How Did I Get Here?

“Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few end up somewhere on purpose.” – Andy Stanley

Take a moment to consider some of the successful people in your life. For the most part, they’re where they’re at right now because they knew where they wanted to end up, and they created and executed a plan every day that moved them toward their dreams. Or perhaps they didn’t necessarily have a well-defined plan, but they lived by a set of values that guided their decisions and shaped their actions every day. Now, these values might be related to quality or treating people right, but whatever they are, they act as a filter for intentional living, and those values, just like following a plan, filter out the things in life that could cause them to stray from the True North that leads to success. My Girls, your Pee-Paw is a good example of value-driven success. I don’t think he ever had much of a business plan, but looking from the outside, it seems that he allowed three values to direct his decision-making at Hafer Case:

1. Do what’s right for people – both employees and customers.
2. Do what’s right for quality. He had cheaper manufacturing options, but they lowered quality; therefore, he refused to use them.
3. Price the case so that it has value to the customer and still keeps the business’ lights on.

I don’t know that he ever put these thoughts into words, but they are what led to his success.

Also, take a moment to consider one or two of the biggest failures you know – those people who had potential and/or the resources to be successful, but they just wandered through life, wasting their time, money, intellect, etc… in behaviors that never led to anything of real value. In today’s society, many of these lifestyles are those that remove people from reality, such as addictions to pornography, excessive video game play, and alcohol and/or drugs (Yes, I intentionally put drugs and alcohol third). I call this Escapism, which is investing resources into a false reality that contributes nothing to success in the real world. Instead of clarifying their dreams, creating a plan, defining a set of values, and doing something that makes a difference in the real world, they escape to their computer-generated worlds and/or suppress the depression associated with their lack of real-world purpose by climbing in a bottle of alcohol or pills, and slowly but surely they head down an unintended path that leads to regret and pain… One click at a time… One swallow at a time… One day at a time. And it’s not just to their detriment. No, just as the successful person positively affects those around them, so does the wasted life negatively affect those who were meant to benefit from that person’s unique God-Given Purpose, a purpose that can’t be attained through a fake digital life or drug/alcohol-induced stupor.

My Girls, I Hope and Pray that you will clarify your Dreams, create a plan, define your values, and keep your head in reality as you intentionally live out your unique God-Given Purpose, because there’s at least one problem in this world that God intentionally put you right here at this specific time to solve through the achievement of your Dreams.

Challenge Questions:

• Where do you want to end up in life – what are your dreams?
• What are you doing to move toward your dreams TODAY?

God’s Word: Philippians 3:12-14, Ephesians 5:15-21, Joshua 24:15, and Proverbs 21:5.