Until the big project is over at work.Until they get out of this stage.Until their marriage gets out of this slump.Until they get more sleep.Until their parents’ health isn’t an issue.Until they find someone who will make them happy.Until COVID is over.The list goes on.But keeping it all together is exhausting. Sometimes we can’t keep plowing ahead. Sometimes we need to take a step back so that we can move forward again. [ctt template="2" link="mgVf7" via="no" ]Sometimes we need to take a step back so that we can move forward again. @KevinPaulScott[/ctt]Two weeks ago, at ADDO’s winter retreat, we took that step back.The larger we become and the busier we get, the tougher it seems to justify pulling the entire organization away. But the truth is, the busier we get, the more we need a retreat.The word retreat is defined as act of moving back or withdrawing. It can also be a quiet or secluded place in which one can rest and relax.Retreats are valuable for teams, and they are valuable for individuals.Bill Gates pulls away for entire weeks at a time for what he calls “think weeks.” Once per year, Chick-fil-A takes every owner/operator, every corporate staff member, and each of their spouses for four days away.I know many of you are thinking, “Yeah, Kevin, a retreat would be nice, but that’s not realistic for me.”Here’s my encouragement: find ways you can pull back and recalibrate.[highlight]While many of us may not have the luxury of a sabbatical, it’s essential we find ways to incorporate rest and retreat into the rhythms of our life.[/highlight]Take some time to pull back and see the bigger picture.Take one day a week to rest and recharge.Take 10 minutes during the day to clear your mind.When it’s possible, find a way to change your physical location and slow down. A change of place and a change of pace will provide a change of perspective. And changing your perspective might just change everything.

I saw friends answering questionaries about their significant others on Facebook, others shared Instagram stories to showcase their love, and some posted quotes and sweet sentiments that showcased their feelings.

One quote that’s often posted about love comes from the book of Ruth in the Bible:

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. – Ruth 1:16 ESV

Wow. That’s some serious commitment, right? Any of us could aspire to that kind of love with someone we are married to, or even dating.

What’s even more remarkable is when you look at the context of this conversation and find out it wasn’t even a romantic type of commitment at all.

Time out. Quick context for those of you who might not be as familiar with the story.

Naomi was married and had two sons. Naomi’s family moved to a place called Moab. In Moab, Naomi’s husband died. Her sons married women from Moab, and then both sons died, as well. Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi pleads with them to go re-marry and move on with their lives. Orpah finally agrees, but Ruth won’t relent.

That’s where we pick up the conversation in this verse, where daughter-in-law Ruth tells mother-in-law Naomi:

Quit asking me to leave you.

Where you go, I will go.

Where you stay, I will stay.

Your people will be my people.

Your God will be my God.

What a great picture of love, and not just in a romantic sense. In fact, this provides a blueprint of how we can love people during tough times.

Take a look.

‍Love them where they are. “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you.” In essence, Ruth tells Naomi, I’m going to stay by your side. I’ll be right where you are.

‍Love them where they’re going. “For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.” Not only am I going to be where you are now, I’m going to stay with you!

‍Love them and their people. “Your people shall be my people.” Said another way, I’m going to love you and your family!

Right this very minute, you probably know someone who is hurting. Maybe a co-worker or a fellow church member. It might be a neighbor or another friend.

Find ways to show people you care. Follow the pattern laid out by Ruth to care for people where they are, care for them where they’re going, and show care for them and their loved ones.

Whether sermons, political speeches, or inspirational talks, I believe powerful communication moves hearts and minds, and can inspire action and change.

Unfortunately, most speeches are quite unremarkable.

Have you ever heard something, and you knew it wasn’t great, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on why it wasn’t effective?

One time I asked a friend why a particular talk missed the mark. His response: “Well, a lot of the content was good, but he took us on a merry-go-round, and we were hoping to go on a roller coaster.”

I had never heard that metaphor before, but he was exactly right.

Think about it: if you’re on a merry-go-round, you’re there for one of two reasons. Either you’re there with a child, or you’re on a first date. (If you’re an adult and enjoy merry-go-rounds on your own, that’s definitely weird). Merry-go-rounds are predictable. You hop on; the music starts; the carousel starts moving; and it goes in the same direction, at the same speed, the entire time. It will never speed up, turn around, stop abruptly, or change directions—you know exactly what you’re getting.

A roller coaster, however, is different. When you ride a roller coaster, there’s anticipation before the first plunge, inflection of speed and height as you ride, and emotional highs and lows throughout the twists and turns of the track.

We should apply the roller coaster methodology when we give speeches, create experiences, and make moments that are memorable.

1. Anticipation

Almost all roller coasters begin the same. They hit the track from the loading zone, and you hear the click, click, click of the cars climbing the chain up the first hill. The incline steepens, the noise of the ride gets louder, and your vision of the sky against the track builds your excitement for that first plunge. People love to feel anticipation. Sometimes, the buildup to an experience is the best part. Krispy Kreme does this well for their customers. When you see that the hot sign is on, there’s a gravitational pull of your car into their parking lot. You anticipate that warm, sweet, perfect donut that will melt in your mouth before you even turn on your blinker.

2. Inflection

Roller coaster rides are exciting because your position is constantly changing. You’re up and down hills, around circles, upside down, right-side up, moving extremely fast or extremely slow to build dramatic effect. Whether you’re creating a customer experience, an event, or a speech, how do you create levels of excitement? When speaking, you can elevate your voice or get softer to emphasize a point. You can add various components to your event to engage your audience. Sometimes, it’s getting people out of their seats, or simply changing the medium you’re using to deliver your message. If we are intentional, we can use inflection to create exciting experiences and events.

3. Emotion

How do you feel when you ride a merry-go-round? About the same throughout unless you’re feeding off the emotion of another person—the joy of a child or the laughter of a first date. Often, riders high-five each other when they get off a roller coaster because it created an emotional experience they want to share even after it’s over. In the same way, we want to create experiences that leave people feeling so excited, challenged, and empowered that they want to share it with other people.

When you build anticipation, use inflection, and evoke emotion, you’ve created something special that people will remember and remark about.

Try to add one, two, or all three of these elements into the next experience you’re creating.

Whether you’re leading a meeting at work, teaching a Sunday School class, planning a birthday party, or giving a speech, think of ways you can make it more of a roller coaster ride than a merry-go-round.

I remember one story I heard from an elementary school we partnered with a couple years back.

The teacher went around and asked the students what each of them did to help out at home.

“I help clean the dishes,” said one little girl.

“I clean my room,” followed a little boy.

“I take out the trash,” said another girl.

The children went on like this, volunteering the ways they help out at home. As the students started to grow quiet, the teacher noticed that one of the students had not participated or shared his answer with the class.

“Well, do you help out at home?” she asked.

“Yes, I do,” he said.

“How do you help out?” she followed.

“I stay out of the way!”

While his answer was surprising, and kind of funny, it was also sad. The boy may have given the answer in jest, but imagine if he really believes his contribution would always be more harmful than helpful?

I wonder how many adults (if they were being honest) feel the same way. Many people spend their lives trying to stay out of the game and out of the way. Are you spending your time on the sidelines or are you on the front lines? Are you involved in making your world, your community, or your school a better place? It's sad that some feel like they don’t have anything valuable to bring to the table, so they settle for living their lives on the sidelines.

This is often true of people at work. They show up every day to their job, and their goal is to simply stay out the way. They work through their checklist, answer their emails, wrap up their projects, and go home, avoiding any meaningful contribution. In doing so, individuals forfeit the opportunity to add value and make things better.

It happens in schools, in workplaces, in churches, and in communities.

Too many people are sitting on the sidelines of life, instead of getting in the game.

If you see something you want changed, don’t be a spectator, be a contributor. Take a look at your life right now. Are you spending your time on the sidelines, or are you on the front lines, involved in making your world, your community, or your school a better place?

Get engaged at work. Find an opportunity to serve in your church. Sign up to help a local charity. Join the parent-teacher organization at your child’s school. Tell your boss about the idea you had this week. Become a person of action.

The world needs what you have to offer. We are waiting on you.

Make the decision to get in the game.

Over the next couple of weeks, there will be a couple more funerals for folks from our church.

I'm reminded that:

Funerals serve as a powerful force to focus us on what really matters in life.

When you gather at a funeral, no one really cares about someone’s income; they focus on the impact that individual had. And if that’s what’s going to matter most at the end of our lives, shouldn’t we be focusing on it now?

If a funeral reminds us to focus, I want to focus on the things that matter most. This week I’ll have the opportunity to leverage my gifts to speak at a business conference, where I’ll challenge leaders to shift their perspective and live up to their God-given potential. This year, ADDO will launch programs in over a thousand schools that will touch the lives of students across the country. And in the evening, I will come home to invest in my family—my wife Laura, our son George, and my daughter Amelia.

I know there will be parts of my life that I’ll drudgingly have to get through, but I want to spend as much time as possible on activities that will matter when I’ve passed away.

Here’s a question that each of us should ask ourselves:

What am I doing today that will outlive my life?

It's probably not the emails in my inbox that need responding to, the bills I must pay, or the countless other things that I spent some time this week agonizing over. Of course, I must do those things, but they aren’t the most important part of what I will do.

At the beginning of the movie Gladiator, Maximus leads his men into battle with this charge:

“What we do in life echoes in eternity."

It’s not that your business doesn’t matter, but time with your kids matters more.

It’s not that your bottom line doesn’t matter but, investing in the lives of your team matters more.

It’s not that your to-do list isn’t filled with important tasks but making the time to sit with a friend really does matter more.

What are you doing today that will echo in eternity?

Will our actions today make the kind of impact that will outlive us?

I sure hope so.

Money helps us to fulfill our mission. This is true in business, in non-profits, and in churches.We get it messed up when we focus on either end of the spectrum. On one end, we focus completely on money, making it our ultimate goal. On the other end, we naively believe that money doesn't matter at all.We must make the mission our goal and make money the method to achieve our goals.[highlight]We must make the mission our goal and make money the method to achieve our goals.[/highlight]

This message is desperately needed in corporate America, where many businesses are suffering from an epidemic of apathy. A study by Deloitte revealed that U.S. companies spent over $100 billion on training and $1 billion to promote employee engagement, but only thirteen percent of employees are described as “passionate” about their work.

Almost two-thirds are “half-hearted” and disengaged, and the rest, almost one in four, fall in the netherworld between passionate and disengaged. The study identified three distinct characteristics of passionate employees:

1. Long-term commitment to making a difference.
2. Active pursuit of new challenges to accelerate personal development.
3. The desire to build relationships based on trust.

Perhaps surprisingly, only half of executives and senior management qualified as passionate and engaged.All this points us back to the premise that purpose must be our goal, and profit serves to fuel our purpose.If you're feeling disengaged? Remember why you exist.Is your team disconnected? Point them to the purpose.With purpose, profit matters, and it matters a lot. Without purpose, profit might fuel you, but your destination won't be nearly as meaningful.[ctt template="2" link="bVqE7" via="no" ]Profit fuels purpose. @KevinPaulScott [/ctt]

Updated information.Upgraded technology.Advanced approaches.New systems.In some ways, leaders may be excited about the change. After all, change brings with it the promise of new opportunities and better results. However, for many in an organization, change strikes fear.How will it affect my daily role? Should I be concerned about my future?One of my friends told me: [highlight]“If someone is going to effectively lead change, they need to turn up the care.”[/highlight]His statement painted a vivid image in my mind of a physical care dial that needs to be turned up. It's like taking the volume setting and turning up a few notches or cranking up the thermostat a few degrees.When your team is in the middle of an important transition, they need more care, not less.You might be trying to implement a new strategy, asking them to do something uncomfortable, shifting the style of your work, changing their job descriptions, or reorganizing their positions in your organization.All of these require an increase in the care shown toward them.Why does this matter? Because when people feel cared for, they are far more willing to follow.In his book The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey explains that the speed at which an organization can change is directly correlated to the level of trust within that organization. In other words, the more that people trust each other, the more quickly people will move toward a proposed change. If someone believes (trusts) that their leader’s intentions are pure, that they act for the good of their employees, volunteers, or church members, they are more willing to endure discomfort for a season as they adjust to change.So, if trust is essential to helping any group change and grow, how can we improve that trust? It all goes back to care. The pace of change in our world is increasing. (Genuine being the operative word!)[ctt template="2" link="_bdOa" via="no" ]The pace of change in our world is increasing. @KevinPaulScott[/ctt] Practically caring for people can look drastically different depending on the relationship and situation.It might be taking the time to write one volunteer a note each week, expressing your appreciation for their hard work.Maybe it’s sending a personal text message to the team member that you saw go out of their way to accomplish the goal.It could be providing a bonus or recognition to the individuals that put in hours outside of work to complete a big project that helped your business to grow.In your family, it could be encouraging your children when they are kind and generous to their siblings without being asked.Don’t misunderstand this: Caring should not be a strategy you employ to manipulate or coerce individuals into doing what you want. Instead, caring for your people should be a habit and a posture you adopt every single day.Then, when you’re making moves, changing things, and experiencing substantial shifts, in those seasons you should double down and increase that care, so people are simply reminded of what they already know to be true.

Maybe you’re one of them. People write down their goals—things they want to do or things they want to stop doing. These resolutions might be professional or personal. They might be focused on losing weight or growing a business. They could be the first step to pursuing a dream or an important relationship. The bottom line is that people make promises, to themselves and others, many of which will ultimately be broken.

I’m not against resolutions. And to be honest, the greatest problem with New Year’s resolutions is not the risk that we may not keep them.

Instead, the biggest issue is that these lists focus mainly on what we are going to do and often overlook why we are going to do it. Without acknowledging the driving force that motivates you to accomplish something, it’s challenging (read: almost impossible) to stay committed over time.

It’s difficult to identify one single motive that drives what we do each day, but I believe that most of our decisions and actions fall into one of the following categories: survival, approval, fun, and calling.

1. Survival:

We all make decisions necessary to survive in this life. Many of us have jobs so we can pay the bills, put food on the table, and meet the needs of our family. This desire to survive is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s necessary, but in isolation, it is simply not enough to fulfill us long term.

2. Approval:

In some way, shape, or form, each of us has a desire be accepted and respected by our peers, mentors, and subordinates. We feel a surge of excitement when people like our Instagram photos and retweet our thoughts from the day. The words of affirmation cause us to hold our head higher and swell with pride. Seeking the approval of others drives our decisions and actions, but this motivation only leads to fleeting moments of satisfaction in our boosted egos. And it can actually be dangerous because when the approval flees, our sense of self-worth goes away with it. As Steven Furtick said, “He who lives by the approval of others will die by the absence of the same.”

3. Fun:

People are often motivated by pleasure. We seek adventure in the places we go and revel in any entertainment outlet offered to us. We seek things that please us and help us escape from the pressures of everyday life. The problem is that we can’t escape forever, and just like the rush that comes with man’s approval, the pleasures of fun won’t last.

4. Calling:

Survival, approval, and fun are all things that motivate us to act, but ultimately, the only motivator that leads to a life of fulfillment is calling.

Ultimately, we should be motivated by our calling in this life.

Your calling is rooted in who you are and what you believe.

his calling allows you to exercise your gifts and do something you enjoy that can impact the world around you.  A calling does not always have to be a career or a job. For some of us, our jobs give us a sense of calling, but for others, a volunteer organization, a relationship, or a role at home might reveal a personal calling. A sense of calling may not change what you do, but it always infuses what you do with meaning.

As you launch into 2022, begin to think about why you do certain things. If you’re focused on the what the not the why, you’ll spend this year feeling unfulfilled.

Success this year will not only be determined by what you do, but also why you do it.

When you combine me running late with extra-large bags and peak travel times, you elevate the stress level quickly!Anytime I’m packing for colder weather and utilizing large pieces of luggage, I’m reminded of the very first time I took college students to Africa for a study abroad program. We arrived at check in, and the weight limit the airline set for a single checked bag was fifty pounds. We had informed all our students about the airline’s policy, but one young lady must not have read the memo (or maybe she assumed no one would notice). At the check-in counter in Atlanta, she could barely hoist her bag onto the scales. It weighed 110 pounds! In this case, the airline didn’t even offer the option of paying an additional fee for excess weight. If she didn’t get her bag down to the weight limit, they wouldn’t let her bag on the plane.Her parents had come to the airport to see her off. The three of them opened her bag and went to work. For the next thirty minutes, tears streamed down her face as she took out shoes, clothes, and other things she had been so sure she needed for our trip. Repeatedly, she zipped up her bag and put it on the scales. Each time it was still too heavy, and she had to take more things out … prompting more anxiety and more tears. Finally, she achieved her fifty-pound limit. The moment was marked with equal parts relief and sorrow. I’m sure she thought she would run out of clothes after a few days, but she made it just fine.Have you ever had to repack your bag at the airport? [highlight] Do you know that in some airports there is a designated area specifically for this called a “repack zone?”[/highlight]It’s frustrating and embarrassing to open your bag in front of everyone, showing what’s inside, and to sort through your personal property. Your anxiety builds as you don’t want to miss your flight, but you also don’t want to leave without the things you need. Thinking about this story, my ski trip, and a repack zone, it causes me to consider what I am taking with me to 2022. No, I’m not just talking about literal items, but what baggage am I bringing with me into the new year?Sometimes, when we enter a new phase of life, it’s easy to try to take too much with us. The truth is that we all have baggage, but in this new year, is there anything you are bringing with you from last year that you need to leave in last year?Before this week ends, spend some time in the repack zone and evaluate the baggage that you need to let go.Let go of your resentment from the relationship that went wrong this year.Let go of the family argument that happened over Christmas dinner.Let go of the frustration you have toward your coworkers.Let go of your regret from some business decisions that didn’t work out.Leave the baggage of 2021 in the repack zone. Let go of anything that might prevent you from being your best in 2022.[ctt template="2" link="Lb02H" via="no" ]Leave the baggage of 2021 in the repack zone. Let go of anything that might prevent you from being your best in 2022. @KevinPaulScott[/ctt]Make today a repack day and take only what you need into next year.