“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit” (George Allen).
But how can I have mediocre ability and achieve great things? Here’s how:
Christ said that if you’ve been faithful in little, you’ll be faithful in much (Matthew 25:21). Jim Rohn says the same thing: small disciplines move us toward success and lead to more disciplines. Rohn advises that we read, journal, and turn our philosophies (e.g., “I am a spiritual and moral being before I’m anything else”) and values (e.g., “I highly value service to God and man”) into activity. Excelling in small and often unseen disciplines is a huge key to achievement.
Here’s another thought:
“It is not what we get that makes us valuable, it is what we become in the process of doing that brings value into our lives” (Rohn).
My goal is more to become like Christ than to achieve what others might view as success. Sometimes I forget this. It’s so easy to be lured into others’ definitions of success (usually related to numbers and money!). Are you the person that you want to be? Because that’s the person who will do what you’ve never done!
Don’t forget about proper rest: Rohn agrees with the biblical ratio of work to rest: Six days of work and one day of rest. “Rest should be a necessary pause in the process of preparing for an assault on the next objective and the next discipline. The punishment for excessive rest is mediocrity.” According to neuroscientists, adequate rest and sleep is directly proportionate to productivity. By the way, this includes taking a short nap during the day. More on this in a future blog!
Facing where you’re at: Facing our present reality, including the “impossibilities” and our limitations, contains the kernel of miracles, says Rohn. And all we need is a kernel! Robert Schuler said, “Anyone knows how many seeds are in an apple, but only God knows how many apples are in a seed.” When we face reality, even not knowing specifics of the future, that’s a good time to move forward! Use what small gifts you have and take advantage of whatever opportunities come along or you can create. Acting with faith and integrity, we can enter into all that God has for us.
“You can’t get what you’ve never had unless you’re willing to do what you’ve never done” (“212˚,” by Parker & Anderson).
Be proactive: Just do it! Then don’t stop doing it!
In the recent Winter Olympics, Michael Phelps won the 100 meter butterfly by .01 seconds. While second place glided to the finish line, Michael gave it one more stroke and won by a fingernail. Michael’s time was 50.08 seconds while Milorad Cavic’s time was 50.09. Of course, Phelps has now won more Olympic gold medals than anyone in history. Michael just kept doing it! He said about that one race, “If I would have glided, I would have lost the race.” We can’t glide to the finish lines of our lives and expect to excel.
Christ said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). In Matthew 25, Christ tells a parable of the rewards of good stewardship over what God has given us. Christ highly valued our activities and said that we could know who people are by looking at their “fruit” (Matthew 7:16, 20).
God rewards both faith and industriousness. Of course, productive activity begins with God’s grace to give us faith. If our activities are to have eternal significance, they must proceed from relationship with the Giver of Life and from godly, noble values. Before we can achieve great things, learning to rest in God cannot be emphasized enough. With God’s help we can achieve a life that pleases God and blesses others. It’s also how to joyfully do what you’ve never done!
And don’t forget that God delights to use people who don’t seem like much:
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-30).
Here’s a final thought: Once you’ve done what you once thought you could never do, you’ll feel better about being a different person than you’ll feel about the accomplishment. And you’ll be set to do the next thing you thought you could never do!