3 Reasons You Should Read

I used to be not much of a reader. In school, I would do only the minimum to get by. Cliffs Notes were my best friend.

In my high school English Lit class we were studying "The House Of The Seven Gables" (yawn). I read the first five pages and quit. The final exam was a one question oral exam, in front of the entire class. I got lucky: my question came from the first five pages. I nailed it! Whew!

Being a purpose-driven/OCD/perfectionist, I would only read what would benefit me in my career. How To... and 5 Ways For... were my favorites. Skim through and apply the principles for success.

Then a few years ago my wife (an avid reader) challenged me to read a fictional novel. "Purpose", I asked? Her response: You'll enjoy it. Now that was the ultimate oxymoron: Reading=enjoyment. Ha!

Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge, plus I love my wife dearly, so I read one (I even allowed her to choose it). And you know what? I actually liked it! So I read more. In fact, over the past nine years I have read 294 works of fiction. I even created a chart of favorite authors, and the books I've read (did I mention I was OCD?).

(Disclaimer: I do not seek to escape from the realities of life by immersing myself in the fictitious world between the covers of the books I read. Remember: I am purpose-driven.)

So here are three benefits I've found to reading fiction:

• It helps me stay creative. Using one's imagination to interpret what the author is intending in the story keeps our creative energies sharp.
• It gives the left side of the brain a chance to rest, thus making it more effective. Just as rest and refreshment are good for the body, the mind can use a break too.
• It's just plain fun! You may be thinking: Reading is fun? Ha! But, as a converted reader, I can attest that I actually look forward to the enjoyment that reading affords.

If you read, keep reading. If you don't read regularly, take a break from Netflix (or going the movies, if you can afford it) and feed your imagination. It's worth it!

Question: What benefits have you found in reading fiction? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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Lay Down: 5 Ideas For Creativity

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Do you remenber as a kid, laying in the grass and watching the clouds go by? Did you imagine you saw horses, whales, army tanks, and faces? (That's what I saw.)

As adults, those days don't seem to exist anymore, and although I sometimes long for the carefree experience of simply laying down and looking up at the sky, I would rather capture the imagination and creativity that those times produced.

What was it about laying in the grass and staring at the clouds that casued us to imagine and dream?

Actually, it's not laying down that makes us creative, but rather the changing of our perspective. Here are some ideas for changing our perspective to help stimulate creativity:

• When you need an idea or have to solve a problem, lie on the floor. Seeing things from ground-level causes us to think vertically.
• Trying to get a grasp of the big picture? Climb up on the roof, or go up a few floors and look out the windows.
• Need to see things from another's point of view, sit across from your desk and think in the guest chair. (Pastors, sit out where the congregation sits.)
• Write in longhand, instead of typing. It's a lost art, plus it allows you time to think through your words and language use. (Although my 82 year-old Mom likes to communicate by texting, I mail her a handwritten note every week. It allows me to capture and record my thoughts with more substance and heart.)
• Look backwards: Act like you are looking in your rear-view mirror. Start at the desired solution or outcome and think backwards to the beginning.

A different perspective is a great way to get creative and see your imagination come alive.

Question: What are some ways you have found to change your perspective and become creative? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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Uses For Old Ideas: Going Green

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I have a mentor/friend, L.C. Campbell, who says, "Don't reinvent the wheel." In other words, it's OK to take a used idea (even if it is someone else's) and re-shape it to fit your need or situation.

You may call it reycling ideas. I'll call them Green Ideas. Here are some ways to find and use Green Ideas:

• Use Green Ideas as a catalyst for brainstorming with your team, even if they laugh. (No need to claim ownership if the old idea is really lame.)

• Use Green Ideas from another industry. Ask, "How could that idea work for me?"

• Watch Youtube movie trailers from the 1950s. A great place to find 'Old School' Green Ideas.

• Combine some of the best elements of two or more Green Ideas to create a new idea.

• Ask someone a generation older than you what they did in a similar situation. (Respect your elders! If their Green Idea just won't do it for you, kindly thank them and smile. Laugh later in your car.)

A Green Idea may be just what you need to solve your problem, motivate your team, or take you to the next level in what you do.

Question: What are some ways you can use Green Ideas? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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The Old Fashioned Way

I got an email from an old friend today (that's what he put in the subject line: Old Friend). We met right after our high school graduations, and became fast friends.

He was from Atlanta, I from South Florida, and we worked hard at making our paths cross over the next several years. But, families were started, careers were pursued, and life happened. We lost touch after time and haven't connected for over 20 years.

He told me in the email that he was driving through Oklahoma and thought of a guy who mentored both of us, began to think of me, found me through my Blog, and there he was in my inbox.

I responded to him via email and asked if he was on Facebook. His response: Not on Facebook. We'll have to catch up the old fashioned way... by cell phone.

Wow, when did cell phones become old fashioned? I know of more and more people stopping their home phone service because of their cell phones. I also know of more and more people who skip email and communicate through Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. Are these forms of communication becoming old fashioned?

It seems that technology is changing so quickly, what was once fashionable is quickly becoming old fashioned. iCloud is replacing MobileMe, smart phones are replacing cell phones, apps are replacing programs. As another friend of mine put it: we live in a post-PC world.

I love the advances in technology, and the benefit they bring to our lives. I'm glad I can leverage social media, technology and communication to increase my influence. But there's nothing like an old fashioned face-to-face conversation.

I will call my old friend on his old fashioned cell phone. But I will also encourage him to come and visit so we can have an old fashioned face-to-face conversation.

Question: What do you consider old fashioned in our modes of communication? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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The Snooze Button

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I heard a radio commercial today where a person asks an British-accented lizard, "I have a habit of hitting the snooze button when my alarm goes off. Any suggestions?"

I have one: Get up!

I can hear the Type-A, OCD, 'get off your duff' people who read this post saying, "Tell 'em Brad!"

But then others are asking, "What's wrong with a few extra minutes of sleep?"

The practical side of me argues that if you want a few extra minutes of sleep, set your alarm for a few minutes later. Then your few extra minutes won't be interrupted.

The counter to that: It takes me a while to wake up.

And so no, and so on...

It's obvious that each of us are built differently. Some are fine with "one alarm". Some need the snooze button. A few will boast that they get up just before the alarm goes off.

I think that all of us have a snooze button at work somewhere in our lives. For some it may be a reminder of sorts. A few may have a friend, spouse (or parent), who give them a gentle nudge when needed. For others, it's defined as a second chance.

Golfers call it a Mulligan. Smart phone owners have an app for it. Sleepers call it a snooze button. Whatever you might call it, use it.

Whatever you might call it, use it.

Question: When have you used your snooze button (even if it is your alarm clock's)? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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Finding The Best App For That

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A colleague recently purchased an iPhone. Knowing that I also owned one, he asked me what apps I would recommend to help him with his job. We researched together, tried a few and settled on a couple that appear to provide a great benefit to his job (and my job too).

I continued to suggest more, mainly because they are cool apps, but not very practical to his job.

In the midst of all of this, I backed away and looked at the bigger picture: Creatives are constantly looking for ways to excel, accomplish more, and do better. And in the process, we get more things, more accessories, and more apps to try to do better.

I have dozens of apps on my iPhone, the lionshare were free (most who know me, know that I am frugal - a.k.a. cheap!). Most of those apps I haven't opened since I acquired them.

I want to get more sounds for my keyboard (I already have thousands). Most of those sounds I never use in recording or live playing.

I want to get an upgrade for the recording software on my MacBook Pro because it boasts 500 new guitar sounds. What will I do with 500 new guitar sounds?

Instead of finding the most for what we want to do, maybe we ought to find the best for what we want to do.

I recently had a conversation with my Co-Pastor that I serve alongside of. The topic: focusing on a few things that we do well, rather than trying to do many things so-so.

I think there is an app for that. If not, I want to create one!

Question: Do you tend to look for the best app for the job, or for many apps to get the job done? Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

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The Solitude Of Running Alone

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I like to run alone. There is something inviting to me about the quiet, the pace, and the contemplation that I have when I run alone.

Sometimes I listen to music on my iPod. Sometimes I would run on the treadmill (in the winter when I lived in Maryland), and watched Headline News with the sound off, praying for the people in the news stories.

Many times I listen to and watch nothing, except the sound of my feet hitting the trail as it unfolds.

On rare occasions I will run with someone who invites me. But usually I decline. Maybe I am afraid I can't keep up, or that I'll quit before they are finished. Or maybe, I simply like the solitude of running alone.

When I run alone, I create, I meditate, I write songs. Sometimes I just I listen to God.

My wife likes to kayak. Alone. She tells me it is her chance for solitude. When she is out on the water, she thinks, she creates, and she listens to God.

Many times the experiences we have in our solitude play a big part in enhancing our relationship with each other. There is something to be said for solitude.

And so I run alone.

Question: What do you like about solitude, or do you dislike it? Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

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New Creativity

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I connected with a new leader over the weekend. He and his family are in the area vacationing, and because of a long relationship with my Co-Pastor, I got connected also.

Last evening over dinner he challenged me with these words: Look for new creativity. Don't rely on the old, reliable, or previously successful methods of reaching and influencing people.

That statement resonated with my spirit. New creativity. It almost sounds redundant, but instead I see it as taking creativity to the next level.

Oftentimes, I find myself reinventing the wheel rather than going with what I know works. But I feel justified because I understand that culture changes, perception changes, and people change.

I am not about change just for the sake of change, but rather having a purpose in change, in adjusting, in creativity.

In worship music, I rarely lead a song the same way twice, but find myself looking for a tweak or nuance that gives it a fresh feel. Of course this sometimes frustrates our musicians and singers. But that's the way I am built: I don't want people to get so familiar with a song that it loses its intended message and impact.

Just last night, as I was rehearsing a song with my daughter that I wrote a few years ago, I stated playing an entirely new introduction. In just a few minutes we had a completely new sound to a familiar song.

What about you? Do you find yourself doing the same things the same way? Are you prone to maintaining the status quo? Or are you inclined to developing new creativity, looking for new ways to engage, encourage, and influence others?

Question: How has new creativity worked for you? Share your thoughts below in "comments".

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Creating The News Cycle

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Monday morning I tweeted and updated my Facebook status to: So glad our guys didn't get Bin Laden last Friday. We'd have never heard about it.

I received many comments and responses to that simple <140 character group of words.

But I really think that is true - well mostly true. It would take a really BIG story to displace the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine.

And then there was the storm and tornados that ravaged the southern states and caused so much death and destruction. Wouldn't it have been terrible it the storm hit on Friday instead of earlier last week? Would the storm report be an "oh, by the way" footnote?

The thing is, the news cycle is a funny thing: sometimes there's just not a whole lot going on that's newsworthy, and at other times, multiple stories are competing for top billing. And I believe that indirectly, the public decides what or who gets the attention.

My point: Well, you have probably decided my "backhanded" motive for stating the above. What I do want to emphasize is that in our desire to create the culture that we live in, we shouldn't allow the public to decide what is is culture-worthy. Be true to your calling, your gifting, your passion. Offer what comes from your heart, not what pacifies their heads.

The Royal Wedding kind of reminds me of another royal-presonality-driven-news-cycle. It wasn't too long ago that a one Princess Diana, mother to the above referenced newly married groom, died in a tragic car accident.

And it was less than one week later that Mother Theresa quietly died after her evening prayer time.


Not very newsworthy.

Question: Do you think our culture drives our news, or does news drive our culture? Share your thoughts below in "comments".

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Leading From Behind

Leading From Behind. Some might call it leading with balance. Some might call it leading in safety. Some might call it reactionary leadership.

I call it following.

Question: What do you call Leading From Behind?  Share your thoughts below in comments.

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No Matter Where You Are...

Myself and my family have undergone some changes recently.

After 10 years of living in the Washington, DC area, we moved to Northwest Florida. I went from being the Executive Pastor of a 3000+ member church, to Co-Pastor of a church running just under 100.

I went from making a salary that allowed us to live and raise three children in the DC area, to working a 'tent-making' job at an insurance agency, making 40% of our household needs and watching our savings diminish each month.

But I love my life!

You see, my geography and culture may have changed, but my desire and potential to influence it haven't. I still greet each person I meet with a smile and a desire to lead them. I continue to go out of my way to inspire and influence. I still believe that one can affect people, anywhere.

And so I am developing relationships at Starbucks and State Farm, at Winn-Dixie and Walmart.

I am developing a team of leaders, pouring into them, and expecting them to pour into others.

I am doing everything I can to help others fulfill their destinies.

Why? Because I believe that is my destiny.

Question: What can you offer me that will help me to continue to be an influence to those around me? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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