Start. by Jon Acuff

Author:Jon Acuff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ramsey Press
Published: 2013-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

6: Mastering

6

Mastering

You ready for a bar fight?

I don’t think I’m supposed to use the phrase “bar fight” as a Christian, but in this case, my hands are really tied. Can you think of another phrase that means “stool getting broken over someone’s back”? I can’t. Maybe “potluck fight” or “church picnic brawl,” but neither of those captures the fury of an old-fashioned bar fight. And awesome is always up for one of those.

A dream you don’t have to fight for isn’t a dream—it’s a nap. And while naps are delightful and enjoyed best on Sunday afternoon, they do very little to move you closer to awesome. A nap changes your afternoon. Awesome changes your world. Which is why I had a bar fight with Dave Ramsey.

When I wanted to name my last book Quitter, he pushed back. He felt that it was a bit too negative and wouldn’t make a great title. We went round and round via a few emails until finally we decided to have a meeting.

I was a nervous wreck. I think at some point I won’t be intimidated by Dave Ramsey anymore—probably around 2032 that will happen. But he’s sold millions of books, has a personality that fills arenas, and spends every week giving five million people advice via his radio show. He’s an entrepreneur who, after clawing his way back from bankruptcy, has spent the last twenty years building a successful business, fighting and scrapping the entire time.

The weekend before the meeting, I practiced the mini speech I was going to give him. On Saturday afternoon, I set up an office in my home so I could rehearse how I would sit and what I would do with my arms. Do I lean on my left while pointing with my right for emphasis, which is my power arm? Do I cross my arms to establish my seriousness, or is that bad body language?

I had everything ready for our meeting at 4:30 p.m. that Monday. At 9:35 a.m., my phone rang. It was my team leader, who said, “Hey, Dave is in my office and wants to talk about the title of your book.” Ohhhh, time change. Well played, Dave Ramsey. Well played indeed.

So I marched up to the office, sweaty and a little throw-uppy. I sat down and told him why the title had to be Quitter. I told him I’d quit six of the eight jobs I’ve had in my life. I told him that, of the other two, I was fired from one and asked to leave the other. I laid out the grossness of my previous employment history as proof that I was indeed a quitter. I was anxious about what he’d say when he heard my background, but I had to fight for the title I believed in. It mattered to me, and I didn’t know how much until I got into a fight about it.

His pushback helped me define my dream. It called out new passion and new energy for the title and the book.

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