day 1224: Accomplishment

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.


I was very fortunate this summer to be able to play a lot of golf.  Before you categorize me as someone who is good at golf, let me be clear, I stink.  But, I love the game.  Partially because it is outside. Partially because you can get away from everything else for a few hours.  And mostly, because it is a game that ends on an accomplishment.  I love other sports too, but most sports end on someone or one team making an error or not accomplishing something.  Think about that for a second.  Baseball ends on someone not getting a hit. Football ends on someone not scoring or someone not being able to stop someone else from scoring.  Tennis ends on someone not being able to get to a shot by the other player, or returning the ball unsuccessfully.  Golf always ends on the ball going in the hole.  It may be, and most always is, the ball going in the hole in more strokes than you desired, but the game always ends on an accomplishment of the ball finding the cup.  If more of work was this way, think how much more satisfied we would be in our jobs.  If only every day we ended on an accomplishment.  If only every interaction with a customer ended with a point of satisfaction.  If only every employee interaction ended on a positive and and accomplishment driven word of recognition.  We can make this happen.  It is our choice.  Like golf, work is a long game and one that we only get better at with time, practice, patience and endurance.  But, like the game of golf, work can always end on an accomplishment.

God gives us a life that also can end on the completion of His work while we are here on earth. When we think about the accomplishment that he desires from us, it is about faithfulness, loving Him and others, spreading His Good News, and living our lives out as Jesus would if He were in the same job, life, and situations that we find ourselves.  When we strive to find and give glory to God in all that we do, we are accomplishing much in His eyes.  So, today stay focused on this type of accomplishment. The rest is not that important, but accomplishing His desires is what it is all about.

Reference: Psalm 16:11 (New Living Translation)

day 324: The Need To Exceed...

...expectations, that is. Yes, we are challenged at work daily to not only meet but to exceed the expectations that are put on us by others. Seldom do we really get to totally independently set our goals and objectives. Even when it feels like we get to do so when we are asked to author and submit our goals for the year, the quarter or the month, we are influenced by the larger strategy and objectives of the organization and we can find ourselves reaching to put together a set of goals where we are making a performance difference between ourselves and our peers. From there, we place the pressure on ourselves to find a way to exceed those objectives. When we do, we are pleased and feel like we have grown and been successful. When we don't, we are stressed, down on ourselves and feel like we have disappointed ourselves and others. In all my business years, I have only met a few people who have openly said that they only work to the lowest level of performance expected of them and everyone of those people worked below what I believed to be their full potential. We all are given the potential to do great things and to make a real difference in our work and our lives. The question is how do we tap that potential and bring the best out in ourselves so that we can continue to exceed our expectations? The formula seems to have been given to us by Paul in Ephesians 3:20; "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." To unlock our full potential we need first to allow God to be unlocked inside of us and for His glory to be realized through our work. We have to start with Him first and then work backwards to those expectations that we and others have put on us. If we can do that, then the promise of what we can accomplish can be so much further beyond our expectations, or any of the expectations of the people around us. Thinking that we might be able to accomplish anything infinitely more than we might think or ask, should be enough right there to get us each of us to try God's approach rather than our own expectation management.

Reference: Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Testament)