Once upon a time there was a retail and appliance store called Sears (sadly there are only a few locations remaining) where almost every single item we ever owned was purchased. Every appliance in our home had a Kenmore label purchased with a Sears employee discount. This retailer was so prominent during the 70s and 80s that when I moved into my first apartment after college (90s), my roommate and I were able to combine our vacuum cleaner parts for a single working model (her family also had a Sears employee). During a period of Sears’ heyday in retail, they offered a simple system where appliances were listed as good, better, and best which made it easy for consumers to understand the quality standard of their purchase. The best category would typically be a model with the most elaborate features.

Today, this pricing strategy is used in other consumer sectors such as sports ticketing, mobile phone plans, cable packages, and many others and is called tiered pricing. Offering variable options allows the customer to assume some control over matching their needs with a specific price point. Just visit an automobile manufacturer’s website and you witness the same bundling of options linked to specific models with sticker tags increasing with added features. Again, the premise is the same in that the sales personnel want to ensure that when the transaction is completed, you have purchased the best item possible. You may not need all these features, but it’s the best model available.

Now, that we’ve established this concept in the consumer world, what if we chose this lens with which to view our personal, professional, or spiritual life? What descriptors would you choose to define a life that is good, one that is better, and one that is the best (flourishing)? For each of us, the descriptors may be slightly unique, but I imagine we all have a visual picture of what flourishing in these areas looks like. And sometimes, at least for me, instead of choosing the best that God wants for me, I’m content to settle for good or better. How about you?

In Terry Smith’s book Live 10: Jump Start the Best Version of Your Life, rather than good, better, and best, he uses the terms “better, best, and preferred” believing that God has a preferred plan for our life where we can live out John 10 and “a good future is about doing life as God intended it to be done.” Continuing, Smith writes, “I want this preferred future God planned for each of us and for those we love. I’m not only referring to future generations-opportunities that only our children or even their children will be able to experience. I am talking about imminent futures, eventualities that we can all witness sooner rather than later.”

Using characters from the Lion King, Smith explains the importance of knowing our roles and the role that others have in our lives, such as mentors, in developing our preferred life. Simba is encouraged by a sage named Rafiki, and when asked to look at the reflection in the water, Simba sees not his young self, but the image of his father looking back, encouraging Simba to take his place in the Circle of Life. Smith shares, “Similar to Simba’s fictional responsibility, our mandates are to assume our positions in this world-to take our places in the Circle of Life-bearing God’s image and using our God-given authority to bring help and hope into a broken world.”

Smith “makes the case that people are happiest when they are working in their ‘Area of Destiny’-that gorgeous piece of emotional and intellectual real estate at the intersection of what you’re uniquely good at and what deeply interests and excites you.” How wonderful it would be if today’s leaders would encourage and equip emerging generations to discover God’s plan for their lives! Rather than living a good life, these young adults would live a preferred life, not absent of struggles and setbacks, but a life aligned with “God’s presence” and “His wisdom for [their] lives.”

How are you currently living the preferred life God ordained for you? Is there an opportunity to help another person in your neighborhood/community/sphere of influence who could benefit from your guidance? Was there someone in your past that invested relational equity in you at the right time to help you find your purpose? Please take time to share in the comments below.