By persevering…
What’s the greatest predictor of future success? While experts express a range of views, their answers usually include words like resilience, tenacity and perseverance. Those who persevere, reap the reward. Naturally there are limits to this. If you persist in doing the wrong thing, you will be persistently wrong. What we persevere at matters, and checking we are on the right journey is important. There is an interesting aside in Luke 8:15, as Jesus wraps up his parable of the sower. It’s probably a familiar story, but lest its not in your repertoire, Jesus speaks about a farmer...
Read MorePreachers or story tellers?
Though the title might make you think this post is aimed at church preachers, it isn’t. It was a comment made in a podcast exploring communication styles. The podcaster suggested that there is a preacher and a story teller in each of us, and that we need to soften the preacher and develop the story teller. It’s worth thinking about. I think he was saying there is a bossy “I’m going to tell you what to do” part in us, living alongside a more winsome, “let me share my life and experience” self. Put differently, in communication I can put myself in...
Read MoreBecause lost direction is worse than lost time…
Have you heard the one in sixty rule? Pilots are taught it. If you are one degree off course, after sixty miles you will be one mile off course. That might not sound like much, but it is a big deal if it turns out the wheat field you thought you were due to fly over is actually a mountain – and history records some tragic accidents that have happened as a result. A bit of lost time checking your settings is far better than lost direction. OK, I’m not a pilot and you probably aren’t either. So why is this relevant? Perhaps you remember the haunting lines of the theme song...
Read MoreBecause you can’t spend 5 days waiting for 2…
Is most of your week spent hanging out for the weekend, insufferably long hours in the office slowly ticking away while you wait for the magical 5pm Friday moment when you are free to go and enjoy life?For many people work is a drudge, a necessary evil that provides the money to keep food on the table. It’s the story of the man asked why he was digging a hole: “I’m digging the hole, to earn the money, to buy the food, to give me the strength, to dig the hole.” It’s a sad way to live a life – how awful to wish away 5 out of 7 days each week. There are those...
Read MoreMaking Success a Pattern, not a Moment: 8 Qualities to Cultivate
You’ve probably had those moments when you breath a sigh of both relief and satisfaction. It’s come off. Something you wanted has worked out, and you are really pleased. Perhaps your response is, “Well, that was lucky. Hope it happens again.” Now once in a while success is like winning the lottery, and things come through against all the odds, but it’s dangerous to build our lives on that model. For the majority of successful people, achievement is a pattern, not a moment. What do I mean by that? Simply that there are reliable predictors of long term success,...
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