“For we are God’s masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  – Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

 Last week we reviewed the instructions held in scrolls one through three from the classic book, “The Greatest Salesman in The World” by Og Mandino. 

In those scrolls, Mandino taught us the secrets of good habits, love and persistence. 

Before we see what the next scrolls have to teach us, I wanted to say that the lessons taught in this book, and in any great work, apply to all of us at all ages. Good for you if you’ve reached your business goals in life. Now is the time to set your new goals. 

Remember, when we stop growing, we start dying. Let’s keep growing until God calls us home. 

 Scroll IV – I Am Nature’s Greatest Miracle

We, each of us, are God’s greatest miracle. No one looks, speaks, writes, or sells like me or you.

 Our uniqueness is our greatest advantage. We must not attempt to be like others we see as successful, but greater versions of ourselves. 

We must celebrate how God made us unique and show that individuality to the world. Our uniqueness is our greatest weapon. 

A flame burns in each of us to become better. That flame can be dimmed but never extinguished. If we are not pursuing excellence in our lives, that flame is still there even if we ignore it. 

When we ignore that flame, we feel the irritation of complacency. We must always seek improvement. It is on that journey that we are happiest. 

Yes, there are plenty of frustrations when you are bumping against the limits of your abilities, but the only way to increase our abilities is to stretch beyond them. Our minds and character only grow under pressure, the same as it is for our bodies. 

 Scroll V – I Will Live This Day As If It Is My Last

Each day is a gift. Every day when we wake up, thousands did not. They were not given the gift of today, but you were. 

We cannot let yesterday’s disappointments enter our minds today. That would be wasting precious moments. The same is true for worries of tomorrow. 

Today is all we have. Each moment, every second is a gift. If this were our last day would we waste one second? No. 

We would make this day our masterpiece. We would do all we could with every second of it. We’d love well and serve at the best of our abilities. 

We must avoid the killers of time. We must destroy procrastination and fear with action. 

We cannot allow idle talk, gossip or news of the day to steal any of our precious moments. 

We must make today our masterpiece. We can create immense amounts of time to pursue the dreams God has placed in our hearts if we make the most of every moment – today. 

Scroll VI – Today I Will Master My Emotions

When I master my moods, I control my destiny. Our attitude determines our altitude. We all know these things, but oh how I struggle to overcome my feelings with truth! 

Mandino makes the point that inside each of us is a wheel. It turns from sadness to joy, from exultation to depression.

 Some seasons last longer than others. Many times, my wheel seems to be moving from one feeling to another throughout the day. 

The key is to recognize that our feelings are just that, feelings. They have no power over our thoughts. We get to control our thoughts. 

Controlling our thoughts can be difficult, but we get better at it every time we try. Just like pushups or running, the practice makes us better. 

We can control the state of our minds. We cannot stop a thought from occurring, but we can replace it with a better one. That is the practice. That is what we get better at every time we do it. 

Our interactions with others are often determined by our moods. 

If we bring gloom into the room, will others buy from us or assist us? If we bring joy and excitement, will our likelihood of success increase? 

We must also remember that everyone we encounter has the same wheel spinning inside of them. Some are better at controlling their thoughts and many are not.

 We cannot take people’s reactions as truth. We must brush off their reactions and be ready to call on them another day with the same enthusiasm we had the first time. 

We love helping leaders build great businesses. If you’d like to learn more you can check out our free resources at www.valuesdrivenresults.com/resource-library/ or give us a call at 229.244.1559. 

We’d love to help you in any way we can.