Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1183 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Five Vs of Success - Ask Gramps


Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1183 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday, we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, you are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas.

We may mix it up a bit on our Friday episodes, but we will strive to keep them down to earth and enjoyable. If you have any questions that you would like to ask Gramps, please email them to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com.

So the question for this week is…

“Hey, Gramps, I am thinking about starting my own business, do you have some wisdom nuggets that you can provide me that will help me to be successful?”
The Five Vs of Success


All success begins in your mind. What you think about determines your course of life. If you think right, you will take actions that are right, which will lead you to successful results.

Some years ago, I saw a picture in a magazine of a man staring out of a window; the caption read: "Why does this company pay this man $100,000 to look out a window?" The answer: Because the lifeblood of any organization lies in ideas and creative (right) thinking. Thinking is powerful. Flying a plane, air conditioning, cell phones, vaccines, the internet—without right thinking, these would have been impossible. Everything begins with a simple thought.

Ideas are a great moving force of history. We are never free to do what we cannot conceive. Having a Godly mind enlarges our thinking capacity. A leader's thinking must be shaped by the following:
Vision:
What is our dream? Carl Sandburg was right: "Nothing happens unless it is first a dream." Vision is a process of the mind—it's mental, not visual. Vision is seeing what everybody has seen but thinking what nobody has thought. What is needed to build a pyramid? One person who can think and ten thousand people who can grunt.
Values:
What is important? Values have to do with how we treat people, how we do our work. What is vital and important to us? Values are the standards, principles, and the code of conduct that characterize the organization. It is our integrity. Values aren't dreamt; they already exist. Leaders shape and form the organization's values. Some universities decide to pour sidewalks after students have first worn a path. Where are the well-worn paths—the actions, the beliefs, the attitudes—that matter most to you? Those are your values.

Venture:
What are we willing to risk? People and organizations that make a difference are willing to think outside the box. For example, a company that was in the well-digging business began to think in terms of efficient and effective means of making holes, and they soon discovered that lasers dug holes better than augers. They achieved the same goal but accomplished it more efficiently.