Yesterday we talked about the bell curve of skill. Once you’ve reached an area of excellence you must be vigilant. You’ll constantly get sucked back to “average” if you aren’t careful. This is why.

Even though you’ve escaped the realm of average, the people who surround you haven’t. They still occupy average and below average. And that’s ok. They should be good at what they’re good at.

Unfortunately, people have strong opinions. It seems they have the strongest opinions about things that they aren’t good at. And your friends, family and acquaintances will be quick to verbalized their criticisms and ideas. It’s tempting to rely heavily on their advice. Read more…

There are a lot of average people in the world. And “average” has a massive gravitational pull. If you aren’t careful you will easily be pulled back to “average”.

Imagine every skill and talent has its own bell curve. It looks like a sloping mountain. The two extreme ends are very thinly populated. The center section is big. The center section is the bulk of the world. The center section is the average. Read more…

I ran sound for a women’s event last week. I was the only guy in the room. The pinnacle of awkwardness was during the pajama fashion show at the end. Even some of the ladies felt awkward. And their glances back at the booth tripled my already massive discomfort. But the night was all worth it for one moment.

A very precious (I don’t normally use that word) girl got on stage to share her testimony. She was far from God and hated the Church. She wanted nothing to do with Christians. But she wanted her babies to be raised in church. So she hopped on Google to find a local church. “I swear the Summit Church was the only church on Google.” She came. She met with God. She fell in love. Read more…

• …spending hours on Pinterest.
• …reading a book about creativity.
• …critiquing a work of art.
• …sitting under a majestic, starry night.
• …drinking mate at a hipster coffee shop.
• …keeping your version of Photoshop up to date. Read more…

Moneyball. The Oakland A’s need to turnaround a losing roster. The use a mathematical formula to revolutionize their team and, ultimately, the game.

Baseball had become about All Stars. All the scouts were looking for the magic formula that would win them games. There was a mystical air to the game. Baseball was about one thing and nobody could see anything different. There was no other way to do baseball.

But Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill (or their characters) changed the game. They thought differently. They actually broke the rules with formulas. Read more…

Myth #1. Creativity is something you’re born with. Creativity is something you develop. Creativity is about different thinking. Different thinking comes from taking risks. While some individuals are generally more willing to take risks, anyone can be creative. You just have to be willing to take risks. Read more…

Rap would be boring without the hype man. The hype man is the guy behind the rapper revving the crowd. They yell the words to the song occasionally to give the rapper a chance to breathe. They take the show beyond rhythmic talking to hyped up celebration. Artists are hype men.

If you work for a pastor (or any boss) your job is to hype up their work. You’re there to get the crowd going–to take the sights and sounds where the leader cannot. But you don’t get the credit. The leader gets the credit. A good hype man doesn’t say “look at me”.

Unfortunately, a lot of artists adopt a “look at me” approach to creativity. Read more…

I found myself blocked yesterday. I sat down to write. I had nothing. I always get inspired at my writing desk (dining room table). But today there was nothing. And deadlines prevented me from sitting down for another game of Mario Brothers on the Wii.

Creative blocks are sneaky. They come on slowly. You only notice them when it’s time to actually do something.

So what did I do? A drastic move like usual? No.  Read more…

I was talking to a friend recently about my Conquering Laziness post. He has a dream but can’t seem to force himself to make it happen. It’s too easy to lounge around and watch tv or play video games. He’s a talented songwriter and musician who could do some amazing stuff. But he just isn’t doing it.

I suggested he create some consequences. Read more…

This is part 5 in a 5 part series called “Conquering Inaction”.

Perfectionism is toxic. It’s more devious than the other three causes of inaction. Perfectionism makes you feel like you’re doing something when you aren’t. You feel like you’re perfecting your art or dream. You feel like you’re making progress toward making it a reality. But perfectionism has you in its trap. You’re in quicksand. You’re struggling. But you’re falling further into the pit of inaction. Read more…