It’s NOT about tips and tricks

It’s about quality products and services that truly serve the needs of your clients.

It’s about the hard work it takes to make those things a reality.

It’s about an internal commitment that keeps you moving toward those ends.

Tips and tricks are for the present moment.

For shortcutting the process for the sake of quicker, faster results.

The problem is that good stuff, really good stuff very seldom comes that way.

[tweetthis]Tips & tricks won’t serve you well if you’re looking to be & do what is “remarkable.”[/tweetthis]

And you should be…

There’s more at stake than you think

As a follower of God through Jesus Christ, that should not come as a surprise to you.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

Our God deserves our best effort.

In the end, it’s Him we’re working for.

• Not the profit it will be to us.
• Not the clients or customers we serve.
• But God – who will reward each of us according to our work.

[tweetthis]Tips & tricks barely touch eternal ends. They don’t have what it takes to move you in that direction.[/tweetthis]

Excellence in what you do, in what you create, is not about you.

It’s to put a magnifying glass to the glory of the God who created you and placed you in history right where you are, so that everyone can see it.

He’s the one who will reward you for that kind of work. Maybe in this life, certainly in eternity.

When you’re dead, you’re dead (in terms of earthly life).

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Ecclesiastes 9:10

You won’t get a second chance to make your life on the planet count.

How do you want to be remembered? How do you want the people who know you to speak of you when you’re gone?

He did O.K. work and was a nice guy…

OR

I always knew that if he did something, it would be excellent. That’s one of the many ways he served God.

It’s up to you.

Today.

Right now.

[tweetthis]You can make the choice about the kind of work you’re going to do.[/tweetthis]

It will require the hard work of study and learning.

You’ll have to hone your skills (even ones you’ve had for a very long time).

But that’s what is required of those who are working for more than this life has to offer.

You’ve been made for specific, important purposes

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Way back before you were born.

Even before that.

God was thinking about you.

He was thinking about specific good works He wanted you to do.

Let that soak in for a bit. Don’t move on until it does.

[tweetthis]You & the life you live on this planet are important from God’s perspective.[/tweetthis]

If that doesn’t blow your mind daily…

If that isn’t a humbling, life-altering reality to you…

If that’s not something that will get you out of bed in the morning, you may need some help in getting your mind (and heart) around that fact.

You matter because God says you do.

It’s your job to make sure you’re discovering and cooperating with that purpose.

Tips and tricks won’t cut it when it comes to that.

You’ve got to dedicate yourself to the long, hard work of knowing the eternal God and fulfilling His ends for you.\

Tips and tricks VS excellence: it’s a mindset issue

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Matthew 25:14-30

I’ve always read this parable as a “You’d better work hard with what you’ve got” sort of parable.

That’s not a bad thing… it’s part of the point Jesus was making.

But not all of it.

It’s a mindset parable.

The guy who buried the cash his master gave him had a poor mindset, a fearful mindset, an “I don’t know if I can do this…” mindset.

I get the feeling he was the kind of guy who would have done something with the money if it was easy.

He would have jumped on the “tips and tricks” to get a quick return without much effort.

But when it came to diligence, seriousness, and the commitment to make something great out of what he’d been given, he choked up with fear.

What was he afraid of?

• His master.
• Failure.
• Loss.
• Risk.
• Looking foolish.
• And who knows what else…

[tweetthis]The ironic thing is that a fearful mindset caused him to become exactly what he was fearful of becoming.[/tweetthis]

A failure.

What’s your mindset?

Do you find yourself constantly reading blog posts, listening to podcasts, and watching videos to learn the newest tips and tricks of your industry?

Are you looking for the easy way?

Or are you dedicated, committed, unyieldingly striving for what is excellent and good, for the sake of your King?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.

• What have you struggled with when it comes to excellence?
• What have you learned about yourself?
• What have you done to drive yourself toward a mastery/excellence/eternal mindset?