Tice Talk Thursday: A Woman on a Mission

Tonight I am going to take a brief break from Tice's book to share with you about the 2 day Tice retreat I attended this week that was so transformational for me.

If you know me well at all, it is highly likely I have Tice talked you to death at one point or another--whether you realize it or not. Personally, I firmly believe that Tice's way of encouraging others to reach beyond that which is limiting them is biblically sound and a tool to fulfill one's God-given purpose.

This week's intensive training did a lot to help me uncover some things that have been holding me back and begin developing a vision of what my purpose... or mission is in my life.

I have been to a lot of trainings and some have been GOODe, but only a few have been GREAT. This one was GREAT because of the power of the information shared.

Tice teaches that one will never reach beyond what they believe deep down is "the truth" about themselves and that they will subconciously work against themselves to make sure that "truth" is maintained. So, if I want to make a change in my life, I need to dig down and change my thoughts about it rather than focusing on the behavior itself.

I think about how my body can calculate thousands (and I do MEAN thousands) of calories over the course of week to maintain my weight. I am a calorie collector afterall ;)

Or how my bank account always seems to fall back to the amount I think I should have deep down-- regardless of big bills or big checks.

My subconcious has a record of what is acceptable to me. And regardless of what I conciously want to change, it is my subconcious job to keep me being the "me" that I have told myself I am. 

Tice teaches that sanity is subconciously more important to us than success. Wow. Really?

He explains that our brains work like a boat on auto-pilot. I can grab the wheel and turn it for a while in a new direction, but if I don't change the auto-pilot it will return to the original direction --as soon as I let go of the wheel. 

Hello STORY of my life.

Jesus teaches the same thing in Matthew 9:16-17:

16"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Among many other important things, Tice shares that you need to paint a new vision of you. One of the tasks we completed during the training was a personal mission statement. Let me preface this by sharing that I have had a hard time in the past with wrapping my brain around "developing a personal mission statement". 

Truth be told, I have often thought (in both organizations and for individuals) that mission statements are oftentimes a whole lot a fluff-- words without action... words without power.

However, after this process I walked away with a mission that I feel fuels me to strive towards my goals in life and I have been totally jazzed over it. 

Seriously. 

I have been sharing it with everyone...EVERYONE. I am sure people think I am nutty, but it is like a lightbulb has went off for me. It has painted a picture for me of what I want to strive towards. A picture of what God designed me to be and how He might use me.

Below is the process our facilitator used to bring this out in me:

Divide a page into 3 columns. In each column write 3-4 words that answer the following questions:

Column 1: I would like to live in a world of_____________.

Column 2: What I love to do that contributes to others______________.

Column 3: Positive qualities that best describe me are_______________.

Now choose your top 2 words in each column... what you can't live without.

Then write out the following statement--like a life changin' mad lib ;) :

Because I enjoy living in a world of COLUMN 1 and COLUMN 1, I enthusiastically COLUMN 2 and COLUMN 2 because I am COLUMN 3 and COLUMN 3. 

So... wantta hear mine?

Cris' Mission:
Because I enjoy living in a world of purpose and passion, I enthusiastically encourage others and problem solve because I am influencial and creative... Just sayin'

I'd love to hear yours ;)