Do you ever feel bogged down by having to go work for another day? Are you overwhelmed and not slowing down enough to actually enjoy what you do?

I think all of us find ourselves in this place from time to time. Allow me to challenge your thinking.

You are an artist…and everyday presents an opportunity for you to create great art. But you may not consider yourself an “artist”. I mean, you don’t write songs, sing, play an instrument, paint, sculpt, listen to the Beatles, grow your hair extremely long, or just chill out for a living. Maybe you do. Or maybe you’re a pastor. Or a business man or woman. Or a nurse. A doctor. A sales clerk. A retail salesman. A waitress. A computer programmer. A teacher. Fill in the blank.

Seth Godin so brilliantly conveys in his book, Linchpin, that the world of work is changing. If you want to stand out and really make a difference, you need to create art. No longer are you just a replaceable cog in the machine who is told what to do. You are an artist.

What does this look like?

• Ask, “Who can I bless today?”
• Bring solutions to your boss instead of problems.
• Focus on people.
• Don’t just generate ideas. Get them done.
• Don’t just say. Do.
• Ask, “What’s something I could do that’s different or ‘out of the ordinary’ for my line of work but would make a positive difference?”
• Pray over your projects.
• Pour passion into your projects.
• Ask, “What can I do to be remarkable today?”
• Ask, “What one project will make the biggest difference today?” and do it.
• See every interaction as an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to use you.

See? No paint brushes or guitars required. But by all means, use them if you can.

What art will you create today? What difference will you make today?

For the past week, Emily and I have been leading worship for a couple’s retreat in Lancaster, PA with our great friends Brad & Rebekah. On our way back to the ‘Burgh, we decided to drive a couple hours out of the way and spend a night at the Gateway Lodge in Cooks Forest, PA.

Beautiful place. Quiet, serene, peaceful, slow.

Did you hear that? Slow.

Mini excursions like this help me re-focus my life on what is most important. For me, it’s not that my job is extremely busy (though there are seasons, for sure) it’s the way I go about my job.

• I make it busy
• I’m stressed when I don’t need to be
• I don’t spend enough time simply waiting on the Lord in prayer
• I do things I could delegate
• I race about doing menial tasks rather than focusing on people
• I spend too much time doing what Scott Belsky calls “Insecurity Work” (Twitter, Facebook, Reading Blogs, checking stats)

Cooks forest is reminding me to focus on what matters. So I decided to write out a mini-list of some of my ‘main things’. I want to use my time wisely to focus and accomplish goals in these areas. Hopefully it will inspire you to write a list yourself.

• Seek God’s face first thing every morning
• Spending time with my wife, the most important person in my life
• Continue to write songs for the church to sing
• Make this blog an encouraging resource for worship & church leaders
• Continue raising up worship leaders and musicians at APC
• Invest myself in creating a culture of worship at APC
• Raise up leaders and make disciples of young adults in the Pittsburgh area
• Loving people and leading them to Christ

So what’s your list? How do you keep yourself focused on the ‘main things’ in your life? I encourage you to find a peaceful spot (doesn’t have to be cook’s forest :)) and think, pray, & write. It will go a long way. Go ahead, you have time. Just do it. You can’t afford not to.