Anybody involved in business today knows that communication with the customer requires getting above the noise of everything flooding at us – tweets, video, RSS feeds, blogs, digital newsletters, streaming content, texts, and targeted emails. It’s all about SEO maximization, pushing content and open rates. An open rate gives you an idea of whether your subject line was tantalizing enough to at least get someone to take a look your message.
Living a life that is aligned, rich, full, giving, and which maximizes our gifts and talents, also requires us to have high open rates. When we are young, our families and teachers work to open our minds; to expand our experiences; to move us beyond thinking and behaving as if everything revolves around us. They help our minds yield to worlds way beyond our city, town, or rural community; to other states or counties; to other countries and cultures; to the mountains and depths of the seas far from our immediate exploration; and then to consider stars, space, universes, and galaxies beyond our own planet. It’s the opportunity to explore at zoos, aquariums, science centers, museums, planetariums, art galleries, sports events, historical sites, and to hear the world’s music that helps us not only open our minds to our talents but to recognize the gifts of others and the uniqueness that each of us brings to our time in this world. What we have, as well as what is missing, provides the focus we need to bring our own passions to life, while supporting and encouraging others to have a high open rate of their own gifts. The unveiling provides the gift of appreciation. What is the open rate of your mind?
Choosing to follow our passions and unleash our talents can bring new cures for disease, joy expressed in dance, music, and artistic expression; new inventions; and exploration of previously unknown worlds. If focused upon without a high open rate in our hearts, it can lead to a sad ending for everyone involved. The great artists who become divas forget that those around them create the environment that allows them to perform at a peak level, and without them, the gift is not manifested with all of its magic. The blessed writer, who forgets the caring eye of the editor facilitates the gift to its finest expression, misses the opportunity to communicate the real message, which is then lost in pride. The spouse who overlooks that the creation of a loving home where daily needs are met , and misses their role as a partner in that design, sucks out the very core of the safe space for everyone. How often we live from the heart determines whether our gifts are genuinely shared with others; recognizing that they weren’t given to us for our personal glorification but were meant to be given to others. How wide is the open rate of your heart?
My Mom gave me a framed verse many years ago that reads, “Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with your life is your gift to God.” Every day, we have access to a God who has given us a mind, heart, and spirit that carries unique talents and gifts. Synching our spirits in alignment with the purpose of our lives can bring great joy, not just to our experience of life, but in our interactions with others. If we accept that we were placed here to make a contribution to this world, we are the leaders of our lives on a daily basis; acting from our spirits given to us by a loving God who intends for us to maximize who we are with all of our blessed uniqueness. Being effective leaders means accessing all of us in order to be the total package that we have been given. It requires us to be aware of what we have to bring to the table, to know how to tap into each talent at the appropriate time, to be generous to those around us with what we have to offer, and to be kind and patient in spirit with those who are less developed, less aware, or not yet as open in spirit. How deep is the open rate of your spirit?
To live in openness, let’s look at our calendars for the coming week. On the one hand, we are busy with so many interactions awaiting us, we could say, “I have a high open rate. Look how many people I am leading and sharing my gifts with this week: My family; my child’s soccer team; my choir; my book club; my work team; my company; myself. I’ll use these opportunities.” Or we could say, “I’ve set aside time each day to check in from spirit, mind, and heart by creating space on my calendar to design my life with God; to hear what is for me; to be present to my calling.” It’s not an “Or.” It’s an “And.” Yes, we must find time each day to check in and be still, and then when we have synched our spirit, heart, and mind; we must use the opportunities on our calendars to say, “What is the Real Work?” What is your calendar’s open rate?
The “open rate” of our minds, hearts, and spirits must be elevated for our lives to be fulfilled and our daily leadership to be apparent. Our calendars are its reflection. What is your life’s “Open Rate?”
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