Be intentional about your life. If you make your life a blank cheque, other people will write their own value on it. More often than not, it won’t to be a value that your Maker agrees with. Life is a pot-pourri of choices, decisions and consequences. We make our decisions and our decisions turn round to either make or haunt us. A decision is the choice you make after all options available to you have been considered. So, you cannot afford to be flippant or nonchalant about the key issues of your destiny.
Choose your priorities because they will determine your use of time and other resources. When you live by preferences instead of priorities, your life can move in any direction that your convenience dictates. When you live by priorities, you will discover that not every good or convenient activity is good for every time.
One common capital to rich and poor, the failure and the successful is time. It is given to all daily in 24-hour measure. The outcomes we get in time are results of our inputs into time. Poverty or riches, success or failure do not just happen! Neither do they creep on anyone. They are fruits of seeds sown into time. You must therefore be intentional about your activities and deliberately choose and pursue activities that pay significant tribute to your future.
Not every activity that demands your attention deserves your attention. Distraction sometimes comes in very attractive packages. If you doubt it, ask Samson of his experience on the laps of Delilah. Ask Joseph about the charm of Mrs. Potiphar. Laziness is not a lack of activity. It is simply activity in the wrong direction.
You need to be intentional about the relationships that feature in your life. God, family, superiors, friends, colleagues, contemporaries and subordinates all have different roles to play in your life. Learn to put each in the appropriate pigeonhole. You must master the art of Emotional Intelligence. A high Emotional Quotient (EQ) will move you up the ladder of success than a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) although possession of the two at appreciable levels makes you an unstoppable force! Learn and apply the Principle of Honour as well as the Echo Effect. Honour is the ability to discern and celebrate difference in people. It is about recognizing and celebrating people for the peculiar, distinct roles they play and the gaps they fill in your life per time.
Honour and celebrate God and His grace and mercy over your life and be humble enough to know that He is also working in and through others. Your life essence derives from God whether you acknowledge it or not. It is the height of foolishness to go through life without recognizing that you have a Source from whom derives an original design for your life. In the wisdom of the Yoruba, they have aptly stated that the river that disconnects from its source will dry up in a matter of time. Is this the reason why there are many people who have a veneer of success but deep inside, are feeling frustrated and depressed while futilely seeking answers to life’s gnawing questions?
Celebrate your family. They are all you will have left after everyone else has left. Make your spouse and children your best friends. Create an atmosphere of open communication within the family in a way that makes transparency a given. Don’t think that the only way that you can make your spouse or your children see “reason” is through violence, using the scourge of the whip or the scourge of the tongue. If you are wont to inflict bodily harm on your spouse and you are reading this, I want you to know that violence is the last resort of the incompetent. Incompetence takes refuge in violence as a face-saving device in trying to prove a point it cannot logically or intelligently pass across!
Celebrate the friends that bring meaning and focus to your life because they believe in you and your potential. Some friends only come around to reinforce your misery because it is a shared experience. Keep a protocol distance from such even while you listen to and learn from their experience. Keep durable company with people who speak the language of your destination rather than the language of your frustration. Following the counsel of Solomon in the Bible, a wise man must learn to choose his friends carefully!
Be grateful to and for everyone who helps you to fulfill your goals or who moves you closer to them, even if they meant evil. Without a Judas, Jesus would not have fulfilled His mission of going to the cross. Without the brothers of Joseph selling him into slavery or his master Portiphar throwing him into prison, he would not have made it to the palace of Egypt.
Pay the price to seek, connect with and celebrate mentors. Honour is the key to access. What you don’t honour, you cannot attract. Mentors are necessary because they signpost possibilities. A person qualifies to be your mentor if he is living in the reality of what is still a dream to you. A sure way to dishonor a mentor is not to value his time. When that happens, the door of access may be shut permanently.
Be intentional about choosing the battles you fight. Not every battle is worth fighting. Maturity is knowing that there are actually more battles to walk away from than to fight. Protect your focus, not your argument. What this means is that your destination is far more important than your distraction. Minimize arguments. Let your achievements prove your point and leave no one in doubt as to the sense in your strategy.
Keep your eyes on the ball, not the scoreboard. Whatever happens in the field of play is what is reflected on the scoreboard. Mind your game. Score the goals. Let the spectators mind the scoreboard. If you must fight, fight the fight of faith and lay hold on life, the Bible counsels. Fight for your vision, not your provocation. Fight for your ethos, not for your ego. Just because a pig charged at you is no reason to follow it into its sty. If you follow a pig to wallow in the mud, the pig is happy but you are dirty! Discretion is the better part of valour. It is the height of gallantry to learn the art of walking away when a battle, even when won, will not contribute anything to the attainment of your goals. According to Sun Tzu in his classic THE ART OF WAR, the greatest victory in warfare is in the battles you are able to win without firing a shot!
Yesterday ended last night. In spite of all its packages of woe, 2020 is already archived. The past is a school, not a prison. The only thing that should make the past a prominent part of your present is when you are recalling the positive lessons you need to take into the future.
How fast can you drive and how far can you go in reverse gear?
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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