Anna and I often joke that we have a “cellular relationship.” Not just the kind of cellular that come from knowing each other after thirty years of marriage, but the kind that comes from being unable to spend face-time with each other. Our only connection when those busy times occur is with our cellular phones. Without them, and our commitment to carve out time alone, our cellular relationship would have decomposed a long time ago.

Sometimes the pursuit of a mission means setting aside such necessities as face-time for awhile. Jesus and disciples were so busy ministering to the crowds that surrounded them that they didn’t even have time to eat. (Just for the record, I’ve never been that busy.) They set aside their sustenance to fulfill their mission. “My food,” Jesus declared on another occasion, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34) Possessing a mission more grand than the mere pursuit of necessities separates us from the animal kingdom. Yet, while we may aspire to be like Him, none of us are Jesus and even He needed rest from the mission.

Your thoughts? Are you running so hard you’ve forgotten how to rest without feeling guilty?

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That was my dilemma when I reevaluated my personal mission statement last year. I knew something needed to change because my prior mission statement failed to adequately capture both my professional and ministry interests. So I decided to subject myself to a month of harmonic scrutiny. The idea is simple and based on a few principles:

• We are uniquely crafted by God, each of us manifesting something of Himself as we set about to do what we were created to do (Eph 2:10).
• We will be held accountable for the gifts that have been entrusted to us. That’s stewardship and was the point of Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30). Part of that stewardship is taking inventory of our design.
• We learn something about the way we’re made from our response to our environment. Musical instruments are crafted to capitalize on acoustic resonance—the innate natural frequencies which require little energy to produce. Likewise, we respond to the things that we do from day to day with more or less energy depending on our design. Focusing on the things that amplify our design resonance in part of discovering our perfect pitch.

So here’s what I did. Daily, I recorded the activities and interactions that either energized or depleted me. I didn’t bother recording events, activities and interactions to which I was neutral. After a month (it could be shorter or longer for you), I reviewed the results and looked for consistent themes. When I looked at my list, a clear pattern emerged. I liked interactions and activities that provoked change and stoked creative development, particularly entrepreneurial endeavors. As I looked over my list, I had another startling discovery. My interests weren’t as divergent as I had first thought. In fact, I equally enjoy applying change and breakthrough work to both personal and corporate development. As a result, my four word mission to ignite change & inspire breakthroughs was born and, with it, a clearer sense of my purpose.

If you’ve been struggling with crafting your personal mission statement, this exercise might be helpful. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

What are some other exercises you’ve found helpful to discover your wiring?

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On this Presidents Day, it’s easy for many of us to look at Washington’s words and feel virtuous. We’re convinced that our integrity can’t be sold; a state we may have arrived at from sheer lack of practice. Few tempting offers may have ever been presented! Yet, what if the bid was not monetary but temporal and it was our goals, rather than our virtues that were at stake? Someone once observed that the size of your commitment is whatever it takes to stop you. Seen in this way, we all have bidders vying for our time—seeking to rob us of our greater mission. These distractions are the “lesser yeses” in our lives and we gain virtue by withstanding them. Over time, as their bid rises, and with it our resolve, we will indeed possess the virtue that Washington describes.

Your thoughts? What are some of the bidders that you’ve yielded to lately?

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What a penetrating question! I’m not sure it’s the most persistent nor urgent, though. In my experience, thinking about how to meet my needs is both more persistent and more urgent. Yet, if even the Son of God “did not come to be served, but to serve,” (Mark 10:45) should I not see this as a primary question for my life mission, as well? And one that should persistently and urgently occupy my thinking?

Your thoughts?:  How does this question affect how you think about your day?

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