A Leadership Workout: Pushing Past Limits

I like to work out. I have a saying: life is always better after a workout. No matter what happens in a day, a vigorous workout helps me release stress and feel better. My routines come from Beachbody. For about $140 a year, you get access to dozens of programs. Despite the variety, I usually stick with two trainers I like: Tony Horton and Shaun T.

One of Shaun T’s key sayings is: The workout doesn’t begin until you’re tired. You don’t build muscle or endurance until you push past fatigue. Burning out a muscle makes it grow. Recently, while working out at home and feeling pretty tired halfway through, I put my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. My daughter, Lydia, said, “Pop, you should stop. You’re tired.”

But I heard myself rephrase Shaun T’s words this way: Growth doesn’t happen until you push past your limits.

In parish leadership, if we’re committed to growing, we will hit our limits—over and over again:

• We hit our limits when it comes to our knowledge or understanding of how to grow programs. Maybe right now you’re facing the limit of how to increase giving, raise up volunteers, or boost weekend attendance.
• We encounter limits when it comes to dealing with problems. You might hit your limit in dealing with staff conflict or broken systems.
• We hit spiritual limits. We encounter forces we don’t know how to defeat.

There are countless ways we’ll hit our limits - whether in identifying the right staff, improving technology, maximizing building usage, or better communicating the Gospel.

But growth doesn’t happen until we reach our limits and choose to push through them. The limits of knowledge, ability, or experience you feel right now are opportunities for you to push to the next place God has for you.

Growing organizations have growing leaders. These leaders hit their limits - whether in wisdom, energy, or enthusiasm - but push through anyway. They set a tone that says, when we hit our limits, it’s a challenge to grow. We don’t give up. We figure it out.

Now, let me confess: I’m clear on pushing past my limits in a workout, but I sometimes forget to apply that mindset in parish work or in helping other parishes. Like you, I can hit limits and feel frustrated or upset. I start to question myself as a leader. Hitting my limits makes me doubt myself, but that’s wasted energy.

When we hit our limits, there are four steps we can take—far more productive than frustration or self-doubt.

Four Steps to Pushing Past Limits

1. Acknowledge your limit.
We don’t always have the knowledge, information, or wisdom to move forward, and that’s okay. Hitting a limit is a sign we’re growing. If we stop hitting limits, we’ve stopped growing. Our friend David Czaun, who spent many years at Saddleback Church, often said, “Systems work until they don’t.” It’s the nature of things to hit their limits.

2. Push within yourself.
Sometimes the resources, insight, or wisdom we need are within us or our parishes. After reflection or conversation, we might realize we already have what we need. Shaun T also says, “Dig deeper.” When you push past your limits, you might discover more within yourself than you ever knew.

3. Pray and turn to God.
Often, it’s when we reach the end of ourselves that we most clearly see our need for God. I struggled with where to place this in the order because if God has already given us something, I believe He wants us to use it. But when we don’t have what we need, it’s time to turn to Him. Praise Him in advance for what He’ll do. He may give you the energy, reserves, or wisdom you lack, or He may lead you to rest or another step.

4. Seek help from others.
Sometimes we don’t have the answers, but other people do. Find counselors, coaches, or mentors. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” Invest in people with the knowledge you need.

If you’ve hit a limit, don’t back down. Don’t waste energy questioning yourself. Your growth - and the growth of your parish or organization - lies on the other side of that limit. Let’s reframe those limits as opportunities for God to take us higher in His service.

Rooting for you,
Tom