Towards a Theology of Personal Development (6): Formed by Disappointment and Failure
I always try to discover which parts of my books most resonate with readers. I was intrigued to find that in my latest book, Stirrers and Saints, the chapter on being formed by disappointment and failure has sparked many conversations. The podcast on the topic is also popular. The idea that we are formed by winter, and that it is a season to embrace rather than flee from, is a little counter intuitive, but once accepted, it’s really rather liberating. I’ve participated in a fair number of staff selection interviews, and a question I now routinely ask is, “Tell me about a...
Read MoreRefresh: Conscious Incompetence – On Knowing What We Don’t Know
It’s strange to think of humility as one of the markers of future success, but it is. Without it, we don’t realise how much we still have to learn, and we miss cues which could set us on a better path. I enjoyed re-reading this post from April 2022, and hope you do as well. Refresh: Conscious Incompetence – On Knowing What We Don’t Know It was only a few sentences in a podcast I recently listened to, but it set me thinking. The speaker suggested there are four stages in the journey towards competence: Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious...
Read MoreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (5): Cultivating Awe and Wonder
It was a fairly typical conversation at the end of a busy week. “So what does your weekend hold?” a colleague asked. “Not a lot,” I said. “Dinner with some friends tomorrow, I’m preaching Sunday and then we’ve a family lunch afterwards.” “Sounds awesome,” he said. “Enjoy it.” I don’t like being pedantic, but I wondered if I should challenge him about his use of words. While the weekend promised to be enjoyable, I was not convinced that there was anything in it that placed it in the “awesome” category....
Read MoreRefresh: A Cold Dark Night on the Side of Everest – How Expectations Shape Outcomes
Todays Refresh has been one of the most frequent downloads since I first published it in 2022. I imagine its reminder that when we sign up for difficult things we should expect to find them – well, difficult, is timely. Expectations matter, and when we factor a healthy dose of realism into our equation, we are more likely to persevere and ultimately succeed. Refresh – A Cold Dark Night on the Side of Everest: How Expectations Shape Outcomes I recently enjoyed listening to psychologist Alia Crum speaking on the Hidden Brain podcast about reframing your reality. She recalled a...
Read MoreIn Praise of Rosemary – in Praise of Marriage
I thought I’d take a weeks break from the current series “Towards a Theology of Personal Development” to mark a milestone birthday for Rosemary, the love of my life, who turned 70 on Monday. Actually, it isn’t really a break, for nothing develops you in quite the same way as love and marriage – and in a few months we will have been married for 45 years. When I say that, people often congratulate me and I never really understand it. After all, we congratulate people on achieving things that are difficult, or have required great effort, but this has been...
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