Can You Sum Up Your Life’s Message With Just One Word?

Last updated on: October 25, 2009 at 4:09 pm by JBW

Can You Sum Up Your Life’s Message With Just One Word? 2009-10-25T16:09:19-05:00 JBW

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Have you noticed the trend of one-word book titles hitting the market lately? A couple of popular one-word books that you may be familiar with are “Outliers” and “Blink,” both authored by hip business-social observer Malcolm Gladwell. There’s also “Free” by Wired magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Chris Andersen, where he tries to convince us that future business profit models will be based on giving things away rather than charging for them. Or have you read “Sway,” by Ori and Ron Brafman? It’s about the subliminal powers at work in our impressionable brains which cause us to make irrational decisions. Have you heard of “Nudge” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein? I hadn’t, but last time I looked, it was number 7 on the NY Times paperback business bestsellers – another book about the choices we make on health, happiness and money. Then there’s the recent “Payback” by Margaret Atwood, and “Unstuck” by innovation and leadership consultant, Keith Yamashita.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. These authors have achieved the enviable goal of distilling their entire content into one catchy, hugely marketable, definitive word that sums up precisely what they are all about. You not only “get it” when you hear the hook of the title, but it’s easy to talk about, and pass the word on to others.

So it got me thinking about all this time and effort and passion I spend on my Shrinking the Camel Blog, trying to pin down the integration of my faith and my career. What am I trying to say? If I were to write a book that distilled the entire mission and mad ramblings of this Blog into one word, could I do it? What would that one word be?

I thought about this for several days, forcing myself to choose. Finally I came up with the One Word for my phantom book.

“Tool”

Can you picture it? I think it would have nice ring, especially when being discussed over the airwaves. “Hello, I’m Terry Gross, and this is Fresh Air, from National Public Radio! Today we are talking to Bradley J. Moore about his new book, which talks about the counterintuitive link between business and spiritual life, called ‘Tool.’ Welcome Mr. Moore.”

“Hello, Terry. It’s my pleasure.” (They always say that, when Terry welcomes them)

I know, “Tool” may sound kind of lame and you may not like it very much, but this title is actually rich with many layers of meanings. Here is my thinking behind it:

I like the snarky, self-deferential tone of the slang. You knew that would be the first thing I went for, right? And the slang is probably the first association that anyone under 25 years of age will think of when they see this word. I asked my teenage daughters what they thought “Tool” meant, and they said, “It’s someone who thinks they’re really cool, but they’re not.” Perfect! The slang meaning for the word. “Tool” could also be something like “nerd,” “dope,” “loser,” or “idiot” (among other things). So it gives off a bit of that tongue-in-cheek, self-deferential slant which is consistent with my writing, adding just a hint of irreverence. We can’t take ourselves too seriously, now, can we?
We are ultimately vessels to be used by God. Here comes the paradoxical spiritual element: “Tool” infers that I am surrendered to God for doing His work, rather than focusing on myself, my ego and my own achievements. This is a very difficult concept for most of us Type-A, hard-driving control-freaks to grasp, but I know that it is possible, and probably best that we just accept this. Thus it is front-and-center in the title.
We acknowledge our unique gifts and talents are directly from God and they are something that can be useful to others. Most tools are used for very specific types of productive work. I am wired with a very specific set of God-given skills, abilities, personality, etc. that can be put to good use for others.
There is a strong business/management connotation. When I worked for consulting firms, we were always referring to our “tools” or “toolbox” as the set of methodologies, templates and procedures that we could apply to our clients to help them become more effective in business. Same is true of tools for connecting spiritual and business life, and I think it would make for a good business-oriented read.

So there ya go. I am totally God’s Corporate Tool.

What about you? Could you distill your entire identity and purpose into one word?

Did you enjoy the dream sequence in my previous post involving famous literary agents approaching me about my brilliant work?

Don’t you hate it when Blogs ask these obviously leading questions at the end of the post?

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