Sane living may sound silly to some, but to most it is a much sought after way of life. As we complete the puzzle of success, realize that life, although serious in nature, should be lived with joy. Achieving and living personal success is one thing. Doing these things joyfully with sanity is another story altogether. As I prayed and studied about the content of this book, I realized that with all of the principles, truths and guidelines listed, we must have a reference to refer to when times get tough.
The following personal guidelines were written specifically for that purpose. You may wish to hang them on your wall or place them in a conspicuous place that you see everyday. I placed them on my desk in my office. When times get tough or life seems serious and deep, they help me find the reality of life’s precious moments. None of us know when our time will come or when the trumpet will blow. We do know that life was given to us for living not worrying.
The reality that the world will someday end should cause us to live and breathe in everything life has to offer, not judge all those around us because they don’t see what we see. If we are spiritually accepting of Christ’s salvation, it really doesn’t matter. We can’t change tomorrow and we can’t change the end of time in the eyes of God. We can live life in a way pleasing to him, our families and those around us. This, in turn, will produce a life pleasing to ourselves. When life is pleasing to us, we become more productive, living our lives the way God intended us to live them.
I hope these guidelines are as meaningful to your life as they have been to mine since God instilled them in my heart.
Personal Guidelines
- Forgive others as part of the price you pay for being forgiven. Realize that sometimes you are not the most enjoyable person to be around yourself.
- Balance your life between work and play–seriousness and laughter. Attend church regularly and go to an occasional ball game.
- Exercise regularly. Get lots of sunshine and fresh air. Occasionally get some rain in your face and dirt on your hands.
- Stick to the truth no matter how bad it makes you look or feel. Lies are like wandering ghosts.
- Have a friend you trust. Talk about your troubles, mistakes and your dreams too.
- Find some quiet time to think. Give time to God and don’t underestimate the ability of prayer.
- Face your fears head-on. Learn which ones are useful and which ones are not.
- Always remember the ultimate death rate remains 100%. You would be getting short-changed if everyone got to die and you didn’t.
- Learn to relax. When you can’t sleep, use it as a chance for creative thinking and thanking God for life’s blessings.
- Realize there is nothing more precious than life. Fall in love with children, the outdoors, older people, music, books, new places, and the ocean—with everything, except money.
If you look at each of these guidelines closely, you will realize a view of life without the rose-colored glasses. Seeing life for what it is and knowing how to cope with it is the key to successful living. By now success has become a regular word in our vocabulary.
I would like to tell you an American success story. This person lived the successful life most have only dreamed of. You see the creation of his dream with the colors red, white and blue on top of cars throughout America. Chances are, most of you have partaken of his products at least once before. His company was the first to offer fast food delivery of its product. Similar businesses across America felt its impact as expansion ultimately came. Its success revolved around speed and quality. Hungry? Call them and they will deliver to your door with seemingly unbeatable and unstoppable service. The business? Domino’s Pizza. The success story? Thomas S. Monaghan, founder and 97 percent owner.
Monaghan and his brother reportedly borrowed $900 to start this business. Within a short period of time, their company began to achieve a successful history. Monaghan targeted collegiate towns in New England and the pizza chain grew so rapidly that in 1985, the company had opened nine hundred stores—a record for a restaurant chain in a single year.
Almost overnight, Thomas Monaghan was a millionaire—a real millionaire. He was the kind that could buy anything he wanted. He purchased the Detroit tigers that won the World Series the next year. Monaghan bought about two hundred automobiles including a 1929 Bugatti Royale, which alone cost 8.1 million. He collected airplanes and paid for a lodge located on 3,000 acres of land. The land came complete with an airstrip, hanger and a 580-foot pier on a lake where he floated a couple of yachts.
This $30 million possession eventually boasted a championship golf course, bowling alley, and hotel. He eventually began to finance missions and mission projects to Honduras. Funding missions gave him such enjoyment that he considered selling his company to do philanthropic work full time.
Monaghan was so busy chasing dreams and visions that he failed to notice the need to seriously revise some of his company’s business practices. Competitions such as Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s did notice and quickly expanded taking a greater share of the market. Domino’s sales began to drop and some stores had to be closed.
If I were to ask you what happened with the remainder of this story, you may be able to answer correctly. In Monaghan’s words, “I’d taken my eye off of the ball.” That may be a vital part of what happened, but the true problem revolved around priorities.
One night he read a book by C.S. Lewis titled Mere Christianity. By the eighth chapter, Monaghan realized he was full of the deadliest of all sins—pride. He had spent years building, buying and enjoying anything he wanted. He decided to stop building his dream home, sell his cars, planes and other belongings.
God had touched Monaghan. He testified from that point on he would focus on God first, then family and finally Domino’s. The rest is history. Today Domino’s operates stores in thirty-eight countries and around the world with profits in 1993 of at least $3 million a month.
Success, almost disaster, incredible success again. What had happened? Success came from an entrepreneur filled with a dream. Near disaster came when the man allowed himself to be distracted by the rewards of success. Renewed success came because he prioritized his life focusing on doing one thing well rather than being distracted by so many others.
Priorities are easy to shuffle around and the results of that shuffling can be detrimental. I too, have been caught up in the success web and nearly gobbled up by the spider of destruction. It may not happen immediately, but without prioritizing your life correctly, you will eventually lose in the game of success. I can remember when nothing else really mattered to me other than obtaining my goals in business. I would have never admitted that, but actions spoke louder than words. Many nights were spent on my knees wondering if I was going to lose it all. Rapid expansion into over twenty health care offices had left us undercapitalized and headed for disaster.
Only when I faced the problem head-on and placed my priorities back in the right place did my life change. Today God has richly blessed my life with a beautiful wife, family, home and successful businesses. Most of all He has given me peace and internal fulfillment. That’s something that no one can take away from you.
If you desire true personal success in your life, you need to first know the rules of life. With practically everything we buy, there is an instruction manual included. You can try to build it, operate it, and make it function as you desire it to, but without following the manufactures instruction manual, you will ultimately fail. This may occur before or after you operate it. Not knowing how something is structured, realizing how it functions or understanding what to avoid, causes problems in the life and operation of the item in question.
So also are our lives. Our instruction manual is the Bible. The rules of life are found there. The words and principles in the Bible always lead to life. They do not mislead us or tell partial truths. They are the total truth because they are from God. To know the rules of life read the Bible.
Second, live by the rules of life. Most Christians are familiar with the rules of life found in the Bible. Living by them is a much greater challenge. The rules laid out for us are our parameters. As long as we live by them, we can win at the game of life. Many biblical figures knew the rules of life, yet many believed God would make exceptions to them. You know the stories.
Everyone plays by the same rulebook and everyone is responsible to live by the instructions therein. These rules, or instructions, will always lead you to life and peace. They are truth.
Last, keep our eyes focused in the right direction. Close the door to all other detractions that will come your way. Many people achieve success in life living by the rulebook only to allow their eyes and minds to look in the wrong direction. In small steps they turn from the successful to the one seemingly more enjoyable. Eventually they fall. And all for what? To pursue something they thought would bring more happiness, more success, more of what seems to be what they want until they get it. Then everything changes. They want what they had before and can’t understand why it can’t be achieved in the same way again. “God forgives all sins,” they say. “So why hasn’t He forgiven me?”
The answer is, He has. The problem most people do not want to face is that although all sin is forgiven, we must pay the consequences. That is something none of us want to do.
If you smoke, you must pay the physical consequences. If you over drink, you must pay the physical consequences. If you cheat in business or in your marriage, you must pay the consequences. Forgiveness does not preclude that fact.
I pursued financial success to the extreme. When I woke up, I ran for the goal in front of me. When I went to bed at night, I ran in my mind for the finish line. When things were going well, I ran. When things began falling apart, I ran. When my family revealed they were neglected, I ran. Know what I did when my wife said she would like to spend more time with me? I kept on running. Running toward a goal that I thought would bring me happiness, fulfillment and joy. I thought it would bring my family that as well. How wrong I was.
Should I have continued running, I would have never reached the finish line. Most people that run without proper priorities, outside the parameters of the rules of life, just keep on running and never stop. They never attain what it is they are looking for even if they are lucky enough to reach the much sought after finish line. True success takes much more than that. It takes all of the things described in this book. Simplistically speaking, it takes Jesus.
As I bring our time together to a close, I would like to leave you with a poem. I thought it would sum up what we have been studying about achieving and maintaining success.
Success Takes Thee
Success takes thee to be complete; It’s not enough to just compete. You must pursue success with love
By love’s Creator, God above.
Then your life will be firm and strong; Able to last when things go wrong. Because you experienced God’s love and know
He’s always there, He’ll never go.
And you have loved Him in kind with all the heart and soul and mind; And in that love you’ve found the way.
To experience success every day.
A life that follows God’s plan Takes more than just a woman or a man. It needs a oneness that can be Only from Christ—success takes thee.
As individuals seeking success, we have a duty to be examples for others to follow. We have a duty to give our children and those we come in contact with a role model to follow. When we provide a clear role model, we are paving the way of how to function in this world. It is my God-appointed task to insure that my children will be ready to lead a
Be an Example
family. I have two sons that must be ready to lead a family in the next generation. They are the fathers of tomorrow. All of my children must know whom they are and what they are to do. They must see a role model in action.
It’s our job to save our next generation. Regardless of how much success we achieve in life, if we lose sight of that, it’s all in vain.
What we leave for others to follow will make the difference in their lives and the lives of others. I have five goals for saving my children. It is my prayer that you join me in grasping these goals. I pray you live an example life that produces success beyond anything you could ever achieve, the kind that lasts for eternity.
About the author
Dr. Dallas Humble is a healthcare provider, business owner, professional consultant, author and founder of The Reshape Institute. Dr. Humble consults with individuals and organizations across the country to improve productivity, identify & mitigate injuries and promote wellness. For more information visit www.dallashumble.com.
