Success — What Does It Mean? How can you achieve it?
Read on…
F=fill your vessel
A=assemble your tools
So you want to be successful. As a writer. As a person. As a wife or husband. How do you achieve that? Can we run after it like the world does and “get” it? Or is it like the gold at the end of the rainbow?
Is there a “Christian” way to success? Was Jesus successful? What was the secret to His success?
We are led to believe by the world that success and money have a lot in common. Money+fame+power (control)=success? Do you agree or disagree with this philosophy? How does Jesus’ life blow it out of the water? What was success to Him?
FAST. In a blog I wrote some time ago, I said we all want things FAST. So here’s a way to think of success:
F= Fill Your Vessel. Prepare your heart and mind for ministry. This means (as the blog went on to say) that you must have something INSIDE you before you can pour it out to others. Bible study, prayer, and setting goals can prepare your heart to minister to others. This is the first step to success.
A= Assemble Your Tools. If you were paying a building to construct you a house, how would you feel if he arrived the first day without any tools? No saws, measuring tapes, nails, plans, wires, and all the myriad other tools carpenters possess? You would probably fire him on the spot and find someone else!
Assembling your tools means this to me:
1) Set goals. This is the turn of the New Year and we’re all thinking about what we want to accomplish by God’s grace in 2012. Write down some concrete goals and then break them down into steps. In other words, don’t have vague goals like, “I’m going to be a better Christian this year.” Set concrete goals and give yourself tasks for each week to accomplish. “I want to read through the Bible this year.” “I am going to read some every day to accomplish that.” In your writing, do the same thing. Break your goals into workable steps that you can DO and then cross them off as you do them.
2) Study. Most goals in life require some kind of study. Enroll in an online class. Do research in a topic you like or want to write about. Learn how to be a better writer, or whatever it is you want to succeed in, by investing time and money into a CLASS or a PROGRAM of study.
3) Figure out what is is you need to do the task. If you’re going to write a novel this year, what is it that you need? A desk? A computer? A notebook? Assemble these tools and get to work.
4) Set aside time each day to reach your goal, giving yourself grace on the days when you can’t do it. Don’t become legalistic. Take a deep breath. Don’t beat yourself up, or you will suffer emotionally and physically. Commit your ways and days to God and do what He has you to do each day.
Hey. Maybe success means doing the will of God each day.
Agree or disagree?
Let me hear from you. What is YOUR definition of success and how can you reach it?
- Success, to me, is family. Here I am with my 2 grand-daughters, whom I love very much!
Dear Blog Friends, Jan. 21, 2012
Success is that elusive “something” out there that beckons to us like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And much like the pot of gold, success seems to diminish as we near our goal. Much of the Internet is based on who gets the most “hits” on their sites, how much money you can make, how popular your site is. What is your definition of success? Are you nearer it now than you were, say, ten years ago?
For a Christian, what does it mean to be successful? In the area of writing, what does success look like? Getting your book published? Getting a 6-figure advance on your book contract? Selling books like Rick Warren? Having publishers contact YOU to write a book?
What did success mean to Jesus? To Him, I believe it meant one thing: doing the will of God
How can we do the will of God in a more effecient way?
Last time I wrote, I mentioned running the race, and running it FAST. To be successful, to run the race as God sees it, we need to work at it. Success doesn’t happen automatically. How are you ordering your life to be successful for God?
The first letter of FAST is:
F: Fill your vessel (prepare).
1) Take some time each morning to allow God to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit. This involves confession of sin, reading the Word, praying. You know that we should do these things, but life gets so hectic, and there is little time for quiet prayer and commitment to God. I would like to suggest to you that unless you properly fill you vessel with God, you have no hope of success in your life. It’s like starting out on a long car trip with no gas in your tank. Or starting out to write a novel set during the medieval period without doing any kind of research.
Can’t be done. At least not successfully!
2) Prepare your mind for the tasks ahead, recognizing that it is God who enables you in each thing (even if it is something that you deem easy). For each situation that is going to arise that day, commit it to God in prayer. Do you have a meeting with a tempermental boss? Have you been called up for jury duty? Are you applying for a new job? Are you getting your hair cut? Whatever is on your schedule, pray about it, ask for God’s wisdom, and turn it over to Him. Admit you cannot handle it yourself. You need His guidance, counsel, wisdom, and direction. Look in the Word to see what He has to say about the issues you face each day. You will be surprised that even if you are reading in Leviticus, God can direct your thinking and touch your heart with His Word.
3) Each evening assess your day. Write down areas that are bothering you. Write down what you need to do for the next day. Lay aside the burdens you are carrying. You can’t go to sleep and sleep peacefully without relinquishing the cares of the day to God. Once you have written it down on your “to do” list, don’t worry about it. Leave it in His hands. He will give you a sweet sense of peace. You won’t have to take a sleeping pill. What does this step have to do with success?
If success for a Christian means doing the will of God, we must each seek to do His will and at the end of the day, give it over to God and rest in His love. We can’t go back and change what we’ve done. We can ask others to forgive us; we can ask God to forgive us when we have done something wrong. But the things you can’t change, a wise man once said, you must let go.
Fill your vessel, prepare your day, assess each evening. Step One in becoming a more efficient servant of God. DO IT. Do this ONE step and see if it works.
Write me a note if you did, and what changes it made in your life.
Next time we’ll talk about A=Assemble Your Tools.
Write me, please!
Ginger
