Tag: Flatland

The cure for anxiety, stress and worry!

It always seems the holidays bring on a new level of stress and worry. Afterwards, many experience a different kind of stress as they decide if this year will be the year they finally make “the change”. Some go back to work and it seems everyone waited until after the holidays to bring the problems in. Either way, if you are human, you know some level of stress, worry, or anxiety.

The most famous sermon ever, the “Sermon on the Mount”, is captured in Matthew chapters 5-7. It takes about 15 minutes to read and is filled with simple and deep truths for all people. The Kingdom of God is mentioned eight times in this relatively short sermon. The famous book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship” (Nachfolge), is an excellent exposition of the Sermon on the Mount.

Continue reading “The cure for anxiety, stress and worry!”

2018 Focus – Seek First the Kingdom

In each of our 2017 family meetings we would read Psalm 27. The core of this Psalm is to have a singular focus on seeking God.

For 2018 we will continue our practice of turning to the Bible and seeking God during our family meetings. Our primary focus will be to “seek first the kingdom” from Matthew 6:33. Since this will be the focus for my home, my posts through 2018 will align with this as well. Continue reading “2018 Focus – Seek First the Kingdom”

The book I read every month!

This week I want to share a personal practice that I believe has helped keep my behavior in check, and my mind more focused on the most important things. I have not been perfect at doing this, and I have seen the opposite results at the times I have strayed.

Many years ago I was challenged to read one chapter from the book of Proverbs from the Bible each day. It doesn’t take long…usually less than 5 minutes. It was easy to determine the chapter to read because it was the “proverb of the day”.

See, the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters. This means there is basically a chapter of Proverbs for each day of the month. After a month you have read the book, and can simply start over.

After doing this off and on for several years, it has become a practice I really enjoy. Each time I read a chapter there seems to be a verse or principle I can apply to my life in a very practical way as a husband, father, son, employee, leader, friend or disciple. Somehow, at the right time there is a verse or passage that stands out for me. Sometimes it is right after a situation where I realize I should have handled something differently. Other times it is right before a situation and the verse provided the much needed preparation for the moment.

Here are a few “stand out” verses from yesterdays reading of Proverbs 15 (one of my personal favorite chapters):

  • Verse 1 – A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 
    • This resonates with every parent. And it is great advice for work, school, and even friendships.
    • A parent of a teenager may paraphrase this verse like: “A door closed gently is good for the relationship.”
  • Verse 22 – Plans are frustrated without consultation, but with many counselors they succeed.
    • For our family, this verse translates to time we spend each week to spend a little time to look at the calendar for the next few weeks to make sure we have everything calendared that we know about at the time.
    • At work I spend a lot of time planning, and then sharing my plans with others to see what they think. This has been very helpful for me to see areas where I totally missed an important step, or where I completely underestimated the amount of time something would take (I am good at this).
  • Verse 31 – the person who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
    • This tells us that the wise people have a mentor, confidant, or friend who will lovingly listen and watch them and give “life-giving” correction and direction.
    • I appreciate these friends in my life who will challenge and encourage me to be a better husband or father, live a life worthy of my calling and purpose, or help me get those negative thoughts out of my head so I can focus on the truth.
    • Conversely, you will find much in Proverbs 15 that speaks about the foolish person who does not accept correction. Not only have I met those people, I have been that person. The good news is…I was able to change. Thank God!

While each passage has much to ponder, I tend to take one verse or so that stands out that day and focus on that for a while.

I encourage you to try this for one month and see how it helps you. Let me know how it goes!

Would you like to make less money?

“Burger Boy” is what they called me. My job was to make sure the meat was ready when the customers ordered sandwiches. I didn’t even make sandwiches for the first several weeks of my new job.

In high school I worked fast food. I still say this was the most fun job I ever had, and the most stressful. I worked at a particular restaurant for five years. In those 5 years I went from “Burger Boy” to the assistant store manager, where the store manager was the only person in the store above me. Most importantly in those five years, I met the girl of my dreams.

I was still working there when I had less than 12 months until our wedding. And I had a problem.

I had to make more money.

I set my eye on getting into the Human Resources (HR) field and the opportunities in fast food at that time were pretty limited. I had no degree, and honestly did not know very much about HR. I was earning an annual salary of $19,500 plus benefits. I also had the pleasure of working at least 50 hours a week closing the store most nights.

A friend worked at one of the large corporations in the area and she helped me get an interview in the accounting department for an entry level position. Interview went well and the offer came in…$19,000 (~3% reduction). To me, it was a no-brainer. Absolutely!

Later in my career I found myself working a job in HR. I was again working well over 50 hours a week. My ability to have successful relationships with family, friends, church, myself, and even my hobbies was diminishing. If I wanted to be a successful dad, husband, or even friend, then I would have to make a decision.

I had to decide what was more important – Success at Work or Success at Home

I chose home! After some soul searching and preparation, I began looking for new opportunities. Similarly, the solution came through a friend. The interview went well, and the offer came back lower than what I was currently making. To me, it was a no-brainer. Absolutely!

In both cases the opportunities outweighed the risk. And both cases turned out great!

Getting to the decision to make a change was not as easy. I needed to be sensitive to whatever that new opportunity would be.

Five key considerations before quitting your current job to go to a new one…especially if you are going to make less money:

  1. Fit – Is this a company you would like to work for, or does this provide cushion while you look for the job you want? Is this a job that you would like to do? Do you want to learn what you need to about the business? Can you add value to your team and the business? Do you like what you know about the culture of the business?
  2. Career – Does this job help you get to where you want to go? In my first example I wanted to go from fast food to HR but took an entry level job in an accounting department. In my interview I told them I wanted to get into HR. Less than 2 years later, an opening came up, and I got that job. My accounting team was excited for me, and appreciative that I had been open with them the whole time about what I wanted to do.
  3. Salary – This is usually the one thing that will almost never reduce as long as you are with a company. If it’s enough to get you started, go for it.
  4. Benefits – In the US there is a mix of offerings that we call “benefits”. Some are required by the government (e.g. social security) and some are not required (e.g. vacation, additional retirement options) allowing businesses to decide how/what they want to provide. Take a good look at both. Example – a company who offers you $100 and matches your 401k at 6% may be a better deal than a company who offers $105 and a 401k match of 3% (if you use the benefit).
  5. Pray – As a Christian, it is important for me to seek God about things in my life. I also listen to friends and mentors. Even if you aren’t a person of faith, I would encourage seeking council in big decisions like this. There is a lot of wisdom in multiple counselors.

Obviously, I didn’t seek a new job to make less money. And I would not encourage you to do that either. But, I would encourage you to look at your situation and determine if the money you are making is worth the sacrifices it takes. Tough times will come and go, so you want to be sure that in the long run you’re able to focus on the most meaningful things of life.

 

So, what do you do?

“So, what do you do?”, she asked me.

“I am a Business Analyst”, I replied.

“Oh, so you work with IT?”

“Um, no. I am in Compensation.”

“Oh, so you do payroll.”

“Um, no. I do market pricing.”

This conversation went on for a bit until she walked away, still having no idea what I did for a living.

I needed to change the way I answered this question.

So, what do you do?

The next time I was asked “So, what do you do?” the answer sounded more like this:

“I help companies meet their business objectives by designing and implementing competitive pay structures, benefits packages, and career opportunities for employees in every country. Today I am doing that for X Company.”

The Process – five steps I took to change my answer to this question:

  1. Forget my job title – to be honest, a title doesn’t say much about you.
    • I have worked at three companies where honestly, I didn’t even know what my “official” job title was. I didn’t care. I knew what I was supposed to do, and I was determined to do that, and more. I didn’t need a title to box me into anything.
    • In the line of work I do, I have watched people turn down great opportunities, even promotions, because they didn’t like the title that was provided to them. I also know that companies of various sizes use titles so differently. A Vice President at one company could be a Manager at another.
    • I would encourage you to have a work ethic centered around growing your influence, scope, and skills, and not be limited by whatever title the company provides for that work.
  2. Determine what my duties are:
    • I took some time to really consider what I did on a day to day basis:
      • Answer questions from managers about how and when to give a pay increase
      • Analyze where benefits dollars are being spent to see if there is a program or solution that could help employees address their needs in a better and more cost effective way
      • Review the market practices by country for competitive merit increase amounts, and work with finance to determine what our company should do based on our financial situation
      • Educate managers on the compensation philosophy and practices so they can articulate them to their employees
    • This list was a starting point to answering the question – “So, what do you do?”. It certainly would be an exhaustive way to answer the question.
    • I needed more.
  3. Consider a bigger picture:
    • The company view:
      • Get the right people in the right place to provide the right product/service to the right client/customer in the most cost effective way for everyone
      • Others may say – Grow revenue and earnings – knowing this only happens when things are working best for everyone
    • The employees view – We know people work to make money, but there is more. We work to:
      • Contribute to a cause, provide value, and fulfill a purpose
      • Socialize, build friendships, and network
      • Grow skills and pursue a career
      • Change their current economic situation, grow wealth for the future, provide for their education, or their children
    • The customers view:
      • Receive – get the right product at the right price at the right time
      • Experience – as in a movie, musical, or art
      • Simplify – make life easier
  4. Connect my duties to a bigger picture – When I think about what my role was, I realized my role was to:
    • Help the business be successful so the right employees could serve the clients best. Even though I wasn’t talking to the companies clients every day, I did have a part in making sure make sure those who talked to clients knew the importance and value of their role, and that the company supported their success with competitive pay and benefits packages.
    • Understand the direction shareholders and leadership wanted to take the company. If I was designing pay and benefits packages that didn’t support the vision, then I was missing the mark. They had to be the right cost. They had to drive the right behavior.
    • Know what employees wanted. In the compensation space, you know that everyone would like to make more money. That isn’t my job though. I needed to make sure there were clear career opportunities for employees to growing their skills, influence and scope. This should translate to larger contributions to the company, which should translate to higher pay for the employee.
  5. Spend the time to wordsmith and summarize “what I do”:
    • After working through the first four steps, this did not take as long as I thought. And, It can always be improved.
    • Consider your answer to this question for various types of people. I may have a different answer for an employee in the company than I would for a person at a networking event.

Going through these steps helped me see my work as a key part of a bigger picture. It actually showed me where I had more influence than I realized, and, to be honest, where I had less influence than I should have.

Changing my perspective changed my trajectory!

COMMENT BELOW: So, what do you do?

God is not all you need

He was sipping his coffee, wrestling with loneliness. A kind hearted, growing Christian, who was finding support in God, and on the verge of giving up on humanity. He didn’t want to go to Church. They were all judgmental hypocrites, who didn’t care about him. His friends had pushed him aside. In his mind, all he had was God, and that was all he needed. He reflected on the old song, “You’re all I want. You’re all I ever needed” I encouraged him to continue growing closer to God in this time. And then, I told him another truth:

Friend, God is not all you need.

He looked at me as if I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. His eyebrow went up. He must have felt that I didn’t understand. So, he began clarifying that God is all he needs. He needed to pray more, read his bible more. He didn’t need all the problems that come with having other people in his life. They just pull him down. I let him vent. I have been there myself. I get it. Then, I told him again.

Friend, God is not all you need.

Then, I brought him all the way back to the beginning. “Do you remember the first thing that was not good? It’s found in Genesis 2:18.”

Adam had God. For relationship, all Adam had was God. He knew God in ways we may never know in our lifetime. Adam had God. And God said “It is not good for man to be alone.”

My friend responds, “Alone? How was Adam alone. He had God?”

This is the very point God was trying to make.

Our relationship with God does not satisfy our need for relationship with others. We can have God and still be alone. And, that’s not good.

As I look at my journey as a Christian, I believe God has provided three very important things to help me along the way:

1) The Word of God, 2) The Spirit of God, 3) The People of God

Today, the focus is on the last point. Without other people in my life, I cannot imagine what it would be like. I’m not talking about going to Church on Sunday (although I do enjoy that time). I mean real relationships, with friends and family who speak into my life, provide Godly counsel, support me in my struggles, lift me up and encourage me to keep going. Sometimes, I even get to do that for them.

At my church, we say: Life happens in circles, not rows

Church services are great for motivation, encouragement and the wonderful reminder of God’s great love for us. But, they are not great for building life long, meaningful relationships with the people around us. That happens over lunch, dinner, coffee, or through a small home group. That’s where relationships happen.

Since the beginning, God has designed us for relationships.

This week, as you go about your planning, I encourage you to look at the people around you, and see them as a gift from God. Encourage them. Pray for them. Even for that one person you don’t like. Believe it or not, you need them. God knows, it is not good to be alone.

What Flatland BMX taught me

It all started with a wheelie.

1986 was a glorious year for BMX. The movie Rad came out. I saw tricks in this movie that blew my mind. I was going into 7th grade and I could do a wheelie and an endo (hit the brake and go up on the front wheel). This movie inspired me to take my BMX riding to a whole new level. Continue reading “What Flatland BMX taught me”

How “I will” changes “I didn’t” to “I did”!

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford

It took me over 15 years to start writing. I talked myself out of it thousands of times. I would tell myself, “I don’t“:

  • have enough time
  • know enough information
  • have enough content
  • know the process for publication
  • have a platform large enough to sell any books
  • know grammar or spelling well enough

I look over the last few months of blogging, and I can see that once I decided “I will“, then the “I don’t” began shifting to “I didn’t“. I still have a lot to learn, and I am okay with that. Pretty soon, I will look back and say:

“I don’t” became “I didn’t” and “I will” became “I did”

The truth is, I could:

  • adjust my schedule to make time
  • read more books, listen to podcasts, go to conferences
  • write about what I do know, and write more as I learn more
  • study the process for publication, talk to other authors
  • expand my platform by putting myself out there for others to see
  • review language, writing, and spelling classes, and have others proofread before publication

The shift from “I don’t” to “I did” is like the remote control. I can see it across the room, but I have to move to get it.

My first 5k “run” was about 6 years ago. I had never ran more than a mile on purpose before then. Since then, I have “run” two other 5k’s. Each took me between 45-50 minutes.

This year I signed up for a half-marathon. This wasn’t on my bucket list. I am not a “passionate runner”. I ride BMX bicycles and do tricks for fun (more on this on my Wednesday blog).

I am doing this half-marathon for a cause – raise $3,000 to give clean water to communities in Africa. Learn more and/or help support me by clicking here.

When I look back to the day I said “yes” to the the half-marathon, I remember telling myself, “I don’t”:

  • have the skill or the time
  • have the resources
  • have the discipline to exercise for that type of run
  • have the capacity to run that long or that far
  • know what to expect

In October, I will look back and say:

I didn’t. I did.

Each Sunday we have been talking about weekly planning. Today, I encourage you to think about the “I don’t” that keeps you from making meaningful progress towards a goal you want to achieve.

“I don’t” will not become “I didn’t” until “I will” becomes “I did”.

COMMENT: What is one action (“I will”) you can take to change your “I don’t” to “I didn’t”?

Become a data analyst in four simple steps!

During the most recent election season I would see numerous polls telling me what the population believes. I remember a specific poll that showed a significant portion of the population held a view that I did not hold, and it startled me a bit. So, I looked the analysis up, and found that the poll was of 1,000 people across a three state area in the New England area. I thought to myself, 1,000 people? Is that really a true sample size of the 350+million Americans who have an opinion?

Whether you are looking at political polls, compiling big data, reading a magazine, watching a documentary, or even studying the Bible, I encourage applying these steps to understand the information.

When it comes to data or information analysis, focus on these four steps:

Collection, Interpretation, Application, and Communication

The steps are outlined below with an example of telling time:

  1. Collection – Gathering as much data as necessary to answer – What does the data say?
    • 9:45 pm
  2. Interpretation – The process of reviewing, validating, and even collecting more data, to answer – What does the data mean?
    • Everyone should be in bed in 15 minutes
  3. Application – The result of interpreting the data will lead to a conclusion which will answer – What does the data tell me to do?
    • I need to let everyone know to start getting ready for bed
  4. Communication – The process of translating the collected data to an impacted audience you need to answer – How do I tell people what the data means?
    • Exclaim, “It’s 9:45 people….get ready for bed. Turn off your electronics, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas!”

Regardless of what you are analyzing the process is the same.

The hardest part of analysis is to simply follow the process.

Each step has it’s own challenges, key points, and implications for skipping the step.

Collection – Too much time collecting data can overwhelm the interpretation process. You must learn to weed out bad or irrelevant data. If you skip this step you are simply making things up.

Interpretation – The more variables there are in the data, the more complicated this process becomes. Too few data points may lead you to a false conclusion. You must identify the key variables, and consider multiple alternatives or ways to apply the information. If you skip this step everything else is simply your opinion and you may never know if you had the right information.

Application – There are always other factors you could not know or predict. Based on what you know, it is important to identify what you believe is the best option.  If you skip this step you have nothing to communicate.

Communication – People will consume and interpret information differently, so there is not a simple answer here. Some will want to see all the data, how you interpreted it, all the alternatives you considered, and why you decided on your application. Others will want the concept and the soundbite. A big risk is to communicate misleading soundbites. You must identify your audience, and the level of information you want them to consume, or that they need to consume. If you skip this step then you are the only person who knows what the data is saying.

Using these steps will not only make you a better analyst, it may also make you question or understand the analytical results you hear from others.

Comment – What other ways do you interpret information?

Productive weeks are like separating oranges

Do you have a lot of messy work weeks? Do e-mails and meetings hinder you from a productive work day?

If so, I recommend an honest review of your work by what I will call the “principle of separation”. It’s like an orange. Separating an orange the right way leaves a beautiful wedge for eating. Separating it the wrong way leaves your hands sticky and everything messy.

Continue reading “Productive weeks are like separating oranges”