Zig Ziglar was once quoted as saying, “Idle ships grow barnacles faster.”*

Now, I’m not a sea-faring lad, so I have no idea how fast barnacles grow, and prior to a quick Wikipedia search a few moments ago, I couldn’t have even told you what a barnacle was.

However, I recently watched The Vanilla Ice Project on the DIY Network, and he had to blast barnacles off of a dock for a home he purchased in Florida--and it seemed like hard work, so I know that they’re not real helpful. In fact, barnacles cost the US Navy millions of dollars each year, because they attach themselves to ships, which causes the vessels to burn more fuel.

So you can probably see where I’m going with this...you need to ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Are you a barnacle?

Barnacles permanently attach themselves to pretty much whatever they can get their foreheads on (seriously...look it up) using a brown glue-like substance. They then develop a hard case to protect themselves from being removed.

Have you become so attached to your way of life, that you would have to be pried lose if a change were offered? Have you formed a habit that is causing you to develop a hard outer shell which nobody can penetrate?

I would encourage you to analyze where you’re at and set some goals on how to move forward. Don’t get stuck! Don’t be a barnacle! Ask the folks around you, “Have I become oblivious to anything? Am I hard and calloused about something?”

You might need to be scraped off your pedestal.

2. Are you harboring barnacles?

According to scientists, barnacles (in and of themselves) are not inherently dangerous. They don’t eat from the source they have attached themselves to; and often times, if they’ve attached themselves to an animal, the host animal may never notice. It’s similar to us wearing clothes.

However, because they can attach themselves to ships or whales, that can travel great distances, they can be transported thousands of miles and breed and create offspring which might damage the native population.Furthermore, as I mentioned previously, they can also cause drag on ships and cost the sailors large amounts of money in fuel.

In your life, are you being slowed down because of barnacles? Are you harboring, or worse yet, creating unhelpful people in society? Keep in mind, these “barnacles” might not be damaging you, but they could be damaging the environment around you. They could be costing other people their time, talents, or energy and you’re not even noticing.

Take the time to do the hard work of identifying them, and scrape them off! Remember, in life, you want to surround yourself with contributors, not consumers. The same is true as parents, teachers, pastors and leaders. You should strive to develop the people around you into equippers and encouragers and overall helpful members of society.

The bottom line is this, pay attention to barnacles before they become a nuisance.

*Born To Win: Find Your Success Code