Wisdom-Trek ©

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 394 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Success Requires Self-Motivation

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 394 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today we will explore the success trail of self-motivation.

We are broadcasting from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is good to have a respite from the additional work at The Big House, and we are getting caught up with some of the backlogs of client work. We do have much to do on our podcast-related projects also, so hopefully we will be able to start focusing on those projects soon.

I am recording this podcast prior to the weekend, so I will have to update you with our weekend activities on Wisdom Wednesday. Our plans are to invest time with our daughter-in-law Chelimo’s parents Josphat and Emily Yego on Saturday. They are visiting from Kenya, and we are looking forward to discussing partnering with them as they establish a leadership institute in Kenya. If weather permits, we will also visit the Biltmore House and Gardens on Sunday after church.

We desire to invest in every opportunity that will assist us in daily creating our living legacy while we live a rich and satisfying life. This is what we consider being truly successful. We do realize that all success requires that we are motivated within to drive us forward to the success that we wish to achieve. On our trek today we will hike the trail called…

Success Requires Self-Motivation

Let’s start up our trail, and consider the following…A lot of very smart people end up as failures – failures in life, in work, and in relationships. A lot of very smart people are given plenty of opportunities for success and never take advantage of them. A lot of very smart people are born into privilege and yet turn into failures. And a lot of very smart people accumulate degrees and skills and still fail to achieve what we think they would. What is the common factor in all of these failures? It’s lack of self-motivation.

If you listened to Philosophy Friday, we focused on the universal law of planting and harvesting. When a person lacks self- motivation, they do not follow this law and, therefore, miss the opportunities that will lead to success.

All of the intelligence and all of the opportunity and all of the book learning is simply for nothing if there is no motivation to do anything with them. Let’s look at the 10 milestones that will teach us why self-motivation is the only trail to success.

· What is Self-Motivation?

A child may be motivated to pick up his toys if there is a reward for doing so (of if there is a punishment for not doing so). Someone outside of himself has created that motivation. If there were not an outside motivator, the child would probably not be so quick to pick up those toys. He has no self-motivation. As we mature, we should become self-directed individuals. We muster up the motivation to accomplish things – or not. If we don’t become self-directing, then we won’t meet with success. It relates back to the law mentioned previously, but here are 10 specific reasons.

1. With Self-Motivation, Goals Are Set

If you desire to be a successful person you must set goals and then go after them. Those goals must come from within, based on your passions. For the non-self-motivated person, if goals are set at all, they are only small temporary ones. Such goals may be to get a job that will pay the bills or to save enough money to take a vacation. They are small and short-term.

2. With Self-Motivation,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 393 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Cycles and Seasons of Life (8) - The Celebration of Fall

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 393 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Today we are continuing our trek covering the Cycles and Seasons of Life. In particular, we are moving forward and focusing on the fall season of life.

We are broadcasting from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We drove back to Charlotte on Wednesday and will be here for a week before heading back to Marietta for a few days to assist clients and enjoy our granddaughter Aurora’s 5th birthday celebration.

We do travel a good bit, but with each season of life, our focus and priorities will change. We need to be flexible and willing to make those changes. Life rarely turns out how we expected and is based on the accumulation of all the decisions we have made in our lives up till now. The key to living a rich and satisfying life is to make wise decisions and then choose to enjoy life even if it is different than we expected.

What you plant in the spring season of life and then nurture during the summer season of life is what you will harvest in the fall season of life. So plant and nurture wisely, so your harvest will be fruitful and in abundance. Realize also that during your lifetime, there will be many different cycles of seasons. Just because a particular season did not turn out as you expected, don’t let that control the entirety of your life. Each winter season is a time for reflection and planning while each new spring season gives you an opportunity to start new again.

This brings us to our trek for today as we consider moving from summer to fall within the Cycles and Seasons of Life, and this section of our trek is titled…

The Celebration of Fall

I would like to start off our trek today with a quote from Lin Yutang who explained the seasons of life in this way, "I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like fall best of all, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colors richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow… Its golden riches speak not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kingly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content."

I have to admit that I am approaching my fall of life, and I find this quote to be so true.  As I mature, it is easier to see the richness of life but also some of the limitations of life. With this knowledge, I can be content with life how it is, not necessarily how I expected it to be.

Fall is a time for celebration as well as a time for a searching of the conscience. If you planted abundantly in the spring and fought against the insects, weeds, and weather of summer, fall can bring rewards that will give you cause for rejoicing.

On the other hand, if you watched both the arrival and departure of spring and made little effort to take advantage of its almost momentary tenure, fall can be a time of turmoil, a time of anxiety, and a time of great regret.

It is in the fall when you discover how long or short the winter will be. The fall tells you if you have really done that which is required, or if you have fooled yourself through the temporary anesthetizing of conversation and pretense of telling yourself you have worked enough when you haven’t.

Although the following truths are difficult to accept at times,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 392 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Let Your Deeds Speak for You - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 392 of our trek. It is Thursday and time for our 2-3 minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom will include an inspirational quote with a little additional content for that day’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom Tuesday & Thursday. So, let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from an unknown author, but the wise tip is still great. This is it, "A fool tells you what he will do; a boaster what he has done. The wise man does it and says nothing."

As I have mentioned on many of our Wisdom-Treks, we need to learn when it is wise and appropriate to speak. First, you probably know the type of person that is always talking about what they are going to do, but just never seems to get around to accomplishing much with his life. This type of person is foolish because the only one he is fooling is himself.

Next, the boaster loves to shout about the many wonderful things he does, but he is usually only wonderful to himself. Lastly, it is refreshing to come across a truly wise person. He does his work, and usually more, without the need to speak about it. His success is evident in his deeds.

Let us all aspire to be wise, do the work with all of our strength, and let our deeds speak for themselves. Always be satisfied with a job well done regardless of any praise or accolades. Knowing that we have done our best is sufficient.

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

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 391 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Wealth Is a Crown for the Wise - Proverbs 14:18-35

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 391 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the second half of Chapter 14.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. After some meetings with our clients in Marietta on Tuesday, we are heading back to Charlotte today for a week. It will be good to take a break from the renovation work we have been completing on The Big House. We will return to Marietta next Wednesday to work with our clients here and for our granddaughter Aurora’s 5th birthday celebration.

We are blessed that our work is somewhat location independent. Maintaining two homes was never something I would have imagined doing, but we do feel that is God’s plan for us in this season of our life. While we fully realize and understand there are no guarantees in life, real estate is usually a wise investment long term, so our hope is that it will remain to be so for many more years.

Making wise decisions to the best of our ability is important in life, and there is no better source for wisdom than God’s Word and in particular the book of Proverbs. As we head out on our trek for today, let’s dig for those nuggets of wisdom that fill the book of Proverbs. Today we will dig into the second half of Chapter 14. Today’s trek is…

Wealth Is a Crown for the Wise

18 Simpletons are clothed with foolishness,

but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Many times you can tell something about a person by the way they dress. In this verse, we can tell if a person is simple because they clothe themselves in foolishness. You may remember from past studies in Proverbs that a simple person is one who has the capacity to be wise but has not obtained it either through ignorance or choice. The default attire for this person is being foolish. A person who is truly a fool is someone who knows what wisdom is and how to obtain it but has deliberately chosen to ignore wisdom. In contrast to a simpleton, a prudent person can also be known by his attire. He will have wisdom, knowledge, and discernment that will be as evident and obvious as if he was wearing a crown.

 

19 Evil people will bow before good people;

the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly.

A person who chooses to ignore God’s precepts will eventually be subservient to people who have chosen to follow God’s precepts. The evil or wicked person will continue on the wrong trails of life. When they are in trouble because of their unwise decisions, they will have to bow before those who are in the positions of authority for assistance.

 

20 The poor are despised even by their neighbors,

while the rich have many “friends.”

An unfortunate fact of life is that most people will be friends with someone who can provide benefit to them. The poor person usually has little to offer, so most people will not like them or get to know them, even if they are close neighbors. A person who does have wealth will have many fair weathered friends who are looking to benefit themselves.  These types of people will never be true friends.

 

21 It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor;

blessed are those who help the poor.

As an extension of the previous verse, we see how God would want us to act. This is one of His basic precepts that we should follow.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 390 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Wisdom of Age - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 390 of our trek. It is Tuesday and time for our 2-3 minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom will include an inspirational quote with a little additional content for that day’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom on those days. So, let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Harold Kushner, and his wisdom is, "We do ourselves and others a disservice when we make old age something to be feared.  Life is not a resource to be used up, so that the older we get, the less life we have left.  Life is the accumulation of wisdom, love, and experience of people encountered and obstacles overcome. The longer we live, the more life we possess."

When we are young, many times we do not realize the treasures of wisdom that older and wiser people have. As I am approaching 60 shortly, I realize just how true this is. With today’s advancement in technology and medicine, it is possible that I am only reaching middle age.What excites me about that is that if God grants me a long life, I have the opportunity to both gain more wisdom and experiences and to share it to positively impact the lives of others much more effectively in the next half of my life. Regardless of your age, continue to learn, to love, to gain wisdom, to experience life to the fullest, and to live that rich and satisfying life each day that God gives to you.

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

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Wisdom Wednesday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 389 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Three Trails of Motivation

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 389 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today we will explore three short trails that will help you to remain motivated and focused throughout this week.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Saturday of this week, we are headed north to Canton, Ohio for the annual Robb Reunion. Paula’s mom’s maiden name is Robb, and we always enjoy getting together with family who all share our common faith in God. We always attend the annual reunion, as getting together and sharing with family is an important aspect of our lives. It is just a day trip, so we will leave early in the morning and return Saturday evening.

I am also working on some of the renovation projects that I was unable to complete earlier. This past week I was able to apply roof coating to a small alcove roof outside the dining room. There is a small amount of wood trim around that same alcove that I have to finish painting also. This project will finish up the significant projects on the house itself that we had set for this summer.

I still plan to use the power washer on the cracks in the driveway to prepare them for crack filler.  After these projects are completed, we will take a little break on renovations for now and begin to make plans for next year’s projects based on the time and resources available. I will need to maintain the lawn and flowers the remainder of this summer, and before we know it, the leaves will be falling again, which will keep me busy this fall.

So, it is now time to look forward to this week’s dose of motivation to help us along the trails of life. Today our trek will take us on…

The Three Trails of Motivation

The first of the three trails takes us up the mountain with the 21 Steps to a Happy Life. Listen to these steps as we come to them and allow them to motivate you to live an impactful life this week.

Compliment three people every day.

Watch a sunrise.

Be the first to say "Hello."

Live beneath your means.

Treat everyone as you want to be treated.

Never give up on anybody; miracles happen.

Forget the Jones’s.

Remember someone’s name.

Pray not for things but for wisdom and courage.

Be tough-minded but tender-hearted.

Be kinder than you have to be.

Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel loved and appreciated.

Keep your promises.

Learn to show cheerfulness even when you don’t feel it.

Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years.

Leave everything better than you found it.

Remember that winners do what losers don’t want to do.

When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone’s day.

Don’t rain on other people’s parades.

Don’t waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.

Keep some things to yourself and don’t promote havoc by backstabbing people you love.

That brings us to a plateau where we will switch to our 2nd trail for today. Along this plateau, we come across 11 milestones that will become our Creed to Live By this week. Think about each one and how you can apply it to your life, which will help you to make a greater impact on the lives of others.

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others.

It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 388 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Cycles and Seasons of Life (7) - The Growth of Summer

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 388 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Today we are continuing our trek covering the Cycles and Seasons of Life. In particular, we are moving forward and focusing on the summer season of life.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As we are settling back into a more normal routine, there is so much exciting client work and podcast-related projects to work on that staying focused on one area at a time is a challenge.

I am unsubscribing to many promotional emails that I receive in order to minimize the rabbit trail distractions that they cause. Although much of this information is good and I can learn from them, with a plate that is already overflowing, I need to focus on the most pressing projects that can be completed within the next few months. Since I love to learn and absorb new information, it is a challenge to minimize distractions but a habit that is required in order to maximize my output.

This reminds me of the summer season of life that we will explore today. Once your seeds of spring are planted and your plants are growing, you must be diligent to protect that growth by purging the weeds and insects of life that can easily destroy all the seeds that you planted earlier. You must also remember to keep the new plants sufficiently watered so that they will flourish and grow into healthy fruit-bearing plants for the harvest time during the fall season of your life.

Speaking of life and its seasons, let’s head out on our trek for today as we move from spring to summer within the Cycles and Seasons of Life within the section titled…

The Growth of Summer

Success in life is not an easy matter, nor is it an easy matter for the seed to push away the soil in its quest to find the light and airborne chemicals that give it health. Progress in any form and happiness or success in any form requires constant effort, for obstacles exist that might discourage you if you are weak or if you feel undeserving. Overcome one obstacle in life, and another appears to fill the void. Life is designed to be a story of achievement in spite of adversity, not in the absence of adversity, for without adversity achievement could not exist.

Do not blame the problems and challenges of life for your humbling circumstances. Does the seed complain because of the rocks it must grow over, under, around, or through? Would any worthy life exist on earth if all life were to surrender when first confronted by difficulty? The constant, unrelenting pull of life is downward—giving cause for disappointment, despair, and discouragement. There shall always be a reason to give up; there shall always be cause for complaint. But if you engage in complaining, you add to the downward pull of life. The only automatic thing in life is weeds and insects. They need not be planted, nor cared for. Their existence is assumed in that they feed and survive on the good efforts of the industrious.

The summer of life is a time to protect; it is a time for the constant daily effort to guard against the busy insects and the harmful weeds. The spring is a time for the creation of things of value, and those things require the season of summer for growing and gaining strength so that you might yield your results in the coming fall. The end of spring cannot bring an end of your effort. Your spring effort ends, and your summer efforts remain yet to begin.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 387 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Wisdom Unplugged - Do Not Fear

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 387 of our trek. We have started a new segment on Tuesday and Thursday of each week in which we will provide a short 2-3 minute trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom will be an inspirational quote with little or no additional content for that day’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom on those days. So, let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his wisdom is,  "The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.  It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without." 

Fear is so debilitating. We need to remember that most of the time our fear within us is more a creation of our mind than any real harmful situation. Unless the situation causes us bodily harm or death, then we can and should overcome the fear. Unfounded fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. It only appears real in our minds. So, commit today to putting fear aside and live life to the fullest. Don’t let anything hold you back from achieving your God-given potential.

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

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 386 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Laughter Can Conceal a Heavy Heart - Proverbs 14:1-17

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 386 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails, we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the first half of chapter 14.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It is good to get back to a normal schedule this week. For the past two months, I have invested my morning exercise and devotional time working on the renovation projects. While it still provided a good opportunity for physical activity, it is good to get back on the treadmill for my 5 mile run each morning. I am also able to work my other exercise routines in before the run. The morning schedule allows me to have my devotional and meditation time during my 70 minutes of exercise.

As we refocus on our client work and newer projects, I have some catching up to do to clear some of the backlogs. We will get there one day at a time. Since none of us are promised more than today, that will be sufficient.

In case you missed yesterday’s Wisdom-Trek, we have started a very short segment on Tuesday and Thursday of each week called Wisdom Unplugged.  It is a short 1-3 minute wisdom nugget featuring a wisdom inspirational quote designed to be a supplement on those days. Let me know how you enjoy these mini-treks by leaving a comment on Wisdom-Trek or emailing me at [email protected].

As we head out on our trek for today, let’s dig for those nuggets of wisdom that fill the book of Proverbs. Today we will dig into the first half of chapter 14. Today’s trek is…

Laughter Can Conceal a Heavy Heart

1 A wise woman builds her home,

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

If you are wise, either as a woman or a man, you will take the necessary steps to follow Godly principles to create a home environment that is nurturing and helpful for the entire family. This requires selfless acts of love. If you are foolish, though, you will primarily think about what is best for yourself, and make decisions based on selfishness. This will result in the destruction of the home. Ideally, all members of the family should have concern for and look after each other to foster a proper home life.

 

2 Those who follow the right path fear the Lord;

those who take the wrong path despise him.

It does not get much simpler than this verse. If you desire to be a good and Godly person, then you will learn, understand, and apply God’s precepts to your life. By doing so you will follow the trail that is best for your life. If you choose to ignore God’s precepts, then you will find yourself on the trail that leads to destruction in your life.

 

3 A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him,

but the words of the wise keep them safe.

Words are so important every time you open your mouth to speak you should do so with caution. If you are proud and speak that which is foolish, it will come back to harm you in the same manner as getting beaten with a whip or rods. In contrast to this, if your words are wise, they will be a hedge of protection to you, protecting you from harm. When you speak the truth, you will not have to remember what you said because it will be the truth each time.

 

4 Without oxen a stable stays clean,

but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

When you work,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 385 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Wisdom Unplugged - Your Life Matters

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 385 of our trek, and today we are providing a new feature that will be available on Tuesday and Thursday of each week called Wisdom Unplugged. This will be a very short nugget of wisdom or an inspirational quote with little or no additional content for the day’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom on those days. So, let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

This is a quote from Ruth Barton which says, "As we begin to see the package God is putting together in our lives and discover his purposes for bringing us to our world, it will provide us with the framework we need to make wise choices. In addition, we will find that a sense of purpose gives hope in the midst of tragedy and difficulty, gives meaning to the mundane aspects of our lives, and helps us to make our lives count for God."

As a recap of today’s quote remember that God has a specific purpose for your life because you matter to God. Go out today and fulfill that purpose and make a positive impact on someone else today.

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 together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

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 for Wisdom Wednesday!