You’ve heard the old saying, “No Pain…No Gain.” It’s so true,isn’t it. Soreness accompanies growth. Advancement comes with Advil. You don’t get to the next level without straining and pulling. You get better by busting it.
I remember playing basketball in high school. Many times in practice, our coach would run us to the point of sheer exhaustion. Many times we would find ourselves extremely sore the day after practice. But with the soreness came an advantage. When it came to the 4th quarter in a game, we could outrun our opponents. Our average height on our team was 6ft. – 6ft 2in. We would often play teams that were much taller than we were, but we usually won. You can’t beat a team you can’t physically keep up with. The soreness paid off.
When it comes to developing yourself as a leader, are you ever sore? A growing leader is going to feel some soreness as they push themselves to get better. If you’re not feeling any pain…you may be on a plateau.
Here’s some tips on how to get sore…
- Hang with people who are better leaders than you. When I was trying to get better in basketball, I would look for opportunities to practice and play with people who were older and better than me. I would usually get my clock cleaned…but just being with them and watching them play made me a better player. It’s easy to fall into the trap of being the “top dog.” The sense of being the best leader we know feeds our ego…but it also stops our growth. If you are the best leader you know, then you have probably stopped growing. You can be a big fish in a little pond and stop growing or you can be little fish in a big pond and keep growing. How do you stay sore? How do you remain the little fish in the big pond? Find leaders either inside or outside of your ministry that are better than you and hang with them. Ask them to push you and make you sore.
- Have sore ears. If you’re going to grow, your ears should be a lot sorer from listening instead of your mouth being sore from talking. Get around leaders that are where you want to be…and just listen. Watch how they respond in different situations…listen to the questions they ask…listen to the tone of voice they use in critical meetings…observe how they lead.
- Ask people to help you see your blind spots. We’ve all got blind spots. And normally we can’t see them. That’s why they call them “blind spots.” And it’s not easy to have them revealed and dealt them. It can really leave some soreness in your spirit. But you gotta’ go through the revealing and healing process if you’re gong to grow beyond where you are now. Gather honest people around you who love you enough to speak into your life…even if it brings soreness.
Set goals for yourself that are realistic, but hard. Set goals that will make you push yourself. The moment you stop pushing is the moment you stop growing. What routines are you settled into that you can amp up to help yourself grow? What goals need to be adjusted so that reaching them means you will be sore afterward?
See yourself and those around you as personal trainers. A personal trainer pushes the trainee so that maximum results are produced. Run toward soreness instead of running from it.
