Wisdom-Trek ©

Creating a Legacy ™

10 Timeless Truths for Life

by Leave a Comment

In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored Proverbs 10:28-32. That was our last week on Proverbs Chapter 10, so this week we will shift our focus. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes, please go to the blog to catch previous installments.

All truth comes from God, and since God is timeless, so is truth. This week we will explore…

10 Timeless Truths for Life

Let’s jump right in.

1. Gratitude cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed.

Gratitude is the sacred experience of living every moment with love and thankfulness. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for and some reason to love. So, be sure to appreciate what you have. Be thankful for the little things in life that mean a lot.

2. Be a student of life every day.

Experience it, learn from it, and absorb all the knowledge you can. Prepare yourself for greatness by keeping your mind conditioned with fresh knowledge and new challenges. Remember, if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready when great opportunities arise.

3. Experience and failure are the best teachers.

Don’t just memorize the things others are teaching. Practice “figuring out” each day so you can learn the best practices and then do your thing. Life’s experiences and failures will teach you over the course of time and often at the right time and place so that you will remember forever what is truly important.

4. Make your choices, your actions, and your life your responsibility.

As much as possible, live your life without fear or regret. Never let obstacles keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do. Continue to work hard at what you love no matter what the challenges are. Be persistent. Make your choices and accept the responsibility for those choices. You can’t change the past, so live without fear and regret. This will allow you to experience a life well-lived.

5. No one is “too busy” in this world. It’s all about priorities.

What you focus on grows. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, or anyone else. It boils down to that we choose to do what we want, so make wise choices.

6. Be patient, but resolute. Even pain will be useful to you.

You will never realize your true strength until being strong is your only option left. Until you are broken or have failed, you won’t know what you’re truly made of. Pain has a purpose and will teach us. It’s a sign that something needs to change. It’s a wake-up call that guides you toward a better future. So keep your heart open to dreams, and make the changes needed. As long as there is a dream and positive action, there is hope. And, as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.

7. It is better to be kind than insist on being right.

We do not always need an intelligent mind that speaks, just a patient heart that listens. Be kind at all times. There is never a justifiable excuse not to be kind. It takes a great deal of strength to be gentle and kind. Power comes through kindness. As it says in Ephesians 4:2 & 32, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

8. You are a magnet attracting others to you.

What you see in others comes from what is inside you. Judge less and love more. If you want inner peace, resist the temptation to gossip about others or portray them in a poor light. Instead of judging someone for what they do or where they are in their life, determine if there is something you can do to help them grow. As you have the opportunity, help others by loving them, not judging them.

9. Only you are in charge of your attitude.

The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that a situation is over, you cannot move forward. You are responsible for how you feel, no matter what anyone else says or does. You are always 100% in control of your thoughts right now, so choose to love yourself and feel confident and adequate rather than angry and insecure. Choose to look forward and upward, not backward and down.

10. Satisfaction is not the fulfillment of what you want.

Satisfaction is the realization of how blessed you are for what you have. It’s not that everything will be easy or exactly as you had expected, but you must choose to be grateful for all that you have and happy that you got a chance to live this life, no matter how it turns out. If you are not satisfied with what you have already, you will never be satisfied with more. It requires a mental shift of accepting life for what it is not what you hoped it to be. This does not mean you don’t try to improve and excel personally, you certainly should. As you seek to improve, have gratitude today, and then you will have gratitude tomorrow.

These 10 ageless truths, when put into practice will allow you to live fully, richly, and with satisfaction. Next week, as we hike our trail, we will explore how life is not a dress rehearsal. In addition to our weekly Wisdom Notes, encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast – Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

7 Steps to Become a Person of Influence

by Leave a Comment

The many life activities in which Paula and I are involved and the clients with whom we work are a result of choices that we have made over the years. An important attribute that I desire for my life is to be a person of influence. I feel certain that almost everyone would like to have a positive influence on the lives of others. In order to do so, you may have to make some changes in your life. Changes require that we make difficult choices at times. The choices that we have made in our lives up to this point determine the situation that we find ourselves in.

So, let me ask a couple of questions…Do you desire to become a person of influence? What changes in your life will be required in order to reach that position? In this note, we will hike the trails of choice and look for the seven signposts that are crucial for becoming a person of influence.

Change Begins with Choice

Any day you wish, you can discipline yourself to change your life. Any day you wish, you can open a book that will open your mind to new knowledge. Any day you wish, you can start a new activity. Any day you wish, you can start the process of life change. You can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year. Zig Ziglar put it this way, “Before you change your thinking, you have to change what goes into your mind.”

You can also do nothing. You can pretend rather than perform. If the idea of having to change yourself makes you uncomfortable, you can remain as you are. You can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are yours to make. But while you may desire change, you must be willing to make the choice to change. As Ecclesiastes 10:2 says, “A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.”

The current situation of your life is largely based on past choices. You have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

You cannot allow your errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead you down the wrong path. You must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how your life works out. And then you must make the very choices that will bring about a rich and satisfying life.

And, if I may be so bold to offer a piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in life…If you don’t like how things are, change them! You’re not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life, and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

Once you have made the necessary changes, if needed, then you can become a person of influence.

Be a Person of Influence

If you want to be a person of influence and have a positive impact on the lives of others, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. As a person of influence, you will have the ability to impact others with the gifts, skills, and opportunities you offer. To continually impact others positively is a challenge and requires certain qualities that many people lack.

What’s important in becoming a person of influence is refining your skills. You must keep working on yourself until you become effective. Let’s look at the seven signposts that will help you in becoming a person of influence.

  1. Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable influencer with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It’s not a good substitute.
  2. Learn to be kind but not weak. You must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn’t weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. You must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. You must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. You must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.
  3. Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you will have to lead others at times. You have to be willing to sacrifice, tackle the problem, and discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment.
  4. Learn to be humble but not timid. You can’t become an influencer by being too timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It’s an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word—a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars. James 4:10 tells us to, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”
  5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride or confidence in yourself to be a person of influence. It takes pride in your tribe. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming an effective influencer is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It’s intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we may tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take.
  6. Learn to develop humor without folly. When influencing others, you learn that it’s okay to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish.
  7. Learn to deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony of delusion. Just accept life as it is—the whole drama of life. It’s fascinating.

Life is unique. Positive influence is unique. The skills that work well for one person of influence may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of influence can be adapted to work well for just about everyone – at work, in the community, in church, and at home.

In this Wisdom Note, we hiked the trail of choice and studied the seven signposts to become a person of influence. Making wise but difficult choices in life allows us to positively influence and impact others.

The Reason We Make Excuses

by 1 Comment

In today’s Wisdom Note, we will explore why we make excuses. So many people make excuses, but they are so difficult to see in ourselves. None of us particularly like accountability, but it is required to be a wise and mature person.

It is easy to fall into the habit of making excuses when our trek of life does not turn out as we desired. On our next three Wisdom Notes, we will examine in detail the subject of excuses. So, let’s put all our excuses aside and head out on the trail. One quote from a very wise man, Benjamin Franklin, reminds us, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

Do you ever catch yourself making excuses when things don’t turn out as you had expected? Have you ever neglected taking responsibility for the events and circumstances of your life? Or have you ever tried to explain away why you didn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t, or simply wouldn’t do something? These are all subtle signs that indicate you are living a life of excuses, which prevents you from living to your full potential. And, in Jesus’s words, your full potential is a rich and satisfying life.

1. What Are Excuses?

Excuses are rationalizations we make to ourselves about people, events, and circumstances. They are invented reasons we create to defend our behavior, to neglect taking a particular kind of action, or to simply negate responsibility. Excuses are in essence a means of placing the blame of an internal problem on an external condition.

2. Why Do We Make Excuses?

There are many reasons why people make excuses. In fact, everyone has different reasons for making them. However, when it boils down to it, all excuses are based on FEAR. We make excuses for the following main reasons:

  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of embarrassment
  • Fear of success
  • Fear of change
  • Fear of uncertainty
  • Fear of responsibility
  • Fear of making mistakes
  • Fear of lacking confidence or resources

To eliminate excuses from our lives, we must first look at eliminating all traces of fear.

We need to reduce and as much as possible eliminate all false fear in our lives for the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to Timothy in Chapter 1 verse 7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Fear traps and locks us away within our comfort zone, yet fear often develops as a result of a lack of:

  • Understanding
  • Information
  • Resources
  • Experience
  • Perspective

If you lack all these things, you will naturally lack confidence, and as a result, you will fail to take the action necessary to achieve your goals and objectives.

Consequently, you will tend to make excuses about your life and circumstances in order to help boost your self-esteem. However, all you’re doing is creating the illusion of security. You’re simply masking the pain by taking a “painkiller.” The pain is still there and will continue to persist until you finally overcome your fears.

3. What Are the Consequences of Making Excuses?

Living a life of excuses can have very serious and lasting consequences. Not only will excuses prevent you from reaching your full potential, but they will also hold you back from recognizing opportunities, talents, and skills you might have to help you overcome your problems.

If you don’t challenge yourself to reach new heights, you will never really know what you’re capable of. New opportunities lie hidden around every corner; however, you will never find them if you riddle your mind with constantly finding reasons to make excuses.

Making excuses can also lead to the following consequences:

  • Lack of responsibility and growth
  • Self-limiting beliefs
  • Massive regrets
  • Persistent pessimistic outlook on life
  • Bad judgments
  • Paranoia
  • Imaginary walls constricting comfort zone
  • Mental blocks stifling proactive action and creativity

These consequences certainly don’t lead to a rich and satisfying life. In fact, they paralyze us and prevent forward movement in all areas of our lives.

To overcome your excuses, you must first admit that you are making them. Sometimes this is difficult to do; however, it’s absolutely necessary and critical if you want to eliminate the resulting consequences.

Ask yourself:

  • What excuses do I tend to make?
  • What am I settling for?

Furthermore, you must identify the reasons for your excuses. Ask yourself:

  • Why am I making these excuses?

Finally, list the consequences that each of these excuses has on your life and circumstances by asking:

  • How do these excuses prevent me from moving forward?
  • How do they cripple my ability to get what I want?

We need to learn to scale to new heights on our trek each day, especially when we are overwhelmed and find ourselves making excuses instead of taking responsibility. As we grow in wisdom and insight, we can realize that to overcome excuses, we can rely on a power that is greater than we may have within ourselves. As King David wrote in Psalms 61:1-3,

“O God, listen to my cry!
Hear my prayer!
From the ends of the earth,
I cry to you for help
when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
for you are my safe refuge,
a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.”

Now that we have explored some of the core reasons we make excuses, in our next couple of notes, we will learn the type of excuses that we commonly make and discover how to eliminate excuses forever.

The Will to Prepare

by Leave a Comment

As we begin our trek today, imagine in your mind that we are facing a very narrow and steep uphill climb that does not look like it will be easy. There are some of you that may thrive on this challenge while others will be a bit more apprehensive about the obstacles that lie ahead of us. Which one are you? Are you more competitive by nature and love a good challenge? Do you desire to be out front leading our team, or would you rather be toward the back, content to follow after the trail has been forged and determined to be safe?

While I have observed that some people appear to be more competitive by nature, this competitiveness is based on the task that is to be completed. As an example, while I tend to be more of a risk taker and competitive sort, Paula is less so. I have found through experience, though, that given the right situations, Paula is very competitive. I rarely can claim victory at table games or games on the computer, for instance, as Paula’s competitive nature makes sure that she does her best to win.

On our trek today and in all areas of life, if we are going to reach at least some level of success, we need to have an internal drive. But, a much bigger factor is that we need to be prepared. Preparation in all areas of life is important. In fact, the will to prepare is more important than the will to succeed. We will never be successful if we do not prepare. When we refer to preparation, it is much more than “getting ready to get ready.” Preparation is the blood, sweat, and tears of hard work and focus that is required to achieve anything that is worthwhile in life.

Here are four ways to muster your will and get prepared for success on any trail on life’s trek.

1. Stay ready so there’s no getting ready.

If you work hard, remain consistent, and maintain a great attitude, you will see opportunities present themselves. Still, they often appear when you least expect them and not as soon as you wish. For this reason, it’s important to proactively prepare by anticipating the possibilities and consistently working to better yourself in all areas of life.

Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work,” Thomas A. Edison.

2. Create a self-development routine.

In life or business, preparing to succeed means extracurricular learning. It’s the secret weapon for successful entrepreneurs and individuals that desire to succeed in life. This involves the discipline to focus on improving yourself outside of your “work” hours or normal routine be it reading/listening to leadership and self-improvement books or even a course to improve a particular hobby that you want to excel in. This action will separate those who have the will to succeed because they have the will to prepare.

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come,” Abraham Lincoln.

To ensure you’re on the right track, create a self-development routine. Decide what you will read/listen to, whom you will talk with, and how much time you will commit to the process. Start by doing one thing daily, no matter how big or small, to prepare for any opportunity that comes your way. The fact that you are taking the time to read these Wisdom Notes indicates that you already possess the will to prepare, so keep moving forward.

Having a structured plan of preparation is important as is mentioned in Proverbs 24:27, “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.”

As a Christ follower, I also take the study of Scripture very important. The Apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to his protégé Timothy in Chapter 3 verses 16 and 17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

3. Undergo a self-evaluation.

As a person of influence (as everyone is to a certain extent), how much more knowledgeable and effective are you today than you were one year ago? If the truth is brutal, the blame can likely be attributed to a lack of preparation. Realize that the only way to get a positive answer next year is to actively prepare now.

Consider where you want to be as a person and leader next year. Then brainstorm on how to achieve this. Keep in mind where you have fallen short in the past and start making the necessary adjustments. Realize that everyone is a leader to some extent. Make sure you are a prepared leader, and then you will be a successful leader.

4. Seek a mentor or coach.

For nearly anything you want to accomplish, there’s someone out there who’s already achieved it. These individuals are valuable resources. Ask them to be a coach, adviser, or mentor to help you navigate your area of desired improvement. If and when they give you their time, make the most of it by asking prepared, insightful questions.

If you want to develop the will to succeed, make sure that you invest in succeeding now by developing the will to prepare before that trail of your life begins.

Even one of the greatest leaders of all time, in the Bible, Moses had a mentor in his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro suggested a plan to help Moses better handle the mitigation of disputes within the nation of Israel in Exodus 18:24, “Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions.”

Even if you do not adhere to the same moral tenets as I do, it is important to study in the areas you want to improve. So, the four steps for success in any area of life are:

  1. Stay prepared.
  2. Continually improve yourself.
  3. Continually evaluate yourself.
  4. Listen to the advice of wise people in your life.

As we trek through life each day, practice these four steps and join us on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy each weekday.

Core Values

by Leave a Comment

Focus on Your Values

Creating strong values and living your values is one of the simplest ways to add more happiness to every day. These values can also be referred to as your integrity. You might ask, why does integrity matter? Let’s be transparent here, it’s not always easy to admit a mistake, persevere during tough times, or follow through on every promise made. It is not always easy to be mature, maintain your composure, and not get angry when another person treats you unfairly. It’s not always comfortable to convey the hard truth or stand up for your beliefs.

In a business situation, especially if you are a manager or owner, it may not be beneficial in the short-term to do right by your clients, to put people before profits, to distance yourself from a questionable relationship, and to maintain exceptional business practices. Without exception, though, in the long run, doing the right thing is the clear path to build and keep your reputation, both personally and professionally. It is also the only path to long-term success and happiness. Your integrity always matters.

Here are nine foundation principles, or stepping stones, as to why integrity really does matter.

  1. Achieve peace of mind
  2. Strengthen trust
  3. Build a solid reputation
  4. Reduce anxiety
  5. Increases your effectiveness when leading others
  6. Build confidence
  7. Become a positive role model
  8. Live a purpose-driven life
  9. Build a strong life

Remember Proverbs 10:9, “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.”