Intentional Education

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

I am a strong voice behind the need for necessary self-education. I believe that beyond what we learn in the schools system we must engage ourselves in developing our minds. This would require several hours and days of continual “boring” work. Self-education is the platform upon which you can determine your own progress.

Unfortunately, I have realized two pitfalls for self-education in our societies. The first is that many-a-folk don’t see the dire need for it. They probably wonder why they should endure all the stress. I met a man at the mechanic workshop some days ago. I was reading the Autobiography of Martin Luther King (Jnr) at the time. We got talking and he remarked that he no longer reads because reading has been left to the rich. This came as a big surprise to me as I have never thought of anything in that line. By this he meant that the poor were too preoccupied with poverty to read. I promptly, but kindly, told him that even if we were to take his assertion as true, then it is the poor that must be found with a book everywhere they went.

The second is the compulsion that those who actually read have to irrelevant information. I was for a long time trapped in this. My library was filled with motivational books of all kinds. To my frustration I felt these books did little more than arouse my emotions and leave me with dissatisfaction. It was not until I realized that I was carrying it out the wrong way. To educate and develop my mind I needed to read books related to the fields I wanted to be outstanding in then intermittently bring in a motivational literature. What I mean is if you want to be the best manufacturer of furniture in your city, your library should be filled with books on types of wood, wood finishing, business and factory ethics, etc., and not books on motivational public speaking.

        Educate yourself intentionally. The purpose for self-education should determine the process. Make sure your aim for self-education is clearly defined then get books and other sources of information which teach you exactly how to achieve your aim. Without this you would probably be stuck with some crazy novels whilst you think that you are educating yourself. 

Immobile Progress

“I am a slow walker but I never walk back.” – Abraham Lincoln (US President)

It is possible for me to sometimes get obsessed with making progress. It may come from a sincere desire to make life better for me and my family members or it may come from a competitive disposition when I compare myself with others. Irrespective of what motivates me, what I really want is to make progress.

Progress is sweet. It is good to see that the steps I am taking toward my goals are bringing fruits. Unfortunately there are times when it seems as if my progress has stopped. It suddenly seems that I have hit a brick wall in my success journey. It is true – but rather simplistic – for me to console myself with: “It is all part of the success journey,” until I realized a liberating concept that I am about to share with you.

I believe that the two most important parameters to anyone’s success is whether the person is on the right path and whether the person is taking the right steps at the right time. For as long as these two are satisfied, success is assured irrespective of mobility. By this I mean that the fact that you are not moving is not a prove that you are not making progress.

If, for example, you are in journey to a place and you are suddenly stalled to a spot for two hours by a traffic jam. You get annoyed and curse the cause of the impasse but you do not conclude that you have failed in your journey. You don’t do this because you know that you are on the right path and in a matter of time you will get to your destination. Also, you realize that every minute that passes by you edge closer to moving forward than you were a minute before. This means you have made progress (with respect to time) even though you have not left the spot.

This concept is the same with your success journey. You may find yourself deadlocked and immobile but for as long as you know you are on the right path, your success is simply a matter of time. Also, even though you may be in the same situation you were months earlier, you know that as long as time has passed you are not on the same spot.
                          {For Articles on Progress Click Here}

If you understand this you will cut yourself some slack because you are simply making immobile progress. 

Are You Making Progress in a Rat Race?

“You are the part of rat race because you are letting them treat you like a rat. This is the modern definition of a slave.” – Saurabh Sharma (Author)

Have you been in a situation where you get tired every other day and yet wonder if the energy you exert daily is worth the effort? Does it seem to you sometimes that you are taking two steps forward and three backward? Wake up! You may be in a rat race.

I remember once watching a film that had a scene in a science laboratory. It had in it a rat that continually ran earnestly in a spinning circle. It was obvious that the rat was exerting a lot of energy and was “thinking” that by running fast enough it was making progress in getting away from his captors. Little did it know that it was caught up in a vicious cycle.

Many of us are like that rat (no insult intended). We are caught up in a race and we have been exerting all our energies, creative abilities, finances, and intent in winning. Little do we know that the fact that we are running does not mean we are progressing.

A rat race is put upon us by a system. In this system things have a pattern in which they must operate. We are simply a part of this pattern and nothing more. We are expected to do the same things over and over until “expertise” is attained. At this point we are either promoted or paid higher for our “contributions”. Little do we know that the promotion or pay increase is not different from a bigger spinning circle given to a laboratory rat.

To make progress you must be on your own unique path. You must be pursuing a predetermined goal and taking premeditated actions toward it. Progress is intentional. It does not come on you but you work and walk toward it.

Rat races cut across education, occupation and career, religion, and relationships. I have been in them, in fact, I still know some that I am in at the moment. But I do not desire to remain in them. I often evaluate my actions and ask myself in every aspect of my life if I am caught up in a rat race. What I want to see is progress in every area – all cylinders firing.

I suggest you ask yourself if you are in a rat race or a progress race. 

Tend to Your Leak!

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. ­– William Shakespeare

 Have you seen a leaking water tank? I recently bought a two-thousand-liter overhead tank and filled it with water I needed for a project. With this I was sure I would have little need for water for a long time. Unknown to me it had a small crack right beneath it and the water seeped out little by little. A few days before the project was to begin the tank was dry. Two thousand liters gone!

As the leakage was to my tank so is wastage to your success journey. Silently, gradually, little by little, your potential for success dries up. A period allowed to slip away may be time leaking out. You know what you need to do, you know why you should do it and you know how to do it but you still do not get to do it. You say to yourself: I will do it later. I am not up to it now.

Unplanned spending may be money leaking out. You have a project at hand but one night out and a couple extra sticks of Suya won’t kill the project – or so think. So the tiny amount of money leaks out and you are not closer to reaching the funds needed for your project.

Taking people for granted may be network leaking out. You meet someone for the first time but feel why bother I will meet him again, failing to consider that first impressions come once and that every meeting is an important opportunity to strengthen your people ties and enhance your networking.

In every area of your success journey leakages are possible. Smart achievers tend to these leakages and minimize them to the barest minimum. They ensure that their relationships don’t leak, their expenditure is within planned control, and, probably most important of all, their time isn’t wasted on frivolous things.

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?”