ENGAGING THOUGHT
Have you ever heard the cliche, "Triumph is just a little 'umph' added to try" ? Maybe a better question is, can you recall a moment that you needed to hear that?
Yesterday we looked at the need for understanding when it's wise for us to back-off a bit in our pursuit; today is the other side of that equation: when we need to give it just that little bit of extra effort and push through to completing a task. In the pursuit of God's DREAM for our lives we will have myriad tasks and little "projects" that lead to the larger goal. Often these tasks will serve as nothing more than parts of the whole or steps in the process. We may be tempted to "fudge" a bit on the quality or stop a bit earlier than we need to - after all, it is just one little piece of the puzzle, right?
Don't do it. Don't give in to that temptation to do less than your best, no matter how seemingly insignificant the task. If this pursuit is worth it at all, then it is worth doing so with our very best effort and with the fullest of diligence. Some people take this concept too far and develop a critical perfectionism for themselves and everyone around them: nothing is ever good enough or finished enough. They think that nothing but the absolute best will ever suffice for any task of any kind. The sentiment behind this may be fine, but it rapidly becomes an obsession that causes one to miss out on the joy of the pursuit as every moment becomes a struggle - even if it doesn't need to be.
This is another one of those areas where we need to be very in-tune with ourselves and our motivations. We do want to push ourselves to excel and strive to become better at everything we can; we do need to understand that not every task requires the greatest example of perfection ever performed. The question isn't so much, "will this be good enough?" as much as "is this the right amount of effort/excellence/diligence?" If we're stopping because we're bored or not interested at the moment (or tired) rather than stopping because it is the appropriate time to stop - then we need to recheck our motivations. Maybe go back and read some of our encouragements from earlier or check in with some of our team-members to see what they think. If we find ourselves saying, "Oh, who cares?" or, "It's not that big of a deal," we need to be careful as these sound very much like excuses for giving in too quickly.
Sometimes the best answer to these moments when we want to give in is to push just a little harder, go that extra mile until we reach the next goal - then we can take a break and look back at what we've accomplished. A marathon runner knows themselves and their body well enough to predict when they will hit "the wall" in their race. They anticipate it and plan for it - staging a friend at that location to cheer them on in the moment they need it most, maybe planning a reward for themselves at the mile-marker after they've hit the wall and pressed through it. Whatever it takes for them to just keep running that extra mile.
"Good enough is the enemy of the best."
Yesterday we looked at the need for understanding when it's wise for us to back-off a bit in our pursuit; today is the other side of that equation: when we need to give it just that little bit of extra effort and push through to completing a task. In the pursuit of God's DREAM for our lives we will have myriad tasks and little "projects" that lead to the larger goal. Often these tasks will serve as nothing more than parts of the whole or steps in the process. We may be tempted to "fudge" a bit on the quality or stop a bit earlier than we need to - after all, it is just one little piece of the puzzle, right?
Don't do it. Don't give in to that temptation to do less than your best, no matter how seemingly insignificant the task. If this pursuit is worth it at all, then it is worth doing so with our very best effort and with the fullest of diligence. Some people take this concept too far and develop a critical perfectionism for themselves and everyone around them: nothing is ever good enough or finished enough. They think that nothing but the absolute best will ever suffice for any task of any kind. The sentiment behind this may be fine, but it rapidly becomes an obsession that causes one to miss out on the joy of the pursuit as every moment becomes a struggle - even if it doesn't need to be.
This is another one of those areas where we need to be very in-tune with ourselves and our motivations. We do want to push ourselves to excel and strive to become better at everything we can; we do need to understand that not every task requires the greatest example of perfection ever performed. The question isn't so much, "will this be good enough?" as much as "is this the right amount of effort/excellence/diligence?" If we're stopping because we're bored or not interested at the moment (or tired) rather than stopping because it is the appropriate time to stop - then we need to recheck our motivations. Maybe go back and read some of our encouragements from earlier or check in with some of our team-members to see what they think. If we find ourselves saying, "Oh, who cares?" or, "It's not that big of a deal," we need to be careful as these sound very much like excuses for giving in too quickly.
Sometimes the best answer to these moments when we want to give in is to push just a little harder, go that extra mile until we reach the next goal - then we can take a break and look back at what we've accomplished. A marathon runner knows themselves and their body well enough to predict when they will hit "the wall" in their race. They anticipate it and plan for it - staging a friend at that location to cheer them on in the moment they need it most, maybe planning a reward for themselves at the mile-marker after they've hit the wall and pressed through it. Whatever it takes for them to just keep running that extra mile.
"Good enough is the enemy of the best."
ACTION STEP
Today's ACTION STEP is very similar to yesterday's -though for the opposite purpose.
Write out two or three statements that you can tell yourself in those moments when you feel the temptation to settle for "good enough."
EXAMPLE "I know that I am tempted to settle for less than the best at this moment, however, there is no legitimate reason why I cannot or should not go the extra mile and finish this task with excellence."
Write out two or three statements that you can tell yourself in those moments when you feel the temptation to settle for "good enough."
EXAMPLE "I know that I am tempted to settle for less than the best at this moment, however, there is no legitimate reason why I cannot or should not go the extra mile and finish this task with excellence."
Tomorrow we'll talk about developing the habit of regular checks on our progress.
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