Secrets to Success (6/10): Innovate!
Don’t be Afraid to Innovate; Be Different: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
— Investor’s Business Daily’s 10 Secrets to Success
Lee, something your mother and I discovered early on is that life doesn’t line up to make things easy for you. You have to innovate: Figure out how to get the job done with what you’ve got.
I remember our first church, Saluda (where you were born). Being kids ourselves, we began to attract young couples with children. We needed a teacher for those children. What to do? Sonja stepped up. She was basically a child herself being only 19. She had no experience, few resources and even less money – but she started and today some of those “children” are now leaders in the Saluda COG.
In those days every self-respecting church had a choir. The problem was I had no choir director. What to do? I would step up to the pulpit and open the service with prayer and then turn around and become the choir director. Then I’d turn around become the guy receiving the offering, and then I’d turn back around and be the choir director again and then I’d turn around do what I was actually called to do: preach the sermon. Once I opened up the service I never sat down! But I got the job done. I innovated.
I remember we had a leaky toilet? This was before YouTube videos where you can learn how to repair just about anything. I knew nothing about how to fix a toilet, but I did figure out how to turn the water off during the week and I’d turn it on only when we had church. I did this until I found someone who knew how to fix leaky toilet for free. It wasn’t the best solution, but it was an improvement. Sometimes you have to innovate!
And then there was you. When you were born I had no insurance and barely enough money to survive. So what did I do to pay the bill for bringing you into this world? I had to innovate.
While your mother was in the labor room I was in the business office signing all the paperwork. To my right there was a man being taken to task for not paying his bill. I heard the business officer say, “If you’d just paid a dollar a month we’d not be having this conversation.” I took her at her word and paid a dollar a month for about a year! Eventually I raised it to two dollars, later five and finally, I paid it off.
You just have to innovate. Figure out a way to achieve the mission with what you’ve got.
Son, looking back over our lives I am amazed at what your mother and I have accomplished. I don’t know how we did it. We had no big master plan. We didn’t come from a “royal” family, we’re not highly educated, we’re not the most talented people in the world (at least I’m not), but the one thing we got right was that we choose not to be victims. We choose not to allow bitterness to rule our hearts because others had advantages that we didn’t have. We choose to be defined by our calling and not our failures. We choose to take what we had, and more important take who we were and innovate.
I’ll never forget the night the Braves lost the World Series to the Twins in that epic Game 7 in 1991. You were but a lad back then and you were heartbroken. With tears running down your face you asked me, “Why do we always come in second?”
The truth is, we’ll seldom be the best in life and what we have to offer will almost certainly not be the best. But…we can give our best. Life is not a world series. We’re not in a competition. God is not going to judge us on how well we did against others. On the day that it is our turn to give an account, what will matter is how well we managed what our Creator put in our hands.
As the old saying goes, you only need two things to solve any problem. If it’s stuck – use WD40, if its broke use duct tape. There you are, son – innovate! And leave the results to God.
Love always, your only dad
Investor’s Business Daily’s 10 Secrets to Success
- Take Action: Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it.
- Never Stop Learning: Go back to school, read books, get training and acquire new skills.
- Be Persistent and Work Hard: Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.
- Learn to analyze details: Get all the facts, all the input; learn from your mistakes.
- Focus Your Time and Money: Don’t let other people or things distract you.
- Don’t be Afraid to Innovate; Be Different: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
