Author Archives: Rusty Rueff

About Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff, author of purposed worKING. Rusty Rueff is the former Chairman Emeritus of The GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles. He most recently completed the successful 16 month leadership role as Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama (T4O) for the reelection of President Obama and ten-years of Board service and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Corporately, most recently Rueff was the Chief Executive Officer at SNOCAP, Inc. until the acquisition of the company by imeem, Inc. in April 2008. Before joining SNOCAP in 2005, he was Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts (EA) from 1998 until 2005. He was also with the PepsiCo companies for more than ten years, with the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies for two years, and in commercial radio as an on-air personality for six years. Rusty holds an M.S. in counseling and a B.A. in radio and television from Purdue University. In 2003 he was named a distinguished Purdue alumnus, and he and his wife, Patti, are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a corporate director of Glassdoor.com and runcoach. He is the co-founder and Executive Committee Member of T4A.org, serves on the Founding Circle of The Centrist Project and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also the co-author of the book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Hillsborough, CA and Charlestown, R.I.

day 3K164: Forced Withdrawal?

purposed worKING No Comments
“If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer!”

I’ve written about it before; we are overwhelmed and overstimulated by the amount of stuff that is pushed to us.  These stats are scary:

  • Two-thirds of American adults routinely look at their phones even when they’re not pinging or buzzing.
  • And the problem is worse for the next generation: A whopping 87% of U.S. teenagers have iPhones.

So, where does it end?  Axios (also where the stats above come from) wrote an article on forcing ourselves into boredom as one of the answers.  I’m not sure about that.  I don’t think we are built or wired to just be bored.  Boredom seems a waste of our minds and time. But, to be contemplative, meditative, intentional in our thoughts without external distraction is worthwhile. We have already seen a rise in mental wellness efforts and I believe we will see more offerings to be intentional about unplugging and getting to a quiet space and place.  But, all of that starts with us.  No one else but ourselves can move us to a place where we lessen our dependence on incoming stimulation.

As Believers we are invited to always be in the act of prayer.  To speak with God is to be with Him in our hearts and minds.  We can’t be in intentional prayer if we are constantly saying, “Excuse me Lord, I need to respond to this text, I’ll be right back.”  Prayer is good for us. It can be not only what God wants but it can be restorative to our minds and souls.  Today, when we feel the desire  to unplug and quiet our minds, then let’s consider that we can turn prepare our mind and heart and turn to Him in prayer.

Reference:  Job 11:13 (New Living Translation)