Have you ever done the right thing and gotten the wrong result?

Have you ever done the wrong thing and gotten the right result?

If so, you might be a candidate to develop Results Syndrome.

I hope you’ll forgive me for using a sports metaphor. They’re cheap and far too common, but I like this one because it contains a surprising paradox.

Yesterday I heard a professional coach claim that a player was too focused on results.

Huh?

If there’s any venue in which results matter, it’s professional sports. Winning is the ONLY measure of success. Get on base, score the goal, hit the shot and, above all else, win the game. How can you be “too focused on results” when results are the only measure of success?

But he’s exactly right.

In sports—and in life—focusing on results is a great way to ensure a bad result.

Every athlete knows there’s a correct way to perform a particular skill, but doing it correctly doesn’t guarantee 100% success. Sometimes you do everything right but the opponent makes a great play or you get a bad bounce or the wind blows the wrong way. In sports and in life, doing it right doesn’t always generate the desired result.

So you yield to the temptation to cut a corner. You drop your hands or mess up your footwork, because you have to try something. And even when you do it wrong, sometimes it works. You get a lucky bounce or the opponent trips, and you succeed.

And since it worked, you repeat the process, and perhaps you get a second lucky break. And suddenly you’ve developed a bad habit that, over time, will inevitably lead to failure. You’ve developed RS—Results Syndrome.

Think this is only about sports?

A young lady doesn’t get noticed by the popular guys. One night at a party she relaxes her morals a bit, and suddenly she’s the center of interest. She likes the results (attention), so she repeats the behavior. She’s contracted RS.

A salesperson always treats customers respectfully but hasn’t met the quarterly sales goal. So he sends a million spam emails with some honest-but-tricky fine print and a few elderly folks fall for his scam. The boss rewards his “success” with a hefty bonus. Guess what happens next quarter? RS strikes again.

I’ve prayed for the right opportunity that’ll make book sales take off, generate speaking opportunities, and allow me to share my message—because that’s really the goal, not the books or the attention. At least that’s what I tell myself. And nothing’s happening.

So I “fudge” my resume, just a little, to make my experience seem a bit more “inspiring.” And someone invites me to a big event and promotes my false claims. Everyone likes the presentation. I sell a bunch of books.

No harm, no foul, right? More people hear God’s message of grace and hope, so I’m sure He’s pleased with the results. And all I’m spreading is the epidemic of RS.

See how it works?

Okay, the last one hasn’t happened—yet—but it’s a real temptation. Wouldn’t such a good result justify a really small wrong? Of course it wouldn’t, but the infection of Results Syndrome grows from that question.

So am I claiming that results shouldn’t matter? No. We all want to succeed and achieve, to be effective, to accomplish good, productive outcomes. But Results Syndrome warns us of an important paradox.

When we focus primarily on results, especially immediate results, we decrease our chances of achieving sustainable, repeatable long-term results of which we can be proud.

Immediate results always point us toward simplistic, quick-fix approaches to complex issues. They trap us on a never-ending treadmill, fighting one urgent fire after another, running ever faster to solve problems created by previous shortcuts. And all of this chasing and running doesn’t ever identify or solve the real problem.

So what’s the solution?

• Understand that outcomes, especially short-term outcomes, often depend on factors beyond our control.
• Control what you CAN control—your attitude, your effort, what you do, and how you do it.
• Do the right thing.
• Do it the right way.

I think that’s the vaccine that prevents the horrible, life-destroying infection of Results Syndrome.

What’s one area in which RESULTS SYNDROME has infected you?

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The success of love is in the loving – it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done. Mother Teresa

What do you usually pray about?

I think I frequently get prayer backwards.

When I first began my attempt to follow Jesus, I found fascination in the public prayers of more seasoned Christians. They prayed about every event in life, every choice and decision. They prayed for safety and health, for pregnancy, and for nearly any imaginable result.

Christian athletes prayed for success, Christian soldiers prayed for victory, and Christian business folks prayed for increased profits. No matter the arena or desired outcome, it seemed that someone prayed about it.

Curiously, there were always profuse thanks from the winners, the success stories, the prosperous, those who realized their dreams. You didn’t hear much from those on the other side of the ledger.

This common model for conversation with God envisions Him as a cosmic vending machine. You choose the preferred product, put in the right payment, turn the handle, and expect Him to produce the right result. And when God meets your expectations, you say thanks.

And if things don’t go your way, then perhaps God is saying, “No” or “Not now.” Perhaps He’s preparing you for a future challenge, or maybe you didn’t pay the right price. Maybe you just don’t have enough faith.

Frankly, the whole thing seemed a bit pointless to me, since He already knows my wants and needs anyway. It felt a little superficial, like I was reading the lines of a script because I was expected to read them. Prayer seemed like an exercise, a sort of false piety intended mostly to say the right words and ultimately get what we want from God.

I think this vending machine model misses the entire point.

I do believe God cares about every event in our lives. I think Jesus grieved when I fell and endured the struggle of paralysis. He weeps at the death of a child, and hates to see us disappointed, sad, or hurt. He does not minimize or dismiss our desires, needs and concerns, but they are clearly not the main point to Him.

Jesus spent most of His time telling us, in Steven Covey’s words, that “…we are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [Luke 12:27-31,34]

So how does this relate to prayer?

I think the focus of prayer shouldn’t be asking for results and thanking God when we approve of outcomes. We’d do better if we sought help in doing things His way.

• I think He cares what we do; I think He cares much more about how we do it.
• I think He cares about results, but they’re always temporary; I think He cares more about character, which is permanent.
• I think He cares about the path we’re traveling; I think He cares more about the direction we’re heading.
• I think He values me because of my identity as His child, because of who I am in Christ, and not because of what I accomplish.

When things don’t go my way, or when they do, I’d do better to stop seeking a rational, human-created explanation. Sometimes there’s an answer to Why, but mostly the logic is shrouded in the mystery of eternity. Rather than demanding cause-and-effect clarification, I’d do better to ask Him how I ought to respond.

That’s really the central premise of SetFreeToday. Where you’ve been matters less to God than where you’re going. He offers the chance to choose a new direction, a new beginning, each day.

“Thy will be done” isn’t a request for favorable circumstances. It’s a longing to understand how God wants me to respond, the direction He wants me to travel, the kind of person He wants me to become. I need to stop talking, asking, and demanding.

I need to listen and follow.

What’s your take on prayer?

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ. Billy Graham

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Happy Saturday! If you’re new to THE CRAZY QUEST, you may wish to read about it here. Basically, I’m tracing my journey as I attempt to answer the question: What would you do if you didn’t know you couldn’t do it?

This week of training: 108 miles (and some vacation/R&R)

SURVIVE OR THRIVE

When I began riding my hand cycle, it was all about survival.

I didn’t try to ride well, or ride fast, or even ride better. I simply tried to get to the end of the ride. It didn’t really occur to me that it might be any different. I was, after all, a quadriplegic. I was weak, I couldn’t use most of my body, and survival was about all I could expect. If I got where I was going, the ride was a success.

I think a lot of people live their lives like that. They’re just trying to get wherever they’re going, and as long as they’re reasonably upright they’re satisfied.

It took me a long time to learn that cycling, and life, didn’t have to be about survival. After a lot of years and miles of just crawling along, maintaining a minimal pace but not really trying for anything more, I magically discovered that riding could be about more than minimal survival.

SURVIVE TO STRIVE

I discovered that I could work on technique, get stronger, and push myself even when it hurt. And it did hurt, but each time I pushed past the pain I realized that it didn’t kill me. I learned that I could work, I could try, and it actually felt kind of good.

I moved from surviving to striving.

I didn’t instantly ride much faster. Massive shoulders didn’t magically materialize. In fact, at first there really wasn’t much observable change in my performance, but it still felt good. And that taught me something important.

Striving involves its own intrinsic value. Even when progress proved ponderously slow, it still felt good to do something besides simply surviving. I think it’s part of the Substance Or Style discussion, the idea that the value lies more in process than in results. As soon as you focus on results, you get disappointed because it never happens fast enough.

I think striving is an important part of a substantial life. It’s okay to progress slowly, or even to fail. But to live a life of substance, you have to try. It’s got to be about more than simple survival.

SURVIVE TO STRIVE TO THRIVE

In the past year I’ve increased my normal riding speed more than 20%. I’m still painfully slow by regular cycling norms, but the improvement feels like thriving to me. I used to struggle to survive a ten-mile ride. This summer I’m riding 25-30 miles per day 5-6 times each week.

The point that seems important is the progression, from survive to strive to thrive. The middle step is the critical one, and in cycling and life we tend to want to skip it. But the middle step is the process, and you can’t skip it.

SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS

First, you gotta survive, take the initial blow, and get back on your feet—or, in my case, get your backside in a wheelchair. It’s painful and difficult, and it takes time. Most of us understand that part.

But then the culture messes us up, because the messages jump to results. Shake it off. Get back in the game. Just do it. Quit surviving and thrive—right now!

New diet? The weight will disappear in a few days. Beginning a workout program? You’ll have a cover-model body quickly in twenty easy minutes per day. Finances a mess? Call for our simple five-step plan to wealth, risk-free.

We want to skip the striving, the struggle, pain, and risk. We want it all, and we want it now. That’s the way it happens for everyone else, right?

I think that’s a big problem with how I pray. I ask God for the results, like He’s some cosmic gumball machine—stick in the right words, pull the handle, and out pops my wish. Except that’s not how it works.

God cares more about my character than my accomplishments, and character’s about the striving. Perhaps if I prayed for persistence and patience I’d feel a bit less like a kid sitting on Santa’s lap.

My cycling is thriving right now. It’s better than I ever imagined, and maybe I’ll write a book—TWO YEARS TO INSTANT SUCCESS!

My life’s thriving as well. Only took twenty years to figure out that I can do more than survive the ride. Finally, I learned that I can get past the pain and fear, that failure doesn’t kill me (I’m not skydiving), and that it feels good to work on stuff I enjoy, to help others, and to define success in my own terms.

I hope you’re thriving—but I hope even more that you’re striving.

What’s an area where you can shift from surviving to striving?

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