Seth Godin just released What Matters Now, a free e-book featuring 70 thought leaders across a variety of important subjects. I’ve read it twice now, and there are dozens of incredible ideas in this gem of a freebie - from Mr Idea Virus himself!

Download the e-book and read it on your Kindle, Nook, laptop or computer. Contributors include: Dave Ramsey, Tim Sanders, Anne Jackson, Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Hugh McLeod, Dan Roam and the list goes on and on and on.

Download What Matters Now.pdf (3167.2K)

It is the end of the year and most of us are working around last-minute budgeting in our businesses, busy holiday calendars and clean up of either a good or a bad year.

I am sure that most of us also have a heavy feeling in regards to the economic outlook of the new year. Let me suggest you turn off the news and focus the end of the year on the following six things.

1. Make a list of the good things that happened this past year and be grateful. Actually tell God thank you for His kindness. Make the list exhaustive.

2. Plan out the holiday season with great creativity. Some of us are more event-oriented, while others want more solitude. No matter what you are inclined towards, get creative with planning. E.g. I have scheduled 2-3 movie nights with the family, a planned Christmas light expedition, taking a Saturday to create gifts for our neighbors, etc.

3. Hand write 5-10 special thank you notes to those who have impacted you the most personally or professionally this year. Make them longer than a typical note.

4. Read more biographies or fictional novels. Turn the TV off, read more. It will inspire you much more.

5. If married, surprise your spouse with an impromptu date. Don’t wait for Christmas to give them a gift. Make it personal and dote all over them.

6. Watch It’s a Wonderful Life (again). Seriously, we need some perspective in our society. Remind yourself of what is important. Reclaim your priorities.

This Christmas could be the best ever. I would bet that worry and fear will try its hardest to take away joy this year. Don’t let it.

Comment on this Article…

If there is a God, why doesn’t He show Himself?
Hasn’t science proven that everything can be explained by natural processes? Doesn’t this make God…unnecessary? Doesn’t this prove that God and the Bible are just fairy tales written by man?

What is the One Thought that is consuming you today?

I find that each of us typically have one headline that consumes our minds. It is similar to how a news channel’s editor will focus news stories around one major topic. Usually that topic will stay in the news for 3-4 days (e.g. Mexican Drug Wars, Pirate Attacks, North Korea, etc.)

So, what is consuming you right now? What One Thought is scrolling through your mind today? Is it a good thought or a negative one?

Why am I asking? Because your answer will affect your day dramatically. It will infect your communication and your attitude, whether good or bad, and ultimately your relationships.

I remember a time when I helped a young up-and-comer deal with consistent worry. After talking through it with her we both realized that she was consumed by worry in the morning on her way to work. Her One Thought consumed her to such a degree that she couldn’t function at the level she needed to in her job. Her One Thought was a looping headline that needed to be turned off.

So what is a solution? For her it was changing her morning routine. Instead of a routine of worry, she woke up to a simple reading devotional. She then started turning music on and the television off. When she got in her car she played her monthly created playlist of positive music. When she got to her desk she focused on how she wanted to feel at the end of the day. She then began to lead her One Thought with the right boundaries versus having her One Thought lead her.

If your One Thought is negative, how do you set boundaries and lead it versus having it lead you? If your One Thought is positive, let it out. Enjoy!

Comment on this Article…

One of my favorite parts of the Harvard Business Review is the cartoon section. Of course, the articles make the magazine distinguished, but the cartoons make me laugh. Every month the aptly named “Strategic Humor” section is what I turn to first. In these tough times I enjoy cartoons that regularly puncture the self-inflated bubble of our management culture.

Senior managers are a special target; everyone loves to see them taken down a peg. Also satirized are silly “feed the monster” practices that do nothing but waste time.

Sphere: Related Content

We live in a loud culture.
Religious rhetoric.
Political propaganda.
Commercial cacophony.
People can grow deaf to a constant din of shouting.
They shut it out as annoying background noise.
That’s when a whisper can be heard above a roar.
A whisper that is a revelation of a real secret.
A whisper that belongs to a hidden mystery.
A …

In the last few months, I’ve developed a theory about why people are selfish.

I was recently at Weinersnitzel eating one of America’s finest meals-the tube steak kabob…affectionately known by connoisseurs as a Corn Dog. As I moving to my seat, I see a high school student reading the Di Vinci Code. I asked him, “How do you like that book?” Honestly, I thought that it was a very easy question and I would get a very quick response! That’s not what happened!

I expected this guy to say, “It’s an interesting read… not as a good as my chili cheese dog with onions. Have a nice day. Go about your business. Don’t you know this is Southern California and we don’t really want to talk to strangers here?”

Instead, this 17 year old perks up and says, “I love it. I believe it. The church is corrupt. Priests and pastors are all a bunch of phonies-you know that big church down the street? All they want is your money! You know which one I’m talking about?”

Well, I knew which church he was talking about-the one I where I’m the pastor to students-kids like him. Interesting perception. Our church looks good on the outside and I can see how he connected money with the look. He’s not the first to perceive it that way and he won’t be the last.

I said, “It sounds like you’ve got some pretty strong feelings about the church-where do those feelings come from?” For the first time in a long time, I asked a pretty intelligent question (a lot of times I say, “Uh…what school do you go to?” and think I’m a relational giant). Once again, this intellectual didn’t shrug off my question with a teenage grunt. Rather, he talked about his feelings about the church.

I listened. And listened. And listened. This kid had a story! A wild one. A sad one. One that has not only turned him off from church…but also from God.

One of the areas that I’ve been trying to grow as a youth worker is to be more blunt and upfront with my questions and equally as assertive with my listening. I’ve really been learning that kids want to talk about their spiritual stories and feelings (especially those outside the church) but few people (especially adults) care enough to ask.

I want to challenge you to ask some deeper questions if this doesn’t come naturally to you (it didn’t to me). Ask them this week. Maybe tonight at youth group. Ask a probing question and then listen to their story. As you listen don’t have an agenda. Just listen.

After you listen, you might be able to share some pieces from your own spiritual story and shed light on God’s amazing love story. Probably, somewhere between those three stories is an intersection of faith. As I spoke with this kid I realized that he likes to read (I know, you’re thinking, “It was a teenager?”) so I went out to my car and got him a copy of my pastor’s book, Purpose Driven Life. [If my pastor reads this I want him to know I have one with me at all times ?]

I told his guy, “If you read it, call me…I’d love to talk about it. I work right up the street at that church and I make enough money to buy you lunch–as long as you don’t eat more than 2 corn dogs.” He smiled. We exchanged names and I wrote my cell phone number inside the book.

He hasn’t called yet…but something about our time together makes me think he will. I’m praying he does. I’m also praying that you’ll experience a great spiritual conversation this month with a teenager because you asked a great question and were slow to speak. Kids are waiting for a caring adult to listen…to really listen. I can do that. So can you! Let’s commit to being a part of youth ministries where listening to kids is a high value.