Trying to Ignore Them

On Thursday night, an assistant coach in an NBA game stood on the court next to an opposing player in the final seconds and distracted him from taking a potential game-tying shot. (Obviously this isn't a legal move, but none of the officials caught it at the time.) The player with the ball thought it was a defender and passed up the shot before realizing it was a coach trying to confuse him. The coach ended up being fined by the NBA, but the damage was (unfairly) done and his team was victorious.

Can you identify the things that divert your attention the most? What pulls your focus away and leaves you feeling unsuccessful? Distractions pop up in very unexpected ways and won't always be fair. It takes a strong level of concentration to not be pulled away from what is most important and to complete the task in front of us. We've got to discipline ourselves to be zoned in so we can do the things that matter most.

More Than a Schedule

Your schedule is less about what you are doing and more about who you are becoming. 

-Bill Hybels

We all have schedules to maintain and tasks that move us through each week. There are dozens of important items and appointments and it doesn't take long before we have completely filled up our days.

Being busy isn't necessarily a bad thing (at least not all the time), but we do need to keep the right perspective on it. Are we aligning our tasks and calendars just to get things done or do we intentionally structure our agenda to build towards a better future? This isn't always an easy balance to maintain, but we feel less frustrated by our days when we see how it helps us grow into something more.

Listen Closely

When I'm exercising I like to listen to a variety of things. Running is always done to music, but I will listen to podcasts in the gym. Sometimes they are geared towards leadership, some days are focused on listening to other pastors messages, and others days it's sports. This helps me drown out the other noises and focus on what I'm doing.

Today I was at the back of the gym listening to a podcast while a workout class was taking place near me. Their trainer was yelling out instructions and countdowns to the entire group while loud music played in the background. There was also the mixed soundtrack of people lifting weights, the treadmills and ellipticals behind me, and my own rowing machine. With this cacophony of sounds I had to concentrate a little more than usual to hear my own headphones and what I was trying to take in. With a little focus I was able to tune out the other noises and hear what I wanted to hear.

Can we learn to tune out other distracting noises and listen to what is most important? Are we able to narrow our focus so we can pay attention to what matters most instead of being constantly distracted by surrounding sound? The noises around us may not be completely bad, but they can cause us to lose positive momentum if we can't focus on the messages we need to hear.

Pumped Up

Tonight is the beginning of the World Series with my beloved New York Mets coming back to the grand stage for the first time in 15 years. We cranked into this round with a pretty thorough beat down of the Chicago Cubs. Our young pitching staff did a great job of shutting down a great lineup and were able to channel their excitement into quality production. Pitching coach Dan Warthen talked about the management skills of the pitchers and said, “Adrenaline is like fire. It’s a valuable servant, but a dangerous master."

Excitement and adrenaline can be very helpful tools. The thrill of a new challenge or the tension of a stressful moment can increase our focus and even cause us to perform above our normal capabilities. If we are unable execute with precision however, this adrenaline can become a hindrance. This can be applied to our physical workouts, fulfilling personal vision, engaging stressful work situations, or deftly maneuvering through relationship difficulties. The difference in precise success and sloppy mediocrity is in whether we control our adrenaline or it controls us.

To the Finish

Sports teaches so many valuable lessons that can often be difficult to learn. That was painfully clear this Monday to American runner Molly Huddle. She was competing in Beijing in the World Athletics Championships in the 10,000 meter race. She had put herself in position to win the bronze medal, but slowed slightly at the end to celebrate and was barely passed by a fellow competitor. Instead of being on the podium she was bumped to fourth place and received no medal for her efforts. It's not difficult to see she would have finished in the top three if she had held off her celebration until after crossing the finish line. I feel confident in saying Molly will never finish a race again without running completely through the finish line.

Finishing well is not necessarily something that comes naturally. Sometimes we're guilty of celebrating progress too early and not following all the way through to completion. If we take our eyes off the goal too soon, we might not finish as strongly as we hoped. This dedication to finishing strong is part of our relationships, personal goals, finances, parenting, and professional desires. This doesn't mean we can't stop to celebrate milestones and victories, but that we need to do it at the right time so we don't miss out on big moments.

I don't want to be disappointed in myself because I let up two steps too soon.

Slowly Drifting

I love the ocean. I grew up in Daytona/Ormond Beach and going to the beach was a big part of my life. We didn’t have a lot of extras when we were kids, but the beach was always there for free entertainment. As I grew older it became a hangout place as a teen, a romantic place to walk at night on dates, and a family fun day after we had kids. There is beauty in the ocean and also swift moving power. You could float for hours as you bobbed over the waves, but if you didn’t pay attention you would end up far from where you began. The current would pull you (sometimes quickly) away from your spot on the shore. When our kids would play in the water we would constantly have to call them back from where they had drifted. It was easy to forget where you were and find yourself much farther down the shoreline than you anticipated.

It’s easy to drift in other areas of our life too. We enter into the current of busy schedules and have desires, ambitions, and standards we want to live by. When we forget to stop and refocus, we move farther away from them than we ever intended. It’s not that we willingly abandon our principles and goals as much as we slowly drift away from them. If we want to stay in line with what matters, we’ve got to make a habit of reevaluating where we are based on where we want to go and the person we want to become. We won’t slowly drift into better decisions, but will have to fight to stay on track. If we choose not to do this we’ll end up far from where we thought we would be.

Going 100

The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.  Mark Batterson

I’m not that man, but I would like to be. How do I keep growing in that direction? What do I need to set aside so I can put my life in God’s hands? How do I need to see the world around me if I am fully committed to this cause?

Choosing to follow this path won’t just change me, but will also change everyone I come into contact with. This isn’t an overestimation of my influence, but an accurate reflection of what God is capable of doing if I truly dedicate my life to serving Him. Batterson says the world hasn’t seen that level of manhood, but I haven’t even seen it in myself. I can’t expect the world to change if I’m not going to focus on changing me first. My desire is the first step in the right direction.

Work It

The NBA Finals started last night (non-sports fan readers-don't tune out just yet!) and the Warriors came back to win the Game 1 after being down by double digits. When asked about the comeback in a post game interview, their leading player pointed to their commitment to their system. He said they believed in what they had done all year to get here and didn't panic. They were able to maintain focus on the important things through adversity and do what had proven to be successful.

I would like to keep the same focus in my personal life. There are many good practices which have led me to this phase of life. These are physical, spiritual, relational, mental, and emotional habits which are part of my life system. While I need to be ready to adapt and make modifications as I grow, I can't neglect the important steps that have led me to this point. When I feel as if I am losing, I need to stay focused on healthy habits and keep doing what is right.

Winning Long Term

It's tough being a Mets fan recently. My team followed up an impressive start with an increasingly lackluster stretch that has knocked us out of first place. On paper things still look decent as we sit in second place with a winning record, but the performance has been dismally disappointing lately. There isn't really any aspect of the team's performance that is good right now and it's difficult to watch as a fan. It's almost as if they have forgotten to continue the positive habits that led to early victories. My Mets certainly can't hope to find long-term success by continuing this pattern of play.

We've got to be consistent in doing the right things if we want our personal lives to go well too. If we want to be successful, we can't rely on only being good for short stretches of time. It's the same way we can't have a healthy marriage by being attentive to our spouse's needs only on our anniversary. We can't effectively parent when we only respond to poor behavior. We won't maintain good health by exercising and eating right sporadically. We won't build a solid relationship with Christ when we only turn to Him in difficult circumstances and ignore Him the rest of the time.

There is no way we can always be at the top of our game, but we also can't rely on brief periods of positive focus and hope it carries over to the rest of our lives. We've got to put in the effort to maintain positive behaviors and decision making to build a streak that lasts.

Simple Things

Life is complicated more often than it is simple. We have levels of responsibility, layers of relationships, problems to handle, and dreams to fulfill. There are day-to-day things that must be addressed and future plans to develop. Sometimes the weight of it all can be overwhelming and the right path difficult to see clearly. 

When those complications start to seem too big, I've discovered that I need to refocus on what is simple to gain perspective. A family meal with laughter, multiple stories, and talking over each other is a guaranteed remedy. A conversation with my wife, sitting with my dog, or a good cup of coffee helps me take refuge in the simplistic things that bring peace in the chaos. We've all got to find those moments, wherever they might be, to help bring necessary balance to our lives. 

Juggling Act

I've shown the video above multiple times in the years since I first stumbled on it. I'm always in awe of the skill and practice that he put in to make this happen. At my current ability level, I'm not sure I could do what he does with just one tennis ball. Even if I could, I doubt an audience would be as impressed with my singular focus as they are with his ability to juggle multiple things with such dexterity.

I wonder if we are missing the boat when we are only impressed with someones ability to juggle multiple things. Perhaps we're missing the true value of a concentrated focus on one thing. It might not be as entertaining a show to watch, but I think we would realize great personal benefits from practicing it. Our intimacy with God would increase and we would be led into a deeper understanding of who He is. We would be more engaged in our personal relationships when we aren't trying to handle too many things at once. I believe we would even find more satisfaction in our calling if we could narrow our focus and energies.

I'm not saying that there aren't times when we will have to take on several things at once, but I do see great benefit in being able to narrow and intensify our focus sometimes too.

Great I Am

I often need simple reminders of what matters most. As a Christ follower, I know the truth of the God that I follow and yet I still need to center myself on the power of who He is. This helps me to overcome any obstacles I might face and any discouragement that might come my way. It's that focus that reminds me of the big picture of who I am blessed to serve.

Swinging Hard

There's an expression we would use on the golf course when we were facing a long hole. We would grab our biggest club, step up to the tee, and say, "Grip it and rip it!" It was an encouragement to hang on to your club and swing hard for maximum impact. It may not have been the best counsel in every situation, but it helped us focus on the distance of the task at hand. This philosophy could actually be helpful when you were swinging with intense purpose and aim.

I don't know that this is the very best advice for every life situation either, but there is some wisdom in it. When we are assessing difficult circumstances we should exhibit commitment to the process of overcoming. We need to adjust our gaze down the horizon and put our best efforts into finding the solution. Applying maximum effort with intense purpose and aim will help us to be successful even when it appears as if we have a long way to go.

Avoiding Complacency

I was watching an ESPN segment about the coaches from Alabama & Ohio State on the day of their big game earlier this week. Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are recognized as two of the top college coaches in their profession as their teams are consistently successful and they have multiple national championships. One of the journalists was commenting on how both men have continued to maintain high levels of performance through the years. He said that both men believe that complacency is the enemy and obsessive attention to detail is the solution. 

I believe it's possible for most people to find occasional success in parenting, leadership, and even sports. The key to consistent success is in refusing to allow complacency to set in. It's established in the discipline of repeating positive behaviors while staying hungry enough to fight for what is important. 

Finish It

God is a finisher. He always finishes what He starts. In fact, it tells us in Scripture that He began something in us and will see it through to the day of completion. It's a quality of God's character that highlights His indomitable and perfect will while revealing His tenacity in doing what is best for us.

What about us? Do we finish what we have started? Is our passion for change fueled by our drive to make it happen? Are we willing to endure difficulty as we pursue what is important to us? I believe that God has shared this characteristic with us, but we have to choose to act on it. When we aren't finishing the things that we have started we are ignoring part of who we are.

Take a Break

We periodically take technology breaks as a a family. It echoes the spiritual discipline of fasting (in a minor way) as we purposefully remove a regular part of our lives for a period of time. It isn't that our use of technology is completely negative, but it helps us to focus on what is most important. Taking these disciplined breaks will help remind me to place value in the right areas.

One

What do the following things have in common?

• Cultural shift
• Radical personal change
• Major life goal
• Positive relationships
• Unity in our community
• Overwhelming task list

They can only be achieved by tackling them one step at a time. We won't accomplish these in a single day or with a specific act, but with consistent effort in the right direction. Take the first step today, followed by positive movement tomorrow, and let the momentum build with each step in the right direction.

Get/Got

Forming new habits isn't easy, but developing new, healthy patterns is the only way to grow. These new rhythms of thinking and behavior help us maintain focus on our goals while giving us the strength to keep pushing forward. They end up helping us continue to do what is right even when our will power is weak and our rationalizations for abandonment are strong. They shift our emphasis from something that we've "got" to do to something that we "get" to do. That is the moment that we find pleasure in sticking to our transformed lifestyle and want to do whatever it takes to see it continue.

What new habits are you developing that will eventually become a positive engagement instead of dreary discipline?

Don't Slip!

I was running the steps next to our campus church on Saturday and meditating on two verses I had recently committed to memory. A portion of it says, "The law of God is in his heart and his feet do not slip." I was thinking about the idea of my feet slipping while I was concentrating to make sure that didn't happen when running up and down the stairs.

With winter's chill in the air, I was recalling our ice storms of this year and how I wouldn't find myself running steps if that happened again. In fact, it would be incredibly foolish of me to attempt to run the steps if they were covered in ice. I would hope I would have enough sense to stay off of them if they posed that much of a danger to me.

I hope that would apply in other areas of danger as well. If I want to maintain sure footing on my chosen pathway I need to avoid treacherous areas that might cause me to fall. I need to avoid looking at certain things, participating in certain conversations, and perhaps even having relationships with certain people. I hope that God has been active enough in my life and character development that I would recognize the potential of falling and choose to stay away from those areas. It's a much wiser move to stay in areas of firm footing so that I am not falling of the right pathway.

Time to Fight

We are engaged in a battle every day. There are some times when we might feel as if it is a battle simply for survival. Other times we are fighting to get ahead and improve our circumstances. Even if our daily motivation changes, the battle continues. How do we get prepared for what we will face? How do we anticipate what we will encounter and find success?

Our path is easier to choose when we can determine the answer to two questions:

What are you fighting against? 

What are you fighting for?

The answers to these two questions will set parameters for our daily focus and help us to stay engaged in battling the right things. If we allow ourselves to get distracted from these answers, we won't be successful when it matters most.