FIRST IN LAST OUT
LEAD YOURSELF // AN EXCERPT FROM “ I LOVE JESUS BUT I HATE CHRISTMAS ” | Todd Elliott
When I watch a high-capacity leader , it generally seems like they have it all together , and stuff comes naturally to them . When a person has mastered something , they make it look easy . The reality is that there is work going on behind the scenes I never see . From the outside , I only see the tip of the iceberg of what goes into making something a reality .
If we hope to lead a production team that is thriving , we need to be healthy ourselves . We need to lead ourselves to become the best possible version of ourselves . I don ’ t think it is an overstatement to say that many of us work , work , work and think about our own health last .
We all want our teams to do amazing work . For that to happen they need to be led well . For a team to be led well , we , as leaders , need to be at our best . Here are a few things I have tended to miss in the quest for becoming the best version of myself :
GO HOME Guess what ? You will never get all the work done . It doesn ’ t matter how many hours you work in a week . The pile will always be there . You know what else ? There is life outside of your job .
While I wasn ’ t able to come home early all the time , it was usually on my mind while I was at work : how can I work efficiently so I can leave early ? Life exists outside of church . Go live it . It makes you a better human .
READ YOUR BIBLE For those of us working in the local church , we are there all the time . But how often are you getting fed by being in church ? If you ’ re working , it is difficult to pay attention to the message like normal people . It is difficult to worship the same way others do . But if we aren ’ t careful , we will empty ourselves out for the sake of the church and be left with an empty shell .
We need to develop the disciplined , consistent habit of spending a few minutes each day absorbing the words of God . If we want to become the best version of ourselves , we can ’ t do it without filling our brains with the truths of Scripture .
GET A HOBBY For much of my life , I only did three things : work , go home , eat , sleep . If you do that for long enough without much variation , you can dry up pretty fast . new perspective on life and work .
EAT BETTER I ’ m a huge fan of production food . You know , stuff you can eat while you work . Pizza . Hamburgers . Chips . Cookies .
I also have to stay awake , so Mountain Dew is a necessity .
It is easy to let ourselves go when it comes to what we eat . If we hope to live healthy lives and have the energy to lead our teams , we need to be taking better care of ourselves . I would argue it is an issue of pace . I think we are usually moving too fast , and we don ’ t value our time like we should . As a result , I ’ m always thinking about the fastest way to feed people and keep moving . There is nothing wrong with stopping for a few extra minutes to eat something that is healthy and less portable .
Without some intentionality , our lives will easily get out of control . I need to do better in all these areas . I don ’ t want to get to the end of my days and wish that I hadn ’ t let life drag me along behind it . I want my life to reflect the things that matter to me and not just be a shell of a human who let the urgent squeeze out the important .
I ’ ve worked at a couple of churches where the work expectations were pretty high . We worked long hours . Plus , we were killing it , and that is always a great feeling . But I eventually realized much of my need to stay later than everyone else was so I didn ’ t have to confront my own dysfunctional attitude that I ’ ve not done enough .
As I said have said several times before - we are all artists . What we do requires a level of creativity . If you don ’ t take time to refresh yourself , you will empty yourself out . The exact hobby matters less than the fact that you ’ re involved in something completely different from what you do every day . This will give your brain a rest from the problems at work . By expanding your interests , you will develop a
Todd Elliott Todd is a
writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of
FILO , which stands for First In , Last Out . FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people , to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered . The more FILO-type people he met , the more convinced he was that these are things we all need . That ’ s why FILO exists : to equip , encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves . Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church , he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective . filo . org