Why does anyone really do anything?
We all do things constantly. We wake up (or hit snooze and don’t). We grab our coffee and head off to work. We skip lunch or make it a long one. We text our spouse a loving message or maybe just a grocery list. Maybe, we don’t text at all. We make it to the kids’ ball game. Or we don’t, this time.
The list goes on and on.
You’re probably making your own list in your head right now as I’m making mine. Take a minute to stop listing what you do, do not do, and don’t have time to do. Take a deep breath. To have truly Good Success, it is not so important to know what you do but your motivations for doing it and the outcomes of your actions. Once you take a hard look at these facets of what you do, you can decide if and how to adjust your actions to earn the very best Good Success life has to offer you.
I have to warn you: It isn’t going to entirely easy. You are going to have to answer three very tough but vitally important questions to start this process. If your answers are “wrong,” meaning your reasons are not currently building a life filled with truly good success, then you will have to adjust so that you can answer correctly. I will tell you, though, that simply being brave enough to answer these questions is a very significant and positive step most people are never bold enough to take.
So let’s talk about Question #1: Why are you doing it?
“Wait, what is ‘it?’” you are probably thinking. Well, “it” is whatever was on that list I told you to take a pause on compiling. Everyone does the things they do for some reason, and that reason is very, very simple. Answer, for yourself, why you do the things you do. Then, read on.
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Did you answer? Are you feeling good about why you do “it?” Are you feeling negative about yourself? Let’s simplify the situation with a universal truth: I don’t care if you do the things you do for the “right” reasons or for the “wrong” reasons. The truth is that everything you do – everything anyone does – is because of love.
Well, that feels a lot better, doesn’t it? Hold on. I’m not done.
We do everything we do because of love, but too many of us love the wrong things. We love the wrong people. Most of us love ourselves too much. So, we end up doing things essentially for ourselves only even if we try to fool ourselves into thinking we are making decisions for other reasons.
I believe if you do things only for yourself, you are not having Good Success. Good Success is loving one another, being kind to one another, being tender-hearted, and forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you.
That is what a true picture of love and charity is.
I know that might have been a tough one. Good job for getting through that first question! Now, let’s move on to Question #2:
Are you being a good steward of your time, your talents, and of your treasure?
You have all been given something. I, too, have been given something. We’re given something every day. For me, that means I must work hard so that I can have so that I can give. You’ve probably heard that from me a few times before!
When I am a good steward of my time, talents, and treasure, I am a conduit. I am able to be truly charitable. I believe that is truly good success.
That is what being a good steward is.
When we are good curators of our time and use it productively, we are more likely to optimize our talents and, as a result, increase our treasure. This is the “what” that we are building. What can you create by being a good steward that will build your treasure so that you can give? Answer this for yourself, and you will be well on your way to Good Success.
You should be feeling really optimistic and positive at this point. You’ve answered some tough questions that are going to make everything in your life better if you either answered correctly or are already thinking about how to adjust your behaviors so that you can answer correctly. So now, let’s take a look at our final question. This one is really exciting because it helps you see who you will benefit including and outside of yourself, when your “why” and your “what” are in alignment.
Question #3: Are you engaging, supporting, and cultivating your community?
That concept of community is deep and multifaceted. Community is who we serve: our customer, for example, and our community is the purpose we have been given for life on this earth. In business, you serve your customers, but that is only the start of your community. You also serve your employees. You serve your supervisors or superiors in the workplace. At home, you serve your family members who depend on you. You also serve God. You serve the people who serve your family, like teachers, pastors, and public servants. Are you starting to get the idea?
To have Good Success, the communities in your life must be connected on all sides. The community must be the supervisors and the customers. It must be God, the family, and the village around you. Integrate all of these facets and you become a good community person.
Ask yourself:
- Am I showing up in my communities?
- Am I participating?
- When I’m physically present, am I also mentally alert or am I in “la-la land” and not really being a good part of the community?
Your answers may vary from community to community. You will have to prioritize communities in order to get the Good Success you want.
Now that we’ve answered these three questions and a few follow-ups, what is the next step? The next step, friends, is to grow. Grow toward Good Success.
How do we do this? We work on that growth every single day. We just get a little better every single day. We make those little decisions, enforce upon ourselves those little disciplines in life: working out, reading our Bible. Pray, read, and learn new things every day.
You will soon find those daily disciplines have more to do with saying “no” than saying “yes” to things. You will find that you must sometimes say “no” to something that feels necessary in order to say “YES!” to something that is even more necessary. When you do this, know I am cheering you on. You are doing something to grow toward that good success we all strive for.
I hope this helps you, and I hope you have a Good Success Day.
Tom Olson
