Your Daily Wisdom Nugget

For the full trek click on https://wisdom-trek.com/day-1/

Guidelines for a Successful Trek

As with any journey in life, it is best if we have a destination in mind before we begin. It is difficult or impossible to measure progress and success if we don’t know our destination. Once we determine our destination, we should know the best path to take to reach it. It is best if we remain on trails that have been forged before us by others.

Life will take us through many hardships and dangers. At times it will seem like no one has ever traversed the path that we are taking, but there are few, if any, circumstances in life that others have not already traveled. In fact King Solomon, the wisest person who ever lived, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in the later years of his life, and in chapter 1:9 he declares, “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” So we can take “comfort” in the fact that others have been on the same path before us.

[spp-tweet “”Our path to wisdom may not always be smooth, but we can still enjoy it.” @Wisdom_Trek”]

I believe that most of us would desire to live a long life and to prosper. Prospering, though, will take many different forms. It could be financial, but that does not need to be our primary way of prospering. Becoming wise and creating a living legacy by making a positive impact on our world will allow us to truly prosper. The primary purpose for us pursuing and obtaining financial prosperity is to allow that impact to be even greater.

We need to be a river and not a reservoir with our financial gain. Allowing financial prosperity to flow through us to others, instead of hording it for ourselves, will help us to gain wisdom.

In addition to setting a destination, our best hope of arriving safely is to have suitable navigation tools. We need to follow a GPS, map, compass or other tools that will allow us to be reasonably sure that we are on the right path. These tools are important, but are only useful, if we follow them. As I am sure each of us has experienced, even with the best GPS or map, we sometimes end up on a wrong road, and so it is with the trails in life. We may find ourselves at places or in situations that we never expected, either through our own choices or the choices of others.

We may get off the planned trail, but with the right tools, we can still head toward our destination. While my primary map in life on my Wisdom-Trek has been The Bible, I have also studied and followed many others that have traveled before me. Some of my “virtual mentors” that have reached their destination in this life have been Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, and Earl Nightingale.

Using these combined resources when I have found myself on an unexpected trail in life (and there have been many), I am able to head in the correct direction because my destination remains the same. There have been many steep uphill climbs and some dark valleys, but as I continue my trek, I have the strength to continue.

Your Daily Wisdom Nugget

For the full trek click on https://wisdom-trek.com/day-12/

The Compass and The Clock

The compass and the clock will only bring value to us if we know how to use them properly. These are two very important tools with two very different purposes. We do not want to confuse the two.

Let’s look at the true story of Roald Amundsen and his trek to be the first team to reach the South Pole in 1911. His destination was known from the very beginning, and that never changed. His compass provided the direction that he needed to be successful. It allowed his team to stay on course. The compass always pointed to his “true north,” which in his case allowed him to head in the opposite direction since he was heading to the South Pole. He never had to fear about the direction he was heading because his faith was in the compass along with some maps from those who had attempted the trek before him. His effectiveness was driven by this faith in his compass and the guidance from the maps.

As a person of faith and a Christ follower, I follow God’s Spirit as my compass and His Word as the maps. I am confident that on each day’s trek if I put my faith in these “tools,” the direction for my life will remain true.

Not every day is easy. Some days will be bright and clear, and we will see for miles. Other days will be shrouded in fog, and we will easily lose our way. As long as we have our compass to guide each day, though, we can be sure that we are heading in the correct direction.

Secondly, the Amundsen team meticulously planned that they would march 20 miles every day. No more, no less regardless if conditions were good or bad. In reality the distance varied slightly, but he also knew that if they we going to reach close to 20 miles, they must move at a certain pace each day, which would take a certain amount of time. He relied on his clock to ensure that they marched 20 miles each day. Roald Amundsen knew that the time allotted would allow them to meet that goal. He determined to be efficient with each day.

To learn more of Roald Amundsen’s 20 mile march, I suggest reading Jim Collin’s book titled Great By Choice. Discounted books can be ordered through the links on our Free Resources page.

It seems that our lives today are so driven by the clock that we forget to use our compass. Our days are so jam-packed with activities that we lose perspective of our overall destination. We have become a world that is efficiently ineffective.

We must use both the compass and the clock to be effective and efficient. To gain wisdom and build a living legacy, we must keep our eyes on the summit while we plan what each day’s activities will entail.

[spp-tweet “A compass provides a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. A clock measures duration and the expenditure of time. Both are important.”]