On today’s podcast we have Carey Nieuwhof, a pastor, writer, leadership thinker. He travels around the world to teach leadership development. Today’s message is one he gave at Camp Mini-Yo-We last summer and we’re excited to share that with you.
We asked Carey, “If you could only give one message to next generation leaders, what would it be?”
- Work twice as hard on your character as you do your competency. // What’s being shaped throughout your life is your character. Your character is who you are and what you bring into the room. It impacts you in everything you do. School prepares you for competency in your future and everyone wants you to work on your competency: make good grades, improve your leadership at work, get promotions. But very few people ask you to work on your character. You may know what you’re doing in your life, but do you know who you are? Your character determines what kind of spouse you’ll be, what kind of parent, boss, neighbor, friend. Allow God to shape your character. The deepest pains in life are often caused by character lapses in people you trust most. Politicians, sports stars, and celebrities are all taken down by character issues, and it is the same with you and your life. Let God work on your character.
- Spend 80% of your time with the people who bring you 80% of your results. // You may have hundreds of friends on Facebook or Instagram, but how many do great things that impact your own life? If you’re a manager in a store, you’ll have some people who show up late or don’t clean up or don’t unload products like they should. The next day, you’re following up with them and asking why they didn’t do what they were supposed to do. But along with those people who disappoint you are people who do great things. They arrive on time or early, they do a great job and even do the job that the other people didn’t. You can end up spending most of your time with the people who don’t do what they should and not enough with the ones who do. But if you flip that around and spend most of your time with the people who do great things and give them attention instead of the disappointments, they do even better work. Spending time with the people who are the greatest in your life will bring you energy in your own life.
- Talk to someone before you need to talk. // Don’t be afraid to get help with the struggles in your life. Bad things grow in the dark, but when you bring them into the light you experience forgiveness and hope and renewal. Bring your problems into the light of Christ and talk to others before you think you need it. Don’t give your problems a chance to grow.
- Find the amazing people in your life. // Who are you texting on your phone? Who are you messaging on Instagram? Ask yourself if the five people you are texting most often are the people you want to be like. Hang out with the people who you admire and who will have the best influence on your life. If you want to be better at something, spend time with the people who are better at that thing.
- Time multiplies your decisions. // If you invest $100 at 5% it grows over time. It could be worth much more when you’re 70 years old. But if you spend $200 on your credit card, the interest on that grows too and it can grow over time into a really bad situation. Good decisions get better with time, bad decisions get worse with time. What decisions are you making now? What relationship decisions, what friendships decisions, what ethical decisions? If you make the decision now to get out of bad situations or cut ties with the bad influences in your life, time will make that better. A bad habit can become an addiction and time makes it worse. If you decide to make a change and get yourself out of that addiction, time makes it better. You can decide to honor God in your life and time will make that better.
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