Have you ever stopped to consider how you would like to be remembered, what kind of impact you hope to have on the world? If we allow ourselves, it is easy to dream big, to shoot for the stars, and go for the gusto! However, when the rubber meets the road often our dreams get high-jacked and our desires quickly knocked out of phase.

There are many things that can sabotage our hopes and dreams and keep us from living our most meaningful life. Perhaps it is our own limiting thoughts or the thoughts or opinions of others. It could be that we value the comfort of normalcy over the required risk. Or possibly it is the reality that our dreams are fueled by hard work. Or maybe still they are knocked out of phase when our expectations are not consistent with reality.

No matter your calling, whether it is in business, ministry, the arts, athletics, or the service industry, there are people we can easily identify as being more or less successful. However, that opinion is solely based on our understanding of what defines success.

Case in point. I know of artists who have sacrificed their marriage for the sake of their career. I know other artists who have given up on their musical aspirations because they couldn’t get a record deal. Others turned down record deals and chose instead to serve as a volunteer worship leader at a small church with a day job so that they could be home every night with their family. Which of these would you say have achieved the greatest success and which of these do you think are “out of phase?”

Often, it seems, our own opinions of what defines success are the very things that limit it. When our reality falls short of our definition of success we can easily find ourselves at risk of missing the joy of the dream we are living. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30 & Luke 19:11-27) we read of three men who were entrusted with different sums of money – based on their abilities. The men who were given the two largest sums put the money to work and doubled it. The one given the smallest sum buried it out of fear. At the end of the parable the master returns and is pleased with the first two, but is angered by the last one. He then orders the money that was buried given to the man who had been entrusted with the most.

This parable is a great reminder of this truth: when we are faithful with what we have been given good things happen. Put another way, in order to keep our dreams “in phase” we must necessarily focus on the depth of our impact and allow God to determine its breadth.

So, how do we do this? I believe the answer is found in Acts 2:42:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. In other words, put first things first.”