Elevation doesn’t come until you have proven responsible for what you were entrusted with earlier. The degree to which you take care of the earlier responsibility is the degree to which you get elevated.
“So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” – Matthew 25:28-28 (NKJV)
In the parable of the talents, we see that the person who does more with what they have been given will be entrusted more.
Ask yourself, have I judiciously taken care of what God has given me at this point? When the big thing I’m waiting for comes, am I in the right position to receive and handle it?
As such, responsibility comes before elevation. How responsible you are shows your readiness for the next thing you have been waiting for.
Practical ways to demonstrate responsibility:
- Show an ownership mentality: Don’t see tasks as things that were merely given to you to complete and move on to the next thing quickly. Instead, see every task as an opportunity to showcase your craft and append your signature. Your signature here means how you do this that people now know you as. Every task communicates something about you. When you cultivate an ownership mentality, you do things with the mindset of being an “owner.” When you own something, you want to ensure it doesn’t spoil or fail. You want to ensure that the thing succeeds and serves its purpose.
- Cultivate a growth mindset: A growth mindset helps you approach issues differently. A growth mindset enables you to be problem-solving in nature. A growth mindset stands you out and allows you to be more responsible. A growth mindset says that you can grow, you can be teachable, and you can overcome obstacles. However, a fixed mindset, which is the opposite of a growth mindset, does not recognise all these.
- See every challenge as an opportunity: Every time you encounter a challenge with a task, seek to solve that challenge so that when next you are faced with similar challenges, you know how to solve it and you are better off for it. So don’t run away from challenges; embrace them and sharpen your skills through them.
- See your tasks to completion: When you are entrusted with something, see that you understand what it means to be “done” with that task. In most cases, “done” means that nothing is left to be done concerning the task. It means that you have achieved the intended goal of the task. When you don’t see a task done to completion, then you are not making a way to take responsibility for that task.
Remember, responsibility before elevation. Take responsibility today!