, "Oh, so that's art?") Teaching part time is the interesting combination of working full time but being paid less than minimum wage, if calculated over the entire year. So the financial struggles continued, in fact worsened, as two more children are thrown into the mix. Having failed to secure, twice, a full time teaching position at ACU (for 'political' reasons) I was at my wits end. The teaching thing wasn't working which meant that nothing else was working out either.
In the background, though, was a plan unfolding. Rewind to my wife's childhood, before we even met. She spent the better part of her growing up in the Pacific Northwest- Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. Through her connections there she met some people that eventually started an inner city church called PUMP. Melinda has always felt a calling to inner city missions and particularly felt compelled to help pregnant teens. In a moment where I was questioning whether to pursue teaching or try a career change she came to me and said, "Instead of pursuing your career, why don't we move to Portland and we start a non-profit working with PUMP to help pregnant teens?" I agreed instantly.
Financially we're not in the clear. We are beginning to fundraise and I'm looking for employment (after a failed attempt at selling mortgages) to pay the bills until we're on our feet with this and/or other endeavors (the art career is beginning without the aid of teaching). So I can swap tales of woe with some of the best of them. But I'm back to 'it's not what happens but the meanings that you attribute to them.' Again, I feel called to be an artist. That means I need to understand my art, or at least have a notion of what it is about and where I'm trying to go. Every place I've been has fed into that. Quantum physics has given me a set of reference points to approach the reasons why things happen. Those cause-effect relationships are what my art is about. And I wouldn't have known that without Kentucky, and the years teaching at Pepperdine and ACU. Abilene was hard but was a blessing, medically (won't go into the details here) for some of our children.
So what does it mean to "live is Christ?" Don't know. But I think maybe part of it is that it is not about me and how (financially) comfortable I am. But it's about what Christ is trying to teach me. It is about the preparations for the life to which He has called me. There is a power in Christ, signified by His death and especially His resurrection, that I feel is beginning to unfold for me. I don't feel as focused and compelled as Paul in his quest for understanding, but I feel I'm getting there. It has certainly helped going over my recent history. Because I know there is a God- I don't believe I would be having these thoughts were He not alive and guiding my thoughts. The fact that I am learning from these events, that I feel there is something to learn and am searching for it, means that He is in me. His power is in me. It's been guiding me all along, whether I saw it or not. His plan for me has been unfolding. Instead of a life of failure, which I can construe the events to be, it has been a life of preparation. I haven't missed the boat, I just haven't reached it yet. Christ means there is something more for me. And there is something more for you.
1.19.2006
Cross-Pollination
I'm an avid reader who usually has about 5 or 6 books going at the same time. Here's what I'm reading now: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill, "See You at the Top" by Zig Ziglar, a biography on Jackson Pollock by Naifeh and Smith, "The Heart of Commitment" by Scott Stanley. I also read to my wife each night before bed, which currently we are re-reading the Harry Potter series so we're on book 5, the Order of the Phoenix. Plus I'm occasionally dipping into Dr. Phil's "Ultimate Weight Loss Solution," and "How to Have Power and Confidence in Dealing with People" by Les Giblin. The books themselves help me stretch and grow but the process is intensified when the ideas of one book correlate with those in another. So allow me to give you an example of what I call a 'cross-pollination' of ideas I've gotten from some of these books.
I've been struck by a concept of protecting yourself and your commitment. Consider this statement by Napolean Hill in "Think and Grow Rich:" 'The conscious faculty serves, therefore, as an outerguard to the approach of the subconcious.' An 'outerguard'- protective language. It coincides precisely with Scott Stanley's observations on commitment in marriage, taken from Malachi 2:15- '... So guard yourself in your spirit...' He explains that the word 'guard' in Hebrew literally means to set a hedge of protection around something." That in turn reminded me of how Dr. Phil related it to weight loss. He talked about structuring your life to fit the commitment. We all have willpower, but we also have a willpower that isn't so powerful at times. If we rely solely upon our willpower, we will fail miserably when our willpower isn't strong enough on a particular day. However, if we structure our lives in a way that our commitment is protected, then we ensure our success even in times when we feel weak.
This kind of excites me. You see, I'm a man. And I've learned that men are lazy- to a point. You see, we will work our butts off in order to be lazy. You know? We will put far more effort into finding a way to get something done on autopilot, than the amount of energy it takes to actually do the thing we're trying to do in the first place. So this whole idea of protecting your commitment seems to me to put effort into aspects that will then kind of put you on autopilot. Then you sit back and enjoy the benefits of your successful career, marriage, weight loss program, etc., etc., so on and so forth. Cool.
Sounds like my plans need to include plans for defense, as well as offense; for protection, was well as action.
The problem, I'm discovering are those little voices that claim (1) I deserve to have such and such (or do such and such)- even if it runs counter to what I ultimately want, and (2) that I shouldn't have to live up to my plans and goals, however good and noble, because I am free to do whatever I want. The curse of freedom: coming soon to a blog near you.
I've been struck by a concept of protecting yourself and your commitment. Consider this statement by Napolean Hill in "Think and Grow Rich:" 'The conscious faculty serves, therefore, as an outerguard to the approach of the subconcious.' An 'outerguard'- protective language. It coincides precisely with Scott Stanley's observations on commitment in marriage, taken from Malachi 2:15- '... So guard yourself in your spirit...' He explains that the word 'guard' in Hebrew literally means to set a hedge of protection around something." That in turn reminded me of how Dr. Phil related it to weight loss. He talked about structuring your life to fit the commitment. We all have willpower, but we also have a willpower that isn't so powerful at times. If we rely solely upon our willpower, we will fail miserably when our willpower isn't strong enough on a particular day. However, if we structure our lives in a way that our commitment is protected, then we ensure our success even in times when we feel weak.
This kind of excites me. You see, I'm a man. And I've learned that men are lazy- to a point. You see, we will work our butts off in order to be lazy. You know? We will put far more effort into finding a way to get something done on autopilot, than the amount of energy it takes to actually do the thing we're trying to do in the first place. So this whole idea of protecting your commitment seems to me to put effort into aspects that will then kind of put you on autopilot. Then you sit back and enjoy the benefits of your successful career, marriage, weight loss program, etc., etc., so on and so forth. Cool.
Sounds like my plans need to include plans for defense, as well as offense; for protection, was well as action.
The problem, I'm discovering are those little voices that claim (1) I deserve to have such and such (or do such and such)- even if it runs counter to what I ultimately want, and (2) that I shouldn't have to live up to my plans and goals, however good and noble, because I am free to do whatever I want. The curse of freedom: coming soon to a blog near you.
1.05.2006
Plans vs. Goals
So I was talking not too long ago with someone in my company (I'm a loan officer for a mortgage company) who is more established and thus more successful (proven by the paycheck he showed me that had just arrived, one with significantly more numbers on it than I'm used to seeing on a paycheck) and I inquired about the topic of goal setting. His reply kind of shocked me. "I don't believe in goals. They don't do anything for me. I don't make goals. I make plans." Internally I had a huge smile because he just articulated something that inherently I somehow knew to be true but could never put my finger on. Granted, he did say that you have to make your plans according to what you want to achieve. And though he did not say the word, it was obvious to me that 'what you want' is....well,... a goal. But the point is that the goal is not the end-all-be-all. Where the real rubber meets the road is in the plans you make. I've made several goals in my life, few that have been accomplished. Because I merely thought of the goal and thought that was it and the rest would take care of itself. Nope.
A goal is only useful to the extent that it is translated into a plan of action. Sometimes, though, that plan is not readily apparent or not worked out in detail right away. The trick is continually developing the goal into a plan. Sometimes, I find, it takes more effort than I thought to sustain the vision of the goal in my mind. I'm not used to holding an idea for that long. If an idea has stayed around, it is because I have been able to put it to use and reuse- like when I was teaching a class and the thought was reiterated in a couple of lectures. So for me, I'm learning that knowing what I want, what my goal is, can only be achieved by making a plan... a plan to sustain the vision of my goal until my plan to achieve that goal is in place. The plan I've adopted is simply reading the goal, and statements that paint a picture of me achieving that goal, everyday. Ideally I read it about 4 times a day, but that doesn't always happen. So simple, but I can already begin to sense the fruits of this very easy task.
The cool thing that I'm finding is that things come about when you work towards it, but not necassarily as a direct result of your efforts. I find it best stated in a quote from a book called "Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees" about an artist named Robert Irwin: "Grace-you work and you work and you work at something that then happens of its own accord. It would not have happened without all that work, but the result cannot be accounted for as the product of the work in the sense that an effect is said to be the product of its causes. There is all that preparation- preparation for receptivity- and then ther is something else, beyond that, which is gratis, for free."
Plans. Plans to succeed. Plans for spending your money (a more preferable way of saying 'budget'). A plan for learning something new. A plan for salvation. A plan for actively loving your mate. Goals are but dreams. The plan is the key.
A goal is only useful to the extent that it is translated into a plan of action. Sometimes, though, that plan is not readily apparent or not worked out in detail right away. The trick is continually developing the goal into a plan. Sometimes, I find, it takes more effort than I thought to sustain the vision of the goal in my mind. I'm not used to holding an idea for that long. If an idea has stayed around, it is because I have been able to put it to use and reuse- like when I was teaching a class and the thought was reiterated in a couple of lectures. So for me, I'm learning that knowing what I want, what my goal is, can only be achieved by making a plan... a plan to sustain the vision of my goal until my plan to achieve that goal is in place. The plan I've adopted is simply reading the goal, and statements that paint a picture of me achieving that goal, everyday. Ideally I read it about 4 times a day, but that doesn't always happen. So simple, but I can already begin to sense the fruits of this very easy task.
The cool thing that I'm finding is that things come about when you work towards it, but not necassarily as a direct result of your efforts. I find it best stated in a quote from a book called "Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees" about an artist named Robert Irwin: "Grace-you work and you work and you work at something that then happens of its own accord. It would not have happened without all that work, but the result cannot be accounted for as the product of the work in the sense that an effect is said to be the product of its causes. There is all that preparation- preparation for receptivity- and then ther is something else, beyond that, which is gratis, for free."
Plans. Plans to succeed. Plans for spending your money (a more preferable way of saying 'budget'). A plan for learning something new. A plan for salvation. A plan for actively loving your mate. Goals are but dreams. The plan is the key.
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