How many times are you going to let the lack of perfection keep you from making progress?
I hate New Years Resolutions. The “New Year, New Me” movement that occurs this time of year usually includes myself as well but I’ve not been feeling it this year. The inner voice of “you’ve not succeeded in the past, so why start now?” has a consistently winning record.
Writing is a discipline and craft that I greatly enjoy but recognize that consistency is necessary to become good. But you can’t get to good if you’re worried about being great and your fear of not being great keeps you from even starting.
One of my favorite writers and thought leaders is Jon Acuff. My previous counselor turned me on to him a couple years ago and he’s written some amazing books on starting and finishing. I’ve read both of those but am rereading for a third time, I believe, “Soundtracks.” It’s an amazing book that helps you turn your overthinking from a super-problem into a super-power.
We don’t have to try very hard to have a negative thought come across our minds. It just shows up. We get lost in our thoughts and they carry us away. Distraction keeps us from gaining any traction.
I would argue in our world of overstimulation, it’s almost easier to stay distracted than present. Aloof, rather than engaged.
What if we need to turn our phones off to turn our brains on?
I don’t want to be one of those crazy “conspiracy theorists” but if a psychological war was being waged on your mind and soul, wouldn’t the chaos and continuous inoculation of emotionally charged rhetoric via all forms of media on your smartphone be one of the most effective weapons? It’s always with you, always on, always listening, and sometimes even thinking for you. Pumping you full of advertisements priming you for your next purchase on Amazon and clickbait article to mindlessly read. Instead of engaging with the world immediately around you and making a positive difference, your emotional and mental energy goes toward thinking about an area of life you presently have no remote control over.
And if you’re always thinking about things you have no control over, then do you have any control at all?
If that question doesn’t put a little a little panic in your heart, then I’m not sure you’re tracking with me.
I’d like to sound the alarm. It’s time to return to engaging the world immediately around you. Your Insta-TikTok-Facebook-Twitter-Reddit self doesn’t matter but you do. The you that does the laundry, cleans the dishes, goes to work, prayer-walks around the neighborhood, and shows up for your relatives ballgames. The you that goes to church ready to learn and not only be convicted by the truth, but let it change you for the better.
Whether it’s taking care of your house, checking in on your elderly friends, showing up for therapy, or selling product. It all matters. And it’s all really something you can make a genuine difference on. A lasting impact.
Your fully engaged presence today could take you from the bleachers to the pulpit, the bullpen to the corner-office.
You can stay a distracted member of the crowd if you wish but I’m alive, awake, and feeling great.
Turn your phone off. Read a book. Hit the gym. Share your dreams with your wife.
Stay present, not distracted.

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