Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

I'm not sure how to say this, but I'm not convinced that successful people like themselves any more than unsuccessful people. I think they like their success. But do they like themselves? There is a difference between liking yourself and liking your success.

I had a wierd thought this week.

I was reading about Roger Federer, the top-ranked tennis player who won the U.S. Open. I read a story that said he was at a swank New York restaurant till the wee hours of the morning after his victory. And I wondered how he felt about himself that night. Did he like himself or like his trophy?

There is a difference between liking what you do and what you have done. Liking what you do is doing what you do for intrinsic reasons. Liking what you've done is doing what you do for extrinsic reasons.

I never want to do what I do because I like doing it once it's done.

Feel free to reread :)

I have a little saying that I repeat to our staff all the time: thanks for who you are and what you do. And I try to remind them that who they are is more important than what they do.

When upstart pastors ask me for one piece of advice I usually default to this: be yourself. Don't try to be who you're not. Have the courage to be yourself.