Expectations
Theme: Expectations
Verse: For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8)
Coach Deion Sanders was asked what the most difficult things he has had to do as a football coach. He replied that it was managing expectations. In his context, he was talking about how he could not expect things out of his players or staff that he would not expect of himself.
Great Leadership advice!
That got me thinking about things we expect of ourselves.
There is life model that is depicted by a series of three concentric circles; the outer ring is the Circle of Concern (those things, like weather, that we have no control of whatsoever), the middle the Circle of Influence (those things we have input into, but others make the final decisions), and right at the core of the circle in the Circle of Control.
Unlike the outer two rings, the Circle of Control contains things you have direct power over. These would be things like:
- Your thoughts and attitudes
- Your words and actions
- How you spend your time
- Your reactions to events
God’s expectation of us is that we rock the things inside our Circle of Control. So, it would behoove us to spend most of our time and energy right there (50-60% of our time). He created each of us with a purpose and with the capacity to meet that expectation. The Circle of Influence is an OK place as well for a period of time (maybe 30-40%), but you need to gauge when your ability to influence has expired. The Circle of Concern should be visited sparingly (less than 10%), like seeing that a hurricane is coming your way, and it is time to either evacuate or board up the windows (both Circle of Control responses to a Circle of Concern event).
So, the next time things start to become overwhelming, instead of trying to control the uncontrollable, or spending extra time trying to control something that we can only influence, just take a deep breath and take the pressure off of yourself. Move back into your Circle of Control and let God take care of the rest.
Have a GREAT week!
Adapted from Lead with Faith, Play with Purpose by Andy Doole