Hi Reader,
It's hard to believe summer is almost here, and the problem for a lot of us is twofold:
- The longer you lead, the more likely you are to embrace whatever you did last year as your summer pattern.
- Months become years, and years become decades.
What this means is your kids will be starting a new school year in a matter of months and you might be thinking "How is she in _______ Grade already?" Yup, time runs on rocket fuel.
So I want to encourage you to rethink your summer. What are you going to do now to avoid:
- Stumbling into summer exhausted?
- Being partially present with your family because you are so preoccupied with ministry/work?
- Cheating a bit and working on your summer break?
- Heading back into the fall with a half-full tank?
You might be tempted to think you're in a busy season. But seasons have beginnings, and if your season has no ending, it's not a season, it's your life.
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Seasons have beginnings, but if your season has no ending, it's not a season, it's your life.
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Now is the perfect time for a pattern-interrupt.
20 years ago this year, my summer was a disaster. I hit the wall and burned out in May. I spent May through September crawling my way through the ash heap of burnout.
By the grace of God, I got through it. But that started a permanent reset for me.
I've written books and teach courses on this, but let me just bullet a few changes I made so I would never have another year like 2006 or the chaos and the overwork that led up to it:
- I started taking July off.
- I found hobbies (cycling, BBQ, boating, hiking) so I had something to look forward to when I was off rather than just staring into the abyss and thinking about ministry.
- I started saying no to requests way more often so I could say yes to my family, to God and to myself.
- Anytime I was off, I started showing up for my family and friends. Being fully present.
- I started getting 8 hours of sleep every night and getting into better shape.
Sounds radical, and you may be worried that any pattern change means I'm threatening the "secret sauce" that makes you effective. I used to think that too.
Two things.
First, why are misery and burnout your secret sauce? Is that really what you want?
Second—and this is strange—my capacity went up not down when I started taking better care of myself, carving out personal time and thriving day to day.
So, you have a few weeks or maybe a month before summer hits.
What's going to be different this year? You've still got time, and time's not going to stop if you don't make a change. You'll be a year older, so will your kids, so will everyone, and your pattern will be 5% worse than it was last year.
Just so you don't think this is cheap advice, I'm looking to further change up my habits and patterns, too. I'm still a work in progress. We all are.
So... what's going to be different this summer? It's time to set a new, healthier pattern.
Steps to grow this week
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