“We expect a bright tomorrow. All will be well
Faith can sing through rays of sorrow All will be well
On our father’s love relying, Jesus every need supplying
Or in living or in dying. All must be well”- Mary Peters
Continued from the last edition
Five, Have Passion because Passion energizes your expectations.
What carries people to the top? What drives them to their expected end? What it takes the take risks, go the extra mile, and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals? Is PASSION! Passion creates fire; it provides fuel and creates energy. As long as a passion is there it doesn’t matter whatsoever the man meets on his way. It doesn’t matter how many times he falls down. It doesn’t matter if others are against him. It doesn’t matter how many time he makes mistake. What matters is his expected end. A passionate person does not stop until he succeeds. Passion energizes every aspect of a person’s life. Passion is the first step to achievement Passion increases will power. Passion produces energy. Passion is the key to success. To have a meaningful tomorrow find something you like to do so much that you’d gladly do it for nothing, and if you learn to do it well someday people will happy to pay you for it.
Six, Initiate because Initiative activates your life for a meaningful tomorrow.
The journey to your tomorrow begins with idea. Those who want to have their tomorrow under their control. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect to move forward. They don’t wait for all problems or obstacles to disappear they don’t wait for all their fear subsides. They take initiative. They understand that ideas rule the world. To have a meaningful tomorrow you need to reach your full potentials, and to reach your potentials you have to show initiative. Why? Initiative is the first step to anywhere you want to go; Initiative closes the door to fear. Initiative opens door to opportunity; Initiative eases life’s difficulty; Initiative is often the difference between success and failure; John C Maxwell comes up with 4 kinds of people
- People who do the right thing without being told
- People who do the right thing when told
- People who do the right thing when told more than once
- People who never do the right thing, no matter what.
Anyone who wants to have a meaningful tomorrow needs to become the first kind of person, who does the right thing without being told. (No enough time to talk about initiative because there is a lot to say about that.
Solomon in his paradigm of ants – Proverbs 6 6-11
You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed? A nap here a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy – do you what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirty-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest.
You already have been given what you need to begin to create your future. Prolong idleness paralyses initiative. (They can possibly say this to themselves)
Seven, be focused because Focus Directs your life for a meaningful tomorrow.
Focus does not come naturally to us, yet it is essential for anyone who wants to make the most of his tomorrow. If you want to have a meaningful tomorrow, you must focus on your goals; focus on what you can do and not on what you cannot do. You need a direction in life, such that will lead you to a meaningful tomorrow. Because of our culture with multiple choices and opportunities most people find themselves in dozens of directions. And the worse of it all is that most people find themselves expending energy and much of their time on things they don’t really care about. Nevertheless, we need concentration and direction on one part that can create most success for us and guarantee us a meaningful tomorrow. Be known for something. Be a master of something to the extent that you can become a guru/ consultant after your retirement. My brothers and sisters, if you lack focus you will be all over the place, attempting everything like attempting nothing, it will suck the life out of you, and it will sap your energy and new opportunities and could consume you. Focus lifts you and expands your capacity and expands your life.
Therefore focus on the present for a meaningful tomorrow; if you focus on today you will surely get a better tomorrow.
Eight, be Prepared because Preparations positions you for a meaningful tomorrow
Preparation positions people correctly, and is separation between winning and losing. The song all, all is well, is for the people who prepare well. They live by the motto “All is well that begins well”. When preparation meets opportunity the morrow is always meaningful. Spectacular achievement comes from unspectacular preparation. Preparation is pivotal to a meaningful tomorrow, because the only thing that relives pressure is preparation. If you are preparing today, chances are, you will not be repairing tomorrow.
Nine, Persevere because Perseverance sustains you for a meaningful tomorrow.
You need to have a staying power. It is easy to give up in the journey of life. But perseverance is the tonic. You either give up or go on. You need to succeed because you are determined not because you are destined to. You need to recognize that life is not a long race, but many short ones in succession – “Success consists of series of little daily victories”. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” Thomas Edison
Ten, be Courageous because Courage builds you for a meaningful tomorrow
The person who exhibit courage is often able to go through the journey of life without regrets. C S Lewis a Professor and writer wrote “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point”. No man can live a meaningful life without courage. In order to grow, we need to face some truths about ourselves and that is often a difficult process.
We need courage to face our issues in life. (not to run away from it). We need courage to tackle our temptation (not to ignore it, rationalize it, spin it or package it). We need courage to make our decisions (to grow we must face the truth and personal changes). We need courage to face our challenges (change is not easy, our decisions to change will be tested daily). We need courage in giving and accepting responses (others will be slow to acknowledge it; they will wait to see if our behavior changes).
We need courage to gain respect (Respect is always gained on difficult ground, and it comes from others only when our behaviors and works match it)
Eleven, have Self Development plan because Self Development expands your life for a meaningful tomorrow.
Having a meaningful tomorrow fully rested on how much you dedicate yourself to continuous learning. Life is a school and only readers pass life examination. John Maxwell says “Teachability is not so much about competence and metal capa city as it is about attitude. It is the desire to listen, learn and apply. It is the hunger to discover and grow. It is the willingness to learn and unlearn and relearn. John Wooden says “It’s what you learn after you know it all that matters.” Samson, Saul, Judas and some others who never had a meaningful tomorrow failed because they were not teachable. Give me a proud man who got destroyed before his tomorrow comes, and I will show you an un-teachable man. ,
The difference between a successful man and unsuccessful man is there attitude towards self development. Learn from everything, Goethe, The German philosopher said “Never let a day pass without looking at some perfect work of art, hearing some great piece of music and reading, in part, some great book.”
You need to know that – Education is not for a period of life it is a way of life. If you are talented hear this- “Talented people can be the toughest to teach; because they seem proud and pride is the number one hindrance to teachability.
While envy is the deadly sin that comes from feelings of inferiority, the deadly sin of pride comes from the feelings of superiority. It creates an arrogance of success, an inflated sense of self worth accompanied by a distorted perspective of reality.
The desire from envy and pride lead to loss of desire to learn and unwillingness to change. This makes person unteachable.
Twelve, Build Character because Character protects your life for a meaningful tomorrow.
When character is lost all seems to be lost, but when character is protected you can be sure of a meaningful tomorrow. We are always tempted to take short cut in life, but character prevents that.
To have a meaningful tomorrow, We need self discipline- the ability to do what is right even when we don’t feel like doing it. We need core values – there are the principles we live by every day. We need a sense of identity – ability to answer this question who am I – when it comes to character.
We need integrity – which is an alignment of values, feelings, thoughts and actions. Character must communicate consistency, Character must communicate choices, Character must communicate influence, and Character communicates longevity. A person with character doesn’t give up or give in to adversity, He does the right thing, and He takes control of his life
Thirteen, Build Relationship, Relationship influences your life for a meaningful tomorrow.
To live a meaningful tomorrow, be careful of your choices. John Wooden writes “there is a choice you have to make in everything you do, so keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make makes you” this is more relevant in your relationship, because nothing will influence your greatness, your talent, you tomorrow as much as the important relationships in your life.
Robert Kiyosaki asked us about 7 people in our lives and that our lives cannot be better than theirs in 5 years time. So who do you surround yourself with, Surround yourself with people who add value to your life, Surround yourself with people who encourage you, and your life will go in a positive direction and you will have a meaningful tomorrow.
Spend time with people who constantly drain you, pull you in wrong direction or try to bring you down, and it will be almost impossible for you to take flight, talk less of landing at the meaningful shore.
People can trace the success and failures in their lives to their significant relationships. Almost all our sorrows can be traced to relationships with the wrong people and our joys to relationship with the right people. Relationship with the Author of life and the owner of our tomorrow is the ultimate.
See you at the top
