Do Less. Become More. Make a Difference.
This was the advice I gave back in the article We Need to Question Ourselves. And this is the advice I need to follow for myself right now.
This past March, I finished 378 consecutive days of producing one podcast episode per day. Since then, I have produced one article and podcast episode per week for the last 9 months.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I also just finished a major project of revising and updating my book The 1% Journal into five versions. The paperback versions for Leaders, Teachers, Students, Coaches, and Athletes are finally available on Amazon after a long delay
Labor, Leisure, and Love
A while back, I listened to a podcast from Father Mike Schmitz who said God created all of us for 3 L’s: labor, leisure, and love. The problem is we tend to fall on the extremes of labor and leisure. In some cases, we try to create our identity through our work…our labor…and this causes us to push ourselves to achieve things out of a desire for recognition. In other situations, we idolize the leisure lifestyle of taking it easy as a way to avoid our responsibility of doing work that truly matters.
In both circumstances, our inability to moderate labor and leisure takes away from our ability to execute the third L…love.
Sometimes We Need a Break
For those of you who don’t know me personally, I work full-time as the Director of Academic Services at Auburn High School, a small school just south of the capital city of Springfield, Illinois. I also coach junior high basketball. In May, my wife and I welcomed our fourth child. He has been a blessing to our family as he joined his older brothers, ages 15 and 13, and his sister, age 9.
I consider myself a hard worker. I have lots of plans for books and other resources I want to create…but sometimes it is just time to take a break. I’m sure I will find a little time to work on some things here and there, but for the next several weeks I need to take all deadlines off my calendar. I plan to resume my weekly messages in January.
Take Advantage of Opportunities to Love
There is a time for labor.
And there is a time for leisure.
We need to keep both in check so that in all cases we take advantage of our capacity to love.
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, this season and the end of the year should give us a chance to do less. We can utilize this time for reflection and renewal so we can become more. Then, we will be able to seize the opportunities which come our way to make a difference in the lives of our family and friends as well as those we meet throughout our journey.
I thank you for reading these messages and hope that you can find the right amount of both labor and leisure in your life so that you are able to love more fully and deeply.
Until next time, keep leading for impact by giving the people in your life a better version of you every day
