day 1102: E for Effort

"The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoke to you are spirit and life"

There is a long-standing debate over whether the old saying is "E for effort" or "A for effort".  It is true that at one time many schools did not have an "F", but instead an "E' would be the next grade down after "D".  This is a long standing debate and was even a title of a 1947 movie, "E for Effort" (it was science fiction).  But the adage probably originated before that in the 1930's and by the 1960's it became formal. See this about the "U.S. President's E Award":

This award is one of the most prestigious export achievement honors conferred on US. companies. Created in 1961 by executive order of President John F. Kennedy, it was designed to give special recognition to those few outstanding companies and individuals who excelled in their effort to increase United States exports. The "E" Award, which stands for Excellence, Expansion, Effort and Exports, has, over the past three decades, come to symbolize the finest in American commerce and stands as a reminder of the ever increasing importance and value of participation in the global marketplace. It was modeled after a World War II method of recognizing production plants for patriotism called "E Pennants."

So, we can get an "E for effort" and just maybe we should be giving more of them out to our "E-mployees". Recognizing efforts that are on a positive trajectory to a desired result is just smart leadership and business. Why do so many of us want to ignore these efforts and milestones that are achieved along the way and only wait for recognition until the end?  There is power in recognition and effort is what employees are putting out on their way to the end result, so why not recognize it along the way.

God tells us that no matter how hard we try, there are certain things that human effort cannot accomplish.  Salvation is one of those.  We can't earn our way to eternal life with God, we can only accept the gift that He has given us and then use that gift each and every day in our lives.  Allowing ourselves to receive, believe and follow is the only effort we need to make.  Today, there will be plenty of human tasks and results that must be toiled over to be achieved.  It is right to do these well and meet the objectives put in front of us in our work.  But, let's remember that the talents and opportunities that are before us come from God and that we need to reach daily for His Word and Spirit to guide and lead us through each day.  It is then that our efforts can show up for Him and He promises to deliver a life that is full and abundant according to our needs.  What a promise for us to start this week knowing!

Reference: John 6:63 (New Living Translation)

day 1007: 110%

"Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress"

"She gave it 110%!" 

We love to put "110%" out there as the number that signifies that someone gave it their all.  I don't think it is physically possible to actually give 110% of yourself but that notwithstanding 100% of us would probably agree that if we are going to have our organizations achieving what we need to, that we need a large majority of the company who are willing to give 100% of themselves to the job at hand. No business or organization steps back and builds their products and work based on people giving 50% effort or some other low percentage.  We need the all of people to make significant and important strides forward.  The world we work in now is just too competitive for that not to happen. There are a number of major, well-known companies who are faltering today because their people are losing hope in the direction and leadership of the company and as such, I know they are not getting 100% because the market is flooded with the resumes of their employees.  It's a worthwhile exercise to sit and make a list of the people on your team and put a % next to their names as to how much you think they are "giving" of themselves to their jobs.  If you are honest and you have people who end up with %'s that are less than 80%, then it's time to take stock of what you need to do identify the problem and bring them back up in their contribution level. If you can't, then you run the risk of losing them all together.

As ones who are working daily to bring glory to God in all that we do (our purpose), we just can't afford to not give that effort 100%.  Paul tells Timothy to "throw" himself into his tasks.  We need to be willing to throw ourselves into God's will and way for us.  Read the second part Paul's statement for the result; "...so that everyone will see your progress".  The world is watching, evaluating and always monitoring our progress.  We may not think this happening, but it is, all around us, all the time. Today, take note and put your own % next to your name as to how much are you giving of yourself to the Kingdom.

Reference: 1 Timothy 4:15 (New Living Translation)

day 495: How Much Effort? All You Got!

I learned early on, if you are going to do something, do it well and don't cut the corners or take shortcuts and don't above all else, not give it your all. There are few feelings like quitting or stopping when you know down deep inside that you haven't given it your all. The disappointment that comes afterward when the results align with the effort, and fall short, is impossible to reel back in and becomes something that we have to live with. When we don't give it our all, we squander an opportunity and we let ourselves and others down. After we do this a few times we start to become conditioned to a less than full effort and that is a very dangerous and slippery slope to stand upon. A friend has a son who has the innate talent to be a very good golfer. He was told throughout college that if he stuck with it, practiced, played and studied the game as if it was his job that he has the potential to turn professional. That is what he is doing. He has given himself a full calendar year to give it his all and at the end of the year if he has not broken through, then he will realign his efforts to another profession. What is most impressive about this is that within that year, there are no compromises and only a fully focused, all out effort. No day can be wasted and every hour that he has prescribed for practice must be maximized. It's impressive to see. His example makes me stop and evaluate how well I am doing at putting my efforts all out there. Peter tells us something similar when he writes of the gifts that God has given us. In 1 Peter 4:11 as he describes how we are supposed to use our gifts; "...Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belongs to Him forever and ever. Amen." There is no question, we are to give every bit of ourselves with an all-out effort. When do we do, then God's glory can be seen and delivered through our efforts. Anything less, and we come up short. Today, there is work on the docket that demands all we got. Call on God for His strength and power and then go all-out and give it all you got and watch for what God does next!

Reference: 1 Peter 4:11 (New Living Testament)