Luke 10:41-42 (NLT) But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴² There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

There are plenty of details to worry about. Some of them are very important, but most are simply distractions.

You worry about too many things. Get upset about the details and miss the big picture.

Apparently the world is in an economic downturn…. details.

Don’t forget that ‘this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs’ (Phil 4:19) is the ONE thing you should be concerned about.

Mark Smallcombe tweeted this yesterday: “My latest thought! Like a bow, we sometimes have to experience retraction before the launch. Your aim is improved thru the agony of tension”

Tension, details, stress, worries are intended to drive you to the ONE thing you need to be concerned about.

Don’t stress about all the details, get firm about the ONE thing.

And that ONE thing is:  (drum roll please…….)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

John 15:1-2 (New International Version) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Lean is better.

Too many things going on causes clutter and reduces fruitfulness.

Fruitfulness is the litmus test of activity. What does it produce?

If an activity produces nothing measurable, perhaps it should be eliminated.

If a program produces limited results, perhaps it should be cut back.

Allowing all of your passion to flow in singleminded purpose results in the greatest fruitfulness.

Too much time is wasted trying to resurrect dead branches, dead works and dead activities and programs. Cut them off!

Don’t confuse efficiency with effectiveness.

Put your energy into fruitful activity.

Consider the ROI of your business ventures. Don’t keep pouring good money after bad.

It is a strength to know when to prune. It is a skill that you can develop.

Trim your life and you’ll be more productive and fruitful.

I’ve been going through this period of time where I’m really not feeling very motivated. I know that I could blame the weather or other external circumstances in my life, but it really is up to me to find MOTIVATION.

Here’s a few things I’m doing that might help you:

• Remaining productive and doing SOMETHING.
  I found this really great article by Yaro Starak. While everything he says may not apply to your particular situation, I’m sure you will find something to help. I know I did.
• Remembering that things may not be as they appear.

  A quote from the roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius:

  “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

  This quote reminds me that many of the things that in fact de-motivate me don’t have to. It’s up to me to change the way I look at things around me and to review my “estimate” of it.

• Focussing on the positive and looking for solutions.
  It’s easy to get de-motivated by negative things. Stress, bills, misunderstandings all work to kill your motivation. Focus on the great things and see solutions rather than problems. It really does help!

So there’s some things that I’m doing, what are you doing? Let’s talk!

Just a simple tip….

No actually it’s a real pet peeve of mine. I hate it when people don’t return their calls.

You leave a message for someone and don’t hear back. Right now I’ve been trying to resolve a billing issue for 3 months. I’ve left several messages, by email, voicemail and talked to someone. No response…. And we are talking several thousand dollars that I have no intention of paying because it was billed incorrectly but NO-ONE WILL GET BACK TO ME.

Of course I won’t deal with this company again and it’s sad. It’s a local newspaper that I don’t even mind supporting. I just want them to return their calls.

“Call people back immediately. One of the biggest challenges most salespeople have is that they don’t want to pick up messages and call people back. Return calls now. It’s the only way you can build up a solid clientele.” — Tom Hopkins

Do you return your calls? You won’t get my business if you don’t. Let’s hear your side of the issue! Leave a comment!

My recent experiments with using Jott to post to the blog haven’t been exactly successful. I mean they weren’t too bad but I think this particular service has a ways to go before it will become really useful to the blogging community in that area anyway.

On another note, the party over at Liz’s Place (successful-blog.com) was an incredible success. Liz is one of those people who connects with everyone. Actually she connects everyone with everyone. I don’t think I have ever had a conversation with Liz when she wasn’t suggesting I meet someone or read a particular blog or connect in some way with someone else. Liz is the ultimate connector and such a great encourager of people. Ultimately she’s the one responsible for me understanding that blogging is a conversation among people in a growing relationship. She recognizes successful and outstanding bloggers every week with the SOB award. Liz is what the blogging community is really about.

Happy 2 Year Blog Anniversary Liz!!

I’ve been using Twitter a bit lately. Not that I need another distraction! Anyway… Chris Brogan shared a link that I think is particularly relevant. Some of you may know that my day job is leading a church (yes really!) and as a result this post on social media for non-profits really caught my attention. Trying to leverage available media when you are a non-profit (low income… no income) is often quite a challenge. I think this post will be really helpful to many people and groups out there.

So tell me, what’s happening in your life? What are you reading? Care to share some of the more interesting links you’ve recently discovered? Let’s talk!

Wendy Piersall has her Monday Motivation. It’s a great way to start the week and get committed to the things you need to do. You really should go there on Monday.

But I’ve been thinking…. (scary thought I know!)

What about all those projects that you’ve started and almost finished except for maybe one or two things?

I started a project just before Christmas last year and today I realized I still have three small things left to do. No-one would really notice if I didn’t complete it except for me. The project was a renovation of our ensuite. I replaced the window, the vanity, toilet, the flooring and repainted. Everything is done except I need to seal the grout on the tile and seal around the sink and the window. That would completely finish the project. But it’s been sitting like this for months. Done but not quite!

Now I’m wondering. How many of you out there have projects kinda like mine. Almost entirely done except some baseboard, maybe a registration card, one more chapter in a book or some other small thing.

Let’s get them finished this weekend. How about it? Can we finish off one project that needs just a little more attention?

What would it take to motivate you to finish off one almost done project this weekend? How would you feel? Don’t worry about why it’s not finished, let’s just get it done. Today is not the day to start something; it’s the day to finish something!

I’m going to finish my ensuite this weekend, what are you going to do? Tell everyone in the comments then you can celebrate on monday.

Let’s make it a Get Something Finished Friday!

Oh yeah… I’ll let you know how it goes with the ensuite!

QUICK TIP!

One task that I absolutely hate is going through all the reams of paper that accumulate after a week or two of life. Mostly it is mail from the post office, but there are the other things like, notes to myself, study sheets and reports.

Here’s somethings that I find help.

• Open the mail over the trash can.
• If you don’t think you’ll use it, trash it.
• If you think you might use it sometime, trash it!
• If it’s advertising unless you absolutely need it and were already looking for it, trash it!
• Same thing with email.

Just like when you write, anything you don’t need gets omitted.

Anything that can go in the trash does.

Okay… I heard the mumbling under your breath. Thinking… It’s about time!

How do you increase your capacity?

• Emotional capacity
• Financial capacity
• Productivity capacity
• Relationship capacity

If the key to growth in life is capacity, then you’ve got to learn how to do more.

Right?

WRONG!

The key to increasing your capacity is doing more… of less. At least that’s what I think.

If you concentrate on doing only the things that YOU should do, you will become more effective. Playing to your strengths leaves you practicing to perfection. What you emphasize becomes enhanced. The more you do what you do best, the better you get. You only have so much time.

What do you think?

Of course that leads us to the BIG question. What are you good at? What unique things do only you do?

Let’s talk!

Taking my inspiration from Monday Motivation over at eMomsatHome.com, I’ve been creating more realistic todo lists. Here’s what’s working for me

• Limit the size of your daily todo list to no more than 5 or 6 items. Many more items than that and it ends up being a should do list rather than a will do list.
• Give yourself a reward or a consequence depending on whether you complete all the list or not.
• Put at least one easy item on the list — probably at the top. Finishing it gives you a motivational hit.
• Tell someone what you are going to do. Post it on your blog or leave a comment on Monday Motivation.

What are your hints for making a todo list that actually works? Let’s talk!

Tomorrow may never come!

When I was a kid, I would occasionally hear my dad say: "don’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow may never come".

While the future may be enticing, NOW is where you live.

Embrace it!

Dreaming about the future is exhilarating. The what could be and the what may be allow our minds to grow and fuel our imaginations. In the future we are perfect. In the future all of our dreams come true.

In the past, we’ve already made our mistakes. We leave our disappointments and failures there.

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."

~Jan Glidewell

No date on the calendar is as important as today!

What are you going to do with it?

What is the one thing you need to do NOW?

Who do you need to call NOW?

What do you need to let go of NOW?

Your future begins NOW!

What are YOU going to do today? Let me know in the comments. Let’s talk!