One of the thoughts that really struck me at Catalyst was when Jim Collins talked about creating a stop doing list. I’ve talked about this and written about this myself. But I realized that I’m not really practicing what I preach right now. To be honest, I’m having a hard time keeping up with myself. Sometimes it feels like between pastoring and writing I have two jobs. And speaking at conferences is a part-time job.

I can barely keep up with email. Last week when I spoke at Willowcreek I turned my phone off before my session and turned it back on afterwards. I had 67 new emails waiting for me. Sometimes email feels like quicksand.

I’m certainly not complaining. I love what I do. And I want to be a good steward of each opportunity. But I’m really having to recalibrate right now. Our stewardship team gives me thirty days to speak outside NCC. And I’m grateful for their generosity. But I’m going to dial it back next year. Gonna try to scale back to 24 days. And I’m not scheduling anything for 2010 until 2009. I think I made the mistake of over-committing myself too early this past year. Again, excited about the opportunities. But I think I’ll be more effective if I’m a little more selective.

What I’m trying to say is this: I’m really bad at saying no! But I have to get better at it and I have to say it more often.

Sometimes more is less and less is more. If I can create more margin I think I’ll be far more effective as a pastor, writer, husband, and father. It’ll take a while to turn the ship. In fact, I have trips to Canada and Germany in the next two weeks. And 2009 is already booked. But the decisions I’m making now will pay off one year from now.

Here’s a simple question: what do you need to stop doing?

Just DON’T do it.

My new motto!