The ‘Old World’ of thinking is filled with peril and dangerous beliefs in this ‘New World’ order. That is why many people are struggling with living happily and successfully right now. They’re still stuck back there and the world is moving into a new space/time.
A good example of this challenge we’re facing is in the parable of putting new wine into old wineskins. JC was constantly challenging religious practices that had gone stale.
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins because they will burst and the wine will be lost – put new wine into fresh wineskins” – Mark 2:22
In other words:
- You can’t put new ideas into old mind-sets
- You can’t get new results with old behaviours
So you have to break the habit of being your old self, and you’re hopefully on the journey of losing your old mind and creating a new one. Not easy but is the only way you will thrive in these dramatic changes that are taking place.
This Pandemic is changing the rules really fast, but most people are finding it difficult to keep up with the change in the way they think and behave.
One of the ‘old’ concepts I love challenging is the one I was brought up with which is: The secret of success is hard work. People who espouse the virtues of hard work publicly are doing a grave disservice to humanity because hard work, in fact, is counterproductive to TRUE SUCCESS (I’m standing on a lot of toes here which is good).
- Work your fingers to the bone
- Put your shoulder to the wheel
- Put your nose to the grindstone
- Down the salt mine we go
WOW!
They don’t call it the ‘rat-race’ for nothing.
I personally love my work and I’m good at what I do, and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and am achieving.
However, there are people who because of their attitude and beliefs about hard work are suffering.
- Heart attacks
- Bleeding ulcers
- Headaches
- Alcoholism
- Drug abuse (both legal and illegal)
- Insomnia
- Broken families (unhappy families – partners and or children)
Happiness and success are more about who you are rather than what you do or what you have.
To quote Zig Ziglar, “You have to BE before you can DO and DO before you can HAVE.” In other words, having is the result of being and doing.
BEING is inclusive of your core values, purpose, and intentions. Inwardly, it is your attitude, your mood, or your energy. Outwardly, it is your language and your behaviour.
Often in the past, I would be working with young people who would say they’re looking for Mr. Right or Ms. Right. And when I would say to them: “Are you working on becoming Ms. Right or Mr. Right?” – they would get confused. Many times we’re not who we need to be to ATTRACT the right relationship that we desire. So we settle for the best of the worst and then complain about our relationships. So many relationships are a mismatch and that’s why the divorce rate is so high.
The same applies in business when you’re recruiting staff, you often have the same challenge. Sometimes you attract the wrong people into your business that drives you crazy. So business owners also need to work on themselves to attract people who are emotionally mature and empowered. You cannot be a slouch and attract dynamic people.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous quote: “Who you are speaks so loudly I can hear what you’re saying” captures the BE, DO, HAVE principle beautifully.
You have to “Be” the right kind of person first, then you will more likely say and “Do” the right things before you can expect to “Have” the things in life that really matter. Which is loving and harmonious home life. The family culture is the most powerful culture of all. Parents are the architects of the family culture.
Also, remember who you are also effects your company culture.
Here’s a powerful example of what we’re trying to say:
Tony Hsieh, built Zappos from scratch into a billion-dollar company in just eight years. And he says that he realised that “Company Culture,” was more important than customer service because if they got the culture right. Then building the brand would happen naturally. If the brand is lagging it’s just an indicator of the companies culture.
Every employee’s mindset (who they are) affects your company’s brand, Everything you do can’t just be approached from a level of skill, behaviour or hard-work for that matter.
You have to work at a deeper level of everyone’s values, attitudes, perceptions.
We have to learn to balance our ‘being-ness’ with our ‘doing-ness.’
WISE GUYS
- “Your life gets better, when you get better as a person” – Virend Singh
- You must be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” – Seneca
