“Good things happen when we start before we’re ready. Not only do we open ourselves to the blessings of happy serendipity, but we steal a march on the forces of procrastination, perfectionism, over-preparation, fear and self-doubt.“–Steven Pressfield from one of his blog posts.
I’ve noticed that my ministry effectiveness is proportional to the amount of activities that are important but not urgent, and reflective of the mission, vision, and values of my ministry. The challenge is that these type of activities are extremely hard to start.
Pressfield goes on to give some helpful pieces of advice:
“Remember, the enemy is not the work. It’s not the difficulty of the work. The enemy is Resistance.”
“Bottom line: if you catch yourself uttering such phrases as, “I’m just about ready to start” or “I only need a few more days of research,” remember the Desert Fox. He attacked before he was ready–and kicked the enemy’s butt.“–This was in reference to General Rommel, who attacked the stout British army with scant resources but drove them back through the element of surprise. Read the short account here.
“That’s the payoff we get when we start before we’re ready. The novelist discovers a new character who pops up out of nowhere and enriches the story beyond all expectation.”–This was in reference to the value of improvisation in the arts. Those big steps of faith that I know will allow God more room to work and will grow my ministry often cause self-doubt and worry that I lack the ability to take it on. At each point when I have started before I’m ready I’ve seen God more than make up for my deficiencies and been surprised at my capacity to take on the challenge.
How about you? How do you get started on important but not urgent activities that require lots of faith?
The link to the original post found via Daniel Pink on Twitter. He’s a thought leader on innovation, creativity, and Gen-Y.