{"id":556,"date":"2015-02-06T04:05:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T04:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=556"},"modified":"2015-02-06T04:05:41","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T04:05:41","slug":"devote-yourself-to-the-process-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=556","title":{"rendered":"Devote Yourself to the Process – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

“When all else fails, read the directions.”
\n– Bob Smith<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever built anything, cooked anything or learned anything, no doubt you followed a series of steps to bring the desired outcome to fruition. \u00a0If you’ve decided to live a life of consequence, and you’ve begun to discover your purpose, and you’re developing a hunger and thirst for wisdom, you must devote yourself to the process of becoming the man you were created to be.<\/p>\n

\"Picanol<\/a>

The process weaves the strands together<\/p><\/div>\n

Process versus program<\/strong>
\nEarlier in my career, I attended multiple quality management seminars. \u00a0One lesson that stuck with me is the distinction between programs and processes. \u00a0As the instructor explained it, programs are designed to come to an end, while well-managed processes can run indefinitely. \u00a0 Since I’m not selling snake oil, I’ll shoot you straight: becoming the man you were created to be is going to take commitment and resilience over a period of years. \u00a0I’m a grown man with two grown sons and my process is ongoing, if that tells you anything.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What are you fishing for?<\/strong><\/div>\n
I’m a terrible fisherman. \u00a0My one redeeming quality is\u00a0whenever I go fishing with my friends, no matter how few fish they catch, compared to me they always feel successful.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
On one such excursion in frustration, I was casting off the end of a dock when a boat pulled up. \u00a0The captain asked if I had caught anything and I replied, “Not yet.” \u00a0His\u00a0next question was a revelation: “What are you fishing for?” \u00a0He was not asking why I was bothering — he wanted to know what I was trying to catch. \u00a0I replied that I was fishing for whatever would bite. \u00a0This is horrible, because to fish successfully, you have to use the right bait at the right location, at the right depth . \u00a0All of this follows from deciding what kind of fish you’re trying to catch. Application: \u00a0If you’re devoted to the process, start by clarifying what sort of man you’re supposed to be.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Understand what masculinity is and what it’s for<\/strong><\/div>\n
When I took my sons through the process of masculine initiation, I began with a physical ordeal — a backpacking trek in some challenging terrain.<\/a> \u00a0When we had made camp that first night, I began with a simple, yet profound question: Why did God make male and female? \u00a0I’ve written previously about this topic, and you can read more here<\/a>. \u00a0For now, though, reflect on these questions: \u00a0As a man, what is your role? \u00a0In your family? \u00a0In your career? \u00a0In your community? \u00a0What does God say about that role? \u00a0How closely do you resemble that template?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Initiation into manhood<\/strong><\/div>\n
Did you have a rite of passage — a date, a time and a place you could point to when you became a man? \u00a0Most men did not and it’s a pity. \u00a0To understand your process, you have to have the assurance — the blessing — that you are indeed a man, and that you are made to come through.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There are masculine organizations that have provided something akin to a rite of passage, but I’m unsure how individual men are supposed to satisfy the deepest questions of their existence through group rituals such as fraternity initiations, military induction ceremonies and training, Scouting and sports. \u00a0In my view, this is a father’s main job, but as we know a lot of men are spending their formative years apart from their dads. I’m concerned that\u00a0street gangs with their more flexible, more personal approach may be filling the gap.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A question for you mentors reading this: What role could you, your tribe or your church play in providing a rite of passage for younger men? \u00a0One resource is All There<\/a> — a year-long mentoring course co-founded by Derek Bell and Bob Buford.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In Part II, we’ll talk about the components of a viable process.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So how about you?<\/strong> \u00a0What is your process for becoming the man you’re intended to be? \u00a0What have you found helpful? \u00a0Add your comments below.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Note:<\/strong> This is the fifth\u00a0post in a series expanding on points made in a post titled \u201cYou Cannot Eat Like a Sparrow and Defecate Like an Elephant<\/a>\u201d on living a life of significance. You can read the previous posts here<\/a>, here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and here.<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“When all else fails, read the directions.” – Bob Smith If you’ve ever built anything, cooked anything or learned anything, no doubt you followed a series of steps to bring the desired outcome to fruition. \u00a0If you’ve decided to live a life of consequence, and you’ve begun to discover your purpose, and you’re developing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,87,19,100,41,52,73,31,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consequence","category-destiny","category-god","category-john-eldredge","category-legacy","category-masculinity","category-motivation","category-resilience","category-wild-at-heart"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=556"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556\/revisions\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}