In my 28 in 2008, I’m 1/12th of the way of completing #7. The first book I bought/read was “Egonomics” by David Marcum and Steven Smith. And let me tell you, I really recommend this to anyone who is in a leadership position…be it in a company, ministry, relationship, whatever. It creates an opportunity for important self-reflection…understanding the limiting factors in our own lives (as well as understanding the internal issues that others could be limited by). And by knowing these things and acting wisely upon it, it will lead to more efficient progress in life.
Here are a handful of texts that jumped out at me for various reasons throughout the month:
- Curiosity is the active ingredient that drives exploration of ideas. Curiosity gives us permission and courage to test what we think, feel, and believe is true, reminding us we don’t know everything about anything.
- When competitive challenges consume us, combined with the general inaccuracy of our comparisons, we get sidetracked in three ways: we set goals we shouldn’t set to begin with, we set the bar higher than is reachable or realistic, or we get comfortable where we are at.
- The logic behind defensiveness doesn’t stack up. If we’re wrong, do we really want to defend a bad idea or position? If we’re right, will being defensive increase or decrease the strength of our position?
- When people move from sharing to showcasing, the smartest people are ignored – even when they’re needed the most.
- For most people, tradition holds that the opposite of excessive ego is humility, when in fact having too little ego is just as dangerous and unproductive as having too much.
- The closer we move to the extremes on humility’s equilibrium, the harder it is to make our way back to the center. The longer we stay off-center, the more comfortable we become off-center. If we don’t quickly recover, we’re more likely to develop an egotistical reflex in the way we work.
- Regardless of what others say or how they act, a genuine exchange of ideas isn’t possible until people are sure what’s being questioned is ideas, not identity.
- Veracity doesn’t differ from truth in its destination, but in action. Veracity implies the habitual pursuit of, and adherence to, truth. Both pursuit and adherence matter immensely, pursuit in arriving at truth, and adherence in making a change once truth is discovered.
Just recap a small glimpse of it was exciting again for me. Who would have thought this reading thing would be so informative and beneficial? Next on my reading list is unChristian…I’m excited!
Alright…3:15am…time to sleep! (I wasn’t up this late to blog, but making the 2007 NavJeevan Missions Team video for tomorrow [today’s] service. If I get time, I’ll try to shrink and post and it on youTube or something)
