FRIDAY
Sid and I loaded the truck and headed to our 2nd home: Walt Disney World, and prepared for a great weekend of friends, food, and 5K’s but I don;t want to get TOO ahead of myself.

We arrived at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex to check in for the Royal Family 5K that we would be running in the next day.  It was truly amazing.  The entire complex is, from a purely architectural sense, gorgeous.  And to see SO many venues available to pro and armature athletes, it was awe inspiring.

Inside the Jostens Center, we got to walk through the expo and meet hundreds of other athletes before our competition.  Sid and I have never felt so excited to be apart of something like this.  We were definitely inspired to start training for a much longer/harder race than a 5K.

After the expo, we spent some time walking around the other complexes.  Like I have said before, “Disney NEVER does anything half-way, they do it right!”

After walking around, we bounced over to Disney’s Boardwalk for a late dinner with our friends, with whom we would be spending the night at one of the Disney Resorts.  I think that I enjoy spending time at Boardwalk almost as much as visiting one of the theme parks….almost.

SATURDAY
5:00 am came WAY to early for Sid and myself.  We got up, got dressed, and headed out to EPCOT to compete in the Royal Family 5K, our first foray into competitive running.  To say I was nervous would be an understatement.  But I had nothing to fear, because I was met with an amazing cacophony of music, cold air, friendly people, and that Disney Magic that we all keep talking about.

Sid and I met Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog, and then we loaded the chute to launch into the race.  3…2….1..GO!!  And we were off…I knew that if I could just get into World Showcase (mile 2-3) I could survive, but would my times be good enough to last…

And then I say my first character…  They stationed characters along the

route, for pictures…  We were never meant to run this 5K like a ‘regular’ race, this was all about fun…  I felt the nervousness and tension melt out of me…I was GOING to run it, I was GONG to finish, and finish well.

Actually, 53:27 was a horrible time for a 5K, but it was my first 5K, and there was plenty of things to look at in EPCOT and it slowed my times considerably.  But I succeeded, and achieved one of my 2010 goals: To run is a 5K (I walked a good portion of it, but I DID run some of it.)

After a shower and some breakfast, we were all off to Animal Kingdom for a little Expedition Everest, and then BACK to EPCOT to meet up with Lou Mongello, author, blogger, and maintainer of WDWRadio.com, my FAVORITE Disney related website.

As always, Lou was amazingly friendly, personable, and gracious.  he spent a lot of time talking about our shared passion (Disney) and discussing ideas, opinions, and dreams, just like most Mickey Mouse-obsessed people do.  When I introduced myself, I got a remarkable reaction…he KNEW my name!

After I picked my chin off the ground, we started up a little conversation about a review I had done on some of his material, and how he needed to send me an email.  With everything that had been going on in his life recently, I couldn’t even imagine that he would be self-aware enough to remember that he owed me an email.  Wow, I was amazed, floored, and thrilled beyond belief!

On another side note, I got to me ANOTHER of my favorite authors as well, Steven Barrett, author of the Field Guide to Hidden Mickeys. He was gracious, signed my book, and we talked about some hidden Mickey’s we THINK we found at Animal Kingdom!

SUNDAY
This was going to be one of the longest, and best, days of 2010.  Common Ground, the church where I work, was going to 2 services, I was drumming, we were premiering a new series, with new video and images, I had to hang new banners, that I had created, AND we were trying to getthe services UNDER 70 minutes…something that had not been ever been done at Common Ground.

Everything came together and was just awesome!  You could tell that we were still riding the momentum we had built up in the last few weeks, and we came in UNDER 70 minutes BOTH services.

After church Sid and I came home and crawled in to bed for a good afternoon nap, very content in knowing that we had experienced things that weekend that very few people get the chance to.  We were blessed.  We thanked God and crashed.  Besides, the Academy Awards was on, and Disney/Pixar had to represent!!

I have fought the good fight…

I have finished the race…

Discipline and Submission.

The Discipline to adhere to a set schedule of events that allow you to be the most productive and effective and the Submission to allow the schedule to dictate the minutes of your days.

It’s something that we all struggle with, but those leaders who succeed are those who adhere to a very strict schedule and let it dictate their next moves, and forces them to be ruthless in choosing priorities.

How do I make a schedule?

Simple.  First take a piece of paper and write out all the tasks that need to be done during the day.  Include work outs, email, lunch and dinner, drive time, basically everything you need to do during the day/week to do your job and live your life.

Second, take those tasks and write them out on on a grid.  Make sure to use a pencil, because there WILL be many corrections as you allow for changes and decisions that are better for your productivity.  And when you are done, you should have something that looks like the example on the left.

Next, you should transfer this to an electronic version.  For an Excel Template CLICK HERE.  It should look something like the example on the right.

And finally the hardest part: STICK TO THE SCHEDULE!!  You will notice that I have 3 times a day that I spend reading and responding to email, I also have built in times for social media, that is due to the fact that my business, Worship Media Solutions, needs to have a large online presence to succeed, so I need to invest time in expanding my social network, so I built it in to the schedule.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

1. This schedule may only work for a season. Don’t be afraid to alter it once you’ve given it a few weeks to see how well it works for you.
2. You HAVE to manage your schedule. You’ll be tempted to spend time elsewhere, with phone calls, emails, or bosses pulling you away from the schedule, they are inevitable, but they can be managed with a simple egg timer.  Phone calls should be short and succinct, be proactive and tell people you have a tight schedule, they’ll respect you more for it.
3. Safeguard yourself from yourself. If you have an assistant, co-worker, or friend or spouse that is willing, allow them to hold you accountable to the schedule.  If it’s important to you, they should be more than happy to help you be more productive and successful.
4. Build in personal/family/mental health time. If you have this schedule that runs your days, you SHOULD be able to have more down time with the family or friends.  Allow the schedule to work FOR you, if you know that you are going to be more focused on Monday, you can relax more on Sunday, and spend time doing what you love instead of stressing over your job.

Please let me know if this article was helpful.  Leave me a comment and tell me what ideas and thoughts you have concerning a schedule.

I’ve been struggling with a weird cold that Sid and I have been swapping back and forth for the last few weeks. THIS week, it’s my turn to have no voice, fever, sore throat… It basically sucks. But illness not withstanding, I have not experienced a 24 hour period like I did last Sunday, it was amazing!

Two old friends of mine, Pam and Jim Fenoff came over from Orlando to spend the night and Sunday with us, but I’m getting ahead of myself..

6:00 am – The alarm went off and I got up and took a shower.  The I hit ‘The Book’, for some quiet time with God and hear something from my Savior.

7:30 am – Breakfast, yep a FULL breakfast of pancakes, eggs, fruit, and Bacon Explosion!  It was marvelous!  After we ate, I hit the road to be at church early, and I got out of doing dishes!!

9:00 am – Downbeat for band rehearsal.  everything went well, I felt pretty good playing and all the elements seemed to be coming together.

10:30 am – Service Begins.  Today Common Ground started a new series, God Love Sex, based on the Song of Songs.  Hot stuff for a church to talk about, but we need to hear about sex, just like money, sin, Hell, and Heaven.

12:00 -Service ends, and it was awesome!  We had cool videos, some extra surprises and an amazing stage set.  I really felt like I was back in my niche.  Well, church was over, and only 1/3 of my Sunday was over…what next???

1:00 pm - The Florida State Fair!!  Sid, the Fenoff’s, and myself drove over the fairgrounds and enjoyed the entertainment, the attractions, the fair exhibits…but mainly, it was all about the FAIR FOOD!!  I cannot even begin to list the different items we tried, but they were all good, but only once a year….

6:00 pm – Sid and I had enough of the fair and we STILL had Super Bowl plans…so we drove over to our annual football ritual at the lovely home of Doug and V, friends from back in the day….  Shrimp, beer, brats, and baked beans were the menu items, and Saints v. Colts the entertainment.

9:45 pm – Saints win!  Saints win! Saints win! I cannot believe it!  Everyone told me I was pulling for a loser, but justice prevailed!!

10:30 pm – Sid and I got home, took some cold medicine, and crawled into bed for a good nights rest.  It was truly an amazingly crazy Sunday!