Get referrals through diligence?

Posted on December 06, 2011 by David Lee, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

If God is unchanging, then He is diligent. For if you are diligent you are constant, not changing or varying. If you could say anything about the constant effort to accomplish something, not changing or varying, you would have to look for an example. What better example can you find then the Word of God? The Word that became flesh and dwelt among us has so many examples. Woven through the fabric of time, the Word of God has pursued with persevering attention to achieve an extraordinary outcome. Plans formed long ago, He has worked diligently at a task achieving the purest and highest quality of excellence. He has continued without pause or letup, unceasing to bring us an example of diligence.

Diligence is deliverance, diligence is fruitfulness, diligence is plenteousness, diligence is peace, diligence is blameless, diligence is persistent, diligence is regular, diligence is continual, diligence is persevering, diligence is industrious, diligence is rich, diligence rules, and diligence stands before kings.

What must we do to become diligent? Well I just listed a few things we can do, but how do we REALLY become diligent? At its essence diligence is the virtue of hard work rather than the sin of careless slothfulness. Or can I say “SMART” work instead of hard work. We have all heard the term “work smarter not harder” but have you ever really thought of how to work smarter? Because to work smarter will require you to think smarter. Think about it, if you invest time into planning your hours, days & weeks to bring a return on your time & effort. That is a smart thing to do, but at the same time. You could plan to do the wrong things, or things that don’t produce profitable results. And yet you would think you’re working smart by planning your hours, days & weeks.

So to be diligent is not just about working at something with persistence and “working smart.” But it’s also about doing what is right. It means bringing persistence and resources into an effort to achieve an extraordinary outcome. Diligence is working smart, planning right and performing on time, for an efficient and effective outcome. This produces the purest and highest quality of excellence.

It sounds complicated you might say, but before you back off and say “That’s not me, I’m just not that kind of person,” you can be. All you need to do is develop the skill of diligence. Once we have mastered the skill of diligence, we can use it in any area of our lives, to achieve incredible outcomes.

True diligence involves many qualities; this is why it is so rare. Being diligent takes time and requires making habits. The good news is, as humans we are very habit forming creatures. The bad news is, it takes only 1 week to break a habit and 3 weeks to make one. Let’s talk about 4 things that bring diligence into our life.

The first thing we have to do is be truthful with ourselves and wake up to reality. This can be very hard for some people and not everyone will get past this first step. But you cannot skip this step if you want diligence in your life. If you skip this step you will never really be able to grow. We have to see ourselves for who we really are. To do that we have to “uncover the truth,” we have to take responsibility for our lives, our attitudes, our values, and what we do in life with our time.

The second thing we have to do is plan. Without a plan we lose direction, we lose commitment. When you have a detailed plan to accomplish, you will take initiative and gain the diligence to accomplish.

The third thing we must do is seek outside help. It is impossible to be diligent without effective partnering. Most of us are only skillfully knowledgeable in a few things. The truly diligent seek counsel from the very beginning, before they encounter any trouble.

The fourth critical thing to becoming diligent is to seek wisdom and build upon it. The Word of God says if we receive His Word and incline our ears to wisdom and search for her as for hidden treasures, if we apply our heart to understanding His commands and cry out for discernment. Then and only then will we understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. For the Lord gives diligence, for He is diligent.

Be diligent in Christ…