Have you ever noticed the signs on the side of the road during a road trip? We recently returned from a long road trip which included multiple stops off the interstate. While exiting the interstate we saw one sign after another meant to capture our attention. Each sign had a simple purpose – to grab our attention and turn it into action.
There are certain signs which always make me laugh a bit. They are the hand written signs that boast of opportunities like:
“Get cash for your house now!”
“Make $10,000 cash each month from home!”
These signs make me laugh because they promise some sort of big result while showing about as little effort as possible. If you have ever taken advantage of one of these signs please let me know – because I am convinced no one ever calls the numbers on hand written signs.
These signs got me thinking…where do I put in “hand written sign” effort and expect massive results? None of us are perfect, so it is easy to drift into “hand written sign” effort in areas of our lives. Consider the various areas of importance in your life:
- Relationships – in your marriage, dating relationship or friendships do you give last 10% time and attention and expect high levels of connection and intimacy?
- Leadership – do your expectations for the people you lead correlate to the amount of time and energy you spend investing in them?
- Faith – is it possible to build a flourishing spiritual walk when your calendar reflects little to no time in pursuit of God?
- Family – will my family be all I hope it can be when it gets my left over mental, emotional and physical energy?
- Career – do I desire to excel in my career yet put in only the minimum work required?
- Team – am I eager for my team to win yet unwilling to do anything aside from what is asked of me?
Where are the areas in your life where you are asking for and expecting big results? Wherever you desire great results – are you putting in your best effort or are you settling for effort that is more like a hand written sign?
Cory Lebovitz 