Not Yet

Yesterday I had a phone call with a friend that I haven’t seen in over a decade.

If you know me, time on the phone is a rarity.  I for some reason really do not like the phone.

But we have a little money that was given to us for our son and I don’t want it just sitting.  I want it doing something, growing.

My friend had reached out to me about a year ago letting me know that he was a financial advisor now and wondered if he could serve me in anyway.  So I reached out to him to chat.  We ended up not having enough money for it to be worth either of our time to work together but it was great to catch up.

My friend was in YWAM with me a decade ago in Kona.  I have a vivid memory of us standing on the wall entrance sign to campus passionately praying out-loud for the base.

He’s gone through Bible college and is now doing financial advising.

I’ve been thinking a lot about mindset lately.

Your mindset shapes how you live your life.  How a police officer sees the world is very different than we do.  It’s because they have a different mindset.

I wish I would have recorded our call and been able to share it with you.  I asked him what’s been helping him grow in this new season.

I always ask for book recommendations, he recommended a few, Grit by Angela Duckworth and Mindset by Carol Dweck.

I listened to a youtube presentation by the author of Mindset.  She said in an inner city school instead of telling kids they had failed they told them they hadn’t passed yet.  So interesting how subtle changes in words affects how we think, and how we think makes big differences in how we act.

Failure seems final, permanent.

But a “growth mindset” knows that one failure is just a blip on the radar.  A good attempt that needs to be readjusted and reattacked.

A growth mindset embraces and welcomes those challenges.

Failure takes us out of the game and sits us on the sidelines moping.  We start to think because we failed, that we’re a failure.

“Not yet” gives us the fortitude and hope to try again.

I want to be transformed.  I want my mind renewed.

I want to help shape my son’s mindset to one that is excited about challenges and is resilient.

So whatever failure you think you’re sitting in right now.

It’s not permanent.  It’s just a not yet.

How you move forward will determine the future outcome.

Ask God for His perspective.  Ask God for help.  Ask friends for help.

Readjust, recalibrate, and keep after it.