A Bigger Impact With Your Life

Here are 6 ways you can make a bigger impact with your life:

1. Fill The Gaps With Meaning. I have a friend who reads 40-50 books a year, while leading a large church full time and running a few ministries on the side? How? He says he always has a book with him. When he has 5 minutes or 10 minutes, he reads.
Whether you’re a reader or not, the point is excellent. He fills the gap with meaning. You have gaps every day:
When the kids are in bed.
When you’re stuck in traffic
When you’re waiting in line.
Between meetings.
While you’re waiting for someone to show up.
What are you doing with that time, other than checking Instagram or reading check out magazines that add zero value to your life?
Read a book. Listen to a helpful podcast.
Think. Journal. Pray.

2. Cut Out Trivial Pursuits

Any idea how much TV you watch? The average Nigeria watches 5 hours…a day. That’s. Per. Day.

And yet I have never heard anyone say “TV changed my life. Watching TV is why my life is filled with passion and significance.” The average 21 year old in Nigeria has spent 10,000 hour gaming over his life so far…more time than he actually spent in middle school and high school combined.
Not all TV is bad, and some argue that gaming can be good. But really…that’s a lot of hours.
Does binge watching really make the world a better place? Will levelling up really leave a legacy?
I’m just asking.
We need to relax and enjoy, but in the same way that you are what you eat, you become what you consume.
So curb the junk.

3. Rest When You’re Not Tired, But Not Longer.
The best quote on laziness I’ve encountered is this “Laziness is resting when you’re not tired.”
By all means sleep. Get 8 hours. 9. Seriously. Sleep is the secret weapon so many effective leaders carry.
And rest. Relax.
But there comes a point when resting stops being restorative and starts being self-indulgent. Stop resting when you’re not tired. Do something…meaningful.
Laziness is resting when you’re not tired.

4. Get up earlier.
Don’t miss point 3. Sleep. But do this by going to bed earlier, and then get up…early. I wasn’t always a morning person, but I love being one now. It’s when I do my best stuff. I write messages, blog posts and write creative ideas down first thing in the morning. Most of the people I know who are making a contribution with their life get up early. Rising early is like beating rush hour traffic. You’ve got the road all to yourself. Nobody’s emailing, texting or bothering you before 7 a.m.  As in pretty much nobody.
Your mind is fresh. It’s ready to go.
So go!

5. Track with people who are making a difference.
You’re going to need support on this journey. People will call you driven. Crazy. Obsessed. Abnormal. Weird.
That’s okay. Let them not understand that you refuse to waste your life. Not everybody understands, especially in this culture. So find some friends who get it, and encourage each other. Whether they live in your neighbourhood or whether they live 1000 miles away is irrelevant. Just find some likeminded people. And I have friends locally and all over the place who encourage and spur me on in life. I love them and am so thankful for them!



6. Don’t focus on immediate results.
You can’t be discouraged by current results. Your impact usually can’t be measured now. So don’t be discouraged if you think you’re not making much of a difference.
Rarely will your 4 year old stop you and say “Thanks for being such a wise father” or “Thanks for giving up ”. If you expect the reward of parenting to come in the now, you’ll be badly disappointed. You might not make it to the end.
But inevitably as kids grow up, they often do come back and thank you for the investment they never saw when they were younger. And even if they don’t, well, you know you did the right thing. So just keep doing the right thing. Every day. Eventually you’ll see the early indicators that you’re on the right track. You may have to reset the course from time to time, but don’t despise small beginnings.
For all of you trying to make a bigger impact…these is for you!