Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 185 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

7 Stepping Stones to Success

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 185 of our Trek, and yesterday we stopped by the 12 Mile-Markers for building your character, which resulted in 6 character traits that you possess as a result. Today we will explore how success is achieved by giving to others. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. In addition to a full workload, today we were able to have Elizabeth and four of our grandchildren over. Elizabeth and Paula made split pea and ham soup with the ham that was left over from Thanksgiving. Homemade split pea soup is delicious.

On today’s Trek, we are hiking the trail of success. I think that everyone desires to be successful, but what many people do not grasp is that the trail to success is paved by helping others obtain what they desire from us.  One of my virtual mentors, Zig Ziglar, said it best in his famous quote, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

So let’s get started on our hike of the…

7 Stepping Stones to Success

A major part of the process of achieving success and living the kind of life that you dream of is to give. Many people think that to get what you want you have to take it. There is a universal truth, though, that the true trail to get what you want is to give. When you give, you get. What you plant, you will harvest. The Bible mentions this correlation numerous times such as in Galatians 6:7, “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”

If this is true, then what is it we must give? I’ll show you the way…

1. Give others your honesty. The world we live in has a simple rule that most follow: Lie when you have to. Unfortunately, this may make some people wealthy, but it make us humans poor. To achieve success is to become wealthy not only in money but in character. To be successful, truly successful, is to be able to attain your goals and keep your character at the same time

How about you? Are you honest in all things? The problem with little lies is they become big ones. Lies spin out of control. You get caught in one lie and you lie to get out of it, etc. In all things and at all times, give others your honesty.

2. Give others your respect. Most of the time we give people respect based on what they have done or what they have accomplished. We gauge whether or not they are “worthy” of it based on what we know of what they have achieved or who they know or are related to.

But I believe we should have a higher standard. We respect people not for what they have done or for who they are related to or for what they can do for us. Instead, we respect people for simply being themselves.

3. Give others your vulnerability. We are taught to “be strong.” And yes, we should be strong. But we have also embraced something that I think keeps us from having the kind of life that we long for. It is an idea that keeps us from experiencing the kind of relationships that would bring deep meaning to us. It is the idea of vulnerability.

“But Guthrie, make yourself vulnerable, and people will step all over you!” It is true that this will happen. But I have also seen that most people will be drawn to you. They will help you. They will open up to you. You see, we are all broken people inside. We all have secrets. Yet everyone plays the poser. When one lets down their veil, others soon follow, and we all win.

4. Give others your care. Too many people are running around this old earth not caring about others. The days of “Look Out for Number One” and “Winning Through Intimidation” are over! Let’s bring about a new day when we can care about others and succeed!

Take the time to show people you care. Listen to them. Empathize with them. Love them. Now, I don’t mean that you have to go around hugging everyone—that probably wouldn’t be accepted in some circles anyway—but we can take some time to step back from life and business and be human! And I have found that when we do so, our life and business succeeds as well!

5. Give others your passion. There is nothing this world needs more than passionate people. And people need passionate people. Living in this day and age can be tiring. The hustle and bustle of it all can wear you down and tire you out. Give your passion to others and fire them up.

Don’t just be humdrum—be excited. Give people all the energy you can muster up, and you will find that energy reciprocates. They will get energized and passionate. This in turn will fire you up more when you are already charged and get you going altogether when you don’t feel like moving at all!

6. Give others your experience. We all have areas that we excel in, and they are usually areas that we have experience in. One of the things we can do to make our lives more meaningful and be of utmost help to others is to show them the way through the experiences we have.

Sometimes it will be what they should do – shortcuts to take or people to meet. Sometimes it will be what they should not do – shortcuts not to take and people to stay away from! Whatever it is, we can be of service to others by giving them our experience, and ultimately, it will make us all better!

7. Give others your help. All in all, what we want to do is to help others. As mentioned earlier, Zig Ziglar says that if we will “help others get what they want, we will in turn get what we want.” If we want to be successful, we should consider ourselves servants of other people. What can we do to help them and make them better? This is the true path to greatness and success, not only in business but in life!

Jesus put it this way in the good news according to Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” 

The principle of planting and harvesting is like the law of gravity, it is undeniable and unbreakable as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”

So the stepping stones to success are giving to others.  Are you willing to give to others?  If it is done through the proper motives, the principles of planting and harvesting will prevail.  Today take the opportunity to share Wisdom-Trek, with your friends and family and encourage them to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we discover 10 ways to have a better day.

That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

If you would like to be added to our weekly email update and special publications from Wisdom-Trek, just text the word “Wisdom” to 44222 on your phone, and you will receive a message asking for your email address. It is very quick and easy to do.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!