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Marketplace Proverbs & Coffee With Ernie · Marketplace Proverbs and Coffee with Ernie-A Proverb Per Day Keeps Stinking Thinking At Bay

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  Hey,
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  remember that time you talked yourself out of doing something
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  you just knew you should do?
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, about five minutes ago?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: not because it was impossible,
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  SPEAKER_00: not because it was dangerous,
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  SPEAKER_00: and not because God told you not to do it,
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  SPEAKER_00: but because your mind found a perfectly reasonable excuse.
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  SPEAKER_00: And, truthfully, I've discovered something about myself over the years.
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  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 22, verse 13
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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Marketplace Proverbs and Coffee with Ernie,
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  SPEAKER_00: where a proverb a day keeps stinking thinking at bay.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm Ernie Lansford.
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  SPEAKER_00: After more than 60 years in sales and leadership, I've learned that
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  Biblical Wisdom is the most valuable asset we can carry into
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  the marketplace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Each time I read Proverbs,
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  SPEAKER_00: Scripture reveals practical insight for leadership,
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  SPEAKER_00: service,
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  SPEAKER_00: and building relationships that far outlast the last transaction.
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  So pour yourself a cup of your favorite brew and let's explore
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  today's proverb together.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: today we are in Proverbs 22,
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  SPEAKER_00: verse 13,
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  SPEAKER_00: using the ESV,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: The sluggard says,
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  SPEAKER_00: There is a lion outside.
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  SPEAKER_00: I shall be killed in the streets, end quote.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's Proverbs 22, verse 13, using the English Standard Version, or ESV.
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  SPEAKER_00: A few months ago, I became curious about
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  SPEAKER_00: Robert Greene's book The 48 Laws of Power.
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  I had never read it and still haven't really read the entire
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  book and I was only
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  curious about it because I came across an article discussing
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  that there was a copy
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  SPEAKER_00: owned by Michael Jackson and the book contained handwritten notes
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  That Michael had made and was eventually sold,
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  his estate sold it for a huge amount of money.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that sparked my curiosity.
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  And so I started exploring the book a little bit just to see
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  what the idea was about.
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  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I noticed something interesting.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of the laws in Mr. Green's book, The 48 Laws of Power,
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  SPEAKER_00: They're built on perception,
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  SPEAKER_00: a perception of influence and image and positioning and controls,
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  SPEAKER_00: and in some cases,
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  SPEAKER_00: uncomfortably,
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  SPEAKER_00: in some cases,
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  SPEAKER_00: manipulation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: the underlying assumption is that if you can shape what people believe,
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  SPEAKER_00: you can shape what they do.
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  SPEAKER_00: That was Mr. Green's foundation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And while reflecting on those ideas,
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  I came across a devotional by John Piper who based his
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  devotional on Proverbs 22.13.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now Mr. Piper's observation really made me think about it.
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  You know the Proverbs 22.13 it doesn't say the coward says
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  there's a lion outside.
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  SPEAKER_00: It says the sluggard says there's a lion outside.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why?
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  SPEAKER_00: Why?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, because the lion may not even be the issue.
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  SPEAKER_00: The issue is what the sluggard wants.
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  SPEAKER_00: He wants to stay passive.
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  SPEAKER_00: He wants to avoid the work.
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  SPEAKER_00: He wants to avoid responsibility.
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  And because there is no legitimate reason to avoid his
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  responsibilities,
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  his mind creates one.
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  SPEAKER_00: A lion, an excuse, a justification, a story
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  Pastor Piper made an insightful observation that our hearts
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  often exploit our minds
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  SPEAKER_00: to justify what we already want.
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  SPEAKER_00: The slugger doesn't need a lion.
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  SPEAKER_00: He just needs an excuse.
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  And that thought immediately connected me with the theme of my
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  upcoming book,
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  SPEAKER_00: Marketplace Proverbs Volume 7.
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  SPEAKER_00: The subtitle is Telemetry.
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  And Internal Calibration Now I've got a long way to go before
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  we ever launch that,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I'm just sharing with you some of my thoughts and ideas.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know,
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  SPEAKER_00: one of the greatest dangers in life isn't being deceived by others,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's being deceived by ourselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: We deceive ourselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: The human heart has an amazing ability to rationalize.
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  SPEAKER_00: We convince ourselves that fear is wisdom,
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  SPEAKER_00: that procrastination is patience,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that avoidance is discernment.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we convince ourselves that comfort is contentment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, how many times have I confused contentment with complacency?
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  SPEAKER_00: And the excuses that we make up are pure fact.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, the lion...
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  SPEAKER_00: becomes whatever we need it to be, the lion in Proverbs.
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  SPEAKER_00: I've seen this happen in the marketplace.
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  SPEAKER_00: I've heard salespeople explain why they couldn't make a customer call,
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  SPEAKER_00: why they couldn't ask for the business,
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  SPEAKER_00: why they couldn't have that difficult conversation,
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  SPEAKER_00: why they couldn't adapt to a changing environment.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, and
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  I used to hear and I used to use the excuse myself well you
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  know it's summertime
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  and business slows down in the retail store that's just boy
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  that's the BS of a lion
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  if I've ever heard it you know now sometimes reasons that we
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  want to do you know
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  change our mind or not do things are legitimate and sometimes
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  there is a lion in
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  SPEAKER_00: the street so so to speak but
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  SPEAKER_00: No, often they weren't.
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  SPEAKER_00: They were just simply discomfort.
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  That lion was our fear,
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  our resistance,
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  or our desire to avoid doing what we need to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: And frankly, the marketplace is full of imaginary lions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lions, that is.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
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  SPEAKER_00: What about the lion of the economy is too uncertain?
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  Now,
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  once again,
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  some concerns are real,
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  but telemetry requires us to ask a deeper question.
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  SPEAKER_00: Is this reality?
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  SPEAKER_00: Or is this rationalization?
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's where internal calibration becomes so important.
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  SPEAKER_00: One of the lessons I learned while reading the 48 Laws of Power by Mr.
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  SPEAKER_00: Green is that people are often manipulated by false narratives.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Proverbs reminds us that sometimes we become the storyteller.
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  Sometimes the person manipulating the narrative is staring back
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  at us in the mirror.
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  SPEAKER_00: The issue isn't power.
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  SPEAKER_00: It isn't honesty.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's
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  SPEAKER_00: The issue is honesty, I should say.
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  Honesty about our motives and honesty about our fears and
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  honesty about our desires.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because until we become honest about what's happening internally,
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  SPEAKER_00: we'll continue creating external explanations for internal problems.
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  SPEAKER_00: Napoleon Hill,
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  SPEAKER_00: from his book Think and Grow Rich,
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  SPEAKER_00: famously wrote,
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  SPEAKER_00: Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe,
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  SPEAKER_00: It can achieve.
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  There's certainly truth in that statement,
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  but Proverbs has an important caution.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just because we believe something doesn't make it true.
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  SPEAKER_00: The sluggard believed there was a lion.
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  SPEAKER_00: The lion wasn't the problem.
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  SPEAKER_00: His heart was the problem, and that's why internal calibration matters.
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  SPEAKER_00: I believe that gospel-centric customer success masters regularly ask,
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  SPEAKER_00: Is this fear or fact?
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  SPEAKER_00: Is this wisdom or avoidance?
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  SPEAKER_00: Is this discernment or rationalization?
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  SPEAKER_00: Is this a real lion or an imagined one?
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  The answers to those questions often determine whether we move
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  forward or stay stuck.
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  The greatest obstacle in the marketplace is not always the lion
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  in the street.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's the lion we've created in our own mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today's customer success code,
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  SPEAKER_00: telemetry,
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  SPEAKER_00: becomes valuable when it exposes the difference between reality and
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  SPEAKER_00: rationalization.
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  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for your wisdom and truth.
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  Help us recognize the stories we tell ourselves that keep us
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  from becoming who
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  SPEAKER_00: you've called us to be.
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  Reveal areas where fear,
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  comfort,
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  or avoidance may be disguising themselves as wisdom.
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  And please,
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  give us courage to face reality honestly and humility to accept
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  your correction.
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  Help us calibrate our hearts and minds according to your truth,
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  rather than our preference.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Well,
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  thank you for joining me on this episode of Marketplace
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  Proverbs and Coffee with Ernie.
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  SPEAKER_00: If this episode has been meaningful to you or added significance to you,
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  SPEAKER_00: please consider sharing it.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's how we influence the marketplace for God.
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  SPEAKER_00: We truly do.
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  SPEAKER_00: And remember, chasing personal success is temporal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Adding significance to others is imperfect.