Why Generational Thinkers?

“SOMEONE is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” (Warren Buffett).

Generations to come will not be able to meet you but will be able to connect with your legacy. Everyone is to at least affect up to the 3rd generations and beyond. Proverbs 13:22 says a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. The inheritance can be tangible or intangible or both which must make life easier for generations to come.

U.S.A president Donald Trump says: he is a billionaire as a result of the foundation his grandfather Friedrich Trump built which is father Fred Trump inherited to influence his life with. A lot has been written about the Trump family. A writer named Glenda Blair spent 12 years on her thorough history, The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire.

But what was the secret behind Trump’s success? Generational thinking!

Someone envisioned it and encouraged the whole family to do it. Today, I want to challenge you to be a generational thinker.

Who is a Generational Thinker?

Sow seeds for the future

Generational thinkers sow seeds for generations to come. Generational thinkers think beyond today, they think about tomorrow and years after.

It might be a better foundation to life. It might be a better start in the marriage life for your children.

It might even be better education for them. In some instances, it might just be peace of mind that you want to give them.

Today counts

It is what we do or fail to do that makes our future. . People’s lives would have been better if they made investments during their prime. Others are in much better circumstances because they endured the pain of discipline.

The future is a product of the actions and inactions of today. Make wise choices today and you will be remembered for the right reasons. What are you doing today? Is it contributing to a better generation?

Think and look beyond yourself

Do not just think in terms of yourself, think of the generations to come. Do not just live for today. Give value to the generations to come. Leave the world a better place than you found it. Make your family better. Eventually, someone will have to pay for all that you are doing.

Children have to face the indiscretions of their parents. Great people think and live beyond themselves. Make life easy for people who will come after you. Make investments for your grandchildren, buy immovable properties for them if your funds permit. Sit down with your financial advisor and see the other ways you can make worthwhile investments for generations to come.

Great people think of generations to come.

Have you ever thought about how the way you are living your life will have consequences on generations to come? The reality is that many people do not actually think about all this. The thrust is just to live and do what the heat of the moment demands and dictates. If we are going to live a meaningful life, we need to learn and start thinking generationally.

Make life easy for the generations to come. Many people are busy destroying relations and making it difficult for the children.

Mike Murdock once said that, “A person is remembered for two things: problems they have caused and problems they have solved. ” Are you causing problems or are you solving them for the future generations. More often than not, if you are not solving problems, you are actually causing them.

Our children’s future is our responsibility

“All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine”. (Jim Rohn.).

Generations to come must be better than you in every respect because you laid the foundation for them.

An interesting story is captured by the writer of 2 Kings 4:1. “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”(NKJV).

The interesting thing in this story is that a pastor/prophet’s children are about to be committed into slavery because of the debts of their father who had died.

The irony is that the pastor/prophet in this case feared the Lord, but he did not fear debt! The very people who should actually be leading by example in their families are actually leaving problems for them.

Where is the problem? Generational thinking! Do not be distracted by the nature of your office, it will not compensate for what you are supposed to do as an individual.

Inspire the coming generations

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.” (Dolly Parton, singer).

Leadership starts at home and develops outside! Give your children a fresh and clean start.

The greatest gift that we can give to posterity is a better start.

I want to challenge you to think twice about generations to come. Be remembered for the right reasons. Create your legacy by caring for others.

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” (Shannon L. Alder)

Who is going to clean up your mess?

We rarely think about this.

We often rent a property and run it down, making lives difficult for other tenants who will use the same property in future.

We drop litter everywhere and expect someone to clean it up. We ruin our marriages and expect things to be miraculously in order.

Some men are even busy fathering children out of wedlock with little thought as to who is going to take care of them.

Drive along the highways and you will see people using some huge stones to support their cars while replacing their wheels, and once they are done, they do not remove them from the road. They just drive off, endangering other road users.

Also some people are busy destroying family relations, only to make life difficult for generations to come.

Some food for thought

I want you to take some time and think through your life and your actions and answer this question: “Will life be easier for those people who will come after you?”

If your answer is negative, you need to start working on your life. Become a generational thinker.

Clean up your life and do not punish the next generation through your indiscrete behavior to influence positively on your generation and generations to come.

(Ref; Arthur Marara, Dr. Mensah Otabil)