Lets Talk Bigger Picture

You're tuned into Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Justin Lester is an average guy who refuses to let Mondays control him. Justin is a husband, dad, pastor, student, and Jesus follower. He's done a lot, he's learned a lot, and he wants to see you at your best. Let's win Mondays. Hey, Justin. What's up today?

Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to Made for Mondays. And I'm so glad that you guys are tuned in this Monday. Glad. Welcome to the month of December 2021. I can't believe it. I don't know about you, but it didn't seem like this was going to come, or it seemed like it came way too fast. So no matter where you are, welcome to December 2022. You are in the right place at the right time to be all that you need to be to be to fulfill every single dream that's inside of you. So welcome to Made for Mondays. This podcast is simply designed as an opportunity to engage with you, with ourselves. Whether you're driving, whether you're going, dropping your kids off to school, no matter where you are, we simply want you to know that you were made for this moment. You're made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you. You own your Monday. And today we're going to dive deeper into how to own your Monday. Today. Today's conversation, very simple, very to the point. I want to give you five simple things in a creative process. This creative process is an opportunity for you to deepen and expand and the ways you are creative. I believe it's the creatives that are the ones that are going to lead the future. And by creatives, I don't just mean artists, I don't just mean musicians, I mean you. I mean someone who's able to see the world differently, someone who's able to see a canvas and see something on it, someone who's able to see the blank canvas of, I don't know, a city, of a university, of an organization, of your family, of the future, of 2022 and say, I want to put the pieces together of this new year and for you, I'm excited about you for this year. I want you to deepen and expand your creative process. I want you to feel the fear of the constraints and feel the fear of not being able to do something and do it anyway. The great thing about creativity is that creativity, when I think about it like painting a canvas, means it has boundaries. There are constraints to your creativity. And if you ever want to get to a place where you're owning your creativity, I want you to start with constraints, whether that's a time constraint, a location constraint, a personnel constraint, no matter what it is, I want you to start with those constraints and then move yourself in there. For some of you, that constraint is financial. For some of you, that constraint is your time. You're trying to figure out how do I fit my life into everything? Well, I want you to be creative. Here's a five step creative process that I want to give you that helps me, that I personally use. And I think it'll be an opportunity for you to do so as we move from not just doing, but then to documenting and finishing as well. So first of all, first part of creative process is discovery. I want you to take a look around you. I want you to stop moving so much and pause and see what's in front of you. I want you to see what's around you. I want you to discover the world around you and discover the world within you. I want you to make sure that whether you're. If you're dreaming for your family, what do your children do at night? What does your spouse like to watch? What do you do in the afternoon? What do your friends, if you're dreaming for your job, what do your co workers do at lunch? Eat? Where do they go to eat? Do they change their shoes? I want you to discover too often we're moving so fast that we're not seeing the opportunities that are right in front of us and discovering the ways that we can actually make effective change right where we are. I want you to discover needs and discover opportunity. Then I want you to take time to dream about those needs and opportunities. No, I'm not telling you to go into your dreamscapes time and be intentional about saying I want to dream about my job, I want to dream about this. I want you to take time and really begin to think what is not seen, that you can see, what is not painted, that you can paint. What broad strokes, what broad colors can you paint this environment with? I want you to dream what's never been done, what's never been accomplished, what's never been seen. I want you to dream this week, then I want you to design it. Too often I think we move from dreaming to immediately the actualization of it. But a few weeks ago, my wife and I went to a paint night and and we realized that before we started painting, before we started doing anything on there, the leader told us something very simple. Take a pencil and sketch out what you're going to draw, what you're going to paint, and it's in the sketching that we began to design what we were going to do instead of just rushing to the actual doing of it. That's what I want you to move. It's discovery, it's dreaming, and then design it. It's framework I want you to begin to build out. If it's a business, if it's a relationship, if it's your job, it's an organization, I want you to design it. I want you to draw it out in pencil. Draw it out in such a way that you can erase it. There are ways, we actualize that in the world, but I want you to design it in such a way that you can erase the places that are raw. Erase the places that don't make sense. Then keep drawing in deeper. See what sticks with you, see what doesn't leave the page. I want you to decide it, then do it. One of the places that we don't end up getting to a place of success is when we discover, we dream, we design, and then we don't do it. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Feel the risk and take the jump. Do it, do that. I want all of you to think about as you're driving, and maybe you're watching me online right now, I want you all to think about something you just really want to do, Something you want to finish, something you want to accomplish. I want you to think about it. What would happen if you did it. That person, call them that job, apply for it, that business, write it, that book, blog it, log it, write it, self publish it. Go to the place, go out to eat there, do it. I guarantee you're gonna see a part of the world that you didn't even know was possible there. The place that brings success is not in the discovery, the dreaming, the designing and the doing. It's in the documenting. After you do it, document it so that somebody else can know your process. It's not the actualization that makes a lot of money, it's the process. All of you possess some very unique abilities and keen ability to engage in the world in a way that we've never seen before. Document it. Tell someone the story and monetize the story that you're telling. If you really want to be creative, let me give you these last couple of things. You gotta find a problem to solve. Give yourself constraints. For some of you, you have constraints with those limited resources. For a lot of places also, it's going to be necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention. Years ago, years ago, my family and I, when I was a kid, we went and visited the Amish country in Pennsylvania. And we saw all the ways they were innovative before we ever were innovative. Because necessity is the mother of innovation. What do you need? What does your community need that you can bring to the table this week? Discover dream design, do and document. If you really want to be creative, you got to be willing to fail. The strength of your weakness is still your strength. You gotta be willing not to fall flat on your face. You gotta be willing for some things not to work. You gotta be willing for the algorithm not to always be complete. You gotta be willing to take a risk and trust the process. And you gotta have a crazy idea. I think too often our schools, our jobs, our churches are full of answers, but we don't give people the space to ask questions. So here's my question to you today. Where are you going today that you can discover something new? What time, what space can you give yourself today so you can dream? What do you need to do so you don't regret that you didn't do it tomorrow? What do you need to do today so you don't regret that you didn't do it tomorrow? Who needs you to document your story so they can see your process? You're more than valuable. You're more than worth it. You are something special because you were made for this day. You were made for this hour, and you were made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you. You own your Monday. Now go and be great today. Before we go today, let's say our affirmation. Simply repeat after me. Say, I am me. I can be me. And no one will stop me from being me. Have a wonderful Monday. Remember, you were made for Mondays. Mondays don't own you. You own your Monday. We'll see you right back here next Monday. Live in a living color up in the morning so you have a moment to have a conversation about how you were made for this Monday. Have a great Monday, peeps.

This has been Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at mrjlester and online at www.jlester.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for.