Performance & Productivity Pill: Shifting the Goalpost

You might have heard the term shifting the goalpost before. Shifting the goalpost is often used to describe a negative practice when someone reneges on their promises by changing the requirements.

In the world of work, particularly in terms of productivity and performance, shifting the goalpost is something you will have to deal with from time to time. This is because expectations are always being heightened particularly for top performers. That means the 50 you did last month that earned you applause may not be good enough to earn you praise the next month.

Why is that? Because the goalpost would have been shifted and 50 is no longer your best. That means you should be aiming for 60 upwards.

Please let’s keep this in mind as you work and put it to practice in whatever you do in a work setting either for yourself or in an organisation. You are actually your own competition, and you should be aiming to beat your own record at every attempt.

Another side to this is that, as the post is being shifted for the top performers, it also affects the slaggers because they were not even hitting 50 before and will now struggle the more to cope as the bars are further raised for the star performers, thus leading to feelings of frustration and low self-esteem. Whatever you do, ensure that you are not counted among the slaggers.

In the words of Jim Rohn, “Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high,” and then see what you become some years down the line as you exert yourself in a high-performing setup.

That is the way things work in the world of commerce. That is why the saying goes that, ‘What got you started may not get you going. What got you here may not get you there.‘ Starting is better than waiting. To keep doing it is better than starting; whilst getting better as you do it is superior to keep doing it.

Jeffie and Grandpa

Jeffie was in his playpen and he was crying. Tears were rolling down his little cheeks; his face was red as it could be. He was crying, and he looked pitiful in his little baseball T-shirt and a diaper.

Then Jeffie’s Grandpa entered the room; Jeffie’s little face lit up when he saw his Grandpa! He immediately reached out his little arms in supplication and said: “Out Pa Pa out.”

What is a Grandpa to do? How can someone resist that?

So Grandpa went over to the playpen, he bent over. He reached down to lift his little buddy from captivity and distress…

Just then “Law and Order” walked into the room.

Momma said, “Jeffie, you stay right there! I’m punishing you because you have been naughty! Dad, leave Jeffie alone!”

What is a Grandpa to do?

Grandpa backs off and is thinking, “I can’t just pick up a book and read it with Jeffie here. He would think I was uncaring and distant. I can’t leave the room because he would feel like I have abandoned him.”

What is a Grandpa to do?

But you know what? Love always finds a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffie out of the playpen, Grandpa climbed in with Jeffie!

Grandpa said “If you are in the playpen buddy, I’m in the playpen too. What are you in for? What is your sentence?”

Having Grandpa join him in his “prison cell” brought Jeffie great comfort and joy. In the midst of his captivity, Jeffie no longer felt so alone.

What Jeffie’s Grandpa did is also a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us when He came to Earth as a baby.

God the Father yearned to reach down into our “playpen of captivity” and pull us out. He could not… because of our disobedience… because of our sin. What did God do?

God climbed into our “playpen” with us!

When Jesus Christ entered into our “playpen of captivity,” He took the sin and disobedience that should have been ours alone; releasing us from our captivity… allowing us the opportunity to experience the fullness of life God has for us!

The message is simple, clear and personal: God with us… He loves you so much He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ!

— Author Unknown

Meditation: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – John 3:16-18

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Be Yourself

“Be yourself” is a charge often heard in motivational circles. But this is a world that is in a frenzy about conforming in all aspects of life. It takes lots of courage to break away from cultural, societal, religious, ethical and other conventions. that go against the grain of your real self.

Parable Of The Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are five things you need to know” he told the pencil, “before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

Three: You will be able to correct the mistakes you will make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.

And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct mistakes you might make or grow through them.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to serve God in everything.

By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart and a relationship with God daily.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. – John 15:4

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Mantra of the Productive

Priority is the mantra of the productive. Prioritisation is their habit.

The Axiom that One Must be Successful in Life

I grew up brainwashed with the axiom that one must be successful in life. So, I naturally sought success in everyday encounters, books and motivational sessions. But, the more I learned the regimen of success– they call them tips–the more confused I became. Some of them go: you must wake up at so-so time and sleep by another time, you must dress this way, you must walk this way, you must talk this way, you must weigh this size, you must say some things to yourself in the mirror every day, you must keep some kind of persons as friends, you must show up, you could drop out of school, you must marry this kind of person...
The list is endless, with each success expert postulating his/ her own theory. I wagered that if I apply one-tenth of these theories, I would lose my sense of self in the process. So, I made a simple resolution: I don’t want to be successful again; I only want to be me. And if success is fortunate to come my way in the course of my being me, then congrats to success. It is more important to be me than to be successful.

Slow me down, Lord

 

Slow down

Slow me down, Lord!

Ease the pounding of my heart

By the quieting of my mind.

Steady my harried pace

With a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amidst the confusions of my day,

The calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves

With the soothing music of the sighing streams

That live in my memory.

Help me to know

The magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art

Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;

To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;

To pat a stray dog,

To watch a spider build a web;

To smile at a child;

Or to read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day

That the race is not always to the swift;

That there is more to life than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward

Into the branches of the towering oak

And know that it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord,

And inspire me to send my roots deep

Into the soil of life’s enduring values

That I may grow toward the stars

Of my great destiny.

By Wilferd A. Peterson

Meditation: It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep. – Psalm 127:2