THRIVE: At the Core

how to succeed in today's economy

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. We’re going to tie this whole series together! The goal of the series is to help you understand a few key things.

  1. Christ should be at the center of our lives
  2. We have a purpose in this life
  3. We are living in a changed world

So I hope and trust that you got those…or at least a couple out of this. It sort of sets the tone for what I’ve been doing the past several months here. I’m not a pro at this blogging thing. I’m not an expert on social media either. I’m just a regular guy trying to do something awesome, something worthwhile and something to please my God.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as it shares my heart. So here we go with wrapping it up.

NOTE: If you haven’t read the beginning of this series or the previous post, do.

Dream

As you know from my manifesto, I’m all about dreaming and living that dream. I believe we all have a dream inside of us and it’s our duty to live it out. I believe we all have a purpose on this planet and that our lives are intertwined in ways we can’t even fathom.

So I dare you to dream like a little child.

My son, for instance, is just getting into the stage of wanting to dress up like a superhero. He’s 3. And when he puts that plastic cape and mask on, he embodies everything he thinks is a superhero. Sometimes he’s the savior of the world…sometimes he’s a “mean guy.” But either way, we can learn from children like this.

We can learn that when we commit to something, we need to go all in, with all our heart. We need to understand that “gung-ho” isn’t a bad thing as long as we’re dedicated to the right things. Children have no fear of what may come when they rush into the living room, paper towel roll in hand and cape blazing behind them. It’s times like this that remember how important it is to BE what we are called to be.

Adults dream. Sometimes. But mostly, we forget that we can be the superheroes of the world. We can use our powers for good and change the destiny of many people along the way. We need to learn to dream again. To embody what we put on for armor each day. Maybe it’s a suit. Maybe jeans and beanie (my attire of choice).

We need to LIVE out our dreams, not neglect them. And if we do that, over time well move toward…

Success

What is that word really though?

It can mean so many different things. Many people attribute success to money or fame. They attribute it to building a business so huge it “can’t” fail. Some attribute it to the legacy they leave behind. Or the family they have helped to raise and lead.

And still some attribute it to something larger. Something that is not of this world. That’s what I attribute it to. All those other things are fun and nice to have, but what really matters in the grand scheme of this life…and the next?

Success, to me, is having my Heavenly Father say “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Tweet that!

It means that I lived a life that was not me-centered. That I cared about the well-being of others, leading my family, adding value to people’s lives and showing others the love of Christ more than anything else. Some would say we can’t do that very well with all the distractions we have today. Some would say living in America makes it next to impossible to truly live and serve like Christ.

I say it’s not impossible because we were put here in this time, in this place, for a reason. We have the exact skills, mindset, passions and drive that God designed us with from the beginning of time. He leaves it up to us to use those for the betterment of his kingdom, or not. The choice is ours.

So, success to me means working toward what I feel God has called me to do. I feel it’s the same for each person. The real question becomes then, how successful are we at doing that?

Surviving vs. Thriving

You may have heard this from my friend Kimanzi as living vs existing. It’s similar. The basics behind it is that we are either taking life as it comes…or going after it.  We either lay down and get trampled…or run at our fears with full force.

Doing the former, anyway you say it, is useless for us and those around us. It’s also useless to our Creator. I’ve already said that we have a purpose. That never changes. We must understand the importance of our being who we’re called to be.

This entire series has been about thriving, thus the name. I want to be a part of your life that helps you progress, not stand still. I want to be moving forward at full speed but always remembering to take time for what matters. You see, it’s not about just running. It’s about running at the right time. Sometimes we get caught up in “slowing down” to take time for what’s important. Well, what about those times we need to speed up to catch what’s important? If we’re not on the path to thrive, we’ll merely survive and miss many opportunities to change the world.

I know you don’t want that.

At the Core

Here we go again. You may have read that I like to boil things down to just a few words. I like to get back to the core of things. It could be a complicated subject, but many times we can simplify it just by recognizing that it can be said differently.

I like to boil down life to “Here to serve.”

Some may argue with me, but regardless of your religious beliefs, I think we can all agree that serving others is the key to getting anything out of life. The more we can do that, the more others will want to lift us up. (Though that shouldn’t be the main reason we serve.)

We can see that with people like Mother Teresa who was an incredible leader. More recently, we see that with John Maxwell, the leadership expert. He recognizes time after time that leadership is about fulfilling the needs of others.

We should never forget the simplicity of life no matter how complicated and chaotic things get. No matter how many social channels there are or how many ads we see a day, we should never forget the simplicity of life is to serve.

Final Thoughts

In wrapping up this series, I want to thank you for reading along. Many of you have commented to nearly every post and I know many more have read them. Thank you for your attention and I hope to connect with you more as the days go on.

I want you know that I’m here to serve you. That’s why I do this. I want to help you live out your dreams and the way I do that is by providing quality content on the subject of branding and passion. These are important keys to being able to have an influence in the lives of others these days. Never neglect your calling for the sake of a dollar. Never forget why you are in business or why you work. Never forget what you are ultimately working towards, and just as a hint, it’s not retirement.

I trust you will join us as we learn this new economy and work together to create awesome content for those following in our footsteps. You may be 10 steps behind many others…but there is always someone watching you that is at least a few steps behind you.

Thanks again for your attention. Now, go forth and THRIVE!

4 thoughts on “THRIVE: At the Core”

  1. This last sentence is very inspiring, “You may be 10 steps behind many others…but there is always someone watching you that is at least a few steps behind you.”
    I don’t want someone behind me to think following Christ and pursing His will for my life isn’t worth doing. I can’t give up because I wouldn’t want someone else to give up.

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