Discipline

We all have the same amount of time.  The difference is how we prioritize the stuff that will fill it.

in 2011 i’m taking a fresh crack at prioritizing.  I need to accomplish some new things this year.  (I’ll post more on that later) In 2010 i was acclimatizing to a new job and a new city and my wife was jumping back into school.  IT was a year of transition.  They key to staying oriented i’m told is to keep your eyes on the horizon.  I feel better oriented now, and i’ve noticed something; the horizon looks different up here.  The sun sets behind different trees and different topography.  This year i’m going to explore the landscape around me.

For me that means reading new books or different books.  I want my growth to be broad. As a sort of warm up i’ve jumped into Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point.  I’m passionate about ideas and how they spread so i’m loving this book.

But more than just a vehicle for the spread of great ideas, i’m a man.  Someone recently suggested in a conversation we were having that we were starting to delve into identity issues.  I wasn’t sure he was right.  But since that conversation i have been doing some thinking on identity and on the kind of person i am and want to be.

In the fall our church went through the Book; The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg.   I went through that series with a pretty solid picture in my mind of who i am and who i’m supposed to be.  I’m not saying that has now changed but i am willing to ask some new questions.  Cause of this i’m sure.  I do want to grow and I say that in the context of a strong belief that God chooses some to be _______ and others to be ________ and more than that God has specific _______ that he intends for me alone to _______.

These ideas came to my mind afresh as i was reading Linchpin by Seth Godin on New Year’s Day.  In it he refers to Linchpins as artists.

check it out, “What makes someone an artist? I don’t think it has anything to do with a paintbrush. There are painters who follow the numbers, or paint billboards, or work in a small village in China, painting reproductions. These folks, while swell people, aren’t artists. On the other hand, Charlie Chaplin was an artist, beyond a doubt. So is Jonathan Ive, who designed the iPod. You can be an artist who works with oil paint or marble, sure. But there are artists who worked with numbers, business models, and customer conversations. Art is about intent and communication, not substances

One blogger i read reminded me that while everyone can be a linchpin, there is a something to be said for environment.

What allows linchpins to flourish?

They say the best wine grapes are those grown at the right temperatures (Burgundy), with the right soil with just enough calcium (like those in the Niagara region).  You want a great wine, wonderful people and amazing results then you’ve got to invest in their potential or find a good set up that will help you do that.

so that’s it.  In 2011, i’m going to make art.  intensely personal, powerfully communicative and i’m praying that my life will impact many many people – towards Him.

#tippingpoint #Learning #linchpin #2011 #home