Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Everybody else is doing their New Year’s posts, so I might as well toss one out too! Many of us are spending time over the holidays evaluating our lives and our work, and coming up with goals, resolutions, thoughts or words to guide us through the new year. Have you done this?
In all this thinking about what I’d like to accomplish this year, I had an epiphany and I wanted to share it with you, in hopes that maybe you’ll share your epiphanies too. I frequently read books and blogs about business and leadership, but I’ve always read the leadership material from a rather distant standpoint, thinking of it as hypothetical because I don’t see myself as a leader. There is plenty I can learn from reading about leadership, but since I’m not a CEO of a large corporation, I assumed “other people” are the real leaders, while I’m just trying to learn from them.
But wait a minute…
I finally realized that I am a leader — in fact, most of us are leaders in some area of our lives — and one thing I want to focus on in 2017 will be to embrace my identity as a leader. This means focusing on cultivating necessary skills and actively practicing the behaviors of a good leader on a daily basis.
I debated whether to write about this publicly. It feels vulnerable to step up and say, “Hey, I finally realized that I’m a leader!” But then I realized that most of you would probably benefit from thinking about your own roles, and asking yourselves if you, too, might need to embrace some aspect of your identity.
What about you?
Even if you don’t resonate with the idea of leadership, is there something about yourself you’ve been denying or keeping at a distance that you may want to embrace this year?
Is there an identity you’ve been afraid to claim that you are finally ready to inhabit?
What would you do differently this year if you were actively embracing that identity? How would it change your overall perspective and your approach if you allowed yourself to claim it?
I would love to hear your thoughts, including whatever it is you’ve decided to focus on in 2017. Share your resolutions, goals, or words. Let’s not be afraid to put it out there, and to encourage each other.
Happy 2017!
Image copyright: alexraths / 123RF Stock Photo
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Rachelle, you truly are a leader, and have been one for, I suspect, longer than you imagine.
* I’m not entirely sure what the blazes I am. The identities I thought I could embrace have slipped away, wraiths in a fever-dream, and the old standby “I am that which I do” doesn’t quite work when you’re too ill to do anything.
* There is, however, focus. I can narrate the journey from despair through defiance through self-deception to a sort of peace that doesn’t passeth all understanding, but that does obviate the temptation to bitterness. Telling the story is neither easy nor fun, but it’s my job.
* But I still can’t embrace an identity other that that implicit in “Well, I saw the sun rise today, and God willing, I’ll see it rise again in a few hours.”
* Maybe that’s enough.
Shirlee Abbott
I know what you mean, Rachelle. For decades, I taught Bible lessons to children. I resisted the call to teach adults.
*Likewise, I thought my writing niche was the short devotional. When God dropped the idea for my current WIP into my head, I assumed it was a devotional series. But I couldn’t fit the concept into the format. “It’s a book,” God said. I responded, “But I don’t do books.”
*”You do now.” And I am.
*Like a rolling pin on pie dough, God pushes us into new places–like it or not. We might as well like it.
Carol Ashby
Shirlee, I love that rolling pin image of how we expand what we do!
Kristen Joy Wilks
Oh my goodness, Rachelle, that is funny that you should ask. My husband has been asking if I will start and run a Christian Writer’s Retreat for…oh about a decade. We live at a Bible Camp and while we rent out the camp to other groups most of the time, we also like to plan and run our own camps on occasion…just not me, by myself, in charge. Well, this year I felt the Lord pushing me to actually do it and so I agreed to run this camp for writers in the fall of 2017. Apparently, more than one of us is stumbling into a leadership role. Who would have known it, right?
Shelli Littleton
You gave me goosebumps … just thinking about what your beautiful future might look like … 🙂
Carol Ashby
That’s so exciting, Kristen! Where wil it be?
Kristen Joy Wilks
Well … I’m not done with the site yet, but this is what I have so far. I’m not set on the menu, I’ll probably take that down. I think I’ll also erase that picture of me pretending to write on the couch since the puppy is so much more photogenic! But this will give you a general idea of what I’m thinking. The location is at Camas Meadows Bible Camp in the Cascade mountains of Eastern Washington. I’m getting pretty excited!
http://www.camasmeadows.org/our-camps/the-mountain-muse-a-christian-writers-retreat/
Sheila King
Wow! What a great idea!
Shelli Littleton
Rachelle, I can’t tell you what this post did for my heart. So uplifting. Tears to my eyes. First off, you are definitely a leader and many look to you for guidance. Second … I’ve written three novels in three years. But life has been hard lately … and I’ve been questioning … will I be able to start that 4th? No real idea. No time, it feels. Am I fooling myself? Am I disciplined enough? Could I be consistent in this writing world? Will I fade from view? And a beautiful path came to mind through the night … piece by piece, mind you … but the fog lifted a tad and the path ahead is becoming clear. I woke this morning feeling so encouraged and jotted down a potential title. 🙂 I need a new journal. I may not be able to through it down like I have in the past, but I’m taking a step forward. And it’s a sweet step, and it makes me smile. Praise you, God.
Kristen Joy Wilks
That is so wonderful, Shelly. So many ideas come in the dead of night after a tearful prayer.
Billie
Writer. Author. I struggled in identifying myself as a writer. I had been writing Devotions for Baseballchapel.org for over 10 years when a friend called me a writer. I vehemently argued that I wasn’t. At a writer’s conference this year, I finally received the calling from God of my new identity. Now, I am a writer with a contract and a wonderful agent. When the book is released maybe I can embrace Author.
Sherri Wilson Johnson
Thank you for this, Rachelle. It’s so encouraging and inspiring. When we step out in faith and do what’s scary, God always blesses us. I’m working on being more courageous and adventurous. There’s so much to see and do, and I’ve let fears hold me back. I just finished reading Overwhelmed by Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory, and it showed me how I’ve let myself become overwhelmed with life sometimes instead of saying no, making a plan, and trusting God to lead me into new and exciting things. One of my 2017 changes I’m making in my life is to have a designated Sabbath. I’ve been “practicing” the last few weeks, and although I was bored by mid-afternoon the first two weeks, this past week was glorious. I so need the rest and rejuvenation. I’m finding this Sabbath time makes me more creative and energetic and I can’t wait to get back to writing and working on Mondays. 2017 is going to be an awesome year!
Kristi Holl
I realized last year that I am a leader of ONE all the time, or I should be. We self-employed writers have to lead ourselves more than anyone else. Are we good “bosses” for ourselves? Are we the kind of leader we would respond to best? I am working first on leading myself well: in health routines (so I can continue to write), in study routines (so I can continue to learn), in reading routines (so I don’t forget why I wanted to write in the first place), and in work routines (so the deadlines get met in a timely fashion.)