3 questions to confirm you will make it
Are you wasting time? Could you get to your career / financial destination faster? Time lost can NEVER be regained.
Just get perspective here... If you fail to achieve the additional $100,000 you could have earned each year for 10 years, how much have you lost? Most of you will say, $1,000,000 but you would be wrong.
If you were wise enough to make the additional $100,000 a year, then you WOULD HAVE BEEN shrewd enough to make multiples of that amount in subsequent years. In other words, $100K in Year 1; $200K in Year 2; $400K in Year 3...
The bottom line is our lack of focus costs us much more than we realize when we are "too busy firefighting" (working in the business instead of on the business) to be our best.
Note: I use the "J-word" a few times today, but not religiously. No matter what our spiritual beliefs are, no leader has impacted more people's lives than Jesus of Nazareth. There is a lot we can learn from him. Please don't be offended.
QUICK SURVEY - 3 Questions to confirm you will make it. ("It" being wherever you want to go in your career or wealth.)
Who are you serving?
It should be someone who is more skilled, connected, successful... than you are. This is someone you want to be mentored by, but you cannot create a connection.
Rather than asking to be mentored or become their friend, just dive in and serve them. Let me give you two examples:
Decades ago Ray Johnston was a youth pastor. Although we were in a small couples group for about three years, I could not develop a close relationship with him. I tried twice... only twice. He was busy. Ray went on to start Bayside Church, which is the fastest growing, largest church in Northern California which now has over 15,000 people attending weekly services on multiple campuses. I do not blame Ray. It was my fault. If I had only served in his ministry, we could have developed a close relationship rather than just be friends.
Second story: One of my cousins, Robert MacPhee, wanted to become a professional speaker and he really liked Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. So he went and served at Canfield's events and over many years learned so much that now he speaks professionally himself.
Who are you serving during this season of your life? Are you learning things you could never learn on your own? Get close and sincerely serve.
Who are you investing in?
(1) Mentoring someone less experienced whom you want to mentor. (2) Who are you sacrificing yourself for? This is possibly someone you do not really want to mentor, but needs your help and you can give it sincerely, patiently, and professionally. Or it is a person you are excited to help. What are you doing to help someone who may never thank you?
If we are receiving as a servant, then we must be willing to give as an investor. Jesus taught if we give, then it will be given to us. (He was not speaking about business.) This does not mean we should expect a mentee, someone we are mentoring, to do anything for us, although you always gain from a mentee. I suggest it is simply the law of natural reciprocity: If you give then ultimately you will receive, in part because your giving creates a natural desire for others to give back to you.
Years ago I heard a very wise man explain a cord of three strands is not easily broken. This was the seed that became my 3strands LEADER definition. The first strand of your "rope" that leads you to climb your mountains is you. The second strand is we must be in relationship with someone who is wiser than us and actively learning from that person. The third strand is we should be investing in someone less experienced than ourselves.
In whom are you investing during this season of your life?
What is the core essence of your legacy?
Jesus said love. For some people it is money. Others want power. I am not here to judge your objectives.
My concern: How can you focus better on achieving your legacy... or have you even defined it? Way too many leaders have no clear end-goal defined. They just go through the day doing their best. Your best is not good enough.
Why? Because if you have not defined your destination then you are driving to nowhere. At some point a crisis will hit, and you will be off on some country road rather than at your destination. At that point, you may or may not be able to get where you MUST go to resolve the crisis. What is your destiny, and are you spending enough time on it during this season of your life?
BONUS QUESTION
How are you prioritizing your time to achieve these three strands of your legacy?
The bottom line is (1) We need a clear definition of what we want to achieve and when; (2) We need to spend more time on what we do best.
