08Jun, 2010

How bad Habits Create Boring Stories

Posted by Don
2

I’ve a friend who helps people plan and organize their lives so they can get greater impact, and he said to me recently that he’s encountering more and more clients who smoke pot recreationally. My friend isn’t a judgmental guy, so he doesn’t brow beat them or anything, but he’s asking his clients to consider the consequences of the drug. Now when my friend said this, I thought he’d start talking about how it’s a gateway drug and so forth, but that isn’t the warning he’s giving his clients. The warning he’s giving is that their habit is stealing their dreams. When they smoke pot, they are satisfied for the rest of the day, they are calm and mellow, they don’t feel like pursuing anything. So if they’re smoking a few times a week, then they are basically not productive a few days each week.  If you’ve read A Million Miles, you know that a great story, and for that matter a great life, can’t get started unless the protagonist wants something. And the thing they have to want must come from their core values, and it must be specific, and it must be difficult to accomplish. And so I’ve [...]

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28May, 2010

Want to Learn More About Living a Better Story?

Posted by Don
25

If you’ve read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and wanted to know more about starting a new story, or just making your existing story more meaningful, we’ve put together a Living a Better Story Seminar here in Portland at the end of September. It will be a relatively small, intimate and personal seminar in which we will go through the elements of a meaningful life. My hope is that attendees will leave having a clearly mapped out story, and a plan to achieve their life ambition. You can learn more and register here…

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30Apr, 2010

Writing a Storyline, An Alternative to the Mission Statement

Posted by Don
1

In Million Miles, I talk about structuring your life like a story so that, when you’re done living it, it will have been more meaningful. I also talk about how if you’re life story were spelled out on the back of a DVD cover, what would it say. Something like: “Donald Miller desperately wanted the new Volvo, but he didn’t have enough money. So he got a job at a local grocery store and worked the nightshift till he could afford the down payment….” Not so exciting. But change those elements around (what the character wants and how much conflict they are willing to endure) and you’ve got the stuff of a great story and a great life. I didn’t say it in the book, but I actually tried this a couple years ago. My storyline went something like: “Donald Miller wants to write more books and pay lots of unhealthy attention to Amazon reviews…” and my heart sank. I think that was about the time I started The Mentoring Project, and I’ve been happier (and more engaged in my own story) ever since. So I thought I’d invite you into that little experiment. Maybe you and your friends, or [...]

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12Apr, 2010

How I Prepare a Speech, or How to Guide Somebody Toward an Epiphany

Posted by Don
2

I’m not the greatest speaker in the world. In my line of work, that is inspirational speaking (speaking associated with faith but different than preaching) there are a lot of speakers better than myself. I count Rob Bell as one of these, and Francis Chan has always amazed me. My pastor, Rick McKinley is one of the best speakers I know. And in my travels to different churches, I’ve met dozens of speakers you have yet to hear about who astound me.  But I speak. And when I prepare a talk, I’ve discovered I prepare differently than the average speaker. To be honest, I’m not strategic about this, it’s just how my mind works.  But first, here’s what I don’t do, and it’s a common mistake: I don’t present and defend a point. In other words, if my point is that we need to engage the fatherless, I don’t open by saying we need to engage the fatherless and then list reasons. Thousands of speakers do this, and it’s not very effective. Did you know sitting and listening to a speaker is one of the very worst ways you can learn anything? It’s true. And the reason the have a [...]

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05Apr, 2010

Father Fiction, a Newish Book, and a Brand-New Blog Series

Posted by Don
2

My latest literary endeavor, Father Fiction, hits shelves tomorrow! I previously released this book under the title To Own a Dragon, and it sold more than eighty-thousand copies, however, I bought back the rights because the distributor had some trouble getting it out there, and have now rereleased it with a larger publisher. The book has four new chapters that, I believe, add a great deal more value. Previously, the book was geared toward men who grew up without fathers, but I heard from so many women, I dropped all that language and opened it up for anybody whose dad may not have been around, either physically or emotionally. The new content in the  book includes a chapter on how I met my father after thirty years of not hearing from him, a chapter on the pitfalls of self pity, a chapter on dating and what the opposite sex really finds attractive, and a chapter on how intentional friendships can keep you out of trouble and help you succeed. Ultimately, Father Fiction is the most practical book I’ve written. It’s an advice book, essentially, helping readers of any age avoid the mistakes that hold people back. I’m amazed at how [...]

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