Rescue Mission Blog

Primetime: Dividing Your Work-life into Seasons

  

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One of the great advantages that sport teams have over the regular work world is that they operate in seasons. They measure themselves by how they did in the prime part of their year, and prepare the rest of the year for the next season.  

If they had a bad year, they regroup, make some trades, work on deficiencies and come back stronger next year.  

For most people working in the workplace, work never stops, there are no seasons, and you can never put a close to a sad chapter.  You just show up for the next year.

But as I've writing and mentioned before in other places, everyone needs a primetime, a season where you are pushing at full-speed, and the alternate seasons as well.  Otherwise you have no way to measure one day against another and before long you settle into a hum-drum boring existence.  

At the Rescue Mission, we are full EVERY DAY, 365 days a year, and we never close.  But we have decided that Labor Day to New Years Day is our Prime Time and we work and gear for it like we are in our season.  It helps create excitement, dictates when lineup changes are needed, and helps us to balance life throughout the rest of the year.  

Here's a few tips to help you select your primetime:

•  The key sales season.
•  When the students are returning.
•  When peak volume is prodcued.
•  When the community is paying attention to your work.
•  When the weather is right. (Winter? Summer? Spring? Fall?)
•  When your deadlines are due

No one can sustain peak performance all the time, you need to know when you are in your primetime, so that you can perform at maximum level.  

How do you know when you are in primetime?

What do you do differently in your prime season?

David Curry 

Effective Fundraising is...

  

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Last week I was honored to speak at the Washington Food Coalition conference on Building an Effective Fundraising Organization.  Also on the agenda with me was Shelly Rotondo from Northwest Harvest. (By the way, the WFC is run by a rescue Mission staff alum Julie Washburn and she is doing a great job.)

Even though Shelly and I didn't coordinate our talks, we were right in sync.  Both of us agreed that the most important thing about Effective Fundraising is....That it's not about funds, it's about people.

So many people miss this and focus on the total they have to raise, the hill they have to climb, and the pit they're digging themselves out of.  

Instead, get to know people and help connect those that are passionate with a cause that will give them satisfaction to participate in.  

David Curry

What are your missed opportunity costs?

  

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In previous blogs I've discussed that when fear keeps us paralyzed, we often miss opportunities, or turn down opportunities, that could lead to great things.

Seldom do people look at the circumstances that they are in and look for opportunities.  Usually we look first for threats and danger.  There is good reason for this, and it's helps us survive when we are out hunting and gathering, watching for bears and cougars.  

It doesn't come naturally to many, but we must learn to look for opportunity in crisis, in difficulty and in the midst of challenges.

Here are a few questions that will prompt your opportunity sensors in the midst of difficulty:

What new areas are opened up in this situation?

What new skills will I need to develop in this situation, that will benefit me later?

What am I learning that I have not learned before?

Who will I meet through this crisis that I will benefit me in the future?

What am I going to value more due to this difficulty?

If anything were possible, could money and resources be generated in this crisis?

What unnecessary things have I been carrying, that I now see I can't carry through this crisis?  

Does this crisis open up another path for me, to do what I was actually designed to do?

These are just a few questions, but there must be more.  What do you ask yourself, in the midst of fear and difficulty, to keep yourself focused on opportunity?  Let me know.

David Curry

What are you afraid of?

  

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Statistics show that most people fear change.  Is it that we don't know the future? Maybe. Is it that we fear loss of control? That's definitely part of it. Often times it can be hard to identify exactly what it is that is holding us back and making us fearful about change.

The best explaination I've heard of why we fear change is this: We fear an irreversible negative outcome.   

Most often this fear is groundless, yet it holds many individuals, leaders, organizations, and families held in status quo- not making any positive changes for fear that something will go wrong, something that they cannot escape.

Here's a few ideas on fighting this fear:

Think through the options: What could go wrong if you make the change you are thinking of making. Be honest, but be thorough, listing all the things that might actually go horrible.  How many of those things are truly irreversible? Very few.  You might look at your list and say, "They're all irreversible."  If you are in that category, you're not yet being honest about what might go wrong, because most mistakes can be corrected.

Consider Lost Opportunities: What opportunities and blessings are you missing because you are stuck by fear?  You are making choices by standing pat, acknowledge that and know what the lost benefits might be.

Take small steps: Usually decisions can be made in small steps.  You don't have to quit your job right now, but you can accept an opportunity to interview.  You don't have to move your kids, but you can go look at that school you are considering. You don't have to commit to that new responsibility right away, but you can talk to others and gather more information on what might be beneficial about it. Take small steps.

What are you learning about fear in your life?  What negative thoughts sometimes hold you back?  Let me know and give me feedback on this blog.

David Curry

Being an Impact Player

  

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With football season upon us, many begin to relish watching the great drama of contact sport. One of the most compelling elements that I notice is that of the "Impact Player". An impact Player is one who seems to make a tremendous different, above others, at crucial times. Most often this is done through hustling, play after play, to make something happen.

The impact player is not necessarily the star, the highest paid (yet), or the most famous, but they are in on every play, doing their best.

What would it take to be an impact player in your work?

Here are a few quick ideas for being an Impact Player in whatever area you are called to serve.

1. Go hard. Impact players rarely pace themselves during the game. So many people are saving their energy, "just in case" they need it. Instead of being energized at the end of the day, they are atrified. Stuck in neutral. When you are at work, go hard for the hours you are there. It'll make your day go faster, and go smoother.

2. Look to go beyond. Many people look to do only what others are doing, but impact players go beyond the normal effort. In the common workplace, this means just doing the extra little things, kindness, thoughtfulness, encouraging, listening, caring, and serving. When you do these things, others will be impacted and notice your effort.

3. Playmakers. In football, you look to make a big tackle, or get the big touchdown. Sometimes we are lulled to sleep in our work. Don't do it! Instead, try to make a big play, do something unusual today. It'll make you feel alive and will bless and encourage others. Don't be lulled into submission, fight hard to have an extraordinary life.

What are some other ways that we can be impact players?

David Curry

What I'm learning: Alternate Transportation

  

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Sometimes leaders have to try things themselves, experiment on a micro level before they can understand the grand, sweeping changes that they are going to make on a system level.  Other times it's just important to keep growing and trying new things so that you don't get stale and stuck in a rut, even if it doesn't have a strategic reason.

For the past six weeks I've been experimenting with ways to get to work, and between Rescue Mission Campuses without using my car.  There are a couple of things that have brought this on: one is the cost of monthly parking downtown, and the other is the cost of fuel.  The method of experimentation can be divided into three categories: carpooling, public transport, & bicycling.  For two weeks I tried to see how little I could drive my car, for the other four weeks I set a goal of trying to have at least two days a week that I used an alterate source of transportation, depending on my schedule.

Here's what I learned:

1. I'm a big baby: the most interesting lesson by far was the emotional effect that I felt by being deprived of the instant gratitification of a car. Even though the downsides were relatively small, I found myself grumbling to myself every time I was the slightest bit incovenienced by having to take a bus or light rail instead of just jumping in my car.  This is even more amazing considering I was doing this of my own free will! Human nature is interesting indeed.  Fortunately, I worked through most of this and found a some pleasure in the process and relaxed and enjoyed it.

2.  Schedule matters: Many days I am moving regularly between meetings and campuses that are spread out around the city of Tacoma or Pierce County. On days like these, coordinating carpools or bus routes can be challenging.  But some days I am in one location all day, and the majority of these worries melt away.  If you have a job where you don't leave your desk, taking the bus or carpooling is a minimal inconvenience with a big upside.  Now I find myself looking at my schedule to determine which days I'm likely to be able to stay in one or two locations, and taking public transport or biking on those days.

3. Good Friends matter: When considering carpooling, it helps to have good friends. I found myself feeling guilty for inconveniencing people by asking for rides, even though they didn't seem to mind to much.  Having said this, carpooling is a great alternative to save on inconvenience, assuming you ahve people who live very close to you and are on a simliar schedule.

4. Squeeky clean: Biking is a great alternative and is relatively easy for me. here is the challenge one needs to consider if you are considering biking: How to be clean and appropriately dressed at work. If you have a shower and dressing room at work this isn't a problem, but my office downtown doesn't have this so I had to work around. All in all, weather cooperating, biking is a great way to go.

5. Buses get a bad rap: Taking the bus is easy, safe and relatively quick. Driving to work takes me just under 10 minutes and taking the bus adds an addtional eleven minutes on top of that, but on days where you are in one or two locations, the added time for riding the bus doesn't hurt too bad.  As someone who tries to schedule very tightly during the day, I had to adjust my mentality a bit, but it was still a positive experience.  The buses ran on time, were always clean and the drivers are friendly.  Dont' be afraid of the bus, it works great.

Upside: During this experiement I saved over $100 in parking and at least one tank of gas, almost two.  Filling the tank ususally cost me $55, so i am putting the total savings at $155, conservatively.  

Application: I'm going to try to continue to use some alterative transportation at least two days a week, and continue learnig.  

Any thoughts on how I could improve my experience? Any lessons you ahve learned which might make my experience easier and more efficient?

David Curry