Parable of the Blessing: THE BEGINNING

First he took my rights as the first born, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me? – Enoch (speaking of Jacob, his brother)

      So you could sing, you were a great writer, you dressed exceptionally, had the best looks, was educated in elite schools, was loved by the ladies and lots more. You seemed set to being the ideal person – the role model for your generation – and yet you wonder what happened that you didn’t amount to much.

This is not a far-fetched scenario. Several people – men and women alike – have fallen into this. They look back at their lives and realize they have not succeeded though they were the most-likely to succeed.

Potential does not always translate to productivity. In fact, potential in every area of life, more often than not, lead to poor productivity. This happens because of the laxity that accompanies overconfidence in potential. A lot is then taken for granted because it does not seem logical that you would “fail in every area”. This is easily and clearly evidenced in countries. There are more natural resources in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for example, than the whole of Europe combined, but figures and estimates from the International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook Database, April 2013, pins DRC as the poorest nation in the world.

At the end of the day it does not really matter how much potential you have. What matters is how much you can make of it. To convert your potential to productivity, some things must be in place. First, you must have vision. Nobody becomes what he does not see. You can only progress as far as you see.

Second, you must learn to set goals. Goals are to the human mind what the steering wheel is to a car. Goals guide you to a destination.

Third, you should develop a habit of planning and working with strategy. Goals are achieved by proper planning. Without a plan a goal becomes a wish.

Forth, you should learn to diversify. This is the proverbial not “putting all your eggs in one basket”. The law of chances states that, “you stand better chances of succeeding when you have more things working for you at the same time.”

Fifth, you have need for focus on the purpose, call, ministry, or vision. You must have your eyes set on the final (which was in fact the initial too) goal.

In the next few articles I will be expounding on these principles.

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. 

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.”

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.

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. 

Ambition and Success

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. - Salvador Dali

Do you want to build success one ambition at a time?

Determine exactly what you want: Because people do not know what exactly they want, they move from one thing to the other. Every person at one point or the other in life will have to answer this question; what do you want to become? Yours might not come that way but it will come in some other form. The important thing is not how the question comes to you but what your answer is.

Work with your strengths: make sure your ambition(s) align perfectly with your inherent strengths. This will first require knowledge of your strengths. Working out your ambitions based on this knowledge will equip you with the necessary tools required for the achievement of your goal. It will also make your goal fun to accomplish.

Break it down into smaller bits: one reason why we fail in life is because we are so troubled with the pursuit and immediate accomplishment of great ambitions. Every meal is easier to finish when eaten one bite at a time. Many things are impossible to accomplish with one swoop. Your ambition is one of those things. There is no need to fret though. Simply break it down into smaller, simpler bits. Every big thing is made up of smaller things. Armies invade lands not individually but in battalions. They will be an easy crush individually. Picture your ambition as a battalion set for you to conquer but put in mind that every battalion is made up of individuals. You may not be able to handle the battalion but I am sure individual soldiers will be easier for you to handle. The smaller you break down your ambition, the easier it is to crush.

Do not make it all about you: Any ambition that will require the downfall of another who is already doing very well is not a worthy one. Selfish ambitions will lead to envy, greed and wickedness. The wrong ambition or the wrong path taken to achieve a right ambition has made emotionless monsters out of men in time past. Albert Einstein said, “Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things.”

Starting Where You are With What You Have

So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. – Moses (at the burning bush)

     Take a survey, get on your street today and ask every willing volunteer the following questions; What to you dream to become? Why have you not become that thing? Most assuredly you will receive answers like I do not have the money, or It will not work in this place, or I do not have anybody to help me. These responses people have used to excuse their stagnancy and ineffectiveness. I dare say that all these answers are baskets used to carry water.

     We must all get our minds to understand that to succeed in any worthy venture you must start where you are. You do not need to go anywhere else. Take the first step where you are! Success begins at home. The thought that you must change location has made inactive cowards of us. Many think they would be successes if they were in the United States of America or some other “ideal” country their minds have built but they are grossly misled. Admittedly there are countries that have better economies and hence opportunities but no country assures a failure of success. Changing the location of a lizard does not change it to an alligator. In fact, changing the skin of a lizard to that of an alligator does not make it one, its “lizard-ness” is in its mind.

     Folks may then say, I will not change location but I still don’t have what it takes to achieve my dreams. True you may not have all it takes but you do have something. Everybody has something. It may be knowledge, wisdom, a family, a healthy body, time or beauty – doesn’t matter what. What is important is that you can use your limited resource to ignite the flames of your dream. God asked Moses a profound question: “What is in your hands?” and he said, “A staff.” How useful is a staff in fighting for freedom from the clutches of the most powerful living man of their time? Certainly it was little indeed. It was just that little staff that God needed to liberate Israel from bondage. That “thing” in your hands is more important than the combined power of all other resources you don’t have. 

             

Start where you are and with what you have. You may not be in the best location in the world, you may not have all the needed resources for you success journey, but to begin you don’t need the best location or all the resources. 

Learning to Focus

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. - Alexander Graham Bell

The Sun: The Sun is the most prominent feature in our solar system and nature’s energy warehouse. It contains approximately 98% of the total solar system mass. Its disk can conveniently accommodate one hundred and nine Earths. Its interior can hold over 1.3 million Earths. The Sun's outer visible layer is called the photosphere and has a temperature of 6,000°C. This layer has a mottled appearance due to the turbulent eruptions of energy at the surface.

It is oddly funny that with all these known about the sun, humans, infinitesimal creatures in comparison to it, enjoy bare-chested tanning under the sun’s intensity daily.

The Laser: The laser is used for surgeries, joining of objects and in some intensity can cut through steel. At best, the laser emits energy so small, it would not stand anywhere close to the sun.

One thing makes the laser able to cut through steel while the sun is used for tanning - FOCUS. The principle behind the laser is simple. All its rays are focused on one spot while the sun disperses its rays to a zillion different directions.

Focus is a major virtue of all high-achievers. Simply put, it is the ability to stay on one thing at a time until it is completed.

Focused living is the crux of successful living. We need to be focused in every aspect of our lives. Anyone that does everything at the same time actually does nothing. Want to be focused?

Know your areas of interest: There are many things you could do but I am pretty sure there are only a few you will be interested in at any given time. Discover your areas of interest and focus on them.

Prioritize: On a piece of paper, write down all the things you need to accomplish. Attach numbers to them in accordance to their relevance. Pick the most relevant and work on it immediately. Work your way down the list.

Don’t leave anything unfinished: Each item selected on your list should be completed before you move on. Never leave a work unfinished. Unfinished work is no better than untouched work. If a task can be finished once, make sure you don’t do it twice. 

The Skillful Achiever

                                For many are called, but few are chosen. – Jesus

     Have you wondered what really separates people? Why is one person better than the other? Why does the least likely to succeed folk stand out of the crowd sometimes? Why are the few chosen while the others are not?

     It is second nature for folks to excuse themselves away from failure with reasons like, “I am not talented enough”. Sooner or later they learn that talent alone is incapable of taking them far in the first place. Some others fall on, “favour from God,” but unfortunately realize that though sufficient for them, they fail! There are yet some that believe in fate – whatever happens to me should happen – and live a life far below their potential.

     What really creates a perfect divide between folks in the same venture is more often than not their level of skill. One folk is skillful the other is not. It cuts across essentially every field. The skillful tailor will always produce better clothes than the merely talented one. The skillful writer will communicate his heart better than the unskilled one.

      Interestingly skill can be developed. It is not a gift. Nobody is born with skill in any field. You may be talented but not certainly not skillful. Whatever skill we possess we learned! You can learn any skill by following these simple steps.

      Step I: Open your heart. An open heart is one that says, “I do not know it all so I am willing to learn”. An open heart is one that is inclined to the new and not just the new but the different. There are seven billion people in our world and so expect billions of ways to do the thing you are involved in.

     Step II: Learn, unlearn, relearn. Not many folks know what to learn and how to learn it. Unfortunately for such, to become a skillful achiever you must be willing to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Advancements are made in every field every month. Are you at par with the progress made in your field or are you stuck with outdated information?

     Step III: Practice, practice, practice. The simplest, but ironically most important, advice you can give to anyone in a field is: “PRACTICE.” Never get tired of doing it one more time. Just the way you never noticed your physical growth whilst it occurred, you may not notice your progress while practicing but no single proper practice session leaves you the same way it met you.

Tears for Wisdom

                       Wisdom cries out, she utters her voice on the streets… - Proverbs

    Some of us are familiar with the story of young Solomon, the king, who had a blank check to ask for whatever he desired from God and he chose to ask for wisdom to rule. He asked for this against the backdrop of all the other pleasant things he could have asked for the many other kings could have unselfishly asked for. This was the beginning of his being referred to as the wisest man to have walked the face of the earth.

      I would consider three spheres to developing wisdom.

     To be wise you would need to know yourself. It is interesting to note but a lot of people do not actually know themselves. They do not what they can do and what they can’t, do not know their likes and dislikes, do not know their talents and where they lack. This poor knowledge will certainly deter development of accompanying wisdom.

     Socrates, the great Greek philosopher once said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” When you start thinking that way you will begin to see reasons why you need more and more knowledge. Knowledge brings wisdom. Not all knowledgeable folks are wise but there is no empty-head wise person. Fran Lebowitz (American author) said, “Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

       Finally with experience comes responsibility for more wisdom. The things that have happened to you in the past, the people you have met, the relationships you have had, all these should not be taken for granted but rather should be referred to as a wellspring of experience never look down on. Draw in from your experiences for the wisdom you need at any moment.

What Have YOU Become?

    It's never too late to be what you might have been. - George Elliot

I have noticed that most children have one thing or the other that they desire to become when they grow up. Can you remember those ambitions you had growing up? Mine was to become a Pharmacist. Now, I am a world away from that but I must admit that that ambition had its role to play in my life. What matters is the dream to be significant and it is OK to dream. The price you pay for dreaming is time and thinking energy. Since I have some time and lots of thinking energy at my disposal, I have always let myself swim in dreams.

A person’s ambition gives him a sense of purpose. It gives your life direction. When people go on with life without an ambition at heart, they are like directionless missiles. They could explode anywhere with great detriments to many.

Interestingly, there is in every person the belief that we can become whatever we choose. We all want to be successes in life. God placed that trait in us all.

        You need to determine exactly what you want: Such a clear-cut decision will make you an arrow in motion released from the hands of an experienced archer. This is important. Because people do not know what exactly they want, they move from one thing to the other.

You will also have to work with your strengths: make sure your ambition(s) align perfectly with your inherent strengths. This will first require knowledge of your strengths. Working out your ambitions based on this knowledge will equip you with the necessary tools required for the achievement of your goal. It will also make your goal fun to accomplish.

Make sure you break you ultimate ambition into smaller bits: one reason why we fail in life is because we are so troubled with the pursuit and immediate accomplishment of great ambitions. Every meal is easier to finish when eaten one bite at a time. Many things are impossible to accomplish with one swoop. Your ambition is one of those things. There is no need to fret though. Simply break it down into smaller, simpler bits and take one bit at a time.

180-DEGREES TURN TO YOUR SHOKOTO (Concluded)

         All you are looking for in Sokoto is in YOUR shokoto (trouser pockets) - Yoruba Proverb

“Much food is in the tillage of the poor…”, (Proverbs 13:23). Did you see it? Every time I read those words I grow goose bumps. The proverb says the poor man has all he needs in his land!

     Are you asking the question on my mind? Why in heavens name is he then poor?

Well for one he was obviously too familiar with his field. Familiarity they say breeds contempt. And so he looks at his field and says: “What is my talent compared to great talented people?” Or he says: “This thing I have is too small to make any difference”. Or he scoffs and says: “This thing? No it can’t be any better.”

     On the other hand, he may just be a lazy boy and say: “Nobody succeeds in this type of business, there is no need trying.” Or, “I am a Christian; God will do it for me.”

     Our poor man may just be someone who lacks discretion; he is unable to make responsible decisions. It was the fault of his wife that he didn't go to the field in the last week.

Finally, but not conclusively, he may just lack the necessary skills to manage the deep needs of his husbandry. He took the leap of faith and went to farm even when there were no rains, but does not have a clue what to do next.

     It really does not matter which among the above ails our poor man or if he is plagued by a combination of all of them what really matters is rather than run away from his field, he takes a 180° turn to the opposite direction, and plough. This he must do if he will not have the same destiny as Ali Hafed.

     You must recognize that YOUR field has diamonds! You must discern how to mine it. You must be diligent to plough your field. You must be discreet and learn how to manage the intricacies your own vocational-husbandry. Then, and then alone will you ensure you are not the poor man we just spoke about.