7 Habits of Less Effectual People

Authors have been writing books for a long time, and often they create ideas and patterns for people to feel good about improving themselves.  I have not read much of any of these books, but I do know that while positives are helpful, sometimes it takes seeing the negatives before the positives can be effective.  For this reason, I have come up with a list and commentary concern seven things I know have made me ineffective and less than productive.  Perhaps you, the reader, can reach a personal conclusion from my remarks.

7.  Sitting around when there are tasks to complete.

In this age of Information, the Internets have provided us with a great way to access the bits and pieces of knowledge that was not easily accessible even 15 years ago.  It allows us ways to find past TV shows, games, toys, and things that help us relive memories.  The internet is a useful tool in instantly sharing information that was once shareable only through letters and boxy video cameras and tapes.  Yet, if it is not balanced, and it consumes the majority of our time and energy (Netflix season marathons and World of Warcraft gameplay etc.) and replaces the physical interaction with live people, it is not right.  Sitting around watching hours of your favorite shows that you missed the night before and staring at the screen to find out what others are doing, via Facebook or other social media, certainly makes a person less effective in completing tasks at hand or even tasks unknown. Go out and make new friends, invite people to your house/apartment, volunteer at a local food bank or literacy council, just get out of the house, and you can make someone's day (maybe even your own). Taking action is the first step to becoming more effectual.

6.  Not being organized or living with a messy space.

Now obviously if you want to invite someone, or a group, to your abode, it is important that your home is inviting.  A little clutter is ok, especially if you are cooking for your special guests, but having a clean space is more important than having friends and family for a visit.  Being organized is a pattern that I find to be very difficult; I am organized in my head, but physically I am certainly NOT organized.  I have tried many times to break the bad habit of never keeping a calendar/schedule in written record, and each time I have failed.  I bought three calendars for the new year, and one month into the year, I only wrote in a week of entries combined. I left my two pocket calendars at home, when I visited, and have not gotten them back yet.  I keep falling back into the pattern of pure laziness with that, but especially with cleaning.


I find the best excuses when it comes to not readying up my apartment.  Sure I am a male, and my "level of clean" is visual, but I could do a lot better, although #7 keeps getting in the way.  I see what I have to do: wash the week's worth of dishes in the sink, dust the table tops and bureaus, sweep the floors, and the other things that go with tidying up a place.  Most people don't like living in dirtiness, but they just don't take the time to clean.  A clean house not only makes the place look nicer, it makes you feel better.  It enlightens your mood, gives you a better outlook, and knocks a task off your list, therefore, giving you the confidence to focus on other issues for which to find a solution.

5.  Focusing on the problem and not finding a solution.

There is one man issue with doing the same thing over and over again: when it is not effective.  That is trying the same thing and expecting different results; sure the situation may be different, but if the motives and methods are the same, the result will most likely be the same.  When problems arise, looking at the issues caused by the problem is a good first step, but should not be a big step or even the last one. Analysis should not take long, rather you should move toward a solution quickly by seeing how a solution should take place.  Sure there may be set backs when attempting to reach goals and new heights, but you got to keep working hard to push through it.  IF you do well, you will excel, even if it takes longer than anticipated because of a small bump in the road.  Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

4.  Letting the negative critics getting into their head.

Sometimes there is a need to prove your worthiness and skill level to those who are more skilled than you, or you are faced with tasks that require the criticism of a professional.  I recently began a marathon watching of the cooking show called "The Taste".  On this show homecooks and professional chefs are teamed with a mentor that teaches them strategy and skills.  Mentors advise the teams, both together and individually, and most of the members are humble and listen. However, despite the positive encouragement of a mentor, one team was too stubborn to be open to the directions given.  They constantly mentioned how comfortable they were, how many skills they had, or how everything was fine...yet things were not.  Within 3 competition episodes the entire team imploded and was eliminated from contention.  Attitude makes all the difference.


Even if someone attacks everything that you believe in, and yet you are willing to learn and flexibly open about receiving the criticism, then you can move beyond being ineffectual.  If you allow their negativism to plague your thoughts and actions, you will probably fall flat and never improve-ending up like the team.  Instead you should keep the positive portions of advice, be willing to listen, even if you have to be a phoenix that must rise from the ashes. However, being cocky, and thinking that you do NOT need any help is just the same as the allowing negativity to get into your head. It has the same lasting effect, delusions of grandeur and potentially foreshadowing of failure (at least until there is an attitude adjustment.)

3.  Creating a plan of attack without a strategy.

My most famous strategy is to attack with a wing-and-a-prayer, not always the best idea, but it has been successful for me.  I know that I am a procrastinator (I wanted to complete this post last month), but I can change my plan when necessary.  Each plan of attack must come with a plan for success.  Today in church, my pastor spoke about the cost of being a disciple in Luke 14 and verses 28-30 state this:

²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Sitting down and looking at the pros and cons, discovering small steps and big advances, determining a cost of the process and the risks, and then beginning to complete the task is a necessary step in the creation of a plan.  Laying down a plan leads to effectiveness, plain and simple, but even with a completed plan some things are outside the scope of prediction.

2.  Trying to control the things beyond your control.

Enough said just with this statement, just don't do it, you cannot be effective if you try to control the things you can't predict.  Playing chess and predicting the moves of your opponent is one thing in a game, but that same prediction is truly another in life;  just go with the flow and leading of the Holy Spirit.

1.  Not talking to God before taking action.

If you are listening to the Comforter and following the will of God for your life, you will be constantly asking for his advice and praying to Him.  When doing this, don't ask for what you want, ask for how he can guide you.  Right now, my biggest thing is that I was asked to be a Sunday School teacher, appointed to the missions committee, and volunteered to be the janitor for the church...it is all new to me, but wow, God is guiding, but I still have trouble following...  He is still working on me, I just have to be ready and willing.  IF I do so, I will be much more effectual in life and for the Kingdom of Heaven, here on Earth. Hopefully, as a reader you were able to take something away from this post.