Tag Archives: Purpose

People You Need To Know

For the month of November, I’m working on a project first presented by Jon Acuff. The month-long project is known as “Need To Knowvember”. You can follow along on Twitter and Facebook by searching for the hashtag #NeedToKnowvember.

Each day one person is highlighted. You may or may not already know these people, but the purpose of the post is to promote them to a wider audience and highlight some of the great projects they are working on every day.

Here are my #NeedToKnowvember people for the first 10 days of the month.

Matt Ham: Perspective To Enrich Your Life

Paul Sohn: Salt & Light – Empowering Christian Leaders Rise To The Top

Chris Theule-Vandam: Western Great Lakes Young Life

Larissa Theule: Fat & Bones Book

Mike Loomis: Launch & Grow Your Dream Project

Abbie Unger: Flight Attendant Career Connection

Kelsey Humphreys: Author-Speaker-Entrepreneur

Amy Campbell: The Red Checker and My Resume Lady

Lisa Anderson: Around The Table

Josh Collins: Experience Architect

Corie Clark: The Simplicity Project

Brandi Goff McElheny: Beauty For Ashes Uganda

These folks are dreaming and building and hustling in their lives. They are stepping out to achieve their Big Hairy Audacious Goals!

Do you have a big project you are working on? Share it with us in the comments.

Mr. Grumpygills

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This is what my 17-year-old son calls me when he thinks I need to smile more and be a little less serious.

He’ll walk up to me, usually when I’m on the couch trying to listen to a ballgame, and say in a very snarky voice, “No more Mr. Grumpygills. Does Mr. Grumpygills need a hug? Hmm? Hmm?” And then he’ll proceed to hug me as tight as possible while trying to make me laugh.

Why am I Mr. Grumpygills? What puts me in “that mood” at the end of the day, or on a Sunday afternoon?

There are probably multiple reasons why I end up as Mr. Grumpygills.

The better question is “What keeps me from becoming Mr. Grumpygills?”

One answer to this recently hit me.

The frequency and volume of my writing directly impacts my attitude.

Simply put, the more I write, the better I feel, and the better my days seem to go.

Over the course of the last year and a half, writing has become a go to activity for me. When the words are flowing out of my head and onto the screen (or paper), my attitude invariable improves.

Why? How does this work? What happens?

Well, I believe it has to do with God.

I am convinced God is calling me to write. To write this blog, and to write books. The more I write, the more I am obeying his desire for me. He blesses me, and my attitude, when I write.

There are words deep inside me, given to me by God, waiting to come out.

The words I write are for you, the reader, and for me. We are to learn and grow from these words. But, most importantly, the words I write, and the ideas I share, are for his glory.

I typically write about the experiences in my life. I share the good, the bad, and the glorious. This is what I’m called to do.

Who would have thought God would turn me into a writer. Certainly not me.

Until last year, I was a car salesman. That was my identity. Now I am so much more. More accurately, I realize I am so much more. I still sell cars. Really. I do. It is my Day Job. But it no longer defines me.

What defines me now? I believe my Twitter profile sums it up pretty well: “Proud dad, faithful husband, loving Christ, looking to inspire you to be awesome…”

I’m no longer defined by my occupation. Are you?

I’m Writing A Book

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Yep. You read it correctly. I’m. Writing. A. Book.

If fact, I’m planning to write more than one book. For now though, we’ll focus on the first book.

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As most of you know, my life changed last year when I was let go from my job. The time off helped me realize I was limiting myself. I was solely focused on work. A deep down love of writing came to the surface during my brief time off from employment. I love to write. And now, I have something to say.

This first book has been pushing itself to the surface for months. I’ve tried to ignore it while sketching out a plan for a different book, but this book is quite pushy. It needs to be first. It needs to see the light of day before I go on to the next one (which was going to be first).

What is so very important it can’t wait to be published? Encouragement. Inspiration. Filling people up. Pouring myself into others in order to bless them and encourage them in their every day lives and in their Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG)!

Here are a couple of topics I plan to cover:

Don’t pick the people to fill, simply work on emptying what I’ve been given.
How do I fill my own cup so I have more to pour out? i.e. Refilling my cup
Encouragement includes planting seeds you may not see grow to maturity.
Can you encourage, inspire, refresh, pour into others through social media? Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Blogging, etc.? Or, are these solely “in person” activities?

What are your thoughts on the topic? Opinions?

I look forward to hearing from you. I may even ask to use your thoughts in the book.
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Now for some accountability.

My target date for publishing this book is January 1, 2015. While I’m sure you all have an opinion on the time frame I’m presenting, I’m not looking for your opinion. But, I’d love to have your support. Some days I am freaked out by the lack of time with which I’ve presented myself. Other days, when the words are flowing freely, I believe it’ll be a breeze to finish up by New Year’s Day. I’d love your support to keep me accountable. I’m not sure how I’ll gather your encouragement. Maybe through email with a select few, maybe with a closed Facebook group, but I really do want to hear from you along the way.

Keep your eyes on this site, and if you’d like, leave a comment in this post telling me you’d be interested in a more personal involvement in seeing this project come to fruition.

Thanks for all your support so far! Here we go!!