PRODUCTIVITY

Productivity is an essence of life.  Life and productivity, I believe, are synonymous.  

Nature is the most life developing, life enhancing, life promoting, life restoring entity known.  Simultaneously, nature is the most productive entity known to humankind.   Nature’s life enhancing activity is nature’s high level of productivity.  Nature’s high level of productivity in all its aspects, enhances life as we know it.  

Productivity is synonymous with work.  Without work there can be no productivity.  People want and enjoy productivity.  People don’t always want work.  

Everything in nature works.  It works perfectly according to its original plan. It works persistently , never deciding to opt out and not work because of difficulty. It works consistently, never lowering its standard of perfection. This is why nature is so productive, and simultaneously, life enhancing.  

Humans are the only part of nature that has free will.  People can choose to work or not work. We can choose to be productive.  

Choose life!   Be productive!  Work!

 MATURITY       

Compassion is one of the great emotions humans have been gifted with. It is more than sympathy which is pure feeling.  And, it is more than just pure action with no feeling.

Compassion is a combination of sympathy plus action.  It is having such a strong feeling about something that is going on with someone that you take action to benefit that someone.  Jesus was often noted to feel compassion for the people who crowded around Him.  This compassion drove him to take actions designed to help.       

Compassion is always directed towards others.  It’s ‘other’ centered and focused.  And, as such, is a very important characteristic of ‘Promise Driven’ life.       

People who are mature can care for themselves and willingly contribute to the care of others.

MATURITY is able to stand on its own while it constantly looks for others to pick up and support. 

MATURITY feels for people and moves to provide them the help they need.                   

When you feel sympathy for somebody, that’s it.                 

When you feel compassion for somebody you feel  sympathy and you take action to help.   

 ’Promise Driven’ people are mature.  They can take care of themselves. And beyond that, they are always involved in trying to help others do the same.       

In this context, it’s important to understand that one of the hallmarks of immaturity is self-centeredness. 

Immature people are virtually always talking about, thinking about, worried about themselves and their issues, challenges and problems.  This is the case in both good times and not so good times.       

The thing that remains constant for the immature is self focus.  My way,  my thing, my idea, my project, my time, my suggestion all represent what may be frequently heard from the mouth of the immature.      

Be mature. Be compassionate.  Be other-entered and focused.  

Preparation is essential to a ‘promise driven’ person.  Anything worthwhile is worth preparing for.

Since the focus of ‘promise driven’ people is, others, making things better for others, helping others to solve problems, or just positively impacting others, preparation is critical.  The more and better prepared you are, the more enabled you are to help others. 

The selflessness of ‘promise driven’ people pushes them to prepare at their highest and best because they always want to give to people that that they want for themselves. What people want, and indeed deserve, is consideration.  Being considerate of others is an important trait of ‘promise driven’ people.  However it’s more easily said than done. 

For example, to really be considerate of another or of others, due diligence is required. That is, the time must be taken and the effort made to learn about another or others in order to truly (or, considerately) serve them. 

‘Promise driven’ people are all about serving.  Serving is “other” centered. They are servant leaders.  To really serve someone you must know them.  To know  someone you must learn about them.  To learn about someone the time must be taken and effort made to walk in their shoes.  This is the work of preparation.  Taking the time and making the effort to not only be excellent but to be excellent in a way that is sensitive to and considerate of others. 

Always prepare.  Always be prepared.  Always give to others your highest and best.

Always give for others your highest and best.

ACCOUNTABILITY  – The highest level of accountability is that that comes from within not that that is enforced from without.

 ACCCOUNTABILITY is a significant part of the glue that holds people together in cooperative endeavors.  People who hold themselves accountable are people of their word.  When they say something they do the very best they can to do what they say.  They do what is asked of them.

They hold  their end of the agreement.  They follow through on their assignment. 

People who are accountable work like their piece is the most important piece of the puzzle but think like their piece is only one small piece of the puzzle.

The spiritual principle here is humility. This is an extremely powerful principle that removes what tends to interfere with people coming together and sticking together, ego and pride.  Humility removes the barriers to seeing and being who you really are.

Humility is a consciousness of one’s shortcomings that (l) eliminates ego, pride, pretense and self-centeredness ; (2) generates your highest level of performance toward success; (3) fosters an appreciation for the strengths of others and (4) facilitates a connection between those working on a common agenda.

Also at the heart of accountability is integrity. Integrity speaks to character and  character holds itself accountable to who it says it is and what it says it will do.

BE ACCOUNTABLE!

Day 6 of Maturity – Day 27 of 49-day journey

Mature, promise driven people endure

Spiritual Principle: RIGHTEOUSNESS • PEACE

Scripture:

³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.  2Corinthians 6: 3-10 NIV

Word for the day: PERSEVERANCE

Affirmations:

“Storms come to pass.”

“This too shall pass.”

“God is with me and will never leave me.”

“God will never leave nor forsake me.”

Thought of the day: Perseverance is one of the keys to success in life.  It says you never give up.

Day 5 of Maturity – Day 26 of 49-day journey

Mature, promise driven people are givers

Spiritual Principle: RIGHTEOUSNESS • PEACE

Scripture: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16

Word for the day: GENEROUS

Affirmations:

“Giving is living.”

“The more I give, the more I live.”

Thought of the day: Real life revolves around giving.  The more you give the more you live.  Giving is sharing,sharing is caring, caring is loving, loving is living, and living is giving.

Day 4 of Maturity – Day 25 of 49-day journey

Mature, promise driven people are “other” centered

Spiritual Principle: RIGHTEOUSNESS • PEACE

Scripture: Philippians 2:3-4  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others”

Word for the day:   SELFLESS

Affirmations:

“I am blessed to be a blessing.”

“I am here to help others.”

“Making things better for others makes things better for me.”

Thought of the day: If all people in a community focused on helping others the community would be a real community: …More peace less violence; more education less ignorance; more economic growth less poverty.

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Mature, promise driven people are daring and bold: Day 3 of Maturity – Day 24 of 49-day journey

Spiritual Principle: RIGHTEOUSNESS • PEACE

Scripture: Acts 4:13  “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Word for the day:   BOLDNESS

Affirmations:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“If I can conceive it and believe it, I can achieve it.”

Thought of the day: Daring and boldness add excitement and challenge to life. 

Mature, promise driven people are willing to fully engage life for the purpose of achieving their promise : Day 2 of Maturity – Day 23 of 49-day journey

Spiritual Principle: RIGHTEOUSNESS • PEACE

Scripture: Psalm 27:4 “One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”

Word for the day:   DESIRE

Affirmations:

“I want to live a life of promise.”

“I want to be a promise driven person.”

“I want to make the difference I was born to make.”

“I am ready to live my promise.”

Thought of the day: Life has an “if” at its core.  Passion and perseverance determine how you respond to that “if.”

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My promise speaks to my future :

Day 7 of Preparation – Day 21 of 49-day journey

Spiritual Principle: PATIENCE

Scripture: Jeremiah 29: 10-11  “This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Word for the day:   HOPE

Affirmations:

“I am always hopeful.”

“In God my future is secure.”

“My hope is built on God.”

“I will never give up on my promise.”

“I must never give up.”

Thought of the day: Your promise is always out in front of you. Preparing for it and working on it is to be simultaneously preparing for and working on your future.

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