Here’s an announcement about my personal blog over at www.heathmullikin.com. I’m relaunching it March 1st with a new look and feel. Check out the vid. Keep Chasing Your Lion!
Chase Your Lion
Speed Reading 2.0
If you’re going to grow as a person and a leader then reading great books should be an essential part of your growth. I have recently started reading with a new method that I wanted to share with you. There were 2 things I wanted to accomplish with this method.
1. Read faster
2. Take notes that are easy to scan through
There are 4 things in a book that make this process work: Chapter Headings, sub-headings, lists, and quotes. First, let me say that this method will not work with every type of book. This won’t work with a novel. I’ve found that most business, leadership, and growth books have all of the above.
Get the book you’re reading and a notebook. On a fresh page, write the Title and Author. Next, find chapter 1 and wirte it down along with it’s heading. All you’re going to do is scan the pages looking for key words that catch your eye(these depend on what and why you’re reading), subheadings, quotes, and lists. I typically write down all subheadings and lists. I write down quotes only if they’re truly memorable and something I could use in a sermon or a post. So, your page would look something like this(but hopefully with better handwriting):
Your amount of notes will depend on the format of the book and the length of the book. For example, I have 3 pages of notes from Crush It, and 12 pages of notes from The 4 Hour Work Week. I liked the books equally, but one of them had more lists and sub headings so I took more notes.
The most important thing to remember is to enjoy the book. If you get a chapter in and it’s not doing much for you then put it down and move on to something else. Also, don’t feel like you have to finish every book you read. Are you getting out of the book what you were hoping?
For me, this was born out of a desire to learn and grow without feeling overwhelmed. I also am trying to live by a set schedule. So far, the schedule has helped me get things done, but I’ve also been able to be flexible with it when necessary.
Finally, there have been two tremendous benefits so far with the creation of this site. One, is connecting and reconnecting with people all across the country through Twitter and Facebook. The other is immersing myself in the flow of great resources that are at our fingertips to help us become the people we were created to be. There are countless great books, blogs, conferences, music, and videos to help us discover our purpose, passion, and possibilities that many of us are unaware of. My reading list is full of great books I didn’t know existed before I started Chasing My Lion. Sadly, I know two many people who aren’t plugged into any of these things. They seem content to live life without pushing themselves to grow as Christians and leaders. Sadly, many of them are good friends in ministry.
So, what about you? What are you reading? What are you chasing?
Currently Listening:
Currently Reading:
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Why So Many Gods? By Tim Baker What do Madonna’s henna tattoos really mean? Is The Matrix more than just an action flick? Probing the meanings behind pop culture symbols, this hip guide to over 100 religions, cults, and worldviews will get your teens thinking about what they hear, see, and read—and help them choose God’s truth over the media’s mixed messages. 240 pages, softcover from Nelson. |
Currently Watching:
Newspring church at 
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Action Steps for Lion Chasers
Several things have happened in the last week that have compelled me to make some changes in my life. I was tired of being a procrastinator with a messy office whose adult ADD always seemed to be in overdrive. I had been tired of this before but was never moved to action.
A senior in my youth group is doing an internship this semester with me from 8 am-10 am Monday-Friday. This forced the first of many changes as there could be no more dilly dallying around in the morning. Rather, I would need to get my son to the church daycare by 8 am so the intern and I could get to work. This lead to change number 2. Fortunately, the intern is a neat and organized person. We spent her first day cleaning off my desk(I have to pay her $5 if she ever finds it covered and cluttered again) and trying to create a good working environment. I was also faced with the issue of figuring out what she was going to be doing for the next 4 months.
Over the weekend I read two great books(Crush It and the 4 hour work week). They really challenged me in finding the balance between being a youth pastor, husband, father, and blogger. FYI-I sped read both these books with a technique I’ll be sharing some other time. Both of these books talked about the importance of eliminating useless things and focusing on the important tasks at hand. I also looked back on my notes from when I read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for even more direction.
Finally, my wife and I have been enrolled in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. February 1 started our new life on a budget using the envelope system. I told Karen that I felt like February 1 was going to be the first day of the rest of our lives and was running with adrenaline all weekend raring to go only to have a massive snow storm hit that has had us homebound for 3 days and counting.
Without further delay, here is a list of the things I did and am doing to Chase My Lion and catch that sucker.
1. Made a list of everything I have(and want) to do in a given day, week, month, and year.
2. Made a list of all the projects I am currently working on.
3. Made a weekly schedule that gave a specific amount of time to all of these things.
4. Started living on a budget as a family.
5. Made a list of the time wasters in my life like news sites, sports sites, negative blogs, random TV watching, talk radio, logging into Facebook once an hour, google reader, and email.
6. Eliminated some of the above while scheduling a specific amount of time for the rest. Email will get checked twice a day along with Facebook and Google Reader. Drudge Report is out along with other news sites. Information overload is like meth for someone with ADD.
7. Vowed that I would stick to the schedule and started day 1 by sleeping in since it was a snow day. By noon I was caught up and ready for lunch. I vowed I wasn’t going to do any blog/twitter/affiliate marketing/anything computer related between 4 pm and midnight. #epicfail
8. Today is a snow day as well, but I’m on schedule so far. I just need to pencil in “make it up to my wife that I gave my time for her yesterday to Oprah and a domain redirect problem.”
So, what action steps do you need to take?
Lexington gets Extreme!
Last November, I told you about my wife and I going over to see the big reveal for ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover about 8 miles from our house. A quick disclaimer: I’m wearing a Yankees hat in that video because I lost a bet. Last night our local affiliate, ABC 45, had a behind the scenes look at 7 pm with the regular episode airing at 8 pm. I was proud to see my wife’s name listed with all the other great volunteers. The shift she worked ended up being on air for about a second(late night footings being poured). This has always been one of our favorite shows and last night was no exception. From the 2 hours, we learned so much more about the builder, the Creasey’s, and everything that goes into making this miracle happen. All I keep hearing is what an amazing family this is and they will be opening up their home for special tours to raise money for cancer research. While the house has been built and the episode has aired, we still have an opportunity to impact this wonderful family and others like them. So here’s what you can do:
1. Pray for the Creasey’s especially as Tricia continues her cancer treatments.
2. Head over to this site to make a donation to the family and get a behind the scenes DVD.
4. Nominate a Family to get an Extreme Home Makeover
5. Buy a ticket to take a tour of their home.
To Save a Life Review and Thoughts
If you need help you can call 1-800-394-HOPE(4693). Also, check out the the official To Save a Life site, the Need Help page, and the Resource page for youth pastors, parents, and students. Let me know what you think of the movie, and how you plan to use it and its message with your students, church, or school.
The Lion Chasers Manifesto
If you know anything about this site then you know where I got the inspiration for it. Today, Mark Batterson posted the Lion Chasers Manifesto on his site. I encourage you to print it and place it somewhere in your house, office, car where you can see it everyday. It’s an awesome reminder that we are created for so much more than we realize. Here’s my challenge: after you’ve printed and posted the manifesto take a picture of it and send it info@chaseyourlion.com. I will post them on our Facebook page and the one that is voted most creative will receive a Lion Chasers Prize Package consisting of In a Pit with a Lion on Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase, and Primal. If you win and already have those books then you’ll get to choose some other books that will help you chase your lion. What are you waiting for?