If you’ve reached this post from the Tuesday Morning Meditation Issue, welcome!  And welcome to everyone else who has either gotten to this post on purpose, through Facebook, through LinkedIn or stumbled upon it. This is a joint effort to get your thoughts on a very important subject matter. Read on and share your insight…

I recently posted a piece entitled “The 4-Step Process of Continuous Development” (Read It Here). In it, I made the case  that when a person is always moving, pushing for improvement, they are able to successfully navigate away from burnout in their ministry leadership.

Last week in the USA Today, Craig Wilson wrote a piece entitled, “A perfect you may be just around the corner.” In it, he makes the case that there is way too much emphasis on self-improvement. I quote him here:

“Week after week, year after year, magazines and books are published for the sole purpose of informing me about what’s lacking in my life and what I can do to make it better… I’m quite content with me life… I know I’m not supposed to be… All I wanted then is to be left alone.”

So we have a couple of differing views on personal growth.

Let’s start the dialog

Is there too big an emphasis on improvement?

Is there validity in finding contentment?

Ministry leader, are you serious about a life totally insulated from the devastating impact of burnout? Then you’re ready for continuous improvement. That means an intentional journey of going from “Point A” to “Point B” on and on.

Here is a 4-step process for helping you get to your “Point B” with greater success. Answer the four guiding questions under each step as completely as you can.

STEP ONE: Define “POINT A” (your present situation)

• What does “A” look like (be brutally honest)?
• Why not stay at “A”?
• What about “A” is working?
• What about “A” is not working?

STEP TWO: Define “POINT B” (your desired future)

• What does “B” look like?
• What would ”B” allow you to do that you can’t do right now?
• How does “B” help advance your mission or life plan?
• Do you see yourself in “B” (what do you look like)?

STEP THREE:  Define the CONTEXT of your “Point A” – “Point B” journey

• What is in place right now that will help you reach “B”?
• What is threatening your arrival at “B”?
• Can you do it within yourself or do you need to bring in other talent?
• With all you have on your plate, how likely will you accomplish the journey to “B” (what do you have to adjust to make it happen)?

STEP FOUR: Define the PATH (not the entire journey, just the foreseeable future)

• What changes (internal/external) need to be made to reach “B”?
• What are the steps to reach “B”?
• What steps will you take in the next 30 days?
• How will you stay on track – what’s your accountability network?

I hope you’re serious about your personal growth. I’d love to help you on your journey. If you’d like a personal life coach to be part of your accountability network, contact me and we’ll set up a free, no obligation, complimentary coaching session to see if it will help you get to Point B.

You’re a ministry leader. Your eye is on the ball – your calling. There is a threat that lingers close by. We call it burnout. It’s waiting to trip you up, make you fall, lead you to despair.

But that doesn’t have to be the case. You don’t have to be a statistic. The first step in overcoming burnout is knowing what it is in the first place. Then understanding how it works, how to get out of it, and how to prevent it. Those are the 4 questions we will deal with in this paper.

4 Questions About Burnout

Knowledge is the first step to victory.

Why

Moist clay is moldable. Hard clay cannot be shaped.

God, the Potter, has a big plan that involves you (the clay).

Distraction is one of the enemy’s greatest tools.

Get too fixated on a best practice or principle and you lose the ability to see when God turns a corner.

How

List the assumptions which lie beneath your behavior

Revisit these assumptions frequently (weekly, perhaps) and ask yourself, “Do I really still believe in that?”

Give unfettered freedom for a trusted, caring friend to look out for blind spots (and listen when they show you yours)

Read about humility. Find information in blog posts, books, magazine articles, whatever you can get your hands on.

Your Turn: How do you keep your clay moist?

“I hate buying ink.”

What makes us hate buying ink? It’s not glamorous. It’s expensive. It’s in the same arena as having your septic system repaired.

Why is ink so expensive? Consider the print jobs in one single cartridge. Pictures of grandkids. Memories of that special wedding day. The science report. Your dissertation. None would be possible without that little expensive plastic container of liquid color.

Personal development is exciting but expensive. It costs in time, effort and resources. Most people don’t make the investment because it doesn’t yield instant results.

Is that how you view the investment in your own personal growth?

You’ve heard me write on the importance of review and reflection – the power in “pulling off to the side of the road” to check the engine, check the compass, check the gas gauge, check the map. If we don’t take this periodic time, we risk spending a lifetime of busy activity only to find we’ve been on the wrong course all along. Or we miss the golden opportunities God has planned for us – those divine appointments.

When you review your life, what is the best way to hear yourself think?

Via Talking

Sometimes it helps to process verbally. We need someone to bounce ideas off of. We can quickly come to conclusions after we’ve heard ourself speak. Plus there’s the added benefit of feedback, pushback from the listener (if they’re good).

Via Reading

Sometimes it helps to read a good book. Highlight the sentences that jump out at you, collect all the highlights, and continue to review them over a period of time.

Via Reflection

Sometimes it helps to sit idle. Silence. No talking, just reflecting. Listening to God speak into your life as you let the water of your memory float over the good and bad experiences.

Perhaps we need all three.  Think of it like a recipe to a great dish: Half a cup of Talking. Two cups of Reading. And a cup and a half of Reflecting.

How about you? What helps you do your best thinking?