Day Eighteen: Motivation Check No. 5 Selfishness

I firmly believe that you cannot fully love and care for others if you are unhealthy physically, mentally, or spiritually. However, when the world starts to revolve around you, your needs, your goals, and your dreams to the detriment of others then perhaps it is time for a motivation check.

What do I mean by detriment of others? You are neglecting those people or things God has already entrusted into your care, i.e. your spouse, your children, your work/colleagues, your extended family. If your family has heard you tell them “in a minute” twenty times in the last week, you may be facing a mere prioritizing problem that requires some schedule tweaking. When this becomes your constant refrain, you may want to reflect on the following:

1. Check why you are acting in the first place?

2. Are you attempting to escape responsibilities and obligations you have already committed to?

3. Are you trying to please Group A to the neglect of Group B?

4. Have you taken on too much?

5. Are you always chasing some new and exciting venture and have 10 or 15 unfinished “things” that you have no intention of going back to?

6. Does every new venture result in a cycle of over committing, exhaustion, over committing, and exhaustion with others having to pick up the slack while you go and find yourself?

Perhaps it is because I am a millennial but I know dozens that have issues #5 and 6; those issues seem to be a recurring theme of my generation. Sometimes this is innate and your friends and family have enabled you to behave this way for years. They go chasing after you while you are on some new solo adventure. If you are truly single and owe nobody anywhere anything, then adventure on, but I seriously doubt that most of us could truly say that.

 Now let me be very clear, I am not advocating that you give up on your dreams and goals to your own detriment. We are not called to be slaves but servants; we are not called to wipe everybody’s booties or boots; however, there are people and things God entrusted into our care. When our imaginations are so enthralled at the thought of our own successes that we neglect the people and things in our care, we need some course correction. 

That is truly the purpose of the last five days of motivation checks—course correcting. Don’t beat yourself up. We all have selfish tendencies in one way or another. Yours may need some tweaking or a major overhaul. Check your heart and ask God for help.

 To Read the 31 Day Series "Dream. Plan. Do." from the beginning please click here.