A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I noticed there were several tree companies working in our neighborhood. Their assignment was to cut the trees back wherever there was danger of them falling against power lines. Their work often left the trees looking misshapen and distorted, thus they were frowned upon and treated badly by most of the neighborhood residents, even though they were doing work that needed to be done. While they were on my property I concluded that I would get better results if I befriended the workers. In doing so I also discovered they had to drive about 15 miles out in the country to dump each truckload of freshly chipped wood. I asked if they would mind just dumping the chips from my property right there in a big pile. They laughed at the thought of not having to waste an hour driving to their normal dump site. What they thought was trash I recognized as a bonus for me.
Need a new map for your life?
In his book A Whack on the Side of the Head, Roger von Oech tells a story about a Native American tribal chief. 
Whenever the tribe was having difficulty finding new game, the chief would take a dried animal skin, crinkle it repeatedly until deep lines appeared, and then mark it with some places already familiar to the hunters. Then he would tell the hunting party that this was an ancient map and that the crinkled lines showed the best hunting trails used by their ancestors. Armed with this new information, the hunting party would set out with confidence and enthusiasm, and surprisingly enough, would always find an abundance of game for the tribe.
Multi-task or "take a hit"
In one of the many letters he wrote to his son in the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice: “There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.” To Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one’s time; it was a mark of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind.”
What are you seeing?
The real act of discovery is not in finding new lands, but in seeing
with new eyes. – Marcel Proust
In today’s world we hear about the economy tanking, the politicians screaming at each other, the air becoming more polluted and the pesticides killing all the natural food benefits. Is that all you can think about – all you can “see?” If you can see beyond that you can explore opportunities with big profit potential, having a real voice in your local community, experimenting with a working windmill, and creating memories with your children by growing a garden in your own backyard. Your “eyes” will tell you what your options are.
I'm being forced out of my "calling"
Here is an all-too-common question:
| Dan, I’ve been with my company (a non-profit ministry) for 10.5 years, and found out yesterday my department is being outsourced. I’ve been offered a position in another department, but at a 22% pay decrease. We can’t afford the pay decrease, but I don’t want to walk away from my calling in ministry. What do you suggest that I do? Thank you! |
I suggest you get another job – pronto.
You’re confusing the terms “calling,” “career” and “job.”
