No Excuses Allowed
Many of us are like the one-talent manager, and we often pretend that our talents don’t exist. God has placed greatness inside you. Be honest with yourself, and consider what talents you’ve ignored that you could begin investing. You’re in proximity to people with resources you lack and ideas you can’t imagine. Wouldn’t it be great to have them on your side? Think of some people who have achieved the level of greatness you’re striving for (in your marriage, finances, career, etc.) and the ways you can glean from them.
The state of our hearts, how we interpret our experiences, is by far the biggest factor in how we respond to our disadvantages, limitations, and adversity. As you take a moment to think about your immediate disadvantages, also consider the state of your heart. We tend to interpret our experiences through one lens or another: anxiety or hope, fear or faith. But you hold the power to decide which lens you use. Celebrate your wins! Seriously. Think about your latest win, and if you haven’t celebrated yet, make plans to do so soon. Every tangible win deserves a tangible celebration.
Fuel for the Road Trip to Greatness
We are all fueled by something. And what fuels you matters. Take a moment to think about the most recent leg of your journey and consider what motivated you. Fear, pride, and comparison can kick your journey off to a fast start, but over time they will take more than they give. Left unchecked, they can lead to breakdown. Getting back on the road may require that you adjust your fuel or convert your engine.
In order to go the distance, you’ve got to actually pay attention to gauges that warn you when you’re in the red. Learn from the past few years, and identify the warning signs that show up in your life when you’re running on the wrong fuel. We all have passion, but we don’t always pay attention to what sparks our passion. Take a moment to think about the last time something crossed your path and demanded your attention, igniting your instincts to go after it and make it your own. Think back to the last couple of times this happened, and look for patterns. This will clue you in to your true passion. You’re on earth for a reason. Finding your purpose will allow you and God’s Spirit to steer your passion in exactly the right direction.
The Key to Unlock Your Purpose
God made you on purpose, with a purpose, and will equip you for your purpose. Reflect on your life and how you’ve been equipped, naturally gifted, and uniquely strengthened. Chances are, each of us could invest more in our strength. Consider how you’ve honed your genius, and identify how you can grow it more. Think about the people in your inner circle and/or the people you admire. See whether you can identify their genius and the things they do so naturally that they barely even notice.
All Four Wheels Ready to Roll
Vision grows from the habit of asking and answering the right questions for each area of your life in which you want to pursue greatness. Vision is not only a destination but also a strategy to get there. Our vision is informed by observing those around us. Consider what you’ve observed about the people who have gotten where you want to go. Think about how the gift of disorientation has pushed you along. Look around and find your vision.
To attain greatness, you have to keep showing up. By now, you’ve likely identified the area(s) you want to achieve greatness in next. Assess your faithfulness, the ways you’ve consistently and intentionally shown up. If you want to grow in faithfulness, identify a few steps to move you forward. We can tell whether our efforts are faithful or futile by recognizing God’s favor. When we’re faithfully pursuing the greatness God has destined for us, we’ll see clear confirmation that He is providing for our journey. Self-discipline requires a system. Make it as simple as humanly possible. Include deadlines and necessary details. Someone else’s system may not work for you. The important thing is to create one that does.
Become an Aggressive Apprentice
Those who are on the path to greatness know enough to know they need to know more. Once you start pursuing greatness, it’s only a matter of time until you realize you’re in over your head. Keep yourself in the posture of an apprentice, and continue learning from the right teachers. When it comes to being an aggressive apprentice, the goal is to discover principles, not just practices. Think about the greatness that surrounds you or is one or two degrees removed from you, and identify one or two principles that you can immediately glean and apply to your own pursuit of greatness.
There are great coaches at every level, so find mentors who are succeeding a few steps further down the road. If you reach too high, you may not be able to demonstrate that you’re ready to learn at the level they’re leading. As you grow, scale up and keep learning. Create your system. A system is a step-by-step process that consistently results in the desired outcome with little or no variance. Think of your last achieved outcome and the process you used to get there. Ask yourself whether you could repeat it if you needed to.
Too Big to Do Alone
Behind every championship and alongside every superstar athlete is a team that makes greatness possible. Teammates shoulder their part of the work, pick up one another’s slack, and work together to bring home the win. Regardless of which area of life you’re pursuing greatness in, the people around you matter. Take stock of who is around you and who is on your team.
To shoot for greatness, we must anchor ourselves in purpose. As a leader, your role is to build a team where each member can connect the shared vision to their purpose. Jesus gathered, developed, and empowered a team of leaders with little experience and even less influence. And they turned the world upside down. Some assembly will be required. However, the wrong team is worse than no team. Recognizing which characteristics are nonnegotiable in team members is essential to building the right team.
Our team members don’t belong to us. They belong to God, who uses our vision to bring their purpose to fulfillment, and their purpose to bring our vision to life. Relational transitions are inevitable, so we might as well make the most of them. Reflect on your current team members and who might be in transition.
No Pain, No Progress
If we don’t have the right mindset when pain comes, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing we’re doing something wrong. If you’re expecting it, you’ll be more likely to keep yourself open to the lessons pain can teach you. Take a minute to think about the last moment of pain you experienced and what lesson you can apply moving forward.
Growing pains: Your old, familiar way of doing life doesn’t fit anymore. It’s time to level up. This pain indicates that you urgently need to make some changes so healthy growth can continue. If you’re experiencing growing pains now, consider how they’re urging you to change in this season.
People pain: Much of the pain we humans experience is caused by other humans. Nearly everything we do is with people, around people, or for people, and even the best of them get it wrong sometimes. For that matter, sometimes when they get it right, there is still a painful outcome. Assess whether you’re currently extending grace, pushing past opposition, or setting boundaries. Make sure your stance enables you to remain locked in on God’s plan for your life.
Spiritual warfare: You and I are made in the image of God, and every time we build, move forward, and use our gifts for His kingdom, we bring Him glory. Not every force in the universe is okay with that. You may not have picked the fight, but you’re in it. Thankfully, though, spiritual warfare is something to be aware of, not afraid of. The key is to remember that people are never the enemy. But people are the Enemy’s tool of choice to access our lives.
When pain arises, don’t try to pluck it out without first understanding its source. Pain is a symptom, and if you treat the symptom without understanding the disease, you may misdiagnose the sickness. Take some time to not only name your pain but also diagnose its source so you can move forward into your pursuit of greatness.
Don’t Stop at Greatness
Your race isn’t won after you see some success. This is just halftime. Take a moment to rest and analyze the scoreboard. Ask yourself whether you’re winning or losing at what really matters. If you’re not dead, there’s more—not necessarily more that God wants from you, but more that He has for you. If you’re still breathing, God has more to do for you, in you, and through you. The challenge that remains is this: Pour out everything that God has poured into you.
Your purpose will be yours until your last breath. Your assignment, on the other hand, will change throughout your life. God sends us to different places to live out our purpose at various times—these are our assignments. Take a moment to assess your assignment. Though your purpose is the same, it could be time to pass the baton.