I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership podcast yesterday, when he said something that struck me as profoundly true:

Diligence is excellence over time.

Or to put it mathematically: Diligence + time = Excellence.

Some might take that as a discouragement. You mean no quick fixes? No shortcuts? No magic formula? No silver bullet?

That’s right.

However, I think it’s actually a huge encouragement and motivation to faithful and consistent daily living in our callings.

And it looks like God wants me to hear that message because today I also came across Seth Godin’s post, Preparing for the breakthrough:

Products and services succeed one person at a time, as the word slowly spreads….Doors open, sure, but not all at once. One at a time.

One at a time is a little anticlimactic and difficult to get in a froth over, but one at a time is how we win and how we lose.

In a world that falsely promises instant results, “one at a time” is such a needed message. Pastors and church planters need to hear it. Parents and teachers need to hear it. Businesses need to hear it.

I need to hear it.

One sermon at a time. One lecture at a time. One blog at a time. One video at a time. One soul at a time.

Diligence. Diligence. Diligence.

And maybe one day…excellence.

  • Ben Thorp

    Strictly speaking, if diligence equals excellence over time, then it’s diligence multiplied by time that equals excellence, not plus ;)

    • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

      Math is certainly not my area of excellence!

  • http://asmallwork.posterous.com Ryan

    “We grossly overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, and we grossly underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.”

    A friend said this to me several years ago. I think is quite profound and I thought I’d share it because I think it’s related.

  • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

    Think we might have the same friend, Ryan!

  • http://www.theradicaljourney.com Nick McDonald

    I’m predicting that in the next 10 years, America is going to see a shift from services and products that offer quick-fixes to those that offer realistic, long and hard processes (this could be seen in the p90x workout programs, or the newly popular website getrichslowly.org)

    Then again, maybe 10 years isn’t enough time.

  • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

    Well, that would be a welcome change.