Years ago, I attended a conference. The topic of the conference was, “Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.”
One of the speakers changed my life forever; she stepped to the podium and began with a story that captured the attention of every attendee. It was intriguing and kept you on the edge of your seat. I’m not sure if the story was fictional, but it served its purpose. At the conclusion of the conference, each participant had a mindset shift.
This is the story in brief…
In the 1800’s, about three to four explorers visited a huge desert and did not bring enough water. They started digging at different spots underneath the surface about a foot or two trying to find water. They ended up losing their lives in the desert because of a lack of water. “
The speaker added, “If you do not effectively plan, you plan to fail. Sometimes, it is important to over plan. It is obvious, the explorers spent more time on the execution, which was the visit to the desert rather than the plan itself which was to survive while being in the desert. If we spend the adequate amount of time in the planning phase, the execution happens flawlessly, effortlessly, and easily.
She said planning is 80% of it; execution is only 20.% She finished with this, if they planned their days and the water consumption needed for each explorer effectively, they would’ve survived. “
After the conference, I decided to research the story she shared using Google .
To my surprise, there’s a part of the story the speaker she did not share, which I think is powerful.
Here the second part…
“Many years later, it was discovered that there was water right there where they had lost their lives about three feet underground. If they would have just dug down a little bit further, they would have found the water and saved their lives.”
If I had to choose a topic or speaking point, it would be ENDURANCE.
So many times, we give up and throw in the towel right before things are about to turn in our favor. The story says that explorers died just a couple digs away from the water they needed to save their lives, which shows they lacked endurance . They gave up too soon.
The same is true when we go through a dry season- work is cutting hours, relationships and friendships are not flourishing, business sales have decreased, doctor do not know what’s wrong. It can be easy to drown in self-pity and defeat. Then you start to think, “This is never going to change or get better. I’ll never reach that goal.”
No, just like those explorers, “water”is there. Provision is there. Resources are there. People who will help get to the level are there. You just have to KEEP DIGGING. If you will shake off the self-pity and shake off the defeat, you will soon tap in to the blessings and provisions God has for you.
KEEP DIGGING!
