Shoulders of Giants

Shoulders of Giants

Sometimes you
need shoulders
to reach a nut.

We don't have to (and shouldn't) avoid learning from others' mistakes.  As humans, part of our "evolution" is that we're wiser (hopefully) than our younger selves and in large part because of those that we look toward who have come before us.  When we think about family matters, we can (and should) seek out those who are in the next chapters of their lives and are winning.  As Dave Ramsey says, "If you want to be skinny, do what the skinny people do, if you want to be rich, do what the rich people do."  He goes on to say that you shouldn't be taking your financial advice from your broke uncle or your fitness pointers from the guy who looks like a bag of donuts.  We need to seek out those giants around us and see how they do life...and then implement those things.  

Watch out 
for giants.

When we talk about giants and standing on their shoulders, Pastor Andy Stanley comes to mind.  When we were seriously dating through our early marriage years, we listened to some of his online sermons, read several of his books, and actually went to Atlanta to see him preach.  One of his main dating advice tag lines was to "be the person you're looking for is looking for."  In other words, if you do not want to find a partner who is hitting the bars and sleeping around...don't be the person hitting the bars and sleeping around.  If you want to be the person, and eventual couple/family who puts God first...find couples who are doing that and emulate them.  

Shoulders can see Vegas.

From a financial perspective, author Thomas Corley talks about his Rich Habits in his books and online presence.  Similar to The Millionaire Next Door, Cooley talks about who those are who are winning big with money and the how/what/when/where/why they got there.  If you want to be successful in that arena in life, look at what they're doing, learn from their successes and failures...and skip to the front of the line.  In short, the "earn more, spend less, invest the difference" mantra has lots of examples of how giants are doing it...and you can do those things without some of the hard-earned lessons that slowed down those before you.    

Double 
shoulders.

In today's day and age, there is no shortage of information out there on "how" to be successful in finances...or any other facet of life.  Our challenge becomes how to distill those lessons, synthesize them, and avoid the overwhelming "too much information" problem.  If it were simply a "read it" solution, we'd all be skinny, rich, and winning at every facet of life.  The idea of finding those giants ahead of you and teasing out the nuggets is the important part as we seek to operationalize their advice and truly stand on their shoulders.  Instead of trying to live someone else's life, we should take our life, combined with the nuggets to make small, perhaps 1% improvements that move us closer to our "best life."  

Mom shoulders.

We should seek out those giants specifically for what we need in our lives for those upcoming chapters of our lives.  We should also use the complement of one-to-one and one-to-many giants.  There are certain things we can learn from the celebrity influencer types - Tony Robbins, Dave Ramsey, Zig Ziglar, Andy Stanley - whoever those people are that you admire and look up to in your space.  We also need those more intimate "mentor" types who we can learn from and bounce our ideas off of/course correct along the way.  These could be those older/wiser co-workers, church family, grandparents, in-laws, business connections, or whatnot in your circle.  

Double-decker
shoulders.

As you go through life, it's often said that "true mastery comes through teaching" and you have a responsibility of sorts to "pay it back."  We've got a freelance work gig that was a sort of happy accident, a Swiss cheese tunnel aligned that would be hard to duplicate again.  In happening into the opportunity over a decade or so, I've learned lessons that, while they don't duplicate my path or process, significantly fast-track those behind me along their parallel journey.  I've tried to share my "giant" perspective in this manner with those coming up behind me to help them avoid the pitfalls, take the shortcuts, and generally get closer to this particular opportunity quicker based on my lessons.  

As we depart, take a minute to think about the areas of your life where you should seek out a giant or become a giant to those in your circle.  In the different facets of life, consider the parts where you feel your family is lacking...or excelling.  Also, think about what you could do to stand (or be a stand)...the "how" of sharing or learning.  It could be a 1-on-1 interaction or a more 1-to-many with a small group, blog, content creation, or something else.  After you've learned from other giants...be the giant to others in your circle.  Best of luck...and enjoy!

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out a few items that you'll commit to finding...or being a help to someone with.  List out three things that you'll do this week to get closer to mastery.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) to make real or operationalize this giantness.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  Sir Issac Newton, 1675.