Tag Archives: motivational speakers

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

There are a lot of shyster marketers out there (and it’s a sad commentary to say there are a lot) who want to separate you from your moolah. And they claim to have the keys to success. If you’re willing to opt in, shell out, and upgrade to the “next level” as they build a better mousetrap.

But most of them can’t find their keys to success in the dark.

It’s interesting to note the definition and origin of the word “shyster.” Here’s what I found in one of my dictionaries: shyster – a person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business. Example: an ambulance-chasing shyster

And here’s what the dictionary says about the origin of the word: “mid 19th century: said to be from Scheuster, the name of a lawyer whose behavior provoked accusations of ‘scheuster’ practices, perhaps reinforced by German Scheisser ‘worthless person’.”

(Side note: in German, Scheuster would be pronounced more like Shoyster. And Scheisser is pronounced Shysser. So, the connection’s getting clearer, right?)

That dictionary also shares example sentences. I like how it followed up the definition with, “This guy makes used car salesmen and shyster real-estate agents look good.”

Ouch! That’s harsh. And so true about so many marketers.

Because they wouldn’t know the real keys to success if they were hanging on a tree in their front yard.

“And I suppose you DO know, Tony?”

Yes, actually. But it’s important to first know the true definition of success. A few years ago, I shared how it’s spelled out in 13 letters. And I’ll give you the short version right now. Truly successful people will live forever.

Prolly won’t hear many motivational speakers tell you that. Because they don’t define success based on eternal, qualitative data. Nope. They base it on typical, worldly, quantitative data. Six and seven figure incomes. Real estate holdings. Whether you can afford to travel first class or not.

But riches you can hold in your hand, or tap into with a plastic card, aren’t riches at all. As I’ve said before, even if you can build empires, employ tens of thousands of people, and change the world, you can still be broke.

Jesus said you can do all that and still lose your soul.

And that’s the complete opposite of success. Yeah, that’s failure on a scale you shouldn’t even imagine.

So, what are the true success keys? And how can you get your hands on ’em? They’re the same as they’ve been for 2000 years. And they’re the same ones the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and Timothy, Titus, and Philemon heard about from that guy named Paul.

Ignore them, and all your efforts lead to failure.

Because if you conquer the world and lose your soul, you fail. Miserably.

Miserable failure,
Lost in the fire.
Turbulent torment,
Unquenched desire.
You can avoid it,
It’s up to you.
Cool, Living Water
Is your rescue.

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Focus in on better things so you’re equipped to guard your hearts and minds. In Philippians 4:8-9 Paul shows us how focus is so important.

Focus is a buzzword, nowadays, used by many motivational speakers and marketing gurus. But the focus they talk about almost never helps you to see how the God of peace will be with you.

Paul actually uses a synonym for “focus”…the word “meditate”. To meditate on something simply means to think deeply and carefully.

And it works best when you focus in on better things.

Picture this in your mind’s eye…from the window in your kitchen you see a sunflower in your front yard. It’s standing there all alone in the midst of rocks and weeds. It’s bright and beautiful. So you pop out your trusty camera and snap a quick photo. But when you share the photo with friends, they don’t get the full effect. They see the rocks and weeds.

Now picture this…you take your camera outside, kneel down, and really focus in on the sunflower. You capture the bright yellow petals with hues of sunset orange blended into interconnecting spirals. You can clearly see the fruit and seeds of the flower. And you’re thankful you have a camera with enough pixels to do it justice. Now, when you take this snapshot, you’ll have a picture that truly depicts the beauty that caught your eyes. And most likely anyone who sees the picture will too.

Well, just like you focused in on the sunflower, you’ll get a much clearer picture of God’s peace when you focus in on better things. Paul wrote a concise list of these things:

Whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, having any virtue, and anything praiseworthy. And when you learn to do what you hear and see Paul doing…who learned by hearing and seeing what Jesus did…then, the God of Peace will be with you. That sounds like something I’d like to work on today. How about you?

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