Do it with Intentionality

My wife and I heard Zig Ziglar, a successful author, speaker and entrepreneur tell the story below in the Charlotte, NC, Coliseum a number of years ago. At that time we either didn’t have kids or they were still very young.

‘There was a farmer I’ll call Joe who had several boys and he worked those boys extremely hard around the farm. One day one of his neighbors pointed out that it wasn't necessary to work the boys that hard in order to raise a crop. Farmer Joe, quietly but firmly responded, “I'm not just raising a crop; I’m also raising boys who hopefully will become men.”’

When we had time to discuss this both my wife and I decided that we wanted to do what farmer Joe was attempting to do and that was to raise our kids to become adults who are responsible and productive members of society so they could stand on their own.

We knew we would not live forever so we wanted them to have the best opportunity to succeed in the various aspects of their lives and the relationships they would experience.  

When approached this way there is a longer term goal that helps you better deal with all the immediate issues or emergencies that develop along the way. When decisions are made in a longer term context they are not as impulsive or impacted by the emotion of the moment. Everything doesn’t appear to be a life or death issue.

We were fortunate to hear and learn from many people who have helped us in many areas in life. Many of them were authors. If you don’t have someone who you can go to for advice then you should make finding others to guide you, such as mentors, a priority.

**************

I like a book titled ’Iron Sharpens Iron’ by Howard Hendricks although this wasn't a book I read when I made the original decision to learn and grow. There is a section in the book about how to find a mentor and a section on how to be a mentor. This book is directed at men.

Biographies are good ways to learn from others. Ben Franklin talks a lot about how he learned various topics,

I have also done a post on some books that I have been reading during the past year if you are interested and it is titled ‘Books’ and was posted on 8/27/12. My reading interests have changed through the years as I have grown in different areas.

You should know that around the time that we first heard Zig my wife and I both had made the decision to learn and grow in a number of areas of our lives, such as business, personal, spiritual, intellectual, relational and others and that interest and desire continues. There have been times when we emphasized one area more than others and that still continues.