How To Stop Being Complicated
Stop being complicated. The world will pour out rules and requirements that will make it complicated. Complicated requires extra resources – time, money, energy, focus, and even influence.
#QuoteoftheDay
It’s not
the expectation of results
that should
determine my actions.
– Kathryn Lang
One of the toughest complications I’ve faced is business demands.
Know Your Market
But what if that’s not my job?
If I’m to be about my Father’s business and that’s my job, then doing what He tells me to do is more important than knowing who it’s for, right?
In 2013, I launched my podcast. I titled it #GrowingHOPE (Hearts Open to Pursue Extraordinary) because I was told I needed a catchphrase.
But I ended up liking the title and it encouraged me to keep growing hope. Plus, my husband and I designed a display with a garden trellis and we’d have my book covers “growing” around the trellis on a vine – with plenty of daisies and butterflies, of course.
I realized I was writing about 10,000 to 15,000 words each week to create a script for the daily podcast. I began to repurpose that content into blog posts and then had the idea of making them into eBooks. Since I did my podcast in series, at the end of the series I would have a print book. That would come out to about 10 to 12 print books each year.
But my husband wanted me to make an income “right now.” When money becomes the focus, everything becomes more complicated. I knew building a book creation system wouldn’t happen RIGHT NOW, so I had to divert some of my energy to his request.
Plus, THEY told me I would saturate the market when I shared my amazing repurposing ideas. THEY also demanded I know my target reader so I could determine if they wanted that many books and if the topics would appeal to them so I’d know how to market.
I just wanted to write. I just wanted to share. And God kept pushing me to share.
How Will You Make Money
Did you know it’s illegal to make money?
That terminology aside, what if it’s not my job to draw in the income?
Many years ago, I wrote a job description for moms. It included a list of responsibilities and some of the skills required. My favorite part is the catch added to the end of all job descriptions: All responsibilities are subject to change, amendments, and additions at any time without notice!
Working for a living starts with the responsibilities, not the pay.
In the last four years, I’ve applied to no less than 150 opportunities. They all have that list of responsibilities and required (as well as) preferred skills. And every one of them is going to expect the job to be done before any pay is applied.
The work comes first and then the rewards.
If I’m going to be about my Father’s business, I first need to define what that business is and my part in it and then I need to do what I’m responsible for doing. When I’m intentionally invested in doing my Father’s business, THEN the provision happens.
Making It Stupid Simple
I’ve had a rough couple of days . . . okay, a rough couple of years. I woke up today with the song “I Surrender All” coursing through my being. Yesterday, I contacted an estate company so we could sell everything. This morning, I realized that surrendering it all means just that. I have to give up trying to control it or fix it or make it happen.
It’s not my job. My job, to put it stupid simple (as my dear friend, Laura, loves to say) is to be about my Father’s business.
Getting a traditional job is just going to be like bailing a boat full of holes. It won’t fix the boat. In truth, it won’t even get rid of the water already accumulating in the boat. It will make me tired, frustrated, and wet.
Giving up isn’t an option (although taking a time out IS and it’s a very different thing). First, I’m way to competitive to give up. Second, I don’t want to. When I push away all of the stuff that’s piled up around me, the truth is that I BELIEVE. It’s the stuff that stifles my ability to walk in the place of BELIEVE>
Simple Truths for My Journey
My Journey Is mine
It won’t look like yours. It won’t follow yours. It will be unique to me because I am unique.
I Won’t Always Understand
It won’t always make sense – in fact, most of the time it won’t make sense at all. Imagine being Naaman and being told to wash seven times in the Jordan to be healed. Say what now? Or imagine being the children of Israel and being told to knock down the strongest walls in the world by walking around them. What the what? I have to quit trying to understand it.
I Don’t Have to Know to Obey
I won’t always be privy to the details. I don’t need to know the details. All I have to do is to obey the one step. Share. That’s my one step. The rest is up to Him because it’s His battle.
THEY Won’t Approve
It won’t be aligned with what THEY demand. I live in a town of THEYs. I literally wrote a novel with that title because THEY have always been such a powerful force around me. But when I lean all into my God Life, THEY will not approve.
No matter what I’m facing, making it complicated won’t make it better. It will just make it more challenging. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I love?
- What can I do?
- What will I do?
- What won’t I do?
Answer the questions in as few words as possible – no excuses, no what ifs, no buts about it. And then make some intentional steps to start – right now, where you are, with what you have. Now is the only time you get.
Stop Being Complicated
Strip it all back to your stupid simple. Start where you are. Believe, hope, trust, and obey. In the end, what else is there?
# # #
What have you been making complicated?
Work first. Rewards come later. Important thought. In dealing with past anger issues, I realized that my primary trigger was people who could not (or would not!) do their jobs. Broken promises, building expectations, disappointed expectations, => ANGER!! I realized, through deep introspection, that no one “owed” me anything. Zilch. Nada. Nothing at all. So I lowered my expectations and got my anger under control…..Until…..
I’d always heard that you should expect the best from everyone and they will live up to that; expect less and they will live down to it. And I soon proved (beyond a reasonable doubt) that zero expectations yields zero effort from others. They no longer even try. So where is that balance? Just this week I began to raise my expectations of a long-term associate. I KNOW they can do it. But they didn’t. And I’m not sure why. I doubt it was any intention to deceive. I’m no doctor, so I can’t discern if it is a mental health problem. I do know they have sabotaged several of their own grand plans recently. And I had to remove the trigger – both the ones affecting them and those affecting me.
I love this post. And I love the idea of keeping things as uncomplicated as they can be. I do a lot of teaching and training. And this week an old meme came to mind. I can explain it for you, but I cannot understand it for you. Some things are literally impossible. The best we can do is to keep it simple, uncomplicated, and give that your best effort. For yourself and for others.
First, thank you so much for your wonderful comment.
Second, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your saying: I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.
Third, the simpliest thing for me is to provide my words (explain) and then let it go.
Kathryn