To start with, winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all-the time thing. And you do not win once in a while. In fact, you must develop the required capacity and competence to win at all times. Remember, winners do not win once in a year, they win every-day of the year. Telling stories about when you used to win is not good. Over the years, I have met with countless people who recounted how they used to win like thirty (30) years ago. This is not a good way to live. You must always win—at all times!
Also, you do not do things right once in a while. You do them right all the time, because winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. I’d rather develop the habit of winning, since losing is also a habit. There are people who prepare to fail when others are preparing to win. Both failure and success take preparation, so when don’t you day after day choose to succeed like I daily choose to succeed?
Some years ago, I used to go to the Public Affairs section of United States Embassy, Lagos to read some relevant books. On the inside of their library, everything was free. And because I do know that receiving value for free is wrong, I stopped going there. To truly and legitimately receive value, you have to pay for it! Many years ago, an organization wanted to host a life-changing meeting. Those in leadership said that it should be free of charge, but one of the leaders said it was wrong to make the conference free of charge. She said those coming should pay as low as 100naira. She said and I quote: “people never take serious what they do not pay for.” Over the years, I have found out that it is true. People waste value when they get it free of charge.
For the umpteenth time, you do not learn anything unless you pay for it! Obedience and suffering always go together. Until people burn their fingers—they would never learn obedience. No matter how hard you try to stop a baby from touching a hot lantern, he or she would never listen, but when he or she burns one or two of his or her finger(s), he or she would never learn to stay away from it.
Now, let’s move to the crucial business before us for today: in the last twenty-five years, I have met with too far many men and women—who went off course and for many years, they did not know how to get back on track. One of the men I met with told me that it was too late for him to get back on track. As an effect of this warped way of thinking, instead of getting back on track, he continued to wander in the wilderness of life. Are you like him? If yes, I am penning this piece because of you.
The first thing you need to do is to acknowledge that you have missed it. Also, you need to trace your steps back to where you first missed it. Additionally, forgive yourself and seek for God’s forgiveness. After this, stop concentrating on the problem of missing it. If you do not do this, to get back on track will be almost impossible. Remember, when you concentrate on your problem, it will cause you to fail to act. And to help a man out of a problem, you have to break his concentration on the problem.
The reason you have been failing to act, so you can get back on track is because you have been concentrating on missing it. Stop thinking on missing it and start thinking on your purpose. The more you think about your purpose, the more you get out of the rut of wandering in the wilderness of life. This is the easiest way to get back on track. Remember, winners don’t dwell on what they lost; they dwell on what they still have left. When you dwell on what you have left, you’d recover what you have lost. It is only a question of time.
For the umpteenth time, winners do not concentrate on the past; they concentrate on the present and future. It is hard for you to get back on track because you are past-driven, not present and future-driven. After picking one (or two lessons) that is relevant to your life, leadership and business, stop thinking about and dwelling on your past. There is no future in your past!
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Also, anyone who knows his liabilities better than his assets is never going to be a winner. He is going to be a loser. The reason you are yet to get back on track, winning is—because you know what you cannot do, but you do not know what you can do. You know what you are poor at, but you do not know what you are good at. To win and keep winning, invest your time, thinking and working very hard on what you can do!
Lastly, you must find people who have gone through what you are going through and study them. If you cannot find them, get their books and burn many candles—reading through them and apply lessons on the inside of those books to your life, leadership and business. Whatever it is going to cost you (that is legitimate) to drink from their fountain of wisdom, do it! It is a must that you learn how they did what they did to get back on track. Till I come your way on next week Monday; see you where great and successful leaders are found.
