B.C. and Me, Part 2: Humbling Myself

In my last post, I wrote about how Brian Carruthers' book, "Building an Empire:The Most Complete Blueprint to Building a Massive Network Marketing Business," led me to look deeply at my reluctance to have a burning desire for success, which he says is the first ingredient needed to succeed in network marketing.

(I was reading the book because I am an independent associate for LegalShield, a company that offers affordable access to a national network of law firms on a membership basis. It also offers an identity theft program.)

The second ingredient that Carruthers says is necessary for success is "being coachable."

"You must be willing to truly listen to the masters and follow their guidance with focus," he writes.

I did not immediately recoil from this rule the way that I did from the first. On the contrary, I liked it. It made sense to me.

"I'm definitely coachable," I said, "Or at the very least, I want to be."

So I embraced that rule. And it embraced me back.

Then it tightened its grip.

"Are you really coachable? Do you really want to be?"

I remembered how Dan Jendrey, the friend who introduced me to Pre-Paid Legal before it became LegalShield, gave me a CD in which a high-achieving Pre-Paid Legal rep spoke about "10 core commitments." Basically, he said if a person committed to doing those 10 things, their success was virtually guaranteed. And I remembered telling Dan that making 10 commitments was too much for me, that at most I could make three.

Points for honesty - but was I being coachable?

And in fact, I never even stuck with three commitments. Was I coachable?

I remembered how for years, I refused to do certain things that successful Pre-Paid Legal representatives did - like attend the weekly business briefings - because I didn't like how they were done. Was I being coachable?

And then I saw a pattern. Not just with Pre-Paid Legal or LegalShield, but with a range of things, one after another, for decades. Learning opportunities that I rejected out of hand, or that I started to engage with but with which I didn't follow through. Paths that I set upon, then walked away from when they became difficult, rather than pressing on to gain the wisdom that lay beyond the difficulty.

I saw that somewhere along the way, I became highly skilled, not at pressing on, but at quitting, and restarting, and quitting again. And thereby failing to gain, not just material benefits, but wisdom.

In short, I got really good at refusing to learn.

Here's the real kicker: it all happened while I told myself that I love to learn, while devouring books and magazine articles and even imagining writing my own success tome, "You Don't Have To Know What You're Doing - If You're Willing To Learn As You Go!" Reading, thinking, imagining, but not staying the course to take the knowledge from my brain into my bones.

And now, I don't even know why. It wasn't for lack for resources - besides the aforementioned books and articles, I have had stacks of tapes, CDs and DVDs. And I have had real live people, human beings with brains, offer me help that I never fully received because...because of something in me that doesn't receive well. Or at least, that hasn't.

Realizing all of this has been pretty painful; now the challenge - the invitation - is to move forward with change. To live out the truth that a hunger for knowledge is not enough; there must be a COMMITMENT to learn. Not just a desire to gain information, but a determination to gain wisdom.

I consider all of this to be answers to two prayers that I have prayed over the past year or so:

• Lord, please show me where I have been a fool, and help me to stop; and
• Lord, let me experience the death of anything in me that hinders Your purpose.

Now I work to consciously position myself as a total learner, in order to walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8) - and with fellow humans who know more than I do. And God knows there are a lot of those.

What that means most immediately is truly listening to Brian Carruthers, whose approach has made him $15 million, rather than to Elwin Green, whose approach has left him mostly broke. It means doing what Carruthers says to do in his book, rather than coming up with arguments or excuses not to.

I'll let you know how it goes; it should be major fun. 

The Great Sort

This arrangement of boxes is changing my life:

Why? Because I am a certifiable Messie. 

For as long as I can remember, I have had too much stuff for my available space, and too little sense of order to determine where to put things, with the result that a great deal of time has been wasted in losing things, finding them, and losing them again. Missing busses, deadlines and events because I couldn't find things. Stressing out because I couldn't find things. Sometimes nearly being brought to tears of frustration because I couldn't find things.

And the thing of it is, most of my stuff, my abundant and seemingly uncategorizable stuff, my precious-until-it-becomes useless - and useless-until-it-becomes-precious - stuff, is paper.

Notes. Letters. Invoices. Articles. I don't know what else.

The boxes are the Molotov cocktails I'm throwing at my piles of stuff, to blow those piles to bits in the most dramatically simple way possible: by imposing rudimentary order upon them.

Remember the Three Priorities, which I have abbreviated as "Christ, commerce, community?" I have translated them into three categories for filing.

Stuff that is relates purely to me (personal interests, personal finances, etc.) and my household is all subsumed under the general heading of Christ, because I am, as a member of Christ's body subsumed under the headship of Christ.

That stuff goes into the first box on the table.

Stuff that relates to one or more of my business enterprises - Homewood Capital Partners, Capital Synergies, Luminaria Productions, Legal Shield - all goes under the heading of Commerce, and into the second box on the table.

Then there's stuff relating to my civic life. Community. Third box on the table.

The box under the table? Trash.

And this is how those boxes are changing my life. I grab a pile of papers, I stand at my table, and I sort - sheet by sheet, page by page...Christ, Commerce, Community, Commerce, Commerce, Christ, Trash, Community, Trash...

Until the pile is gone.

Each box, after a certain number of piles have been dismantled, then contains a pile of its own. But they are no longer random piles. They are categorized piles.

The next step will be run those piles through a second sort in which each piece of paper is subject to one of three actions:

1. Pitch it.
2. Scan it, saving it to the appropriate subfolder under one of Priorities/Categories; then pitch it.
3. Scan it, then file it.

For those pieces of paper that make it into physical file folders, I have a rudimentary whole-house filing system. Capital Synergies and Luminaria Productions stuff? First floor, front office. Homewood Capital Partners? First floor, back office. Household stuff? Second floor file box. Personal reading? Third floor.

It will not happen overnight, but I forsee a day when (dare I say it?) I will know where everything is.

Imagine the efficiency, the ease of functioning, the delight of not having to look for anything; of not being perplexed by the question of where to put anything new that comes in.

The prospect is darn near erotic.

What tricks or systems have you found helpful in bringing order out of the chaos of life?

Of An Omelet, And An Opportunity

When I first wrote about my new job at a local Amercian Eagle Outfitters warehouse, I said,

"The job is slated to run through mid-December, with a good chance of an extension after that. The warehouse is closing in June, and my interviewer expressed doubt that the work of winding it down would be finished by December. So I may be there as long as until June, but no longer.
In that regard, I think this fits very nicely with growing my Legal Shield business. But more about that later."

OK, it's later. Here's what I meant:

As a LegalShield associate, I can make money in one of two ways: either by selling the company's services myself, or by recruiting other people as associates and getting a slice of their commissions when they sell the services.

I have preferred to focus on the former, but my new job offers an unusual opportunity to do well with the latter. Here's why:

I am working alongside a lot of other people whose jobs will end no later than June, and who will need income in July. I believe that somewhere among them are at least a couple of people who would make good LegalShield associates - people who could make a living at it, and whose success would enhance own my life emotionally, psychologically and financially.

The question is how to locate them.

The answer that comes to mind is, "By expanding myself."

What does that mean?

A story:

A couple of Sundays ago, the cafeteria, which serves breakfast and lunch, had pot roast on the lunch menu. When I went in for breakfast, I stumped myself with the question, "What do I want for breakfast that will leave me room for pot roast?"

The chef suggested an omelet. I took his suggestion. And it was a really good omelet. It was so good that at lunch time I asked his name - Brian - and shook his hand and thanked him while praising the omelet.

A week later, I asked for a "slam," a breakfast that includes scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, and potatoes. Brian, scrambling my eggs, asked if I wanted anything extra, and I asked for pepperjack cheese, then said something goofy like, "He hooking me up with the pepperjack cheese!" And Brian said,

"It's not hard to do that for you. You know why?"

I didn't know why. I had no idea what he meant.

"I've been working here over a year and you're that first person that's come back to shake my hand and thank me..."

I was stunned. And deeply impressed with the fact that I had deeply impressed Brian without trying to. Just by being myself.

It may be that the way to locate my LegalShield recruits among my warehouse co-workers is just by being myself on a larger scale...by expanding myself. By letting myself care more about more of my co-workers.

This fits with my recently-formed conviction that the more I care about people, the more I will succeed as a LegalShield associate.

In a late-night convo with my friend Greg Olszewski, it came out this way:

"If I walk into a room and there are 20 people there whom I have not met before...I don't have to know everyone's story in order to care about them. I just need to recognize that everyone has a story. Every single person there has hopes, fears, dreams, problems - and every single person there would probably benefit within the next few months - if not right now - from being able to consult with an attorney without paying through the nose.

Because life happens to everybody.

So...offering LegalShield is a way of doing practical good for people I don't even know...

Because even strangers are human, and deserve it."

So, my mission, which I gladly accept, is to care more about more of my co-workers, and to let that caring lead to what it will in regards to LegalShield - offering the service, offering the associate opportunity, whichever way it goes.

BTW, if you don't yet know why I say that offering LegalShield is a way of doing practical good, and you want to, please check my LegalShield website, and/or drop me a line. I'd be glad to meet and talk about it with you. 

Three Priorities: The First Priority Revisited

I have declared three priorities for living the rest of my life. 

In explaining the first of those priorities, "encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ," I described an underlying desire:

to live out my faith in unity with other believers who live within walking distance.

Since then, a couple of things have happened with that formulation. The first is that the underlying desire began to feel more like the priority. It echoed in my mind; I found myself reciting it. I think this is partly just because it had a nice cadence:

to live out my faith 

in unity with other believers 

who live within walking distance.

But it also felt more compelling, by virtue of being more specific. Suddenly I wasn't talking about all members of the Body of Christ everywhere, and therefore about no one in particular. Suddenly, I was talking about the particular members of the Body of Christ who live within a particular distance of my house.

That felt meatier to me than,"encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ."

Then, even as that desire-description sank into my soul, it began to change its flavor. It didn't become rancid, but it did become less digestible. I wasn't fully absorbing it, it wasn't becoming part of my marrow. Somehow, something was off; it seemed too much like smoke and not enough like fire.

"To live out my faith..." Ah. What does that mean, and how does it make me different from anyone who seeks to live out their faith, whether that faith has anything to do with Jesus Christ or not? I needed something more distinctly Christian, something that someone who does not believe themselves to be in Christ would not say.

And John's Gospel came to mind, with Jesus' assertions about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit living within those who believe in Him. And the desire-description was transformed into:

To express the life of the Godhead

In unity with others inhabited by the Godhead

who live within walking distance.

Whew - now that's a mouthful. And a brainful - the idea of being inhabited by the Godhead may be the pinnacle of megalomaniacal delusion. 

Unless it's true. In which case, I cannot think of a higher priority than expressing that life. 

So the statement of my First Priority has changed, from "encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ" to "expressing the life of the Godhead in unity with others inhabited by the Godhead, who live within walking distance."

I look forward to doing that.

The Night My Brain Exploded

(ALERT: NSFW language)

Here's a story:

My mom passed away on May 14, and we held her funeral on Tuesday, May 20. That night, I went to bed around 12:30. That's early for me - I wanted to be well rested for the drive back on Wednesday.

I don't know when Janet came to bed; that didn't rouse me. But when she came back to bed after getting up to use the bathroom, I woke up.

I did not wake up drowsy and tired. I did not wake up merely refreshed. I woke up surging with energy, feeling as if I were ready to explode, because of the dream I had just had. I said something to Janet about wondering whether I should tell her about the dream, but I needed to go to the bathroom.

Dreams fade quickly; by the time I wrote about the dream in my journal, some details had faded. But it went something like this:

I was, it seemed, a new employee in the marketing department of a large company. And somehow I was chairing a meeting of honchos. And I left the meeting and ran into someone from the design department - bumped into him so that he dropped his stuff - and as I was helping him pick it up, either I saw this phrase on one of his papers, or he spoke it: "Change the fucking world."

And it penetrated like a bullet, and set me on fire.

And I went back to my meeting, which was running late, or running long, or both, and instead of feeling scared because of that or apologizing for that, I went in with total swagger because it didn't matter that the meeting was late or long or both, what mattered was that we were going to change the fucking world. And I said so.

And I saw "change the fucking world" becoming a global mantra, with me as chief guru for the attendant movement. I saw myself, like Anthony Robbins (Has he stopped being "Tony"?), onstage in an auditorium filled with thousands - no, tens of thousands - pouring out verbal fire to help them change themselves so that they could change the fucking world.

I saw T-shirts emblazoned with a four-color logo: CTF*W. I saw bumper stickers with the same. Coffee mugs.

I saw myself re-ordering my personal relationships, putting family, friends and acquaintances on notice: "I want people around me who want to change the fucking world. If you don't want to change the fucking world, that's okay - but I gotta ask, 'Why not?'"

And there was was music - a throbbing anthem for full orchestra, led by brass.

And I woke up ready to change the fucking world, NOW.

On my way to the bathroom, I glanced at the wall clock in the kitchen and thought it said 6-something, and concluded that I may as well stay up, because there was no way that I could fall back asleep. I'd do better to start getting ready to leave - I felt like I could drive a thousand miles.

The music was filling my brain, along with the images of T-shirts and bumper stickers and me onstage before tens of thousands ("Now get outta here, and CHANGE THE FUCKING WORLD!" Crowd roar: "YEAAAHHHH!!!"). And, and...

I was linking "Change the fucking world" to the call of Christ and the identity of the Christian:

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us.     (Ephesians 2) 

"We're created in Christ Jesus to change the fucking world," I said.

And all of this is happening on a trip to the bathroom, and I want to ACT, so I pick up my phone to check the availability of the website address, changethefuckingworld.com, and I see that...

...it's 3:26 a.m.

WHAT???

I was totally jazzed emotionally, I was almost exploding with physical energy, and my mind was focused like a laser and racing like a lightcycle...

...on three hours of sleep????

I immediately wanted to know, "What brought about this phenomenal state, and how can I get it again?"

My best guess, then and now, is that my state was fueled by having drank multiple glasses of punch at the funeral meal, followed by two cans of Pepsi later. Both my body and brain may have been sent into overdrive by sugar and caffeine.

That answer's a bit disappointing, as I don't want to make massive doses of sugar and caffeine parts of my regular diet. But the question of how to place myself at will into a state of high energy, high confidence and high clarity remains intriguing, to say the least.

It's also possible that my state was fueled in part by a heightened awareness of mortality. I was already working at maintaining an awareness of mortality, so to the extent that that may have been a factor, re-experiencing the state would just be a matter of getting better at that.

For now, I am finding that the very act of recalling the event elicits at least an echo. I do, in fact, want to change the fucking world (tm).

No. Not "want to."

Intend to.

A New Word, A New Question

This popped up in my G+ feed Wednesday, courtesy of +Stacey Gorzin  and +Mani Scienide, and nearly knocked me out of my chair:

What a lovely and delightful word, and how perfect for the life I seek to live.

And I want to add, "while I can."

So, there's this - last Thursday evening, while still processing the intimations of mortality I had experienced the night before, I experienced chest pains. Bad enough to make me Google "heart attack symptoms." Then what I read was scary enough to make me check my wallet for my medical insurance card.

Which wasn't there. Then I started trying to figure out where it could be. Then I started trying to figure out how I might access my medical insurance info without it. And learned that www.healthcare.gov had changed everyone's password in response to the Heartbleed threat. Then couldn't remember my security question answers. Then....

The pain eventually passed.

Tonight I finally told Janet. My fear of upsetting her gave way to the fear of being the husband whose widow says, "Why didn't you tell me, you #$*%!"

She and I have often had conversations acknowledging the reality that we will die someday. Since Thursday night, I have been dogged by the question, "What if I die soon?"

I have long since agreed with Paul that, on the whole, it is better to be There than to be Here. But if I left right now, I would leave a great big mess of unfinished business.

Gotta fix that.

Meanwhile, tomorrow morning I'll visit the community health clinic that I keep forgetting about, and tell them about Thursday's chest pain. And the lump that appeared on the back of my left hand Friday night. And the numbness - or is it an ache? - that has rested in my left arm for the past four hours or so.

And tomorrow afternoon, either use the will kit that came with my Legal Shield membership to work on my will, or if I can't find it, request a new one.

Three Priorities In Action: 1 - Encouraging the Body of Christ

In January, I declared three personal priorities for the rest of my life, the first of which was, "encouraging the Body of Christ." I said that one way that I want to do that is by gathering people - first, neighbors on Race Street, then residents from all of Homewood - for a recitation of Paul's letter to the Epheisans.

On April 2, I emailed 17 people on Race Street an invitation to "An Evening in Ephesus." On Saturday, April 5, I dropped off printed copies of the invitation at 77 addresses.

Three people responded - two of them to say that it sounded interesting to them, but they wouldn't make it.

Saturday, the 12th, I recited/performed Ephesians for my wife and one other person.

I had explained to Janet at length the night before that I had not expected any particular number of people to respond - that I was maintaining a "Do it, and see" stance. And I don't think that having only one guest affected my proclamation of Ephesians that much. But it did totally throw off the discussion that I had planned afterward: instead of talking about the questions, "How has this evening affected your view of Jesus Christ? Of yourself? Of your fellow believers?" and "What do you believe God wants to do with the people in this room?", we talked about "How can we get a larger audience for this?"

That question was theirs, not mine. I had no apparent success in conveying the idea that how many people hear it is less important than how they hear it. Maybe I need to highlight the idea that the outcome, in terms of attendance, is up to God. The question is not, "How many people can we get to see/hear this?" - it's "Which people do You want to see/hear this?"

Anyway, the Race Street piece is done. I may do it once more on Monticello Street, as a neighbor there has expressed an interest in having me do it at her place. And I intend, still, to do it in some larger venue, for anyone in Homewood wishes to attend. And I might preserve that presentation on video.

Beyond that, we'll see.

Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

It has been a couple of weeks now since I wrote the last entry in this series. I was avoiding this, and am not sure why. I think I was afraid that reviewing the whole thing would leave me feeling overwhelmed. But I just did that, and it didn't. There's good stuff here; stuff that deserves hard, smart work.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us."

That's Ephesians.

Closing thoughts? Only that I want to live in a way that invites others to come along, and then makes them glad they did.

As God grants me focus, it will be one heck of a ride.

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street

I am chair of The Save Race Street Committee, which residents of Race Street formed in November, 2008 under the leadership of Min. Terry D. Fluker, and which has worked since then to beautify our street, and to maintain and enhance its value.

The Committee's work has garnered considerable press coverage, in print, on television, and on radio.

Our biggest work may lie ahead of us - namely, the execution of a community plan for our street. The plan, titled "Race Street 20/20 Vision," is the product of a visioning session held in November 2011, as interpreted by staffers at Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority.

There are two versions of RS2020. In November, 2012, at our annual meeting, the Committee adopted the shorter version of the document as our community plan.

The challenge now is to learn how to move forward with it. That involves forming a non-profit corporation, and educating ourselves about things like, the role of public art (and art generally) in redevelopment; the types, benefits and drawbacks of historical designations (The Young Preservationists Association named Race Street one of the "Top Ten Best Preservation Opportunities in Pittsburgh" in 2012); how development works generally; and public safety and crime reduction strategies.

I believe we are well-positioned. Rob Stephany, former head of the URA, has moved from there to The Heinz Endowments, but remains a friend to the Committee - in fact, he and I have met regularly for several months now, and he is connecting me with people who to help with some of the things just listed.

Pittsburgh's new mayor, Bill Peduto, has affirmed the Committee's work for years, and has a personal connection to the street.

He also seems to be making of point of mentioning Homewood when he talks about "building a New Pittsburgh," as in this Post-Gazette piece about his intent to attract 20,000 new residents to Pittsburgh over the next 10 years:

The mayor sees opportunities for more residential development on the South Side, particularly near SouthSide Works; the Strip District; and Homewood, a struggling neighborhood he is seeking to rebuild.

The Committee has also made friends with organizations like GTECH Strategies, Operation Better Block and Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh.

And I am trying to avoid mentioning myself specifically, but the reality is that I have a slew of personal relationships that could accrue to Race Street's benefit if I use them well. I should not be ashamed or shy about that. I should be grateful, and wise in tapping those relationships. God knows we need all the help we can get.

*************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions

Luminaria Productions LLC owns this blog.

It also owns Homewood Nation, the internet-based community news service headquartered at www.homewoodnation.com. For the first couple of years after its launch in April 2010, I made the mistake of identifying the website as Homewood Nation. But Homewood Nation includes a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter feed (you can use the green bar above to check out all of those elements).

I declared the intent a few years ago to build Luminaria into a company whose April 2017 IPO establishes its value at $1 billion. Not because I personally need the levels of money involved, but because I imagined that it would feel amazing to have the world say that I have created that much value.

I still think that that would feel amazing, but I've misbehaved badly enough so that I now need to either push the timeline back, or shrink the number.

I'll keep the number, because I like it, and shift the timeline as appears needed. Meanwhile, I must learn to work harder AND smarter AND more consistently at building a billion-dollar enterprise.

So what else is cooking in Luminaria's pot, besides ReVisions and Homewood Nation? Multiple projects in various stages of development...

A VIDEO GAME: PeaceBuilder: Homewood

A SCREENPLAY COLLECTION: QuickFlicks - a collection of short screenplays for fledgling filmmakers.

SHORT FILMS to be produced from the QuickFlicks scripts: "coda," "Message, Not In A Bottle," "No Dessert," and "End Run."

FEATURE FILM SCRIPTS: "The Nature of Love" - a dissatisfied wife falls for one of her husband's employees, not knowing that he intends to kill her family; "The Moses Effect" - a small town sheriff's life is turned upside down when a satellite-based system begins enforcing all of the laws on the books, including the most absurd ones.

A REALITY SHOW about the rehab of a building in Homewood - most likely 1015 N. Homewood Ave.

A NEWSLETTER for Homewood.

HNTV - A TELEVISION CHANNEL devoted to Homewood

HOMEWOOD NATION MERCHANDISE - branded apparel and gifts; a tablet computer (which may be manufactured/assembled in Homewood.)

A Homewood Nation hoodie could help you 
make it through the final brutal weeks of winter!

EVENTS:

• Building A 21st Century Journalism Enterprise - a discussion series for writers, editors, designers, photographers, videographers...basically, anyone interested in the possibilities and challenges of doing what the title says, with the tools now available.
• An event honoring writer John Edgar Wideman
• An event honoring Lou Scheimer, founder of Filmation, the animation company that produced "He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe."
• Communicating for Community - a discussion, or series of discussions, on enhancing communication within Homewood and enhancing Homewood's communication with the world (and wow, this is the first time I have said it that way - I like it!).

PUBLISHING, under the Greenhouse Publications banner:

• Book, working title, "Black Man In A Suit" - a collection of posts from "My Homewood"
• Book, "Homewood 2013" - a review of the year.
• Magazine, working title, "Homewood Quarterly Journal," (blech)
• Posters
• Other books

And that's the list of projects, each of which will require work by other people, and all of which together will require the work of lots of other people. The key to Luminaria's outrageous success, is, as I said in December, attracting and retaining great talent. And getting myself out of the way.

Do you see a possible place for yourself in this list? If so, drop a line to luminariaprod@gmail.com, and I will email you updates as they are issued.

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?

I promised to share some big-picture thinking about business. First, a little story:

One day back in the early 1980s, I visited a car dealership in Louisville to apply for a job there.

I don't remember the name of the dealership, or of the man who owned it. I do remember him standing before a group of prospective hires and talking about how much it meant to him to know that his business was helping his employees to put food on the table for their families.

When I left that meeting, I didn't have the job I had sought; but I did have something else:  the desire to own a business.

I think that's where it began for me, this quest to build an enterprise. So the first thing that I want to say about building businesses is that for me, building a business is not primarily about making money, for at least three reasons.

1) My wife and I don't need much income to live well. Our house, car and college educations are paid for, and we don't have kids. Beyond that, we don't have extravagant tastes. She is more frugal than I am, but even my wishlist doesn't go beyond a bodacious home theatre and a Tesla Model S.

I do NOT want a yacht. I DO want one of these. Truly.

2) Having piles of money sitting around has never appealed to me. I would rather have assets that generate income, than simply have a pile of money. And if I can create those assets without money, or acquire them at a discount for cash, or use my money to leverage other financing to acquire them - in other words if I can accumulate assets that have more value than the money I spend for them - so much the better.

3) Making money is at most one-third of the benefit of building a business. I consider the possibilities that a well-run business has for blessing the world to be downright magical. The magic of business is the potential for creating value for more and more people in more and more ways. Money (and other value) for the owner(s), money (and other value) for employees, money (and other value) for vendors whose goods and services the business uses...and on top of all that (or before all that), value for customers.

When I left the showroom of that car dealership, I was inspired by the possibility of helping people to put food on the tables for their families. I still find it inspiring to think of becoming a job creator (however much the term has fallen into disfavor), and of creating value for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people beyond that.

Heck, make that, millions of people. Because a successful TV show, movie, or video game - or even a YouTube video - will in fact entertain and/or enlighten millions of people. Thus, Luminaria Productions.

And on a smaller scale, the rehabilitation and resale of 20 or 30 or 50 homes in Homewood will create value for dozens or hundreds of people. Thus, Homewood Capital Partners.

And helping people to gain affordable attorney access so that they receive full benefit from our legal system - well, that can be valuable to anybody I know or can talk to, who doesn't already have it. Thus, Legal Shield.

In sum, I see building a business as a way of giving more to more people than I could ever do otherwise, and thus a way of fulfilling Jesus' instruction and promise, "Give, and it shall be given unto you" - not to mention the cultural mandate of Gen. 1.28.

More briefly still: Why build businesses? Because business is holy.

That's my view. What's yours?

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.

I am writing this at nearly 2 a.m., but it will not appear until 7 a.m., if I use Blogger's scheduling feature correctly. So I begin with...

This blog post was supposed to appear yesterday. Sorry about that.

This is where I start talking about growing businesses. Right now that means learning to allocate resources (time and attention, mostly) between four:

I created Capital Synergies, Inc. to own and manage partnerships that would in turn invest in real estate (one partnership per property). I haven't done that yet, but in the meantime, I created Luminaria Productions, a media company that now owns both this blog and Homewood Nation, a community news service that incorporates an eponymous website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel. Capital Synergies owns Luminaria Productions.

Along the way I also signed up as a member of, and independent representative for, Legal Shield, under the Capital Synergies name.

Homewood Capital Partners is an LLC that I formed for the purpose of partnering with others to invest in real estate in Homewood.

I'll say more about all of them later, one at a time. For now, general observations:

1. Any one of Homewood Capital Partners, Legal Shield, or Luminaria Productions could in and itself provide a very comfortable living. Managing all of them well will make me rich (especially since my definition of rich sets a relatively low bar: $50,000 a year in passive income.). Managing them poorly will - make me poor? Destroy my marriage? Seriously, I can't even imagine how bad it could get if I don't manage any of them well. Or to put it more precisely, how much worse it would get if I don't learn to manage any of them well.

2. Managing four businesses well (or even one) begins with managing myself well.

3. It's nearly 2 a.m.

4. Going to bed, right now, would be a good step toward wealth and power and stuff.

Before talking about managing individual businesses, I think I should share some of my big-picture thinking about business, so that will come next.

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ

Yesterday I wrote:

Given my beliefs, abilities, interests, position and location, it seems that as of now, the best uses of Elwin Green in Homewood will be:

• Encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ,

• Growing businesses, and

• Redeveloping Race Street

...and I promised to outline projects and processes related to those priorities. Today, I'll talk about the first one, encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ.

But first, this point: all three priorities are place-specific. All are part of my evolving answer to the question, "What does it mean to live in a place?" (as opposed to just sleeping there at night, for instance). For me, living in Homewood means pursuing the three priorities in Homewood.

Underlying the first priority is a desire for the rest of my life: to live out my faith in unity with other believers who live within walking distance.

I feel like I'm being radical when I say that, for several reasons. First of all, Western Christianity has been so co-opted by individualism that the idea of living out one's faith in unity with other believers is culturally heretical. Second, living out my faith in unity with believers who live within walking distance means going outside the construct of congregating on Sunday morning with people who live here, there and everywhere. Third, it goes against the tendency to forego relationships with neighbors in favor of relationships with other people in our lives (co-workers, fellow students, etc.).

Radical or not, this is my plan for encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ in Homewood, on the way to living out my faith in unity with them:

1. Declare the word of God to them by reciting Scripture, and
2. Pray with them.

More specifically...

1. Declare the word of God to them by reciting Scripture. Most believers, most of the time, experience Scripture as a hodgepodge of disconnected numbered sentences. We memorize and analyze fragments called "verses" with no sense of the whole from which they are taken. We listen to preaching that strings together fragments and numbered sentences to highlight a thesis or theme. In pursuit of these theses and themes, we entirely lose sight of the fact that with a couple of exceptions, each book of the Bible is one thing.

Then, as if fragmenting Scripture weren't bad enough, we flatten it. We forget, or never realize, that the passages we read were written by human beings, for human beings, not as purely doctrinal treatises, but as stories, poems, arguments, illustrations, proclamations, with questioning, cajoling, complaining, criticizing, complimenting...the full range of discourse and expression, of thought and feeling.

This fragmenting and flattening of Scripture, hideous enough on its own, is made even worse when we read Scripture publicly. In our desire to show reverence for the word of God, we read it in a way that fosters not only confusion, but boredom.

The reading or hearing of Scripture should never be boring.

I hope to counteract both tendencies - the tendency toward fragmentation and the tendency toward flattening - by inviting believers (first on Race Street, then in Homewood generally) to an interpretative reading of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. I will recite Ephesians in its entirety, in a way intended to convey the excitement - indeed, the ecstasy - which I believe Paul experienced when he wrote it.

I plan to do that in April. Stay tuned for details.

2. To pray with them. After sharing Ephesians, I will invite believers in Homewood to our home on the last Friday evening of each month for a night of prayer, to last until 6 a.m., followed by breakfast.

That's it. I make no predictions concerning results. Planting and/or watering may be my business; bringing forth fruit is God's.

Viva in locum! (took me 'bout half an hour of resurrecting my junior high Latin to come up with that!)

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond

My mini-bio at the right ends with the slogan, "Christ, commerce, community." Those three words distill so much of my life and so much of what I want to do that my thinking about my priorities for 2014 has come down to three categories of action, related to those three words.

Given my beliefs, abilities, interests, position and location, it seems that as of now, the best uses of Elwin Green in Homewood will be:

• Encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ,
• Growing businesses, and
• Redeveloping Race Street

Christ, commerce, community.

Theoretically, I could do an infinitude of other things - or at least, try to, venturing limitlessly into other areas. But those three are enough to occupy me, perhaps for the rest of my life (indeed, I intend to have the first two occupy me for the rest of my life, wherever I am. I expect some variation of the third to do so also, as I expect to remain on Race Street for the rest of my life; but that is less certain than the first two).

Christ, commerce, community.

Why write a blog post about this, rather than just noting it in my journal? Because all three of those priorities will require considerable involvement by other people, and because for all I know someone reading this may want to be involved.

Over the next week or so, I will outline specific projects and processes related to each category of action. So come back tomorrow if you'd like to learn how I plan to encourage the Body of Christ in Homewood in 2014.

Christ, commerce, community.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

*******************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts