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3 Mezuzahs to Motivate Your Mission

MezuzahWhen you are trying to actively engage in more than one major life mission, it is important to have markers in your life that remind you of the importance and priority of each mission.  By markers, I mean regular mental or physical things that reset your focus and allow you to approach each life priority with burning passion.  You want to be as passionate about your vocation as you are about your avocational mission as you are about the others parts of my life.

In Judaism, the faithful hang mezuzahs on their doorposts.  A mezuzah is s a little box that contains the words of their most sacred Scripture.  They look at it every time they leave their home and it is a physical reminder of their identity as Jews and the core teaching of their faith.

In the daily patterns of juggling more than one major life commitment, it is easy to settle into an unmotivated rhythm or duty.  While duty is honorable and to be commended, it is much more fun to get regularly reconnected to the reason for your labor and to live from passion.  We need our own mezuzahs to keep our head in the game.

If you don’t have your reasons written down, do that first.

This is a precursor to being reminded of your mission – identifying your mission.  Make it simple.  Grab a journal and write out as simply as you can the reasons why you do each thing that you do.  Here are a few examples:

  • Area of Focus #1: Work.  I work so that I can engage with a diversity of people, so that I can feed my family, and so that my need for income is not a burden on my church.
  • Area of Focus #2: Church.  I minister to others because the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes the world and brings eternal hope to all who believe in it.
  • Area of Focus #3: Family.  I intentionally invest in my family because I cherish them, I need them to share my mission, and I have no greater desire than to see them flourish under my sacrificial leadership.

In my case, I have 10 areas of focus and I have about a page of narrative in my journal (or my Evernote note, actually) that records why this area of focus is important to me.  My areas are Personal Health, Personal Growth, Personal Heart, Marriage, Children, Friends, Career, Ministry, Household, and Finances.

Now, onto a few ways you can remind yourself to reconnect.  Here are a few practical mezuzahs for your mission:

Mezuzah #1. Review your journal weekly.

Many greater men than me recommend a weekly review time for several parts of their productivity system.  As part of my weekly review, I re-read my mission priorities from my journal.  This gives me an opportunity to tweak the vision a little each week, to set some action items on my upcoming week’s calendar to further the mission, and to celebrate the past week’s progress.

Mezuzah #2. Make time to deeply engage in one thing.

The problem with splitting the majority of our attention at least 3 ways (Career, Mission, Family) is that we are shifting focus so often that we can’t fully celebrate any single part.  I recommending making some time, even a day a month or a weekend a year, where you can solely focus on one part of your life.  For me, this means taking PTO from my day job periodically so that I can spend a whole day with my family or a whole day with my church work.  It sometimes means doing no church work or no family work for a day or two so that I can deeply engage in a project at work.  So, give yourself a pass – it is ok to focus on one thing, even as you manage many things.

Mezuzah #3.  Make time to deeply rest from all things.

Yes, I’m talking about making time to do whatever charges you up.  For me, it is working in my woodshop, sailing, taking naps, etc..  They are not just ‘nice things to do’, they are essential.  Without rest, there is no endurance.

I’m writing this blog entry from a Pastor’s conference (www.t4g.org).  It is the first conference I have been to in many years, but I am getting charged up in so many ways for my Mission, because I am being reminded of its importance, and refreshed from the grind of doing 3 jobs at once.  This is a convergence of all three of the above practices.  I’m being reminded of my mission by the speakers, I’m focusing on one part of life by taking PTO from my day job to be here, and I’m deeply resting from my to-do lists which are back home. 

It is bliss.

Now it is your turn.  What mezuzah’s do you have in your life that keep you motivated for your mission?

 

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A blog for people who work two jobs

pulled two directions

This blog is for bi-vocational people. Maybe you work full time and then also work or volunteer as a youth leader, or a scoutmaster, or a fireman, or service club officer. The key thing is that you probably make your primary living from one thing, and then choose to invest in a second thing because of some core value in your life. That might be supporting a family, and needing a second income to do so. It might be a sense of greater mission or calling, like it is in my case.

I am a bi-vocational pastor. I work a full-time day job, and also pastor a small church. Trying to juggle a growing family and two demanding jobs while also maintaining some sense of personal wellness is not easy, but I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I think I’m ready to share some of the lessons I’ve picked up along the way.

What topics interest me? Productivity and life management, personal mission, work-life synergy, technology and productivity, small church leadership. Let’s look at some upcoming blog topics:

  • “The tools I use to make the most of every day.”
  • “Don’t cheat your day job for your night job.”
  • “How to do what you really want to do without resenting what you have to do to get there”
  • “Practicing what you preach”
  • “Why bi-vocational pastors are better pastors”
  • “How a part-time pastor makes for a healthy church”
  • “Everyone is bi-vocational if they are living God’s call on their lives”
  • “Keeping track of all the details when you are being pulled 100 different ways”
  • “Work and ministry: striving for synergy”
  • “When everyone wants a piece of you, how do you keep a slice for yourself?”
  • “A new look at priorities – it’s more than putting the big rocks in first”

I’d like you to join me for an ongoing conversation about bi-vocationalism. There are some limited blogs and podcasts out there on this topic, and a handful of books. Unfortunately, there isn’t much fresh content being produced or curated. My goal is to become the most recognizable curator or subject matter expert on these topics as they relate to people working two jobs.

A curator has the privilege of sampling a lot of great content. The true heroes are those who came up with great ideas, often through years of toil, trial, and triumph. But, sorting through the good, bad, and ugly, and giving a community the context to celebrate and learn from the best ideas is the role of the curator. I get to show off people who are smarter than me, you get to converse about it, and we all become better at doing the things we love.