Live By an Inner Score Card
I started a new book this week entitled, “Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World’s Greatest Investors Win Markets and Life” by William Green. The whole first section focuses on how these extraordinary investors were intentionally lonely people. They protected themselves from the outside world; they had principles by which they lived their life and were unwavering in their commitment to living by those principles. They protected those principles by just not being around other people much. They had their own definitions of happiness and of what success looked like; they had their own definitions of what wealthy meant. They were able to produce extraordinary results by operating largely as individuals making their own principled decisions.
It is hard for a person like me to identify with this non-emotional approach to life – one that asserts that I don’t need people around me, that I don’t need a team; that a team could pull me down or slow me up or unintentionally persuade me to make a poor decision. These ideas are very unnatural for me. However, I do understand the principles written in this book, and I do find a lot of value in them.
The principle outlined in this book that resonated most with me so far was, “live by an inner score card.” The author explained, “don’t worry about what others think about you; don’t be defined by external validation.” I do think there is extraordinary value in that principle whilst also knowing how you develop your inner score card. The way I would develop my own inner score card is through my faith, and my belief in that living a life through Jesus will solidify my salvation. I try to build every part of my life – all of my principles and all of the things I am after – around that mindset. To some extent, I do have to protect myself from the rest of the world to stay committed to that mindset. There are attacks that I have to sustain, and sometimes those attacks are very persuasive. The attacker can even be someone that doesn’t know or intend to attack my mindset, and an attack can even come from people who love me and often provide guidance for which I am usually very grateful. And yet, I have to stay strong and make the right decisions that are best for the life and the principles to which I have committed personally.
This section of this book recalled to mind a sermon lesson I often think about that covered the concept of washing the cup. There is a story where Jesus spoke to religious leaders and He pointed out to them how they were all too worried about washing the outside of the cup. They were so worried about what the cup looked like on the outside to the rest of the world. But, truly, the appearance of the cup means very little, because what you are actually consuming and putting into your body comes from the inside of the cup. It is your heart that you have to protect most.
You have to wash your heart – keep it clean and pure. Your heart drives your mind and the decisions you make. The point is that you have to have the inside of the cup clean first before you work on the outside. You can survive by only cleaning the inside and allowing the outside to be dirty. This message is so powerful to me – it guides how I strive to live my life. I believe that if you take care of and protect the inside of you and keep that pure and Holy, you will make great decisions, even if, to the world, your outside doesn’t appear as attractive as others.
As you lead your businesses and teams and families and your own life, I challenge you to commit to washing your INSIDE first. Have that inner score card – one that, if you commit to it, you can change the world. Protect that even if that means you end up lonely. You will find you make great decisions even if it comes across as a turn off to the rest of the world. That inner score card is what matters most.