Monday, October 31, 2005

Habit 2 - Begin with the End in Mind

The chapter began with the author asking the reader to picture themselves at their own funeral. Then to imagine what the reader would want the people giving the speeches to say about them. When you come up with what you would want said about yourself, you see what are the most important things to you. These are the things you should be making sure you accomplish in life.

If you begin with the end in mind, you can make sure, on a day-to-day basis that what you are accomplishing during your day is actually something that is important to you.

One of the most important things I took from this chapter so far is the fact that you can busy yourself with many things, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you are being effective. The world will give you many things to keep busy with, but unless you keep a tab on what you are doing and making sure that it is in line with your end goal, you could busy yourself with many things that don't really matter.

Beginning with the end in mind is based on the principle that all things are created twice. For example in construction, the architect builds every detail of the building on paper before a single nail has been hammered in. It is the same thing with our lives; if we do not plan ahead as to what we want to be accomplishing, we by default empower other people and circumstances to shape our lives. We will be constantly reacting to things around us instead of proactively makings sure that we are the architects in our own lives.

Beginning with the end in mind is a practice of personal leadership. Leadership works at directing the ship, whereas management makes sure the rowing is being done effectively. If we are not leading out in the direction we want to go, it doesn't matter how good managers we are, as we will only be effective in going in the wrong direction. Effectiveness does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not our efforts are focused on going in the right direction.

We need to make sure we have clarified our values and goals before we start expending energy and efforts that could possibly be leading us in the wrong direction. One way we can make sure we are always effectively moving in the right direction is by creating a personal mission statement. With this statement, we can compare our actions on a regular basis to what we have written as our most important goals.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Habit 1 - Be Proactive

Recently I have begun reading the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I have realized that one area I want to grow in is Leadership, and so I have been recommended 4 books, all of which I have to goal to read by Christmas. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the first book on that list.

In this book, the author tells the reader to read the book as if you are going to be teaching the content of the book shortly after. In this way, you will take more from the book than if you were just reading it for leisure. So I intend to report on each of the 7 habits, for you, my class J. Of course, what follows is just a short “Coles notes” of the chapter. You will be missing the helpful analogies, stories, etc. But hopefully you will get the basic gist of it. Maybe it will whet your appetite to read the book yourself. So far I recommend it!

Habit 1 – Be Proactive

We as humans are not our feelings. One thing that separates us from the animal kingdom is that we can “step outside” ourselves, and look at our paradigm (how we see things).

There is a theory that says that our lives are determined by three things: Genetic determinism (Our DNA), Psychic determinism (The way our parents formed us growing up), and Environmental determinism (the people or situations around us). When we are confronted by a stimulus, we will respond in a certain way because of the three determiners. For example, when someone cuts us off on the highway, we will react in this certain way; or when we receive a gift, we will react that way. This is called the stimulus/response theory. Is this theory correct?

A guy named Victor Frankl discovered during the holocaust (he was a Jew in the Prison camps) that even among the most horrific circumstances, that he had a choice whether what was happening around him would determine his mood. He discovered a fundamental principle about man, that in between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose. It is not what others do to us or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it is our response to those things.

Proactivity defined is that we as human beings are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can take what happens around us, good or bad, and not let our feelings or emotions determine our decisions. We have the initiative to make things happen. Look at the word responsibility – response ability – the ability to choose your response. Highly effective people do not blame their circumstances or conditions. Their behavior is a result of their own conscious choice.

Many people wait for things to fall into their laps. In this way, they act reactively. This limits them to their surroundings or conditions. People who have made a great difference in the world, conversely, act proactively regardless of their circumstances.

Anytime we think that the problem is “out there”, that thought is the problem. By blaming things that are “out there” we allow what is “out there” to control us. The proactive approach is to change from the inside-out: to be different, to be more resourceful, to be more diligent. We need to look at what we can control rather than what we cannot. If I really want to change the situation, I need to work on the one thing I have control over – myself.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Heavy thoughts...

At my church in Kitchener we are going through "40 Days of Community" which is the follow-up to "40 Days of Purpose" from the famous book The Purpose Driven Life. For each of the 40 days you have a reading to go through. I just wanted to share part of yesterday's:

"Love cares about the destiny of others. If you knew the cure for cancer or AIDS, and you kept it as secret, telling no one while millions continued to die, would that be loving? Of course not, If you knew the key to extending human life by 50 years, would you want to share it with others? Of course you would. But as believers (Christians) who've learned the way to eternal life, we have an even more important, longer lasting, and urgent message to share with the world, and love leaves no choice"

What the author is saying is that as Christians, we believe that we have the most important cure in the world. The effects of sin on a human has eternal consequences, while the effects of AIDS are temporary. With this in mind, is a Christian a loving person if they don't share their faith. I mean, if they are honest with themselves, they believe that if people don't have Christ, they are going to be in Hell when they die. Sometimes we like to sugarcoat this fact with phrases that are more pleasant such as "eternity apart from God", but the reality is no Christ = Hell.

As a Christian, this is a devistating fact to ponder. I can do all the nice things in a world, but if I don't tell a person about Christ, have I really showed them love? Maybe in some ways, but ultimately not.

The way I see it, if a person's house is burning down while they are sleeping inside it, knitting that person a sweater might be nice, but it would be far more important and loving to wake them up and get them out of the house.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Leafs Rule, Habs Drool!!

So as I mentioned in my previous post, Vanessa and I went to the Leafs-Habs game in Montreal last Saturday (Oct. 15). It was an awesome game to be at. The Bell Centre is really big (about 22,000 compared to the ACC at 18,800). We were up in the nosebleeds but the seats weren't that bad as we were right on the goal line.

We were sitting right behind another pair of Leaf fans. This guy probably spent $100 in mostly beer for him and his girlfriend. He also bought a $6 Canadiens flag which he doubled as both a foot rest (see picture), as well as a cloth to wipe excess beer from the side of his cup. Although I thought he was funny, when he asked me to step on the flag I declined. Even though I hate the Habs, there is still a respect about another teams crest.

One of the coolest things about being Leafs fan is being part of something that is so huge. At the Bell centre there was probably at least 25% Leafs fans that made the 5-6 hour drive to Montreal. When the Leafs scored it was so awesome as it was just about as loud as when the Habs scored (minus the Bell Centre horn and music). Pretty much the whole row behind us was Leafs fans. This picture was taken after Lindros got his second which turned out to be the game winner. What made it even more sweet was that everytime Lindros touched the puck the all the Canadiens fans booed. When Lindros scored (twice) they were so sad. I'm sure they were thinking "Ah zut". I love it!

Final Score: Leafs 3, Habs 2. Leaf goals by Allison, and Lindros (2). As you can see in the penalty summary the Leafs ended the game with McCabe in the box. The last few seconds were so frantic as the Habs also pulled their goalie so the last 25 seconds were 6-4. Luckily for us Eddie the Eagle came up big. I love that guy!

So the happy couple left the Bell Centre smiling like the cat who caught the canary. We actually bought each other the tickets as birthday presents for each other. We stayed with friends who live a 15 minute walk from the Bell Centre so it was perfect! (Thanks Andy and Loni).

So ends the trip to Montreal. If any of you have ever wanted to see a game at an opposing teams rink/stadium, I wholeheartedly reccomend it. Especially if you are Leaf fans, because you know that no matter what rink you are in you will not be alone!

Go Leafs Go!

Fever Pitch

After a long drive back from Montreal, Vanessa and I decided to take it easy for the night and rent a couple of movies. We watched Fever Pitch, and Kicking and Screaming (which is the movie with Will Ferrell where he plays his sons soccer coach).

I really enjoyed Fever Pitch. I suppose there are a couple of reasons. I like sports movies, and I think that Jimmy Fallon is hilarious. But I think the main reason I enjoyed it was because I could relate to Jimmy Fallon's character a lot. In the movie he plays a 30ish year old teacher who can never hold down a relationship because he has an obsession with the Boston Red Sox. Now I realize that I am married and so while I didn't relate to him in that respect, I did relate to his sports obsession. I mean, I could watch Leafs highlights and Leaf's related programming all day. In the movie, Jimmy Fallon's room has Red Sox everything... bedsheets, pillowcases, posters, etc. I'm sure that if I was single living on my own my room would have all of these similar things for the Leafs. In the movie Fallon says something about how he loves loving something that he cannot control and that is bigger than himself. I think these are similar reasons about me loving the leafs. I love being part of Leafs Nation, a group of fans that spans across the country. I loved being at the Leafs-Habs game in Montreal and being part of the huge contingent of Leaf fans that made the long drive in order to support their team. There is no other fan base in all of hockey that comes close to Leaf fans. It was cool to watch Fever Pitch and get an insight into Red Sox Nation, a similar group of fans.

On a slight tangent, the movie also made me upset because it reminded me that the Red Sox won the World Series that year. You see, before the Sox won the World Series in '04, they had not won the championship since like 1918. They referred this streak of not winning as "the curse", since they had not won since they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Since that year the Yankees had won like 26 World Series', while the Red Sox won none. It was a cool sporting tradition, and I loved cheering for the Yankees in the playoffs after the Blue Jays playoff aspirations had died. I also enjoyed that there was another sports franchise that hadn't won their championship in such a long time. I mean come on, 1918 made 1967 look like a couple of days ago.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Who the heck is Shelby Lynne??

I was reading the editorial in a magazine put out by Campus Crusade in the States called Y-Jesus. This magazine takes a look at some of the different evidence and research compiled about the life of Jesus Christ. The editor's main point was that Jesus in unique because he has survived the test of time. Our culture is so enthralled in magazines such as Us and Entertainment Weekly, but I am certain that if we looked at one of those magazines from a year or two ago there would be many people who we have no idea who they are. One example is this Shelby Lynne. You can see in the above picture that she won a Grammy. It was for "Best New Artist" in the year 2001. This is only a couple of years ago, but now she is unheard of. Our celebrities are in and out of popularity so fast. In one day, out the next. Many people receive their 15 minutes and then all of a sudden it is over. Think of the Simpsons episode when Bart becomes famous for his "I didn't do it" line. He had posters, pull-string stuffed toys, etc. But then one day no one cared anymore, and he was kicked out of Krusty's studio faster than he was brought in. I know that this is just a cartoon, but it illustrates something in our culture so well.

Then there is Jesus. Here is a guy born in a stable in a little town in the Middle East called Bethlehem. He grew up as the son of a carpenter, and had only 3 years of public ministry. Jerusalem was nothing in the Roman world... it would be like a someone who became famous from Nunivut, and then staying in Nunivut as opposed to moving to LA or New York or Toronto. Imagine if Shania Twain had stayed in Timmins, or if Avril Lavigne had stayed in Napean. They wouldn't be the superstars they are today. Yet Jesus didn't move to Rome, where all the spotlight was. And now his legacy is still renown 2000 years later. There is no one in all of history who has a following so long after their time on earth. There are some famous people who we can still remember from his time or even before, but they are reduced to our dusty history books. Jesus has a following that has not spread by magazines or award shows or political campaigns. He is renown and loved by many because there is something that is different about him, that separates him from other famous leaders like Napoleon, Martin Luther King Jr., or the Many famous Roman Caesars. The thing that separates Jesus from the rest is that he is God. He was fully God and fully Human, something that our finite minds will always struggle to fully understand.

10 years from now names like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will more than likely be obscure figures that we will want to search on Google to remember them. They maybe cool because they will be old school, kinda like how we appreciate Michael J. Fox and his role Back to the Future. But Jesus will remain one of the most popular figures in history, and people will still be talking about him. People will still be arguing that he was just a good teacher, or a prophet, or Son of God, etc, but his followers will remain and so will his fame and renown because he is unlike any other figure in history.