$64,000 Question: Being Diligent or Just Striving?

Being diligent versus striving – do you know the difference?

If you aren’t a game show enthusiast, you may not know about the show, “The $64,000 Question.” Believe it or not, even before there were TV game shows, there were game shows that aired on the radio. “The $64,000 Question” was one of those shows airing in the 40s. The game show successfully transitioned to television in the 50s.

The gist of the show was that contestants were asked questions that got increasingly more difficult. After answering each question correctly, they were given a prize that they could keep or risk losing if they failed to give the correct answer to the next question. Each right answer moved them closer to the “$64,000 question” – the ultimate prize!

You Want Results

It’s common among leaders and entrepreneurs to work hard, very hard! After all, you want to accomplish a mission, reach goals, and get results! Is the way I’m approaching life and work being diligent or is it just striving? That’s the $64,000 question!

About Striving

Striving is something that humans are naturally prone to doing. If working hard is good, working harder is better, right?

Working hard is NOT a bad thing. In fact, God designed us to work. Let me remind you that Adam and Eve had work to do long before their misstep in the garden. They were responsible for caring for all that God had made. (See the end of Genesis 1.)

Being persistent and consistent are important when it comes to accomplishing a mission, reaching goals, or getting results! Over time, your efforts add up to powerful results. Sometimes it’s necessary to work extra hard at a task, even some tasks you don’t love doing.

So how do you know when you’ve crossed the line of working in a persistent, consistent, or seriously industrious way and have entered the land of striving? Here are 5 ways I know I’m probably striving:

1. I’m Not Sleeping

When I am being diligent, I’m more relaxed, creative, and my mind is more focused. As a result, my sleep is sweeter.

When I’m striving, my mind races and I have a harder time shutting my brain down, which impacts my sleep. I don’t sleep as well or as long.

In an effort to get more done, I’m working or catching up on something when I should be sleeping. I know I am not alone! I hear all too frequently the tales of others who are trying to get things done into the wee hours.

Maybe you go to bed at the regular time, but you get up extra early, convinced that a jump start to your day will yield the results you are after. Before you know it, getting less and less sleep has become a way of life, and not a good one!

There are times when life’s circumstances lead to getting less sleep than I would like, however, that should be the exception, not the norm!

2. I’m Not Resting

Another tip off that I’m striving is that I don’t have a regular rhythm of rest. A Sabbath.

God wants you to follow His example and rest (Genesis 2:2). It’s His gift to you. God longs for you to slow down, savor His presence, and rely on Him. It’s also a much-needed way for you regroup. After all, you are not a human “doing” but a human “being” and resting is so very good for you.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

3. I’m Out of Balance

Perhaps sleep and/or rest is sacred for you. My guess is that there are other places in your life that you steal precious time from. You’d rather skip workouts, time with God, or even having a little fun with the treasured people in your life in order to achieve your goals.

When my life is out of balance, that’s a good indicator that I am striving in some area of my life.

4. I’m Feeling Resentful

Striving makes me feel like I “have to” do this task or that task which sucks the fun out of even tasks I love doing and leaves me feeling resentful.

I work best when I am operating out of a “get to” mindset. I honestly LOVE the work I get to do. But when I’m striving everything changes – the quality of my work suffers and my happy feelings about work fade.

Resentment bubbles up when I feel like I need to work harder, faster, and better (striving!). Yet when I’m fully trusting God’s and His love and care for me, and I am believing that He will help me get done what really needs to get done, the resentment dissipates.

Time and time again God’s proven Himself faithful. If I’m willing to diligently do my part and trust Him even when it seems like my efforts aren’t going to be enough, it all works out. In fact, it often has a way of working out far better than I imagined!

5. I’m Not Getting the Results I Desire

You would think that striving would produce some super awesome results for all the extra effort! In reality, it does quite the opposite. Because striving is exhausting, I’m less focused, lack clarity, make silly mistakes, and overlook solutions that would be quite obvious if I wasn’t striving. And sadly, everything takes longer than it normally would.

It’s easy for me to put so much effort into making things happen that there’s no room for God to step in. That’s what I call working in the flesh, aka striving. When I ease up and trust God more, it’s incredible the opportunities that pop up or that I’m able to see. I know it isn’t coincidence – it’s God at work in my life!

6. I’m Trying to Force Outcomes

I have goals. I know the outcomes I’m hoping for, and when I’m not getting the results I want, I tend to force what I want to happen and/or I get bogged down in disappointment and frustration. I’ve officially entered the striving zone! It’s not pretty.

The truth is that the outcome is out of my hands – it’s in God’s hands. My job is to faithfully do the work by putting my efforts into the tasks that will produce the best outcomes.

When I’m hyper focused on the outcome, I’m probably striving.

7. I’m Cantankerous

Yep! I’m not that fun to be around. I don’t want to be bothered or interrupted. I’m irritable and moody and impatient. That’s not in keeping with the person God created me to be! He created me to be “loving” (Do you know who God created you to be?) and it’s tough to be loving while striving! Maybe God created you to have a servant’s heart, to be compassionate, or courageous, or something else. Whoever God created you to be, I bet you find it nearly impossible to be that too when you are striving.

8. I’m Reacting to My Fear Monster

My Fear Monster is “I don’t matter” and my Fear Monster relishes the idea of me striving. In fact, I often end up striving in an attempt to matter more.

Your Fear Monster may be different. Perhaps what invites you to strive is attempting to be enough, or trying to be more competent, or something other than ordinary. Whatever your Fear Monster is, it keeps you hustling, working endlessly, and striving!

Making great efforts to achieve or obtain something – that’s the definition of striving. It sounds good on the surface, but striving takes a toll on your health and well-being! It leads to frustration and burnout. And it damages your relationships! Most disheartening is that striving doesn’t lead to the results or the success you were chasing!

On the flip side, God invites us to “Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) The NASB version of the Bible states it like this: Cease striving and know that I am God. In other words, let go, relax!

How do you know when you’ve gone from being diligent to striving?

© Can Stock Photo / rrbancod

This post was originally posted on 1/30/18. It’s been updated and revised just for you!