You are an Innovator

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 everyone. Welcome in to Made for Mondays. Today we're going to start a series this entire month on innovation. I believe that isolation breeds innovation. And I believe this is a wonderful time to engage with ways that we can be innovative in all that we do. And so I'm going to start it off this week. The rest of the month then is we'll have special guests that will come in and speak with us and talk with us about different places, but where I believe we're called to be innovative, and that's healthcare, our own Christian spiritual development, as well as technology. To start that all off, though, I wanna call out innovation inside of you as you go into this week to be Made for Mondays, to own your Mondays. Here are the three words I wanna give you in terms of being innovators. See it, solve it, and create it. See it, solve it, and create it. What are the things you see around you? What are the problems you see around you? Who are the people you see around you? What are the situations that you are more than equipped to solve? And I want you to think about the first thought that comes into your mind when you go into work, when you go into your job, when you go home, when you walk into your kitchen, walk into your bathroom, your living room. What are the situations you see and what are the solutions that come directly to your mind? You know, the best solutions are the ones that we think of immediately and begin to figure out ways to solve them, figure out ways to fix them, and figure out ways to build them. So then create it. That starts with drawing, that starts with building. That starts with grabbing a hold of different tools, grabbing a hold of different things around your house and beginning to figure out ways to create the solution to the problems that's in front of you. I refuse to believe that we are equipped in our lives to continue to copy what others are doing instead of simply being the ones who create something that solves the issues around us. You know the issues in your kitchen, you know the issues in your car, you know the issues on your job. You've been equipped because you've been placed there to solve those issues. So if isolation breeds innovation, what are the three points of purpose for this week? Here are the three things I want to challenge you to do to be innovators this month as we begin this series. First of all, create spaces to make what isn't so it can become what is. I want you to think about the time you have throughout the day. I want you to think about the time you have on your job, the time you have at home, the time you have among yourself, the time you have with others around you. I want you to create spaces to make what doesn't exist so it can become what does exist. Every single thing that we have around us, from the traffic signals to iPhones to computers, are all because someone saw something that wasn't and made it what is. You have an opportunity while you're sitting isolated to create what isn't so it can become what is. Maybe you're an essential worker. What are the things you see at your job, whether it's Walmart, Dollar General, Target, a post office worker, or even a healthcare worker? What are the things you see that you need to make your life easy, that this moment of isolation has called you to see? Create spaces to make what isn't. That means set aside creative time in your life. Set of creative time this week, find time once or twice a week where you have isolated 30 minutes or 45 minutes where you sit and you create. Where you sit and you write, where you sit and you engage. Create spaces to make what isn't so that it can become what is. Number two. Practice doesn't make perfect. But practice makes you guys hear me constantly talk about sports. The one thing I realized about practice, whenever I would practice a certain position or practice a certain posture of my hands, practice a certain posture of playing. Practice never made me the perfect player, but practice sure did make me a player. Practice let me understand the game. Practice made me think about and dream about how I would engage in the game. Practice doesn't always make you perfect, but practice does make something. So practice creativity. I would suggest starting with things like food with your children, your spouse. Be creative with dates. Be creative with your time together. Be creative with your television shows. Be creative with where you sit. Be creative with how you do things. Be creative with what you read. Read different types of books. Go into different rooms to read the books. Create different types of food. Challenge yourself to use different dishes. Challenge yourself to drink different things. Challenge yourself to even wash your clothes differently. Challenge yourself to type differently. Whatever it is to practice doesn't make perfect. But if you practice creativity, eventually you will see creativity come out of you in a way that's particular to you, not to other people. And lastly, and finally, solve tomorrow's problems with today's solutions. You know, the average app dies 30 days into the use of the app. What that means is by the time the app begins to start getting used updates and the hardware and different applications come out that need to use that application where then the app has to be updated. Solve what you think might come down the line by solving it today. Because you see the problem today. Because the issue and the challenge I want to give you is that somebody else sees the exact same problem, but you're the one who holds the solution. Somebody else is at home with children and want to know how in the world they can manage something, but you're the one who sees it first. So create the solution. Someone else is sitting on their job wondering how in the world they can fix something. You're the one who sees it first. Create the solution. Don't worry. Wait for someone else to do what you're equipped to solve. One of the challenges I had on Sunday when I woke up is to realize that I don't need to watch or wait for somebody else to do what I know I'm capable of doing. Solve today's problems and solve tomorrow's problems with today's solutions. See it, solve it, and create it. The reason you're even listening to this podcast is because you know you are a creator. You are an innovator, you are a leader. You are a trendsetter. Own every part of your being. Doing so. Create spaces to learn. Create spaces to create. Create spaces to challenge yourself and guarantee you you'll see your creativity and your innovation breathe. You'll see yourself breathe a little bit easier. I guarantee you'll be able to see the world become better because your gift will be unleashed into the world. You're made for Mondays. Now let's do our affirmation and we'll go on about our week and I pray you have a wonderful, blessed week. Repeat after me. Say I am me. I can be me. No one will stop me from being me because I am me. Have a wonderful week. You were made for this. God bless you.

This has been Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at MrJlester and online at www.jluster.com. see you next. Go Win. You were made for this.