P

erhaps (and it is growing on me the more I keep talking about this) stewardship is the greatest bridge ever built to connect people to their purpose. [ictt-tweet-inline]Stewardship is the greatest bridge ever built to connect people to their purpose.[/ictt-tweet-inline] I have postulated here that purpose seldom comes to us at once. [ictt-tweet-inline]Purpose unfolds in a process guided by our faithful stewardship.[/ictt-tweet-inline] In other words, the revelation of purpose for the most part takes time. That does not mean that the seeker’s initial days of starting to look for purpose are useless as compared to the day he or she finally discovers her purpose.

What’s within you or what’s in your vicinity

I have then discovered that the process of a seeker of purpose is marked by faithful stewardship of what is in their hands. Even when it comes to the Almighty showing you what your purpose is, He seldom goes out of what is either within you or in your vicinity. That’s why in the previous post we talked about gifts and talents.

• David had a sling
• Moses had a rod
• Joseph had a dream
• Saul (later Paul) had zealousness for the law
• Billy Graham had a voice
• Martin Luther King Jnr had a passion

Stewardship then takes what you have a seed and amplifies it to such an extent that it either becomes your purpose or it does connect you to what your purpose is. In the previous posts, we have talked in length on some of the areas that are paramount for everyone to be a steward.

Some Areas of Stewardship

We have talked about time…

https://thelifesignatures.com/8-stewardship-areas-that-unearth-our-purpose-part-1/

We have talked about relationships…

https://thelifesignatures.com/8-stewardship-areas-that-unearth-our-purpose-part-2/

We have talked about gifts and talents…

https://thelifesignatures.com/8-stewardship-areas-that-unearth-our-purpose-part-3/

Today, we look at perhaps one of the most powerful things that we have been called to be stewards on:

Ideas

There is nothing in the world as powerful as an idea, that’s for sure. Everything you ever saw, everything you ever will see, whether big or small, simple or complicated, valuable or useless, was at first an idea. Life Signatures was first an idea. Let me share how this idea came to me…but before that, just pause for a minute and think about it. Did you know that this blog had two possible outcomes? Did you know that everything you see today had two possible outcomes?

https://thelifesignatures.com/the-birth-of-life-signatures/

The First of the Possible Outcomes

Think about it for a minute. The first possible outcome is life. This means that the author of the idea chose to become a good steward of the idea and was bold enough to bring it to the fore. You notice that the initial version of the idea is never that “modern” and “excuisite”. Look at the first PC. In fact, take a look at the first computer. I came across an interesting photo on the internet of a 5MB disk being loaded into a truck way back in the 70’s. We were bold enough to follow through the idea. Today, hand held minute devices with capacity in terabytes exist. How did we get there? We applied stewardship to ideas.

The Second of the Possible Outcomes

Do you know that this blog would not be in existent? I mean, regardless of the idea coming to me way back in 2009, do you realize that I would have chosen to shut it off and move on to more pressing things of the day? Where would that leave me? Where would that leave Life Signatures? Now, do you realize that the fate of an idea is either life or death? This makes me shudder! Even as I speak, I am starkly cognizant of the fact that I have numerous ideas that I have not implemented. My mind map on books for example has over 11 Titles of Books that I could write. The question is: will I be daring enough to bring these ideas to life?

On Ideas

On a daily basis, we humanity has ideas flow through our minds. The thing with ideas is that they do not make a grand announcement when they come. At times, ideas are:

1. Funny
2. Crazy
3. Weird
4. Easily brushed aside
5. Extremely simple
6. Benignly familiar to arouse so much contempt
7. So transient and like a flash they disappear if not harvested

But at other times, Ideas:

1. Are grand, huge and scary
2. Are extremely expensive to pull off (I have at least two)
3. Are so discouraging due to the magnitude of work needed
4. Are so complicated because the existing technology does not support them
5. Call for trade offs and sacrifices in life with the things that you love the most.

Why People Do Not Pursue Ideas:

[ictt-tweet-inline]Perhaps the greatest proof for the need of stewardship in man is ideas.[/ictt-tweet-inline] They come to us as seeds waiting to be planted, nurtured and taken care of till full fruition.

1. However, just like wayward men are scared of these two words, “I’m pregnant”, a host of people are not exited about ideas because they will interrupt their “life” as they knew it. So they would rather brush the idea aside and keep “living.”
2. Ideas require us to move away from the known to the unknown. Humanity’s default nature is always to preserve the comfortable known and to shun the unknown. In other words, an Idea will of necessity never leave you the same. Therefore, we resist change because the idea demands it. Perhaps the idea will require extra time and attention, which we would have otherwise used on “known” things such as watching football. Perhaps the idea demands that we put in some finances, which we would have used for “normal” things in life such as going to the salon…and so on.
3. Finally, I think people shun ideas because the very nature of pursuing ideas means that you have to be patient. Ideas take time to materialize. The nature of humanity of late is so impatient. We want everything now. In fact, we want everything ready made!

The Power of Ideas

All in all, stewardship is what will bring our ideas to life. There is so much power in pursuing our ideas to the hilt. I will just mention but a few advantages of ideas:

1. They Introduce you to your purpose:[ictt-tweet-inline]I believe that what connects potential and purpose is stewardship of ideas.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
2. They Make the World a Better place: Every improvement in life is a result of an idea
3. They bring joy and fulfillment: Nothing brings joy to any human that finishing a project they were passionate about successfully, and that project helps other people and in turn pays back the author.
4. They enable the Divine to gain expression through humanity: I have controversially shared here previously that at times, I think a tarmac road brings more glory to God than a Christian warming a pew….[ictt-tweet-inline]I believe God’s glory is revealed to humanity when we bring ideas to life.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
5. They help connect passion and creativity: Did you know that you can have an idea but lack the creativity and expertise to make it happen? What happens then? You find someone who is an expert. Before you know it, two people have connected to create a masterpiece. That would never have happened where it not for an idea.
6. They connect the authors to important people: People crave to shake hands of Kings, Presidents and important people. There is a shortcut to that. Just do your thing. Follow through your idea. It will take you there.

How to Harvest Ideas

To be a good steward of ideas, the following steps have to be taken:

1. Be poised: Note the importance of ideas and get ready to record them whenever they come.
2. Notice Inspirational Moments: For me, almost always when I do physical excercises, I will get ideas flowing through my mind. These ideas are always on the things pertaining Life Signatures. Also, when I shower or pray or read a book, Ideas flow. My work is to notice what triggers ideas to flow in my mind and go out of my way to experience these triggers as often as possible.
3. Ideas Book: Write down your ideas in an ideas book. I have one. There are crazy things in there. Even if you will never implement those ideas in the next year, just have them documented. One day when you have the capacity, the time or the pressure to bring something to the fore, your ideas book will help you a great deal.
4. Mind Map: Do not just write an idea down. Go a step further and mind map it. This means that you are meditating on the idea and exploring its possibilities. You have no idea how critical this practice is.
5. Mastermind: Talk to trusted people about the idea. Let them give you feedback
6. Execute: Take action on the idea. The only way to know how it will be received is to serve it. Test it and review the execution with the feedback you will get.
7. Connect: Now that you have something of value, find people that will help bring the idea to life. Mentors, coaches, investors, board members, etc.

Enough said.