Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.
Tony Robbins.
Happy and content will only get you halfway up the mountain. Sure, the view is great from there, but there are still shadows, rock slides and other dangers you must endure.
The top of the mountain is where you want to be and, unfortunately, happy and content doesn’t get you there. If you are happy and content with where you are in life, it can be a good thing, don’t get me wrong. It means you have begun the journey, and you have a level of success. But you have probably become comfortable and familiar with your surroundings. As a result, you may not even realize that there is more to life.
If you are not happy and content, now is the time to begin the journey up the mountainside. Are you settling for second-best and still cheating yourself? Are you merely existing rather than living? Are you living experiences or experiencing life?
Think about this: If you are doing anything other than what God created you to do, you are cheating yourself and settling for second best.
Several years ago, as a Senior Manager for K-LOVE and Air1 Radio, our team met with an executive life coach in Chicago. Leslie Marquard led us through a lengthy exercise that was designed to leave us with seven identifying words. Not words that necessarily described us or what we do, but seven words that defined who we are.
I still carry the list of seven words with me today. Yes, the stained list is a bit tattered and torn, but it represents the values that make me come alive. Here’s the entire list, in order:
- Fulfillment.
- Difference maker.
- TOML (Time of my life).
- Connection.
- Excellence.
- Freedom.
- Trust.
Now, these words may have a different meaning to me than they do to you. But I often tell friends that I live to connect with people, work with excellence, make a difference, and have the time of my life doing it! If I reach that goal, guess what, I’m fulfilled, and I’m in that perfect place. Yes, trust is a massive factor for me and having the freedom to think blue sky and dream is a key ingredient too.
Many people today are successful but not fulfilled. They work at a job that provides a paycheck, but they’ve set aside their dream because they don’t have time or motivation for it. Ricocheting week to week from event to event past mile marker to mile marker. Existing, not living and experiencing. Happy and content, perhaps, but missing out on the fulfillment that God promises.
Jesus didn’t come to just “give you life”, but he offered to give you life “more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Don’t settle for the crumbs, don’t set down roots in happy and content, step into the water with both feet.
Remember, it’s not about you. Think of it this way: Your family and your friends need you. Happy and content is good, but fulfilled is excellent. For you. For them. Think about that! It’s the beginning of the answer to your search.
Here’s the cool part. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter how many detours you’ve taken. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve messed up. It’s all about seizing the opportunity to make a difference in life and having the time of your life doing it.
Moreover, it doesn’t matter if you’re 25 or 65, whether you are just starting out in life or you’re retired. You can start today to write another chapter, with a completely clean slate.
Quick question: Have you ever watched someone do something, and it was apparent they were just killing it? You might say: “Wow, they’re not only good at that, but they’re having fun doing that! It’s like they aren’t working at all!”?
Take a moment and think about that someone you admire who is passionately into what they do. That’s well above the “happy and content” level. They’re on the top of the mountain living, and loving life fulfilled. That’s where you want to be!
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. ~Mark Twain
Look, it’s not about money or status. It’s about, well, as the Army commercial used to say: Be all that you can be. Because after all:
You were born an original, don’t die a copy. ~John Mason.
Don’t know where to start? Well, here are a few places.
- Christian DISC assessment. This is free and helps you see you a little better.
- Spiritual Gifts test. This is also free.
- 5 Love Languages. This will help you discover new ways of communication.
Don’ settle for second best. Don’t live in Happy and Content. Step up to fulfilled!
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~Howard Thurman.
At Chipalatta, we help people jumpstart their lives. If we can help you get to the next level of your life, email us.