“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

Yesterday, I wrote of how it is tough to know what success is when the goalposts keep moving.  Well, just as bad, if not worse, is trying to find happiness in our work when we keep getting the goalposts moved on us and we never get a chance to celebrate any success.  I was guilty of this as a leader (note, “was” as I learned my lessons) that as soon as we’d accomplished what we said we wanted to achieve, and in many cases right before we achieved, I’d set a new goal, raise the bar, move the goalposts.  And then, I wondered why people on the team never felt fully recognized or in more than one case, happy.  The best moments are when real energy is put into stopping, celebrating and resting before anyone sets a new goal.  No one minds striving for more, as long as they have a chance to bask, be recognized and rewarded for achieving what they set out to accomplish.

Want to be the most helpful person in the company for when the goalposts have moved?  Here’s the secret: listen to Paul.  He told us to “encourage each other and build each other up.”  Encouragement doesn’t guarantee happiness, but it is great medicine for what ails us when we are feeling overwhelmed, discouraged and unrecognized.  And, if we are the ones doing the encouraging, we can expect that we will be called upon again and again.

Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (New Living Translation)