The Daily Maxwell, Scripture, and Quote

Daily Maxwell JULY 14

SELF-IMPROVING

We live in a society with destination disease. Too many people want to do enough to “arrive,” and then they want to retire. My friend Kevin Myers says it this way: “Everyone is looking for a quick fix, but what they really need is fitness. People who look for fixes stop doing what’s right when pressure is relieved. People who pursue fitness do what they should no matter what the circumstances are.”

People who are constantly improving themselves make three processes an ongoing cycle in their lives:

1. Preparation: Self-improving team players think about how they can improve today—not some far-off time in the future. When they get up in the morning, they ask themselves, What are my potential learning moments today? Then they try to seize those moments. At the end of the day, they ask themselves, What have I learned today that I need to learn more about tomorrow?

2. Contemplation: I recently came across the following statement: “If you study the lives of the truly great individuals who have influenced the world, you will find that in virtually every case, they spent considerable amounts of time alone—contemplating, meditating, listening.” Time alone is essential to self-improvement.

3. Application: Applying what you’ve learned is sometimes difficult because it requires change. Most people change only when one of three things happens: they hurt enough that they have to, they learn enough that they want to, or they receive enough that they are able to. Your goal is to keep learning so that you want to change for the better every day.

—The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player

LEARN SOMETHING NEW TODAY, REFLECT ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED, AND APPLY IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Daily Scripture

Philippians 4:9

The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Daily Quote