What kind of person are you? Are you dependable; are you a leader, are you one that people can turn to in times of trouble? In thinking about this, I’ve been dwelling on what it means to press into something.    

Imagine you have some play dough on the table and you take your thumb, and press into it. What happens? Does it all flatten out? Not at all. Only the part you press into compacts under your thumb. The rest of it seems to wrap itself around your thumb, leaving you with a big lump of play dough where your thumb should be.

Consider a child that is hurt, or needs the security of a hug when they are in trouble. They don’t just hug you, they squeeze you like they are trying to get as much of you as possible to surround them. Those are the hugs that make me melt, especially when it is one of my kids. The photo above was taken by a friend of ours at a time when my youngest son was playing and was in one of those moods where he just wanted to be close. This photo sits on my desk at work as a reminder of two things, both equally important. The love of my kids, but also the fact that as their father, I am supposed to be one that they can press into when they need comfort, or security or wisdom.

Everyone is a leader in some form or another, whether they are at home, in the workplace, at church, or wherever, there is always someone that will look to us as a leader and as leaders we need to be the kinds of people that can be a strength to others, and a support when they need comfort, direction, or even the wisdom of someone else to talk to.

Everyone needs someone that they can press into, but let’s keep in mind, that as leaders, we also need to be those kinds of people that are a support to others who look up to us.

Have a great week,

Adrian

One of the great things about sport is that, if it is trained into the players, it develops the team mindset rather than a solo player mindset.

I remember playing some sports at school that I really enjoyed. One of them was Baseball. Baseball is a team sport, but one thing is noticeable. When the batter steps up to the plate, everything is up to him. He does his part for the team, but at that very moment, it is all about him. All eyes are on him to see how he will perform. He can’t pass it off onto someone else - at that moment he has to play his part.

Leadership can be like that. Some great leaders are solo players. Some great leaders play well as a part of a team. Some are great in the lead role, others are great in support, but regardless of where they play, a great leader will be able to step up to the plate and do his part for the team.

The first chapter of Joshua in the Bible speaks of Joshua being called to replace Moses, an incredible leader of several million people. In there, God says to him, “Be strong and of good courage”. Joshua was called to lead Israel, but he had to do it as Joshua. He was called to replace Moses not to be Moses. 

The key is not to try to be a leader that you are not. Know where you best play well and work hard at that. You can work at developing your weaknesses, but don’t forget to keep working at your strengths also.  
Somebody once said, “There’s no “I” in team, but it does have ‘me’ in it. I want to encourage you this month with this. Find your place in the team, and play your part to the very best of your abilities. Train and practice, train and practice, so that when it is you turn to step up to  the plate, you can hit a home run.

Have a winner of a month,

Adrian

What have you done with your life? This is something people often ask when they hit their mid-life years. They question their life’s achievements and when they calculate how much time is left, they can doubt the possibility of achieving anything really significant.

If you're like most people you would have experienced the frustration of knowing you're capable of achieving so much more than you have seen already. The question therefore is, “How can we get past this and move forward to achieve more with our lives? Many businesses and organisations have a Mission Statement. The benefit of a Mission Statement is that it defines why the business or organisation exists and can be used as a filter to determine what things they will pursue. This helps them move forward rather than running in circles pursuing every good idea, and in reality - achieving none.

So, what is the Mission Statement for your life? Why do you exist? Have you given much thought to this (or have you thought, “We’ll just see what happens?”) Once you know what your Mission is, write it down. Hab 2:2 says, “Write the vision make it plain so that whoever reads it may run with it.” It’s good to constantly have a reminder before you as to where you are going, and what you are doing because this will help you get there. The place of your focus is the place of your travel.

Once you have identified your Mission, then clearly write down your goals. Start with where you would like to be at in 2 years. Then list where you need to be at in 90 days so that you will achieve your goals in 2 years. List where you need to be and what you need to have done at 4 weeks, then 2 weeks then every day of this week.

Now you simply put into practice, your “Mission Possible”.

Adrian Nyhuis

I was thinking about the word “Attitude” recently and I was reminded of the phrase by William Shakespeare, “What's in a name?” He goes on to say, “that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." The idea here is that it doesn’t matter what the name is, it is the fruit of something that it is known by, not just by the name it is given.

The same can be said for people. We are known not just by our name, but by who we are. An individual can know two people both with the same name. One can be a mentor and coach and the other a bully. Simple thoughts relating to the mentor and coach can inspire them to achieve greatness, yet thoughts about the bully can sometimes induce crippling fear. What is the difference? The answer is in this fact - we are more than just a name. We impact people emotionally. If you think back to your school days, you can remember some of your teachers, not by what they said, but who they were. The emotional impact on someone’s life can last a lifetime.

Who are you being when it comes to other people? Your attitude in every situation will reflect who you are as a person and therefore your outcome in every situation. A bad attitude will end up with a bad result, and a good attitude will bring a good one.

As an exercise, take every letter of the alphabet and number them so that A=1, B=2 etc. Take the word “Attitude” and assign the corresponding number to each letter. Then add the numbers up. That final number is the percentage of impact your attitude will have on your life, on your outcomes, on your behaviours on who you are being and who you will be known as.

The picture above sums it all up perfectly - “Attitude is Everything”. Choose your attitude wisely because it will determine everything else about you.

Have an attitudinally amazing week.

Adrian

PS I'd love to hear your comments and feedback.

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