4.2.14

Breakfast - two Blueberry Poptarts
Lunch - half a can of Pringles and Mountain Dew
Dinner- Ritz Crackers & Cheese and a quart of Publix Chocolate Milk

Make yourself available

That's where everything starts. Before anything can get done someone has to be there to do it. Someone has to be available.

Doers sometimes overlook this. Thinkers sometimes think too much about this.

As a doer and someone with a passion for service, I often overlook making myself available and instead just ask people what I can do for them. This is good and bad. Good in that I get to help people. Bad in that I sometimes fall into people-pleaser mode where serving others becomes more of an agenda than a pleasure or joy. And if you look for it and listen for it, you can tell that people know the difference between when they're an item on your list and when they're a pleasure or joy for you to serve. They can tell when they're being valued vs itemized.

For me, the times when I do my best work, serve the most people and build the strongest relationships have all started with making myself available. Committing and saying, "I'm in. I'm here. Whatever you need, I'm your guy."

You don't have to have a game plan, you just have to be there.

I think the biggest challenge with making ourselves available these days is accessibility. The internet and cell phones create the facade that we are "available" when we are in fact just accessible. And this inescapable accessibility actually takes away from our availability. It distracts us, distorts our focus and redirects our attention.

But this means there is a huge opportunity at hand. With so many people trading availability for accessibility, the value of being someone who is available rises. Simple supply and demand economics.

So be someone who is available. Be someone who says, "I'm in. I'm here. Whatever you need, I'm your guy." Because being available is valuable. Being available is where everything starts.