Drawn2Jesus and Retire2Serve

Drawn2Jesus and Retire2Serve are Podcasts - my newest projects.

A podcast is an audio file that people can listen to on the internet and/or download onto their mp3 player (like iPods). There are directories on the internet where Podcasts are listed, and new ones can be found and subscribed to. If you subscribe, they can be automatically downloaded to your computer and/or mp3 player for you to listen to whenever you want.

Podcasting is a new thing, but growing fast. The attraction is that people can find content they are interested in and listen to it when they want. Thus audiences self-select around topics of interest. So I'm joining a number of people providing Christian content for people to discover and listen to.

It's one of those ventures I really enjoy -- turning on a light and see what kinds of creatures gather around it and what they do. Rather than pushing stuff at folks, you just put it out there and let them find it and react. So it'll be interesting to see what happens.

I'm still working to get comfortable with the whole thing. I invite you to listen to the podcasts and give me feedback.

January 29, 2006

January 29, 2006 has suddenly become a big day for our family -- it's the predicted birth day of Mark and Kathy's first child (and our first grandchild)! Needless to say, there's major excitement everywhere.

It's difficult to tell who's more excited -- Mark and Kathy, the uncle and aunts to-be, or Nana Eloise. Mark was talking fast -- like he does on a Starbuck's caffeine high. Kathy was jumping up and down. John quit mowing the yard and talked to Mark for 30 minutes. Sara said "Shut up!" Eloise was crying. I mostly smiled a lot. And Mark's friend Brad quickly offered the use of his name.

We're all looking forward to the coming months passing quickly and to assuming our new roles!

Work and Boundaries

I was coaching a friend last night around work issues. In some ways it is a unique situation, in others similar to a lot of people today. He admits to working 60-70 hours/week. If he didn't work that much, the job wouldn't get done, and in fact the small company he works for possibly wouldn't survive.

He's struggling with how to increase his personal productivity, thinking that if he could just figure out how to be more productive his hours might not decrease, but at least things might smooth out.

There are a couple of things going on here that others of us might recognize in our own lives.

1. "Increase your productivity" is a phrase that was invented to ward off complaints when companies laid off part of the workforce but the amount of work didn't decrease. Workers are told to increase their productivity so that the company will survive and they will remain employed. While there are some things most of us can do to marginally improve our productivity, the reality is that to take up the slack left by departed workers and slim margins, improving productivity is a catch-phrase for working longer hours.

And it's an ever-increasing spiral, because as workers maintain or increase productivity, competition does the same, so to survive, there's another reduction in force and another call to increase productivity.

Somewhere you reach a point where this all stops working -- no matter how many hours you put in, you can't do what needs to be done. You, and the company as a whole, simply don't have the resources required to be viable. If my friend is not already in this position, he is close.

2. The further this situation goes, seemingly the more addictive it becomes for the worker. Although they recognize the damage working too many hours is doing to the rest of their life, they become addicted to the responsibility of keeping the company going. "If 60 hours won't get the job done, then maybe 70 hours will." " If I don't do it, it won't get done." "The company will fail if I don't succeed." People who never dreamed of being workaholics get sucked in.

So how could you avoid this trap -- or begin to work your way out if you're already snared?

• Setting boundaries within the different aspects of your life is absolutely necessary for achieving life balance. A healthy lifestyle requires a balance of work, recreation, home life, and spiritual life. Work is the one we usually abuse, and when it gets out of whack, all of the others suffer. We have to set the boundaries ourselves -- draw a bold line we will not cross. Do you have a boundary set up for work? How about boundaries for minimums in the other areas?
• In order to set boundaries for yourself, you probably need to spend some time focusing on your core values. What really matters to you? When you're honest with yourself about your core values, you won't have a problem with deciding what the boundaries should be.
• If you're outside the boundaries already, then you will need to develop strategies to bring yourself back into alignment with your values. This is not necessarily easy, but it is necessary. You may need help to make it happen.
  

Just because it's the trend in the marketplace doesn't make work without boundaries a good thing!

Settling for Less

The contrast and its effect on me were totally unexpected.

We were driving back home on Highway 6 yesterday afternoon, and I found that I was feeling overwhelmed by the crush of traffic. I thought to myself, "There are as many cars sitting here waiting for that stoplight as there were total in the Padre Island National Seashore at lunchtime."

True, it's offseason at Padre Island. Still, there were probably only about 75 vehicles in the whole park. About a third were park workers, about a third were pickups with empty boat trailers behind them in the parking lot at the boat launch into the Laguna Madre, and the rest were those of us visiting. Peaceful is the best description.

Driving toward the park, I found myself smiling even before we reached the entrance. The large white sand dunes and the dense vegitation and the quiet and the solitude just seem to bring on a smile. And when you reach one of the locations where you can access the beach, the view of the white sand and the beautiful green water are incredible. Sitting there, taking it all in, was amazingly relaxing and refreshing.

Driving down Highway 6, by comaparison, felt crushing.

Now I drive on Highway 6 every day and usually think nothing of the traffic. Why yesterday?

Simply because I'd just experienced something that spoke more deeply to my soul, and when I returned to Highway 6, I recognized that I live in a way that insulates me from things that speak deeply to me, and that as long as I stay insulated, I don't even recognize it. So why do we choose to live that way?

An Elevator with a Quirk

The elevator is one of two public elevators side by side at the Holiday Inn in Corpus Christi.

If you're on the third floor, which we are, and you walk up to the elevator bank and push the button to go down and the door to the elevator on the left opens with the arrow pointed down, you get an interesting ride. The elevator goes UP to the fifth floor, opens the door, closes the door, and then goes down to the first floor. Every time.

The first time this happens to you, you're surprised and try to decide if you got on an elevator that actually was in the process of going up. Maybe someone on the fifth floor pressed the call button. And you expect it to stop on three on its way down -- to pick you up -- but it doesn't.

The second time this happens, you're not as surprised. You have made sure to look at the direction the elevator arrows say you're going, but since you've taken this ride before, you're ready -- sort of.

By the third time, you think you have this all figured out. And sure enough, you're not disappointed. There's never anyone waiting on the fifth floor to get on. It's just what this particular elevator does.

Unless there is someone already on the elevator when you get on who is coming down from another floor. Then you just go down to the first floor.

So I've grown kind of fond of this elevator. When I push the down call button, I find myself hoping that the left elevator answers rather than the one on the right which just works like all other elevators. Finding an elevator with a quirk adds interest to what otherwise is routine.

Quirks -- the things that are unique and unexpected -- are one of the things that make people so interesting. If all of us just did everything the way everyone else does and the way everyone else always expects, our lives together would be awfully dull. Society does all it can to engineer the quirks out of people, but fortunately people don't engineer very well.

I'm sure someone will "fix" this elevator and take its quirk away. But wouldn't it be nice if we quit trying to "fix" each other and just enjoyed each other for who we are -- and especially for the quirks?

What You Can Do About Job Uncertainty

Many people today live with uncertainty in the workplace. Layoffs, downsizing, reorganization, or whatever you want to call it are business as usual in much of corporate America. Here are some strategies that I recommend following to both minimize the stress of living in today's uncertain workplace, and to make dealing with a layoff easier if it comes:

• Build and nourish your network now, before you need it. Having a robust network is your most valuable asset when the time comes that you decide to change jobs. Statistically, most people find jobs through other people, not from the internet, sending out resumes, want ads, etc. Having this in place during times of uncertainty provides a great measure of comfort and assurance.
• Have a great, up-to-date resume ready at all times. Going through the process of updating and preparing a resume that you are proud of not only is good preparation, it also helps provide self confidence and affirmation that you have something to offer. This has the benefit in uncertain times of taking some of the fear away.
• Know what you're really good at and what you really enjoy. Sadly, most people I work with, when they hit a job crisis, don't really know what they're good at, or even what they really enjoy. God has gifted us and wired us each in unique ways. As a result, there are certain things that we each are really good at, and there are certain environments that we flourish in. Understanding these has a lot to do with both job satisfaction and job performance. I generally don't have clients do a lot of testing to develop this understanding, although any testing such as a Meyers-Briggs is useful. Instead, I use a few exercises that surface the same information. In my experience, this is not only less expensive, but more effective.
• Understanding the job search process -- in case you get thrown into it -- ahead of time is valuable. There's a lot of misinformation out there, focus on the process and proven stategies.
• Develop a plan for strengthening your value to your present employer, for strengthening your marketability should you choose to make a change or be forced to, and/or for making a pre-emptive career change to an area that may provide more security.
  

When you take charge and become proactive, you automatically stop being a victim. You have control of yourself and being prepared even if you don't have control of decisions regarding whether your job will continue with your present employer.

Feel free to email me for resources to help accomplish these items, or to have a discussion about a period of coaching to help you implement these strategies.

retire2serve -- A New Venture

I've been working on a new venture for the last week or so -- retire2serve. My goal is to further the vision of people who retire taking on part or full-time service to God and others in place of career -- retiring from career, but filling that gap with purpose and meaning.

The foundation of retire2serve will be using the internet to reach people and churches and faith-based organizations needed to help them be successful.

So there's a new website, retire2serve.com, that will serve as the home base. A centerpiece of the effort will be a podcast -- an internet "radio" broadcast -- providing information and encouragement for individuals, churches, and faith-based organizations. There's more information on the website, as well as an introductory podcast.

This is still in the formative stage, so feedback is welcome!