A lot of people are trying to “raise the bar” on excellence these days.  Excellence is important, but the idea that we should do everything with excellence is an impossible goal.

Excellence means exceeding expectations.

Unless you are blessed with a talent that enables you to naturally exceed expectations, to exceed expectations in any endeavor you are going to have to put extra time, extra effort, or extra resources into that endeavor.

Your personal time, energy, and resources are limited.  If you put extra time, effort, or resources into one thing, you have to take it from something else.  It’s impossible to be excellent in your career, an excellent spouse, an excellent parent, an excellent PTA member, an excellent home owner, have an excellent body, and be an excellent golfer all at the same time.

Sure, there things we can do to raise performance and productivity across the board and we should, but there are still limits to what we can do.

Ultimately, excellence is a matter of choice.

Intentionally or unintentionally, we all choose what we want to do with excellence, and what we are OK with doing OK.  We make that choice when we decide what we to put extra time, effort, or resources towards, and what we’re just going to do as well as we can with less.

I want to be an excellent husband, parent, follower of God, and leader at work. While I often fall short of excellence, I do my best to put extra time, effort, and resources into those things.

On the other hand, nobody is every going to confuse me for a model or a pro athlete, so I’m content to exercise for 30 minutes 5x a week with some cast-iron weights and an $80 bike I got at Wal-mart.  My house is never going to be in Better Homes and Gardens, so I spend time and money on the weekends with my family rather than on home improvement projects.  I usually help coach my son’s baseball and soccer teams, but I’m not out to win a national championship, so I don’t put time and money into researching the best methods, training videos, and equipment.

What do you want to do with excellence?  Have you made an intentional choice to put extra time, effort, and resources into those things? If so how?  If not, what adjustments are you going to make?

When I redesigned Live Intentionally, I decided to give you the opportunity to advertise here.

Why?

Three reasons in particular.

1) To Help You Succeed – The whole reason Live Intentionally exists is to encourage and empower people to be more than they ever thought possible.  That includes helping people like you succeed in their businesses, non-profits, and causes.  Live Intentionally was visited last month by more than 4,000 people.  These are leaders and people who are proactive about improving themselves physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally, and financially.  If you provide a product or service that can help them do that, you should advertise here.

2) I Want to Learn First Hand about Blog Advertising – I’ve been blogging for more than 4 years, written thousands of posts, read thousands of articles about blogging, and led a group of fellow bloggers through Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.  But one aspect of blogging where I have no first-hand experience is in trying to generate revenue through advertising.  I love a good learning experience.

3) To Raise Money – I’ll write more about this in another post, but I’ve come to realize my kids are bored, underchallenged, and bickering. So, we are going to take on a BHAG – a Big Harry Audacious Goal.  We are going to pursue a goal that is big and exciting, something that we’ll all have to sacrifice and work together to accomplish.  We are still figuring out what that is, but raising money through Live Intentionally will be part of that.

Advertise for FREE in July!

Since I’ve just begun to offer advertising, we’re already part way into July, and I’d like to get some advertisers on board as soon as possible, I’ve got a great deal for you.  Buy an ad spot for August and I’ll give you the rest of July at no extra cost.  Do it now (July 12) and you almost double your advertising.  Additionally, August has historically been the highest trafficked month on LI because I blog my notes from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit from all 10 sessions live.

So, be proactive.  Check the advertising page for more stats and rates.  And advertise for free on LiveIntentionally.org in July while there’s still space available.

]]> http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/07/12/advertise-for-free-on-liveintentionally-org-in-july/feed/ 1 http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/02/26/the-4-lies-of-consumerism/ http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/02/26/the-4-lies-of-consumerism/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:14:09 +0000 Paul http://www.liveintentionally.org/?p=822

Congrats to Karen Mundy winner of the second of 5 copies of Worldliness by C.J. Mahaney.  I’m giving away another book today.  Keep reading for details.

Consumerism was the triumphant winner of the ideological wars of the 20h century, beating out both religion and politics as the path millions of Americans follow to find purpose meaning, order, and transcendent exaltation in their lives. –April Witt

Americans live in consumerism.  Like the air we breathe, it surrounds us.  Most of the time we don’t even realize it’s there.

On average we’re exposed to somewhere between 500 to 3,000 advertising messages a day.  Advertising is intended to create discontentment.  Every ad is designed to tell us we’re lacking something, something that product or service can provide.  “You’re not pretty enough.” “Not cool enough.” “Not safe enough.” “Not having as much fun as you could.” “Not giving your kids all the advantages you could.”

Most of us would never think we’re one of the millions who finds purpose, meaning, and order in material positions.  But without even thinking about it we live in ways the demonstrate we believe our lives would be better with just a little more of this or a little bit better that.

Here are 4 lies of consumerism.

1) My stuff makes me happy.

Few people consciously believe stuff makes them happy, but… Consumerism says you’d be happier with a newer car that doesn’t break down as often.  It says you’d be happier with a bigger house so the kids don’t have to share a room. Consumerism says it’d be nice to eat out on the weekends rather than cook.  No not McDonalds, at least Chilis, or better yet, Bonefish.  It says your kids need expensive birthday parties with Chuck E Cheese and inflatable, bouncy castles.  It says you’d be happier with whiter teeth, shinier hair, fewer wrinkles, and tighter abs.

2) My stuff makes me important.

Again, few people really believe this, but… Consumerism says you’ll feel important when your neighbors say they like your new sports car.  It says you’ll feel good when your fiends ask you where you got that cute dress and those stylish shoes.  Consumerism says you’ll feel important at the water cooler Monday morning when you’re telling everyone about your experience at the big game, out on the boat, at the 5 star hotel, or at the spa.

3) My stuff makes me secure.

This one most people will acknowledge but rationalize because it seems so true and necessary.  Consumerism says if you love your family you’ll buy life insurance and auto insurance and health insurance and long term disability.  It says your anxiety would be a lot less if you moved out of the city into the suburbs… a nice suburb… gated… with 24 hour security.  It says if you earn enough or save enough you’ll have less to worry about.

4) My stuff makes me rich.

Consumerism says the rich people are the people with a lot of money – Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, movie stars, rock stars, sports stars.  Consumerism ignores the infinitely better riches every Christian has stored up for them in heaven.  It mocks the richness of the peace, hope, and love that comes from a relationship with God.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying there’s anything inherently wrong with buying a new car, eating out, buying insurance or anything else mentioned above.  They can be very good, and can help do what God has called us to do.  The problem is when our first instinct is to look to money and stuff to solve our problems.  It’s when we’re not happy with what we have.  It’s when our hopes and dreams revolve stuff instead of God.

The sin of covetousness is not that we have stuff; it’s that our stuff has us.

In what ways does stuff have you?  In what ways are you going to change your thinking or actions regarding stuff?  Where have you found victory over consumerism in your life?

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One person will be randomly selected the morning of Tuesday 3/2 to receive a free copy of Worldliness.  If you don’t win today, don’t worry, there are 2 more posts yet to come. If you  tweeted/shared/commented yesterday, yes, you need to tweet/share/comment today to have a chance to win the book today.

Sunday the worship service at my church focused on the church and school we partner with in St. Louis Da Nord, Haiti.  You can watch this video to learn more about it.

The school provides books, a uniform, and a meal to 450 kids who otherwise would not get any education.  Our family sponsored 2 of those children last year – a 5 year old girl named Youyoute and a 7 year old boy named Louireus – and we were excited to be able to sponsor the same two children again this year.

In addition to that…

our church also did a “Five Day Solidarity Challenge” in which we challenged people to eat beans and rice like our friends in Haiti for five days and give the money saved on groceries to the school which is now planning to start a chicken farm in order to become more self-sustaining.

The solidarity challenge came at what seemed at the time to be a bad time for our family.  We forgot it was taking place that week and had already done our grocery shopping for the week.  I also had lunches scheduled for 4 days that week, and it would have been difficult to stick to beans and rice.  Plus like I said, we’re already supporting 2 kids, plus the orphanage in Kenya, the church at large, we did the last solidarity challenge, and we’re saving money so we can go to Kenya next month to serve at the orphanage there.

So, we decided to skip it this time around.

As luck would have it, yesterday I just happened to be reading Shaun Groves’ blog.  He’s a singer and speaker who I have become a huge fan of recently.  Here’s an expert from a post titled In Case of Emergency

Just before our trip to India – thanks to an e-mail from a blog reader – I listened to a sermon by Francis Chan (three times) called “Living To Display The Gospel” and began to rethink the supposed virtues of moderation.

In his message he told the story of how he decided to give away a large sum of money he earned from a successful book deal.  He ended the story by saying that some advocates of moderation have asked him if it’s wise to give all that cash to aid the poor.  “Shouldn’t you put some of it away in case of emergency?”

To which he answered, “Are you saying that what’s happening in ‘the developing world’ isn’t an emergency? …Oh, you mean an emergency that involves me.  Because if it doesn’t involve me then it’s not a real emergency right?”

Ugh!  What a kick in the pants!

Every year 6 million children under the age of 5 die of starvation.

I know if my kids were dying of starvation I would not be holding back money in a savings account for a new car or a rainy day fund in case the air conditioner goes out.

It’s really causing me to wrestle with the entire notion of saving money.  The question is not “How much does God require me to give?”  But rather… how much do I trust God to provide?  And where is the line between trusting God and being irresponsible?  Is it even possible to give too much to the point of irresponsibility?

What do you think?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know I want to give more and trust more.  And I know I’m going to open up my checkbook and help to fund this chicken farm the school in Haiti is starting.

If you really want to have your world rocked, listen to Francis Chan’s message Living to Display the Gospel for yourself.

The financial crisis is going to change our lives, but will it be for better or for worse?

My gut reaction is, “Well, that depends on how bad my circumstances get.”  But Pat Lencioni has a great article out that explains why that’s not the case.

(Edited 3/25: This article has been published on the Simple Wisdom Project website, so I’m removing the full article and replacing it with an excerpt and a link to honor the copyright.)

Okay. This financial mess we’re in is definitely a crisis. The full extent of the problem is unclear, but a few things are likely. It is global. It will be long. And for those of us under the age of seventy five, it will probably be unprecedented and, thus, will change our lives.

The big question we need to be asking ourselves is “how will it change our lives?” And there are only two possible answers to that question: for better, or for worse. That’s right. Sometime in the future we will look back at this time and see it largely as a blessing or as a wound. The key to determining which of these will occur—in our families as well as our nation—lies in how we view suffering and the decisions we make as a result.

Ironically, I’m not as worried about our collective ability to survive this crisis—people are always more resilient than they think they are—but rather about what we might do before we feel its full impact. That’s because the anticipation of pain and suffering is often worse than the suffering itself…

a crisis can be an opportunity to recommit to what is most important in life… proving that we can endure a crisis without sacrificing our principles really is its own reward.

You can read the full essay here.

So, how will the financial crisis change your life?  For the better because you adapted with integrity?  Or for the worse because you compromised your principles?

You can sign up to receive future Simple Wisdom POV newsletters at simplewisdomproject.com

It’s no secret that churches have gotten reputation over the years of being more concerned about money than people.  I think most churches are well intentioned, but when you have a mortgage, utility bills, staff and salaries and you see churches closing their doors every day unfortunately some pastors and church leaders have become preoccupied with the offering and paying the bills.

I can across this video from NBC Nightly News a couple of weeks ago that reports on Waterfront Community Church in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg that stands in contrast to that stereotype by giving away all the money they receive to those in need.  Take a look…

I was curious as to how the church pays for the rental of the school and if they have any paid staff.  So, I emailed them and asked.  I’ll post something when I hear back.

What do you think?  Can a church like this really work?

Would you want to be a part of a church like this if it meant no building, no paid staff, and none of the other amenities many American Christians have come to expect from their church?

3/11 UPDATE
Thanks to David Herrick of Waterfront who emailed me explaining how they make it possible for Waterfront to give away 100% of their Sunday offering:

…there are three ways we are able to do what we do. We have three staff, all of whom raise their own support from friends and family (we treat it like a missions effort). We keep our operations expenses very, very, low, and squeeze every nickel and dime. And so we are able to cover the costs of our operations with the help of 8-10 families who tithe specifically to our operations expenses on a private basis. Their private contribution allows us to give 100% of our Sunday offerings away to support local and global causes.

It’s a very innovative, new way to organize a local church. On second thought, it may be a very old way which the Church (at least in America) has forgotten about.

Now that the election is over, it seems as though our national attention has shifted from politics to economics.  Bad financial news has smacked us in the face the last two days.  The Dow tanked Wednesday and Thursday.  Yesterday we learned 240,000 jobs were lost in October and the unemployment rate grew 0.4% to 6.5%.

Personally, the economy is impacting my business.  That in turn is having a pretty significant impact on my personal finances.  Perhaps you are facing a similar situation or worse.

I got a lot of positive feedback in response to the Forget the Obama and McCain yard signs. This is what I want in my yard. (thanks to all of you who emailed it to friends or commented)  If that article helped put the election in better perspective for you, then I think you’ll appreciate this article I came across a couple weeks ago:

Why I am hopeful

It’s a bit long, but it’s helped me put our current economy into perspective.  What did you think of it?  What parts resonated with you?

We’ve all heard the saying “it’s better to give than to receive.”  Well, a research team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found that to be true.  The study found that people who spent money on others were happier than those who spent money on themselves.

Money buys happiness — if you spend on someone else