Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 217 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

7 Thought Patterns for a Rich and Satisfying Life #3

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 217 of our Trek. As we start a new year, I want to emphasize again how important it is for us to have the proper mindset as we begin 2016. For the first few days of this year, we will explore how we need to renew our minds so we can transform our lives. After that, we will spend a few days focusing on setting our plans and goals for this new year. 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 Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Paula and I enjoyed a relaxing New Year’s Day watching the Rose Bowl Parade and visiting with her sister Ruth and her husband Joe. We enjoyed homemade chili and played a game of Carcassonne. This weekend will be dedicated to additional life/business planning as we get ready for the first work week of 2016.

Let’s continue on our Wisdom-Trek for 2016, as we hike our trail for today on the Mountain of Transformation.  Personal transformation of any area in our life first begins on the trail of renewing our minds, or it might be said, changing the way we think. The only way 2016 will be a better year is if we change how we think. The trek up Transformation Mountain will take us a couple of days longer than anticipated to keep the Wisdom-Trek episodes between 7-9 minutes, but I want to make sure that we take our time as we explore these important nuggets of thought that will change our lives. Today we continue our exploration of the…

7 Thought Patterns for a Rich and Satisfying Life

I stated on the first two days of this year that if you desire to live a life that is rich and satisfying in 2016 and beyond, then it starts with changing the way that you think. Why is it so hard to change the way we think – to choose the right, just, and good? It is such a simple concept, and yet for most of us, it is so difficult to do consistently each day. This is because changing our thoughts and changing our lives is hard work. Your thought patterns, your habits, and the manner in which you live is so engrained in you. To make significant and lasting changes, it takes consistent and persistent commitment. We have to consciously have a gate-keeper monitoring what we allow into our minds. Our minds have been programmed throughout our lives based on what we have allowed our minds to feed on each day.

So far we have covered the thought patterns of trust, thankfulness, truth, and timing. If you missed these first two days, please listen to them or read the daily journal to learn the wisdom contained there. Today we will explore the 5^th thought pattern which is travail, or it could be referred to as hard work. You need to infuse this thought pattern into your life to make a real and lasting change. So let’s explore…

5. Travail

If you want your life to be transformed, you must fill your minds with thoughts of diligence, labor, and travail. You must be a person who is responsible, reliable, hardworking, committed to excellence, and task-oriented. You must put away thoughts of laziness and apathy. You must not be a wandering and uncommitted person. You must avoid expecting everything to be easy and be prepared to handle difficult responsibilities. You must take responsibility for your lives and avoid putting the blame on others for whatever happens in your life. When you fill your mind with thoughts of diligence and excellence, your life will be transformed.

Let’s look at some action steps on our trail today that will help you to implement a change of thought patterns in your life.

You must be willing to plan and to put that plan into action.

Proverbs 21:5,25

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
    but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin,
    for their hands refuse to work.

You must be willing to work hard and lead others.

Proverbs 12:24 – Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

You must be willing to invest the time and resources to improve yourself.

Proverbs 22:29 – Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.

You must be willing to work for your desires.

Proverbs 13:4

Lazy people want much but get little,
    but those who work hard will prosper.

You must understand the correlation between hard work and riches.

Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.

You must work to please the Lord, not only to please others.

Colossians [3:23]-24

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

You must work to gain respect and avoid being overly dependent on others.

1 Thessalonians [4:11]-12

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

You must be willing to work and not be idle.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-12

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”  Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.

On the first five segments of our trek up Transformation Mountain, we explored the concepts of trust, thankfulness, truth, timing and today travail. All of these segments tie to each other on our trek of life and are crucial for changing the way we think and renewing our minds. If we apply the principles that we explore this week, we will change our lives by changing our thought patterns. We will invest two more days to adequately cover the final two elements of the tempter and being teachable. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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!