Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Last week was Fall break for many American schools. For me, that meant a few days off tackling to-do lists and knocking out the things that don’t get prioritized during a normal work week. One item on my Wunderlist To-Do list was “Install master bath towel hooks.” It sounded simple enough, so simple in fact, that I opted to add tackling the guest bathroom and installing hand towel holders to the list as well. No problem!

A collision of things has happened to me these past weeks that makes me want to share a few thoughts on mentors, honor, credit and more. At the Life.Church Family Reunion event it was so great to see Pastor Craig interview and talk with “his pastor” Nick Harris. I have heard about Pastor Nick over my twelve years on staff, but I have never met Nick. To watch Craig honor Nick, and see how much Craig has learned from Nick was so inspiring. I knew Nick was an influence and mentor to Craig, but seeing the one on one interview it gave me a new insight on the relationship.

An interesting word and often a difficult action to take, at least for me. This week I fumbled in the area of trusting God, and I think it’s important to share this learning...because I need to remember it! So here is the background that leads to the fumble.

“Excellence is a journey, not a destination.” I believe it’s essential for us all to remember and know we do not arrive at excellence, nor do we ever show up at a single event that determines excellence. Excellence is, and requires, continual determination and grit because it is a process.

Three days until Christmas, and ten days until 2018. Time keeps on ticking...and on that topic, this last Saturday highlights that best for me. My oldest daughter Reia was born on Christmas Eve in 2001, which completely feels like yesterday. The excitement of our first child, not knowing if it will it be a boy or girl. Will it be Brendon Todd Storch or Reia Faith Storch? We did not know. Well, Reia it was and just last Saturday that same Reia who was born just yesterday bought her first car.

Have you ever been in a car when the engine overheated? The smell is horrible, and the only safe option is to pull over and stop the car. Total shutdown. There are many reasons a motor will overheat - but I am not going to dig into proper maintenance of a motor...I am going to shift into the more uncomfortable topic; are YOU running too hot, or running your team or organization too hot; nearing overheating and total shutdown? 

My friend and team member, Cameron, turned me onto this productivity planner a while back. Honestly, I was not too interested at first. I had a fairly robust process in place for my planning and always felt like I was strong when it came to productivity. 

Well, after some continual promptings from Cam, and some realizations with my more analog style...

I am not one that believes this current generation or set of realities our society is facing is harder or more dire than anything we have ever faced. I believe that line of thinking is a bit idealistic and ignorant. However, I do think that each generation and period face unique issues and challenges it must navigate with great wisdom and discernment. As a parent of basically two teenage daughters, wisdom, and discernment are regularly called upon words in my journal and prayers. 

Do you have a learn and grow list? A list of people that have gone before you that are better, smarter and wiser than you? 

You should! 

Being strategic is a gift, it’s a blessing. However, over time I have learned a downside of being Strategic. The downside is, I like process. I like a clear and connected pathway of how we are going to get from here, to there. A-Z comes relatively easy to me. When I see the path in my mind, I can easily wind through complexity and map out a pathway with little effort. 

All sounds good, right? Not so fast.