Last week I attended the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston. One point was brought home during one of our evening events by a friend I had only known in Social Media circles. We had never met in person. Yet we run in the same circles. We work with a lot of the same people. We belong to some of the same organizations. However, the fact is…we had never met in person.
As I was walking into the event on the first day I heard someone yell my name. Of course, I looked up. I pulled my face away from the ubiquitous smartphone in my hand. Calling my name was a friend I had only known on Facebook and LinkedIn. This was a fortuitous meeting and one that I was very glad happened.
Which is another thing to consider when evaluating your LOT in Life … Eyes Up!
I should add this as another point in the 8 Tips for Trade Show Success … Eyes Up & Open.
Which means … Pull your eyes away from the electronics in your hand and seek out the humans within your view and purview. You never know who you might run into … or who might recognize you from your Facebook or LinkedIn profile pic.
If, despite knowing that you have SO much to be grateful for, deep inside there’s a feeling that something’s missing in your life — then you’re most likely not connected to the meaning of life. If you’re doing a lot of the things that society suggests are “right,” but you still feel that something is wrong — that’s probably a. Purpose is a part of meaning; meaning is a much broader concept that usually also includes value, efficacy, and self-worth.) In a 2010 paper, for example, Leslie Francis studied a group of nearly 26,000 teenagers throughout England and Wales—and found that those who read the Bible more tended to have a stronger sense of purpose. It's a Biblical reference. Not to push religious belief, but the saying comes from the story in Genesis where Abraham and Lot part ways and Lot, not believing in Abraham's knowledge of God, seeks. Jun 10, 2013 Your response to what is your “lot” in life, often reveals whether or not you have found the LORD to be your ultimate inheritance! If you have not so returned to the LORD that He is now redeeming every aspect of your “lot” in life, then I want to encourage you to press in to Him more fully. A person who scores high on the LOT or LOT-R is more likely to have all the above qualities as well, the sum of which would definitely indicate a high quality of life. A Closer Look at the 12 Items The LOT Scale is a close-ended and structured test having 12 items that measure optimism and pessimism on a 5-point Likert Scale.
He paid me a very kind compliment
A few nights later we were at another event. One that I had a hand in arranging … it was a Post WPC BBQ where 20 or so folks got together to enjoy each others company while winding down from the conference. As we were chatting he told some of the folks around the table…some I knew before the conference and some I had just met that night…that even though we had just met for the first time in person that he has a LOT in me.
And he went on to explain that LOT means Level of Trust.
He said that because of the people we know in common, and the efforts he’d seen from me in the groups we are both involved with, and because of the things he’s seen in Social Media circles that he knows he can trust me. That I had built a Level of Trust with him.
I was flattered and floored by such a compliment. Trust is very important to me. I want to be known as someone who is trustworthy in both my personal and professional endeavors.
I assume this is true for everyone. However, as we all know there are some untrustworthy people out there. I hope that by reading this blog post this far you are not in that camp and that you too want people to know you by your deeds and that they can trust you to do what you say.
Is your word your bond?
People want to count on you to get stuff done. Can they?
If you say you are going to do something…Do you?
Even if it means you work late into the night or spend more time and effort than you initially expected?
- If yes, your LOT will continue to rise.
- If all you you do is find excuses for why it didn’t get done your LOT will drop … perhaps precipitously and in some cases permanently. (see Bring Solutions … Not Excuses).
Commitments Reflect Upon You.
Make sure you fully understand what is being requested before saying yes.
For people like me this is hard. I’m a pleaser. I like to help people. I like to say yes.
However, if you have worked with me for any amount of time you know that I will get whatever I said I would do done…even if it means working longer than expected. Also, if you know me you know that I may ask some difficult qualifying questions. Don’t be offended. Be happy I didn’t just say no outright. Because I do believe that you can Say Yes and Get Ahead.
So, Is Your LOT up to snuff?
If not…get on it.
Your Lot In Life Meaning
- Be realistic is what you commit to.
- Ask tough clarifying questions to insure you understand what is being expected.
- Then execute and deliver on time…or early.
Your perceived LOT depends on it!
Note: This will be a series of three posts. The next one will be about LOI…your Level of Intent. And the last one will be about LOA…your Level of Accountability.
Also, in case you are wondering who I am speaking about … it’s Dr. Petri Salonen. Thanks Petri for the compliment and thank you for imbuing me with your personal Level of Trust. I will cherish it like a Seal of Approval.
Author:
Jeff is a veteran in the Enterprise Content Management industry. Over the past 20 years he has worked with customers and partners to design, develop and deploy solutions around the world. Jeff is currently the Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle. He has worked for Microsoft, FileNet (IBM), K2, Captaris, Open Text, Kofax and Kodak. He speaks and blogs about ECM and the Intersection between Social, Mobile and Cloud Computing.
Jeff is an expert in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently consulting with Microsoft and partners to drive Community Engagement and Alliances. Follow him on Twitter @jshuey or on LinkedIn: in/JeffShuey
Posted in Brand Yourself As, Career Development, Personal Branding, Reputation Management
Have you ever thought about the word, “lot”, in the Bible? Mostly, it applies to the things that are chosen for you and that you cannot change. In the Bible it exclusively applies to what God has apportioned to you.
The children of Israel upon coming into the Promised land, received their inheritances “by lot”. The actual boundaries of their land were apportioned by the casting of “a lot”. It’s like the rolling of dice. What we might call the product of chance, the faithful saints believed were the providence of God.
Have you ever read these amazingly God-centered words of King David?
The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. (Psalm 16:5-6)
It’s interesting to note what David considers to be his “lot”! He’s very possibly the most powerful man in the world at the time he wrote these words. He can do just about whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
And yet he says that his inheritance is the LORD Himself! His portion, his inheritance, his heritage…was the LORD! And David was simply ecstatic over this.
Though David’s family came from the tribe of Judah, his words reflect a more Levitical idea. The tribe of the Levites were not given an inheritance of real estate like all the other Israelites. Instead, their portion was to serve as priests unto God, in the Temple and in their villages. They were given access to pastureland for their flocks, but they did not own the land.
And this was considered a special honor to be chosen by the LORD to serve before Him. David’s words in Psalm 16 take on this sort of sense.
What about you and me? Have you so returned to the LORD, that you see Him as the greatest gift of all?
For you, is faith and salvation more about getting things from God…or about getting God?
One of the best measures of this is how you react to the things in your life that you cannot change. Your response to what is your “lot” in life, often reveals whether or not you have found the LORD to be your ultimate inheritance!
If you have not so returned to the LORD that He is now redeeming every aspect of your “lot” in life, then I want to encourage you to press in to Him more fully.
Is there something that you hate or reject about your “lot” in life?
Maybe it has to do with your family of origin and the pain you experienced because of the choices of others? Maybe it is disappointment in marriage or vocation or health? Maybe it’s what some refer to as the “accident of genetics”?
I was bald by the age of 26. I don’t mean that my hair began receding. I mean that I was bald! I know it is vain to speak of this, especially considering the genetic challenges that others face. But the truth is that I didn’t accept my baldness for a while. I tried to hide it, to cure it. My “best man” even teased me about it in front of all the wedding guests!
I even had dreams in the night about being divinely healed of baldness! In classic word of faith fashion, I laid hands on my head and confessed healing over the hair follicles! I thought God was showing me that I would be healed.
I’m not making fun of believing that God can do the miraculous. He can certainly do it. But those subconscious dreams were not about God’s promises to me. Actually, they were about how I had NOT accepted His providence in my life. My “faith” for healing in this area was really HUGE unbelief. Isn’t it amazing that what looks like faith from our perspective can sometimes be a rejection of God’s plan!
You see, I was missing the MAIN point of God’s intentions in my life. He had sovereignly brought me forth from my mother’s womb. He had knit me together in the exact way that I was (and am). Some may call it the accident of genetics. But that is forcing man’s limitations upon God (making God into our image.)
Have you ever noticed how even the most beautiful people in this world are usually not satisfied with their genetics…and don’t think they are beautiful?
But David said, “My heritage is beautiful to me.”
He had seen so much of His God that he was being cured of looking at himself! He wasn’t talking about his hair or his palace! He was talking about the God that he loved more than everything else.
Your “lot” in life is providentially given as everything you need to encourage you to find the LORD to be more precious than life itself. He can rescue you from the bondage of the hard stuff you face and keep you from idolizing the good stuff that you treasure more than Him!
Whichever it may be, it’s all going to pass away very soon. And all that you’ll have left is Him. But if He is not enough to satisfy you now, what will it feel like when everything else is burned away and you stand before Him alone?
Creating Meaning In Your Life
Later in the same Psalm, David says, “In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures evermore.” (Ps 16:11)
My Lot In Life
Ultimate pleasure and satisfaction cannot be found outside of Him. Every step away from temporary things toward Him is in our best interests now and forevermore.