We are not alone. Today there is another memo going out that is known by the name The Monday Morning Memo. Written by Roy Williams, it is an update that focuses on branding, ad copy and creativity. I recommend it along with Williams' book entitled The Wizard of Ads as tools that can help sharpen and focus your creativity. Several months ago, Williams wrote a Monday Morning Memo that I want to summarize for you this week.
AHEAD OF THEIR TIMES
First Williams quoted Peter Drucker, late management guru, who pointed out that business schools today are studying books that were poorly received at first and didn't sell very well. Williams went on to conclude that the loneliest people can often be those who create ahead of their times.
This led to a discussion of Ludwig von Beethoven, who basically gave up on his ability to please and compose for his generation. Instead he composed for a "later age" because so many of his comtemporaries criticized and ignored his work!
"When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." -- Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels.
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -- Albert Einstein
"Funeral by funeral, science makes progress." -- Paul Samuelson.
"Yes, even scientists ahead of their times are rejected by their peers," added Williams.
AN AUDIENCE OF ONE
Emily Dickinson wrote with complete confidence that her words would never be read. When she died, her family found 1,700 of her poems in a drawer. Many of these poems rank with the greatest ever written, but were never read by anyone while Dickinson was alive. Perhaps she was being prophetic when she wrote:
FAME is a fickle food upon a shifting plate,
Whose table once a Guest, but not the second time is set.
Whose crumbs the crows inspect, and with ironic caw
Flap past it ot the Farmer's corn; Men eat of it and die.
Williams concluded by writing that "Dickinson wrote for herself, an audience of one. Study the lives of the Great Ones and you'll find this to be a common characteristic among them."
The application for you is simple. Do you have something new and different to say or do? Are you willing to write or perform for an audience of one? If so, then get busy this week being true to who you are and don't pay attention to what others think or say. Just do it. Better yet, just be it. Have a great week!
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1. Here is my schedule for the next three months. Let me know if you would like to meet for a purpose session when I am in your area.
August 7-11 -- Seattle, Washington
August 24-28 -- Johannesburg, South Africa
August 28-September 3 -- Harare, Zimbabwe
September 4-13 -- Israel
September 13-25 -- Harare, Zimbabwe
September 26-28 -- The Netherlands
November 4-8 -- England
Also, I am still leading a cruise retracing the steps of the apostle Paul from October 26-November 3. If you are interested in being part of that cruise, email me and let me know.
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And the archives of past Monday Memos through number 240 can still be located on my website. All others after that are located at my new Monday Memo blog.
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5. We began our study from Second Corinthians last week, and I will send this out every week until we finish. These studies focus on four verses for every day of the week. When I send them out, I send out a week's worth of verses. I never make my studies technical; they are always practical and include questions to help you apply what you read every day. If you would like to subscribe, go to the site and enter your email address. I have all my previous studies available for free on my website.
6. Below you can download my daily devotional for August from A Daily Dose of Proverbs.
Download Proverbs: Download August.doc
When i met you via your preaching in nairobi pentecostal church, you said that you had wondered if God had called you to be a pastor. I think you had been called also to preach via internet. thanks and be blessed in your noble task. am writing from Sudan, where your mails are of great assistance in this part of the world as people realize peace.
Posted by: Solomon | August 02, 2006 at 05:22 PM