It’s easy to look at one bad customer service experience and dismiss it as an accident or a one-off encounter. But what if it’s intentional?

We interact with so many processes in 2024, it’s easy to look back and say, sure, we knew it would all work out. But I so quickly forget the perilous journey that my son took to go through surgery. We make journeys every day which are perilous.

Librarians face a paradox. If they let everyone in, the records could be destroyed. But if they let no one in, there would be no reason to have personnel staff the archives.

Because people could be performing so much more and they’re being stifled because there’s no reason to do any more and we’re getting a cheap version of leadership and a diluted version of what other team members could do.
And maybe everybody in the team has a superpower in some area. How do leaders tap into their MAX EFFORT potential?

Not playing ball is okay as long as you know that you're not playing ball anymore. More than ever, it’s your job to listen to the right voices and trust them. Balance the new ideas with the old ones.
The bridge between the decision and the decision-maker is trust and listening.

It’s at least worth considering how our phones affect responses in our physical world. Our digital life is impeding our real world.

When I am around the best people, I neglect the worst parts of me. It’s a great “excuse” to level up and find new frontiers of networks and to develop the strongest parts of myself into something even more ascendant.

Ask any athlete who is over 35, and they might tell you of all the things they’ve hurt. (However, many of the athletes I know who are older simply will not talk about injuries and that is another topic for another post.)
I’m not a physician or a physical therapist, but I work out six days a week, and I’m injured sometimes. (Many times) Right now, I’m a teeny bit injured. I’ve had quite a while to formulate my thoughts on injury. Here are my non-physician meditations about injury.

What are the ideas you entertain and, because they “walk around” your neighborhood every day, they feel safe? The thoughts about yourself and others, the thoughts about your spouse and your friends, your thoughts about your comfort and your pain.

What is found by opening all of the doors into the secret life is beyond valuable. In saying "Yes" to Him in the inner life is unspeakable freedom and powerful communion. But it will be painful. He'll make you trade your old ideas for His new ones. And the farther along you go with Him into the secret frontiers, the more treacherous the journey gets. The communion is worth the secret journey.

If you’ve ever tried to diet, one strategy that is often attempted but not adopted is to just stop eating. And this tactic rarely works. You have to navigate toward something that is healthier.

If you write until you’re finished, you’re probably going to feel exhausted and you’re not going to know what to write when you begin writing tomorrow.

Don’t write until you’re finished. Finish your writing session with more things to write. By “not finishing,” you’re going to do a couple of things.

In this season I'm in, I'm trying to 1. stay in the tension of the moment longer 2. Acknowledge that I contemplate comfort, and 3. delay comfort as a means to change and growth.

My temptation is to seek out new opportunities, bypassing all the options I have on hand. But what free things could I do today with people and processes right here?

But, without the anchor of the Lord and His identity, anxiety is not a possibility, it's the status quo, and it's the norm. Particularly when you think about death, what's your plan? Just take a few breaths and hope it works out? Just use 4 seconds of box breathing and it will be fine.
A life fully lacking nothing is the life tied to the Shepherd—to His voice and His patterns and His movements. Anything less is a life of lack.

Matt Ellis is a professional guitar teacher who shares his expertise about how learning guitar and playing on stage is better than ever. He loves all things music and is an incessant reader of all things Stephen King.

If you're training to be a nurse, you can't just pass the test on the process of starting an IV ,you have to change how you think about yourself. This isn't knowledge you acquire; you're literally transforming who you are.

When you're in a job, or a field, or a career, how do you know when to leave? When do you know when to start considering a move?

This one question can guide the timing of your decision to stay or go. It's not a be-all, end-all, exhaustive question. But this one question can tip you off to when you should go.  

Here is the question: Who's not buying their own product? Who is not buying the very widget they're selling?

Have an EVER-READY REJOICING attitude….because your group cohesion depends on it.