How a slug gets things done

Behind me is a trail of slime.

Getting things done quickly is someone else's gift. Not mine.

Slug life.

But maybe there is hope for this mollusk.

Slugging it out with productivity gurus

I have tried to overcome my sluggard ways with various systems:

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allan
• Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More: Transform Yourself from Overwhelmed to Overachiever (Quick & Dirty Tips) by Stever Robbins
• Redeeming Your Time: 7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present, and Wildly Productive by Jordan Raynor
• Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less by Micheal Hyatt
• "Creating your Life Plan" by Donald Miller and Shauna Niequist
• The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll
• The Intention Journal: The powerful, research-backed planner for achieving your big investing goals in just ninety days by Brandon Turner

I have used apps and tools:

• Evernote
• Google todo list
• Todoist

I have tried vision approaches:

• The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business by Michael Hyatt
• Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future by Cameron Herald

I have tried coaching and mastermind groups:

• 5000$ Amazon Coaching
• Real estate mastermind group I met with for 6 months
• Marketing agency mastermind

I have tried tons of online courses, too.

Like a slug who collects sand on its tail, I have retained some of the wisdom of these attempts.

But for the most part, I end up spending so much time on productivity, that I get nothing done.

Proverbs is salt on my slug skin

Here are two painful verses for slugs like me:

Pr 6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

I have tried watching ants. But I just get stuck being fascinated by them.

Pr 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

In terms of faith and family, I am rich: Eternal salvation, a wonderful wife, lovely daughters, and a good dog.

But financially, I have almost nothing.

This makes me feel like slug poop.

Slug to Snail

Slugs are everywhere in the Spring here in northern Germany. Sometimes they cross my path at night and I squish slug guts under my bare foot.

Then their slug friends come later and cannibalize them.

Disgusting.

Snails seem more robust with their shell. Although I crunch one or two every year.

Right now I am transitioning from slug to snail by creating guiding principles.

I get this from Don Millers How to Grow Your Small Business: A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off

It shows you how to create a:

• Mission statement (3 measurable goals)
• Key Characteristics (qualities I will need to get there)
• Critical Actions (regular activities that move the needle)

I have tried this kind of thing before, so I will probably fail. But, I completed one for my marketing agency business and laminated it.

When I open my laptop it is there for me to read. It is short, simple, and helps me focus.

I hope to create one for my family, too.

Maybe this will create a little shell for my slug-self, so I can graduate to snail-hood.

Fun facts gleaned from the web:

• Snails eat 24 hours a day. Slugs eat at night, so they are like mortal vampires.
• Snail shell structures make their shells up to 3000 times stronger than the mineral it is made with without that structure. Go, God! Try doing that engineers.
• Slugs manage to live longer than snails (2-3 years) up to 6 years. Vampires live longer than normal humans, too.

Snail to Turtle

They are faster, can maneuver through water as excellent swimmers, and live much longer than snails (up to 150 years).

I am starting my softball practices by reciting our mission.

"We will play six 5-inning games, get at least 15 players at practice, and have at least 3 coaches by October 31 this year because we love to master and play softball."

Just by saying this the girls right away became problem solvers.

• "I can invite my sister!"
• "I can ask my dad. He played baseball!"
• "We can update the website to be more clear!"

The parents are even pitching in with ideas.

I am no expert, but this must be the magic of having a team. A mission by lonesome self is snail-level. But having other minds working together becomes turtle-level power.

I am guessing that is how a mission can outlive the founder.

King of all slugs, snails, and turtles

The truth is, I am still a sluggardly slug. That is how I feel. ( Evidence: It has taken me a week and a half to write this post)

But if it weren't for the saving grace and mercy of Jesus, I might still be a worm: stuck in life, pursuing futility, self-destructive habits, and damnation.

He didn't save me so I would become a productivity guru.

After all, he is the only one who gets to say, "It is finished."

But I get to slime on, trusting in Jesus, praying for transformation for his glory.

I may be a slug, but I am Jesus's slug.