Am I Carrying All I Can?

Someone close to me was knocking on heaven’s door last week. Her baby was born in emergency surgery, six weeks early. The doctors told us that both would not have survived had they come in just 10 minutes later. Times like these transform you, and they make you think deeply about all the good advice you receive over the years.

This week I thought deeply about: God gives the heaviest loads to those with the strongest shoulders.

That got me thinking, am I carrying all I can?

There were times in my life where I thought I could hardly carry any more, and I found ways to easily double the load. Like progressive strength training, maxing out yesterday builds muscle for today’s bigger loads. Therefore, when times feel too easy, I find myself searching for the next big assignment – personally and professionally.

I assumed a few big assignments in the past quarter, but I’m past the hard loading phase (learning curve) in all of them.

It’s time to stack.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Strategically, I must decide how to allocate the stack – health, home, work, side hustle, hobbies, friends, etc. There’s only so much time in the day, and deciding what to do with my excess capacity today will determine who I am in 60-90 days.

Obviously, I’m spending a good bit of time writing again. Beyond that, I chose to master SEO and long form content for marketing and sales end enablement.

I’m betting that authentic, long form content will lay the foundation for building deep relationships. Once I have a solid base, I can work on building awareness through short form and syndicated content. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

In this season, the load I’ll carry is more about leveling up skills I already have. I want to push toward mastery.

What are you doing with your excess capacity?