Bulls-Eye

So, I created a diagram, and have been working on it with my mentor, that shows my life focus as the target (the "bulls-eye") with other elements surrounding that target. I use this depiction to then look at several elements of my life: which are lined up with my bulls-eye and which are pointed in the wrong direction; which are those I am committed to do and which are optional; how is my income allocated among these versus how my time is allocated; which are utilizing my strengths; and what tools do I have in my tool shed. This bulls-eye concept has never been part of the discussion groups I lead at Thrivent, but invariably the idea would come up and several people have asked me about my bulls-eye.

Based on the interest expressed in the group and one-off conversations I have had, it looks like I am going to start a group to help others find their bulls-eye. I don't know what the process will look like, but I anticipate sharing how I went through the process (at times formal; at other times informal) and see where this leads us.

All of this is background to say that I'm still rattling around one response from a friend of mine and trying to determine what it means. This person said they would not want to participate because they are very content with their life and would not want to introduce anything that would cause upheaval. I'm interested in someone being "scared" to find out their sweet spot in life, but I think I get it. I also wonder if that response is simply an indication that the person is already in their sweeat spot - that their life is already operating in their bulls-eye.

Should be interesting if/when it gets off the ground.

Fishing Hunger

The temperatures are now in the 30 degree range, the snow is just starting to melt a little bit, and we are only about 6 weeks from probably ice-out on the lakes. I can almost taste the water, the fish, the line, the worms, the lures, the joy, the sun.... I can almost feel the tug on the line as the largemouth grabs the Rapale or the northern takes the Daredevil. I can; I can almost taste and feel those things. I saw about 2 minutes of a fishing show today and had to turn the channel... I just couldn't continue watching footage of guys bringing in four pound bass.

Last year we used my father-in-laws boat for the entire year; a 16' Lund with just a trolling motor... it was awesome, but we couldn't get too far across a lake with that motor. This year, I have a line on a 6 horse motor which is slightly better and still looking for something a bit bigger - but with no money to spend, it makes it a bit more daunting. This year we will pick up the boat even earlier (as soon as the snow melts) and get it ready for hitting the lakes.

There are very few things I anticipate so much that I just can't wait for. In fact, the list might just be fishing and heaven. OK, perhaps my kids welcome when I get home from work or a trip.

This winter I've run into a number of folks who have said they'd take me out this summer... prepare for me to take you up on that. Jason at Evergreen, you WILL be taking me northern & muskie hunting!

Book Writing

I'm so excited... I'm finally going to take the step of taking time away to start wrtiting a book. I think I know the direction I'm going to go with it, but it will be interesting to see what kind of momentum I get on that. I'm planning to spend about 4 days (generally uninterrupted) and see what happens. It's one of those "avoiding regrets" or avoiding the "what if's" in life. I don't have a bucket list, but if I did, attempting to write a book would be on it. The primary audience for the book will be myself and serve to capture my thoughts as a 37 year old trying to figure out this leadership thing.... it will be interesting to compare it to my thoughts in 5-10 years. Should be fun..... it's nice to think that even when life is crazy busy, it can work out to chase a dream now and then. What are your dreams that you have not been able to chase?

Ice Fishing

So, my son and I spent about 6 hours ice fishing on Friday with some friends who have moved out of town. The fishing sucked, but we had a great time. The bulk of the time was spent just playing cribbage and shooting the bull... but there was one moment of great excitement. One of the rattle reels starting turning and we all jumped up and ran to the corner hole. Mike set the hook and starting bringing it in... his son and I saw the Walleye swimming by a few feet below the ice... nice fish. Didn't take long, however, for the line to snap and off she went. Dang! For the next several hours, the disappointment of missing the fish would come back up to the surface and we'd all share our disappointment before moving back to another subject.

As I thought about the fun day we had, I thought about how the conversation would have been different if we would have caught a different fish after that and been able to bring it in. It's just like life... as things happen to us, we make mistakes, or "the big one gets away" in life, we become pre-occupied with that negative experience until the point at which something good replaces it. The old attage, "get back on the horse" is critical in my life... if something doesn't go the way I want, I will live with that memory... it is important for me to replace that negative memory with a new memory rather than allow that memory to dwell and fester.

I think I need to go ice fishing again soon.

StrengthsFinder

I find it interesting that this summer, I felt like I had way more to write about than I had time to write it. I wonder if the reduced frequency of my blogging is related to the fact that I'm not outside as much in winter or if I'm busier or if I'm just out of stuff to say. I don't think I'm out of stuff to say, cuz man I talk plenty. Perhaps I'm just out of a rhythm with my blogging... yeah, that's probably it. There really is a lot going on to talk about because.

A few years ago I took the StrengthsFinder assessment (highly recommended) and my top 5 strengths were determined to be Learner, Relator, Achiever, Strategic, & Self-Assurance. I have been using this (along with other assessment results) to help me make decisions and understand situations. I have become such a believer in this that I'm now in the middle of leading a group of 16 people at Thrivent through this process. It's been great to see people start asking more questions of themselves and potentially embrace the "build on your strengths" paradigm rather than the "work on your weaknesses." I was a bit concerned because one person in the class said she just took the assessment again after a couple of years and all 5 of her strengths were different. That might just mean she is very well-rounded, but it made me concerned about the validity of the assessment. A couple of things have reaffirmed the value:
1) Of the 16 people, 13 are working actuaries, 1 is an actuarial VP, 1 is an industrial engineer, and 1 is an accountant. Although all are highly technical, the 3 of the entire group that had the least in common with others were the VP, engineer, and accountant.
2) When I re-took the test, 4 of the 5 remained the same (including Learner as #1 each time); my "strategic" was replaced with "responsibility."

I used to think this stuff was all psycho-babble until I had a number of assessments done for various reasons and went away for a couple of days to pray over them and look for common themes. It was remarkable as I started looking back to see where in my life I was thriving and where I was discouraged. They were highly correlated with the use (or not) of my strengths. Since then, my mentor has been tremendously helpful in using the knowledge of my strengths to help me understand my feelings in various situations.

I highly recommend the book for yourself or for any team that you are on; it is a great tool for forming teams and understanding teammates.