I’ve always had an insatiable appetite for more. Satisfaction is hard for me. I have a burning desire to accomplish more, do more, reach more, and… well, so much more. This passion has fueled me to improve and get better. It has helped me work smarter. It has helped me maximize my ministry potential. And when I say, “maximize,” I mean to bring increase as much as possible. Personally, that means I have to maximize myself and what I do if I ever want to maximize my ministry.
If you want to maximize your ministry potential, you need to take complete ownership of the process. Nobody else can or will do it for you. Nothing is ever maximized by accident. Nothing is ever maximized automatically. You can’t maximize anything by just going through the motions. It will never just happen on its own.
I’m going to share with you 4 growth multipliers that will help maximize your ministry potential. They are going to require you to take action–massive action. I pray that you will choose one of the four examples below and begin to apply it to your life and ministry today! If you want to maximize your ministry potential, apply these keystone habits. Be intentional and consistent, and, over time, your potential and impact will be multiplied.
1) Invest in your self: Personal Growth
There are two key areas we all need to continually grow in.
First, invest in your spiritual growth. It’s easy to fall into the trap of only interacting with the Bible when we are preparing to teach others. If you want to take your ministry to a new level then you must take your relationship with God to a new level. You need a healthy, growing, vibrant relationship with God. Don’t allow the time you spend working on your ministry replace the time you spend alone with God.
Second, invest in your leadership growth. One of the best things you can do for your life and ministry is to determine the key areas you wish to grow and then take massive action in those areas. Do you want to be a better leader, then read more leadership books. Here are four ideas to help you kick-start your personal growth.
Schedule time to grow every day
Identify key areas to grow
Invite others to speak into your growth
Choose to never stop growing
2) Stop doing it all: Build a team
Your ministry’s success is directly tied to the teams that you build. One of the most important things you can do for your ministry is invest in and retain volunteers.
Stop doing everything yourself. Invite people to join your team. Resource your team, and then release them to serve. Don’t just give away the tasks you don’t like. Allow your team to participate in stimulating, fulfilling, challenging work.
Even if your team is not able to do things exactly how you would do them, you only have so much capacity. Coach, mentor, follow up and support them by holding them accountable. If you want to maximize your ministry potential, you have to duplicate yourself and build a team.
3) Identify and work on what is most important: Set priorities
The better you are at narrowing your focus the more momentum you will create. The more you will maximize your potential. Overcome the temptation to waste time on activities that will produce little to no results. Invest your best time on the things that will make the biggest difference.
If you struggle with setting priorities, a great book to read is “Eat that Frog” by Brian Tracy. In it, he shares 21 tips to help you stop procrastinating and focus on the most important things. If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, this would be a great book for you. You will learn how to plan, prioritize, and identify the most important task and stay focused on them.
Remember, you can’t do everything. The to-do list is never going to end. The goal is that at the end of the day the things that are left undone are not the most important things, because you set priorities.
4) Find a mentor: Get a coach
A coach will stretch you, push you, correct you, and bring the best out of you. Find someone who is winning at ministry and life, and ask them to mentor and coach you. You will be amazed that most often they will say yes. If you don’t have someone like that in your life, hire someone. Join a mastermind group, create a peer network group, get creative.
One of the best things I ever did was invest in myself by investing in a coach. We have a weekly call. It helps me overcome limiting beliefs, take massive action in key areas of my life and ministry, and go to entirely new levels. My coach has helped me maximize my ministry potential.
If you want to take your leadership and ministry to the next level, if you want to get more done in less time, if you want to lead more effectively than you need a mentor, you need a coach. You also need to coach others. Don’t just take in, find someone who can benefit from your experiences and begin to mentor and coach them. You will be amazed at what this will do for you.
Closing thought: If you want to maximize your ministry potential, you need to take complete ownership of the process. Remember, nothing is ever maximized by accident. Take action today!
Question: What steps can you take today to maximize your ministry potential? Identify one thing, add it to your task list and make progress on it this week. Send me an email and let me know what action you are going to take today.
