Rules of Thumb

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (So 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV).

Have you noticed? Some people will just not be stopped. They have accomplished much despite adversity. They refuse to listen to their fears. Nothing anyone says or does holds them back. As Ted Engstrom insightfully writes in his book "Pursuit of Excellence”: Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes Franklin Roosevelt. Burn him so severely that the doctors say he'll never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham, who set the world's one-mile record in 1934. Deafen him and you have a Ludwig von Beethoven. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Marian Anderson, a George Washington Carver. Call him a slow learner, retarded," and write him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.

Obstacles are necessary for success. Meaningful victory often comes after struggles and temporary setbacks. Each of these struggles and setbacks may serve to sharpen our skills and strengths, our courage and endurance, our ability and confidence so that each one becomes an opportunity for great victory. This is at the heart of Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthian Christians. We are each to be like athletes, highly motivated and disciplined, striving to be the best at whatever we seek to do.

With that truth in mind, I have listed a few “rules of thumb” for your consideration:

1. If you hit the target every time, it’s too near. Set your goal further and higher in your life.
2. Never worry about the details before deciding on a first step. This is just another way of saying: “Don’t cross the bridge before you get there.”
3. Always examine any problem from multiple perspectives. Like a diamond, there are always many facets to every situation. Look at the whole before you concentrate on the partial.
4. After a failure, don’t hesitate to change your approach to a solution. Sometimes a minor change means the difference between success and failure.
5. If you are having trouble understanding a problem, write it down, or try to explain it to someone else and listen, really listen to yourself.
6. Don’t worry about approaches that transform one problem into another. That is merely a new chance for another solution.
7. Most of the time, if it’s surprising, it’s useful.
8. Do not neglect spending time analyzing both your work methods and your results.

There could be many other “rules of thumb” in this list. These are offered to jump-start you toward excellence.