Category: motivation

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Encouragement motivation

Can anything good come of 2020?

Cartoon of a guy with a calendar. He says to a woman, "This year looked so promising, until I realized I was looking at last year's calendar."

No matter how you slice it, 2020 was a rough year. We had two promising months in the beginning before we realized we were facing a global crisis. Can anything good come of such a trying year? Yes, it can!

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)

This verse reminds me that all is not lost. When it seems there is nothing but wilderness and desert, we can know that things will get better. Good things are coming.

If you are reading this, congratulations! You made it through 2020! A new year means there is potential for a new beginning. It’s fun for me to look back through my posts talking about a new year. Each one sounded hopeful. And yes, we have reasons to be hopeful. We’ve learned some important lessons about perseverance, patience, and about pivoting during trying circumstances. These lessons can be very good for us in the future.

Like you, I am glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. But let’s also look forward. We will see a way in the wilderness. We will see rivers form in the desert. This year was not wasted. It can set up for success in 2021.

Cartoon of a guy with a calendar. He says to a woman, "This year looked so promising, until I realized I was looking at last year's calendar."
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Business Encouragement motivation pet cartoons

Why do compliments make me uncomfortable?

person wearing pink cap
Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

This article from Inc. Magazine had me thinking about compliments.

We all like to think we’re doing a good job, so why do we downplay them? Like this previous post I wrote suggests, we like to think giving compliments is a sign of generosity and can even boost our likeability and popularity a bit… that is if they’re seen as genuine. Besides, who wouldn’t want a can of tuna?

Cartoon of a girl with a can of tuna. She is surrounded by cats. The girl says, "Popularity is easy. All you need is a can of tuna."

Compliments can make us uncomfortable for the following reasons:

  • It makes us feel we didn’t earn something when someone claims you have.
  • They may not sound genuine. As the Inc. Magazine article states, sincere compliments are key.
  • We may have been taught to be humble.
  • A complement may challenge us to an even greater standard.

If a compliment sounds genuine, and it resonates with me, I say accept it. Don’t try to belittle it by playing it down. Let’s all be generous with giving sincere compliments and receiving them.

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motivation

Just Start, End, Restart

Cartoon of a grandfather and grandson on a roller coaster.

We’re all scared to start something. The fear of starting is often more terrifying than the action we dread. We spend too much time fretting whether we can do it right than actually doing the work.

We’ve all been there. To tell you the truth, I’ve been shell shocked since my wife stepped away from ministry this year. Apparently, he wanted to get her out before COVID-19 hit. Who would have thought this year would be such an upside-down, topsy-turvy roller coaster ride? I hope no one was eating before the middle of March 2020. We’ve all had motion sickness since then.

Cartoon of a grandfather and grandson on a roller coaster.

I took a leap of faith five years ago. We made a journey of two thousand miles when she had a job offer and returned after a year. And then we took a leap of faith when she ended her employment in December 2019. We are still determining what’s next.


It’s been difficult to think about restarting. But the alternative is to find a nice little corner, get in the fetal position and decide which thumb to suck (since I’m left-handed, I prefer that right thumb, so I can draw at the same time). Hey! Who hasn’t done that this year? This was a lousy year to stop the thumb-sucking habit.

So today, we restart again. It is better to say a little something than to keep quiet and never start. It’s time to joke again, laugh again, and to be unashamed of shedding a tear or two. After all, living happens between the star, restart, and finish. It’s a shame to never start, and as a result, never live.

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motivation

The Powerful Leadership Skill No One Wants to Use

Cartoon of two boys staring at a manhole. One says, "Sorry Mister. At least you can say you were part of a home run."

What is the most important leadership skill?

  • Is it the ability to ram your idea through your team?
  • Perhaps it’s Powerpoint skills? (Let’s hope not!)
  • Or maybe it’s the generosity to bring in doughnuts when your team has put in the hours on a big project?

No, one skill is a superpower that many souls value, but very few leaders have the courage to use it.

When I read this article by Josh Aten on Inc.com the other day, it struck me how simple the concept is. Then I thought about how rare of a quality it is. Frankly, many of us are scared to even consider it because we think it makes us appear weak. What is that quality?

it turns out that one of the most important leadership skills is admitting when you’re wrong.

Josh Aten on Inc.com

It’s so simple and obvious. Yet, I can see how it would have a stigma in many workplaces. After all, aren’t leaders supposed to be right all the time? Many leaders think that’s the case. Like my cartoon in 2009 showed, apologies can appear to show weakness and open us up to liability.

We Know Better

But we all know better. Nobody is right all the time. Anybody who has been in a relationship knows there are times they were wrong. We may not admit it, but we know there are times we should apologize, admit we were wrong and move on. It’s good for loving relationships. It’s good for all relationships, including professional ones.

I have had to use that skill recently. My wife and I have had some animated discussions about attitude. I’ve had to admit I can be the problem. It’s humbling when I can see the blind spots everyone else has but have no clue about my own. No wonder Jesus talked about the speck we see in a brother’s eye while we have a plank in our own eye. Yes, I’m guilty of that and I was wrong.

A sincere apology is a leadership skill that we rarely see in a business school curriculum. If we search for a good example in the media, we will probably be disappointed. Don’t expect to find a good example with politicians. We would even be hard-pressed to find a good example with journalists who have experienced a very unfortunate incident with a Zoom call.

Cartoon of two boys staring at a manhole. One says, "Sorry Mister. At least you can say you were part of a home run."
Categories
motivation

The Successful Fail

scientist working in laboratory
Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com

Yes, successful people fail. Not many people want to acknowledge that, including this author. It’s uncomfortable. Successful people are willing to work at mastery, even if it is ever elusive. It’s not that the successful never fail, it’s that they know how to keep going when failures and setbacks take down other people.

I was reminded of this when I read the Inc.com article, Mastery: What it Takes to Be on Top by Tanya Prive. The article says success takes mastery. And to master something takes these three requirements:

  • It’s not about the destination, it’s about the process
  • Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
  • Be willing to fail forward

Do the Successful Fail?

Trying something and failing isn’t easy. In 2015, my wife and I took a risk that ended up hurting us emotionally and financially. I said then that I had no regrets, and that holds true today. That risk has made us stronger and caused us to depend on our faith and each other. We are better people for it.

What we have learned from the event is crucial to our next steps. Does the setback make us want to never try to make a move again, or do we learn from it and try something different the next time? In effect, do we learn from the experiment or just quit?

Across the world, scientists and medical professionals are developing a vaccine for COVID-19. There have been many failures, I’m sure. But I am thankful for the lab technicians that are discovering what doesn’t work and then experimenting to find what will work. It takes persistence and a willingness to fail in order to eventually be successful.

We wouldn’t want these professionals to give up before they find a cure. Nor should we give up if we have a calling or ambition that fires us up. If you haven’t reached mastery yet, if success has been elusive for you, keep learning from your past mistakes and failures. You never know what good it may do for you and others in the future.

scientist working in laboratory
Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com