Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 694 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Commitment Is The Key – Mindshift Monday

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 694 of our trek, and it is time for our Mindshift Monday series. Wisdom-Trek’s primary focus is to assist you in creating your living legacy. Creating your living legacy can only be accomplished by gaining wisdom in many areas of life.

You can only gain wisdom by changing what you allow to go into your mind which is a result of changing the way you think. In other words to create your living legacy, you must choose to be in a continual mode of mindshift. It is easy to get stuck in a mindset that your current circumstances cannot be changed. This is not true, but you must understand this fundamental principle, “In order to change your life, you must change how you think and what you think about.” Our Mindshift Monday podcast and journal will provide you practical ways to make a mindshift to a rich and satisfying life. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this trek airs, I will be in Arizona working with our partners as we prepare for Phase II of the townhome project. It takes a significant commitment to make projects of this size successful. There is rarely a short term financial gain, so we must be committed long term, exerting blood, sweat, and tears in the process.

Many people today don’t seem to have the commitment to long term success as we have become all too comfortable with instant access and gratification. We need to have a mindshift where we come to the realization that…

Commitment Is the Key

History is full of people who were advised to quit just short of a great accomplishment. Experts told Benjamin Franklin to leave alone all that foolish experimenting with lighting, that it was a waste of time. Fortunately, Franklin did not quit. He was committed.

Christopher Columbus had to face an impressive panel of experts, headed by Spain’s leading geographer and scholar, who examined his plans and presented their findings to the king and queen of Portugal. They wrote, “Columbus’s plan cannot be accomplished. Quite impossible.” Columbus did not quit. He was committed.

Orville and Wilbur Wright built bicycles but decided to invest time and energy on a contraption that hopefully would fly into the air. Finally, in 1908 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers taxied their crackpot idea down a sandy runway and launched the human race into the air. The Wright brothers would not quit. They were committed.

Thomas Edison performed nearly 1,000 experiments before discovering the proper material for the filament in the light bulb. Edison would not quit. He was committed.

Interestingly, Edison urged his friend Henry Ford to abandon his work on the fledgling idea of a motor car. “It’s a worthless idea,” remarked Edison. Ford would not quit. He was committed.

Experts told Madame Curie to forget her experimentation with radium. It was a scientific dead end, she was told. She went onto invent the x-ray machine. She would not quit. She was committed.

Abraham Lincoln ran for state legislator and failed. He started multiple businesses that failed and invested 17 years paying off his debt. He ran for Congress and was defeated. He ran for US Senate and lost. He finally became President of the United States. Lincoln would not quit. He was committed.

To be committed requires a continual mindshift to keep on going. The key that unlocks the door to success is the key of commitment. Without that key, the doors will never open. No amount of genius, talent, finesse, or “right connections” will ever bring the fruit of success unless it is coupled with real commitment. Most quitters never achieve their God-given potential, not because of bad breaks or unusual problems, but because of a failure to commit themselves to their goal regardless of obstacles.

The level of your determination to accomplish your work is measured by what it takes to make you quit. Any reservation in your mind concerning the rightness of your plan will become a roadblock to you. Every great endeavor has a price tag. The greater the reward, the greater the risk. The reward only comes in proportion to your commitment. Here are the four keys of commitment that will allow you to succeed.

1. Lasting commitment is making the decision to finish the task before the solution is found because you are convinced that it is a worthwhile achievement.
2. Commitment is the motivator that keeps you moving toward the final goal.
3. Commitment lets other people know where you stand and is the internal drive that forces you to carry on in pursuit of your objective.
4. Commitment gets you started while others continue to stand around. It keeps you going when others quit. Commitment is the key.

Commitment takes perseverance and strength when you feel like giving up. It is continuing on when others have quit. It is putting up with naysayers who are out partying while you are still toiling. God desires us to be committed to Him and the work that He has given us to do. God will give us the strength to carry on as He told us through His prophet in Isaiah [40:28]-31:

Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Next week we will continue our trek of Mindshift Monday. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe through iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!