Goal Formulation Stage: ALLOCATE MILESTONES

I love the scenery while travelling but when there is nothing else to see I put my thoughts on the milestones next to the highway.

So let’s say I am on a journey to Lagos from Kaduna – a distance of about 1000 kilometers. The first milestone I see is, “ABJ (Abuja) 200 kms”, then “ABJ 199 kms”, and counting down as the journey progresses. When I get to Abuja, I see, “LKJ (Lokoja) 300 kms”, and counting down. I don’t see, “LAG (Lagos)” until I get to Ibadan, which is the last major city before Lagos – and I am glad about that because imagine how discouraging it would be if I saw, “LAG 1000 kms”.

Milestones help us know where the road we are on leads to and the distance we still have to cover to get to that destination. Now, the fact that I am travelling to Lagos but see a milestone that says, “ABJ 170 kms” does not mean I am on the wrong road. This is so because Abuja lies on the way that leads to Lagos from Kaduna. If, on the other hand, I see “KN (Kano) 180 kms”, I am certain that something is wrong because Kano does not lie on the road that leads to Lagos from Kaduna. Milestones are then the same journey broken into sub-journeys, and for them to be of any relevance you must have an idea of the cities that lead to your destination.

As it is with milestones on the highway so it is with milestones in our success journeys. A person that has the goal of being a doctor knows that he must have good secondary education, university education in human medicine, internship in a good hospital, and employment. These are the major milestones that must be on the road that leads him to becoming a doctor. So, when a secondary school student with the dream of being a doctor wakes up in the morning, his focus is on getting all the credits required to get into medical school rather than on medical  practice. If he thinks only of the practice and not on his first milestone he will be discouraged and will eventually fail or give up. Also, if he gets admission into the university to study Geology, he would know that he is certainly on the wrong road.

For a goal to succeed it must have clearly identified and allocated milestones. This simply means that it must be broken down into smaller parts. The whole will be too big to handle. When it is broken down it becomes more achievable. 

Goal formulation: SET A TIME-FRAME

Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. – God

 When are going to achieve your goal? You have to set a time-frame. A goal without a time frame is a wish – a complete joke.

So far in your goal achievement program you may have had a relatively good ride. You have captured a burden, sought God for direction, kept your goal to yourself (I hope you have), gotten ready for opportunities and defined the purpose to which you act. This is where it gets narrowed down.

Humans are creatures of defined timing. By this I mean that we do not act until there is a time-frame attached to our actions. Then the King, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me (Nehemiah), “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” … so I set a time”.  This happened when Nehemiah was preparing for his goal. He knew that he needed to have a time-frame for it to be accomplished. There is nothing like, “I will accomplish my goal at its set time.” That is simply stalling.

When you have a time-frame  it puts pressure on you to produce. If you take yourself seriously – and I hope you do – you would not want to fail. This means you will take your time-frame seriously and ensure that you accomplish your goals’ milestones (we will talk about this in the next article) in the time allotted.

A time-frame also creates focus. Focus in turn creates blindness. This means you will not see other things that may require a share of your attention and hence your time. Focused living is the crux of successful living and a time-frame affords you that opportunity.

Finally (in this article), a time-frame clears the way for you to break down your goal into smaller accomplishable milestones. This is very important to goal achievement. 

Goal Formulation: DEFINING PURPOSE

What have I done now? Is there not a cause? - David (In the battle with Goliath)

In the pursuit of any goal it is of utmost importance that you define clearly to yourself what the purpose of your goal is. Why do you want to achieve the goal? Is it to gain more relevance, or more money, or more skill? Is it to be the best in your field and leave a name for yourself or to push the work of God’s kingdom one mile further? I am not here to tell you if your purpose is right or wrong (when you define it you will tell that to yourself). What matters to me is that you define the purpose no matter what else you do.

Definition of purpose is one of the most important steps in goal achievement, the lack of which leads a thousand goals to the drains. This is so because you will be confronted with the question, “Why?” a thousand times over, and in different forms.

The young man David was confronted and rebuked by his brother while considering the unrealistic duel with the giant Goliath. Ordinarily this opposition should make David stop his enquiry but he asked: “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” This was David’s energy source. It was his greatest motivating factor. He did not just feel like fighting a giant man-killing machine, he was acting based on the purpose that won’t leave him no matter how hard he tries.

People will confront you and show you splendid reasons why you should abandon ship. Situations will compel you and place your finger next to the “Abort Mission” button. Your parents, siblings, or even I may not believe in your cause. But if that goal is borne out of burden and you have sought God for direction, all you need to keep you on track is defining – in very clear terms – why you are doing  what you are doing and the sky will be but a starting point for you.

Goal Formulation: BE SWIFT ON OPPORTUNITIES!

Before reading this you, hopefully, understand what it means to build on a burden, seek God’s direction and keeping your goals to yourself. These steps are very important in goal achievement. I would proceed on how to formulate your goals. From a point of view, I would be writing on preparation for goal achievement.

TAKE OPPORTUNITIES PROMPTLY: some of the best hunters of the animal kingdom are extremely fast - the Peregrine Falcon (200+ mph), the Cheetah (70 mph), the Lion (50 mph). They need this speed to catch up with some rather fast prey – like the Antelope and Wildebeest. When the Falcon spots its prey it swoops down at it and hit it before it realizes what has come on it. This speed makes it possible for the Falcon to hunt even other birds in flight.

If you would succeed in goal achievement you must be able to swoop on opportunities with great speeds. We, more often than not, debate within ourselves and with others about what to do with opportunities when they come. Your goals will seem unattainable if you must set up a committee every time you meet an opportunity. King Solomon observed that, “The fastest runner does not always win the race,” but it sure helps to be the fastest.

Develop the features that make for speed. Fast animals (or people) do not fly around with huge baggage strapped to their backs. They travel light. My advice is that you drop-off everything that weighs you down – it may be failures of the past or a low self-esteem – no matter what they are, drop them now so you can fly swiftly toward your next opportunity.

Develop focus. When the Cheetah goes hunting it does not try to get all the animals in the herd. It focuses on one and isolates it. When it begins its chase it goes only after that one prey ignoring every other one. Our problem is that we often go after one too many things at a time. This causes internal division and we end up not achieving our goals.

Develop the glide effect. By this I mean that all your various goals should align toward one direction. The dive of the Falcon is enabled by the way its feathers align themselves, thereby reducing its surface area, and giving it that glide effect. Multi-directional goals are to a person what ruffled feathers are to a Falcon – they create friction and reduce your speed.

Goal Initiation Stage: SOLIDIFYING

It gives great fulfillment to see a goal come to pass. Humans are goals-seeking creatures. This is so because fulfilling goals gives us hope and leaves us with a sense of significance. The most difficult lives to live are those not motivated and directed by goals. The psychologist, Ernest Becker notes that, “What man really fears is not so much extinction, but extinction with insignificance.”

In this article I shall continue on the goal initiation stage.

COMMIT YOUR BURDENS TO GOD: When you identify areas that lay burdens upon your heart, do not make the mistake of running off into achieving goals. Goals are not simply to make people famous. They are primarily to correct things that have gone wrong. You need direction on how to carry this out. Pray to God to clarify what exactly you can do and to direct you on how to get going. In addition, you will easily notice that your goal expands beyond your logical ability. This means you can pray that God increases your strength and enlarges your capacity to accommodate your goal. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart,” remains true. If you acknowledge the Lord in all your ways he will “Direct your path.”

In addition, it is God that makes people. You cannot make yourself achieve a worthy goal. Peter learned this early on when Jesus told him, “Follow me and I will make you …” You need to be made. Fabricated. Branded.

KEEP YOUR GOAL TO YOURSELF: Many folks (yours sincerely once included) have the tendency to go raving about announcing their goals to just about anybody that gives an ear. We think doing this will make us get closer to it or commit us to accomplishing the goal but the opposite is true. When you go sharing your goal to just about everybody you stand a much higher chance of failing as opposed to when nobody knew about it. This is because many folks will show you reasons why your goal is ill-thought of and on the path of certain failure. In a bid to help, they help you abandon ship.

Also, when you indiscriminately tell people your goals and they wow at your ingenuity, your brain registers a feeling of accomplishment – the same as it would have if you in reality accomplish it. This way it rewards itself and you end up with a deflated momentum. Cake eaten (and what do they say about eating your cake?), pleasure gained, goal untouched. Preserve your precious goal by shutting your mouth.

Goal Initiation Stage: BUILDING GOALS ON BURDENS

They said to me: "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem are broken down and it's gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. - Nehemiah

How does a goal begin? How should a goal begin? Can I set just about any goal? These are pertinent questions that many folks ask when considering steps on planning out their lives. For each question asked by different persons, no answer fits all.

Nonetheless it is important that a general blueprint be understood on the initial phase of goal development. Understanding this can be the determining factor of life or death of any goal. Indeed this initiation stage is to goal setting what the first trimester is to pregnancy – to put it mildly, very important!

BUILD ON A BURDEN: To develop a viable goal it is paramount that a person be sensitive to the nudging of his heart. By this I mean search out for the things that consistently bring a burden to you. Search your heart for problems that move you to tears, things that rip you apart, things you cannot ignore. Within these lie goals best suited for your unique person.

     The statement that you are completely different from the other 7 billion people on this planet may not be news to you but that fact that your goals should be as unique as you are may be. No two people have the same mission to accomplish. We may have similar missions but never the very same ones.                          This is where searching within you for unique burdens come to play. Nobody can set real life goals for you. When it comes to your goals, you are on your own.

     Do not take it then that you must set some impressive goal to wow your world. Simply search your heart for burdens. If what you are moved to wows the world fine, if not fine. What really matters is that you find the burdens and set goals to solve them.

The Process of Achieving Goals

This one thing I do ... I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Paul (the apostle)

The degree of failure among young people is mind-blowing. Today, it is a normal occurrence to hear of high percentages of failure in examinations. In many parts of the world – mine especially – standard of education is at a record low and mediocrity is triumphantly celebrated.

Failure is almost a synonym of human relationships. Parents and children, intended marriages, existing marriages, workplace and business relationships, and plain old friendships have lost their meanings as the social fabric of society is shredded in a thousand pieces.

Indeed, everywhere you turn it seems the same problem exists. I believe this is so because people do not set goals. Goals are to the human mind what heat is to a heat-seeking missile. It remains lame as long as there is no heat for it to pursue. If on the other hand there is heat for it to chase it becomes a potent weapon that accomplishes the bid of the person that sends it. The higher the degree of heat the higher it’s precision.

In the next few articles – I hope – I will break down the process of achieving any goal. For the benefit of understanding it I will break down goal achievement into three stages, namely, the INITIATION stage, the FORMULATION stage, and the ACTION stage.

In the initiation stage I will write on, Being sensitive and building on a burden, seeking God’s guidance, and keeping your goal to yourself.

In the formulation stage I will write on, Taking your opportunities promptly, defining the purpose of your goal, Having a definite time-frame, and breaking down the process.

Finally, in the action stage I will write on, Doing a quick feasibility study – analyzing the task – before you act, Sharing your goal with like-minded people, Delegating responsibilities, and Ignoring distractions.

These short teachings will open your mind to accomplishing every goal you set. 

Following for Success

Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, "Follow me!" So he got up and followed him. - Matthew (the apostle)

Whenever the leader-follower relationship is mentioned more emphasis is laid on the leader as the all-in-all of the duo. The leader is made to look strong and hence idolized. This makes us desire leadership and not followership.

Has it occurred to you, though, that there is no leadership without followership? The follower is as much responsible for the overall success of any organization as the leader. I will proceed to show five types of followers and in them you will see why some organizations succeed while others fail.

THE FEEBLE FOLLOWER: This follower is passive and inactive. He allows – indeed wants – the leader to do everything. He does not take responsibility for his actions but always hides behind the leader. Though this follower is loved by weak leaders, a strong leader will find him restrictive. Potential of both leader and follower will not be fully exploited as the leader has to drag the follower along in every action.

THE SELF-SERVING FOLLOWER: This follower is only concerned about himself. He wants to show-off personal ability at the expense of the organization. He sees his position only as an opportunity to sell himself to the world. The leader will eventually feel there is no point for him being there as no following is actually accomplished.

THE REBELLIOUS FOLLOWER: This follower has no respect for the vision of the leader. He will change plans and course of action without checking with the leader. He always has a different point of view even when a different one isn’t needed. Most leaders don’t want to lead such followers. There is little or no fun at all as the work environment is often aggressive and hostile.

THE GRACEFUL FOLLOWER: This follower is fully engaged in every process. He pays full attention and desires harmony with the leader. Co-creation is the key word in this leader-follower relationship. Potential is easily maximized with this follower because the leader feels more creative and free to explore the different aspects of his vision.

THE STRONG FOLLOWER: There are many instances where the leader goes off balance and loses focus on the vision. The strong follower helps stabilize the process. He ensures that the organization does not fall apart because of a temporary shakeup. This level of followership usually grows out of graceful following.

Productive organizations have complimentary followership as opposed to merely the traditional hierarchical ones. Leaders and followers should help each other achieve the common goal by making unique contributions to the organization.

Thought Line on Success

I know the thoughts i think toward you ... thoughts of good and not of evil. - God

I often pride myself with the following tagline: “I am a writer.” By this I mean I write or something like that). There were many times I make this statement and pray my audience don’t get bold enough to ask what I have written. A friend once told me, “Leinge, a writer writes.” Well that went a long way in sinking into my mind that he intended to say, “Leinge, you are not a writer!”

I have learned that public opinion is very important. It is just not as important as personal opinion. A songwriter said of Joseph, “Until his (Joseph’s) opinion of his future became a reality, God tested him.” Joseph’s family’s opinion was not near as important as his own and the opinion that God would have of him after he tests him. Successes listen to understand public opinion of them but they do not meditate on them until they become crippled by external opinions that have become internalized.

It is fun to say you are something. We hear, “I am an Engineer,” “I am a Pastor,” “I am great person (as though that were a goal),” daily, but the problem really comes to bear when we try to actually be “Engineers,” or “Pastors,” or “Great persons”. This is where the cliché, “Talk is cheap,” applies. Luke (M.D.) wrote a letter to his friend Theophilus, and he said, “I once wrote to you about the things Jesus began to do and to teach.” Notably, doing came before teaching because it is important, indeed more potent, to proclaim what you do.

Young folks should learn to begin small. My pastor, Chris Olamor, once said, “God never starts small things in a big way but rather starts big things in a small way.” How true! Zachariah (a prophet) once noted, “Do not look down on small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plume line in [your] hand.” So you want to be an actor, or a singer or a movie director, or a writer, or a doctor? Begin! Start! Do something – anything – that etches you closer to your goal! It is far better to do it wrongly than not do it at all.

Finally when you get yourself to start something, do not stop. Keep at it. You will get tired – possibly as tired as I get posting daily in my blog – but do not stop. It is in stopping for a rest that you fail.

You Are Entitled to Nothing!

Laban: Name your wages and I will pay them.

Jacob: Don’t give me anything

A few days ago I asked a friend if he ever looked back at our childhood days longingly missing them. I asked because I sometimes look back and miss the days that I didn't need to care where the last meal I ate came from or how it came. I miss the days that my clothes were not a concern – in those days nothing really was a concern.

Though I miss those days, I have enough sense to know that they will never return. I will never experience those days because they are gone. It is OK, even gracious, to experience and enjoy the days when everything was done for you by someone else. The first type of relationship we all had was a dependent one – we depended on someone else to live. The problem comes when your dependency graduates into expecting that people must fulfill some imaginary obligations in your life.

I hear young adults sometimes hang their mediocrity and stagnancy on what some people did or did not do for them. You hear statements like, “If my father had provided enough money I would have…” or, “It is not my fault. I am where I am because they failed me.” These type of statements presupposes that people other than you have some responsibility to fulfill in your life. In a way they mean they are entitled to serve you. Nothing has kept people bound and incapable from becoming all they can become like this thought line.

It is good you get this firmly established in your heart – YOU ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING! Nobody owes you anything. Nobody has to give or offer you any help. In your success journey you are responsible for yourself and, in effect, you are on your own.

Do not get me wrong, you need people to succeed, and, you will get people to help you succeed. What you should not have is the attitude that says: “I am entitled to help and without it I will fail”. When people choose to help you (as they certainly will), let it be the exception and not the rule of your success journey. 

Paradox and Contradictions

I have seen servants riding horseback like princes – and princes walking like servants!

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned. - Solomon (The King of Israel)

If. I like that word. In it lies all possibility. Imagination begins with the proper usage of that word. For example: “What if a building can bend?” With such questioning possibilities flood your mind.

So permit me, if you may, to use “if” to build a scenario for success:

MY THOUGHT-LINE: If I were the engineer behind the decision of who succeeds and who does not (as though there were some engineer behind it), I will ensure that good people succeed and bad people fail.

MY CASE-IN-POINT: Imagine the bliss that would saturate our world if only bad people failed in whatever they did!

EXPECTED RESULT: I would make good people succeed, put a broad smile on their faces and tickle their fancy once and again. For, why should the good fail?

But then again the problem with “If” is the word, “Not”. It so happens that I am not that imaginary engineer and so the last question can come just right, and oppositely, back at me: “Why should the good NOT fail?

With the paradox and contradiction of the good failing, many times woefully, I search possible answers to it.

POSSIBILITY #1: The good don’t read. Readers expand their minds. They think with a wider perspective and with considerable clarity than people that do not read. Readers set themselves up for success.

POSSIBILITY #2: The good are afraid to act. You can believe all you want that success is your birthright. If you do not act in line with your dreams you will remain in the realm of mediocrity. You must take the deep plunge; you must take a leap of faith!

POSSIBILITY #3: The good has not determined exactly what they want to be. Many people wander around in life without a clearly defined destination. Do you remember the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now is a good time to answer it.

POSSIBILITY #4: The good is not focused. Focused living is the crux of successful living. If you will succeed in anything you must focus on it. Many good people are simply not focused enough to make any noticeable impact.

At the end of the day we may just find out that there is not contradiction in the failure of the good.

Limitless God

I took the liberty of checking out the meaning of the word LIMITATION in a mathematics dictionary (just for the fun of it) and they defined it as: “A number whose numerical difference from a mathematical function is arbitrarily small for all values of the independent variables that are sufficiently close to but not equal to given prescribed numbers or that are sufficiently large positively or negatively.” How infinitely confusing that is!

So I decided to check it in one that was written in English and it says: “Something that bounds, restrains, or confines”. Now that’s better.

We all have limits. We have boundaries in every relationship (or we should have boundaries), we are restrained in many areas because of our experiences, and we are confined to our gifts, strengths, talents and abilities.

It is OK to have limitations. I cannot do it all or be it all – neither should I bother trying to do it all or be it all. The trouble starts when I need help. Growing up as a child I believed that my father could do it all, be it all, and afford it all (I discovered not too long into growth that he certainly could not do the latter). Now, though what my young mind believed from the very beginning was never true, it was worth believing it. It was worth believing his “all-ability” and “all-sufficiency”. I needed to believe that because the person that provides for me and protects me and soothes my pain cannot be exactly like me.

As it was with me and my father so should it be with us and God. God, as a matter of emphasis, cannot be exactly like us. I wrote an initial article that says we are not limitless, and I have more and more reasons daily to believe we actually are very limited creations. Our five senses – sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing –, for example, serve as portals to our environments and at the same time serve as limitations. For, though I can see some things, I cannot see all things. Though I can hear some things, a zillion more sounds are beyond me. Considering this I am quick to resolve that I need help! I need to believe in an “all-ability”, ‘all-sufficiency”, all-perceptive” person. Who else to fits this description but God? As King David would write:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

The ME Trap

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ - A Rich Farmer

         “Why should you have to sweat the small stuff?”

     “Why should you get bogged down in someone else’s antiquated notions of morality?”

       “Times have changed.”

       “You've come a long way baby.”

       “You've got to get out of there and forge your own destiny!”

       “Make it happen!”

       “Fulfill yourself!”

       “Pull your own strings!”

       “Do it your way!”

     Have you heard those phrases before? No doubt you have. They come with some sort of fuel to spur you to greatness right? Now let’s consider some other phrases.

       “You shouldn't be hungry, tell this stone to become bread.”

       “All the kingdoms of the world will be yours if you worship me.”

       “Throw yourself from this cliff and the angels will save you.”

      “Do you want to remain in the trappings of your knowledge? Eat this and you will be like God.”

         Similar voice?

       It is very easy for us to get trapped in the “Me syndrome”. Here, me, myself and I are the most important people on the earth. Things are only as important as they help me get to my own desired destination. Family is expendable, Divorce isn't unthinkable, commitment in relationships is optional, yea isn't yea and nay isn't nay unless it helps me attain my goals.

    This is what our system teaches but this attitude will certainly lead to our downfall. Instead, think cooperation. It is in cooperating with others that ability is multiplied geometrically.

     Seek win-win at all times. Nobody needs to be the loser for you to win. We sure have the desire to feel like winners when others have failed but this injures more than it fulfills  Quit the competition. It is possible for your counterpart to win together with you at all times.

     Finally remember what Paul (the apostle) said: “I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency”.

You Are Not Limitless

Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel. I’m giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on—just as I promised Moses. FROM the wilderness and this Lebanon east TO the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours. – God speaking to Joshua Nun

It popularly proclaimed by many that human life comes to full expression when it becomes unlimited or unrestricted by anything. So in order words when a person is unchained, boundless and unleashed then he can begin to write his own story and live the life he was meant to live.

In truth, the opposite suffices. Contrary to what is popularly accepted, life becomes less and less maximized the more and more boundaries are compromised. I believe humans were created to function with boundaries. When people have no boundaries they fall short of being the best they could have been.

I read of a study carried out on children in a school playground.  They were initially allowed to play in an open field and it was noticed that they continually congregated toward the middle of the field. Subsequently a fence was erected around the field and from then on the children utilized the full extents of the playground, running from one end to the other. They were free to exploit all that was available for them now that they have boundaries.

Every one of us has an area of relevance and it is the extent to which we are relevant to ourselves and the world around us. It is important to recognize this area and take full advantage of it. Beyond its boundaries we have little or no relevance. There is nothing wrong with not being relevant in some areas. Someone else will be. Rather than waste time bickering about someone else’s relevance, concentrate on yours and be the best you can be in it.

There is also a limit to our abilities. We cannot do it all. We may be multitalented but we are never all-talented. Abilities, more often than not, stem from our experiences. We all have different life experiences and that means that we all have varying abilities. A three-year-old Chinese girl can do something you may never be able to do – she can speak Chinese! That fact that she can do this does not mean that she is better than you. It simply means she had a different experience.

In addition, our spheres of influence are and will always be unique to us. The people we know, the contacts we have, the influence we exert on them will always vary one from the other.  Beyond this sphere your influence ebbs. Stay within this sphere.

Growth and success then comes not in out-stepping our limitations and becoming persons we will never be but in pushing the bar upward within our area of relevance, limit of abilities and spheres of influence. 

Get Your Creative Juices Flowing...

Others have seen what is and asked why? I have seen what could be and asked why not? - Pablo Picasso

A human’s mind is a vast machine (for lack of a better word). Its horizons are broad and open to pictures and ideas. Creativity is the ability to use this vast machine to make changes. It has nothing to do with money, education, age, I.Q., sex or any of the other ‘important’ things. Rather, it has all to do with imagination, ideas, personal perception and garbage.

Worthless things are the primary fuel for creativity. Your imagination being the father of your creativity makes what it wants from the things available- and the most available things usually are seen as ‘worthless’. Everyone who achieved anything worthy in life had to do it out of the seeming nothing that existed when they set out to do it. Anything can become anything. It is all a function of what your mind makes of it.

Think! There must be something you can create to make your life better than it is right now. Refuse to be among the ninety percent of people that don’t think- I mean really think. Every problem submits to sustained thought. Think until that which is nothing becomes something. Think until you become a creator.

Some people seem to be more creative than others. Many say, “I am not as creative as the guy next door”. That is the same as saying “I am not as fit as the guy next door”. The latter may be evident from your present physique in comparison to the guy next door. The truth is that being fit is hinged on your exercises and workouts. Once your muscles stretch daily, they grow larger and stronger. It is the same with your mind. You are not as creative as your contemporaries because you have not stretched your mind in creative thinking enough. You receive every streamlined, finished work from your environment and tell yourself “It can’t get any better”. This is the popular misconception. Contrary to it, everyone and not only a select few are able to unleash a steady flow of creative genius.

In order to consistently give out great results, the muscle of creativity needs daily exercise. If you don’t practice harnessing creative thinking, the creative ability in you will very much shrivel into nonexistence  However, keep working and the creative genius in you will keep growing with great results as proofs.

(Culled from: Do it Like Kids by Yusuf Leinge)

God-Given Vision

Then the Lord said to me, "Look Jeremiah, what do you see?" - Jeremiah (the Prophet)

A lot has been said about developing a broad vision for your life. I am acutely aware that you may have heard things like, "See it in your minds eye," "Set the right goals," "Pursue until your dream comes to pass," and a lot more. Admittedly these principles are viable. They help in actualizing life's dreams. But there is a question they do not really answer - where do visions come from?
From where did Abraham's desire for a new land come? Who (or what) moved Noah to build a ship? What was the source of that dream Martin Luther King (Jnr) had? What moved Mahatma Gandhi to state in the midst of grave opposition that, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win"? Or who inspired Winston Churchill to cry: Never, never, never give up!
It is important we answer this because in the source we find what must have kept these great men while they withstood the greatest of oppositions. In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel had another vision ... (from God) about things yet to happen. So we see that it is God and God alone that gives an elaborate vision. interestingly, the recipient of the vision may not even know what the source is.
nonetheless, there is an attitude of heart that cuts across all God-given vision recipients. The first is that they all had an open mind. It is important for your mind is open to change. If you are rigid and insist that things must be done and happen in the same way they have always been done and happen, you will not be able to access God-given visions. Your mind must be open enough for change and progress to occur. You cannot remain locked in the norm and expect great visions at the same time.
second, God-given vision recipients understand that a broad vision is not for they and their loved ones alone. They understand that the vision is to save others that seem disconnected from them. Their vision are all-people-encompassing and welcome many more under its umbrella. They do not let themselves get caught in petty selfish behaviors. rather they in a sense live their lives for others.
Remember:
1. Have an open mind
2. Save people

Whispers of God

Therefore when he ascended ... , he gave gifts to men. - Paul (The apostle)

Paul (the apostle) once noted: “For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God. He was talking about us! He was saying that the world outside the church earnestly awaits our manifestation. So, it seems in the heart of God there is something we have to offer to the world that has left them in earnest expectation.

But, have you noticed that it seems we are not manifesting enough for the world to stop its expectation? Have you noticed that sometimes it seems we are the ones that await the manifestation of the world?

I think of it as a father that has taught his five year old child to perfectly recite a poem. He then boasts to his friends that his child can recite the poem without help from him. What do you expect? The friends will certainly ask for prove, in other words, the child should recite it in their presence. Then the father, to prove a point and save some pride, calls up the child and requests, “Recite the poem you learnt yesterday so your uncles can hear.” Now if the child stammers or stands looking awestruck and dumb, what do you think the father will think? Will he conclude the child does not know it? No! He is sure the child can recite it, the uncles are waiting for the child’s manifestation but the child is dumb! The father then begins to whisper, “Come on remember the tune? Remember the words? Remember the…”

As it is with such a situation so it is with us and the world. Our heavenly Father has given us all that is needed to manifest in the world and has gone ahead to boast to the world that we have all it takes to manifest but we stand dumb! So what does he do? He whispers to us hints so we can remember what it takes for us to manifest. And what are those things he whispers to us?

Talents and natural gifting: God whispers to us, “You have the talent to manifest son, you have it daughter- I gave it to you”. What are the talents and gifts you have? Are you tall? Are you short? Can you sing? Can you dance? Can you speak boldly? Can you do anything? “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Marvelous Pain

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. - Lance Armstrong 

It is normal, almost natural, for folks to cringe away from whatever causes them pain. Pain killers and related analgesics are probably the most widely used drugs in the world. We numb ourselves with sex, alcohol, narcotics and noise in frantic measures directed at preventing the experience of pain. But then pain can be a good, indeed great, thing to have in every area of life.

Imagine for a moment life without the sense of pain. You would put your hands in fire and burn to death without realizing what was happening. Pain then serves as our warning of things gone bad and gives us the opportunity to take a different path or course of action. Madeleine L’Engle in her book, A Stone For a Pillow, wrote: 

The most terrible thing to happen to a leper is the loss of pain. The hands and feet of the leper become useless stumps not because of leprosy, but because the leper feels no pain. If the leper loses fingers or toes, as so often happens, it is not because of the disease itself, but because the leper is not warned by pain that the fingers and toes are being hurt, and therefore damage or infection are not prevented. Pain is an angel to tell us that something is wrong. The body which cannot feel pain suffers terrible and often fatal injury.

In our success journey, we need the feeling of pain all too well to tell us when things are not going according to plan. Pain in this case serves as our inner warning system and we are able to take redress.

The pain will come in various ways. It may be in lost deals, or attainment of non-relevant things, or exhaustion, or depression. Whatever way it presents itself, identify it and take proper actions to address whatever the cause may be. Do not numb your senses with pain killers such as turning a blind eye to it or stubbornly continuing on your journey because that may mean, like the leper, losing far more than you bargained for. 

To survive gallantly the pain phase it is important that you know that pain is, more often than not, a temporary experience and will fade away if you act in a decisive way to curb its cause.

The Power of Your Will

Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners. – William Shakespeare

I like the story of three young men – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – recorded in the Bible. It tells of a time the great king Nebuchadnezzar commanded that a statue be made of which his subjects were to bow and worship. We get into the story after the young men refused to bow and were reported to the king.

Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn… fall down and worship the image ... But if you do not worship, … you shall be thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that god who shall deliver you out of my hand?” The trio had never worshiped a god that was not God and they were not about to start. So “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to the king, “…We have no need to return a word to you on this matter. If it is so that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, then He will deliver us out of your hand, ... But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up””.

I like that statement. Did you see it? Let me show it to you again: “We will not”. What an awesome statement! It was not the king’s decision to make- nothing he could do would make them change their minds. Interestingly it was not God’s decision to make- he didn’t need to do anything to make them decide this. It was their decision and theirs only.

The biggest gift we have is our will. We can say, “I will” or “I will not”. This separates us from the other forms of life in the planet. All successful people know how and when to use their wills. They will to read and research. They will to give up negative habits and pick up great ones. They will to be successful and not failures. If you do not learn to access the power of your will you will endlessly remain stagnated in mediocrity

Success Now: Take the Initiative

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol (Philosopher)

In the most popular, I think, story Jesus told to illustrate life issues, he spoke of a king who distributed gifts of money to three of his most trusted servants. The first and second invested their monies and acquired profits. The third, which was given least, hid the money and returned it without profit. While the first two were praised and given more the third was rebuked and punished.

One interesting thing to note in that story is that though the monies were given to them, they were not told what to do with them. The king did not hint exactly in what areas they were to multiply what was given. No bar was set to determine a standard for success. They were left on their own to take initiative and multiply what they had. It is of this I write.

To succeed in life you must develop the habit of taking initiative. Resist the temptation of waiting for instructions from someone else before you take all actions. Do not be afraid of taking the blame of trying and failing. Rather dread the failure that comes to a cause due to your inaction – irrespective of if others see you as the cause of failure or not.

All leaders take initiative. They think for themselves, identify what need be done in a situation and take the necessary action. It is this attitude of taking initiative that stand them out of the crowd of mediocre folks and anoint them leaders.

To develop the attitude of taking initiative you must develop a healthy self-esteem. If you think you can’t, you probably can’t. If you think that the solution of a problem cannot come from you, you will fold your hands and watch. If instead you think that you have the capacity to solve a problem you will rise up to the occasion.

Also, you must see yourself as responsible. When there is a task at hand, have an attitude that says, it is not somebody’s responsibility, it is my responsibility. The work at hand must be done even if it means you add it to yours. When responsibilities are assigned to people it should be to enhance effectiveness. When we insist on keeping strictly to segments, not considering if one part of the work is pulling the whole lot down, we are not taking initiative.

Positive Influence: an ingredient for certain success.

I hold that a strongly marked personality can influence descendants for generations. - Beatrix Potter (Author)

Success is desired by virtually everyone that has some sense. Every person I have met wants to succeed – even if they have not defined the areas they want to succeed in. This desire to excel is a universal denominator that transcends gender, age, social status or knowledge.

Success though is best achieved when it involves people. The point in which you can begin to consider yourself successful is the point in which you have succeeded with people. This is so because people, not things, make the world worth living in.

A positive influence on people is a very important ingredient in the success recipe. Some people in their pursuit of success fall back on intimidation, fear, or manipulation to get people to respond to them. These factors though may have an appearance of producing the desired outcomes, are very negative. You cannot boast success with people until your influence releases positive energy.

You begin to influence people positively when you learn to listen to understand and listen empathically to them. Folks generally seek for people they can share their lives with. You must desire to understand them by listening intentionally and carefully. Do not interrupt. Do not proffer immediate solutions. Just listen. In addition, your listening must be with empathy. Folks sense when you are listening out of a sense of obligation and without emotion. If you do that you can be sure you have lost the person.

It is said that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. You can have no positive influence on folks that you care little about. If you would have people submit willingly to your influence you would have to care genuinely over what concerns them.

You will achieve every goal of yours if you would help others achieve theirs. This is a principle of achievement that is worth abiding by. When you make the achievement of other peoples goals your priority, all you need to fulfill yours will fall in place.

Conviction...

He who stands for nothing will fall for anything. - Alexander Hamilton (Author)

I used to be a coward. Whenever someone challenges me over some things I may have done, I stammer and stutter through my answers. This leaves me with that sense you have when you have failed to defend yourself or the things you hold with high esteem. The lifespan of my happiness was as long as my prevailing ideologies face no challenge because the moment they are, I grapple without success in standing my ground.

In that state I lacked conviction. That firm belief. That strong opinion. That gut feeling you can stake even existence for. It is the reason for doing a thing that is sure to keep you at that thing no matter what comes your way to move you otherwise. It has been the driving force of all human civilization as far back as the birth of the history book.

A person without convictions is flesh without skeletal framework. When people do not stand on convictions firmly they get blown off to other paths at the whims of others. Every person you meet is a salesperson of an ideology. Everyone wants to pass on what he believes, understands, by whatever means is available- verbal or otherwise. If you do not have strong convictions, you really have no choice than to buy from one salesperson or the other.

The place for knowledge: knowledge is what conviction strives on. A strong conviction comes as information is fed into the heart. For conviction to be built into a structure that cannot be easily surmounted it has to begin with the seed of information in that thing and as it germinates, it has to be nurtured by way of information in that same thing. When you feed your mind with countering information, you set your baby-conviction up for certain death because, “if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand”.

So buildup the information base of your conviction; feed it; fuel it; give it air- that is what all that have made impacts and enjoyed their days did.

No You Can't!

Others may but I can't because of destiny. - Joseph Onilede

The world watched just a few years ago as President Barack Obama (then Democratic Party presidential candidate), of the United States of America, popularized the phrase, “Yes we can”. With it he led a vast majority of the people of the United States of America to self-belief in their personal capacity. Just saying those words brings along with it loads of motivation. More recently, in the just concluded British elections, the same cliche was brought into use.

For our lives though, the reality of what those words are capable of are more far-fetched than what merely uttering them can bring. Rather than saying “Yes I can”, I would rather we said “No I can’t”!

The word “Yes” is effective in bringing about great changes to anything or place but for you to effectively harness the power embedded in one “Yes”, you must be able to know how to say the opposite, “No”. When the power in a “No” is harnessed, the unlimited power in a “Yes” can be unlocked.

You must say, “No I can’t procrastinate another hour if I would see my dreams become reality.” Procrastination steals the future today. As we postpone what we should do for a later hour we short circuit how much we can accomplish in life.

You must say, “No I can’t conform to the crowd anymore.” The crowd is always wrong. Conformity to it will make us lose our uniqueness and hence remain stagnated to the spot the crowd is at.

You must say, “No I can’t go another week without reading a book.” It is true that readers lead all the time. If you will unlock your leadership potential you must read your way to it.

You must say, “No I can’t be one of my nation’s destroyers.” Your birth in your nation was not a mistake. There are some people that do not care about this and prove it by their destructive actions. Decide you will not be one of them.

There are obviously several things we must say “No we can’t” to. Only when we learn to say a firm “NO!” to all these vices we speak so much of but act little to change, will we begin to give ourselves the audacity to say “Yes we can”

Excellence

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." - Martin Luther King (jnr)

 How much boast can you make about your works? Can you boldly speak about the works of your hands and demand they speak for themselves? Can you append your name on your work if you knew it would be placed side-by-side with the best in your field?

If you would be tremendously successful you must have a spirit of excellence. This spirit will give you the boast for your work anywhere in the world because it dots the “i’s” and crosses the “t’s”. Noah had this spirit and so we read of him that, “Noah did everything exactly as God commanded him.” To develop the spirit of excellence, consider the following:

Make every work a masterpiece. It is important you take every work you do as an extension of your life. People considering your works are not merely meeting a piece of work but are meeting you; what first impressions are you leaving?  If you have this in mind you will handle each task as a masterpiece work of art set with intent for the audience.

Develop skill. It is also important you develop skill in every detail of your works. The archaic definition of the word skill means to “make a difference”. In view of this, decide to make a difference in every area of your works. There is always something else you can do to improve your work. You do not need to do it the same way you have done it before neither do you have to do it the way others do it.

Learn from others. It is important to keep an ever- learning attitude in all you do. Don’t get to the point that you feel you know it all. If your heart is open there is always something you can learn from just about everyone.

Innovate. Innovation is the icing on creativity. It means to effect a change. Do not strive endlessly trying to do something nobody has done before. Simply change what has been, making it better.

Excellence is reserved for a select few – follow this and you will be one of them.