Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

Greetings to you!

Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.

Russ...

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"You have such a pretty face, you should be on a Christmas card." Buddy (the Elf)

What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We've been on a journey this year, learning, listening and digging in and now as we come into December let's just PAUSE a little and catch our breath. As the year winds down, it doesn't mean we just stop all that we're doing, but let's change up the pace.

To read past quotes & thoughts.... CLICK HERE.

I'm going to simply share some Christmas Time Quotes this month, and encourage you to reflect, recharge, restore, reconnect, and then restart to the best of your ability!

Continuing in our Christmas Quote Theme, I laughed when I found this quote from Buddy the Elf.

Every Christmas, there are some movies that I just need to watch, but I usually don't watch them in one setting, I catch glimpses of them throughout the month... movies like Elf, Christmas Vacation, White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life. Lately there have been a lot of Hallmark Christmas Movies showing, but I can't really tell where one ends and the other begins.

Remember this month, we're just pausing a little bit.

Last week we talked about REFLECTION. In fact, I came across this quote from Winston Churchill the other day that summed up the thought well:

"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection."

I hope that you've found some ways to add REFLECTION to your daily rhythm during these days.

The next word I want to look at is the word RECHARGE.

I don't know about you, but it's been a FULL year. I hit December, and I'm just worn out. The idea of finding time to RECHARGE is really appealing to me this year, so I need to get creative to think of ways to do that.

I've learned that I can RECHARGE lot's of different ways...

  • Wrestling on the floor with my grandson, while it's exhausting, I love it!

  • The other night, trying to get my 1 year-old grand daughter to fall asleep was a challenge, but it was also such a joy to be sitting with her in the dark.

While these involve small people in my life, they help me find perspective, purpose and real joy.

This weekend Gina and I did a long walk at the coast... the weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful and it was a time of RECHARGING.

Also, grabbing a moment early in the morning to focus on a passage of scripture, listen to lectio or ponder a question is a time of RECHARGING.

Here's the secret: You need to define what RECHARGES you! You might be able to steal my items, but it's much more about what fuels you. I'll talk a little more about that below.

This month I'll share a few quotes, and then will spend some time on each of these words: reflect, recharge, restore, reconnnect & restart

How are you able to RECHARGE in the midst of being busy, of running through the holiday, or of simply being exhausted? What works for you?

DEEPER STILL:

DECEMBER REMINDER: REFLECT, RECHARGE

To "recharge means to replenish"

In the LifePlan Process, there's a simple tool called The Replenishment Cycle. You've heard me talk about this before, but it's a simple tool that is used to define some things that fill you up, that restore you, that RECHARGE you.

The key is not only in defining it, but it's in quantifying it.

Here's an example:

• When I walk, I get recharged.

This might be true, but here's the deeper questions:

  • How far do I need to walk to feel recharged?

  • How often do I need to walk to feel recharged?

  • At what pace do I need to walk to feel recharged?

I could go on a 500 meter walk and it wouldn't do anything for me, because over time, I've learned:

  • I need to walk every day of the week,

  • I need to walk a minimum of 3 intentional miles, knowing that I'll walk about 6 miles on a normal day.

  • I need to walk those 3 miles at a pace of about 16 minutes a mile. It gets my heart rate up, but I'm able to go the distance.

When you think about what RECHARGES YOU, don't just say, "a walk at the beach". Quantify it. You need to be able to measure it and that helps you create goals, habits and it helps you work towards actual RECHARGING.

Here's my challenge: Think about some things you want to do this month, over a vacation, at the beginning of the year, and identify things that will RECHARGE YOU, that will fill you up, restore you, refuel you. Put it on the calendar, define it, and make it happen.

Luke 2:19: "Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told."(MSG)

 

Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:

Source: www.leadermundial.org