Last week we exposed the impossible math high-performers are living by: trying to give 100% to five different areas at once. We also named the works-based righteousness trap: using your performance to prove you’re enough.
Today, we shift to the solution.
THE FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT: Redefining Success
Today’s books, podcasts, and masterminds on personal/professional growth all tell you that you can be all things to all people all the time.
That’s a lie.
In addition, the foundation of this lie is based on a flawed definition of success. God defines success differently than we do.
We define success by the size of our house, how much money we have, and how well we’re performing in every area of our life.
God defines success as being faithful to the calling He’s given us
in each season of our life.
The goal isn’t to be “your best” in every area.
The goal is to hear at the end of our lives, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
That means getting to a point of CLARITY about what God is calling you to in THIS season.; not every season, not forever., right now.
Your #1 goal is to be found faithful.
Everything else fits underneath that.
The answer isn’t trying to spin ten plates perfectly.
The answer is identifying the few plates that matter most RIGHT NOW and being okay with some of the other plates spinning at a 6/10 for a season.
WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN REAL LIFE?
Excellence looks different in different seasons, and that’s okay.
I don’t invest as much time with my teenagers one-on-one as I did when they were three years old. They don’t need me nearly as much and have their own lives they’re living apart from mine.
Excellence in parenting at this stage is different than excellence at that stage.
My son is graduating high school in four months.
I COULD work Saturdays right now to launch a new product that would grow the business and provide more financially for our family.
But with only four months left of his senior year, I sense God calling me to enjoy this time with him. These projects can wait.
Choosing to invest LESS into the business right now could FEEL like I’m being lazy or not working to my potential. But investing more into the business would result in neglecting a HIGHER priority God’s called me to in this season.
I have a client who recently had two key positions leave his company and had to fire two mid-level managers. For the next four months, his work life is going to demand more from him while he rebuilds his team.
That means some other areas (maybe time with friends, maybe a side project) are going to operate at a 6/10.
And that’s not irresponsible. That’s faithfulness to what this season requires.
But if he’s still operating that way 8-12 months from now when the team is rebuilt? That’s a different story. The season has changed, and faithfulness looks different again.
You have to have a priority.
You can’t have five equal priorities.
THE QUESTION:
Stop asking: “How do I be my best in every area?”
Start asking: “God, what are you calling me to in THIS season?”
“That’s great Jason, but how do I actually determine what God is calling me to in this season?
Next week in Part 3, I’ll give you the practical framework for how to actually live this out.
