Building Momentum, "In Life," part 2

A continuation of the series…

Readiness for life-long learning…I hope this is something I’m good at, but I can’t let myself think that. If it was up to me, somewhere along the line I would have probably thought, “OK, this is enough now.” “I’ve learned enough.” I can’t do that. The world is changing ever so rapidly. What was once good enough to get by ten years ago is no longer. What was once good enough two years ago isn’t either. But way more enjoyable and interestingly to me is that there is just so much fun stuff out there to learn.

The older I get the more I give myself permission to read and learn outside of my own professional disciplines. When I was in D.C. two months ago, I was reminded how the early leaders of our country always did that. They were “multi-disciplinary,” renaissance men and women. It seems like that used to be a much more highly valued idea back then. Of course, not as much had been written in any of the disciplines back then. I get some of my best, most creative thoughts when I get out of my field. It keeps me fresh.

Some days I will go to the library and browse, i.e. feast, picking up anything and everything that looks interesting.

I do try to read particularly in the fields of leadership (business, church, political, technology, and others), ministry, spiritual formation, and then for pure fun. And I’m big on experiences too: mission trips, field trips to business where friends or contacts work, interviewing people who are successful and finding out what worked best for them, holy land pilgrimages, etc. The older I get the more I also realize the importance of questions and the power of a good one. Not that good at it yet, but at least am making a better effort.

I have also discovered the ultimate power in doing something brand, spanking new. It feels like I’m on the biggest learning curve of my life right now. I pastored a church for twenty years. Some of the D.S. work is similar, but much is different. I’m learning more about myself and myself as a leader than ever before too. Still, not that good at it yet, but am trying.

Maybe I needed to shake things up in a much bigger way long ago…