Mindset, Long-Term

First off, let me address the main problem, I have not written in a while. No excuses, but honestly decided to step away from this to focus my attention on the church and other activities. Were there times I could’ve written? Did I have ideas on things to write? The answer to both of these is absolutely yes. In between preparing sermons, each week, there is time to do it, but my energy and focus has not been there as I continue to work to help our church find God’s man for the future.

Notice, my focus in on the future. There is a lot of talk today about being present, being in the moment, living life to the fullest and I do agree with that, but I believe in doing so we lose sight of the future. What does that hold and will I be ready when the time comes. Simon Sinek wrote one of my favorite business books, which can easily be applied to our lives, The Infinite Game. It is exactly that, keeping our mindset on the long term not just the immediate reward and recognition. If we shift our mindset just a little bit it puts many things in perspectives and helps us to make some key decisions that will help our future selves, be our best selves.

My wife pasted this question on our refrigerator several months ago, it says (I paraphrase) “Is what I do today, furthering/hindering the cause for Christ?” This is a great question to ask ourselves as we work on things throughout the day. But it could easily be shifted for those without a Christian perspective to something like this. Is what you are doing now, helping or hurting your purpose/life?”

See, I truly believe everyone has a purpose. I believe that God created us all to serve him and share the Gospel of Christ. Beyond that, I know he gave us all unique gifts that when brought together do great things. I also believe every individual has some kind of purpose for their life. It is the age old question, “What is the Meaning of Life?” If you are a parent, I am sure you want to be the best parent you can be, raise your kids to be the best they can be and teach them along the way. Or maybe you are not a parent, but there are some goals you have for yourself, things you would like to do and a life you would like to live. You were not created just to work a 40 hour work week, go home and continue until you retire. Even retirement is not the end. There is something you bring to this life, something that gives you energy and you enjoy doing, that also brings energy to others and impacts them in tremendous ways. What is that purpose? Define that for yourself, what are your life plans, put things in perspective.

When you have a purpose locked in, it changes your mindset for how you approach things. What if your purpose and enjoyment comes from engaging with people, selling, making people happy…but you are currently sitting in an office or on your couch reading my lousy blog that you picked up while scrolling email, linkedin, or somewhere else. Are you fulfilling your purpose? What could you do right now differently to change that?

When that mindset shifts to your money, how do you think about it? Do you work just to pay the bills, drive a fancy car, buy the latest tech gadget? How you use your money describes a lot for who you are and what you do. Another book I’m currently reading “Your Money, Or Your Life” By Vicki Robin and Joe Dominquez, puts our work into perspective. How much do you make an hour (calculate it if you are on salary)? How many hours did you need to work to make that car payment? To buy that computer? Was your life energy spent well towards those things? In reality, we work to afford our living. The other day I was listening to a show a guy called in and had $1,100 a month car payment, which made up 50% of his income. He was working a 2nd job to pay for that car and was trying to figure out if he could cut the 2nd job back because his other expenses are so low… You have to ask yourself, is this worth it. If you do your research there are way too many people out there living on Social Security alone, when you do your research, Social Security barely pays ends meat, there are people out there that cannot survive, because they lived for that current dream car and did not plan for the future.

If you cannot tell, this is one of those areas that gets me going. I want you to have nice things, I want you to fulfill your dreams, but you have to have the right mindset for it. You have to be patient wait for the right time and do not borrow from your future to live in the now. With patience you will achieve great success, but trying to get rich quick or get ahead of the curve too soon is a recipe for disaster. Change your mind, change your future.

2 great books called out above if you have not read them, then please do. One on Money and one on general mindset. Enjoy and I promise to get more out there as time goes on.

Have a wonderful Easter, or as I like to call it Resurrection Sunday!