2 Soul Exercises to Live More Wisely

Bill Hybels always challenges me as a leader, as a woman of influence, as a woman who wants to spend less time living foolishly and more time living wisely. This year at the Leadership Summit he opened with some intriguing excises to refresh our souls and take stock of where we are and where we want to go.

Bill Hybels always challenges me as a leader, as a woman of influence, as a woman who wants to spend less time living foolishly and more time living wisely. This year at the Leadership Summit he opened with some intriguing excises to refresh our souls and take stock of where we are and where we want to go.

First exercise: How Challenged Are You?
Divide a continuum into thirds. Label the thirds “under challenged,” “appropriately challenged,” and “over challenged.” Now consider your load—the work and people for which you are responsible, the projects you are working on, planning for—everything you are giving your life and your energy to, spiritually, emotionally and physically. Looking at the continuum, where would you place a mark that reflects how challenging it is to cover your work, carry your load?

Hybels reports that we do our best when we are just above the appropriately challenged mark. Too low and we are bored, tending to waste time, mission drift. Too high and we are dangerously challenged to hydroplane, short circuit our emotions, and fall to temptations we would never imagine would ensnare us. Also, when we are dangerously challenged we set a bad example.

Reflecting on what Hybels’ said, my good friend, Dick Hohn commented that he thinks there are really two continuums—one for how we invest our time, one for how we invest our talents. We can be dangerously challenged time wise and yet underchalleged talent-wise. The challenge is to live in the zone on both levels.

Second exercise: Have you had your leadership bell rung lately?
Hybels recently listened as a Thai pastor prayed, “Lord, I need my bell rung. I need my boldness back.” He challenged us to reflect on 2 questions: Are you making excuses for being stuck? Are you doing whatever it takes–fasting, praying, sacrificing—to move forward? He told a story about getting together recently with a few of the men and their wives who founded WillowCreek long ago. It could be a great time to coast, to ease off and enjoy the great work they have been blessed to be a part of. But one of the men asked, “Why couldn’t the next 5 years as leaders be the best yet?” Together the men covenanted to hold one another accountable over the next 5 years to move forward with sacrifice and determination to make that vision a reality.

As we dream these kinds of dreams and pray these kinds of prayers, surely heaven is on notice, leaning in and working hard to get us exactly where God wants us to be.