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:

"Reset, Refocus, Readjust, Restart, as many times as you need to. Just never give up." Unknown

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

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's a New Year, and this month we're going to talk about the word BEGINNINGS.

Here's one last thought on BEGINNINGS. You can read the other posts and quotes HERE.

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to connect with a ministry and a group of ministry leaders. We had a great time doing a "deep dive" into understanding the scope of ministry and identifying some of their key issues.

While it was a full week of engagement, it also offered me some "windows of time" that have been a little illusive over the past month. I sat for hours on a plane, spent time in the airport, had some time driving and then in a hotel.

In the midst of a full week, I kept finding these opportunities to think, to listen, to wonder and to just be.

This year has started with a BOOM! It's now February, and I have no idea where January went, and today I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the items on my list... in fact, I've felt this way since the beginning of January. I'm having a hard time keeping up and keeping focused.

This quote above just spoke to me last week.... RESET, REFOCUS, READJUST, RESTART. Powerful words. And then the kicker... NEVER GIVE UP!

I don't know where you find yourself today. Are you disappointed in the start of 2026? Did you have big goals and you now realize those things were unrealistic? Do you find yourself drowning in all of the things you thought were going to be great, but now just feel like work! Did you think you were going to get more done, but now you're frustrated and you just want to throw it all out the window?

If you identify with any of those things, You're Not Alone!

TODAY, take a deep breath. Just slow down for a second and assess where you're at todoy, and determine what your next step needs to be.

DEEPER STILL:

NEW BEGINNINGS

RESET: Here's what I've learned. Sometimes a hard reset is the only thing that will work. If my phone freezes, I reset it. If my internet is slow, I reset it. Sometimes I spend so much time trying to fix something, and the best and quickest thing is to simply turn it off, let it sit, then turn it back on. If this works for electronics, it definitely works for me!

REFOCUS: What's Important Now? WINS. Identifying what is the most important thing to focus on today is critical. There are many things crowding in for your attention. Define what's important now and say no or say "not yet" to other things.

READJUST: Sometimes, you can't just pick things up where you left them. You might need to change your approach, change directions, make some adjustments, learn from your past. Determine if what you're doing will actually work for you!

RESTART: Then just do it! No more time to complain, to worry, to be overwhelmed. Just start moving. Little steps, big steps, whatever you need just start again.

I use this simple sheet often to define WHAT'S IMPORTANT NOW? It's called The 4 Helpful Lists. Use it to define what's RIGHT, WRONG, CONFUSED or MISSING, then take that information to determine a plan.

Take 5 minutes and write the first things that come to mind, then look at it and identify your plan and action.

Just Keep Going... Don't give up. Begin again today.

 

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

Source: www.leadermundial.org