Receipts before resolutions.

I appreciate the cool way of saying "I don't forget" combined with "chip on my shoulder." 

Aka "I keep receipts."

It's definitely what I do and it's served me well over the years. I have a long memory. And I have plenty of systems to back my memory up too. Things like TimeHop, Google Photos, and my personal favorite, a "This Day In Swebb History" calendar with all the milestones - some big, some small - in our family's story. 

Some say "forgive and forget." I'm very forgiving but not forgetful. Some way "let it go and move on." I'd rather carry it until it stops fueling me.

So before I make resolutions (or whatever terminology or systems you employ for a new year), I check the box of receipts for trends in people, opportunities, and problems.

People

The Good

I take a look back at who served and celebrated me, who made life fun and fruitful. I look at the trips I took, the teams I met, the people who genuinely blew me away with their gratitude and generosity.

• I don't forget how the client with the smallest budget sent me the most "thank you" texts/emails this year. Whereas the clients with the biggest budgets pay the least and complain the most. Like clockwork. 
• I don't forget how the biggest one-time check I've ever received came from a client as an unexpected love offering in the mail. And their budget is in the bottom 10% of budgets I've every worked with. (Yet they saw their 2023 giving increase 50% just like I said.)
• I won't forget a distant friends who send gifts unannounced and for no other reason than support. 
• I won't forget friends (clients) telling me they believe in what I do and how I do it so they'll now consider me as "missions partner" (in addition to a coach) in 2024 and send even more money so I can keep doing what I do to help others. *** Stay tuned for another email coming soon with an exciting offer related to this.***
• The international friends I made who have more faith and action with less resource than my American church friends. The ones who sent Christmas greetings from across the international date line or equator when I got silence from my American friends (now acquaintances).

Remembering the people like these (and many others) helps me calibrate my vision for the new year. Now I know who to serve, who to look for, and who to watch out for. 

The Bad

I take a look back at who cut me, drained me, forgot me, and lied to me. None are "bad people" but plenty are dead weight. And it's not their fault if my momentum slows because I stay tied to (or tangled with) them. 

• I don't forget who texts me only when they need something. Or who never responds. Or who refuses to take the advice they asked for but still comes back for more. I'm not your parent and you don't pay for it, go waste someone else's time.
• I don't forget who needed me to solve their problem but dropped me when it was fixed. Or the guy who wanted me to fire his worst employee but then gets mad at me when the guy quits. Make it make sense. :) 
• I don't forget the people who want to "change the world" through their church and use my generosity to do so. Those who take my posts and turn them into profitable content on their platforms.
• I don't forget those "I'll call you back, we're getting some things in order" church leaders. They're fine to text and even tell others they know and use me (word gets around, guys). But they don't pay me and only call when the *ish hits the fan.
• Or those church leaders who were eager to use my insights then said "no" to coaching or consulting. Then went with [that other firm/guru/network]. THEN come back to me having learned just how dumb, expensive, or useless the other was. Yeah, I always charge those people more.

Stupid will always cost more.
It's a life principle. 

Problems

I solve problems. That's my industry. :) And my product is coaching critical thinking. Some of my favorite tools are context, unasked questions, and clear direction.

So what problems did I see and solve in 2023? And what trends can I take from those and reasonably project their continuation in some form into the new year?

Problems like

• 90% of churches being overstaffed yet continue to underperform by their own stated standards and history. 
• 80% of churches being underfunded and over-extended financially solely by their own hand. And completely able to be solved within the year.
• Leader shortages. But not for lack of leaders, just lack of definition, decision-making, and discipline of the current leaders. 
• Why every church has a school, pipeline, internship, college extension, or leadership cohort program of some sort yet ALL still "can't find leaders" or "have a hire we just can't fill." (Then your leadership develop program sucks, bro. Literally no other way around it.)
• Brilliant thinkers, pioneers, catalysts, and creators are under a self-induced lid of fear and apathy. The world is full of opportunity yet countless in the Church have bought into a bastardized and weaponized form of "honor" or "unity" (aka uniformity) as a reason to be anxious and largely unfulfilled. But hey, they have sermon quotes for days. 

I'm a problem solver and people mobilizer. I have a long memory and plenty of notes in dozens of books and in gigs of computer space.

I'm not petty, I'm resourceful. I won't waste what I remember. Call it a chip on my shoulder, fine. It's welded tight and polished daily. 

I might challenge some of you to forgive but not forget. To ask if you really gain much - on this side of eternity or the next - by continuing to bend over backwards, drain energy, and send epic mixed messages to your team all because you can't say hard things to grownups.

This is what I do each year. Sure, I pray and fast too. And sit in silence each morning. And read. But these aren't the opposite of decisive action to achieve mandates. 

I keep receipts.