Personal Philosophy
“Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out.” – Jim Rohn
Everyone wants their life to work out for the best, but not everyone plans for it. In essence, everyone has a personal philosophy, either an unplanned, undefined one or a highly planned and defined one. I must confess that most of the early years of my life, the first kind would characterize me; although, I doubt that I was any different from most. I realize now that I was not living at my full potential. I wonder how different it would have been if I had understood the importance of developing a personal philosophy. I’m not saying that my life was unsuccessful. Actually, I earned a good living, had a good marriage and raised two wonderful children, who are both very successful today. However, I feel that my life would have been much more defined, organized and focused if I had understood the importance of having a well developed personal philosophy.
Developing a personal philosophy means determining how you want to live your life, taking in consideration the major category’s of your life and then actively pursuing the development of each one. A good definition of personal philosophy is, “Knowledge plus determining what is valuable and avoiding bad habits equals a sound personal philosophy.” Developing a working personal philosophy is hard work. However, you can easily take a giant step by reading what others have labored hard to learn about the matter.
Here is a question to ask yourself often as you develop your personal philosophy: Does this really matter in the Big-Picture scheme of things, yes or no? If it doesn’t really matter, waste no time with it: if it does matter, work on fixing it.
Personal philosophy is made up of parts; each part plays a unique role in the larger picture; therefore, care must be taken in the development of each part. Here are the things I think makes up a well rounded personal philosophy:
Faith in God: One of the things I did right, early in life, was to place my trust in God through faith in Jesus Christ. I have never regretted that. It has had an impact on my life to this very day. It is the foundation of life that supports every meaningful thing.
How does faith in God benefit us? According to the Bible, faith is precious, even more than gold, 1 Peter 1:7. Greatest of all, faith in God through Jesus Christ brings everlasting life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:26. Secondly, faith opens access to God’s throne in heaven, where we can meet God in prayer. “And whatsoever thing you ask in prayer, really believing, you shall receive,” Matthew 21:22. Thirdly, faith brings love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness and temperance through God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. For more information on this, click HERE.
Relationships: Relationships are high on the list of the most important things in life. Does a wealthy man ask for his bank book when he lies on his deathbed and life is ebbing away? No! He calls for those he loves.
Learning how to build relationships is of an essence, and not everyone knows how it’s done. The quality of your relationships is determined by the person you become. “The golden rule” of the Bible states, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets,” Matthew 7:12.
Learning how to talk to others is a key to building relationships. Words are most powerful. Dale Carnegie said in his book on “How to win friends and influence people” to avoid complaining, criticizing and condemning. On the positive side, few people have learned the power of the compliment. A sincere complement at the appropriate time, or a show of appreciation, can make a person’s day and befriend them to you. Yet another key of good communication is showing gratitude to others. Gratitude is a rare human quality. Those who master it are miles ahead of those who don’t in building relationships.
A salesman I know, who is the number one salesman in his company, said his secret was to take an interest in his clients and their needs and provide the best service and products possible. Taking an interest in others is a key in building meaningful relationships. Not only is this good advice in building relationships, but also the secret to a successful business.
Determining to do the right things: “With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt,” – Zig Ziglar. Doing the right things may bring you criticism. But remember, the only way to avoid criticism is by “saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing.” Just imagine, if everyone did the right things, there would be no murders, no thief, no wars, no need for armies or police forces. Think of the trillions of dollars that would be saved to go toward making life better for millions. I realize that we can’t control what others do, but we do have the power to control what we do, and by doing so, it can make the world a little better place, especially for those around us. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up,” Galatians 6:9.
Stewardship: Stewardship defined: Stewardship is planning and managing assets assigned to you, and involves how you handle your income as well as your time. “The way in which we manage the business of getting and spending is closely tied to our personal philosophy of living. We begin to develop this philosophy long before we have our first dollar to spend; and unless we are thinking people, our attitude toward money management may continue through the years to be tinged with the ignorance and innocence of childhood,” – Catherine Crook de Camp. Obviously stewardship is a learning process.
There recently was an interesting article on the Internet of a couple with no children who were seeking help on how to make ends meet. It seems they had to borrow money at the end of each year. Here is the irony of it: Their income was a whopping $500,000 a year, and they lived in an area where living expenses were low. Their home mortgage alone was $10,000 a month. At $120,000 a year, their mortgage was twice as much as the national average income. Obviously, they needed to completely overhaul their personal philosophy on stewardship. Albert Einstein said, “The best way to live is to live simple.” Living an exorbitant lifestyle is for the very rich, who can afford to hire others to maintain all their assets. An average person attempting to live an exorbitant lifestyle will spend every waking hour working to pay for it and maintaining it, therefore, having no time to enjoy life. From the Bible: “And he [Jesus] said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 12:15. One thing proven over and over again is that things do not bring happiness and contentment.
There is a good example of stewardship in one of the parables of Jesus: “A man about to go on a journey, called his servants together; they were to become stewards over his assets while he was away. According to their respective abilities, the first servant receives five talents (A talent is equivalent to about $500,000 in today’s money.), the second two talents, and the third one talent. When the master returned after a long absence, he calls his servants unto him and asks for an accounting. The first two servants explain that they have each put their money to work and doubled the value of the property they were entrusted with, and so they are each rewarded accordingly. The last servant said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents….Throw out the worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
The point is, all that we have is a gift from God and He will hold us accountable on how we manage it. In the parable, failure to use one’s gifts to the best advantage resulted in severe judgment. Perhaps part of the judgment today is all the problems incurred by mismanaging assets, which God has provided.
Developing a personal philosophy on stewardship can determine the quality of life. However, one plan does not suit all. Your plan may differ from the one I suggest below depending on your present financial circumstances. Understand that it is not the numbers or percentages that are important, it is developing a plan. Here is a suggestion which you can modify to suit your own financial situation:
- Tithe 10% of your income back to God who gave to you. If you are not a believer, donate 10% to charity to help others.
- Save 10% and invest it.
That leaves you 80% to live on. Perhaps you say that you can’t live on 80%; then reduce the percentage to fit your financial ability. The point is to start now. As time goes by and as you learn to better manage your assets, you can increase the amounts and even exceed the ones suggested.
Becoming all you can become: Each of us has a choice in life. The choice is to become all we can become or fall way below our potential and just get by from day to day. Jim Rohn was one of the great motivators of the past. Here is his advice: “Choose the ‘all.’ Earn all you can. Make all the friends you can. Read as many books as you can. Develop as many skills as you can. See and do as much as possible. Make as much fortune as possible. Give as much of it away as possible. Strive for the maximum. There’s no life like it. I’m telling you, since I’ve gotten on track, I’ve never looked back. Pick up the challenge. Go for it. When you’re focusing on growth, it’s easy to do all you can. It’s easy to succeed. It’s easy to have financial freedom. The more you do, the more you get.”
When you do your best, it does not matter how much you have done; it matters that you have put your all into it. Becoming the best person you can become should be the top priority of life. It is not done in vain. We reap according to what we sow; take time to re-soul your life; begin today to develop a working personal philosophy that includes each aspect of your life.