## Description
Plan Your 2026 for the Glory of God, December 16th: https://redeemingproductivity.com/plan-your-2026-for-the-glory-of-god/Today is my 40th birthday. Here are...
## My Notes
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## Notes
- [The article version](https://redeemingproductivity.com/40-life-lessons-from-turning-40/)
- [The YouTube version](https://www.youtube.com/@redeemingproductivity?sub_confirmation=1)
- [The Podcast version](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redeeming-productivity/id1476403107?uo=4)
### **[00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=0s)** Walking with the Lord
#### **[00:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=34s)** 1. Walking with the Lord feels different at 40 than it did at 20
- More history of God's providence to look back on
- Greater trust and closeness that comes with time in any relationship
#### **[01:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=63s)** 2. Spiritual disciplines compound
- Small daily practices in [[prayer]] and God's word seem insignificant day-to-day
- Years and decades of consistency create spiritual maturity
- Like watering a garden—you must show up daily
#### **[01:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=96s)** 3. Dying to self is supposed to hurt
#### **[01:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=96s)** 4. Walking by faith means you’re going to feel lost sometimes
#### **[01:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=96s)** 5. What you tell yourself, you sell yourself
- [[spiritual warfare]] is primarily a battle of [[Truth]] versus [[lies]]
- Fill your mind proactively with truth to counter false thoughts
### **[02:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=128s)** Work and Calling
#### **[02:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=162s)** 6. Choose meaning over money, every time
- Mid-career change to Redeeming Productivity seemed risky but was the right call
- Benefits: looking forward to Mondays, margin for family and church, no burnout
#### **[04:22](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=262s)** 7. Trusting the Lord for your daily bread is something you actually have to do daily
- Employee jobs create sense of security that can mask dependence on God
- Self-employment heightens awareness of dependence on God
- Genuine prayer for provision comes from recognizing God's necessity
#### **[05:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=326s)** 8. Build castles, not igloos
- Create work that lasts, not temporary projects
- Burnout often comes from meaningless work, not just overwork
- Humans desire to build things of lasting significance because God made us creative
#### **[06:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=390s)** 9. Inspiration is perishable
- When excited about an idea, act on it immediately
- "Someday" is the dream killer
- Excitement has a shelf life
#### **[07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=421s)** 10. Contentment is the ultimate life hack
- Don't try to shortcut happiness through productivity optimization
- Start from peace knowing you have everything in Christ
- Gratitude and contentment save years of striving
### **[07:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=454s)** Personal Productivity
#### **[08:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=483s)** 11. Clear priorities trump perfect efficiency
- Don't get lost optimizing minor details while missing important work
- Find the biggest lever and pull it
#### **[09:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=547s)** 12. Sometimes optimizing is just a way to avoid doing the important stuff
- "Productive procrastination": getting excited about new systems instead of doing hard work
#### **[09:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=577s)** 13. It’s okay to sprint for a season, but don’t become hustle-bound
- Sprinting for a season is okay, but don't let it become the norm
- Hustle culture misses the point of redeemed productivity
- Slow and steady grinding on important work is usually better
- Unsustained hustle leads to burnout
#### **[10:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=635s)** 14. Complexity is the enemy of clarity
- [[simplicity|Simplify]] everything—the simpler, the better
- Greatest progress comes from cutting things out (via negativa)
- Simplicity allows you to scale and focus on what matters most
#### **[11:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=698s)** 15. Take long walks
- Need clarity to know what to be productive in
- Time thinking and reflecting in prayer is essential
- "You waste years by not letting yourself waste hours"
- Different from a factory—humans need rest and reflection time
- Walks without headphones allow mind to make connections and breakthroughs
#### **[12:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=759s)** 16. It really does all hinge on your morning routine
- Build around: Prayer, Organized, Word, Exercise, Reading (POWER)
- Sets direction for your entire day
- Commit to it daily; other things follow with time
#### **[13:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=793s)** 17. Aim for completion, not volume of activity
- Productivity means finishing things, not just starting them
- Stress comes from too many open loops
- Make sure you complete something every day
#### **[14:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=859s)** 18. The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster
- Meaningful work feels messy sometimes
- Must dump pieces out before putting puzzle together
- Learn to fight through chaos and keep going—clarity comes out the other side
- Proverbs 14:4: "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean"
#### **[14:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=890s)** 19. Creating something excellent doesn’t take 2x the effort, it takes 100x
- Producing lasting quality is insanely hard work
- Pursuit of excellence (not perfectionism) means multiple edits and revisions
- Difficulty often signals it will be better than expected
#### **[16:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=985s)** 20. Speed and quality are usually inversely correlated
- Can't do something fast and do it well
- Better to focus on few things slowly and well than many things quickly and poorly
- This is counterintuitive to efficiency-focused productivity
### **[16:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1015s)** Masculinity and Fatherhood
#### **[17:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1047s)** 21. Being a man just means taking responsibility
- Taking responsibility for actions, mistakes, work, people entrusted to you
- May look like courage, dependability, or faithfulness
- Not about macho posturing—it's simple: take responsibility
#### **[18:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1139s)** 22. Confidence comes from mastery
- Mastery is knowing how to do something really well
- But mastery requires going through the valley of incompetence
- Must have courage to be bad at something for a long time
#### **[20:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1206s)** 23. If you work with your mind, rest with your hands
- Knowledge workers should rest through hands-on projects and hobbies
- Those in trades should rest through reading and writing
- Rest isn't inert—it's doing something different
- Humans need balance between mind and hands
#### **[21:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1266s)** 24. Comfort is a sedative
- Easy to become addicted to comfort and relaxation
- Leads opposite direction from responsibility and self-sacrificial love
#### **[21:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1297s)** 25. Children are a blessing
- Literally a blessing from God
- Game-changer for life, purpose, happiness, fulfillment
- Wished they'd started earlier and had more
### **[22:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1325s)** Success
#### **[22:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1358s)** 26. The only metric that matters is faithfulness to God
- Life is a stewardship—talents, time, and treasure belong to God
- Want to make a good return for Him through faithfulness
- Avoid comparative definitions of success (income, possessions, praise)
- Faithfulness is the only lasting metric
#### **[23:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1386s)** 27. Don’t borrow your convictions and don’t optimize for a future you don’t actually want
- Examine what you actually believe versus what you've borrowed from culture
- Stop copy-pasting others' ways of living if they don't align with your values
- Optimize your life for what you actually believe matters
#### **[24:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1451s)** 28. Success is having the freedom to focus on the work you find most meaningful
- Find work you'd do even without payment
- Think through retirement fantasy completely—most people need purpose
- Don't wait for financial independence to do meaningful work; figure out how to do it now
#### **[25:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1545s)** 29. Figure out what you want and aim all of your faculties at it
- Hardest part is figuring out what you actually want
- Let Scripture and Holy Spirit train your desires
- Once you know what you want, don't split the difference
- Focus all faculties on that one goal
#### **[27:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1640s)** 30. You’re overwhelmed because you choose to be overwhelmed
- Busyness often hides from the big, scary work you should be doing
- Root cause: desire to not be alone with your thoughts
- Strip away noise and confront where your life is headed
- Early confrontation leads to right trajectory
### **[28:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1704s)** Relationships
#### **[28:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1737s)** 31. Humility is the heart of love
- Dignity in quietly absorbing insults or slights without retaliation
- Don't insist on your own way or keep score
- Self-sacrificial love gains more than it gives
- When you stop fighting for selfish happiness, you're more satisfied and glorify God
#### **[29:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1769s)** 32. Encouragement is rare, but compliments are free
- Tell people when you appreciate them
#### **[30:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1800s)** 33. Marriage rules
- Don't believe anti-marriage messaging
- Bible: "He who finds a wife finds a good thing" (Proverbs 18:22)
- It's a huge blessing if you find a good spouse
#### **[31:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1868s)** 34. Jealousy is poison
#### **[31:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1868s)** 35. Relationships are a blessing, but don’t idolize them
- People will disappoint you—they're just people
- Relationships are wonderful but not to be idolized
- God sometimes removes relationship idols so you learn to find your all in Him
### **[31:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1898s)** Technology
#### **[32:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1928s)** 36. It is impossible to predict or quantify the negative side effects of new technologies
- Was enthusiastic about cryptocurrency, metaverse, tech solutions
- Now much more cautious about new technologies
- Smartphones destroyed mental health of a generation in ways nobody predicted
- Those urging caution first appear as Luddites, later called prophets
#### **[33:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=1991s)** 37. Phones are for procrastination, not productivity
- 14 months phone-free—one of the single best life changes made
- 99% of phone use is distraction, not actual work
- Email and to-do list functionality are not worth the constant interruptions
#### **[34:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=2053s)** 38. Delete social media
- Two years off social media—should have done it years ago
- Scary to consider until you actually do it
- Predicted negative consequences don't materialize
- Everything is better without it
#### **[34:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=2082s)** 39. Paper is peak tech
- Using paper more: long-form writing, planning, productivity
- Paper has built-in app blocker, notifications off by default
- Paper forces slower, deeper thinking
- Optimizing workflows around paper where possible
- Technology still useful for storage and reach, but paper for focus
### **[35:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=2148s)** Final Thought
#### **[35:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1ykB5TfKw&t=2148s)** 40. Your life is a stewardship—don’t waste it
- Given this life from God; use it well for His glory