Category: THREE BIG IDEAS

Big Idea #1 From Me

At any given moment in time, there’s a range of behaviors you can perform.

I call this your behavioral repertoire.

Here’s an example that will help you visualize what I mean:

As you are seated/lying down in your bedroom, reading these words, you can decide to stand up and touch the wall closest to you. The probability of this happening is high, right?

Do you also know that you are capable of touching the ceiling with your feet?

But the probability of that behavior happening is very low. As a result, that behavior is collapsed within your repertoire. That’s why you probably can’t recall a time when you placed your feet on the ceiling in your room, even though it is something that is possible.

Now, let’s assume someone brings a double-bunk bed to your room and asked you to sleep on the top bunk. What would happen to the probability of you putting your feet on the ceiling (if you choose to)?

It will increase dramatically!

In life, some behaviors in your repertoire will bring you closer to your destiny, while others will collapse opportunities, thus taking you away from the destination God had prepared for you from the foundations of the world.

And still, some behaviors in your repertoire will never be expressed unless there are enabling factors in your immediate environment.

Here’s the wisdom in the paradigm:

• Amplify those behaviors that will bring you closer to the fulfillment of your potential.
• Extinguish those that will take you away from destiny.
• Stay sensitive to discern whether a change is necessary in your environment for the right behaviors to be expressed.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In a study titled “Hedonic Consequences of Social Comparison: A Contrast of Happy and Unhappy Individuals”, researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky and Lee Ross asked people to teach children simple maths.

The people were divided into 2 groups.

For some, after they had taught the children, they were told ‘good job’. For others, in addition to being told they had done a good job, they were also told that other participants had done a better job.

After receiving feedback, the two groups of participants were asked to rate how happy they felt about their job performance.

Unsurprisingly, those who received the extra information in the form of comparison to an alternative group were less happy than those who were just told they did a good job.

My key takeaway is this: Don’t build your happiness on things that change. If you’re hell-bent on comparing yourself with others, you’d find that there’s always going to be someone wealthier, prettier, or more knowledgeable. If you must compare, compare yourself with where you’re coming from and where you’re headed to. Remind yourself: The story isn’t over yet!

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Ecclesiastes 1:9, 11 says, “The thing that had been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there’s no new thing under the sun…There’s no remembrance of the former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that come after”

Every question you’d ever ask on this side of eternity has been answered in some shape or form by people in the past.

This reminds me of a quote by German poet, Friedrich von Schlegel, who said, ‘The historian is a prophet in reverse’

By being a student of history, you can identify patterns in the past that will position you for opportunities in the present and future, when they arise.

This principle applies to both your personal history and historical events in general.

History is valuable when it compounds. However, if your memory of it decays over time, it will be useless to you.

Unless you take deliberate effort to harness the power of revisiting history, you will always be caught up in the present moment without an understanding of your roles in it. 

There’s a reason the men of Issachar (1 Chron 12:32) were called men of understanding…

May the Lord give you understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 From Me

One price of success is the higher scrutiny you will be subject to.

Perhaps the reason you’re still at your current level is because of the private battles you’ve not won yet.

Perhaps God is protecting you and you’re experiencing a dimension of grace to change your ways before it’s too late.

Everyone knows the role that Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) played in the civil rights movement.

Naturally, because of his prominent role in the struggle against inequality, MLK was subject to greater scrutiny by the powers that be.

What they found wasn’t pretty.

Behind the cool, calm and charismatic Reverend that gave the “I have a dream” speech, the FBI found a man who drank, smoked, spoke vulgar and had multiple sexual partners.

While some of the FBI findings were released sometime in 2019, this image of MLK had been painted by his associates in books they wrote as far back as the 1980s.

If you look through the annals of history, you’d find it littered with the blood and bones of great men who may have gotten public victories but were limited by their private battles.

I’m reminded of the story of the two wolves:

‘A fight is going on inside every person. It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil and the other is good. The wolf that will win is the one that is fed”

This story is instructive.

Take care of your private battles. Do everything in your power to avoid joining the list of casualties on the road to destiny.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In his journal paper titled, “The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rate, Health Behavior and Retirement Savings“, researcher Keith Chen showed that people who spoke languages which made no separation between the present and the future were more likely to make good decisions in the present that led to better future outcomes.

Consider two languages: English and Chinese.

Suppose you want to tell someone that you’re going to save money when you get paid your salary at the end of the month.

If you’re speaking English, you’d say:

“I WILL save money at the end of the month”

As you can see, there’s a separation between the present and the action you want to take in the future.

On the other hand, in Chinese, that separation doesn’t exist. A Chinese speaker wanting to express the same idea will say something which when translated to English will mean,

“I save money at the end of the month”

By running analysis with tons of data from different countries, the study demonstrated that people from cultures where the language did not separate the present from the future were more likely to save more, retire with wealth, smoke less and maintain a healthy weight. This seems to support the hypothesis that the way ‘future time’ is talked about influences the way ‘future time’ is thought about. If your language prevents you from seeing your future as disconnected from your present, you are less likely to take your actions in the present with levity.

My key takeaway from the study is that your words have an impact on your thoughts which will, in turn, influence your actions. To change your life, start with the manner you speak.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Proverbs 21:5 says, “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone that is hasty only to want”

The word translated “diligent” implies the continual act of mining for gold or digging a trench.

No one digs for gold by striking the topsoil once with a shovel before giving up.

Yet, when we think, we don’t hold our thoughts and spiritual impressions long enough for them to take root.

The Bible promises that if you’re diligent with the thoughts that God impresses upon your heart in the same manner a man mining for gold continues to digs, you will lead a fulfilling life.

Perhaps the reason you’re facing chaos in your life is because you’re too hasty in thought – refusing to consider a thought long enough before jumping into your next bout of busyness and distraction.

May the Lord grant you understanding in these things.