day 1343: Time

"I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me."


This week we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the internet.  The world wide web as it was called early on did more than open up our ability to tap and consume any type of data, information or knowledge.  The internet also recreated how we think of time.  For the past 25 years, we have sped up. We search and find immediately. We consider what is slow and fast differently now than we did before the internet.  And, I suspect that won't change and that what we consider fast now, will look very slow 25 years from now. What does that mean for us as we think about our businesses?  It means that we need to do our very best to look over the horizon and imagine what it might look and feel like to have to be right about our consumers choices and needs, before they even know they have them.  Chew on that and see what it means for the future? But, chew fast!

God's timing is hard to understand.  We live in fast and faster and yet, He can move slowly in our lives, when we expect the answer "now".  A friend has been for month trying to hear God's will, search for a job and be ready for an open career door that has not swung open yet.  His blessing to me is that he can state confidently that with every day of waiting he draws closer to the dependence and grace of God, and for him, that is the gift of the slowing the time of his search.

Reference: Proverbs 8:17 (New Living Translation)

day 1329: Who Can Be Faster?

"We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy..."

For a long time now we have been told that with only 15 minutes we can save 15% on our car insurance.  Driving on 101 North by the San Francisco airport is a new billboard.  It comes to us from esurance.  The sign says something about finding your insurance savings in 7 1/2 minutes.  Wow! That's 1/2 the time of Geico.  Well, maybe not really a wow?  Some things in life 1/2 the time is a competitive advantage, but in others, it sends the wrong message.  If I want fast food I know where to find it.  But, when I sit down at a fine restaurant, like I did recently, and the food comes out in the same time that a McDonald's order arrives, (which is what happened), everyone at the table looks at each other and says, "Something is not right."  Knowing the difference between speed and quality is important.  Sometimes, a little more time can be way better than 1/2 the time.

Our God never claimed to be the God of fast.  He is the God of forever.  I am glad that He is not the God of fast as those things that come to us too quickly usually end up ruining us.  We implode under too fast and our spiritual and eternal life is too important critical to let it rush by.  God works in His own time and that time is always the perfect pace for us, if we will only believe and allow ourselves to accept that fact.  Today we may be waiting on a deal to close, or a test result, or the conversation about a promotion or salary raise, or a decision that can have major effect on us.  Let's see if today, and over this weekend, if we can't let God work in His time and then sit back and marvel in why it's not always about being faster.

Reference:  Colossians 1:11 (New Living Translation)

day 1326: Time Mistakes

"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom"

Every once in a while comes along one of those days when the calendar is clear and we look to that day as the day that we are going to get so much done. We start thinking about the goals for that day and we set aside our projects or the list of what needs to happen and we wake enthusiastically for this day of productivity. But then, something happens. What starts as a day of tight objectives and a high sense of efficiency, somehow unravels into too much time talking on the phone to someone else, getting lost and meandering down the hallways to catch up with someone that we haven't talked to in a while, spending too much time digging on the Internet for something that is really not that important, cleaning out a file cabinet that needed cleaning but really isn't a priority right now, or just not pushing ourselves very hard. Then at the end of the day we say to ourselves, "Where did that day go?" I am making the assumption that I am not alone in this phenomena. What happens is that we become so conditioned to back to back meetings, lists of phones calls that need to be returned urgently that day, emails that must be answered, and deadlines that are precariously looming, to set a pace and cadence for our days. When those milestones and markers aren't there, we tend to allow ourselves to drift and our productivity falls. How we use our time is how we find the usefulness of time. Time moves on with or without us making the most of the hours we are given. When we use up our time well we feel good about that. When we don't we beat ourselves up for wasting something we know is precious. Focusing on how we manage our time and how we expend it is a skill that we all should continue to learn about, practice and try to master.

We can call on God to help us in this area. David did in Psalm 90 when he prays; "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom". The more we become better at utilizing our time the more effective we can be and ultimately gain the wisdom we need to meet any situation. I am reminded today that God so wants to come to work with each of us. He wants us to work for His glory and even in the area of time management, He desires us to be the best we can be. Today, let's take our day to Him and ask Him to help us manage what can be the most useful of times.

Reference: Psalm 90:17 (New Living Translation)

day 1270: Serving Time

"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.'”

When we see or hear, "serving time" we think about those who are incarcerated and are waiting out the time of their sentence.  But, we also can feel this way when we are doing any activity that we don't want to be doing and we just can't wait for it to end.  At work we call these people "clock watchers", but we would be disingenuous if all of us didn't say that we have experienced this in our careers.  It's impossible for every day of work to be so exciting and enthralling that the day flies by.  Our challenge is to get ahead of this and ensure that each of our employees don't have any reason to look at the clock.  A good place to start is with meetings.  How many are your employees attending each day?  How long are these meetings?  How productive are they? After meetings, take a look at other activities that might feel like time being wasted. A moment felt like time is being served, is a moment of productivity lost.

When Paul replayed what he had heard God say to him about God's grace being enough and being all that he needed, it was in context of Paul trying to understand an affliction/handicap that he experienced in his life.  Yet, it is clear that God gave him these words of comfort for all of us who feel like we carry any burden that makes us want to just get time to pass us through to the other side. We each have things that will make us want to get time to move faster.  We don't want to find ourselves sitting in this situation.  Our time on this earth is short and precious and we don't want to wish any of it away.  Today as we head to work,let's  make the most of each moment.  Consider that each interaction, each email and phone call is an opportunity to share our faith, encourage someone else and leave behind an impression of God's love and glory working through us.  

Reference: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (New Living Translation)   

day 1228: Premier League Time

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven..."

It's only taken 30 plus years but in the last year, we now can watch The Premier League soccer (football) on national U.S. broadcast television.  We all saw it coming as soccer became the most played sport by kids.  But, the demographic changes that could only take time to grow up and become viewers and consumers who could through their buying patterns and power create advertising pull and viewership.  And now, we have to ask, what next?  Could we see finally the development of a U.S. based Major League Soccer League that would someday rival The Premier League?  Sure we could.  Demographic shifts sometimes feel like boiling a frog, but then one day it seems so obvious.  There is great value in spending time projecting forward and trying to align to the shifts, pulls, pushes and all that comes with them.  Sure, we might be wrong more often than not, but wouldn't we rather be wrong because we thought about it, not because we ended up flat-footed, surprised and late.

As we grow older in our spiritual age, we have to consider what and how we will feel if one day wake and find that we missed out on the years that we could have been getting closer and closer to Him, telling others about what has happened in our own lives, and living out the example of Christ to others.  In somethings, we should not wait. As we go start today, let's consider what it is that we can be offering to others, that they have been waiting for someone to deliver?  Today, it might just be you that they are waiting.

Reference: Ecclesiastes 3:1 (New Living Translation)

day 1154: Thinking Hat

"How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them."

 

How many times have we said to ourselves, "If I only had some time to think!". We get so caught up in our day to day activities and the pressures of the urgent that we don't find time to sit and think, plan and be strategic. The grind of trying to stay on top of all of the emails, phone calls, meetings and project work doesn't leave much time for any of us to sit down with a clear mind and think about the future or the the things we have in front of us that need deep and long thoughts. There was a book that came out a few years ago about the it being an art to be able to think and conceptualize the long view of the future. But even like any art, there are foundational disciplines below the art form that are required before one can do anything well. A painter who doesn't understand color, a writer with poor grammar, a songwriter who can't play an instrument, or a business leader who can't find the time to think, are all efforts that are undermined by not having the fundamentals understood and perfected before trying to layer on the next level of creativity. Finding and carving out the time to wear your thinking hat is a fundamental part of finding success in business. 

 

The same is true of our spiritual lives and the quest to be closer to the Lord. Without the quiet time we cannot place our minds where they need to be in order to focus and hear what God wants to say to us. We need time to let our minds be free and ponder. In the beautiful Psalm 111, David reminds us why we should take the time to think about what God has done for us; "How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them." Today, find some thinking time first to spend with God and then to spend thinking about those things that are important to that need deeper thought. If you can find the quiet time for God first and commit to that time, I have a confident feeling that you will be amazed at how you will find the time for the other thinking too.

Reference: Psalm 111:2 (New Living Translation)

day 938: Before We Know It (redux)

"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?..."

If there is one place where time moves quickly, it is in business. Days turn to weeks, months and a year before we know it. The planning that we are doing for the following quarter is already in play before the planning is even done. The steady beating drum that is the cadence of setting, meeting, and measuring results can move by so quickly that it can feel like we are tumbling head first out of control. What comes with experience is the ability to manage how time passes. What? Time can’t be slowed or sped up. That is true, but how a business or a person addresses time can manage how time passes. Steve Young, the Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback, once said that on his first snap that he took in the NFL that the linebackers and defensive line came at him so fast that all he could do was throw the ball away as fast he could. Some fifteen years later on his last snap, when the players were bigger and faster than all those earlier years but in that game, he felt that he had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted to do with the ball and that the defense were now coming in slow motion. Nothing has changed except for his perspective, maturity and wisdom from his ability to see the game unfold in front of him. Business is the same way. As we learn the patterns of the business, the industry and competitors, then we can begin to manage how fast it seems time passes. If it feels like things are moving too fast or feel out of control, then it’s time to be sure that those who have the best experience and perspective are called in to help.

A great part of our belief is that God is always doing something new in us and for us and it’s always coming, whether we can see it or not. Sometimes it will feel fast, other times it can feel slow, but like the art of slow-cooking, God is always working in and on us. There is no waiting. There is only allowing for Him to work. Are we looking for something new and expecting it to come soon? It may well be that we don’t have enough perspective to be able to see how time and change is unfolding. It took Steve Young many years to gain enough experience and knowledge to slow down the game. In those years, he surely practiced, watched films, studied other teams, took in coaching, etc. The same can be said for us. We need to study God’s Word. We need to talk and listen to God in prayer. We need to learn from others in fellowship. The closer we move towards God the more we can answer the question, “Do you not see it?”…with, “Yes, I can see it”.

Reference: Isaiah 43:19 (New Living Testament)

day 736: Before We Know It

"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?..."

If there is one place where time moves quickly, it is in business. Days turn to weeks, months and a year before we know it. The planning that we are doing for the following quarter is already in play before the planning is even done. The steady beating drum that is the cadence of setting, meeting, and measuring results can move by so quickly that it can feel like we are tumbling head first out of control. What comes with experience is the ability to manage how time passes. What? Time can’t be slowed or sped up. That is true, but how a business or a person addresses time can manage how time passes. Steve Young, the Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback, once said that on his first snap that he took in the NFL that the linebackers and defensive line came at him so fast that all he could do was throw the ball away as fast he could. Some fifteen years later on his last snap, when the players were bigger and faster than all those earlier years but in that game, he felt that he had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted to do with the ball and that the defense were now coming in slow motion. Nothing has changed except for his perspective, maturity and wisdom from his ability to see the game unfold in front of him. Business is the same way. As we learn the patterns of the business, the industry and competitors, then we can begin to manage how fast it seems time passes. If it feels like things are moving too fast or feel out of control, then it’s time to be sure that those who have the best experience and perspective are called in to help.

A great part of our belief is that God is always doing something new in us and for us and it’s always coming, whether we can see it or not. Sometimes it will feel fast, other times it can feel slow, but like the art of slow-cooking, God is always working in and on us. There is no waiting. There is only allowing for Him to work. Are we looking for something new and expecting it to come soon? It may well be that we don’t have enough perspective to be able to see how time and change is unfolding. It took Steve Young many years to gain enough experience and knowledge to slow down the game. In those years, he surely practiced, watched films, studied other teams, took in coaching, etc. The same can be said for us. We need to study God’s Word. We need to talk and listen to God in prayer. We need to learn from others in fellowship. The closer we move towards God the more we can answer the question, “Do you not see it?”…with, “Yes, I can see it”.

Reference: Isaiah 43:19 (New Living Testament)

day 408: Useful Time

Every once in a while comes along one of those days when the calendar is clear and we look to that day as the day that we are going to get so much done. We start thinking about the goals for that day and we set aside our projects or the list of what needs to happen and we wake enthusiastically for this day of productivity. But then, something happens. What starts as a day of tight objectives and a high sense of efficiency, somehow unravels into too much time talking on the phone to someone else, getting lost and meandering down the hallways to catch up with someone that we haven't talked to in a while, spending too much time digging on the Internet for something that is really not that important, cleaning out a file cabinet that needed cleaning but really isn't a priority right now, or just not pushing ourselves very hard. Then at the end of the day we say to ourselves, "Where did that day go?" I am making the assumption that I am not alone in this phenomena. What happens is that we become so conditioned to back to back meetings, lists of phones calls that need to be returned urgently that day, emails that must be answered, and deadlines that are precariously looming, to set a pace and cadence for our days. When those milestones and markers aren't there, we tend to allow ourselves to drift and our productivity falls. How we use our time is how we find the usefulness of time. Time moves on with or without us making the most of the hours we are given. When we use up our time well we feel good about that. When we don't we beat ourselves up for wasting something we know is precious. Focusing on how we manage our time and how we expend it is a skill that we all should continue to learn about, practice and try to master. We can call on God to help us in this area. David did in Psalm 90 when he prays; "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom". The more we become better at utilizing our time the more effective we can be and ultimately gain the wisdom we need to meet any situation. I am reminded today that God so wants to come to work with each of us. He wants us to work for His glory and even in the area of time management, He desires us to be the best we can be. Today, let's take our day to Him and ask Him to help us manage what can be the most useful of times.

Reference: Psalm 90:17 (New Living Testament)

day 394: Thinking Time

How many times have we said to ourselves, "If I only had some time to think!". We get so caught up in our day to day activities and the pressures of the urgent that we don't find time to sit and think, plan and be strategic. The grind of trying to stay on top of all of the emails, phone calls, meetings and project work doesn't leave much time for any of us to sit down with a clear mind and think about the future or the the things we have in front of us that need deep and long thoughts. There was a book that came out a few years ago about the it being an art to be able to think and conceptualize the long view of the future. But even like any art, there are foundational disciplines below the art form that are required before one can do anything well. A painter who doesn't understand color, a writer with poor grammar, a songwriter who can't play an instrument, or a business leader who can't find the time to think, are all efforts that are undermined by not having the fundamentals understood and perfected before trying to layer on the next level of creativity. Finding and carving out the time to think is a fundamental part of finding success in business. The same is true of our spiritual lives and the quest to be closer to the Lord. Without the quiet time we cannot place our minds where they need to be in order to focus and hear what God wants to say to us. We need time to let our minds be free and ponder. In the beautiful Psalm 111, David reminds us why we should take the time to think about what God has done for us; "How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them." Today, find some thinking time first to spend with God and then to spend thinking about those things that are important to that need deeper thought. If you can find the quiet time for God first and commit to that time, I have a confident feeling that you will be amazed at how you will find the time for the other thinking too.

Reference: Psalm 111:2 (New Living Testament)

day 380: The Most Precious Resource

Today I had a meeting with a senior financial person who is in the process of deciding on his next job. He detailed to me the trials and tribulations of what he has gone through over the last few months with people he interviewed with who never got back to him and one situation where he was asked to write a comprehensive business plan and submit it in two days, which he did, only to be told that the position was already filled before his interview. When he checked back with them later he was told that the time spent by the hiring manager was for courtesy. When he inquired about why they asked him to take his own time to create and submit the business when it was for nothing, the responding party did not have a good answer. Needless to say, he was upset. He could have been upset over not getting the job or upset over someone taking his business plan and likely getting ready to use it as their own. But neither of those were really why he was upset. He was most upset because someone else wasted his time. We all have the same amount of time each day. The CEO and the entry-level college student all are given the same amount. When one person wastes the time of someone else, it is really taking from them the most precious resource they have. We all have our time wasted at work. What is really important is how we respond and react to when our time is taken from us. Being ones who want to set the right example and be a model of our purpose being lived out at work, I suggest that each time we are put in the situation where our time is being wasted, that we recalibrate and remember that we are working for God's purpose and that if we are doing that in all we do, then no moment is ever wasted. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15:58; "...Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." Today, worry less about time that is wasted and think more about why you are doing what you do. If we are always working enthusiastically for God to deliver his Purpose through us with the glory always going to Him, then all the time is useful and each and every moment is counting for something great.

Reference: 1 Corinthians 15:58 (New Living Testament)