Ep. 213: How Do You Define Success?

If you're anything like us, your answer to the title question might sound something like "well it depends...in what area?" What if we're asking the wrong question altogether? Our culture constantly pushes us to measure success in terms of work accomplishments, financial milestones, or social recognition. It's tempting to think of our life as an aggregate GPA, where we might be failing in one area, but hey, at least we're doing okay over here! It can be easy to hope our financial wins give us extra husband points, or our promotion at work makes up for all those missed ballgames. This week, we dive into powerful conversations exploring why success might be the wrong goal—and why faithfulness is the true target. We get into some of our favorite definitions of success, such as, "when those who know you best respect you the most" (thanks Mark!) or "being in the process of achieving a God-honoring goal." We'll also examine some biblical wisdom from Joshua, Psalms, Proverbs, and elsewhere to redefine our idea of prospering and effectiveness. Forget compartmentalizing life into separate scorecards. This episode is your invitation to embrace contentment, pursue incremental progress, and anchor your plans firmly in faithfulness to God.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------   Support the show and upgrade your fatherhood swag. Shop Range Leather and get 15% OFF with code MJ15 Grab some fresh beans! https://rangecoffee.com/   Join the Fatherhood Guard as a monthly donor: https://manhoodjourney.org/donate/fatherhood-guard/     Buy Kent's latest book: Don't Bench Yourself on Amazon  Read the new State Of Biblical Fatherhood report here: http://manhoodjourney.org/sobf Find tools to share the report here: https://manhoodjourney.org/sobf-tools   Have a topic you want us to touch on? Well, get in touch! Send us an email at: [email protected]   -------------------------------------------------------------------------   About our hosts: Kent Evans is the Executive Director and co-founder of Manhood Journey, a ministry that helps dads become disciple-makers. After a twenty-year career as a business leader, he embarked on biblical Fatherhood ministry projects. He's appeared on television, radio, web outlets and podcasts. He's spoken at parenting and men's events. He's authored four books. The first, Wise Guys: Unlocking Hidden Wisdom from the Men Around You, was written to help men learn how to find mentors and wise counsel. The latest, Don't Bench Yourself: How to Stay in the Game Even When You Want to Quit, aims to help dads stay present in their roles as fathers and husbands even when they feel like giving up. Kent's life has been radically affected by godly mentors and his lovely wife, April. They have been married thirty years and have five sons and one daughter-in-law. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Lawson Brown is husband to his high school sweetheart, a father of two young adult daughters, has been a business leader since 1995, and is a former Marine. He served as a small group leader for teenage boys for many years, helped start the Christian media ministry City on a Hill Productions, then later Sanctuary – a new church in Kennesaw, GA – where he served as its leader for Men's Ministry. Lawson's journey of faith has always been centered in a grounding from his wife, Audrey, and supported throughout by many men whom he's found as brothers along the way. His family is nearing an empty nest phase and has recently relocated to the Florida Gulf Coast beaches area.