Fits and Spurts and Stumbles (BeFirst Course 144)

I'm Dr. David King, husband, flower. All right, everybody. Welcome back. Thanks so much for hanging around. A quick review of the last few sections that we've gone through as we go backward. I want to make sure that we're all on the same page. So we have talked a lot about purpose. Not only about purpose, but about discovering that purpose, which really comes down to the combination of discovery and the combination of creation, those two together. And as we move through discovering who we are and creating who we are, we need to be cautious and remember that each of us has an individual purpose, an individual purpose that allows each of us some special and unique capabilities and talents so that we can be the best version of ourselves in a unique and special way. We've talked about values and how values provide not only a moral compass, but give us direction and give us limits. And these limits actually allow us to be free. They give us freedom as we allow ourselves to be controlled by certain limits. That is the key to freedom. We talked about how values provide a moral compass and allow us to draw on eternal principles, those unchanging, unyielding principles, and that we should be creationary, more like proactive as opposed to reactionary in situations like potential road rage or anger from someone. We want to be cautious that we don't overreact. Instead we should engineer an act instead of a react. Intentional shaping and sculpting is like planting a seed. Each seed has within it the genetic material it needs to become the ideal, fully matured plant of itself, as do we. But wishing that a seed could be, if it's an apple tree seed, wishing it could be a watermelon seed is not something that happens. So we have to have a vision that's not just a vision, but a correct vision, a vision of what we actually are, who we actually are, which allows us then to move forward and accomplish those things that we want to try to accomplish and succeed at accomplishing. Accidental creative accomplishment, meaning stumbling into some sort of an amazing, holy moly, this is incredible, I did it, situation without intentional preparation and work happens but exceedingly rarely. So we need to have a script, a purpose, and be goal focused in accomplishing our desired outcomes. Values are really critical. We've discussed this at length, how values provide guidance and information and limits that ultimately give us freedom and allow us to fly and soar just like a kite. And without those values that hold us down and are riveting us to our foundation, whatever that foundation is based on, and I suggested it should probably be based on your individual higher power and your eternal identity and your purpose in life. Without those rivets and those foundational welds, if you will, we can be blown all over the place. And even though we have a sense of what's right and wrong, without a nailing down, if you will, or a battening down of our individuals to our individual morality, if you will, down to these foundational principles, it's easy for them to change and to sway. So be very cautious. Talked about having an end vision and being focused on that end vision as the goal outcome, making sure that we maintain and revisit that frequently. Time traveling, not only into the very far future, but into the next week or even the next hour future to look at what our accomplishment is. And now we're going to talk about how purpose often comes and fits and spurts and stumbles. So for those of you who have some biology training, many of us would look at cells in cell biology or biochemistry and learn that growth, in particular with cells and with bacteria and other things, happens in fits and spurts, meaning there's a preparation time period and then boom, there's growth and then there's more preparation time period and then boom, there's growth. So there are interesting timeframes around which growth happens and a lot of times growth is happening, but it's not visible because it's the preparation for growth that is happening behind the scenes, if you will. So purpose accomplishment often comes in fits and spurts and stumbles. So we reconnected with our purpose and established a bunch of goals and individual steps in moving toward our creative outcome. Well, what now? Up to now, we've discussed mostly the process of mental design and creation in our goals and long-term outcome and planning out these steps that are necessary to accomplish these goals and processes. We have planned the work. Now, pardon the pun, we need to work the plan. It's important to realize that no plan ever goes exactly as planned. Plans change. Obstacles are encountered. Headwinds and tailwinds and sidewinds are frequent. These adjustments that come from an external source that will require us to improvise and adjust on the fly. So we have to be ready to pivot, ready to turn and adjust and make alterations based on what we encounter. We have to be willing to take the good with the bad and keep moving forward to quote Meet the Robinsons, which is a fun kids show for those of you who have seen it. There are many attempts before one success, one success, many attempts before one success. I was having a conversation with a young gentleman at church the other day and we talked about how the definition of failure really is just giving up. The definition of failure is not falling down or having some sort of a terrible outcome. Failure really comes down to stopping. That's it. That's the definition of failure. So there is no failure if there is no stopping, if there is no giving up, if there is no cease in at least attempted movement. So let's be clear on that. Failure is not a fall. Falling happens. We trip. We stumble all the time. We make mistakes, whether that's in our personal lives or professional lives, financially, relationship, spiritually, whatever it is, we make all sorts of mistakes and the failure is not the mistake. Failure is not trying to recover from the mistake. Failure is giving up. Failure is ceasing to try to improve. So if you'll remember that, that'll bring you some power, I think, throughout your life. It certainly has helped me. So there are many attempts before one success and much like life comes in fits and spurts, so does success, accomplishment, creation. There will be periods of time where no improvement is made at all. Like we talked about cells and our individual development and children oftentimes, as they're growing from an infant, there'll seem to be a pause and then all of a sudden they'll just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, they'll grow tremendously. Despite an intense focus on goals and plans and purposes, sometimes nothing improves for a very long time. Then all of a sudden a major step forward may happen in an unexpected way. This is the fits and spurts method of growth. We have to realize that this will happen and be willing to be patient during these time periods of non-growth and challenge. As we are patient, we can look forward to the time growth will happen while maintaining a circumspect consideration of our current status. Sorry, there's a couple of extra words in there. As we're patient, we can look forward to the time that growth actually happens. If we're focusing too much on the fact that we're not growing, the chances of us getting hung up in a non-growth period are much, much higher. Whereas if we keep moving forward, keep taking steps to improve ourselves and looking at it circumspectly, and that's an awesome word, this word right here, circumspect. If we keep a circumspect view, a big picture view of what's happening, how it's happening and what our purpose is, it's much easier to continue moving forward in spite of what we think might be a lack of growth right now. But if we're on the right track, if we're doing our best, if we're not giving up, if we're continually standing up after we trip, then we're succeeding. And we will continue to grow even though that growth may not be manifest continually. Oftentimes the growth is manifest incrementally, but in leaps and fits and spurts. Thanks for joining me again in this lecture. Look forward to seeing you in the next one.