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7 Insights for Developing Your Personal Philosophy

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As you can tell on each trek within our Wisdom Notes, our personal philosophy about family is that it is very important to us. We desire to preserve the heritage that has been entrusted to us. We realize that few individuals in today’s fragmented and fast-paced society have this privilege. Just as we are aware of this, on the trails that we will hike today, we will look for additional signposts to discover…

7 Insights for Developing Your Personal Philosophy

Your philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out. This is how to build a meaningful one.

While there are many puzzle pieces for success, without developing a sound philosophy, the other pieces are of little value. So as you go forward on this journey toward success, remember to:

1. Set your sail.

The winds of circumstance blow upon all of us. We all have experienced the winds of disappointment, despair, and heartbreak, but why do people arrive at such different places at the end of the journey? Have we not all sailed upon the same sea?

The major difference isn’t circumstance. It’s the set of your sail (or the way you think). It’s what you do after you have set your sails and the wind decides to change direction. When the winds change, you must change. You have to struggle to your feet and reset the sail in a manner that will steer you in the direction of your own deliberate choice. The set of your sail, or how you think and how you respond, has a far greater capacity to destroy your life than any challenges you face. How quickly you respond to adversity is far more important than adversity itself.

The great challenge of life is to control the process of your own thinking.

2. Learn from success and failure.

The best way to establish a new and powerful personal philosophy is to objectively review the conclusions you’ve drawn about life. Any conclusion you’ve drawn that isn’t working for you could be working against you. The best way to counteract misinformation and wrong data is to input new and accurate information. Gather information from personal experience. If you’re doing something wrong, evaluate what you did wrong and change things.

Seek an objective, outside voice about how you are and what you’re doing. An objective opinion from someone you respect can lead you to early and accurate information about your decision-making process. Listen to the freshness of an outside voice—someone who can see the forest and isn’t lost in the trees.

Observe the successes and failures of other people. If people who failed were to give seminars, it would be helpful. You could see how people mess up and you wouldn’t do what they did. Past failures and errors prompt you to amend current conduct so you don’t replicate the past.

Learn from people who do well. You should be in a constant search for people you admire and respect and whose behavior you can model. It’s far better to deliberately choose the people you will permit to influence you than to allow bad influences to affect you without your conscious choice.

3. Read all you can.

People from all walks of life who’ve had some of the most incredible experiences have taken the time to write of these experiences so you can be instructed and amend your philosophies.

The contributions of other people enable you to reset your sails based upon their experiences. Books offer treasures of information that can change your life, fortune, relationships, health, and career for the better.

For me, one book that has shaped my philosophy is the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. King Solomon, the wisest person to ever live, wrote most of the Proverbs. The book contains words that are rich, practical, and applicable to your everyday life and philosophy.

4. Keep a journal.

A journal is a gathering place for all of your observations and discoveries about life. It’s your own transcript that captures your experiences, ideas, desires, and conclusions about the people and the events that have touched your life. The past, when properly documented, is one of the best guides for making good decisions for the future.

The very act of writing about your life helps you to think more objectively about your actions. Writing tends to slow down the flow of information and gives you time to analyze and ponder the experience. The intense scrutiny of journal writing can enable you to make refinements in your philosophy that are truly life-changing.

5. Observe and listen.

Pay attention during your day and watch what’s going on. Surround yourself with people you respect and admire. Find people whose personalities and achievements stimulate, fascinate, and inspire you, and then strive to assimilate their best qualities into your life. This is called the skill of selecting. Don’t waste your time on the silly and the shallow.

One of the major reasons people don’t do well is because they keep trying to get through the day while a more worthy cause is to get from the day. We must become sensitive enough to observe and ponder what is happening around us. Be alert. Be awake. Often the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among seemingly insignificant events.

Be a good listener. Find a voice of value and stay for a while. With so many voices vying for your attention, you need to develop the skill of selective listening and only focus on the information that appeals to you. If a voice is not leading to the achievement of your goals, exercise caution in how long you listen.

6. Be disciplined.

Every day is filled with dozens of personal crossroads, moments when you are called upon to make a decision regarding minor as well as major questions. These decisions chart a path to a future destination. With careful mental preparation, you can make wise choices.

The development of a sound philosophy prepares you for making sound decisions. When you eat healthy foods, you experience positive results in a short time. When you start exercising, you feel a new vitality almost immediately. When you begin reading, you experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence.

New disciplines practiced daily produce exciting results. The magic of new disciplines causes you to amend your thinking.

7. Don’t neglect.

Neglect is the major reason people don’t have what they want. If you don’t take care of things in your life, neglect becomes a disease. If you neglect to do good things with your money, you probably neglect to do good things with your time. If you don’t know what’s going on with your health or your bank account, you could be at risk.

Set up new disciplines to change your life. Don’t neglect. Everything is within your reach if you will read books, use journals, practice the disciplines, and wage a new and vigorous battle against neglect.

Be wise as you build your philosophy. Study Proverbs and others that have shown to be wise. Commit yourself to a new journey and say, I’m going to change my life. Once you do, you’ll never look back.

As it is written in Colossians 2:8, “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”

In our next Wisdom Note, we will explore 7 activities that we should all incorporate into our lives. To receive wisdom and encouragement five days a week, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our podcast.

3 Ways to Accept Criticism with Grace

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While none of us like to be criticized, sometimes it is needed and helpful, providing we use it to improve ourselves. On our trek today, we discover three ways to accept criticism with grace.

You may be able to relate to this scenario…Heat filled my cheeks as he spoke. His words pressed harder and harder until my heart felt trapped beneath them. What had I done to deserve such criticism? I sat in silent astonishment without a clue how to respond. I just wanted the conversation to be over.

We have all experienced times when a friend, co-worker, or relative offered harsh judgments. But there are also times when the words spoken, though hurtful at first, are exactly what we need to hear. So how do you discern between the two? How do you know if this person is giving constructive feedback or condemning your actions?

Let’s look at a reference from Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia found in Galatians 2:11-12, “But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.”

In Paul’s instruction to the Galatian church, he tells about a time he corrected Peter. Paul noticed Peter acting one way around Jews and another way when he was only with the Gentiles. I can imagine how difficult it was for Paul to address this matter with Peter. After all, Peter was one of the twelve disciples. He was a bold proclaimer of the gospel before Paul became a believer. Yet Paul followed God’s instruction and tackled this difficult topic with Peter.

So how do we handle these situations when they come up? Paul’s story gives us valuable insight into these often uncomfortable moments. The following three tips will help us determine a course of action when someone we know offers opinions we don’t want to hear.

1. Listen up, and listen well.

I was stunned that day by the unexpected turn in the conversation with my friend. For that reason, I missed part of what was said. Certain phrases stood out louder than the rest. You hold on to control… let other people help…more communication. I focused on the negative and blocked out most everything else.

So often we miss the message in its entirety because we don’t hear everything. As the discussion begins, let’s determine to focus our attention. Ask questions. Create an open dialogue and keep the exchange going. Above all, we must resist getting defensive. Like Peter, God uses people of like faith to teach us valuable lessons. But we could miss the opportunity if we don’t listen.

2. Consider the source.

After the exchange, let’s ask ourselves these questions:

  • Is he/she coming to me with concerns for the right reason?
  • Is he/she someone I trust to provide me with wise counsel?

If the answer to these two questions is yes, then we should allow our hearts to be open to the individual’s words.

Paul demonstrated his leadership ability and his devotion to God’s call on his life through years of commitment to ministry. No doubt he was someone Peter could trust. Peter knew Paul, and he knew the Holy Spirit guided Paul’s heart and actions. For this reason, Peter could accept Paul’s concern with confidence.

3. Be receptive and appreciative.

As family members, work associates, or ministry co-laborers we need to understand that we are working toward a common purpose. Especially if they are fellow Christ followers, we must remain united with other believers. Whatever action steps you decide to take or not to take, reassure the person that confronted you. Renew your commitment to the common goal. Let him/her know you appreciate him or her. Gratitude eases tension and builds relationships. We should not let our pride control our thoughts and actions.

There have been times in our marriage when Paula has had to confront me on issues, and let’s face it, confrontation creates discomfort! Although internally I would feel resistance rising, I knew if it was a concern to her, then it would be best for me to listen and check my heart. Usually, it was something I was oblivious to and by making minor changes, as needed, would defuse the situation. Even if I did not think it was justified, I became a better husband through it. Paula risked hurting my feelings to bring about change that would ultimately improve our relationship. She has become a trusted voice and gentle admonisher. After taking these matters to God in prayer, I resolve to work toward bettering myself as a husband and a listener.

We can find wisdom in Paul’s exchange with Peter today. Criticism can hurt if we allow ourselves to be offended, but we can grow in Christ by making the most of it. Paul and Peter worked through many obstacles in ministry, and we can too. Sometimes submitting to God’s plan means daring to listen.

Let us endeavor to accept criticism with grace. In our next Wisdom Note, we will explore another topic to help us become better than we are today. So encourage your friends and family to join us and and listen each day to our podcast.

Life Is About Taking Action

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Today let’s continue on our trail and search for some more nuggets of wisdom. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “For everything, there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

The rally cry for this week is…

A Time to Take Action

Engaging in genuine discipline requires that you develop the ability to take action. You don’t need to be hasty if it isn’t required, but you don’t want to lose much time either. The time to act is when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong.

Let’s say you would like to build your personal library of books, either physically or electronically. If that is a strong desire for you, what you’ve got to do is get the first book. Then get the second book. Take action as soon as possible before the feeling passes and the idea dies. If you don’t, you fall prey to the Law of Diminishing Intent.

We intend to take action when the idea strikes us. We intend to do something when the emotion is high. But, if we don’t translate that intention into action fairly soon, the urgency starts to diminish. A month from now the passion is cold. A year from now it can’t be found. If nothing changes in your life, then your life will not change.

So take action. Set up a discipline or habit when the emotions are high and the idea is strong, clear, and powerful. If somebody talks about good health and you’re motivated by it, you need to get a book on nutrition. Get the book before the idea passes and the emotion gets cold. Begin the process. Fall on the floor and do some push-ups.

You’ve got to take action; otherwise, the wisdom is wasted. The emotion soon passes unless you apply it to a disciplined activity. Discipline enables you to capture the emotion and the wisdom and translate them into action. The key is to increase your motivation by quickly setting up the disciplines. By doing so, you’ve started a whole new life process.

The greatest value of discipline is self-worth, also known as self-esteem. Many people who are teaching self-esteem these days don’t connect it to discipline. But, once we sense the least lack of discipline within ourselves, it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to just ease up a little bit. Instead of doing your best, you allow yourself to do just a little less than your best. Sure enough, you’ve started in the slightest way to decrease your sense of self-worth.

There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don’t take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. Worst of all, when neglect starts, it diminishes our self-worth.

Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? All you have to do is act now! Start with the smallest discipline that corresponds to your own philosophy. Make this commitment, “I will discipline myself to set and then achieve my goals today so that in the years ahead I can celebrate my successes.”

A Time to Be Fruitful

Over the years I’ve learned to challenge myself and those that I impact to turn their response to the ideas and information they receive into results. According to the Biblical story in Genesis 1:28, the first couple, Adam and Eve, were instructed to be fruitful or produce some results. “Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’”

If you study Chapter 1 closely, you’ll see that God instructed all His creation to be fruitful. He repeated these commands after the flood to Noah, his family, and all creation also.

Fruitful is kind of an interesting word. It denotes abundance to fill the earth. In our daily lives today, I think fruitful, abundance, and productivity mean to go to work on producing more than you need for yourself. I think we fulfill that command given to us so long ago to be productive and to produce far more than we need for ourselves by blessing our family and others, blessing our workplace, and blessing our nation regardless of where we live or what conditions we are living in.

Challenge yourself to produce more ideas than you need for yourself so you can share and give your ideas away. Produce more in terms of substance and money and treasure and all things valuable to human beings, far more than you need for yourself.

I am reminded of R.G. LeTourneau’s story, the man who built the big earth moving machines. It was his goal to someday give away 90% of his income. Giving away far more than anyone could possibly imagine. 90% is an awful lot to give away, but you should have seen the 10% that was left. Once abundance starts to come and once someone becomes incredibly productive, it’s amazing what the numbers turn out to be. It’s amazing what it finally totals. So make sure when you are given the opportunity that you turn your response into results and capitalize on the chance to be more fruitful and more giving.

As we gain wisdom and apply wise principles to our lives, God will multiply our years so that we will have even more opportunities to be fruitful. Proverbs 9:11 puts it this way, “Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.” We should produce abundant results in all of our endeavors as the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus put it in Chapter 6 verse 7, “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

On our trek this week, our wisdom nuggets gave us insight that there is a time to take action and a time to be fruitful. Both are related because if we do take action, we will multiply our results and be more fruitful.

How to Become a Mentor

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Attaining Mentor Status

Within our Wisdom Note, we want to consider the three character traits required to create a living legacy. In order to create a legacy, we must be able to lead or mentor others. In order to lead and mentor others, we need to traverse certain trails, or you might say, put into practice certain habits that will allow us to attain the status of a leader and mentor. I will be so brash today as to say that we cannot positively lead or mentor others unless we hike these three trails on a regular basis.

The model for our Wisdom Note today show­s us the three trails that we will travel and are learned from a Hebrew priest Ezra who was taken into exile in Babylon by King Artaxerxes­. Ezra was allowed to return to Jerusalem to assess the city’s condition. In Chapter 7 verses 8 through 10, “Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in August of that year. He had arranged to leave Babylon on April 8, the first day of the New Year, and he arrived in Jerusalem on August 4, for the gracious hand of his God was on him. This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.”

Verse 10 gives us the pattern to follow in order to become leaders and mentors.

1. Learn it.

Our first trail that we will explore is the “Learn It” trail. Before you can ever hope to lead or mentor others you must first learn the practical lessons of life and grow in wisdom yourself. You need to foster the spirit of continual learning within yourself. With the resources that are available using today’s technology, there is no excuse for remaining unlearned or ignorant in any area of life. In fact, as rapidly as the world is changing, if you are not continually learning, then you will quickly lose your skills and, therefore, your value in many areas of life.

“The most important skill to acquire is learning how to learn.”

Be a lifelong student. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. “The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young,” Henry Ford.

The more you learn, the more you earn, and the more self-confidence you will have. Learning does take self-discipline­. In fact Proverbs 12:1 says, “To learn, you must love discipline­; it is stupid to hate correction­.” And Proverbs 18:15 puts it this way, “Intellige­nt people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.­” As we look back at Ezra 7:10, we see that “Ezra had determined to study.”

2. Live it.

The second trail that we explore is the “Live It” trail. You need to apply what you have learned to your life and live it each day. It needs to become part of the very fabric of your life. What actually generates tangible results in your life is to regularly and consistently apply what you have learned. The whole point of absorbing new information is so that you can apply it in everyday life.

Leadership or mentorship is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. You have to live what you have learned each day. Yes, you need to learn from others who are wise, but you will also need to display wisdom. Practicing what you have learned is not a one-time occurrence­, but it becomes a habit in your life. It becomes who you are. This results in a life of integrity.

“Learning the golden rule is of no value until you practice it.”

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippian­s stated it in this manner in Chapter 4 verse 9, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everyth­ing you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

We see that “Ezra put into practice what he studied: and obey the Law of the Lord.”

3. Loan it.

The third trail to explore is the “Loan It” trail. Once you have taken the time to learn how to be a good leader and mentor and have shown with your life that you practice what you have learned, it is a crime to your world if you do not loan that wisdom to others by leading and mentoring them.

It is your obligation and responsibi­lity to help others. I call this loaning to others because you always retain what you have learned and practiced, even when you share it with others. It is the multiplier effect. It is an abundance mentality. The more you learn and share with others, the more it multiplies.

Whatever your field of endeavor, mentoring is an important part of what you do. In fact, I would say it is a requirement.

A large part of mentoring requires that you awaken in others their sleeping talents and abilities. It is difficult to actually teach others; it is more about giving to them the ability to think and learn on their own. If you teach people how to think, you will prepare them to deal with life with greater capability than teaching them what to think.

As mentioned in Proverbs 1:2-4, as a leader and mentor our primary objective should be to, “teach people wisdom and discipline­, to help them understand the insights of the wise…to teach people to live discipline­d and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair…this will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernmen­t to the young.”

Now, this is true mentoring. “As a mentor, real satisfacti­on comes when you inspire others to be the best that they can be.” Ezra did the same “to teach those decrees and regulation­s to the people of Israel.”

As your guide, friend, mentor, and fellow sojourner, let me know how I can help you become a better leader and mentor to your tribe.

The Art of Captivating Story Telling Through Podcasting

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The Art of Captivating Story Telling Through Podcasting

I had the honor and privilege of being one of twelve speakers for the Podcast Movement Conference #PMx competition today. All of the speakers had excellent presentations. #podcastmovement #PM17 Click on the image below to watch the presentation on YouTube.

PMx Talk 2017
The Art of Captivating Story Telling through Podcasting