Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 543 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Law of Planting and Harvesting – Results

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 543 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale.

The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I have adapted it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We have now completed 3 of the 5 trails on this extended trek, and today we start on the Trail of Results. Having a correct philosophy about life is crucial. Having a proper attitude in life is essential. It is imperative that you have the correct and sufficient activity to succeed…But none of this matters if your results are not adequate.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and start on the fourth trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Results Part 1

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

1. Philosophy

2. Attitude

3. Activity

4. Results

5. Lifestyle

1. Predictable Results

Any business or personal activity undertaken in the proper season and combined with the passage of enough time will produce a predictable result. The reason for the seasons is productivity, and the purpose of your activity is results.

Results are the harvest that comes from your past efforts. If the farmer has planted only a handful of seeds in the spring, he cannot expect to reap a very bountiful harvest in the fall. Likewise, if a person has engaged in only minimal activity in the past, he should not expect significant results in the present. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2^nd letter to the 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.”

Results are always in direct proportion to effort. Those who rest in the spring do not harvest in the fall, regardless of need and regardless of desire. Results are the reward reserved for those who had the foresight to seize an earlier opportunity. If the opportunity was missed, the reward will be withheld. The opportunity of springtime is brief. Opportunity approaches, arrives, and then quickly passes. It does not linger; nor does it pause to look back. Opportunity merely presents itself, and those who respond to its arrival with intelligent activity will realize a full measure of the desired result.

All that you do determines your future results. Like the farmer who tills the soil in preparation for planting the seed, you must work to develop a sound philosophy. Like the farmer who cultivates and fertilizes his crop to destroy the weeds and nourish the growing seeds, you must strive to develop a new attitude.  Like the farmer who tends his crop from morning until nightfall in anticipation of the future harvest, you must engage in labor, or that is to say, in daily activity.

If your past labors have produced a poor harvest, there is nothing you can do about it. You cannot alter the past. You cannot ask God to make an exception to the rules no matter how hungry you are. Nor will God permit you to ask the soil for an advance. The only thing you can do is to prepare for the inevitable arrival of another spring, another opportunity, and then plant, nourish, and tend your new crop as diligently as possible, remembering the painful consequences of your past neglect. In remembering the consequences, however, you must not allow yourself to be overcome by them. Their lessons must serve you, not overwhelm you.

Throughout your life, you will experience a number of spring times and a number of harvests. Your future happiness is seldom the product of any one harvest. Rather, it is the result of many small individual opportunities that are either capitalized on or sadly neglected. For your happiness lies in the accumulative effect of your past activity. This is why it is so important to study results, your own and that of others. Checking your results on a regular basis provides you with an excellent indicator of how well you are using your opportunities. Your current results are an early indicator of what the future will likely hold in store as you continue on your present course. If your current results are satisfying, then the future will likely produce the same bountiful harvest. If your current results are not as you would like them to be, then you need to take a closer look at those factors that may have nudged or even pushed you in the wrong direction.

The law of planting and harvesting is immutable. You are responsible for being diligent in the planting seasons of life and to work hard during the growing seasons, so that you will have plenty during the harvest season. Galatians 6:4-5 it well, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we hike today on the Trail of Results. Today we learned that the law of planting and harvesting is immutable and that our results are in proportion to our activity.

Next Philosophy Friday we will explore How to Measure Your Results. So join us next Friday for these additional insights. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek is on Monday, and we will continue our series called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack as we equip you with the tools needed to impact the lives of others. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

As we take this trek of life 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 Monday!