"If you don't get a good
internship the summer after your junior year, your chances of having a
successful career in business are really low." When I heard my finance
professor, someone I really respect, say this one day in class, my heart sunk.
It was already March and I still didn't have any significant leads or interests
in any particular internship. The uncertainty about my summer plans and my
future was really causing me angst. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I want
to be successful in my career, and at this point, I wouldn’t accept any other
outcome in my life than to be a successful, well-known businessman who had
built impactful, well-respected companies through my own hard work, intellect,
and flare with people. Any other outcome would be of little value to me (Pretty
arrogant, I know). But despite my diligent efforts, I couldn't seem to nail
down what path I really wanted to take. Throughout the semester, I had
discovered a lot about myself and what type of work I like to do, but no matter
what opportunity I was considering, I couldn't quite feel right about it. Some
of you reading this may be thinking, "You're not going to find your dream
job as a college student looking for an internship. Just pick something and get
some experience." I knew this, but it didn’t feel that simple. I didn't
feel right about pursuing any of the opportunities in front of me.
Then one day, when I was
speaking to one of my good friends about my unplanned summer, I ended up
expressing my desire to just try and start a business of my own. As we talked
about some of the things I could do, I started getting that feeling I get when
I know I'm pursuing something good for me. I latched on to that feeling and
decided to try to start a business this summer. The decision surprised me
because it wasn’t a conventional thing for someone like me to do. It didn't
follow the "get a big firm's name on your resume" approach to
starting a career, even though I had quit a job I loved at the MTC to follow
that approach. This both excited me and terrified me. What if I failed and
ended up not doing anything meaningful this summer? What if I get pegged as
someone unwilling to leave Provo/Utah? What if I end up as one of the
statistics I'm always reading about: graduating and earning less than $25,000 a
year in a job that doesn't even require a degree? What would my strategy
classmates think of me? What if this decision doesn't lead to a job after
graduation and I end up doing something lame and ruining my chances of going to
a top business school? Or worse, what if I end up poor and my future wife and
children are deprived of a good lifestyle because I can't provide for them?
A little melodramatic, I know.
It's a little embarrassing to
confess, but these really were some of the thoughts and concerns I had as I
scrambled to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Most of what I was
feeling was irrational and pretty silly when considered in the context of
life's big picture. Yet, it's really how I was feeling. Facing these fears of
mine, however, did give me an opportunity to look to God for guidance and
perspective. Doing so has brought an immense amount of peace, direction, and
confidence into my life.
Lesson 1: Whose race are you
running?
As I have tried to gain
perspective on the decisions I’m trying to make, I've tried to focus my
scripture study on the life of Christ. Because He is "the way, the truth
and the light," I figured I should try and understand what Christ would be
considering were He in my situation. As I’ve been studying His life more
closely, it overwhelms me how little Christ cared about the honors of men.
Despite being the Savior of the world, with the ability to do and accomplish
anything, He chose to be a humble servant to His brothers and sisters,
foregoing worldly honors and positions. One morning, as I considered Christ's
example and felt a desire to just be a good person regardless of what I ended
up doing, a cynical thought came into my mind: "It's cool that Christ just
spent His life serving others and being kind, but don't you know, 'Nice guys
finish last.'" As soon as I thought this, another voice in my mind
responded, "That depends on whose race you're running."
That thought really impacted
me. I started asking myself, "Whose race am I running?" It has become
an incredibly important question to me over the last couple of months. I
learned in Accounting 200 that what you measure is what you get in results. If
I wanted the best results, I needed to find the metrics that would lead me to
those results. This question has helped me realize that there are two competing
sets of metrics I can measure myself against: The Lord's and the world's. I've
also learned that I have to choose. I can't say that I want my success to be
measured against the Lord's metrics while still worrying about how I'm doing
against the world's. This realization has helped me to understand this
scripture more completely: "No man can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). The world
looks at a person's wealth, position, prominence, property, and fame to
determine what type of success he or she is. In contrast, the Lord established
love, obedience, service, kindness, sacrifice, humility, and other Godly
attributes as His standard for success. So, although "nice guys"
might finish last in the world's race, in God's race "the last shall be
first" (Matt 20:16).
I need to be clear, though.
Just because a person has wealth, prominence, and high position, does not mean
that they have chosen to be measured against the world's definition of success.
I know there are many well-known, wealthy people that clearly choose to measure
their life against what God values rather than what the world values. Interestingly,
the more I studied the scriptures about this subject, the more I learned that
measuring our lives against the Lord's metrics often brings temporal prosperity
(e.g Mosiah 2:41; Jacob 2:18-19). Therefore, it’s not the possessing of worldly goods and honors that is looked down upon by
God, it's the treasuring of such
things that brings God's disapproval, for "where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:21). What I've learned is that people
that are successful in God's eyes may or may not have lots of temporal
blessings, but they never define their success by those things; rather,
they measure their success by how closely they are following the Savior's
example. Ezra Taft Benson taught about this measurement of success: "That
man or woman is most truly successful whose life most closely parallels that of
the [Savior]…The best measure of true greatness is how Christlike we are."
Understanding that I have the
option of running two different races has brought clarity to all of the
decisions I am making. Although it would be nice to start and lead an amazingly
successful company, make lots of money, and then use that money to create lots
of organizations, businesses, etc… that add value to the people of the world,
it’s nice to know that my success in life is not tied to those metrics. It’s
nice to know that if I’m doing my best to be a good friend, brother, son,
husband, father, and disciple of Christ, that my life can be truly successful
in the eyes of God. And it’s nice to know that as long as my life is pleasing
to God, I don’t have to worry about anyone else’s opinion about how successful
I am.
I’ve often heard stories of people
that do things like leave a high-stakes business meeting right in the middle
because they promised their son they would be at their little league game. I
have to be honest, I’ve wondered at times how they had the gumption to do that.
I think I understand now. They were running a different race, they were living
according to different metrics. As I’ve pondered about this concept, it’s
become clear that for me, and for God, even more important than being CEO,
Stanford business grad, or the guy on the cover page of Success magazine is
being a good husband, father, son, and friend. More important than getting the
promotion is promoting kindness and generosity. More important than prestige
and wealth is being humble and “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3). More important
than being the best is giving my best to God and my fellow travelers on earth.
The things of this world may or may not come to me, but one thing is certain,
no earthly thing I receive will last forever. Only the relationships I create
and my own character—the way I treat others, the devotion I have to a worthy
cause, the service I give to my fellowmen—will remain a part of me during and after this life. Every other earthly
circumstance is temporary.
Lesson 2: Faith is Blindness
Another thing I am learning is that faith equals blindness. Not
blindness in the physical sense, but blindness in the sense of being unable to
see and control everything in my life. The scriptures seem to be pretty clear
on this:
“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).
“If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen,
which are true” (Alma 32:21).
“Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen;
wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until
after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).
As I’ve tried to figure out what I should do with my life,
I’ve become frustrated at times when I felt that God wasn’t helping very much.
That feeling was obviously a fallacious one since God is ever watchful over us
and guides and blesses us in ways we often don’t recognize. However, my fallacious
thinking did lead me to learn this important lesson: If you want to have true
faith in Christ, you have to give up trying to see and control everything in
your life; you have to learn to trust that God has a plan for you and loves you
too much to ever forsake you. You must learn to be comfortable “not knowing
beforehand the things which [you] should do” but going forth anyway. In other
words, you must learn to be comfortable being blind. But this type of blindness
does not eliminate all sight; rather, it narrows our sight to focus solely on
the Savior, assuring us that He is the Captain of our ship and will guide us
safely to our own promised land. Some may interpret that as giving up our own
dreams and ambitions. I disagree. Instead, it’s freeing yourself to reach your
greatest potential. Like Elder Neal A. Maxwell said of allowing our wills to be
swallowed up by God’s, “It is not a question of one’s losing identity but of
finding his true identity!” President Ezra Taft Benson added his witness of
this principle:
“Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will
find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will
deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their
muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities,
comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.”
Recognizing the immense blessings that come from the
blindness of faith has awakened a deep desire to know how I can turn my life
over to the Savior. I’m definitely not perfect at it, but I’ve found that as I
seek to “lose [myself]” for Christ’s sake, He truly does bless me to “find
[myself]” (Matthew 10:39). This truth has helped me recognize that although my
career and financial success is important in some ways, the ability to press forward
with a desire to do God’s will, even when I can’t see the way ahead, is
infinitely more important to Him than what position I hold in a corporation or
what business I build. I believe that most useful to God are those willing to
move, act and serve without needing to see the end result of all their actions.
They can do that because they know that God will care for them as they seek to
honor His name. I truly hope to become that type of man.
Lesson 3: Faith must be in Christ
Learning more about blindness associated with exercising
true faith has opened my eyes to a theological fallacy I sometimes find myself
falling into. It is that of focusing my faith on results rather than on Jesus
Christ. I’ve often thought it difficult to know which type of faith we should
seek to exercise since it seems to me that we are often taught about two different
types: 1). Faith to “make things happen” and 2). As Elder Bednar taught, “faith
not to be healed,” or in other words, faith to humbly accept things when they don’t
work out like we hoped. These two types of faith have seemed paradoxical to me.
Do I seek to have so much faith that I am able to shape my own destiny and
circumstances? Or do I seek to have enough faith to simply accept God’s will,
being fine with whatever happens. To me, the first type of faith seems to
disregard God’s will and puts one’s trust in the arm of the flesh. The second
type seems to be too capitulating or apathetic, as if we shouldn’t try since
God will just do whatever He wants, anyway. On top of that, I sometimes worry
that trying to have faith to “make things happen” will lead me to being
un-submissive, obstinate, and proud. But I also worry that being too accepting
will lead me to fail to sufficiently act, thereby causing me to miss out on
blessings I otherwise could have brought about with the Lord’s help.
The scriptures seems to have examples of both types of
faith. Nephi, the Brother of Jared, Ammon, Jacob (Israel), Joshua, Elijah, and
many others exercised tenacious faith and brought about incredible miracles
that blessed many people. No less impressive, however, are those that endured
intense suffering with continual faith and patience: Job, Jeremiah, Abinadi,
Alma and Amulek watching the believers being burned, the people of Ammon being
slaughtered because of their faith, and the list could go on. Considering all
these examples has often had me asking, “How do I know when to have which type
of faith?”
The problem with this question and this way of thinking is
that it is focused on results—do I have faith that God will grant me the
desires of my heart if I work hard enough? or do I have faith to accept that God
will do with me what He wants, and I just need to accept that? The problem with
focusing on results is that the results will often vary. Sometimes it seems God
wants us to be on the move, causing things we desire to happen through our
divinely empowered actions. Other times, it seems he would have us “be still
and know that [He] is God,” accepting His will, even if it’s hard (Psalms
46:10). This makes it difficult to have consistent, strong faith because we
don’t know which outcome to hope and work for.
But the confusion
comes from looking beyond the mark and failing to focus on Christ. In the
scriptures, it is clear that both those who accomplished great miracles and
those who humbly accepted difficult circumstances “first believed in the Son of
God” (Ether 12:18). When belief in Christ becomes central to our faith, there
is no longer a dichotomy between the two types of faith. They simply become one
faith in Christ.
To describe what I mean, I will use an example that has
often confused me but has now become clearer with a better understanding of
this principle. Imagine you really want to make the sports team or get that
internship or get an “A” in the class in which you don’t have a lot of natural
talent. When you’re focused on results, you might think something like this:
1). “I’m going to work so hard and prepare so much that there is no way God
won’t help me get the job or make the team, etc…,” or 2). “God just didn’t give
me as much talent as other people in this area so I guess that just means I
need to accept and be grateful for what He gives me.” Clearly, there are merits
to both of these types of thinking, but I think a better approach may be
something like this: “I really want to make the team, etc… and I absolutely
believe that God can grant me the strength, intellect, and endurance I need to
accomplish my goal. So as long as I don’t feel Him trying to stop me from
pursuing this objective, I’m going to go after it with all I have. However, if
things don’t work out the way I would like them to, I will believe that Christ
loves me and has a wise purpose in all things, and I am willing to accept His
will in this matter. I will try to learn what He would have me learn from this
experience.” In other words, we assert our belief in Christ’s power to help us
accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or go unaccomplished, and
we show willingness to put forth our best efforts to bring about the desired
blessing. Simultaneously, we express our trust in God’s wisdom and are ready
submit to His will if the end outcome is different than we desire, acknowledging
that He will never forsake us and that he “doeth not anything save it be for
the benefit of [us]” (2 Nephi 26:24).
With this mindset, Christ— His power, wisdom, and love for
us— becomes the common thread in all that we do and in all that we experience.
When our faith is centered on the Savior, our best, consistent efforts are no
longer to obtain a specific result; it is to show our faith in Christ’s power
to help us achieve. Additionally, our acceptance of God’s will, even when it is
contrary to our own, is not shoulder-shrugging submission; it is an active
expression of trust in Christ’s wisdom, mercy, and love for us. Indeed, with
our faith fixed on Jesus, we are finally able to “look unto [Him] in every
thought. Doubt not. Fear not” (D&C 6:36).
With the complexity of life’s changing circumstances and the
quintessential need to know and do God’s will, it has become increasingly clear
why God directs us to “counsel with the Lord in all thy doings” (Alma 37:37).
Doing so invites the Holy Ghost into our lives with the promise that “he will
direct thee for good” and “shall teach you all things” (Alma 37:37; John 14:26).
This certainly includes teaching us how to focus our faith on Christ as we
pursue our dreams, goals, and discipleship. I have found that when I sincerely
wish to know and do God’s will, God will not allow me to miss out on blessings,
either by exercising too little faith or taking too much control of my life,
without warning me first. He wants to bless us, and He will help us know what
is required of us as we counsel with Him.
Placing Christ at the center of my faith has helped me
relinquish my fears of pursuing the “wrong” path in my life because my faith in
Christ’s love assures me that He will not allow me to go astray. It has helped
me know how to exercise faith to accomplish my biggest life dreams while still
being open to the unforeseen paths God has prepared for me. It has diminished
my fear of failure because I know that God will either help me succeed or teach
me important, redeeming lessons through my falling short. It has enabled me to
learn, “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” because I know Heavenly
Father will place me where I can learn and grow the most (Philippians 4:11). Whether
in prosperity or in difficulty, my life experiences can literally be “swallowed
up in the joy of Christ” insomuch that I “cannot fall” from the peace and
equanimity I gain from Him (Alma 31:38; Helaman 5:12).
“By the grace of God”
I still don’t know what will become of my fledgling business
or my career as a whole. I don’t know when all my important life events will
occur or how they will occur. Like Nephi, I definitely “do not know the meaning
of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17). But if there is anything I am beginning to know
with an absolute knowledge, it is that God “loveth his children” and desires to
help them succeed in the most important ways. I express my deep humility and
appreciation that God lovingly teaches and patiently guides me. With Paul, I
readily acknowledge that “By the grace of God, I am what I am” and I will be
what I will be (1 Corinthians 15:10). I still have a ways to go before these
lessons—running the right race, embracing the blindness of faith, and centering
my faith in Christ, not results—become a part of my character, but I can
sincerely say that it’s what I want. And although a successful career with a
nice salary and wide-spread respect could be nice, I can now say that what I
want even more than that is to be able to echo, with every other striving
disciple of Jesus Christ, the heart-felt anthem, “So trusting my all to thy
tender care, and knowing thou lovest me, I’ll do thy will with a heart sincere:
I’ll be what you want me to be” (I’ll Go
Where You Want Me to Go”).
