We live in a last minute culture and we are
slaves to our impulses. Marketing agencies take full advantage of this concept
with gems like:
- Buy now, pay later
- Fast food - we deliver in 30 minutes or less or your pizza is free
- The easy button
- Instant download
- Instant love connection
All the while, we are
accumulating these instant fixes for deeply seeded needs as we allow our
impulses to control, dictate and dominant our schedules, our habits and our
choices.
But what if life what
never intended to be lived at the rate of pure impulse? I'm discovering these
three things as I strive to find a balance between impulse and being
intentional.
1. If you believe in
intelligent design, you believe that planning is important. Life doesn't make sense without the concept of intelligent design.
Intelligent means well thought out. If you and I exist as part of a well
thought out design, which points to the undeniable fact that planning is
essential in order to create something that is significant. I'm not sure that
you can believe in intelligent design, but yet allow your life to be controlled
primarily by impulse. While it may be true that your earthly parents never
planned to create you, God (the innovator of intelligent design) did. There is
no accidental life on planet earth. God creates beauty out of brokenness and
chaos, and He is not controlled by impulse in doing so. Intelligent design
points to the fact that planning is crucial to success in life, in leadership
and even in love.
2. Discipline yourself to
think ahead. Don't just settle for last minute. It takes discipline to create space to make a plan. Great leaders
possess the ability to respond to the moment while always keeping the future in
mind. The struggle is that most of us have not created the habit of taking the
time to plan what might be next, and allow ourselves to instead be controlled
by the ever increasing pressures of a reactionary, impulse based
lifestyle.
It's true that you can't think of everything,
but entering into a conversation, a situation or a challenge without some sort
of plan leads to becoming easily overwhelmed, burdened, disconnected and
eventually burned out. If planning ahead doesn't come naturally to you, find
the courage to seek out others who have seemingly mastered this discipline and
ask them to coach you. Great leaders understand their vision and mission.
Vision is an orientation, not a destination; it exists in the future and the
present. But unless you discipline yourself to take time to make a plan, you
will struggle to discover what vision and mission are.
3. Being spontaneous
doesn't mean you're being spiritual. Being
led by the Spirit is different than choosing not to make a plan. As a leader,
I've been blessed (and cursed) with the ability to see the future fairly easily
(meaning that I have an idea of where we should go and how we can get there).
There are many times that the plan that I have put in place needs to flex, be
adjusted or even torn down due the promptings of God's Spirit. But spontaneity
doesn't always equal being spiritual or Spirit-led. Sometimes spontaneity is
linked to laziness in leadership. To gauge whether or not people see you as a
lazy leader, ask them about to observe your planning habits and give you
feedback. The community around you may be able to help you sharpen and refine
your leadership habits if you are willing to hear honest feedback from them.
Being intentional in leadership is extremely
important. If you are a leader, that's not by accident. Courage, bravery,
honesty and integrity are required to lead. Our impulse based culture demands
that we must be intentional in the way that we lead. So, how are you being
shaped by impulse and/or intention?
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