The David Lee Martin Show - Holy Ghost Encouragement For Christian Creatives

https://davidleemartin.com/learn-the-art-of-lean-excellence/

Spending and saving. Two sides of the same slippy coin.

Productivity is all about these seeming opposites.

Spending time, saving time.

Spending thought, attention, and energy, saving thought, attention, and energy.

Spending money, saving money.

The right time to spend and to save is an art and a science rolled into one.

An old proverb reads, “a penny saved is a penny earned”. The less we spend the more we earn.

It is very easy to accumulate, and unchecked accumulation leads to a big pile of disorganisation that bleeds in every direction...

https://davidleemartin.com/on-line-but-off-track/

“You can be on line but off track.”

I first heard this said by Jim Rohn, and even back when he said it he hit the nail square on the head.

In another story he related a story about a friend who was prone to TV. Let’s call the friend Mark for the sake of this story.

He asked Mark how much his television set cost him. Mark proudly boasted he snatched a bargain for just $400. Jim turned and said that that was not right, but the friend insisted the widescreen wonder was just $400.

Jim pointed out he was not referring to cost of ownership, but cost of use. Taking Mark’s talents and aptitude into account, the time taken in front of the box rather than pursuing other wealth creating activities was probably costing him over $40,000 a year.

Cost of ownership vs cost of use...

https://davidleemartin.com/know-your-enough-and-lengthen-your-stride/

There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” G K Chesterton

Productivity is not just about more.

It is about enough. Getting the most out of your intentioned, invested input, so that you can enjoy the benefits of time and money it affords you.

The payoff is not more boxes ticked, more lists annihilated, more dollars flowing, more minutes filled, more activity, notoriety, fame, fortune…

Rewards of this kind have their payoff, many of them positive, but like a hungry dragon some ambitions will never be satiated.

Praying just last week I heard these words come out of my mouth, “Lord I want to serve you in simplicity and sincerity, uncluttered by my ambitions.”

It made me think about the nature of growth, and the importance of knowing what success looks like...

https://davidleemartin.com/working-with-the-dresser-so-your-joy-can-be-full/

Yesterday’s harvest must make room for today’s growth, and give way to tomorrow’s crop. We live to expand and stretch our branches further, and to do so is a path of letting go and taking hold.

https://davidleemartin.com/life-with-margin-and-the-three-keys-to-freedom/

Life with margins.

For many, the crammed lifestyle pushes to the very edge of every page, and there is no room to breathe.

The slightest shift can tip the cart over the edge.

We need margin. Look for the whitespace and be careful not to fill it.

A moment in your day does not immediately demand that it be filled with phone. You know what I mean.

It’s in the spaces that we find new things. It’s through the cracks that fresh insights can leak in.

I have three key filters I like to apply, and each one can be enjoyed across the board of your happy existence.

Look at these like a sieve, a filter, that allows only the essentials to reach your desktop....

https://davidleemartin.com/spending-habits/

Whatever you are doing I can almost 100% assure you that there is an easier way to do it.

Scalability is hindered by complexity. The more complex the system, the harder it will to sustain and to scale.

Looking for ways to simplify is a gloriously fruitful way to spend some time, thought, and energy because the payoff will blossom over time.

https://davidleemartin.com/action-taker-and-the-one-great-reason-why/

https://davidleemartin.com/de-cisions/

Where procrastination is king no movement is possible. 

Life and business require that we be decisive. Cutting the ballast from your lives so you are not dragging confusion and fear every step of your journey is an important step to take. It is one that needs to tackled fiercely because there is an ever present temptation to so hedge our bets that we are hemmed in on every side.

Here are some thoughts to get you moving...

https://davidleemartin.com/paretos-potatoes-a-surprising-recipe-for-success-in-any-area-of-life/

A potato story.

The farmer went to his potato patch to sow.

Some seed was swallowed, some trodden underfoot, some strangled.

The seed that found its happy soil bore fruit, some 30, some 60, some a hundredfold.

How many potatoes the farmer harvested depended on which plot he plowed and populated. Some were significantly better than others.

So said the Master in Matthew 13.

So much can be said about this prime-cut parable.

I just want to point to one thing. Even the good ground yielded varied results.

If you knew that your efforts in one place bore more fruit than exactly the same effort expended elsewhere, what would you do?

https://davidleemartin.com/hey-you-look-here-dont-be-distracted/

Productivity and progress are the result of exercising consistent pressure in one direction over time.