Rule of Five

I got the opportunity to attend the John Maxwell Live Conference at our church, Church of the Highlands.  I've been listening and reading from John Maxwell since 1992 when my Evangelism Professor, Dr. Roy Fish introduced our class to Dr. Maxwell's teachings.  I've seen him live at least 15-20 times and read most of his books.

Today, he spoke on a variety of subjects including the "Rule of Five."  I've heard him speak on the Rule of Five before and even shown the YouTube of it in my classes.  But for some reason, it resonated with me today.  I sat in my car for over an hour after the even to allow the traffic to die down.  While in the car, I wrote down the Five things that I want to do every day.  One of those was to begin writing again.  I had a blog for many years and it was well read.  But, I decided to delete it a few years back.  Then I started this one with no promise of how much or how often I would write.  I really could care less how many people read this.  Not that I'm opposed to people reading anything I write, but I'm just not driven by numbers. Now the I'm writing to collect my thoughts and maybe every once in a while have something meaningful to say.  Even if it is just to me. So, below are the five things that I'm committing to doing daily.

My Rule of Five: (GLEWS)

1.  Grow- I'm committed to continuing to grow by reading (or listening) to at least one book a month.  I will listen to podcasts, sermons, and other stretching opportunities daily.  I am enrolled in 2 colleges to grow.  I'm a student at Highlands College working on a Certificate of Ministry.  I'm also an Adjunct at Highlands College so I need to continue to learn so I can teach.  In addition, I'm enrolled in the D.Min Program at Luther Rice.  Growth is not an option for me.

2.  Listen- I'm A.D.D. so listening is something I'm really working on.  I need to listen to at least one person a day.  That means I need to ask them questions about their lives.  John Maxwell pointed out that I can learn something from everyone and I want to pursue that.

3.  Encourage- I want my life to be encouraging to others.  I have had my share of negative posts and talk in my life.  The last few years I've committed to posting positive and uplifting quotes on social media.  I want my life to be one that encourages others.  So, I will commit to encouraging at least one person a day.  I want to be a Barnabas to people I come in contact with.

4. Write- My previous blog was well read.  In fact, on one site it was consistently in the top 100.  I don't write to be in anyone's top anything.  I also wrote a book but it was not good enough to get a publisher.  I'm not sure if I have anything profound to add.  But I'm committing to writing here and/or in a journal every day.  I believe this will help me with my communication skills.

5.  Serve- I'm committing to serving others daily.  I'm already very active in my church and serve on a consistent basis.  Jesus was a servant leader and I commit to serving at least one person in a small or big way every day.  It could be in my family, a friend or a complete stranger.

So, there it is.  Let's see where this goes.