Success demands singleness of purpose. I believe that it was Vince Lombardi who said that. And it is true. Success does require singleness of purpose. Though your actions touch different aspects of your life, when those actions share a common purpose, they can work together to bring success in every area of your life.
I have often used diet as an example. People are constantly dieting - looking for a way to shed unwanted pounds. Fad diets gain huge popularity because of quick (if short lived) results. Even people who reach for a more sensible, disciplined diet often tend to find themselves on the wrong end of that diet before it is over.
For instance, many people diet because they want to feel better. The problem is, once you feel better, you want to feel other things. You want to again experience the joy you remember from the sensational foods you ate, which gave you cause to diet in the first place. "A little won't hurt." Unfortunately and too often, little becomes much in the hands of the dieter!
Those who I have met who have found the best success in their diet, were not really focused on dieting. They were not even focused on losing weight.
They were focused on bringing specific changes
They established goals in their life, ranging from "I want to run a marathon" to "I want to walk my granddaughter down the aisle." Their weight loss and hence, their diet was not the goal. It was simply a tool used to accomplish greater purpose. The diet was successful because they were reaching to achieve success in other areas.
While dieting for an achievement goal such as running a marathon is great, think about how much more powerful the achievement when you tie this process to the fulfillment of a life purpose. I have a friend who fought back type II diabetes. He adjusted his diet, exercise and lifestyle and gained control over his blood sugar issue. His goal - respond to the call God placed on his life for the mission field. He knew that as a diabetic, he could not be an effective missionary in a place where he could not fulfill his purpose in a land where medicine and healthcare were scarce. His singleness of purpose brought success, not only to his mission, but to his health. It brought success to longevity of life to be shared with his wife and children. The discipline necessary to accomplish his health goal spurred discipline in other area of his life, which brought greater success to his spiritual walk, his finances and his leadership of others.
When you can discover and embrace the purpose God places in your life, you can then tie your dreams and goals to that purpose. When you do, the empowerment God offers for the fulfillment of that purpose begins to affect every other area of your life.
I have often used diet as an example. People are constantly dieting - looking for a way to shed unwanted pounds. Fad diets gain huge popularity because of quick (if short lived) results. Even people who reach for a more sensible, disciplined diet often tend to find themselves on the wrong end of that diet before it is over.
I have noticed that the ones who have been able to find a more permanent change in their life through dieting, do so because their purpose for dieting is different than the purpose others share. Their initial results may stay the same, but the end results prove to also be purpose driven.
For instance, many people diet because they want to feel better. The problem is, once you feel better, you want to feel other things. You want to again experience the joy you remember from the sensational foods you ate, which gave you cause to diet in the first place. "A little won't hurt." Unfortunately and too often, little becomes much in the hands of the dieter!
Others diet for health reasons. The doctor says, "if you do not lose weight, you will have a heart attack." That launches people on diets. However, as the initial fear subsides, the desire to regulate one's self into that sort of restriction is short lived. Once the imminent heart attack misses you,
it is easy to forget the words of the doctor.
Those who I have met who have found the best success in their diet, were not really focused on dieting. They were not even focused on losing weight.
They were focused on bringing specific changes
to their lifestyle.
They established goals in their life, ranging from "I want to run a marathon" to "I want to walk my granddaughter down the aisle." Their weight loss and hence, their diet was not the goal. It was simply a tool used to accomplish greater purpose. The diet was successful because they were reaching to achieve success in other areas.
While dieting for an achievement goal such as running a marathon is great, think about how much more powerful the achievement when you tie this process to the fulfillment of a life purpose. I have a friend who fought back type II diabetes. He adjusted his diet, exercise and lifestyle and gained control over his blood sugar issue. His goal - respond to the call God placed on his life for the mission field. He knew that as a diabetic, he could not be an effective missionary in a place where he could not fulfill his purpose in a land where medicine and healthcare were scarce. His singleness of purpose brought success, not only to his mission, but to his health. It brought success to longevity of life to be shared with his wife and children. The discipline necessary to accomplish his health goal spurred discipline in other area of his life, which brought greater success to his spiritual walk, his finances and his leadership of others.
When you can discover and embrace the purpose God places in your life, you can then tie your dreams and goals to that purpose. When you do, the empowerment God offers for the fulfillment of that purpose begins to affect every other area of your life.
