Recently, the staff and volunteer leaders that I work with read a book entitled “Managing Oneself” by Peter F. Drucker. It’s a great little book and I highly recommend it.
The biggest impact of the book for me was a section on LEARNING. It’s important to know (in managing oneself) how you learn and process learning in order to achieve more in your life. There are some simple questions to ask.
Am I a reader or a listener? Even if I’m a combination of both, one is usually higher than another.
Do I process by writing or talking? Think about it. Do you make lists in order not to forget something, or do you share that story several times as you process what you’re learning.
Write or Talk?
A great example of this a couple years when I had a heart catheterization done (read “My One Word for 2016″ blog if you want to know why). They drug the crap out of you, but you’re still awake when they shove the car antenna up your arm to shoot the dye through your heart and take video.
They told me the drugs can cause an amnesia like effect, and I might not remember anything later on. Challenge Accepted!!! I literally shared the story of what I saw and experienced, from the moment they wheeled me out of the room to my wife, then when I was back in the room getting discharged, and again on the phone in the car ride home. I had to SPEAK IT OUT LOUD in order to lock it in to memory and process all that had just happened.
Why am I telling you this? Because I process information by talking more than writing.
Now, I love writing the blogs I do. I write for my church, and I write for a coaching company I have called “Stuff Pastors Do” to help planters and pastors do their stuff better. However, almost everything that I write comes from a verbal conversation with myself and others first.
Listen or Read?
I’m also a better listener than reader. I do both as more of a discipline, but I have a higher level of retention when listening to something or someone than I do when reading words on a page.
What’s Changing?
I’m glad you asked! Over the next several weeks (as you may have already noticed with this blog) I’m going to be adding all of my previous and future blogs to my podcast. Now, you will have the option to LISTEN to the BLOG from my podcast.
I’m still going to start back with episodes and interviews around specific topics on my podcast. But mixed throughout those episodes will be the audio posts of my blogs.
I hope this makes engaging with my content easier and more convenient for those that are either wired more like me OR you can simply enjoy the convenience of pressing PLAY while heading to the gym or driving to work and can LISTEN to these posts right from your subscribed email for this blog.
It will take a while to get some of my past blog posts up, but that’s my goal. I look forward to this next season of blogging. Please leave comments below on how this change benefits you or if you like the new format. I appreciate the feedback.
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