How to Develop Creative Vision

To create anything you must first envision it. I like to say it this way: you must see it to create it. A common word we use to explain vision is imagination. Nothing comes to fruition without imagination. Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, states that, “Everything is created twice.” You first envision and create it within you then you fabricate and create it without.

We all have two pairs of eyes – our outer pair and an inner pair. Our outer pair is held down by limitations and boundaries. They feed us with the helpful but limited information to go about our everyday life. With your inner pair, sight has no boundary. You can see and be wherever you want to see and be. You can be in a village on the outskirts of Zungeru and yet travel in your mind to the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong, or the Eiffel tower of Paris. You can experience the snow peak of Mount Kilimanjaro while living in a valley near Lokoja!

So, to create you must first see your boundless creation!

In addition, it isn’t simply enough to see it. You must be able to see it clearly. You must be able to define it in your mind. A blur is not enough. The blueprint in your mind must be specific and clear cut. Below is an excerpt from the autobiography of one of the greatest inventors of his generation, Nikola Telsa, which explains my thought:

“… I observed to my delight that I could visualise with the greatest facility. I needed no models, drawings or experiments. I could picture them all as real in my mind. Thus I have been led unconsciously to evolve what I consider a new method of materialising inventive concepts and ideas, which is radically opposite to the purely experimental and is in my opinion ever so much more expeditious and efficient.

"The moment one constructs a device to carry into practice a crude idea, he finds himself unavoidably engrossed with the details of the apparatus. As he goes on improving and reconstructing, his force of concentration diminishes and he loses sight of the great underlying principle. Results may be obtained, but always at the sacrifice of quality. My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea, I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever; the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final product of my brain. Invariably my device works as I conceived that it should, and the experiment comes out exactly as I planned it. In twenty years there has not been a single exception. Why should it be otherwise?”

Nikola Telsa went on to visualize and invent the Alternating Current, electric bulbs, discovered X-rays, Radio, Remote Control, Electric Motor, Robotics, Laser, Wireless Communications and Limitless Free Energy. 

Corporate Vision: Begin With Your Vision

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. ­– Jesus (The Christ)

If you want to develop corporate vision you must first have a vision! This may seem simplistic, or at best, obvious, but, many desire to build corporate vision on the foundation of no vision at all. They are the blind leading the blind. We have a lot of such all around us.

Vision is to see ahead. It means to capture a picture that others do not initially have. Vision goes beyond physical sight to mental sight. It was Helen Keller who said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” Without first having a deeply and thoroughly engrained vision you cannot get any sensible folks to share it with you. In a prior article, The Blind Man inFront, I noted that it was impossible to lead without seeing clearly where you are headed.

When you decide to build corporate vision you are offering to be a guide to the folks you are working with. You must be willing to guide them through every stage of the vision. To guide means to show the way to others. It means to intentionally influence the growth and development of others. You become a pilot, and mentor, and chaperone to your people.

In addition, your vision must be people-focused. Folks want to know how the fulfillment of your vision will lead to their fulfilling theirs. No one wants to remain stagnated and so in the event that your vision does nothing to add to them they will join the next bus away from you and your self-centered vision. A people-focused vision goes hand-in-hand with a visionary who is willing to teach the nitty-gritties of every aspect of the vision.

Finally, you must have clearly understood and believed in your vision to build a corporate one. Many seek the help of others in a vision they have not clearly understood and believed in themselves. They want others to do the work for them and so they fail again and again in developing corporate vision.

     {To order for my new book, Do it Like Kids, click here}

When you have given the right place for these areas you stand a far better chance of getting folks to buy into your vision and in turn developing a corporate vision.

Corporate Visions

And God said, “Let US make man in our image, after our likeness.” ­– God

Fact: Dreams come true. That dreams come true isn’t a statement that needs all-night research to prove any longer. Many folks have dreamed and seen their dreams come to pass. Others that did not live to see it happen left it deeply engrained in the hearts of many that people watched out to see it happen.

Fact: Big dreams are BIGGER than their dreamers. A careful analysis of big dreams will show you that they usually are bigger than their carriers – the dreamers. This is so because big dreams aren’t self-centered or myopic. They carry as many people – sometimes systems or whole nations’ ideologies – under their umbrella.  The dreamer is simply a part of the dream and not the whole.

Fact: Big dreams need teams. For significant dreams to come true you need a collection of people. A team must be built around the vision. Individual vision isn’t enough, you need corporate vision. Sometimes we want to run all alone so that we can be the only person praised but praise isn’t enough to outweigh the numerous advantages of corporate vision. Corporate vision does a lot:

1. Diversifies the initial idea and open up a world of possibilities that weren’t thought of.

2. Makes financial resources less difficult to access.

3. Makes mental resources readily available.

4. Ensures that many smaller dreams come to pass.

5.   Makes the process of actualization fun.

6.   Releases the potential of a lot of people.

7.   Fosters unity.

8.   Challenges people to grow and develop mentally.

9.    Reduces the stress that would have been on one person.

10.Makes room for expertise and skill development.

11.Builds up leaders and leadership.

12.Multiplies the speed at which goals are achieved.

13.Diminishes the probability of failure.

    {To order for my new book, Do it Like Kids, click here}

You would agree that developing corporate vision is important to your goals. I would, in the next few articles, focus on how to develop corporate vision for each goal you set.

No Courage No Leader

A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. ­– William G.T. Shedd  

It is normal – some sort of comfort zone – to allow things to stay as they are. Why challenge the status-quo and cause possible trouble for yourself when nobody will dispute you if you take no action? 

Deep within our hearts we are left with that yearning for something bigger. It is that you are more than this thought that does not leave you. You must leave the known behind if you are to take hold of the desired. What you have always been will not take you to the place you heart craves after. It is true that if you always do what you have always done you will always be where you have always been. To leave the norm you must be courageous. A dear friend of mine desired to leave his norm of bachelorhood and get into the unknown of marriage but did not have a dime. I encouraged him to be bold and face up to the challenge. It was time for him to exemplify the things he had encouraged many with in the past. Today he is married. What do you lack courage to handle?

It takes courage to be a leader in any area. Many-a-folk desire to lead and set the pace in their chosen fields but lack the liver to take the necessary steps. You probably have thought that your parents weren’t bold enough to take the opportunities that came their ways but are you bold enough to sacrifice your need for security to step into your dream?

       A friend jokingly told us that he felt like throwing some punches at his father when he narrated to them how he turned down an opportunity to buy plots of land some years ago because he reasoned that development would take ages to get there. Now, ten years down the line, the same piece of land goes for millions. “My father lacked vision!” he exclaimed. Minutes later the same fellow turned down an offer of land because he reasoned it was too far from development. We all had a bigger laugh at him than we had at his father. 

And There was a Leader

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. ­– Warren Bennis

In every society the people seen as the source of “all” the problems are the leaders. Be it in Greece, Iran, Turkey, or Nigeria, the leaders are the ones to take the first blows of every economic downturn, political turmoil, insecurity, and sometimes even natural disasters. This is so not because the people rallying on the streets consider leaders as some super humans with a magic wand but because leaders are expected to be ahead of the people in every aspect of life. Indeed, nothing moves in a society without leaders.

Leadership begins with vision. A visionless leader will not lead his followers any better than a guy on an evening stroll with his dog. Vision is of utmost importance because people only go as far as their leadership can see. “For want of vision countries perish,” a proverb teaches. Every progressive society has leaders with progressive visions and every unprogressive one has the opposite. The rate of progress is always commensurate with the vision of leadership.

Interestingly, leaders are scarcely aliens to any society. The quality of leaders produced in any society reflects the quality of the people in the society because leaders are always a sample of the people. It was Mike Murdock that once said, “Every country deserves its leaders.” Since I come from a country that has suffered decades of tremendously poor leadership, I initially felt his statement was overtly without empathy for people like me. As I grew to understand that leadership is a nations mirror I thought otherwise.

        You can be a leader. It does not matter where you are or what you do. In fact, your level on the stairway of your company’s organogram is of little significance. All these do not matter because leadership has nothing to do with your portfolio. You don’t need an office to be a leader. If you build yourself on the five pillars of leadership; Vision, Positive Influence, Personal Growth, Taking Initiative, Learning to Follow, you can be sure that you are indeed a leader already. [For more on the pillars of leadership click here] 

The Blind Man in Front

“One blind man cannot lead another; if he does both will fall into a ditch.” – Jesus (the Christ)

When you see a man with a stick and his hands placed on another person right in front of him you automatically assume he is blind. What never crosses your mind is that the blind person may be the folk in front or, more comically, both may be blind! You assume this because you know that to lead you need to see.

Unfortunately many leaders cannot see. To be a follower denotes there is a place you want to get to but you need someone else to facilitate your journey. It certainly is – at least physically – permissive for a follower to not see his way. To be a leader, on the other hand, you must see your way through.

Many folks take this for granted because they have misunderstood the basic concept of leadership. It is assumed that leadership is about staying in front or being on top. Both of these ideas are misguided because a shepherd boy, for example, leads from behind his flock. In effect he is more a guide who knows where he his flock needs to be and how to get them there. Without proper knowledge of where to lead people to you cannot guide.

Second, many leaders imagine themselves and their followers as a pyramid structure in which they are the peak while their followers carry them. This is another misconception because rather than a pyramid, the structure is turned upside down and the leader is at the bottom carrying the weight of the followers.

       With this modification in conceiving what leadership is, you would realize that you cannot lead without seeing where you are headed. The sight of the leader gives solace to the followers. It makes them confident to put the next foot forward, knowing that if their leader did not fall into a ditch they would not.  

It does not matter if it is a question of marriage, church, or football team. A leaders’ vision is paramount. The first question to ask any one person you intend to follow is, “what can you see?”

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.

Take it Easy, Success is a Process

I often pride myself with the story of the double promotions I got in my early education. Twice in a process that should take eight years I was taken a year ahead of my peers. It was to me a batch of great honour and in my mind imagine it been said of me, “Here is a lad who jumps the process.”

It may be desirable – indeed almost harmless – to see that your child can be intelligent enough for his teachers to recommend a double promotion (as that will mean you don’t pay the fee of three terms – or in my case six) but in your personal success journey you cannot jump the steps. The moment you get on your unique success path you discover, more sooner than later, that it is a process, which you cannot help but follow.

The problem is that in or world of speed – speed boats, speed trains, sports cars, and fast food – nobody wants a process. Processes are too slow for us. We seem to ask, “Why do I need to learn ‘A’ before I learn ‘A, B, C, D, to Z?’” We see very little sense in following processes that can be truncated.

God, though, is a God of processes. With God it is, more often than not, one step at a time. Isaiah (a prophet) says, “The LORD is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson”. Another way to put it is: “GOD will start over with the simple basics and address you in baby talk, one syllable at a time—“Da, da, da, da, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's a good little girl, that's a good little boy”. I conclude that God wants us into the process so he makes it slow enough for us to understand.

I once taught computer studies at a primary school and the way these minors establishes the fact that we were wired for processes. The moment you take the shortcut of jumping steps, you realize that it wasn’t a shortcut after all. You have to be patient and wait until they learn a step before you move on. God also teaches us that our success journeys are that way, carefully, patiently, one step at a time he waits for us to understand before he moves on to the next level. 

Goal Action Stage: IGNORE DISTRACTIONS

In this article I conclude on the topic: HOW TO ACHIEVE GOALS.

You will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks. - Winston Churchill

Three boys were set for a race and their fathers served as their motivators by staying at the finishing line and waiting to receive their boys. When the whistle sounded, they all shot up as best they could. In a short while one of the boys took an early lead, clearly having the momentum to win the race. He began to look behind him to see how far ahead of his competitors he was. Suddenly he lost his footing and his lead. The second boy hence took the lead and was in front for some considerable distance but he was too obsessed with the cheers he received from the crowd that he lost his footing too. The third boy then took the lead and won the race that he began as last. When asked what made him win he said, “All I did was keep my eyes on my Dad and ensure I wasn’t distracted by anything.”

Every time we desire to achieve a goal we will be faced with distractions. There are a thousand distractions around us. Failures in the past, fear, low self-esteem, are some of the things that commonly distract folks from their goals. Interestingly not all distractions are bad things. We could be distracted by very good things like money, fame, and success. So I would say that a distraction is anything that takes your eyes off the goal.

You must have the tenacity to keep hitting at the direction of your goal. All too often beginning is not a problem it is finishing that overwhelms us. Solomon (king of Israel) noted that, “Endings are better than beginnings, sticking to it is better than standing out.” When you have such an attitude it won’t matter what comes to you. Suddenly, no obstacle will look insurmountable, no fear will cripple, and no failure will be permanent.

Distractions will come – in fact they should come because they are refiners of character. The people that win irrespective of them are the true winners. If you can stick to it irrespective of the distractions, you will eventually be like Joseph (Prime minister of Egypt) of whom it was said, “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.”

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 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.

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. 

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.

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)

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.