12 Things You Need To Make Room For

Do you feel like if there were 48 hours in a day you still couldn’t get it all done?  All leaders frequently experience this.  We simply just do not have the room in our schedules or lives to get done what we would like to get done.

With Christmas fast approaching, I’m reminded of the innkeeper who did not have room for Joseph and a very, very pregnant Mary.  What a HUGE blessing that innkeeper, his staff, and all in that temporary housing facility missed out on. 

What’s sobering to me is the blessings leaders are still foregoing because they’re too busy, too under-staffed, doing things that are too important, or simply do not have enough time or resources.  Here are a list of things that can get marginalized but should be prioritized as key investments in your church or organization’s future.

Make Room For:

1. Ideas – The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is how they think.
2. Training – The only appreciable asset in your organization or church is people.
3. Reading – Leaders are readers.
4. Solitude – For more on this topic, click here.
5. Teambuilding – Build relationships and a sense of community with those you do life with everyday.
6. Friendships – Call it networking if you’d like but leaders always need to be expanding their relational base, both at and away from work. 
7. New Experiences – Forrest Gump said “Been there.  Done that.”  Leaders should be “Going there.  Doing that.”
8. Mistakes – This provides the margin needed for the creative process to occur.
9. Exercise – If lost, you can regain your career, money, or even relationships.  If you lose your health, it may result in consequences you cannot recover from.
10. The Poor – We are a blessed people.  As a result, we need to give back and invest in the poor, marginalized, and under-resourced.
11. Family – These are the only ones who love you unconditionally.
12. Jesus - The Child who was born at that first Christmas is THE ONE who makes life worth living while bringing a sense of joy and purpose to our efforts that is far beyond ourselves.  For more on the greatest leader ever, click here.

Let this Christmas be a reminder that unknowingly we can simply have lives that don’t have room for the things that can best advance our leadership and organizations.  Let’s change that this year.

What do you need to make room for in 2011?

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