David Lee Martin

Consistent creative habits lead to greater results in the long term than inspired fits and spurts.

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I just want to jump in here today, and I’m not going to speak long on this episode, but just to encourage you to remain consistent in your creative projects in a consistency really is the key to your breakthrough. I honestly have found that. I mean, it’s great to have those emotionally charged inspired moments or even days sometimes sometimes we can even stretch it out over a number of days. But there’s nothing more powerful in the long term. Okay. We’re talking about building a creative legacy, building a creative business, building a creative ministry.

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Whatever it is you are doing in the world, however you are turning up, you know, we can have we can ride that roller coaster of peaks and troughs if we want to. But the truth is that, you know, it’s very, very difficult to rely on that and it’s very difficult for it to lay layer on layer, whatever foundations you need, and then to build the house wisdom builds a house, the scriptures tell us. And remaining consistent is such a powerful way to do that in the same way as a builder would lay one brick after another.

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Yeah, we can lay one creative action after another. And if we learn to do that in a in a habitual way, you will find, I promise you, you will find that there is a far greater propensity in your heart to actually bring value to the table than you currently realise. I found that a lot of that that one of the pitfalls that creative people fall into is they have fits and spurts of creative inspiration. And I say inspiration in inverted commas there.

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And I know as exciting and as wonderful as that is, it doesn’t really build the house. It’s like throwing up a one wall in January and then coming back around in June to put up the next wall. And then you kind of all right. I feel inspired to build the bedroom and you’re putting the second floor in before you’ve even, like, laid a foundation. And and so consistency allows us to make constant progress towards our goals. It allows us to remain encouraged even through discouraging seasons here.

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And they will come. There are times where we are on the peak and there are times where we feel as though we’re in the pit. And that friend is where a really solid, consistent, creative habit where you choose to turn up however you feel, whether you feel like it or not, even if you are just producing a little at a time. If you do that consistently, it’s actually really quite remarkable what you can achieve over a long period and by a long period.

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I’m not talking like 50 years, although that could be the case. But really, week on, week, month on month, year on year. And we want to be in a position where we can confidently foresee our progress a year from now to five, 10 years from now, knowing that our daily habit is building into that and sowing into that future harvest, where we will really begin to see the fruits that are returned to us for the time and the effort and the love and the passion that we’ve seen in.

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And so I just want to encourage you. I just wanted to take some time out from my day. I’m writing some books at the moment, creating some content for the students on the Christian Creative Academy. I just really wanted to just jump out of that for a few moments and just encourage you to stay consistent in your creative projects because you will be amazed what you can produce over a period of weeks or months, if only you’ll give priority to kind of carve out even a short amount of time every day where you just say whatever happens, whatever I feel like whatever is.

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Going on around me, I’m going to produce something of value that I can bring to the world. And so one of those things for me today is this to give you this podcast and say, hey, I believe in you, I believe you can do it, and I encourage you to prioritise that, prioritise your projects, prioritise your gifts, prioritise your creative nature and let it have expression on a daily basis. Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today.

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If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.

Stretch your creative wings today. Jump from the nest and catch a thermal of inspiration. The world is waiting for your glorious imperfection.

Embracing Imperfection Gives Wings To Your Creativity

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I think anyone who’s a speaker, a preacher, a teacher, generally has a few hobby horses that they ride on and certainly in regard to speak into the whole creative life and even the faith life, really one of the things that I often come round to speak about because I see so many people struggle with it, is the kind of struggle with imperfection or the struggle to try and be perfect. Now, obviously, in a faith context, you know, it’s not according to our works that we’re saved, but according to our faith.

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But bring that into our creative life. And I think that perfectionism is one of the biggest sticker’s for creative people. You know, it’s one of the things that stalls them in their progress. And it really leads to so many wonderful projects, never seeing the light of day, you know, that the creative mind, the creative heart, the creative motivation and movement, that creative momentum comes to a halt and we kind of end up just walking round and round the same mountain, like thinking that as we do so, we can make something so flawlessly perfect that it will finally be good enough to be sent out for the world.

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Applause. But the truth is, most of those projects never actually end up seeing the light of day because perfection is something that we might want to reach for, but rarely, if ever, will we attain it. And, you know, I don’t ever want to advocate not putting your best work out. I don’t ever want to advocate kind of slapdash compromise. But if someone is carving something and they keep whittling and whittling and whittling and whittling away, eventually you just end up with a little matchstick.

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Yeah, that there’s actually some beauty in the imperfections that exist in the things that we create. And there really does always come a point when enough is enough and we have to pack away our fears. We have to put the terror of rejection and people’s reactions aside and just let that baby fly. We’ve got to let it spread its wings and send it out into the world. And absolutely, Jim, and it can be a scary moment to do that.

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And there are many one star bruises that people bear that prove that point. You know, we’re not here to yet to guarantee. But, you know, if we put out our creative work, it’s never a guarantee that it will be embraced with the same passion with which we put it out to the world. But the truth is that the journey to that five star doesn’t often or many times doesn’t begin on the top of the pile. We have to go through some of the learning processes and the challenges of growing and getting better and improving.

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I mean, as in my publishing, for example, I’ve published hundreds and hundreds of books, but my early books, I mean, I’m embarrassed to look at them, to be honest. I think they should round back and redo much of what I did in the early days because they were radically imperfect. And certainly we’ve seen improvement, but we’re still you know, we’re still in that realm of good enough is good enough, you know, and for everyone, as I’m saying, we don’t always begin at kind of this pinnacle place that we would like to attain to.

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And if we wait until we get to that pinnacle before we put anything out, the likelihood is we’ll never make a move. You know, even the band U2, you know, Bono and the U2 crowd fill stadiums, you know, mega mega band. You know, they played to nine people in the back room of a pub in Dublin in 1979. We have to begin where we’re at. We have to fearlessly start the journey and refused to be discouraged because to a large degree, it’s all part of this creative roadmap that will allow you to grow, allow you to improve and allow you to kind of step out in creative ways without being.

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Exposed to the whole world and embracing imperfection, I think is an essential skill if we want to really flourish in the creative sphere, you know, the word imperfect, if you just jiggle it around and add a bit of a flourish, can actually say, I’m perfect. You know, I’m perfect as I am. You know, in all of my quirks, in all of my imperfections, there’s actually a perfection that comes through because creativity is never meant to be kind of just a cookie, a cookie cutter enterprise.

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You know, in the in a sense, we as the creative are the product that we sell. And, you know, unless we are unique in our approach, unless we come with all of who we are, you know, it’s really our individual individuality that allows our value to shine the brightest. I love in Ephesians 3:10, it reads to the intent now that unto the principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be known by the church.

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That’s you and I, the manifold wisdom of God. And, you know, roll that back. Look at that in Strongs concordance. The word there in the Greek means much variegated and multifarious. Now, I won’t lie. I’d never heard of these words before before I looked in Strongs concordance to find out the kind of facets of that word that’s translated manifold in the King James version. But, you know, we we are each one of us is a beautiful facet of our father’s multifarious wisdom, a glimpse of his endless, variegated, creative nature glistening in the world.

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And, you know, your unique perspective isn’t designed to be squeezed into the world’s mould. You’re not intended to be conformed to look like everyone else. You know, we some people may call them imperfections. Let’s instead call them features. And as much as this is still a journey that I’m on, I’m learning. I actually wrote that I learnt this, but I think it’s more honest to say I’m learning to celebrate my quirks, to actually accept and be content with who I am and the fact that our differences make our voice stand out in some way.

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You know, if we were all the same, where would the interest be? Where would the colour be? Where would the nuances be? Where would the life and the flow and the joy be in this world? God did not make us all the same, you know? And, you know, we can look and we can think, well, someone else has already done what I’m doing or somebody else has already done what I want to do.

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But the fact is, you haven’t done it. You are the ingredient that no one else can copy. You are the secret ingredient that makes what you bring different and valuable in its own unique way. And so, you know, allow your mess to become part of your message. The world really is not waiting for perfection. People are looking for something and someone that they can relate to. You know, they’re scanning the horizon, looking for a brave soul that they can look at and say, wow, if they if they can do it, surely I can, you know, of course, put your best self out there.

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But but put yourself out there in an honest, authentic way that gives permission to others to do the same. And then, you know, when they will feel released to stretch their creative wings and have a go, just like you do, just like you are, just like you have done. And, you know, we want to and I’ve heard it said that, you know, the baby eagle gets thrown out of the nest and kind of falls from the tree flapping its wings desperately does not look graceful at all, does not look in any way close to perfection.

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Yeah, but in that flapping and falling and fumbling and figuring out that bird eventually finds its rhythm. And with every beat of your creative wings, you get stronger and more confident. You know how I’ve put here that your beak may be wonky? Your plumage may be a little wild in places, but my dear friend, my brother, my sister, you are flying in a stretch. Your creative wings jump from the nest, catch a thermal of inspiration, and just let the world enjoy your glorious imperfection.

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Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.

Through wisdom a house, life, home, family, and business is built and established. Layer by layer your life is laid, and through professional work habits you prevent poverty taking up residence as your permanent business partner.

Wise People Are Builders

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Proverbs 21:3, teaches that a wise people are builders. That’s how the passion translation renders it. The King James says that wisdom builds the House, you know, through wisdom, a house, a life, a home, a family business is built and established layer on layer. Your life is laid and three professional work habits. You prevent poverty taking up residence as your permanent business partner. Again, I’m pulling from Proverbs 12 in The Passion translation where, you know, were warned against laziness.

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But here it tells us, you know, that we need to be applying ourself in a diligent way to prevent poverty, moving in and taking up a role as a partner in whatever business we’re involved in. You know, we really do have to be a people who are applying ourselves diligently, consistently and wisely to move things in the direction that we want to see them go. You know, there’s there’s a beautiful verse as well in the tiny little epistle of Jude that urges us to pray in a certain way.

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And again, it leads in to this idea of being a builder, building our life in the natural building, our life in the spirit. Jude 1:j20. This has always been one of my favourite verses. And I’m reading from the amplified Bible. It says, But you beloved building yourselves up, founded on your most holy faith, make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Build yourself up.

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Praying in the Holy Spirit. You know, the scriptures are so full of promises. But surely one of the greatest of all is the promise that we will be judged with the power of the Holy Spirit to pray in a way that bypasses our own understanding, bypasses our own knowledge of what’s needed or what needs to be prayed for, what needs to be said, or how it needs to be said. You know, again, in the Book of Romans, it says, When we do not know how to pray or what to pray, the Holy Spirit himself will pray in and through us.

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Yeah, that the will impact not just our own lives in our own circle, but far, far beyond that. So prayer and practise work hand in hand in hand. So we begin to build a legacy that is designed to last. And Jesus, as we know, is our business partner.

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He’s our family counselor. He’s our spiritual leader. He’s our life coach, all rolled into one whatever sphere of life you want to focus on, Jesus is right there to help you. Jesus is right there to lead you and infuse you with whatever is necessary to succeed. The Christian life is a life of victory. And the Bible says that Jesus is the wisdom of God. One Corinthians, 1:30 says but of him, are you in Christ Jesus who have God has been made to us.

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Wisdom. Yeah. Wisdom builds the house, the family, the life, the business, whatever area Jesus is there to be and to you, whatever wisdom is necessary to succeed and to experience victory. And so taking time to press into God’s presence and listen to his direction is the wisest use of time that any of us can offer if we’re going to put our time on the altar. You know how I can’t think of a better place to put it than on the altar of prayer?

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We place plenty of our time on the altar of Netflix or Instagram or whatever. Whatever, whatever your whatever. Yeah. Whatever your addiction may be. Okay. But how much more fruitful and how much more pleasant and how much more powerful is it to be very intentional and be very. Kind of direction to to direct our lives in a manner that prioritises prayer, prioritises spending time in God’s presence and listening to his voice. It really is regular prayer is the best business decision you’ll ever make.

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And, you know, the Internet wants to hustle people to pay for things that will never satisfy them. You know, it’s it’s it’s all about being faster, bigger, cheaper, easier. But the whole thing and the way I describe it is it’s just that whole thing is just built on a beach. It’s built on sand, you know, when but we want to put down deep roots. Jesus has called us as businessmen and women, as Christian believers, as people seeking to make an impact in the world, to build our house on the rock, to to dig deep.

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Yeah. Into the rock and establish our life in a way that can rise like an edifice and never be toppled. And it’s no good having a life that’s built above ground like some huge tower, but it’s got no foundation in how many times have we seen people who have toppled over because they didn’t have that foundation of character and that foundation of faith undergirding their influence out in the world and their voice out in the world? Because, see, your legacy stretches beyond this life.

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And, you know, while we’re here on Earth, you know, there is actually a residence that is presently being built in heaven, presently being prepared for us to occupy in heaven. You know, we span both realms, the spiritual and the natural, the eternal and the temporal. And I believe with all my heart that our actions here on Earth can be informed by eternity, can be informed by something beyond this world. So instead of chasing the wind, we need to learn to shut out the noise and listen carefully to the voice of God inside us, or we will end up running in circles or running after this shiny opportunity or that shiny opportunity and never really finding a place where we feel kind of rooted and satisfied that we are walking in the perfect will of God, not for someone else’s life, but for our life.

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And and, you know, in that respect, God himself has moved in and taken up residence within your heart, within your heart. He could not be closer. He is there with you. The spirit of wisdom himself lives in you to direct your steps and say, but in all of that, it’s not just a passive. Oh, yes, I believe that. Therefore, I don’t need to do anything. I don’t need to think. I don’t need to learn.

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I don’t need to educate myself. That’s not what we’re saying. Yeah. It’s actually what we want to do is as a result of that, because of that understanding that we are not in this alone, we want to build sound habits and diligent actions into our daily routines because that really is the key to building. It’s like like every day is another brick in this strong tower that we are erecting in our each day is another opportunity to lay another stone, put another layer down and establish further the legacy that we will leave.

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So I just I just really want to encourage you today and urge you even not to be negligent, you know, catch yourself when you excuse laziness. You know, as a leader, your first port of call is right on your own doorstep. Lead yourself and then you will be equipped to lead others, take inventory of your time and wisely consider how you’re spending your days. Psalm 90:12, another firm favourite. Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom again.

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That word wisdom or is the new the New Living Testament. I love this one actually. It says Teach us to realise the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom when we get a when we get a grip. On how short our time here on the planet may be, we understand that we’ve not got time to waste. We’ve not got time to mess around making passionate prayer and diligent practical habits that crystallised your value in ways that can benefit and help and build other people should be part of our routine.

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You know, don’t shy away from whatever changes are necessary to make that happen and and embrace diligence, embrace discipline as friends and partners in your and in your endeavours. Sometimes we can like back off of those things like that. Like that. They are somehow yeah. They’re often not looked at in the most positive way. But really discipline is such a beautiful thing. In fact, as the scriptures tell us, don’t they, that we have been called to be disciples, which literally means disciplined ones.

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Yeah. Your life, your life and your legacy are being built, built on a daily basis. And as you build yourself, you’ll naturally also be equipped and anointed to build others. Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.

Ideas are exciting. Action is exacting. That’s why people love to swim in the idea pool but are reluctant to dive in the river and fight to harness the currents. The thing is, despite feeling comfortable in the pool, only the river will carry you somewhere.

The Difference Between Idea And Action

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Welcome to another week, here we are at the outset of another opportunity to make a difference in the world, bring some joy, bring some strength, bring some encouragement to others. That’s what I encourage you to do this week. And today I want to talk about the difference between ideas and actions and really what inspired me to write this, to think about this, to speak about this was a number of ideas that I’ve got rolling around my mind that I think are good, I think could be useful to people.

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I think that potentially could lead to some profit for people, for others, for the people who participate. And, of course, for myself, you know, as we give it’s given to us. Good measure. Pressed down, shaken together, running over. Yeah. But it struck me that there are a few things that I’ve been thinking about that are ideas. But I know that the only way to really move into kind of the experience and finding out if those ideas have got legs is to have that is to have courage enough to step into something that’s unfamiliar to me and actually do it.

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And this is the thing, isn’t it? The difference between idea and action ideas are exciting, but action is exacting. Yeah, action actually takes some skin in the game, some sweat on the brow, even if that’s just the sweat of, as I say, stepping into something that’s unfamiliar or uncomfortable, you know, and I think that that’s why people love to swim around in the idea pool, but are often reluctant to dive into the river and fight to harness the currents of actually doing and acting on what they believe and what they want to become.

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And, you know, the thing is, despite the fact that the idea pool might feel very comfortable and very safe, only the river will actually carry you somewhere like the idea pool is is just a still pool there. You know, you can get in and you can wallow in it. But it’s only when you climb out and go down to the river and dive in that you can actually make any progress and move in a particular direction. Moving in a direction takes action of some kind.

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You have to get your feet wet, you know. But once you do, you realise that there’s no turning back. You won’t want to remain in a place of inactivity if you actually begin to take action. And this is the thing. Action begets action and you are an action taker. That’s why you’re here listening to this podcast. That’s why you have this sense on the inside that God wants to move in you and through you and bring something to the table to impact the lives of other people.

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And if you think of the picture in the Bible of Israel, the children of Israel coming to the banks of the Jordan River, this was the last barrier to their promised land. It stood between God’s people and their promise. And as long as they just stood on the bank, you know, not a ripple was seen in the water. But the moment they committed their feet, the miracle happened. Joshua 3:13 through 16. It says as soon as soon as their feet touched the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream and the river will stand up like a wall.

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Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. You know, you and I are looking for breakthroughs in different areas of our lives. We’re desperate to step into the promise and to bring others along with us. And I think here is a key. Take the bold step and get your feet wet. You know, it’s only when you’re in the water that you’ll see God go to work and don’t be intimidated that maybe you can’t see the other side, that you’re not sure what you will find there.

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You know, God is not asking you to leap over the river. He basically is saying take the first step of faith. And then in that way, it gives him the opportunity to work on your behalf and then take the next step. And the one after that action taken really as scary as it sounds, pushes us out of the kiddie pool into the river. And once we begin to step in, we give opportunity for the Holy Spirit to act on our behalf.

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We give opportunity for. That partnership, that that dynamic faith partnership that we have with God to go to work, it’s true in our lives, in our life of ministry, it’s true in our business, it’s true in our family. You know, faith has to be attended by works. There has to be corresponding actions of some kind that really put your stake in the ground and commit you to your believing. Yeah. And you’ll really be surprised to discover.

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I think sometimes we are reluctant to take action because of were fearful of what other people will think or say. What if we get it wrong? What if it doesn’t work the way that we hope it will, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. But, you know, you’ll find that most people are not as hung up on perfection as you might think they are. You know, like you, they understand the technical things don’t sometimes work the way they hope to.

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They they they’ll understand and they’ll grasp that you, like them, are trying, growing, reaching for something better. And, you know, because they’re doing the same thing, because they have those same aspirations dwelling in their heart that they’re looking for. They’re breakthrough. They’re looking for their next step. They’re looking to to step out of their boat and put their foot on the water. They’re standing on their bank waiting for someone to give them permission.

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Why don’t you be the permission giver rather than be one of those waiting for permission? John Maxwell in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership defines leadership in a really simple way. He says leadership is influence. And one of the chapters he says this Every time I extend myself, every time I extended myself, took a risk and succeeded. Followers had another reason to trust my leadership ability and to listen to what I had to say. But he had to first extend himself.

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He had to take a risk in order to succeed in a God is on your side with him on your side. You’ve got nothing can stop you. Nothing can prevent you from experiencing the success that you seek. Now, there may be times of challenge. There may be plenty of opportunities for learning on that journey. But I can promise you, God is faithful. You can trust him. But we have to take those steps. We have to get our feet wet and extending yourself, taking risks, putting your feet in the river while others stand on the bank.

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It opens up possibilities not just for you, but for everyone that follows in your role as a business person or Lee.