GET R.E.A.L
Success has been defined as a function of four main factors: relationship, equipping, attitude and leadership. If you would ask me, I would say that without these four factors, success is a mirage that can better be achieved only in the realms of imagination. How, and why? Let's explore these four very important factors.
RELATIONSHIP: The Plus Factor
Success without people is no success, if not impossible. To a large extent, your relationships will either make or mar you. Apostle Paul warned us in 1 Corinthians 15.33 (NWT) “Do not be misled. Bad association spoil useful habits”. It is therefore no wonder that King Solomon asserts, “Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined” (Proverbs 13.20 GNB).
Those with whom you associate on a daily basis, with whom you share your thoughts and feelings, faults and failures, fears and frustrations are those most likely to strengthen or weaken you as you embark on your life’s journey.
Most importantly, your relationship is perhaps your most affective engine of success in life. Never at any time undermine your relationships, but endeavour to build, nurture and maintain them. Each individual in your relationship circle constitute a rung on that ladder you are climbing to success. If any of the rung is broken, you may have to strain yourself to reach the next step. Your connections are those people that open various doors of opportunities for you.
Know this also, you can never divorce success from positive relationships. According to Lee Iacocca, “success comes not from what you know, but from who you know and how you present yourself to each of these people.” To Michael Crichton, “relationships are your source of information, your safety value, and your early warning system.”
EQUIPPING: Information is Power
Equipping is the surest way to break the mould of mediocrity. Through it, you update your knowledge and improve your skills to better prepare you for the competitive world around you. Ignorance nowadays is no longer an acceptable excuse for failure, given the availability of mass of information relevant to your field of interest.
It is another way of increasing your credentials and maximizing your potentials, if not giving you a clean edge over your contemporaries. Information, they say is power. It is the fundamental key to acquiring knowledge and understanding. The Bible in Proverb 4.5-7 (NWT) urges us to “acquire wisdom and understanding”. Moreover, young Ministers are advised to equip themselves through diligent study and be prepared always to illuminate the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15; I Peter 3:15).
Learning is central to the process of equipping yourself. Successful leaders are learners who develop and improve themselves daily through self discipline and perseverance. Surf the internet, comb the library, study and acquire knowledge relevant to your discipline and you’d be surprised how better you than your contemporaries you will become. According to Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, “it is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguish leaders from their followers. “
ATTITUDE: It’s all about you
Your attitude determines your altitude in life. Whatever you do, your attitude or disposition to it will determine how far you will go. Surprisingly, success and failure start within the mind. And the difference between success and failure is how positive or negative your attitude is.
A positive attitude is that unbreakable sail that carries your life boat through the stormy weathers of life. It is that mind muscle which empowers you for the inevitable fight against odds and challenges ahead. It is that ‘thing’ which toughens you and gets you going, even when the going gets really tough!
It all starts and ends within your mind. If you dare encourage yourself to forge ahead in spite of challenges and difficulties, at least you have a hope of winning and succeeding in life. All you need is a spark of faith to set ablaze the fire of confidence and success through positive thinking! Jesus said in Mathew 17:20 (GNB), “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed… you could do anything!” Your attitude is that little thing that makes a big difference in your life.
Some people start brilliantly and then sink into mediocrity because of their negative attitude along the way. In Thomas Edison’s words, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
LEADERSHIP: The Vital Link
Leadership is that potent tool you can use to get you to your desire destination in life. It is most often parallel with management, i.e. the ability to use your resources optimally to achieve your set goals and objectives. Leadership is the ability which empowers and enables you to manage the five M powers at your disposal. Those are
1. Mind power (idea and resolve);
Leadership is that prophetic insight you get which enables you to know what you want, where you are going, and the wisdom and will to see into the future.
God gave you the abilities of a leader when He blessed mankind in Genesis 1.28. He wired you with those unique qualities that set you apart. He shaped you especially for ‘your world’! What you are is God’s gift to you, and what you become is your gift to Him. Leadership is leadership, whoever or wherever you are. How you manage your leadership abilities, qualities and resources more or less determines how blessed and successful you will become in life.
Who is a leader? Everybody is a leader! You are a leader as long as you have people and resources around you who need your care and services. Jesus described us as the ‘salt’ and the ‘light’ of the world. We can only be effective when we properly manage our God-given resources.
Leadership, according to John C Maxwell is the ‘lid’ that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. In other words, the greater your leadership ability, the greater your personal efficiency, effectiveness and quality!
Are you for REAL?
Successful people are REAL people. I mean, people who nurture their relationships, who equip themselves with relevant information and learning, who view life with a positive attitude and cultivate a life-long habit of good leadership.
People become REAL through the following.
1. Character (who they are);
You know as well as I do that it is high time you got REAL!
And speaking of reality, what good can you achieve without people, education, a positive mental attitude, and good management?
Remember,
“Real changes begin with real appraisal and acceptance of what is. Then realistic action is acceptance”
-David Raynolds.
RELATIONSHIP: The Plus Factor
Success without people is no success, if not impossible. To a large extent, your relationships will either make or mar you. Apostle Paul warned us in 1 Corinthians 15.33 (NWT) “Do not be misled. Bad association spoil useful habits”. It is therefore no wonder that King Solomon asserts, “Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined” (Proverbs 13.20 GNB).
Those with whom you associate on a daily basis, with whom you share your thoughts and feelings, faults and failures, fears and frustrations are those most likely to strengthen or weaken you as you embark on your life’s journey.
Most importantly, your relationship is perhaps your most affective engine of success in life. Never at any time undermine your relationships, but endeavour to build, nurture and maintain them. Each individual in your relationship circle constitute a rung on that ladder you are climbing to success. If any of the rung is broken, you may have to strain yourself to reach the next step. Your connections are those people that open various doors of opportunities for you.
Know this also, you can never divorce success from positive relationships. According to Lee Iacocca, “success comes not from what you know, but from who you know and how you present yourself to each of these people.” To Michael Crichton, “relationships are your source of information, your safety value, and your early warning system.”
EQUIPPING: Information is Power
Equipping is the surest way to break the mould of mediocrity. Through it, you update your knowledge and improve your skills to better prepare you for the competitive world around you. Ignorance nowadays is no longer an acceptable excuse for failure, given the availability of mass of information relevant to your field of interest.
It is another way of increasing your credentials and maximizing your potentials, if not giving you a clean edge over your contemporaries. Information, they say is power. It is the fundamental key to acquiring knowledge and understanding. The Bible in Proverb 4.5-7 (NWT) urges us to “acquire wisdom and understanding”. Moreover, young Ministers are advised to equip themselves through diligent study and be prepared always to illuminate the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15; I Peter 3:15).
Learning is central to the process of equipping yourself. Successful leaders are learners who develop and improve themselves daily through self discipline and perseverance. Surf the internet, comb the library, study and acquire knowledge relevant to your discipline and you’d be surprised how better you than your contemporaries you will become. According to Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, “it is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguish leaders from their followers. “
ATTITUDE: It’s all about you
Your attitude determines your altitude in life. Whatever you do, your attitude or disposition to it will determine how far you will go. Surprisingly, success and failure start within the mind. And the difference between success and failure is how positive or negative your attitude is.
A positive attitude is that unbreakable sail that carries your life boat through the stormy weathers of life. It is that mind muscle which empowers you for the inevitable fight against odds and challenges ahead. It is that ‘thing’ which toughens you and gets you going, even when the going gets really tough!
It all starts and ends within your mind. If you dare encourage yourself to forge ahead in spite of challenges and difficulties, at least you have a hope of winning and succeeding in life. All you need is a spark of faith to set ablaze the fire of confidence and success through positive thinking! Jesus said in Mathew 17:20 (GNB), “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed… you could do anything!” Your attitude is that little thing that makes a big difference in your life.
Some people start brilliantly and then sink into mediocrity because of their negative attitude along the way. In Thomas Edison’s words, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
LEADERSHIP: The Vital Link
Leadership is that potent tool you can use to get you to your desire destination in life. It is most often parallel with management, i.e. the ability to use your resources optimally to achieve your set goals and objectives. Leadership is the ability which empowers and enables you to manage the five M powers at your disposal. Those are
1. Mind power (idea and resolve);
- Manpower (human resources);
- Money power (financial capital);
- Muscle power (energy and strength); and
- Month power (time)
Leadership is that prophetic insight you get which enables you to know what you want, where you are going, and the wisdom and will to see into the future.
God gave you the abilities of a leader when He blessed mankind in Genesis 1.28. He wired you with those unique qualities that set you apart. He shaped you especially for ‘your world’! What you are is God’s gift to you, and what you become is your gift to Him. Leadership is leadership, whoever or wherever you are. How you manage your leadership abilities, qualities and resources more or less determines how blessed and successful you will become in life.
Who is a leader? Everybody is a leader! You are a leader as long as you have people and resources around you who need your care and services. Jesus described us as the ‘salt’ and the ‘light’ of the world. We can only be effective when we properly manage our God-given resources.
Leadership, according to John C Maxwell is the ‘lid’ that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. In other words, the greater your leadership ability, the greater your personal efficiency, effectiveness and quality!
Are you for REAL?
Successful people are REAL people. I mean, people who nurture their relationships, who equip themselves with relevant information and learning, who view life with a positive attitude and cultivate a life-long habit of good leadership.
People become REAL through the following.
1. Character (who they are);
- Knowledge (what they know);
- Relationships (who they know);
- Experiences (where they’ve been);
- Past successes (what they’ve done); and
- Ability (what they can do).
You know as well as I do that it is high time you got REAL!
And speaking of reality, what good can you achieve without people, education, a positive mental attitude, and good management?
Remember,
“Real changes begin with real appraisal and acceptance of what is. Then realistic action is acceptance”
-David Raynolds.
Comments
Post a Comment