When our kids were young, we took them to Washington, D.C to explore the history and visit the museums. Our son was at a very inquisitive age, eager to explore the places that were not on the map or noted on the guide given to us. It was great whenever an exhibit was “kid friendly” and had a button to press to begin listening to a recorded message about the exhibit or perhaps some of the figures behind the glass became animated with movement.  Naturally, he began to look for a button to poke at every exhibit… just to see what would happen. He quickly learned, If I do this, that happens. He noticed another button on a wall, away from the exhibits. He poked the button to see what would happen. We were all surprised to hear the sound of a loud buzzer emitting a warning and people began to scurry about. Our son, however, was delighted that a poke at this particular button started a chain reaction of people responding to the noise that created a movement.

We need to do that. We need to poke a different button. We need start a movement. Like a child that is not afraid to see what happens. We need to start. We need to stop being afraid of starting something different and new. We are afraid of a possible ruckus, we are afraid that our ideas are not valuable, we are afraid to start. We will never know what will happen if we never start.

To never take a leap or never risk is a sad existence.

We can start to bloom wherever we are planted.

thedominoproject.com

The following are a few quotes from, Poke the Box by Seth Godin. Poke the Box is a small book packed with a lot of kick. It’s worth reading more than once and sharing with your colleagues or a college student or with your ministry teams. I highlighted these sections in the book and I thought it was worth sharing with you. The above story about my son is true. We can poke a button or poke the box. Either way, we need to begin to start…to make starting as a way of life.

I believe that if you’ve got the platform and the ability to make a difference, then this goes beyond “should” and reaches the level of “must.” You must make a difference or you squander the opportunity. Wasting the opportunity both degrades your own ability to contribute and, more urgently, takes something away from the rest of us. ~Seth Godin, Poke the Box

Innovation is mysterious. Inspiration is largely unpredictable. But it’s obvious from all the success we see in the marketplace that we can rise to the occasion. ~Seth Godin, Poke the Box

Once the habit is ingrained and you become the starter, the center of the circle, you will find more and more things to notice, to instigate, and to initiate. Momentum builds and you get better at generating it. If you go to bed at night knowing that people are expecting you to initiate things all day the next day, you’ll wake up with a list. And as you create a culture of people who are always seeking to connect and improve and poke, the bar gets raised. ~Seth Godin, Poke the Box

If you’re not making a difference, it’s almost certainly because you’re afraid. Some of us hesitate when we should be starting instead. We hold back, promise to do more research, wait for a better moment, seek out a kinder audience.  This habit is incredibly common. It eats up our genius and destroys our ability to make the contribution we’re quite capable of making. ~Seth Godin, Poke the Box

Today, not starting is far, far worse than being wrong. If you start, you’ve got a shot at evolving and adjusting to turn your wrong into a right. But if don’t start, you never get a chance. ~Seth Godin, Poke the Box

Art is hard. Selling is hard. Writing is hard. Making a difference is hard.

When will you start?

There is an Amazon link on this page. If you purchase the book using that link, I will receive a small stipend.