* A Catalyst nugget from Jon Acuff

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If life is a choice between AWESOME! and average, would we all choose AWESOME!?!

Of course.

Yet, based on the lives that many of us lead, we must be opting for average instead.

Jon Acuff believes that there are 5 different “lands” or stages that every life must travel through in order to be awesome.

The Five Lands Every Awesome Life Must Travel

20s Learning — we consume it all.
30s Editing — narrowing the scope of all that we’re learning, in order to focus on a couple of key things.
40s Mastering — we become experts at those couple of things.
50s Harvesting — we are blessed to be able to reap what we’ve sown.
60s Guiding — we become educators of the upcoming generation.

3 realities reshaping the landscape of today’s world

Retirement is dead.
Anyone can play.
Hope is boss.

Two roads: rode to awesome, road to average.

Learning, editing, and mastering don’t accidentally happen.

Harvesting and guiding happen regardless of what you do. The only distinction is whether what we harvest, and how we’re guiding people, is awesome or average (or below average).

We can’t skip the stages, but we can shorten them. Often, we are given the change to harvest fields we didn’t plant. This, of course, must be done by invitation. But there are plenty of opportunities here!

These five stages impact more than just a career.

There are a lot of exit ramps back to average.

Don’t try to find purpose, live with purpose.

The only line we control is the starting line. We have no control of the finish line. If we’re willing to deal with this reality will be a lot more fun.

Play to the size of our heart, not the size of our audience.

God pours into us, and we pour out into others.

Don’t climb entitlement ladders.

Fame is a fun consequence, but a horrible cause.

Haters are inevitable – your response is up for grabs.
Critics math: 1000 compliments + 1 insult = 1 insult.
We give haters way too much power in our ministries.

The way you run can change the entire race.

How do I make sure I don’t look back and wonder how I got to average?