landonville

things i like. mostly ridiculous.

  • Home
    • Edit
    • Delete
    • Tags
    • Autopost

    Sabotage!

    No, this post is not about the Beastie Boys.  #geekcheck

    When I was going through the ordination process, the psychologist who did my "psych assessment" told me he thought I was prone to self-sabotage.  I had shown up to the 3 day affair without having done my preliminary paperwork.  I hadn't booked a hotel room in which to stay.  Things like that.

    What I later learned was primarily introversion rearing it's ugly head at stress was still a good learning opportunity for me because it taught me the importance of facing discomfort head on.  Not that I've totally learned it...I'm just saying.

    This is what I see with churches all over the place.  It's not that we don't have the skills, it's that we're still, after all this time, afraid of failing.  We don't want to invest our time or energy something because if it fails we'll look stupid, or so we think.

    So, I ask you: what kind of God do you believe in?  One who leaves you high and dry?  No? Then quit with the self-sabotage already.  

    [Link] http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/1l1QX0wSVbg/sabotage.html

    Sabotage!

    Just about all sabotage is self-sabotage.

    We don't get forced to eat that cookie, we choose to. And so the diet is ended.

    Marketing self-sabotage is fascinating to watch and understand. Consider the college application: it's primarily an opportunity for teenagers who aren't sure of where they want to go to undercut their chances by exposing their uncertainty. The lizard brain, the voice in the back of the head that wants security and safety--it's not eager to go to a college that might be 'too hard' or 'too good'. The easy thing to do is to scale back the effort, not do what works, but do what feels right instead.

    Or consider the way we resist opportunities to lead, to connect, to do work that matters. We don't resist because we're not capable of it... we resist because if our marketing fails, if we don't get the job or earn the trust, then we're off the hook. No promises made, which means no promises to keep.

    We know more than enough about marketing now. We know how to craft a story that will spread, we know how to find and lead tribes. The thing we have trouble with is making the commitment to do it even when it's frightening and difficult.

    • 31 July 2010
    • Views
    • Permalink
    • Tweet
    • 0 responses
    • Like
    • Comment

  • Landon Whitsitt's Space

    I'm not someone you'd probably like. Unless you like people like that...then you'd love me.

  • About Landon Whitsitt

    I'm not someone you'd probably like. Unless you like people like that...then you'd love me.

  • Subscribe via RSS

    Archive

    2011 (50)
    October (1)
    July (5)
    June (2)
    March (5)
    February (8)
    January (29)
    2010 (137)
    December (7)
    November (8)
    October (6)
    September (15)
    August (17)
    July (8)
    June (5)
    May (12)
    April (23)
    March (14)
    February (18)
    January (4)

  • Follow Me

      TwitterFacebook

Theme created for Posterous by Obox