Impactivity: What if You're Working Hard on all the Wrong Things?

IMPACTIVITY

TRACY HIGLEY

CONTENTS

a gift for you

you and i want more

a story: after hours

impactivity beats productivity

misfits

dream

week one: the dreaming

~dream summary~

unshackle

week two: the unshackling

~unshackle summary~

design

week three: the designing

~design summary~

ignite

week four: the igniting

~ignite summary~

recharge

week five: the recharging

~recharge summary~

connect

one year later

~connect summary~

where do we go now?

how to help the author

study guide questions

Looking for your next study topic?

Spinning your wheels?

Books by Tracy Higley

A GIFT FOR YOU

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Free Impactivity Mini-Course

YOU AND I WANT MORE

you are my hero

I think I might know a little bit about you.

The very fact that you picked up this book tells me something about who you are and who you want to become.

You want to work hard. You even enjoy working hard, being productive, getting things done. But you also wonder sometimes if what you are doing truly matters. Does any of it make a difference? Should you be doing more? Or perhaps something different?

Maybe you’re the one the boss calls in a pinch when everyone else hasn’t quite managed to get it done. The person who picks up those late-night phone calls from your friends because they know that if anyone can help at the last minute, it’s you. Do you manage to find twenty-five hours in a twenty-four-hour day, to find creative solutions others don’t see, to get it all done, and then pay the bills and take out the trash before calling it a day?

Perhaps you sail through most days with a smile, never seeming harried or frazzled to those around you, but still getting it all done, and with an eye on a larger goal. Or maybe some days aren’t so serene and your progress is more like a lurch through your to-do list, crossing things off but unsure if the list even makes sense. Either way, you understand productivity, you enjoy it, and you’re hopeful that it’s all adding up to something great.

You impress me.

But I also believe that you want more than productivity. In the secret places of your heart you want to have an impact on people. You want to shine, not hide. You want to produce or create or make a difference. You want to dream and you want chase that dream.

Because of this, perhaps you don’t always fit in. Maybe you’ve been called too pushy or overbearing. Too much. Or too dreamy and idealistic. Even naïve. In a world where most people are satisfied with the status quo, you want to move forward. Some people might interpret your energy, and desire to make progress as bossiness, as you trying to take charge. Or perhaps they accuse you of trying too hard or being discontent with your life.

But it’s not that, is it?

Most of your peers seem content to work their daily job, come home, and crash in front of the TV or putter around the house. But you want to build something, something beyond the everyday pursuits of most. You want to create something new, perhaps even achieve something daring.

Others may see you as a bit strange, and tell you to stop working so hard, spend more time enjoying life or just hanging out, or they shake their heads at your drive. They may criticize or judge.

Not me.

You are my hero. But even superheroes have their challenges. And if you’re feeling those challenges, then this book is for you.

If you’ve been pushing forward, working hard, for any length of time, chances are it’s taken a toll. Perhaps your physical health is suffering. You’re eating too much, or you’re eating too little. You’re too sedentary, or you’re not getting enough rest. You’re exhausted. Or maybe it’s your mental and emotional health that has taken a hit. You always have too much to do and not enough time, and sometimes it feels like chaos and confusion reign in your daily life and in your home. Your relationships aren’t what you’d like either, you’d have to admit. Sometimes the people in your life are resentful that you don’t seem to have time for them, and you feel like you're not taking good care of those in your life or loving them well. And added to all of this, your spiritual health may suffer, too. You very much want to live in a way that pleases God and follow His will, but often you feel disconnected from Him and aren't sure about your choices.

A state of constant-busy, always running, always striving can wreak havoc on your circumstances, but let's also look inside your heart. Do you see stress and anxiety over the scattered and unfocused way you are living? Are you pushing hard, but on the edge of burnout? Feel a lack of joy and peace in your daily life and relationships? Even though you feel guilty about those relationships, do you struggle at the same time to not resent the people who seem to stand in the way of your getting things done?

Or do you experience fear? Perhaps you are afraid that you are being selfish if you pursue a dream, especially if it involves money or worldly success. You're afraid others will think you arrogant to believe you can achieve something amazing. You're torn between trying to be content with the way things are and the terrible fear that things will always be the same.

Under all the confusion and questioning, there is lurking discontent, guilty shame, restless anxiety, and a nagging fear that you are busy about all the wrong things and are therefore ineffective, purposeless, and valueless.

Don't worry. You're still my hero.

All of this up and down, guilt and shame, confusion and anxiety, restlessness and drive may have led you to a place of questioning.

A place of wondering.

Should you be striving for more? Wanting more? Is having a dream a distraction from what you're supposed to be doing? If you're a woman, and especially if you're connected to a body of Christians within a church, then added to all of this may be a question of whether it's even legitimate for you to pursue a business or project outside of your family, or outside the volunteer work or low-paying job you've taken only to contribute to the family income.

My guess is that you've picked up this book looking for some great advice on time management and productivity. You want to get more done in less time, with some space left over for taking care of yourself. Maybe you feel like you should be more Mary, less Martha, and learn how to put away the endless to-do list so you can survive.

But God has so much more for you than mere survival.

I understand where you are coming from, only too well, because I have been there. I've been that person I described above—all of it—and my heart aches for you in the place you find yourself, wanting so much more and having no idea how you could ever fit in even a little more.

But not only do I hurt with you in that frustration, I also rejoice over you and your potential!

And my prayer is that this book takes you there, to that place where hope intersects with your calling, where peace overflows in your relationships and where your time multiplies in a way that could only be God-sent.

I pray that this book ups your impactivity in ways that you could never fathom.

Because you are amazing. You have a purpose. You are going to do great things.

productivity is killing me and i want more

It was Christmas 2008 and productivity was killing me, yet I wanted more of it.

I wanted more tasks crossed off the list, more projects completed, more dreams realized.

The northeast United States where I live was gripped by an arctic chill and I was losing my mind. In the months leading up to December, my retail business was exploding and my publishing career was in full throttle. My husband and four kids needed me, my employees and customers needed me, my editor and publishing house needed me. I was working eighteen-hour days at my desk, using caffeine to keep going, and making everyone around me miserable.

And then came Christmas. I've always loved Christmas. Friends laugh and shake their heads at the ridiculously-long list of Christmas traditions I have created within my family. But that Christmas, the pressure of my desire for the perfect Martha Stewart holiday, combined with the stress of running a successful retail business during the busiest sales month of the year, plus trying to keep my publishing career moving forward, all formed a tsunami of stress that I could not withstand.

In my house, we now refer to December 2008 as The Christmas of Which We Do Not Speak. I will spare you the ugly details. Suffice it to say, there was much weeping and some shouting and lots of pouting. And that was just me.

By January, nothing had improved. I was ready to run. Truly, ready to scrap everything and run away forever. I knew I could not sustain this pace and I saw absolutely no way out of my crushing responsibilities other than a complete abdication of them.

I did run away. But not permanently. In one of the most seemingly self-indulgent actions of my life, I booked a five-day trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico, hopped a plane and fled the country.

What God did in my heart during those five days was nothing short of miraculous. You will hear more about what I learned in the pages to follow. The biggest revelation was that productivity had become an addiction for me. And like any addiction, I craved it even though it was killing me.

I started aiming for super-productivity at a young age, and kept up the pace for decades. By my mid-thirties I had a husband and four kids, I’d realized a dream of having my first novel published, and I’d built a successful online retail company. But that still wasn't enough for me.

Ten years later, I have thirteen published novels, my retail business has over a million dollars in gross sales each year, I’ve launched two kids into successful adulthood and have two more at home who are growing up fast. I guess I've been successful in every meaning of the word.

I have also come close to a complete breakdown.

Out of necessity borne from desperation, I've spent years devouring hundreds of time management books, articles, and blogs—searching for a way to get more done in less time, or at least to figure out how to balance it all. I've tried countless systems of goal-setting, prioritizing, and getting things done. I've used paper and gone digital. I've sworn off it all and thrown it away, then resurrected it and tried to make it work again.

And obviously, I've hit bottom. I've experienced emotional and mental burnout, chronic pain, damaged relationships, and a cold faith. What's worse, underneath all that misery was the nagging feeling that nothing I was doing even mattered anyway. That my sacrifice of health in every area was a total waste and utterly meaningless.

But out of the ruins, I've also found hope.

Redemption, even.

A place where productivity is impactful and my heart is hopeful.