Success is Intoxicating
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the scripture is Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
You always have something working against you when making personal decisions: you. Personal decisions are emotional, and emotionally charged environments aren’t ideal for decision-making. Your emotions make the obvious less obvious. This is why you’re probably better at managing someone else’s money than your own. It’s why you know exactly what your neighbor needs to do about his marriage, but have no clue how to improve your own. It’s why your kids baffle you, while a complete stranger’s kids just need a good spanking. When it comes to making decisions, we have a real problem. It’s next to impossible to hear the voice of wisdom when emotions are raging.
Success is intoxicating. If you are super successful, after a while people in the world will think that you are smart about everything. Have you ever been in a room where there is a super rich person? If you are a man, you are like the prettiest girl in the room. Everybody knows that you are there, and they think that you are way more handsome than you actually are because money makes you better looking. Have you ever stood in a group or a little posse around a super wealthy or well known person? Have you noticed that everything they say is true? Everything that is kind of funny is real funny. Every piece of advice everybody is eagerly listening to. What happens is that people come around super successful people, and they intoxicate them even more. It’s very difficult to survive success. After a while if you will begin to think you know a lot about everything. So why in the world would you seek advice about anything? If you are super or even marginally successful or if you’re recognized in your field or industry as being successful, you’re inclination will begin to think that since I know a lot about this, I ‘m kind of an expert on all matters. You will naturally resist outside input, and you will resist feedback and council. You will really resist going to a counselor.
You were born into community, and you need community. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, and the only way for you to emerge from your inadequacy is to invite someone into your area of weakness with you and to learn to listen. Wise people seek counsel. That’s why they are wise. Wise people know they don’t know all they need to know. So, they find people who know. Wisdom isn’t knowing everything. It’s knowing what you don’t know and going to those in the know for the input you need.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
Posts
