July 20

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#387: Three Keys to Pushing Through the Messy Middle


By Ron

July 20, 2020

minute read time

Lag, Messy Middle

Have you ever gotten a brilliant idea that sent you charging off with great enthusiasm?

You worked on your idea every waking moment and, for a while, made satisfying progress. Then, suddenly and without warning, you notice your progress slowing, your enthusiasm waning. You worked and worked, yet you made almost no progress.

You worked on your idea every waking moment and, for a while, made satisfying progress. Then, both suddenly and without warning, you notice your progress slowing and your enthusiasm waning. You worked and worked, yet you made almost no progress.

The project that excited you just a few weeks ago now seems like an anchor around your neck, pulling you down into a dark abyss!

Congratulations! You have reached what Michael Hyatt calls the messy middle.

I’ve been there. I suspect you have as well. Whenever we set an audacious goal for ourselves or work on a big idea, there comes the point along the way when progress slows, and it becomes measurably more difficult to make progress.

This place on the continuum between the enthusiastic start and the applause that comes with achieving the goal, this messy middle, is when most people accept defeat. The idea dies. The goal is never achieved.

It happens to all of us! Right? Or is it just me?

Pushing Through the Messy Middle

In his book, Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day, author Todd Henry describes this same dead zone. This place where forward progress slows or stops altogether. Henry calls it the “lag.”

The lag, says Henry, is the gap between cause and effect.  It is the time when all the work we do seems to return little to no visible reward, and there is little hope for progress.

Fighting through the messy middle, or the lag, as Henry calls it, requires confidence, focus, and diligence:

  • Confidence in your vision and your ability,
  • A willingness to say no to things that will divert your attention from your goal, and
  • Daily, diligent progress.

Confidence

If your brilliant idea is from God, then there is no reason not to have confidence in your ability to achieve whatever God has set before you! God will sustain you with all the power, love, and discipline you need to traverse the messy middle and march on to victory

Writing to his young protégé, Paul said,

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

When God calls you to do a work, He will give you the power to complete it!

Focus

There is nothing Satan would love more than to distract you from whatever great work God has put before you. How does Satan do this? Most often, he accomplishes his goal of slowing your work by tempting you with diversions. Sometimes, his diversions are pleasant distractions. Sometimes, they are interruptions that prevent from staying on task.

Regardless of the source or type of distraction, the important thing is to maintain your razor-sharp focus on the work before you.

Solomon, advising his son, said,

“Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you” (Proverbs 4:25)

Stay focused on the work God has given you. Keep your eyes on the prize. Resist the devil and all his distractions!

Diligence

Especially during the journey through the messy middle, you must be diligent. Do not allow slowed progress to cause you to doubt God’s plan for you. This is not the time to second-guess yourself or slack off. Instead, you must redouble your efforts. You must persist.

Writing to the Colossians, Paul reminded them their work was the Lord’s work and to treat it accordingly.

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men” (Colossians 3:23)

Remember, in the messy middle, when you’re having a pity party about your lack of progress, that you are working for the Lord. It is His work you are committed to!

The Law of the Harvest

One thing every weekend gardener and farmer knows is there is a gap between the time when you plant a seed and when you reap a harvest. In the same way, there is a lag between initiating work and reaping the reward.

A lot of hard work goes into tending the plant, watering it, and keeping the weeds from overtaking it, but if you persist, you will reap a harvest.

The same is true of the work we are called to do by God. There is often a lag between initiating the work and its completion. During this messy middle, we must remain confident, focused, and diligent. Only then will we reap a harvest!

More Articles

I have written several articles on self-discipline. You can find them by typing “self-discipline” in the search bar. Meanwhile, here are four of my most recent favorites.

Join the Conversation

As always, questions and comments are welcome. Do you ever get stuck in the lag time of the messy middle? How do you get through it?

I’d love your help. This blog is read primarily because of people like you who share it with friends. Would you be kind enough to share it by pressing the share button?

Category: Personal Development | Self-Discipline

Ron Kelleher round small
About the author

Ron spent 36-years in Sales and Marketing with Procter & Gamble before heading off to Talbot Seminary. Now Ron spends all his time writing, volunteering at church, and loving his beautiful family!
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  • Your post reminds me of exercise goals. People often start with high hopes of body transformation. But the results don’t show up for awhile. It’s that messy middle, the months of workouts that seem to never end, but for those who stick it out, the weight loss and firmed up body result.

    • Wish I had thought of that example, John! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the messy middle of a weight loss or fitness goal!

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