I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to figure things out.
Business. Money. Relationships. Faith. Why I do what I do. Why I know better and still manage to do something else. Why some tiny change can alter the direction of a life while some very impressive plans accomplish almost nothing.
I’m still working on it.
That probably tells you more about me than a résumé would.
I’ve owned and managed businesses. I’ve made money and discovered that making money and being wise with money are two entirely different skills. I’ve managed pizza stores, dealt with employees, customers, systems, expectations and the occasional Friday-night mess. I’ve watched a small change turn chaos into a record-setting night.
I’ve also made mistakes. Plenty.
I’ve chased things I thought would make me happy. I’ve confused cash flow with financial success. I’ve read dozens of self-help books. I’ve struggled with physical, personal, financial and spiritual problems. I’ve been certain about things I later questioned and questioned things I once thought were certain.
Why I Write
I don’t write because I have become an expert on how you should live your life.
That would be a little presumptuous.
I write because I have spent a lifetime paying attention to mine.
LifeNudge began with a simple observation: our lives are shaped by small things. A comment. A habit. An expectation. A decision made almost without noticing. A five-minute conversation. Something somebody told us thirty years ago that we are still obeying without ever asking whether it was true.
Nudges.
Some help us. Some hurt us. Some we choose. Many we don’t even notice.
That fascinated me.
It still does.
So I began asking questions. Where did this belief come from? Why am I doing this? What am I avoiding? What happens if I change one small thing instead of attempting to reinvent my entire life by Tuesday?
I write because questions have changed me more than clever answers ever have.
And because I suspect I’m not the only person who has looked at some part of his life and wondered, How exactly did I get here?
Faith Changed the Questions
I grew up in church.
For many years I knew about God. I knew church. I knew the language, the songs, the rituals and many of the things a Christian was supposed to believe.
Eventually I had to confront a much more uncomfortable question.
Did I know Jesus, or did I simply know about Him?
That question changed the direction of my life.
I began reading Scripture differently. Not simply reading the words, but stopping. Questioning. Studying. Looking at different translations and commentaries. Asking what Jesus actually said and what obedience to Him might require of Wayne.
Sometimes I liked the answers.
Sometimes I didn’t.
Sometimes I still don’t.
Faith, for me, has become less about getting God to cooperate with my plans and more about discovering where I need to surrender mine. I’m still learning what that means.
I expect I always will be.
Why My Experience Matters
My experience matters for one reason.
It’s mine.
I can’t tell you exactly what you should do because I haven’t lived your life. I don’t know every fear you carry, every mistake you’ve made, every opportunity you missed or every prayer you’re still waiting to understand.
I won’t pretend I do.
What I can do is tell you what happened to me.
I can tell you where I got it wrong. Where something worked. Where it failed. Where my ego got involved. Where money became too important. Where Scripture made me uncomfortable. Where a small nudge produced an unexpectedly large result.
Then we can ask questions together.
Maybe something from my life helps you notice something in yours.
That’s the point of LifeNudge.
I’m not interested in becoming another voice telling you to dream bigger, work harder, believe in yourself and follow seven simple steps toward your best life.
I’ve heard plenty of that, and I expect you have too.
I’m more interested in what happens when we become curious enough to notice what is already shaping us, honest enough to question it, and humble enough to admit that some of what needs changing may be us.
And for me, ultimately, the question keeps coming back to Jesus.
How am I to live?
Not someday.
Today.
I’m Wayne Rickert.
I’m still listening.
Still questioning.
Still being nudged…