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Day 196 – Proverbs 6:1-5 Lessons for Daily Life #1

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 196 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Proverbs 6:1-5 Lessons for Daily Life #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 196 of our Trek, and yesterday we finished our hike to the summit of Rationalize Mountain as we learned to make better and more logical decisions ourselves and to assist others in making better decisions. Today and for this next week, we will remain in camp digging for nuggets of wisdom as we continue our exploration into the book of Proverbs, starting with Chapter 6. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Friday evening Paula and I had the privilege of watching a live performance of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” put on by the Intune School of Arts.  The acting and singing were excellent. They also had a short gospel message at the end, which tied in well with the storyline of the play.

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Today and throughout this next week, we will remain in camp and dig through Proverbs Chapter 6 for nuggets of wisdom. As if we were digging for real gold, the lessons learned may be difficult, and we will soon find out that all of us have dirty hands and mud caked under our fingernails. We will also learn, though, how we can wash that dirt away and be completely clean. Proverbs Chapter 6 is referred to as…

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Lessons for Daily Life

Today we will dig through Verses 1-5, but let’s first look at Verses 1-2.

1 My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said—

In this poem, Solomon compares our mistakes to a hunter’s trap. When a hunter works, he may build traps. He hides his traps so that animals will not see them. He hopes that the animals will fall into his traps. Then he can kill and eat the animals.

In our lives, our mistakes can be like traps. Perhaps we want to do the right thing. Perhaps our plans are good. But our best plans could fail. Then, like a trap, our plans can destroy us.

In our lives, our mistakes can be like traps.

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This passage specifically refers to co-signing on the debt for another person. In verse 1, Solomon’s son had good intentions. He wanted to help his friend because his friend did not have good credit to borrow money on his own. The son trusted the friend. The son tried to do the right thing, but in the end, the friend was unable to pay. In the agreement, Solomon’s son promised to pay if his friend could not. The lender now expects Solomon’s son to pay. The son’s plan failed, and now he is in danger.

Our own choices can become like traps, even when they seem harmless at first.

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Sometimes we place ourselves in danger. Our own choices can become like traps, even when they seem harmless at first. In today’s society, many people suffer from all sorts of addictions. This could be alcohol, dangerous drugs, pornography, sex outside of marriage, or even food.  Originally, you just want to enjoy yourself, even if you realize that it is outside of God’s precepts. Once addicted to the substance or behavior, though, when you try to stop, you will fail. Now you must turn back to God and ask Him to help you. God is greater than all addictions, of course, and he can free you from those addictions. But we still may suffer some of the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences.  As you ask God to free you from the traps that you may find yourself in, keep in mind that He may work through the assistance of a doctor or counselor to help you.

Woman Trapped In A Jar

We all do wrong things against God. This behavior is like a trap. We cannot free ourselves. Paul wrote in Romans 7:21-24, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” But there is an answer to this problem. God can free us. If we ask God, then he will forgive us. And he will help us to control our behavior. He will teach discipline to us. Paul continued in verse 25, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”

Now that we know that the answer is Jesus Christ, Paul continues to explain how we will be freed from these traps and addictions in Romans 8:1-2, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

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Let’s move on to Verse 3 as Solomon continues to teach his son with a possible solution for co-signing his friend’s debt.

3 follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride;
go and beg to have your name erased.

Be humble! The Bible warns us not to be proud. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.’”

Also in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

If Solomon’s son was too proud to acknowledge his mistake, he could not escape. He is like an animal in a trap. He cannot free himself. He must ask for freedom. He must ask for help.

We have all done wrong things against God. We must be humble. We must ask God to forgive us. Only God can do this.

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Now on to verse 4.

4 Don’t put it off; do it now!
Don’t rest until you do.

If we desire to be free from the sins we commit and if we want freedom, then we must not hesitate, procrastinate, or be lazy. We must not delay until tomorrow. If we delay, then we might never take action.

God calls us to trust him now. Do not be like King Agrippa. Paul spoke to the king in Acts 26:28 about Jesus. Agrippa answered,“Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” He was not ready to trust God. Perhaps he was never ready to trust God.

Earlier, Paul spoke to a ruler called Felix in Acts 24:25, “As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix became frightened. ‘Go away for now,’ he replied. ‘When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.’” Felix never trusted God. He waited. Although he spoke again to Paul, Felix never found the “convenient time” to trust in God.

Now on to Verse 5.

5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.

When we need to be freed from our actions that do not please God, we should act quickly, like an animal that runs to escape from a hunter.

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Today the wisdom nuggets that we discovered showed us how easy it is to get trapped by behavior and habits that go against God’s precepts that are found in His Word. We must be vigilant to stay away from the traps of life, but if we do find ourselves in a trap, then we are to seek God to free us. As we consider these wisdom nuggets, please share Wisdom-Trek with your friends and family. Encourage them to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we continue to dig for those nuggets of wisdom from Proverbs Chapter 6:6-11.

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.

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!

Day 195 – Rationalize or Rational Lies? Part 2

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 195 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Rationalize or Rational Lies? Part 2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 195 of our Trek, and yesterday we started our hike up Rationalize Mountain to determine some of the reasons why we rationalize all sorts of actions and behaviors in our lives. Today we will finish our hike to the summit as we learn to make better and more logical decisions ourselves and to assist others in making better decisions. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. If all goes according to our plan, we will spend most of Saturday laying out the groundwork and business plan for our new business segment. Starting in 2016 we will be creating a community of Christian podcasters called Christian Podcasting Network. We will start small, but during 2016, our plan is to grow the network to the level where we will be considered the authority and premier platform for podcasters who are Christ followers. This will include podcasts covering all areas of life and business. Some may be Christian themed podcasts while others will cover all areas of life and business from a Biblical worldview.

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The remainder of our hike today takes us to the summit, and we have a lot of ground to cover on the trail called…

Rationalize or Rational Lies – Which Is It? #2

3. Making Rational Decisions

Here’s an interesting thought. Once you stop living under the illusion of being an entirely rational human being, it actually helps you to make more rational decisions!

When you realize emotions are driving your decisions, you can use that to your advantage. You realize that your feelings are an important part of the decision-making process. So how you feel about the decisions you make this week, this month, and this next year, especially from a moral and ethical standpoint, is much more important than satisfying your ego or self-image today. When making decisions, always consider the long term consequences physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. This will give you the strength to make rational decisions instead of rationalizing the decisions that you make.

When making decisions, always consider the long term consequences.

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Let’s look at two examples:

First, say you love donuts. Who doesn’t love a warm Krispy Kreme glazed donut? They taste so yummy as they literally melt in your mouth. Yet, after eating several of them, you notice they actually make you feel pretty bad afterward. I don’t mean bad as in “Oh, I shouldn’t have eaten that” bad. I mean actually, physically bad. Starting about half an hour after eating the donuts, you start feeling bloated, lethargic, and slightly irritable.

Although donuts make you feel great while eating them, you also rationally realized they make you feel bad for hours afterward, not even considering the health implications. When you think logically, you can decide in advance that it simply isn’t worth eating the donuts. You will even feel better financially for not spending money. So you can use logic to control your decisions.

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To look at another example, consider this idea…I don’t think any of us like paying taxes, but they are needed for a civilized society to function and do result in many benefits for us. Most of us don’t feel like the government spends the tax revenue wisely. So when you are doing your taxes, do you rationalize cheating on your tax return or consider not filing at all?  This is not only illegal, but it can bring much grief if you are ever audited. In this situation, you need to plan and make rational and wise financial decisions throughout the course of each year. There are many ways to minimize your taxes legally so that you do not pay more than you owe.

Plan and make rational and wise financial decisions throughout the course of each year.

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As a Christ Follower, I have to sadly admit, that those who profess to be Christians seem to be very prone to rationalize all sorts of behaviors in their own lives. We rationalize our behaviors while condemning and judging others for different but similar behaviors. Jesus addressed this issue in the good news according to Luke 6:41-43, “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Friend let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

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Awareness of when we are rationalizing our decisions based on our emotions is absolutely crucial if you want to grow personally. To make conscious changes to your life, you first need awareness. So…once you become aware of rationalizing, you can stop it and learn from your mistakes.

Let’s return to the example at the beginning of yesterday’s podcast, where a salesperson convinced you to buy a cool gadget, but once you got home, you realized it’s not really what you wanted. If you weren’t aware of rationalizing, you would quite likely fall victim to cognitive dissonance. That’s where you can’t hold two conflicting beliefs in your mind at the same time. In this case, I make rational decisions as one thought, and this gadget I bought is useless as the second.

If you hold tightly to the premise that you make fully rational decisions, you would have to rationalize buying the gadget. You would come up with a whole list of features it has to convince your conscious mind it was actually a good idea to buy it.

Once you understand that all humans are prone to rationalization, you don’t have to do that. You will realize you made an irrational decision based on your emotions. You will accept the fact that you bought a gadget that you don’t really need and should not be spending money on. Then you will make sure you don’t make the same mistake in the future. You just learned from your mistake!

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4. Influence Others to Make Rational Decisions

When I talk about influencing others, I don’t mean it in a negative way.

I am focused on the positive impact that we should always have on others, in all areas of life. This is part of the legacy that we are living each day.

Just as with ourselves, others make decisions based on what they want. So when you try to have a positive impact on someone, remember:

  • People don’t make decisions based on what they need.
  • People don’t make decisions based on what you think they need.
  • People don’t make decisions based on what you think they should want.
  • People make decisions based on what they want.
People don’t make decisions based on what they need, they make decisions on what they want.

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Just as with yourself, to impact others, you have to help them learn that all decisions have consequences.  Lovingly help them to understand that when making decisions, they need to always consider the long term consequences. All decisions do impact us physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. Rationalization of bad or unwise decisions will limit their ability to make wise and rational choices in the future.

If you want to help someone make a positive change in his or her life, remember to meet him or her where he or she is and not in a judgmental way. Help the person to see the wisdom in making rational decisions, and frame it in a way they can understand.

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Always remember, we are all on this trek of life together. We are all prone to rationalize the decisions that we make. Let us make sure that we remove the log from our own eye so we can see clearly to help others remove the speck from their eye. 

On our Trek to the summit of Rationalize Mountain, we have learned much about the decisions that we make. Let’s apply this learning each day. One rational decision you can make today is to share Wisdom-Trek with your friends and family. Encourage them to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we remain in camp for a week and resume digging for nuggets of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, continuing with chapter 6.

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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.

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!

Day 194 – Rationalize or Rational Lies? Part 1

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 194 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Rationalize or Rational Lies? Part 1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 194 of our Trek, and yesterday we learned the importance of collecting the dots on your trail of life so that you can connect the dots as you move forward in your trek of life. Today and tomorrow we are going to hike Rationalize Mountain and determine some of the reasons why we rationalize all sorts of actions and behaviors in our lives. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Paula and I are looking forward to a “date-night” on Friday as we were gifted tickets to a performance of Charles Dickens, The Christmas Carol.  It is one of our favorite stories of the Christmas season.

" DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL "-FILM FRAMES

Let’s begin our Trek for today to see how far we can hike, and then we will finish up the hike tomorrow. As we view Rationalize Mountain from the foothills, we start to come up with reasons why we just might not want to move forward. We might not want to face the fact that when we start to rationalize our actions in life, most of the time we are just telling ourselves “rational” lies to justify the actions that we take. So our Trek today will be called…

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Rationalize or Rational Lies – which is it? #1

Are you rationalizing your decisions? Let me answer that for you real quick. Yes, you are. We all do. I do and so do you.  Even the very first two humans Adam and Eve rationalized their choice in the Garden of Eden as is written in Genesis 3:11-13, “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

ft Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Adam & Eve

Let’s move forward on our hike and we will discover:

  • Why we humans rationalize our decisions
  • The difference between what we think influences our decisions, and what really influences our decisions
  • How being aware of this can help you make better decisions
  • How it can help you influence others by appealing to the right motives

1. Why We Rationalize

We humans rationalize our decisions. All of us. Every day. But I can show you how to spot when you’re rationalizing your decisions and how to discover the real reasons behind your decisions. Then, I will show you how to use this to start making rational decisions.

We rationalize to protect our egos.

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Let’s say you go to an electronics store and a salesperson talks you into buying the newest gadget that has dozens of features you don’t need. Then you get home, and someone asks you why you bought it. You might well answer, “Well it does this and that, and it has this really cool feature, and look how useful this little feature is!”

The problem is that you find out that you really don’t end up using many of those features ever again after the first time you try them. This shows you that you didn’t really buy the gadget for those features. You bought it because you had a rush of emotions and you really wanted that gadget at the store. And when someone points out you made a silly decision there, you rationalize with all the features to show you actually made a good decision. So there’s your first reason why we humans rationalize…

· We rationalize to protect our egos.

But that’s not the only reason. Another reason is that we like to think we act rationally. We like to think we make all our decisions based on logic.

If you’re thinking right now “I do make all my decision based on logic!” then this podcast may make you a little uncomfortable. I don’t expect you to immediately accept my premise. I’m just asking you to keep an open mind and consider what I have to say. And, as you’re listening to this, try to think of times in your life when what I’m saying might have been true.

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In a moment, I’m going to show you that you don’t make all your decisions rationally, but also that it doesn’t mean you’re an irrational impulsive being fully controlled by your emotions. As with everything that’s human, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Let’s continue upwards on our trail as we consider another reason why we rationalize. As our example, let’s think about the argument between using a Windows-based PC or a MAC.  Since we have been in the technology industry for over 30 years, we started in business at the birth of the personal computer era. The argument on whether a PC or MAC is the better computer is based on the individual, desires, and finances.  The argument between those two choices continues every day. It used to be more distinct, but with so many web-based programs, the traditional arguments are fading. You weigh the pros and cons and then make a logical decision…Or did you rationalize again and make a decision actually based on emotion? The second reason we rationalize is…

· We like to maintain the self-image of logical, rational beings.

The decisions you make are closely tied to your self-image. I might be making you seriously uncomfortable there if you never considered this before. Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to immediately give up your self-image. I’m just asking you to keep an open mind and consider the possibility that I might be right. I’ll try to show you some compelling reasons in the rest of this podcast today and tomorrow. Then you can watch for it in your own life and decide if I’m right based on your own personal experience.

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2. What We Think Influences Our Decisions vs. What Really Influences Our Decisions

Here are a few questions for you to consider:

  1. Why are motorcycles owned mostly by men?
  2. Why do men participate in team sports so much more than women?
  3. Why are men more fascinated by technological gadgets while women are fascinated by clothing and shoes?

Here’s a hint. None of the answers are based on logic.

Take a few moments to consider those questions. While I don’t usually generalize, here are some answers to the questions above.

  1. Men have a biologically hardwired need for the feeling of freedom, more so than women. Men appear to have a greater need for significance while women need security. Both are emotionally driven traits.
  2. Men have a hardwired need to be more competitive and know our rank among other males. It’s about the whole alpha male – beta male hierarchy. In the past, we used to fight each other to find out who’s the dominant guy. Today, since we’re civilized, we use sports and other forms of competition instead. Once again, this is an emotion with little logic.
  3. This is a little more difficult to determine, and you may not agree with me. My thoughts are that males may be more naturally curious about new devices and they desire to know how they work while women care much more how they look. There are always exceptions, but generally most men don’t have the fashion sense that women do.

Okay, even if you don’t fully agree with my answers above, here’s a realization I’d like you to take away…Not everything we do has a logical reason behind it. So what influences our decisions?

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We like to feel good about ourselves. We like to feel important. We like to feel attractive. We like to feel loved.  Notice a pattern there? Emotions drive most of our decisions.

Sure, you use perceived logic in carrying those needs out. You desire to buy cars, boats, clothing, and jewelry that are more expensive than you really need even if you go into debt to do so. Once you make the decision to purchase in your mind, you logically decide on the parameters that make the right decision, and logically decide how much you can afford to spend, and then you logically justify the purchase.

Emotions drive most of our decisions.

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The above paragraph might be a bit confusing. But that’s because our thought processes are pretty complicated. We are always mixing emotions and logic when making decisions. Just remember one thing. The first step is always made by emotions, never by logic.

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On the first part of our hike up Rationalize Mountain we explored why we rationalize when making decisions. Tomorrow we will finish our hike as we explore how to make better decisions ourselves, and how we can help others make better decisions. One good decision is 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 continue our hike up Rationalize Mountain.

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.

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!

Day 193 – Collecting and Connecting the Dots

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 193 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Collecting and Connecting the Dots

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 193 of our Trek, and yesterday we hiked the “Ink It” Trail where we learned how to “Ink it when we think it.” Today we are going to collect the dots on our trail so that we can connect the dots as we move forward on our trek of life. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. As I got up this morning at [5:30] as I usually do, I was really tired after a couple of nights of sleep that were way too short and a very busy workday yesterday.  I was dragging a bit and not real enthused about a fast run on the treadmill…but I did push through and started on the first of two 5k maps that were next on my list of pre-programmed runs. As a side note, having Google Maps built into the treadmill through a wireless internet connection is really neat. I went ahead and set out at a fast pace. The front room where the treadmill is located in Home2 faces east, and as I looked out the window, I saw a sliver of moon and to the right of it, the bright and morning star. It was a beautiful picture. (Yes, I do realize that is actually the planet of Venus).

Seeing this was encouraging as I thought of how Christ is referred to as the morning star in 2 Peter 2:19, “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.” It certainly made running the remainder of the 10k easier and more enjoyable. I want to encourage you to look for those special moments that are part of each day.  Those moments are happening all around us, so make it a habit to collect them as we see how they connect to our lives.

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On today’s Trek, we want to make a habit of collecting the dots in life so that we can connect them to see how God is working through us each day. It is then that we will achieve true success and live the rich and satisfying life that we should. We will call our trek today…

Connecting the Dots

In 2011, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer and Pixar gave a commencement address to the graduating class at Stanford University. He talked about creating passion, life, and death, and “connecting the dots.”  The dots were events in his life, many challenging and many positive, which led to his many successes. He shared with the audience that being fired from Apple Computer, the computer company he founded, he was able to step back and develop the idea for Pixar Animation Studios. By achieving the great success at Pixar, he was eventually asked to come back to lead Apple Computer. This eventually led him to spearhead the launching of one of the most revolutionary products of the 21st century…the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. He explained that he felt that he would never have achieved his successes without his failures and setbacks. He was able to connect the dots to see how it all added up.

So I ask you, “Have you connected your dots?”

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Here are five reasons why taking the time to connect the dots will give you a roadmap for success in your life.

1. All dots are good.

Many times we face challenges in our lives that when we are in the middle of them they seem difficult, and making us look like and feel like failures.  This is because we are focused on the imagined “downside” of the challenge. We lose focus on the good that can come out of the situation. Even in difficult times, always be looking for something that you can learn from them. A lesson learned is never negative if we apply what we learn to improve ourselves. So remember, all dots are good. It’s the way we look at them that determines whether they will show us a better way or just be black dots in our life with no discernable purpose.

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2. Be willing to go to the next dot.

Due to past “negative” experiences, many times we avoid new challenges because we want to feel “safe.”  How many times have you heard the following?

  • “I’m never dating again because of my past experiences with…”
  • “I don’t want to take on the new project because it is too high profile, and I might fail.”
  • “I don’t want the promotion because of what happened the last time…”

If we learn from our past experiences in life, it will make us even better prepared for new opportunities. On our trek of life, if we want to dig for the nuggets of wisdom as if they were gold, then we have to dig through a whole lot of mud to find them. In other words, we all need to experience the dirt under our fingernails and the sweat rolling down our face and back in life to know and appreciate the real opportunities that will help us daily to be creating our living legacy.

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3. Accelerate the dots in your life.

It is so easy to trudge along in life making very little progress, but that is not what we were destined for. You can speed the amount of success by continuously learning. Continuously work on improving yourself in every area of your life. Focus on certain areas, and as you start to master those, then move to other areas of your life. As you practice what the Japanese refer to as Kaizen, which is the process of continuous improvement, then you will be prepared to open the windows of opportunity as you come to them.

One of the best ways to learn is by volunteering or being an apprentice to a skilled master. This may not provide immediate monetary gain, but the skills learned will be invaluable. As you learn you are collecting and then connecting the dots of life, and you will accelerate your progress.

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4. Collect multiple dots with wisdom.

There are no real shortcuts in life, but we can speed the process of dot collection and connection by gaining wisdom. It is my hope that by listening and learning from the Wisdom-Trek episodes, your progress will speed up. We have heard about people who have “instant” success and then lose it all almost as fast. This happens when those people never acquired the wisdom needed to maintain their success. Take the time necessary to learn from the events in your life, but keep in mind the saying, “Smart people learn from their mistakes; truly wise people learn from other people’s mistakes.”

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5. Go forward and connect the dots.

Take time to plan your future events and goals based on your past events. Analyze the positive outcomes from those events and use them to plan for the future. That is the secret to true success. So go forward, motivate yourself, connect the dots, and realize your roadmap to success.

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So on our Trek today, we collected and then connected the dots for success. Keep in mind that the quickest way to gain the additional wisdom needed to speed this process can be found in God’s Word in verses like Psalms 119:105,“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” As you continue through each day collecting and connecting your dots, please 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 hike Rationalize Mountain.

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!

Day 192 – Productivity – Hiking the Ink It Trail

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 192 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Productivity – Hiking the Ink It Trail

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 192 of our Trek, and yesterday we climbed and conquered Alibi Mountain as we bypassed all of the “If Only” rabbit trails. Today we are going to hike the Ink It Trail where we will learn how to “Ink it when we think it.” If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. What a great time to be alive! Just to think that through our computers, we can communicate with anyone all over the world nearly instantaneously is amazing. The adoption of the internet worldwide, and especially mobile technology, is growing so rapidly. We must not overlook the opportunities that will allow us to impact others.

One area that I will be pursuing going into 2016 is to establish a community of podcasters that are Christ followers to provide them with a platform for services and support. This will be called The Christian Podcasting Network, and if you are interested in receiving additional information about it when we roll it out, email me at guthrie@venturecg.com. The impact that we can have in the faith community has a tremendous potential worldwide.

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World-Wide Impact

One word of caution though, with so much information online we can become easily overloaded with more information than we can effectively process if we are not careful. That is why we must put into place a system to capture those great ideas so that we can implement them when the time is right. We can’t possibly act on all of our ideas, so capturing them is essential.

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Sensory Overload

On today’s Trek, we want to dig up some nuggets of wisdom that I discovered from Laura Stack, who refers to herself as “The Productivity Pro.” Playing off her terminology, our hike today will be along the “Ink It” trail. On our hike for today we will learn one of the best ways of…

Increasing Productivity: If You Think It, Ink It!

John Steinbeck said:

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

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Laura Stack’s father had a saying he used to repeat often. He always carried around one of those little Mead spiral notebooks, which he liked to call “his brain,” and whenever an idea would strike him he’d write it down and say, “If you think it, ink it!”

Laura’s dad was correct. You can’t depend on your brain to remember everything, especially when you’re in the middle of another task. Nor is it a good idea to drop the task you’re working on and go wandering off after the new idea. Oh, you can do that…But if you make a habit of it, you’ll never finish anything, and you will waste hours in your day. No wonder so many people feel they are ADHD. With sensory overload today, it so easy to get distracted.

So, when you have a random thought that sounds good, get it down on paper (or electronics) ASAP. You can use a little notebook, a handheld device like a smartphone, a compact voice recorder, 3 x 5 index card, or a standardized planner—whatever works for you.

I personally use Evernote which is loaded on my phone, tablet, and all computers because it syncs the exact information everywhere. For about a year before I started the Wisdom-Trek podcast, I started compiling a list of topics for daily episodes. My list contains nearly 300 topics, with more being added as I check off the ones that I have already completed.  This is all handled within Evernote. No matter what I am doing or where I am, I can record an idea or clip an article and put it in Evernote. This allows me to “Ink it when I think it.”  Then my brain is available to continue working on the task at hand, and I don’t have to be concerned if I will remember it later.

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Fishing for Ideas

It’s been said that ideas are like slippery little fish that you have to capture with a pencil, or else they’ll get away. And as the saying goes, “The dullest pencil (pixel on an electronic device) is keener than the sharpest mind.” So capture your great idea however you may, and get right back to your original task.

The dullest pencil is keener than the sharpest mind.

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Another great thing about recording your ideas is that when you do so, your brain will think you’ve done something about it and stop bugging you, so you can focus. Even if your idea is of the non-bugging kind, if you write it down, you don’t have to waste any energy trying to remember it later. It’s recorded right there in black and white. By “inking” it, you’ve made it real.

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Fishing for Ideas

And oddly enough, writing down your ideas often seems to make you have more of them. That may simply be a function of the fact that you’re just not remembering them all when you don’t record them, but it could also be attributed to God’s divine guidance in our lives allowing our creativity to blossom.  Think about how Jesus took the few loaves and fish and when he broke them down, they became much.  Matthew 15:36-37 says, “Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.”

By the time you review your notes, you may have forgotten the idea altogether, so you may just be pleasantly surprised by what you find. And what do you end up with when you’re done? Why, you have a little list of things to do…Now, why does that sound familiar? Yep, you got it. Your ideas (or at least, the best of them) end up on your to-do list so that you can focus your attention on them properly. And if you come up with another brilliant idea while you’re working on your new tasks, well, if you think it, ink it!

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From Fish to Seeds

Now, I’ve compared ideas to slippery fish, which you have to capture, but once you’ve done that, they turn into something else. (And I’m not talking about fish sticks here). These ideas you’re struck with—whether while working on something else, completing your daily commute, or sleeping in the middle of the night—become seeds once you gather them in. They may never germinate, of course, and even if they’re viable, you may never use them. You can’t do everything you imagine because there’s just not enough time!

But if you carry those little idea seeds around with you like Johnny Appleseed, you may very well come across fertile soil in which they can sprout. That’s when you plant them in the ground and stand back so you can see what they’ll become. This reminds me of the principle of planting and harvesting that is found 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.”

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Ideas are important for everyone. Even the most daring and ambitious of undertakings, from the Great Wall of China to the International Space Station, started as nothing more than an idea that someone eventually recorded. Once they did that, it went from meditation to action and changed the world.

So in our Trek of the Ink It trail, make it a habit when you think it, then ink all of your ideas. Don’t judge them, just record them. Then later, when you have time, you can keep the good and take action on them and set aside the ones that may not be feasible, at least in this season of life.  Each day think of ways to impact your world. One way is 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 explore how to collect and then connect the dots.

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!