Success Principle: Servanthood

Every day that goes by, the more proud and honored I am to be associated with Orrin Woodward and the other co-founders of LIFE. The brains, energy, character, integrity, and vision of these men are amazing; you’ll not find this caliber of quality individuals anywhere else in the world. Because of their efforts, we are able to access life-changing information through LIFE and to build communities of people through TEAM. Thank you, gentlemen, for your hard work, commitment, and sacrifices!

By being in the living rooms across this great country building communities of people, I have found that living in today’s world has caused many people to become alienated, resentful, bitter, self-centered, opinionated, judgmental and down right ornery towards people and life. The “Mayberry” and “Leave It To Beaver” days are, unfortunately, gone. Times have changed, there’s no denying it, but the incredible leaders associated with LIFE/TEAM believe even better days are ahead of us. I love the fact that they pride themselves on being life-long learners and are humble enough to admit that they don’t know everything. The next series of article will focus on several success principles that have been lost over the years.

Success Principle: Servanthood

I remember when I was a single man with no children…my whole life revolved around…me! Every decision I made and action I took was for my pleasure, my advancement, my personal gain…I was the sole beneficiary of everything I did. I then had children and my world turned upside down (in a very good way). When you find yourself so in love with the children that God blessed you with, you very quickly give up the selfish notion that you are the center of your world and they become the center of your world. You find yourself puting their needs in front of yours…making meals, eating last, changing diapers, picking up messes, afternoon tea parties, and crawling around on the floor playing “Tonka truck” (which is pretty fun actually). And the surprising thing is that you find yourself totally at peace with how your focus has shifted from self-centered to servanthood towards your children.

For me, however, my servanthood attitude only extended to my family. My attitude within the business world was still pretty self-centered. After all, if I didn’t look out for my best interests, no one else was going to. Then, through a series of divine events, I was introduced to the community-building industry by, then stranger, now dear friend, Renee Oettinger. And just like having children, I learned that if you truly want to make a difference in people’s lives, you need to serve them unconditionally.

This was a tough transition…serving others with no regard to what’s in it for me. Investing time, energy, and love into people who quite frankly often times didn’t deserve it was very difficult at first. But Orrin Woodward and George Guzzardo kept encouraging me to continue on and that someday…it would pay off. They said, “Servanthood is a biblical principle and that God honors commitment.”

So, you serve others in good times; in bad times; in times when money is tight; in times when you don’t feel like it; in times when they don’t deserve it…just like Jesus Christ served while alive on earth. Here’s the really cool thing…the LIFE business is set up to financially compensate individuals based upon how many people you serve and help succeed in life. I could have stayed self-centered in “corporate America” and continued to be miserable, but, thankfully, I found my purpose in building communities of people within a business model that rewards individuals for serving others.

Now don’t get me wrong, you don’t want to serve others haphazardly just because this article said you should…your heart needs to be in the right place (humbly serving others because it is the right thing to do) and you need to have a game plan and be involved in the Plan, Do, Check, & Adjust (PDCA) process with your mentor. Humbly serving others with specific intent will make a big difference over time in your life, in your family, in your workplace, and in your business.

The life you’ve always wanted is waiting for you…go humbly and unconditionally serve others and claim it!

God bless,

Eric C. Blomdahl