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Affirmation Without Discipline Is Delusion

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There are many motivational speakers and coaches that promote using affirmations to keep us focused and motivated. While I am not against the concept of affirmations, affirmations by themselves will not affect any lasting change in your life. The problem is when you have an affirmation followed by no action, you are only deluding yourself. You must resolve to do something and then follow it up with action.

One of my virtual mentors is the late Jim Rohn is expressed it this way, “Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion.” Jim Rohn’s also said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

Once you have your affirmations for success and discipline yourself to take action, it is then you have just made the connection between dreaming and reality. Discipline takes you from wishing for success to achieving it. When you stay on life’s trek for a long period of time you can achieve any goal you set for yourself.

1. Action vs. Self-Delusion – What’s the Difference?

Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. The action is the ingredient that ensures results. The principle is ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. The key is there must be action taken. Only action can cause a reaction. Further, only positive action can cause a positive reaction.

Action

The whole world loves to watch those who make things happen, and it rewards them for causing waves of productive enterprise. I stress this because today I see many people who are really sold on affirmations, but don’t necessarily have the discipline to go along with the affirmation.

Let’s look at affirmations as our faith, and action as good deeds, which reminds me of the discourse Jesus’s half-brother James mentioned in his letter in James 2:18, “Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’”

How true!

I have nothing against affirmations as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create wonderful results. There is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see, affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. For your well-being, there is little worse than self-delusion.

The man who dreams of wealth and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster and the woman who wishes for happiness and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair are both victims of the false hope which affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this, “To make progress you must actually get started!”

This reminds me of another passage in James 1:22-24, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.”

The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project, start today. Start clearing out a drawer of your newly organized desk today. Start setting your first goal today. Start listening to motivational programs today. Start a sensible weight-reduction plan today. Start calling on one tough customer a day today. Start putting money in your new “investment for fortune” account today. Write a long-overdue letter or email today. Anyone can! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books.

Get some momentum going on your new commitment to a rich and satisfying life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past—that faith and action have now taken charge.

It’s a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline, you will be amazed at how much progress you’ll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past?

Now, I offer you this challenge. See how many things you can start and continue in this, the first day of your new beginning.

2. Action vs. Self-Delusion – Which Are You?

Are you self-delusional – a person that thinks “If I think it, it will come”? Do you have faith, but no good deeds? ACTION is the key.

Don’t be a person that delays action because you want to know everything before you get started. No circumstance or conditions will ever be perfect. If you wait to start something until you think you have all your ducks in a row. You’ll never start. In life, we’re forever learning. Therefore if you wait, you’ll never get to where you want to be. Take ACTION now! As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 11:4, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.”

You will learn that in the process of action, you fix your mistakes. If you fix your mistakes early, success comes faster.

Will today be the first day of your new beginning?

In our next Wisdom Note, we will explore 10 signposts for establishing positive habits.

6 Essentials for a Life of Thanksgiving

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There are many elements that make up a life of thanksgiving, and we will look at six essential ones. It is not surprising that money is not one of those essentials. When we live a life of thanksgiving we will live a life that is rich and satisfying. As the Apostle John wrote when he quoted Jesus in John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.”

The ultimate expression of life is not money. The ultimate expression of life is not a thing or outward trapping. The ultimate expression of life is not even a million dollar bank account or a large and fancy home. The ultimate expression of a life of thanksgiving is a life that is both rich and satisfying.

So, what would constitute a rich and satisfying life?

1. Productivity

You won’t be happy if you don’t produce. The trek of life is not rest. Yes, we must rest, but only long enough to gather strength to get back to productivity. What’s the reason for the seasons and the seeds, the soil and the sunshine, the rain and the miracle of life? It’s to see what you can do with it — to try your hand to see what you can do.

2. Good Friends

Friendship is probably the greatest support system in the world, so don’t deny yourself the time to develop it. Nothing can match it. It’s extraordinary in its benefit. Friends are those wonderful people who know all about you and still like you. A real friend is someone that would go to any length of pain and discomfort to help you out.

A friend will laugh with you and cry with you. We’ve all got casual friends, who if we called them, they would say, “Hey, if you get back, call me, and we’ll have a party.”
Proverbs 18:24 puts it this way, “There are ‘friends’ who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” You’ve got to have both real friends and casual friends in life. Enjoy both for what they are.

3. Your Culture or Heritage

Your heritage and culture with its language, music, ceremonies, traditions, and dress are so vitally important that you must keep it alive. The uniqueness of all of us, when blended together, brings vitality, energy, power, influence, and rightness to the world. The heritage that I have surrounding my ancestors in Marietta and The Big House, which is the family home, is very dear to me.

4. Spirituality

Spirituality helps to form the foundation of the family that builds the nation. Make sure you study it, practice it, and teach it. Don’t be careless about the spiritual part of your nature because it’s what makes you who you are, different from dogs, cats, birds, and mice.

5. Don’t Miss Anything

My parents taught me not to miss anything, not the game, the performance, the movie, or the dance. My dad is 87 this fall. He never misses church or activities at the senior apartment complex he lives in. He exercises each day and seldom misses his great-grandchildren’s birthday parties for the ones that live close enough. Dad misses mom every day, but he carries on and enjoys life every day also.

Be as active as feasible, and go to everything you possibly can. Go see everything, and experience all you possibly can. Enjoy your journey. Don’t always be waiting to reach your destination. Live a vital life. If you live well, you will earn well. If you live well, it will show in your face. It will show in the texture of your voice. There will be something unique and magical about you if you live well. It will infuse not only your personal life but also your business life. And, it will give you a vitality nothing else can give.

6. Your Family and the Inner Circle

Invest in them, and they’ll invest in you. Inspire them, and they’ll inspire you. Take care of the details with your inner circle. Share with your family. Celebrate with them and allow them to celebrate with you. Take time to call them and to stop by and spend a few moments with them. Sometimes it only takes a 5 or 10-minute phone call to make their day really special.

If a father walks out of the house and can still feel his daughter’s kiss on his face all day, he’s a powerful man. If a husband walks out of the house and can still feel the imprint of his wife’s arms around his body, he’s invincible all day. It’s the special stuff with your inner circle that makes you strong and powerful and influential. So, don’t miss that opportunity.

Hebrews 10:24 puts it this way, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”

So, make sure to remember the true purpose and the reasons you do what you do even when you’re busy. May you truly live the kind of life that will bring the fruit and rewards that you desire.

Next week in our Wisdom Notes we will explore affirmation without discipline.

Creating Results in Life

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There are some basic principles that you will need to adopt to achieve success and happiness in life. Additionally, there are some fundamental processes that will shape your reality, and you have the power to use and control those processes to create happiness, success, and peace, at least on a daily basis.

In life, we receive endless information input, or what we sense with our bodies. These inputs have a massive influence on our thoughts and on how we perceive reality. This perception of reality shapes our attitudes or how we feel about and relate to reality. Our attitudes have a huge influence on our actions, or what we do in the world, which ultimately drives the results and shape our reality. This reality then becomes input which perpetuates the cycle.

Using The Cycle of Success and Happiness

We have the power to take advantage of this cycle and use it to achieve goals of happiness, success, and peace. Each of these elements – inputs, thoughts, attitudes, and actions – can be used to our advantage.

Inputs

We can choose to place information that is positive and true in our minds. It should be positive and provide motivation to act in a proactive manner. It should be true or based on what is real and useful.Here are a few tips.

Do:

  • Read motivational, empowering books by authors, such as Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar, and Jim Rohn.
  • Read sacred literature – the Bible.
  • Surround yourself with positive people who have similar goals and ambitions in life.
  • Listen to music and spoken words that are positive and uplifting.

Don’t:

  • Spend time with people who are negative or who complain excessively.
  • Watch mindless television or waste time excessively on the internet.

Thoughts

While our thoughts are heavily influenced by inputs, we can still choose what we think about. We are constantly “talking to ourselves” in our minds. Our minds are always thinking, and we can choose what we think about and how we think about it. Tips for creating empowering thoughts include:

Do:

  • Choose thoughts and beliefs that empower you.
  • Choose thoughts that bring success and happiness to you and to others.
  • Choose thoughts that are positive, true, and hopeful.

Don’t:

  • Dwell on negative things.
  • Ignore negative things, but live proactively to overcome them.
  • Focus your thoughts on the things you cannot control.
  • Focus your thoughts on things that will bring negative results.

Attitudes

Although attitudes are heavily influenced by our thoughts, we have the capacity to consciously choose a positive, self-sustaining attitude. By controlling attitudes through consistent efforts (and trial and error), we will find that our actions are more proactive and bring greater results.

Do:

  • Have a positive attitude about life.
  • Have a positive attitude about yourself.
  • Expose your mind to people and media that infuse a healthy, positive attitude into your mind.

Don’t:

  • Focus on the negative or on things that you cannot control.
  • Watch too much news or be exposed to people and media that are overtly negative.

Disciplined Action

Our actions are the most vital component to success and happiness in life. We must align our actions and habits with the results we want and realize we have the power to control our actions and habits. Habits are the vehicle through which success is attained.

Do:

  • Focus your actions on those that will bring you positive, lasting results in your life. This usually entails work of some kind.

Don’t:

  • Waste time or energy on habits that limit personal success, growth, and happiness.
  • Include addictive habits and gross time-wasters such as mindless television or internet.

By taking control of each of these components in our lives, we have the power to create the results we desire – success, happiness, peace, or whatever outcome we desire.

We don’t always have control over the inputs in our lives, but we do have control over our thoughts. From our thoughts come our attitudes and from our attitudes our actions, which will eventually affect the input in our lives. That is why it is important to “fix our thoughts” and follow the encouragement in Philippians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

This view certainly isn’t absolute. Input from the environment and people we are in and around greatly affect our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. But, viewing the world according to the process described above focuses our energy on the things that we can control. It enables us to take control of our personal habits and to begin to move forward toward our desired goals. I welcome any input or feedback that you desire to share.

In our next Wisdom Note, we will explore how to remove the pebble from your boot.

It’s Only Money – Part 7

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We are concluding our “It’s Only Money” trek in today’s Wisdom Note. We have explored a different trail over the past 7 weeks on our trek to true wealth. As we approach our destination on this important trek, the land of financial freedom is in sight, and I would like to share some concluding thoughts. So, let’s head out for another trek and accumulate the additional wisdom nuggets that we find along the path.

“Create the living legacy, not to honor ourselves, but to honor our creator.”

Our guiding map for our trek this week has primarily been the book of Proverbs, and we have learned that we must be willing to work in order to obtain wealth. There are no shortcuts on this trek of life. After you have done your part in planning, preparing, and executing your work, you must also realize that when you do prosper in any area of life, it is ultimately God that prospers you. When you forget where your material provisions come from, you start down the slippery trail of pride and arrogance thinking you have succeeded on your own. In reality, we are on this trek together, and we should do all that we can to assist one another.

“We must never forget that it is God that gives the ability and increase.”

Here are four areas to consider.

1. Material wealth does not come to everyone.

It is a gift that God has given some. In the eyes of most of the inhabitants of this world, all Americans are wealthy, and to a certain extent, we are. Many people, though, are living a false sense of wealth that is dependent on loans and credit cards. There are certain natural and Biblical precepts that, if followed, will allow anyone to be in a position where they can use their wealth, whether it is small or great to positively impact the lives of others.

If you have material wealth now or obtain it in the future by practicing the principles we have gathered this week, please take to heart this advice that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to his Protégé Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:18-19, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

2. We should always look at our material possessions in terms of the principle of stewardship.

A steward does not own anything, but he has been put in charge of its use. This is hard for many to grasp, and I think it is more prevalent in America where we take great pride in ownership.

If you think about this principle, you will realize that all of life is this way. We come into this world with nothing, and we certainly cannot take anything with us when we die. At best, it is entrusted to us for a few short years. We are therefore responsible to be the best managers of all that we have – to maximize it and to use it to the benefit of ourselves and others.

These principles are clearly taught in the parable Jesus told and that is written in Matthew 25:20-21, “The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

3. God may make the area of finances a proving ground for your faith.

Because money cannot buy security, nor is it secure itself, you must learn to trust God in the area of finances. That brings me to a principle which defines the relationship between faith and finances. Financial faith is trusting God to provide for your needs consistent with the way He promised to meet your needs.

If a person expects to be blessed without having to work, then that is foolish and not consistent with being a person of faith. If you make hasty commitments financially and then look to God for the money, you are not acting in a way that is consistent with being a person of faith but rather a person who is unwise in handling money. This type of person may be unwise in many other areas of life also.

It has been said that many Christians seem to be addicted to danger. They leap off of the financial pinnacles of life, expecting God to catch them before they fall flat broke. Let us be careful to exercise genuine faith. God has established certain principles in His Word for every area of life. Let us do those things which God has told us to do – to work, to be generous to the poor, to save – and then leave the matter of accumulation of wealth to Him. Don’t expect God to make you wealthy in some miraculous, bizarre, or stupid way when you have not followed his basic principles for wealth creation and retention.

4. Let us not lose sight of the difference between grace and works.

As a basic principle, if we wish to make money, we must work for it. After all, that is what God said when he cursed the ground on account of Adam’s sin (Gen. 3:17-19). That being said, God is sovereign, and not everyone who works hard will become wealthy. Wealth is also a result of God’s grace, not just hard work. Hard work does not obligate God to bless us financially. It is simply those whom God has ordained to bless. We must follow God’s principles, to even hope to accumulate wealth, but the end result is up to God. Let’s look at it from the perspective of a farming analogy. We must plant, water, till, and fertilize the seeds in order to obtain any type of harvest, but God ultimately will control the amount of harvest.

“Do your work first, but God ultimately will control the amount of harvest.”

In all things, though, true wealth is a life filled with the good things that money cannot buy.

It’s Only Money – Part 2

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we started down the money trail with a new series “It’s Only Money” and the theme of being on the trail of true riches, and we discovered that several items are. Today we are going to explore a couple more precepts about money. So, let’s head on up the yellow brick trail to our land of true wealth as we explore what money cannot do for you.

What Money Cannot Do For You

“Money isn’t everything,” someone has been quoted as saying “but it’s a long way ahead of whatever is in second place.” Proverbs informs us, however, that not only is money not in first place, but it is not even in the running for second place. One reason is that money simply cannot purchase those things in life which are most important.

1. Money cannot buy you security.

There are two primary reasons why money fails to make you secure. The first is that money simply cannot purchase security, for security cannot be bought. There are those who deceive themselves by thinking that wealth offers them security, but this is only imaginary.

Proverbs 18:11, “The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.”

The second reason money cannot offer us security is that wealth itself is often only temporary. Not only does our wealth fail to make us secure, our wealth itself is insecure.

Proverbs 23:4-5, “Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.”

During the great recession of 2008, millions of people lost large portions of their retirements that they had worked so hard for. Millions of others lost their homes and possessions. We cannot place our hope in money as security because remember “It’s Only Money.”

2. Money cannot buy you wisdom.

Proverbs 17:16, “It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.”

3. Money cannot provide you with life’s most precious gift.

We know that money cannot buy true friends because bought “friends” will forsake us when our time of need arrives.

Proverbs 19:7, “The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.”

The Prodigal Son in Luke 15 illustrates this principle clearly, but we will leave that story for another day.

I can attest personally to the fact that a godly wife cannot be purchased, but is a gift of God’s grace. Paula is my gift of God’s grace.

Proverbs 18:22, “The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:14, “Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.”

One of my virtual mentors, Zig Ziglar, puts it this way, “Money will buy you a bed, but not a good night sleep; a house, but not a home; a companion, but not a friend.”

4. God’s grace cannot be bought with money.

God’s grace is never obtained by any contribution from man. Because of this, money cannot reconcile you to Him, and it often produces pride and self-confidence which only drives you farther from Him.

Proverbs 11:4, “Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death.”

Proverbs 11:6, “The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.”

Proverbs 11:28, “Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.”

While it may not be accurate to say that the “best things in life are free,” it at least should be evident that the best things in life cannot be purchased with money.

What Money Will Do For You

Anyone who has gone from poverty to prosperity can testify that money will produce results. Money can be very positive when used properly. If we are not careful, though, there are some aspects of money that are not very beneficial. Let us consider some of the effects which wealth may produce in our lives – further evidence that money, if not handled wisely, is not all it is purported to be.

1. You can be assured that money will attract “friends.”

Proverbs teaches us that money adds friends while poverty removes them.

Proverbs 19:4, “Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.”

Proverbs 19:6, “Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!”

Growing up on the farm and apple orchard, we were not wealthy at all. There were 10 kids in the family, 1 bathroom, and limited well water. While I never realized that we were probably considered poor, I do remember that those who were wealthy were not very friendly to us. I also remember mom quoting Ben Franklin, “Now that I have a sheep and a goat, everyone bids me good morrow.”

2. Money tends to give the rich a false sense of security.

In a passage which we have already noted, we are told that the rich tend to find a false sense of well-being in their wealth.

Proverbs 18:11, “The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.”

3. Money can produce pride and apathy towards others.

The reality of life is that the poor man who wonders where his next meal is coming from is more attuned to spiritual things than is the rich, who seemingly has no worry about such things.

Proverbs 28:11, “Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.”

Agur, the godly man of Proverbs chapter 30, had a balanced approach to riches when he petitioned God in verse 9, “For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.”

These are all good points to consider in your pursuit of wealth.In our next Wisdom Note, we will explore Money Attitudes.