Managing Overwhelm Part 2
The Art and Discipline of Restoration
In December we began a conversation about the realities of overwhelm in our lives (find that article here). I realize it was a very high level pass at a complicated topic so today we are going to talk about some tangible (daily) applications to achieving the restoration that each of us need in our lives. Here are a few key thoughts as we press back into this topic:
Overwhelm often has external contributing sources. Life is filled with difficulty and complexity.
However, most long-term overwhelm is a combination of external realities and internal restoration deficits.
Addressing overwhelm requires two key disciplines:
Managing the External Sources of Stress. We talked about this in December’s article.
Developing the Disciplines for sustained daily (sometimes hourly) restoration. The stronger your internal restoration disciplines, the more external stress you can sustain.
Restoration
res·to·ra·tion | \ ˌre-stə-ˈrā-shən \
1: an act of restoring or the condition of being restored: such as
a: a bringing back to a former position or condition
b: a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition
What is restoration?
Each of us have four “buckets” of energy…physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Life and leadership are constantly draining energy from these buckets. Restoration is the process of filling these buckets with enough regularity to ensure they never empty out completely. Empty buckets begin to shrivel our spirits, hinder our leadership, and destroy our relationships.
How do I fill my buckets?
Understand the difference between restoration and amusement.
Most Americans struggle to sustain restoration because they don’t know the difference between restoration and amusement/distraction. Two hours of T.V. is not restoration….it is distraction. There are dozens of things which fall into the amusement/distraction category in your life and mine. I am not condemning these activities, just pointing out that they do not bring restoration. Restoration is an activity that fills one (or more) of your buckets and leaves you feeling rested, at peace, joyful, filled, energized. Sometimes restoration requires an expenditure of energy to reap the benefits. Examples are physical exercise (walking, running, lifting, biking) or taking the time to call a friend and encourage them.
Learn what drains your buckets and why.
God has created each of us with amazing uniqueness’s and what drains you may not drain me. Take the time to figure out what empties your buckets. One exceptional tool for learning about the things that fill and drain you is the Core Strengths Assessment (SDI). If you would like an opportunity to take this motivation assessment, please reach out to Francie at swansonf@ncdcma.org. The district office will pay the $50 dollar fee for the first 100 NCD ministry partners (pastors & wives) that reach out to take this assessment. Some of you took this assessment at our 2020 Pastors and Wives event with Larry Shelton and you can look at those results to refresh your memory.
Learn what fills your buckets.
Discovering the unique things that fill your buckets is a lifelong journey, but it can be accelerated and facilitated by using a Restoration Assessment that I developed several years ago and thousands of leaders around the country have used to explore their unique restoration path. Click here to download this assessment and continue your discovery journey.
Develop small disciplines that help you maintain restoration.
The simplest and most effective discipline I have used for nearly 15 years involves taking 90 seconds twice a day (first thing in the morning and after work) to give myself a score from 1 (bad/empty) to 10 (great/full) in each of the four buckets. If I score myself a 6 or below in one or more buckets, I apply what I learned in the Restoration Assessment to refill my low buckets. (I have taken this assessment every year for the last 10 years because I keep learning new things that fill me). Below is the tool I use every day to track my restoration and written to the right you will see some of the things that fill me in each category (this is my quick reference guide). I write in a number in the middle of each gauge. Make your own version of this and use it at least twice a day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
You should give your first and best energy every day to making sure your buckets are sufficiently full for the responsibilities of the day ahead.
The stronger your internal restoration disciplines, the more external stress you can sustain.
Don’t mistake amusement/distraction for restoration. They are not the same thing!
Discover the unique things that drain and fill you.
Develop small disciplines that create micro-restorations in your day so you can live and lead out of full buckets.
Dan Scarrow
District Superintendent