I feel very very lucky. I get to be mentored by so many amazing leaders, scholars, visionaries, and great men. Not in person on a weekly basis or anything. But I take full advantage of everything these men are putting out there (books, podcasts, blogs, conferences, etc...) I treat it as though they are mentoring me 1 on 1. I learn everything I can from what they are saying.One of my favorite "mentors" is Andy Stanley. I'm going to talk much more about the book later, and I mainly want to just share some awesome quotes from a particular chapter... but let me at least say this = Throughout Andy's entire book - Visioneering - It was as though Andy was sitting with me in a coffee shop speaking every single word directly to me! Seriously. I don't know if a book has ever been as personal as this one. EVERY word was specifically for me. Amazing. Like Andy wrote it just for me. (of course I'm sure it has affected thousands this way, which is awesome...)
This stuff is all from Chapter 10 that I recently went back & jotted some notes from = Vision has its Price
This 1st thought hit me right off...**“Any vision worth pursuing will demand sacrifice and risk. You will be called on to give up the actual good for the potential best. You will find it necessary to leave what is comfortable and familiar in order to embrace that which is uncomfortable and unfamiliar. And all the while, you will be haunted by the fear that this thing you are investing so much of yourself in may not work out at all.”
[This is so crazy because that spot is exactly where I’m at right now! exactly what I needed to hear!]
“Vision requires courage and confidence. It requires launching out as if you were absolutely assured of the outcome.” [Thanks for speaking this into me, Andy! I value it big time!]
“The difference between those with a burden for something and those who actually do something is not resources. It is a willingness to take risks and make sacrifices.
The people who make a difference in the world commit to what could be before they know where the money is coming from. Their vision is enough to cause them to jump in. Money usually follows vision. It rarely happens the other way around.”
*** [Man! that is what I'm talkin' about. I SOOOOO needed to hear that! I'm all in... This is some crazy valuable mentoring stuff!]
– Great Quote to keep in front of me!!! ** “Is this what I am going to do? Or is this one of those things that I am just going to talk about until I am forty or fifty years old?”
[That's what someone with a vision asked their team. I am freaking going to do this thing... it's not just something I'm gonna be talking about when I hit 40 or 50! It's gonna be reality!]
Building Block #9 – Don’t expect others to take greater risks or make greater sacrifices than you have. [great stuff for all of us leaders to remember!]“put my money where my vision is.” = [I love it!]
[this seemed straight from Andy's lips to my soul. Like advice for me in the upcoming years. Like God used Andy to give me counsel & wisdom about what's coming up in my near future.]
“If God has birthed a vision in you, it is only a matter of time until you will come upon the precipice of sacrifice. What you do at that juncture will in all likelihood determine the future success or failure of your vision.”
* “God has chosen to work through men and women who are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the ‘thing’ He has placed in their hearts to do.”
He most loves to work through peeps who “are courageously laying the things that represent safety and security at His feet for the sake of what could be and should be.” [oh yeah! I am totally on board to be that guy that God can bless because I am laying it all down!]
*This was an interesting challenege from Andy to me (and all of us). I'm gonna take him up on it... = “Search the Scriptures. Search the pages of church history. You won’t find an example of anyone God used in even a small way who did not make some kind of sacrifice in order to pursue the vision. Sacrifice and risk are always part of the equation.”
“One thing I do know. When a man is willing to give up something valuable for a God-ordained vision, God looks upon it as worship.”
[now, this is big time. Andy's not pulling any punches here!]
*** “Your vision has not truly captured your heart until it captures your wallet.”
WOW. I just unpacked all that really really quickly. This is just 1 random chapter in the middle of this almost 300 page book that spoke to me every single sentence... every word.
Now you can see I've got a lot to unpack! way more to come.
Like I said. It was like being mentored intensely by Andy himself. So personal. So practical. So awesome...
Posts
4 comments:
To write statements that stick in people's minds, sell books and to appear as an authority, many think there is a need for universal assertions. For instance, "Any vision worth pursuing will demand sacrifice and risk." This is untrue. There are "visions" that are worth pursuing that require no sacrifice and risk. Stanley likely doesn't believe what he writes. Does he really think a "vision" isn't worth pursuing if it happens to be easy and risk free? If so, then he should just speak for himself. There are many of us whose "vision" is to be content with what we have.
hey bud, awesome post. i really want that book now. i have about 5 books waiting for me, but this i will add to the list. that quote you showed me from andy has been rockin my world for about 4 months now... good stuff... keep up the good work
Mary - I'm not sure that I agree. I am absolutely content with what I have (materially, financially, etc...) but utterly discontent with the way many things are in the world... therefore - I've got a vision for things to change. I think any vision for things to change WILL require sacrifice and risk.
*Being content with everything to stay at the status quo is not really a "vision", is it?
*Corey = which quote were you talking about from 4 months ago? he's got so much good stuff man. Hope you're doing well bro... holla.
I'm not saying being content with what we have is everyone's vision. But it is as worthwhile a vision as any other.
I think you said that "vision" to you has to do with changing things in the world. Is it different than "wanting" or "hoping for" or "to imagine" a better world? How much of the world needs to be changed before its "vision" is a worthy "vision?"
Post a Comment