2009
01/13/2009

How Google has Ruined My Life

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It’s all googles fault…

So I am sitting around sorting paper basically and paying bills (or rather looking at bills that need to be paid) and wondering why I easily get overwhelmed by this process. That’s when I realized that google has ruined my life.

The prelude

You see about 14 months ago I am a happy MS Outlook user putting my emails into custom folders and managing/sorting my inbox multiple hours per week to stay organized. Then one of my twenty-something friends said “your unGmailness is really uncool”. I didn’t know what he meant and scoffed about gmail being good for college students but I needed something more professional.

Search not Sort

Then he explained to me the google mantra: search not sort. He demonstrated that if he searched for my name and some topic in the body of the email (greg, leadership) google would nearly instantaneously come up with all of the matches. Then he showed me how he could find information on a client project in seconds using this technique. Then he showed me that my companies emails could be administered completely through google and would be transparent to the outside world. I was hooked and it is all free.

So Where’s the Problem?

The problem is that the stack of paper on my desk is still getting sorted and not searched. The problem is that I treat everything like it is searchable but the real world still operates in the world of stacking, sorting, filing, and shuffling. I hate that. I hate google for producing this product that works so well that all else seems boring, mundane and tedious by comparison.

I hold google fully accountable. I can’t believe they did this to me.

01/08/2009

What I am working toward in 2009

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Live | Learn | Lead

2009 may create economic challenges for many that we have never had to deal with before (at least not to the same degree). Budgets are shrinking. Insecurity is rising. People and organizations are downsizing. Businesses are drowning. So this year what I am aspiring to has a very different flavor (and I think a much healthier flavor) than in the past.

Live

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – Jesus

  • live in relationships that matter with
  • live in community that cares for each other
  • live in anticipation of what God will do in peoples lives
  • live in moderation and not excess

Learn

“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly until you learn to do it better.” G.K. Chesterton

  • learn humility and to put others before myself
  • learn from others what they have to offer (be a good student)
  • learn things that will be helpful to the local and global community that we are all a part of
  • learn to live within our means and to still have extra for others

Lead

“if you are called to lead, lead with all diligence.” – The Apostle Paul

  • lead with a commitment to helping others first
  • lead by walking the walk and talking the talk
  • lead in service to others without regard for self
  • lead for the greater good [it's not about me]
01/07/2009

New Years Resolve

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what I want to move towards

I heard a great talk on Sunday from one of our pastors, George Antonakos on how to be resolute in the New Year. He framed a lot of our relationship with Jesus around three ideas:

1. It’s about relationship. At the end of the day that is what is important. Jesus first steps were toward people, and usually the people that no one else cared about. We need to orient our lives around relationships in 2009 and beyond. We will need to seek these relationships out (including Jesus – he moves towards us as we move towards him).

2. Success involved a diminishing preoccupation with self. Healthy living is living that is not focused on self. I think this is why parenting is such a valuable time in life. It isn’t about me. It’s not about Elise. We move from ourselves to focus on others. I want 2009 to be a time of making sure it is not about me (even though I am so good at it).

3. Personal transformation is a process. We are work in progress. I struggle with this more than most I think. I want to have arrived. I want to have been through tough stuff and be “over that”. It really doesn’t happen that way. We move from struggle to struggle in many ways and our character gets developed along the way. The good news of the process is that it’s never too late to move towards the person we are becoming in Christ. That’s comforting to me. Especially during times of significant challenge.

I can easily waste a lot of time not pursuing who I want to be in Jesus. This usually results in pain and disappointment for me and those around me. This year I am going to strive to be resolute about following Him as closely as I can.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

grace.mercy.peace.truth.love.action

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