You don’t drift into health—especially under pressure
ChatGPTIn May of 2021, a 23-year-old woman named Aicha was rescued after drifting alone at sea for 22 days off the Canary Islands. She had left Ivory Coast months earlier, boarded a migrant boat in Mauritania with 58 others, and set out toward what she hoped would be a new future. But somewhere along the way, direction was lost. The boat drifted. Supplies ran out. One by one, lives were claimed by the ocean. When rescuers finally found her, Aicha was one of only three survivors. What began as a journey toward hope slowly turned into a helpless drift—not because she intended to wander, but because once you lose direction at sea, drifting happens quietly… and the consequences are devastating.
Drift happens. Health is chosen.
One of the most important lessons I've learned over the years—sometimes the hard way—is this: you don't drift into health. Especially not when the pressure is on.
Drift is natural. Health is intentional.
When life speeds up—and it always does—my instinct is usually to check my outputs instead of my inner life. I look at results. I look at progress. I look at what's getting starting, launching, multiplying. I measure what's visible.
But what I'm learning, and relearning, is that small practices—not heroic ones—are what keep me from drifting…
A brief pause.
An honest RPMS check-in.
A surrendering prayer.
Time in my journal.
A willingness to tell the truth about how I'm actually doing.
Getting more sleep.
These moments don't solve everything. But they keep drift from going unnoticed. And unnoticed drift is what quietly undermines leaders who otherwise love Jesus, love people, and care deeply about the mission.
I often talk about the four internal gauges—Relational, Physical, Mental, and Spiritual.
I've come to see those gauges not as leadership add-ons, but as guardrails. When we are under pressure this is how we follow with Paul's admonition in Galatians 5:25: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Because here's the truth: pressure doesn't create who we are. It reveals who we've been becoming.
If I haven't been tending my RELATIONAL gauge, pressure exposes my irritability.
If I haven't been tending my PHYSICAL gauge, pressure exposes my fatigue.
If I haven't been tending my MENTAL gauge, pressure exposes my anxiety or distraction.
If I haven't been tending my SPIRITUAL gauge, pressure exposes my self-reliance.
We don't drift into health. We drift away from it.
The myth of heroic intensity
In Hero Maker, I wrote about the temptation leaders face to try and build movements through intensity rather than sustainability. We admire the sprint. We celebrate the surge. We applaud the moment of visible breakthrough.
But movements that last aren't built on heroic bursts. They're built on daily faithfulness.
Health is rarely restored through intensity; it's sustained through attentiveness.
You can't out-hustle drift. You have to notice it.
The leaders who multiply over decades aren't the ones who burn brightest for a year. They're the ones who quietly build rhythms that keep their soul anchored while everything around them accelerates.
Under pressure, check the inner life first
When you're leading something meaningful—whether it's a church, a team, a family, a network or a movement—pressure is not optional. It comes with the territory.
The question isn't whether pressure will come. It's where you'll look when it does.
Will you check the metrics first? OR your heart?
Will you evaluate performance? OR being in step with the Spirit?
In my own life recently, I've noticed that my mental gauge needs more attention. It's subtle. I'm not in crisis. But I can feel the edges—more noise in my head, less margin for creative thinking, a bit more urgency than peace.
It's easy for me to ignore that. Or justified it as "just a busy season."
Now I'm learning to simply notice.
No drama.
No self-condemnation.
No elaborate explanation.
Just notice.
Because noticing is the beginning of leadership.
Health multiplies more than hustle
Here's what I believe about you: you don't just want to accomplish something. You want to become someone…
You want to become the kind of leader who finishes well. The kind of spouse, parent, friend, or teammate who is emotionally present. The kind of follower of Jesus whose inner life is not at odds with their public calling.
That kind of leadership doesn't happen by accident.
Healthy leaders multiply disciple makers, spiritual communities, new leaders, and new expressions of the church. But multiplication externally is sustained by health internally.
#1 If your RELATIONAL gauge is depleted, you may still produce—but you'll do it alone.
#2 If your PHYSICAL gauge is neglected, you may still push—but you'll eventually crash.
#3 If your MENTAL gauge is cluttered, you may still lead—but you'll do it reactively.
#4 If your SPIRITUAL gauge is dry, you may still function—but you'll be operating from your own strength.
And self-reliance always has a shelf life.
The leaders who create lasting impact are not the most intense. They are the most attentive. They build simple habits that keep their soul aligned with their mission. They don't drift into health. They choose it, again and again, in small ways.
Remember the tragic story I opened with? Aicha didn't plan to drift—she just lost direction. And under pressure, that's how it always happens: quietly, gradually, until the cost becomes clear.
Keep it simple today
So let's keep this simple.
No long list.
No complicated plan.
No heroic reset.
Just one question:
Which of your four gauges needs the most attention right now—relational, physical, mental, or spiritual?
There's no need to explain or justify.
No need to compare your answer to anyone else's.
No need to fix everything today.
Just notice.
Because the moment you notice is the moment drift loses its power.
And when you build your leadership on attentiveness rather than intensity, you don't just avoid burnout—you build something that lasts.
You don't drift into health.
You choose it.
One small practice at a time.
 | Dave Ferguson is the CEO / President and co-founder for Exponential. He is also the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, an innovative multi-site missional community that is passionate about “helping people find their way back to God.” Community has grown from a few college friends to thousands every weekend meeting at multiple locations in the Chicago area and has been recognized as one of America’s most influential churches. Learn More » |
More on Spiritual Growth and Soul Care
- Follow forward in disciple-making (by Tim Tucker)
- Excellence IS evangelism. Here’s proof from Jesus and parents of adult Christians. (by Jordan Raynor)
- Clarity before courage (by David Bowman)
- The peril of faulty expectations (by Richard Blackaby)
