The video is here.
One of the remarkable differences between people under the influence of a poverty mentality and those living in God’s abundance is knowing when to get help. Those in poverty usually believe they must make in on their own. When they encounter a problem they try hard or walk away. They are typically too ashamed or insecure to ask for help and they don’t have a network of who they would even turn to for help.
Those living in abundance don’t just get help when they have a problem. They are assembling the team of people that will help them before the problem shows up. They are secure enough to know they don’t have all the answers, skills, talent and wisdom. They do work hard, but they pride themselves most in working smarter, not harder. They consistently give themselves to their dream, the one thing they are good at, and surround themselves with people whose hearts enjoy doing everything else. And, they place a very high value on those people who help make their dream come true (gratefulness).
Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory. Prov 11:14 NASU
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Prov 15:22 NIV
When to walk away – Change in our plans doesn’t just originate with the whims of our emotions or even the guidance of God. The actions of other people and the circumstances around often change the conditions for success. We always have to be willing to make mid-course adjustments both in wisdom and under the leading of the Holy Spirit. The best reason to walk away is when we find out it wasn’t in our heart in the first place. We made ourselves do it for the wrong reason. The sooner we put a bullet in the head of a dead work, the better!
When to try harder – When God puts something in our hearts we take it as an assignment and enjoy working on it. It’s an act of worship. At least until it feels like it’s not working. That’s when the only option for a poverty mentality kicks in… try harder. Here’s the problem with trying harder. If what we’re doing hasn’t been working, piling on more of the same isn’t likely to have a different effect. Remember these two quotes?
Edmund Burke said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” The second, attributed to a variety of people including Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein is, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If trying harder doesn’t work a poverty mindset reverts back to walking away, feeling they’ve done all they could. Trying hard is not the only option. It’s not even the best option!
Try smarter – Business startups are famous for failing because the founder wouldn’t take advice and drove into the ground. Smarter doesn’t typically come via a voice from heaven or from fasting and meditation. Smarter comes through wisdom from someone else who has done it before. Let’s not make this spiritual rocket science.
People with an abundance mentality don’t wait for problems, they anticipate challenges and dream about who could help them. Ideas have the power to create wealth. The goal of an abundance mindset is never just adding productivity. They are seeking ways to multiply both productivity, fruit, marketing and wealth. They easiest way to multiply our idea is to involve other people with the right background. People with an abundance mentality do this very naturally; getting help never crosses the mind of a person in poverty.
The first objection of poverty is that getting help will cost money. Not getting help will costs much more money in lost opportunities and efficiency. For starters, the world is full of experienced and generous people who will give us some help for free… if we just recognize what they have to offer, ask politely and listen carefully.
Bottom line – Working alone is a formula to get left in the dust. Building our network of team members is a path to Biblical wisdom. Wisdom is found by those who seek it. Their trademark is the ability to listen… to God and to people. Wisdom is also known by the company she keeps.
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. Prov 13:20
He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Prov 15:31 NASU
People who have wealth always impress me with how personable they are. The drumbeat that successful people are snobbish, arrogant, and uncaring is just label from those who have never met them. They are typically welcoming. They look you straight in the eye. Their hand shake is firm, and most of the conversation is about you instead of them. I want to be like that, too.
