When Quick Wins Aren't Enough

A pastor called me last week asking if I had anything "practical." "You know," he said, "something with quick wins. I just need to get back on track." I wanted to ask him: Back on track to what? The same problems that prompted you to call me? Instead, I told him the truth: "I don't do quick wins. I do lasting change." He hung up politely and probably bought someone else's 5-step framework.

The Thigh Master Theology of Ministry

Remember the Thigh Master? That plastic contraption Suzanne Somers sold on late-night TV? "Just squeeze for 5 minutes a day and get the thighs you've always wanted!" We laughed at that infomercial. Then we turned around and built an entire ministry culture on the same lie.

"Just follow these 7 principles and get the church you've always wanted!"

"One simple shift will transform your leadership!"

"This proven system will fix your staff culture!"

We're buying Thigh Masters for our souls. And wondering why our spiritual quads are still flabby.

What I Learned from 35 Years of Chasing Fixes

I've been the guy buying the ministry equivalent of every late-night infomercial product. The leadership book that would finally make me confident. The time management system that would finally give me balance. The church growth strategy that would finally prove I wasn't a failure.

I collected frameworks like some people collect ceramic frogs. And you know what all those quick wins taught me? They work exactly as long as you're doing them.

Stop the system, and you're back where you started. Except now you feel like a failure twice—once for the original problem, and once for not being able to maintain the solution. 

The Real Problem with Quick Wins

Quick wins aren't actually practical—they're procrastination. Because addressing the real issue—that you're leading from an empty tank while pretending to be full—requires something most of us have never been taught how to do.

Sit still long enough to figure out who you actually are.

Not who you perform as. Not who shows up on stage. Not who everyone needs you to be. You.

That terrifies us. So we buy another framework instead. 

What Actually Works (And Why You Won't Like It)

After three decades of trying every shortcut, here's what I've learned actually moves the needle:

1. Stop Trying to Fix Your Schedule—Fix Your Identity
   Your calendar isn't the problem. Your inability to say no without guilt is the problem. And that's not a time management issue—that's a "who am I without everyone's approval" issue.
2. Quit Managing Your Energy—Start Protecting Your Soul
   You can't life-hack your way out of spiritual depletion. You can optimize your morning routine all you want, but if you don't know the difference between being busy and being alive, you're just productively dying.
3. Stop Leading from Your Wounds—Start Leading from Your Healing
   That chip on your shoulder from the last church? That need to prove yourself? That fear of being found out? It's not motivating you—it's handicapping everyone around you.

The Most Practical Thing You Can Do

Want something practical? Here it is: Cancel something this week that you're only doing because you're afraid of disappointing people.

Don't replace it with something else. Don't fill the gap. Just... stop. Then sit in the discomfort of not being indispensable for five minutes. If you can't do that, you don't have a time management problem. You have an identity crisis. And no amount of quick wins will fix that.

Don't Get Me Wrong

Look, there are things you need quick help with. How to handle that board member who hijacks every meeting. What to say when the finance committee asks if you really need that much vacation. How to fire someone without getting sued. That stuff? Call me. I'll tell you over coffee. Hell, I'll tell you for free.

Those are tactics. Tools. Tips you can get from any pastor who's been around the block. But what I can't give you in a 20-minute conversation is the ability to sleep at night knowing you're enough. The confidence to lead without needing everyone's approval. The peace that comes from knowing who you are when the church doors are locked.

Why This Matters More Than Your Next Sermon

I've watched too many good pastors crash and burn because they thought they could framework their way to wholeness. They had great systems and broken souls. Perfect calendars and empty marriages. Thriving churches and dying hearts.

You can't lead people to a place you've never been.

And if you've never been whole, all the quick wins in the world won't get you there.

The One Quick Win I'll Give You

The length of this article. I could've written 2,000 words about why quick wins don't work. Instead, I gave you what you actually needed in the time you actually have. You're welcome.

If you've got a specific quick-win question—how to handle that passive-aggressive elder, what to say when someone asks why you "only work one day a week," how to gracefully exit a conversation with the church member who corners you every Sunday—shoot it to me. We might answer it in the next article. But if you want to master ministry life instead of just surviving it, let us teach you a better way to live and lead.◼︎ 

Tim Eldred has spent over 35 years in pastoral ministry and coaches pastors and churches who are ready to move beyond merely surviving. He founded The Authentic Pastor to help ministry leaders find freedom from the pressures and systems that wear them down.