We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Fiensy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
David, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?
I suspect self-discipline is something you are born with to an extent. It is a persistence, even a stubbornness at times, to get it done. But my first year in college, a teacher encouraged me to make a daily schedule. I was supposed to give a time for everything, classes, homework, even leisure time. I calculated how much time I needed to do the work for each class. Some classes were easier than others. I tried to stick to that schedule. It worked well for me. I was not just doing assignments at the last minute but approaching them systematically, even working ahead. Since that year, so long ago, I have been on a kind of mental schedule everyday. Now many would rebel against such a regimented life. So, as I say, maybe you are born with it. If you take to that kind of scheduling, it might be in your DNA. I still have an inner drive to accomplish something each day. You have to watch it, however, since that useful characteristic could become workaholism.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
At an early point in college, I realized I wanted to be a professor myself. I loved the religious studies classes. That dream materialized when I received my Ph.D. from Duke University in Religion ((Biblical Studies major) and began teaching, researching, and writing. My joy over the last forty years has been to teach hope and grace to students and readers. I tried to calculate once how many students I have taught. It is in the thousands but difficult to put a precise number on it. I have also written eleven monographs plus two works of fiction. I have tried to teach that faith is a joy and should lead to compassion for others even when we might not understand them or relate to them. They are still human beings and worthy of our kindness. Our faith, our love for God, should make us more loving of God’s creation. My most recent work is a commentary on the New Testament Gospel of Luke using scattered reports of archaeological finds in Israel. The objects retrieved from the soil say so many things to us, especially now that archaeologists are learning to ask new questions and employ new techniques in analyzing them. The Gospel of Luke is focused on compassion for the poor and marginalized. It is also the most comprehensive, in terms of biography, of the four New Testament Gospels. The title of the book is The Realia Jesus: An Archaeological Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. (“Realia” is the word commonly used by archaeologists for objects excavated)
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
As I stated earlier, one quality is discipline. You have to show up each day. Also, I would say persistence. Everybody makes mistakes and has a false start or two. So what? Just try again. Third, I have tried to find joy in the work itself and not press for the possible effects of the work, namely fame. If you live only for fame, you are living for a very ephemeral goal. You are also living a very empty life. If you don’t enjoy what you do, try to find something you do enjoy.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
My advice is try to hit the ball in the sweet spot of the bat. Hone your strengths and then hone them more. I don’t mean to say you should avoid a rounding. You should read widely; you should travel; you should listen to great teachers and thought leaders. But don’t try to be everything. You will wind up being nothing. Figure out what you do best and then do it and keep on doing it better and better. In other words McDonalds should not try to serve Mexican or Chinese food.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidafiensy.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-fiensy-0614663a/
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