How do you deal with your own limitations?

How do you struggle with the notion that you are called to be “all things, to all people?”

How do you live in the tension of wanting to be measured, peaceful, and sane — when expectations (both internal and external) seem to dictate that you do more, be more, and give more?

I think one of the challenges of being a good leader in our noisy culture is the ability to sense what we are called to do and be — and then focus primarily (if not solely) on those things.

In too many instances in life and ministry, there is an expectation and/or desire — whether external, internal, or both — that we be a “jack-of-all-trades.” That we not only know about a wide, WIDE variety of things — but that we also know how to do a wide variety of things — and do them well.

We too often believe that we can’t say “No” to things we are asked to do, or that to say “no” would somehow reveal a lack of ability, credibility, or competency on our part.

So we say “Yes!”

But our “yes” doesn’t mean much if we say “yes” to everything. A “yes” to everything means that we’ll be over-committed, over-extended, and likely on our way to burnout.

And if you’re anything like me, you’re probably able to notice this in others much easier than in yourself.

For years now we’ve made this conversation a central part of our leadership training with our students.

Give yourself to just a couple of things this year — and do them well!

This is our message to our newest crop of leaders.

But many of them fail to heed our warning.

And I wonder if that’s because they fail to see us embody this same call?

So I wonder:

What would our lives look like if we only focused our energies and efforts on a few things?

How would this change our ministries? Would it make the better?

What impact might it have on our students?

If you were to focus your efforts on just a few things — for the sake of doing them very well — what would you do?

What do you struggle with most when it comes to thinking about this?