My wife Joanne and I got into raising chickens. A close friend who does the same told me how he bought some chicks to incorporate into his chicken flock. His intention was to add fun to his family. But as he continued, he realized how a small decision to manage more chicks ultimately started managing him.
“Now I have to build a new coup,” he said. “I have been thinking of the design… I am wondering if I should build it myself or hire someone? And I haven’t settled on how it should look—” Then he caught himself, realizing that he was no longer managing the chicks project, but the chicks were managing him!
Now talking about more than chicks, but also commenting about life as a whole, he said, “I forget that I could just give some chicks to friends who would love to have them. Reducing my responsibilities is a real option.”
My friend was using his stressful situation to communicate a simple truth about time management.
It’s very common to add so many responsibilities, tasks, and projects to our workload that we end up in a situation where the tasks we created and began to manage, then start managing us, controlling our time and even causing us to worry over why we don’t manage them better.
His situation reminds me of a physical trainer I once had who would raise his voice while coaching our group to do planks or push-ups and say, “Do what you can, not what you can’t!”
Are you doing what you can’t? Maybe you have some chicks to give away.
How can I support you more as a Christian leader and entrepreneur?
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