Identity-Based 
Productivity

By Andy Lehmann

Are you perpetually on the hunt for ways to optimize how you get things done? You are not alone. The market is packed with a plethora of tools and tricks to help you squeeze every drop out of your day. I have tried a lot of them. While some are quite helpful, I had yet to find an approach that not only helped me structure my days but also gave me the clarity that I was doing the right things and the confidence to show up as my best self in every moment. Until now. I would like to share a modification that can work within any productivity system to not only help us accomplish what is most important, but also to joyfully become who God made each of us to be in the process.

DO

We live in a fast-paced world, and there is much to be done. And much of that work has been assigned to us by the Lord Himself. Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are created “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We see the gap between what is and what could be—in our families, our organizations and the lives of our congregants or customers—and we carry some sense of responsibility to close that gap through our efforts. The question is, “How?”

Considering the urgency I have so many times felt to “move the ball down the field,” even in godly pursuits, I have found myself defaulting to mindsets and behaviors that, while seemingly benign at first, have led me down a destructive path. When faced with an important goal or a perpetually long action item list, my internal voices tend to suggest one or more of the following paths as the way to win the day: Try harder, go faster and work longer. These options all stem from one core idea: do more. In the face of mounting responsibility, the voice of “do more” shouts at us, calling us to summon unsustainable strength, speed and stamina.

We all know that simply trying harder is an unsuitable strategy. It is like repeatedly running all-out sprints while competing in a marathon. It may get us further faster for a short time, but in the end, it leaves us feeling worn out, exhausted and ill-prepared for the long race ahead. Leadership experts have also debunked the “go faster” approach for its lack of effectiveness. McKinsey & Company highlighted this in a blog post titled “Slowing Down to Speed Up,” stating, “Speeding up isn’t the answer. It often makes things more complex, consumes more energy and, in the best case, solves only a part of the challenge.”

And the “work longer” approach is also untenable, not only for us, but for our families, those we lead and their families. As the words of Jesus in Mark 8:36 remind us, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” And I would add, his health or his family.

Even more deceptively, these “do more” strategies rarely end up producing greater righteousness, peace and joy—all outcomes of kingdom living according to Romans 14:17. But if we start to turn down the volume on the voice of “do more,” what alternative are we left with? Do less? Certainly, we do not want to lose our edge as leaders. The voice spurring us to “do” is not wrong. It is simply incomplete and out of order. Believe it or not, there is a divine order to doing. I would argue that “do” is the third step in the productive path God has laid out for us. When placed in its proper order, our doing takes on a much deeper sense of purpose and yields far greater results.


BE

So, what comes first? I would argue that the prerequisite to doing is being. Focusing on being before doing is not about idleness or passivity; rather, it is about recognizing that true significance and success stem from a place of inner clarity and authenticity. When we cultivate a strong sense of identity, we are better equipped to navigate life’s challenges, make meaningful contributions to the world and experience the joy of living a life that is aligned with our deepest values. Right doing flows from right being, not the other way around.

When Moses asked God to reveal His name, God simply responded with, “I AM.” It is interesting to note that God, the Creator and active Sustainer of all things, reveals Himself in terms of being” rather than doing. It would be the understatement of history to say God has done a few more things than you or me, even more than the total of all of humanity; yet, He identifies as presence. Being.

Who do you believe you are? How do you see yourself in the context of your relationship with the Lord? In relationship to others—your family, your friends, those you influence? In relationship to the world and your place in it? The deeper you go, the fuzzier the answers can become.

I have a recommendation, a simple path to cut through the squishiness and harness the being that will lead to more fruitful doing. And I am not just talking about doing on the macro scale of calling and career, but the small, ordinary decisions and actions of every single day. We will unpack that practically in a moment.

Before we do, may I suggest there is a prerequisite to being? If I want to get an in-depth understanding of what a Tesla can do, I can drive it to the limit and carefully study it. But if I want to get an in-depth understanding of why a Tesla is (weird analogy, I know, but go with it), I need to go beyond the product and look to the one who made it. In the same way, while we may be able to discover a lot about ourselves by testing our limits and gaining healthy perspective through assessments, content and coaches, if we want to understand why and who we are, we must look beyond ourselves. We must look beyond the creation and look to the Creator. We must “see.”


SEE

It is paradoxical that to truly discover and become who we are we must look away from ourselves. Scripture tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” That instruction in Hebrews 12:2 is given in the context of running the race marked out for us. If the details of that metaphor were further extrapolated, there would likely be talk of checkpoints and eventually a finish line, yet we are not told to fix our eyes on the next marker in the race. And we are not told to fix our eyes on ourselves as runners. We are told to fix our gaze on Jesus.

Jesus is jealous for the gaze of our hearts. He is worthy of our attention and focus. He is our aim, and His kingdom is our ambition. Yet, here is another irony: The more we see who He truly is, the more we discover who we truly are. Romans 8:29 in The Message translation says it this way: “We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him.” As we fix our gaze upon him, “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV).

The more we behold Him, the more we become like Him. He shapes us and forms us from the inside out to manifest the new creation that He has already made us to be. None of us would be so arrogant as to think there is some part of us—some relational role, some calling, or some skill—that is not first found in God. And when He knit us together in our mothers’ wombs, He embedded within each of us a unique mix of His characteristics. The answers to the questions of who we are can only be found in Him. We are because He is.


SEE, BE, DO

The alternative pathway around the taskmaster of “do more” is quite simple. As we fix our eyes on the Lord, beholding Him and increasing our experiential knowledge of who He is, we discover and become, by faith, who He has uniquely made each of us to be. The reality of our God-shaped identity gives us the grace (divine enablement) and peace (sense of wholeness) to do things, the right things, with confidence and for His glory. This is identity-based productivity.

What does that look like practically in everyday life? I have found there are three questions to ask that will make it very easy to take a short walk down this path at the start of the day, the end of the day or at any moment in between:

See: “Who are you, Lord?”

Be: “Who do you say I am?”

Do: “Therefore, what do I do?”

Want to try it out? The next time you sit down to make your plan for the day, begin by walking through these questions. Pause for a moment, take a deep breath and ask the Lord who He is. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind an attribute of God’s being and worship Him for it. Ask the Lord to show you how that shapes who you are and what He would have you do as a result.

For example, the Lord may highlight His creative nature, reminding you that He has shared with you the power to create, and as a result, today is the day to start that creative project you have been procrastinating. When you dive into that project, you can do so with the confidence that the Creator of all has equipped you for the task.

Or, He may highlight Jesus’ approach to leadership, reminding you of your leadership posture as a servant and, as a result, provide direction on how to lead that day’s staff meeting. He may even remind you that He is your perfect Father, that you are His dearly loved son or daughter and, as a parent yourself, He may provide specific action items to love your children today with the same love with which He loves you.

Experiment with what works for you. You might try using these questions as a framework for approaching Scripture. Or perhaps you will find them most helpful in transition moments throughout the day to set your intention for the next item on your calendar. By regularly taking short walks down the “See, Be, Go” path, we can choose and anchor our activity in alignment with our God-given identity, bringing confidence and clarity to every endeavor.