As we conclude our brief series on the three things you can control as leaders: our allegiance, our attitude and our effort, we turn today to effort. Once we have determined who or what is going to receive our ultimate allegiance, and once we have determined the kind of attitude with which we are going to approach the situations we face in life, the final matter over which we always have control is our effort. How much effort are you and I going to put forth in the various tasks of life? We’re all familiar with the sport coaches who say that their players give “105%.” That’s statistically impossible. No one can give 105%, since 100% is the best possible effort. The truth is few of us give close to 100% effort in most of the tasks we engage in our lives.
Knowing I was going to be writing this post today, I have been taking an informal poll as I meet them by asking this question, “So far today, if you were to assign a percentage of effort you have put forth in your work, your relationships, and life in general what would it be? The answers I’ve received have been instructive. Most of the responses have been 80-85%. One person told me he had given 50% and another said he had given 9%. I was surprised by the 9% answer, because it came from someone I consider to be quite productive. He explained his answer by saying that his work was mainly sedentary, and he didn’t have to think that much in order to do it well.
What about you? If I asked, “What percentage of effort have you put forth so far today in going about life’s tasks and relationships?” What would you say? I’ve been reflecting on this a great deal in my life recently, because I’ve found myself not taking good care of myself in the area of physical care. I haven’t put much effort into exercise, or even selecting and eating the foods that will be beneficial to me. I did remove caffeine from my diet again a couple of weeks ago, but this past Saturday I succumbed to the temptation of an Almond Joy flavored coffee. It tasted good, but the following day, I experience one more caffeine withdrawal headache.
What does that have to do with controlling effort in my life? Everything! As leaders, we have the opportunity to set the example for others in the various areas of our lives that I wrote about during the Life Management series: rest, prayer, physical care, relationships, study, work and finances, when it comes to the amount of effort we commit. You may think it sounds strange to speak of extending effort in the area of rest, but let’s think about that for a moment. If you and I do not extend effort intentionally to stop our work, play, or whatever it is we’re doing to rest in adequate amounts, we won’t be able to be as effective in any other area of our lives as we could be. That means it does take effort to rest, and doing so is crucial.
In the same way we extend or fail to extend effort in each of the seven areas. When taken together the cumulative 100% effort we could give, makes all the difference in living and leading effectively. Perhaps none of us actually lives any day giving 100% effort, but the more intentional we become in extending effort in these important areas of our lives, the more effective we will become as leaders.
One more important question when considering this matter of effort is, “How do I know when I have given 100%?” The question will always be answered somewhat subjectively. After all, do any of us know our ultimate capacity in each of the seven areas? Would ten minutes of fervent prayer be a 100% effort, or would it be an hour? Would saving an extra $100 this month be 100% effort or would it be giving away an extra $200? At the end of the day only you can answer those questions for you, and only I can answer those questions for me. The key is that as we ask and respond to the questions in each area of our lives, we will become more intentional about extending the maximum amount of effort, and we will become more effective in life and leadership.
Why not take fifteen minutes right now to stop and evaluate your effort in each of the seven areas, and to set a new goal in each area that will push you to exert more effort? As we do that daily, or at least on a weekly basis, we’ll be examining our lives and making them more worth living, at least we will if we also act on those questions and responses. We know by now that the unexamined life is not worth living. That means taking the time to examine where we are and how we plan to move forward in any area, particularly in the area of effort, will make our lives not only more worth living, but also more effective in the living.
Here’s to leading better by examining our effort and extending more of it in the important areas of life–today!