Lead by Doing What Others Wont Do: Drive to Completion

Greetings,
This article had really spoken to me. I would like to bless all of you by sharing it here. On the cross, Jesus said: "It is finished" and yet, so many people at the end of their life's road say, I wish I would've done this or that - there is so much I haven't done... It is said about Jesus: "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross"; what is it in our lives that will push us to complete the tasks set before us? Read on and you will learn more about ways to get things accomplished in life. Have a great day and may God bless you! Alexander Shein


Lead by Doing What Others Won't Do: Drive to Completion
By Mark Sanborn

Visit any home improvement store on a Saturday morning, and you will see the beginning of hundreds of projects. People gather supplies, get instruction, and consult with professionals to get their game plans in order. Week after week the same scenario plays out. Based on sales, it would appear that these weekend warriors will soon beautify and improve the entire planet.

But reality and results tell another story entirely. A quick look through the garages and basements of many of these great starters would likely reveal the truth about completion: the final ten percent, for many people, is virtually uncharted territory - meaning they never get there.

Carry the accumulation of half-demolished foyers, clogged caulk guns, and piles of debris into the business world, and it's no different.

The pattern for success in business is to recognize an unsatisfied need, innovate to find and provide a solution, then to expand and repeat the process. Somewhere between innovation and delivery, we find the no-man's zone known as completion.

I once employed someone who proved to be an excellent initiator but a terrible finisher. She would start a task but get hung up once she encountered an obstacle. When asked why she didn't get the job done, she blamed someone for not getting back to her or a situation she'd encountered. In short, she didn't understand how to drive to completion.

What makes completion such a challenge?

Completion forces us to step forward.
For many people, the thought of completing a goal is unsettling - even when the task at hand is unpleasant. Maybe it's the sense of the 'known evil' being preferable to the unknown one. No matter how ornery a project has become, at least it's a pain in the neck that is familiar. We know that upon completion, we must choose again. We question whether we've got the goods needed to accomplish the next challenge.

Completion forces us to step up.
Concluding the current initiative inevitably moves us to a point of "what next?" For success-minded people, the answer to that question always comes in the form of raising the bar. Knowing that an even greater challenge lies ahead can make incompletion insidiously alluring. We know that each completion is followed by a call for even more. We wonder how we will bear up as the stakes are raised.

Completion forces us to step out.
Whether the task at hand is pleasant or not, we become attached to it. No matter how hard it seemed as we first put our hands to the plow, it is now within our comfort zone. It is familiar, and it seems manageable. People generally fear change. We convince ourselves that survival depends on staying inside our circle of competency. Completion represents a not-so-subtle nudge out of that circle.

For many people, incompletion has become a way of life. It takes the form of procrastination, loss of interest, confusion, and frustration. By remaining at the 90% complete mark, we reap the dubious benefits of security, mediocrity, and familiarity.

How can we push forward for completion?

Assess the current situation.
Focus on one task at a time until it is complete. This sounds like an effective solution - on paper. Chances are, though, that your world is more complex than that. However, even with multiple projects and priorities going on at the same time, you can still focus on one idea at a time and then move on. Each new opportunity should be evaluated before you commit. Remember that 'good' is the enemy of 'best' in your consideration. Does it serve your purpose? If so, engage and then move forward into completion.

Realize that the final 10% isn't so bad.
Often the final stretch is comprised of unremarkable, monotonous, or tedious tasks. Because they are less than exhilarating, they seem onerous. Reality is that these final milestones are a lot closer, and a lot easier to attain than they seem. These loose ends rarely take the time or energy we fear they will. Just like the sticker on your car's rearview mirror reads, completion "may be closer than they appear."

Understand the price you pay for incompletion.
The process of beginning an initiative and working on it requires that you fully engage your commitment, your creative power, and your attention. The deepest recesses of your mind loathe letting go of these commitments. Like an elbow constantly poking into your ribs, your mind will nag you unceasingly about your incompletion. This distraction is often enough to pull you right out of the game when it's time to take your next step.

Enjoy the rewards of completion.
The marketplace rewards completion. Every purchase of goods or services is immediately and unconsciously evaluated for completion. If you were to go out for dinner, place your order, and then never receive your food, you would complain, refuse to pay, and never want to go there again. If you purchased a car and discovered it was missing some key component, a steering wheel for example, you would refuse to take delivery.

It's been said that the key to outrageous success is to do what nobody else will do. This brings to the forefront an opportunity to excel through completion, and reap the rewards of your diligence. A quick look around illustrates people's tendency toward procrastination, loss of momentum, distraction, and incompletion. By committing to completion, you will do what nobody else will do, and the rewards will follow.

Recognizing the prices and benefits of completion may be enough to move you forward. What prize awaits when you push forward for completion?

Lead by Doing What Others Won't Do: Drive to Completion | GiANT Impact

God Bless America

Today, July 4 - 2009, is the 233rd birthday of The United States of America. The occasion prompted a call from my Canadian friend, Paul Weresch, who wished my nation a happy birthday.

He was remembering the song, “America, America, God shed his grace on thee …” and as we thought about those words Paul also remembered what the Psalmist wrote … “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

There has been a lot of negative things said about our democracy but Sir Winston Churchill said it best when he stated, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

In a time when the entire world is looking for answers, many are looking to the U.S. to lead as they have so often done in the past. This is the time, my friends, for a strong and vibrant nation … a nation that is not afraid to quote Patrick Henry who declared,

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."

We must be a nation of people who, like their founding fathers, never tire of mentioning and praising the Lord. George Washington said in his 1796 farewell address, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

As we sing, “My Country, 'Tis of Thee,” we must remember what we are saying; that my country … this country, America … is of You, my Lord. It is a gift from God.

“Our fathers' God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing”

It is to God we sing, for the liberty we have is from Him, because He formulated the true way of liberty … that we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul, and with all our might; and that we love our neighbors as ourselves. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18)

We also need to remember that if we truly love God, we will also love and care for the whole of His creation; including without exception, all other humans, all the other animals, and the world in which we all live.

Continuing with the last verse of this hymn, “Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light ...” These United States will not be a bright light to us, or to the world around us, unless that light is the bright and holy light of the Lord from heaven.

As Isaiah said, in 2:5, to the nation of Israel that was turning more and more from the ways of the Lord. “Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord”.

Come all of you who love this land, let us also walk in the light of the Lord, so that nothing will ever happen to our freedom.

You will find to the right of this entry, a link to the Presidential Prayer Team. Go to that link and join with them in prayer for our nation and for our leaders. All of our leaders from the very lowest elected position to the mightiest seat in the world need our prayers.

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States."  - George Washington.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Paul and I join with the people of our great nation in saying, “Happy Fourth of July and God Bless America!

Larry Abele – Editorial Team