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

It is a new day. We're walking through a season of uncertainty, of constant change and new challenges. As leaders, we have a choice to be paralyzed by fear or to move forward, adapting every step of the way to new things being thrown at us.

I read an interesting article from The Praxis Journal entitled: "Leading Beyond the Blizzard: Why Every Organization is Now a Startup".

The authors, Crouch, Keilhacker and Blanchard say this:

"Almost all of us are in a new business.

From today onward, most leaders must recognize that the business they were in no longer exists. This applies not just to for-profit businesses, but to nonprofits, and even in certain important respects to churches."

Leading Beyond the Blizzard:

Why Every Organization Is Now a Startup

By Andy Crouch, Kurt Keilhacker, and Dave Blanchard

The article gives some interesting perspective but I was caught by the above line: "Almost all of us are in a new business." The idea is that what we're going through today will change everything for tomorrow.

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

Self-Leadership Means We Need To Get Back To The Basics

"Leadership is the ability to influence people in order to get things done. Meanwhile, self-leadership is the ability to consciously influence your own thoughts and behavior in order to achieve your personal goals or an organization's objectives. Self-led people mostly take their own decisions and set personal targets." www.cleverism.com

Amy Franko said this:

"Some people are born with the ability to self lead. For the rest of us, self leadership is a trait we can cultivate." @amyfranko

I've been thinking about this during the quick and sudden changes to our global society and our work practice over the past number of days. We are all having to adapt to a "new normal" and this means that many of us are working in new environments, isolated from our team members, our leaders, and the core practices we're used to.

For some, this time of forced isolation empowers us. It's created some much needed space to catch up, to slow down, to dream, or to tackle things that we just haven't had the margin to address because of our pace of life.

For others, this time is creating panic. We don't want space, we want what we're used to. We've learned to rely on our team members and leaders for direction, inspiration and management. Over the course of just a few days, we've had to learn what self-leadership means in all areas of our life at the same time.

Franko is right when she says that some people are "born with the ability to self lead", and for the rest of us, this is something we have to learn how to do, rather quickly.

Here are 6 ideas that might help you to be more productive:

#1) ASK FOR HELP

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

All of our past posts have been placed HERE if you want to go back and read one.

One month ago, February 18th, I shared this post on "slowing down". CLICK HERE to read it.

Think of all that has happened over the past 4 weeks as the entire world has been in a process of change. For some, this has been panic and desperation, for others it's been a forced shift to home and being grounded. 

This morning, I picked up this book again, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" (John Mark Comer) and read the chapter on "slowing" again.

This is new territory for me. While I've enjoyed moments of adjusting my schedule to capture some stillness, I've never experienced a forced slow down like the one we're all experiencing now.  My natural reaction is to try to fill my time, find new ways to work my schedule, and continue my never-ending pursuit of productivity.

Today, I'm thinking about slowing down again.

Comer says this:

"The basic idea behind the practice of slowing is this: slow down your body, slow down your life."

He goes on to say that its difficult for us to slow down our minds if our body is still running at full pace. There's a correlation between the two, and we need to slow down both

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

Last week I talked about our need for a "Replenishment Cycle". I challenged you to talk about things that you need in your life that "fill you up".

I just finished one of the busiest weeks of my year. Each year I'm involved in putting together an event called the "Leader Mundial Global Summit". This year, I invited 48 men to come be a part of this Community. They came from 14 different countries, and we gathered together in Rome, Georgia as Coaches and Leaders, and spent 4 days learning and discussing the qualities of a leader. 

This was our 14th Global Summit that began back in 2007 in Ecuador.  This Summit has launched Regional Summits that bring men and women together in many different countries including Ecuador, South Africa, Manila, Nepal and Central Asia. 

We've seen hundreds of leaders participate through the years, with our clear goal being to "Help Position Leaders and Organizations for Greater Kingdom Impact".

If you'd like information about  being involved in this global community as a Coach or a Global Leader for our 2021 Summit or 2020 Regional Summits, write to me HERE.

But here's the point I want to make:

In the midst of an incredibly busy "season", I was refueled.

I came back from Georgia physically exhausted, but my soul was completely replenished. 

I think that sometimes we think that the only way to REFUEL is to:

- Sit on a beach doing nothing

- Take long naps and watch mindless television

- Distance ourself from our work roles and the people we work with

- Clear our to-do list so there are no demands on our time and energy

Here is the truth:

- God has created each of us differently, and wired us uniquely.  

- At times, the above list is important and what we should be doing.

- At times, what refuels the most is simply using our gifts and talents, working in our strengths and passion

- At times, refueling means to stop. At other times it means to do something different.

Last week we talked about the crazy seasons we go through in our life.

One of the ideas we were encouraged to do was simply to "Plan Time to Refuel". CLICK HERE to read the full post from last week.

This past week I guest lectured for a friend who teaches an Executive Coaching Class at a local Graduate School. I get to do this class every semester, and I teach about the LifePlan Process that I use when working with Executive Leaders.

As I was teaching and presenting the unique aspect of a holistic life-coaching tool, I was reminded again of the importance of refueling ones life.

There's a tool in the LifePlan process that is called THE REPLENISHMENT CYCLE.

The premise is this: When we take care of ourselves by "refueling our life", it makes us a better leader, a better person, a better friend, and on and on.

"IT'S JUST A BUSY SEASON..."

"WHEN I GET THROUGH THIS SEASON, IT WILL BE BETTER..."

"IT'S ANOTHER BUSY SEASON, BUT I'M ALMOST THROUGH IT..."

Have you ever heard these things said? Have you ever said them yourself?

I have. I've become a MASTER at defining the "seasons of life" I find myself in.

The reality is that it's really just a way for me to justify:

- Poor Planning

- Bad Decisions

- Out of Control Margins

- Too Much on my Plate

- An Un-Healthy Life Rhythm

- Out of Whack Priorities

I could go on and on here, but you get the point.

I was thinking about the topic of stress, and was challenged in my morning reading by John Mark Comer and his book, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry". It's been a challenging read and I'm still working through the application. Today I read a chapter on "slowing down", which I quickly disregarded. I've got too much to do today to slow down!

Later today I ran an errand that included getting gas.

It was actually comical.

- I hit every light on the way to the gas station.

- I chose the gas line that moved the slowest (by mistake)

- The car in front of me had a problem, so they couldn't move out of way in order for me to get gas. I just sat and laughed.

- Leaving the gas station, I got stuck at a traffic light that wasn't working, and it took almost 10 minutes for me to get through it.

My 10 minute errand took me almost an hour to complete.

I don't have time today to learn any lessons! I've got too much to do.

I may be the only one dealing with stress here, but this past week has been an ongoing lesson. 

First, as I shared with you last week, I have identified that there's some stress in my life and it affects me in many ways.

Second, for some reason, I've come face-to-face with the impact of stress this week through a book I'm reading, through a podcast my wife shared with me and through some strategic conversation with people that are experiencing some of the same things.

I don't want to rush to the solution.

Here are some things I'm continuing to learn:

*Did you know that between 75% and 90% of all doctors visits are for issues related to STRESS?