Injecting Progress
Let me take you back to Dale 2 years ago: “I can’t tell you how disgustingly addicted I am to progress. My life is built on milestones, goals, visions, and cold hard work. When I say work, I mean WORK. Back-to-back years of 60 hour work weeks. It’s an illness that is stronger than cocaine and almost as lethal. It slowly slides greed, sugar coated purpose, false prayers, and an uncontent heart into the mix. Before you know it, you’ve lost sight of Christ, your family, your ministry, and your friends.”
Spinning Plates & Huffing Ideas
It begins with ideas, tons of ideas. They seem fun at first, maybe even a calling. Some work out, and some don’t. But when one does, the high gets in your veins, it hits your soul and the chase begins. The chase that you never win. The cycle moves faster, you get better, you make more money, you gain influence, you get busy, REAL busy, and the chase continues.
It feels so good, it’s hard to imagine that life should be any other way. You feel like a king. Thousands of Facebook friends, girls on your voicemail, and rumors that you know aren’t true, but you let them slide anyway. Life begins to happen in the future, and the future only. You forget what you ate for dinner last night, and worse, you forget who you ate it with. You brain is always thinking, solving, pushing and pulling, and you’re never EVER fully present.
Then it hits you. Hard. You are so fanatically busy in the pursuit, that you miss life’s incredibly important moments. Your first year of marriage, your relationship with your brother, and the death of a friend, all because you can’t stop. Literally, you cannot do it. The cell phone is in your hand, your in the car, the meetings keep coming, and successes are never successful enough. You have officially lost it, and it feels like nobody on the planet can help you.
Finding Your Almighty Dealer
This was my life for about five years straight. I made $2 million dollars in revenue by the time I was 24 years old. But at what cost? My family… my memories… Then the solution came to me. And of course, it was the one you all are guessing. God the Father. I came home. Through a treacherous journey of sacrifice and heart wrenching release, I began to slow down. Life lost its blur and I began to see again. I knew my friends again, and I knew my God again. He gave me the better race, the race worth running, and the race worth winning.
This might not be you, yet. But be weary how it slips in, it may just be the most deceiving addiction you can face. Your value is not in your achievements, it’s in the Almighty Dealer of Grace, Jesus Christ.
Have you dealt with an addiction to achievement? If so, let me know below.
April 29, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Fantastic article! I could absolutely see myself this same way. I appreciate the reminder to remember what’s most important.
April 29, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Thank you Trevor. It was pressing on my heart for some time now. There is not many of us out there like this but for those who are it can be a lonely trek back home.
April 30, 2011 at 12:35 am
Thanks Dale! My wife senses my heart of discontent and always reminds me to live in the moment. I always need some trip or project to work towards. It is very tough for me to slow down. I use to take a nap after lunch every day when I;started my business 23 years ago; now I struggle to sit during lunch.
April 30, 2011 at 1:11 am
Hi Jim,
I totally get that. What would we do without wives…. Crazy huh? I’m glad you could be blessed. Take care.
May 2, 2011 at 6:51 am
Its wonderful reading through dis article. I give glory 2 God who has given me people around me to always remind me of d need to leave a life of Purpose on earth. I wish one of my close friend read this-guess he might not even ve time 4 it. All same, am blessed and ll share d blessings.
May 2, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Thanks Samson. Please pass it along to your friend. Thanks for being a part of our community. Blessings.
May 2, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Hey buddy, good article. Yeah, this is a more deceptive form of “self-justification”. In order to prove to ourselves and others that we are not who we we fear we are, we must achieve. The “highs” of achievement temporarily hide other’s negative opinions about us and that makes us feel great! It temporarily “validates” us. But it’s a self-justification validation. It’s root is unbelief in the work of the cross of Christ to fully justify our shame/guilt/condemnation of ourselves. Only true sincere faith alone in Christ’s work on the cross will save us from this. There’s a saying that I love, it says “There are lovers and there are workers, and lovers will always get more work done than will workers.”
Bless you!!
May 2, 2011 at 6:10 pm
I love what you said here: “The “highs” of achievement temporarily hide other’s negative opinions about us” Amen Brother. How are you doing?
January 15, 2012 at 10:55 am
I totally agree well said. Jesus is looking for lovers, and we will be judged on how much we loved, not on how much we did!!
May 4, 2011 at 11:44 am
It’s good to see that you figured it out at your young age. I went on for two decades before it hit me, most of the first decade of the search not a believer. It took a lot of sleepless nights, tremendous heartache and toll on my marriage and years of searching for my identity. It seems I was looking in the wrong place, my workplace success. When I did find it, it was where it has always been safely stored, with Christ. For you see, my identity has always been in Christ and in Christ alone. And by the way, my wife and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage this October and I’m more in love with her now than ever.
May 4, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Thanks Bruce. Just know, that now I am trying to lead more like you. Blessings Brother.
December 9, 2011 at 6:55 am
wise words Dale. thank you for putting them down here to read. they are a great reminder that the fun and the ideas are not at all necessarily from Him. so sad how much is easily lost for so little a prize.
December 9, 2011 at 9:10 am
Excellent article Dale, I can feel this as I read it. Your heart was truly felt as well as the message. Cheers friend! Thanks for sharing
January 12, 2012 at 3:23 am
Dale, your ambitions are to be commended. And your confessions are to respected. May the Lord bless your ventures. It was an honor to meet you at the identity conference. I think we tend to take the practice out of what we preach at times. My ambitions to be more successful and less dependent on my day to day have been coming up short. But in so doing my faith continues to grow stronger in Him.
I think we tend to leave out Matt 6:33 and seeking Him first and His kingdom. Look forward to speaking with you again. I have an idea