Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 97 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Hiking the Trail of Genius (2)

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 97 of our Trek. Yesterday we started our exploration of the four zones of life, or as we referred to them as trails, where we can choose to spend most of our time. So far we have hiked the Trail of Incompetence and the Trail of Competence. Today we will explore the Trail of Excellence and the Trail of Genius. When we finish this two day hike, we will have a clearly marked map showing how we can navigate toward and spend most of our time on our personal Trail of Genius.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are making slow but steady progress on the woodwork in the dining room. My hope is to be ready to complete a couple of coats of polyurethane on the woodwork and floors before we head back to Charlotte at the end of next week.

In addition to my client work and preparing for this daily podcast, I am also preparing to speak at Putnam Congregational Church the next two Sundays. I will be using a few of the notes from Wisdom-Trek.com as the lesson material. Life sometimes is quite busy, and we yearn for a less hectic pace. But in the same way, it is rich and satisfying. We do deal with the emotional rollercoaster each day, just like you, and it is with the preparation of this Wisdom-Trek journal that we are able to maintain a reasonable balance in life.

I trust that listening to the podcast or reading the journal helps you to find balance as well. Thank you for allowing me to share each day. Let us know in the comments on the daily journals how it is helping and what we can do to serve you better.

It is time now to break camp and set out to explore the final two trails. If you missed our hike on the first two trails of Incompetence and Competence, please listen to Day 96 of our Trek.

 As I mentioned yesterday, the zones or trails that we are exploring were originally mapped out in a book called The Big Leap written by Gay Hendricks. In this book Gay plots the zones or trails that will help us to conquer fear and take life’s trek to the next level. This is possible, but only if we are willing to make the changes needed.

Trail #3 – Excellence

The Trail of Excellence is where most proficient and successful people hike. This is a trail that you can excel on. You are more successful than most other hikers, and you are rewarded for it. This reward can be monetary, like in a job or business situation, or it can be recognition by others for your particular giftedness.

While you may have a sense of satisfaction on this trail, it is also easy to become too comfortable on this trail. Although you may be compensated and recognized for your achievements, there is a gnawing sense that you’re not making the kind of impact you want, and you live on a plateau of tolerance. You are on the brink of breaking through into genius, but you have to take that leap of faith and venture out of comfort.

A personal example for me would be the remote technical support work that I do for one of our clients. I have excelled in this field and enjoy the work most days but feel that I am on a plateau and desire to break through to the Trail of Genius. While I feel that God still wants me to use my gifts on this current trail, this podcast and some of the other business changes that I have briefly mentioned will help us to move upward to the final trail.

Trail #4 – Genius

The Trail of Genius often requires a bold decision. Your friends and family will question you because you are leaving behind what, to them, seems like success to pursue something speculative. You will require courage and faith to make this transition. Friends and family will come along later.

Finding your Trail of Genius takes some work and introspection. Chances are that you’ve already been given subtle or not so subtle clues throughout your life, but have ignored them or tossed them over the cliff. Your Trail of Genius may be something idealistic that you’re hesitant to admit to for various reasons

5 excuses that will prevent you from hiking on your Trail of Genius:

1. It’s a bit out there and risky.
2. It would mean you’ve been wasting your time on other trails (although they should be your trails of preparation).
3. It might require making drastic, painful changes to your life.
4. It might be embarrassing to admit and share with friends and family.
5. It’s against social norms or conventions.

4 questions for finding your Trail of Genius:

1. “What do you love to do most?” (You love it so much you can do it for long stretches of time without getting tired or bored).
2. “What activities, tasks, or work do you do that doesn’t seem like work?”
3. “In your activities, tasks, or work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent?”
4. “What is your unique ability or gift? What unique ability of yours, when fully realized and put to work, can provide enormous value to you and/or your world?”
   • “I’m the best when I’m…”
   • “When I’m at my best the exact thing I’m doing is…”
   • “When I’m doing that, the thing I love most about it is…”

Reaching your Trail of Genius requires that you break through your current upper limit. Just like we discussed how fleas are trained on Day 66, we can easily become programmed to think there is a false plateau and that we can scale no higher.

Reaching and staying on your Trail of Genius is going to require that you say “no” a lot to current routines so you can say “yes” to new opportunities. Get good at saying “no” to self-limiting opportunities that take you off of your Trail of Genius.

Don’t allow yourself to concoct false beliefs for why you can’t be on your Trail of Genius. Break through that upper limit, move beyond your current plateau, and remember the reason you are on this Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insight, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before, and to live long and prosper. Your Trail of Genius will allow you to live a rich and satisfying life.

Your Trail of Genius will allow you to live a rich and satisfying life.

Tweet This

Today we explored the trails of Excellence and Genius where we have learned to hike to new heights. Come along on our hike tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy, and we will explore how life is like hiking at night.

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, YouTube, or Wisdom-Trek.com.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to take the time to invest yourself.

1. Invest in improving Wisdom-Trek by leaving your name, email address, and a comment on our website, so we can provide you with wisdom and insights that best fit your needs.
2. Invest in yourself by listening to our 7 minutes of wisdom each day.
3. Invest in the lives of others by encouraging your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

Thank you!

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

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If you are interesting in hiking, check out this great comprehensive article on Top 50 Long Distance Hiking Trails In The USA http://bootbomb.com/info/hiking-trails/top-50-long-distance-hiking-trails-usa/

This link is provided with permission by Brian Bradshaw of http://bootbomb.com

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

 As we take this Trek together, let us always:

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

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