I am super excited to show you the cover of my upcoming book. Stephen did an amazing job of creating what we dreamed up.

I am even more excited to have pastor Mark Batterson write the forward and lend his voice to this project. If you are familiar with In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day or Wild Goose Chase,then we think you will really connect with the message of Passion is Not Enough.

What do you think?

I love maps. I love globes. I love seeing where I’ve been and where I want to go. But maps are not the friend of the leader, innovator and entrepreneur.  If you are looking at a map, it means you’re managing not leading.  The essence of a map is that someone has already been there and the map can prove it.  Leading requires you to go somewhere no one has been before. There are no maps to lead into the unknown.

As a leader, innovator or entrepreneur, what you need is a compass. So, toss the idea of a map and start looking for a compass. A compass points you in a certain direction, that’s it. When you are out in front, this is the tool you need to lead. The most accurate compass will point to true north every time.  Your job is then to lead in a way that stays on the path of true north by walking where the compass is pointing.

Decide what North is for you in the areas of your life and then find a compass to point you in that direction and get going. Find north for your character and get going. Find north for your marriage and keep going. Find north for your business and keep going.

A compass will not show you what is around the bend like a map. But a map is not for leaders. Ditch the map. Get a compass. Find north and start going!

Get better at something. As I look over my goals I’ve set for 2010, I realize I have a lot to learn in order to accomplish them. And to be honest, I look at some of them and question if I can get there. (Well, there’s another blog post for that, but the short version is that means I’ll have to rely on God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish them!).

The worst thing you can do is paint your self in a corner and allow self defeat into the game. Your goals should drive you, motivate you and challenge you. They should not depress you. So, the best thing you can do is get better at something. Take a step. Start with a piece. Here are some examples with the big goal first and the small step next:

• You want to write a book: write an outline, write a chapter
• You want to start a business: file the paperwork for you LLC
• You want to be a better communicator: work on not saying ummm
• You want to get a Masters degree: sign up for 1 class
• You want to be a better husband: take your wife on 1 date
• You want to lose 20 pounds: go to the gym TODAY
• You want to read a 1500 page book: read the first 15
• You want to run a marathon: run a 5K first

The point is, you have to get better in steps. Growing as a leader, husband, wife, parent, pastor, CEO, whatever, doesn’t happen over night. Its a process and the most successful one’s realize this and then plan accordingly.  If you will master the small steps, eventually you’ll look back and see you’ve covered a lot of ground.

What is one goal you have or one are you want to be better at? What is your step you will take today? (This is a great exercise to do before you start 2010)

If I look at my own journey, I’ll admit that it hasn’t always be easy nor did it play out how I wanted at the time. But, what’s great is our ability to look back and see that its this journey that really matters. I know that’s so cliche, but without these experiences, we wouldn’t be who we are today. God is always preparing and always using. I have to remind myself that a lot. Its not that God is just preparing me to use me later, He’s using me now.

Maybe you need to be reminded of that too. God is using you now, or He wants to. Even if you are called to be a senior pastor and you are the youth pastor, God can use you now. Maybe you are called to start your own company, but you are working as an assistant, God can still use you now.

If we embrace that God is not only preparing us to use us later, but he is in fact using us now,  we would have more joy in our current circumstances, which would enable us to be used even more.

Are you losing joy in current circumstances because you are waiting to be used?