It is no restaurant

You are on the lowest level of life when work is merely a means to pay the bills, and not a platform to express your best. If your job is not an opportunity to grow into all you are meant to be, then it is just a mere rough way to get through the hours of your days on earth. If this is what you are experiencing now, then fulfillment would be so far away from you. Also, employment is not supposed to be a vehicle to pass your time, it is supposed to be an excellent chance to shine a light on other people and a way to use your days to build a better organization and- in so doing- a better world.

There are far too many people who are working everyday to only pay their bills. Their job is not an opportunity for them to grow into the reason why they are on earth. If the only reason you are working and living is to make money, then you are leading far away from purpose. Also, the major reason why people are frustrated and committing suicide today is because they are only breathing for money and fame, they are not using what they are doing as an opportunity to grow into the reason why God has sent them on earth. In the last 25 years, everything I have done has been in line with the reason why I am breathing in the midst of the earth. I have never done anything outside my purpose. Over the years, this has helped me a great deal.

Life becomes boring when your life is void of purpose. Why are people killing and maiming themselves today? It is because their marriages are void of purpose. Many marry for the wrong reasons today. To enjoy marriage, it must be an opportunity to grow into all you are meant to be. If your marriage is not leading you into purpose, it is surely leading you away from it. May God give you an understanding!

Back to the salient issue before us for today: many people go to work with the mind-set that when they get a bigger title and when they are granted more responsibility, then they will perform at mastery and go the extra mile in everything they do, but the truth is, you can perform at mastery and go the extra mile in everything you do without being given a bigger title and without being granted more responsibility. If you cannot perform at mastery when you do not have a big title, you would not perform at mastery when a huge title is given to you.

Also, if you want a bigger title and more responsibility, then you would need to perform at the mastery. This is the way it happens in the real world of leadership and business. You cannot move from one level of leadership to a higher level of leadership by desiring it alone, you’d need to become extremely productive and excellence-driven. If price is not paid, forget about the prize. No one enjoys an enduring glory without going through some pains. This is the way it happens.

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In the same vein, it’s the misshapen and warped bistro mind-set that makes people think that they would enjoy in life and pay the price later. Remember, across planet earth, a restaurant is the only place I know of where you get the good stuff first and then you pay the price. In work—and in life in general—you need to pay the price of success before you get all the rewards due to you. And by the way, just because you have not yet received the benefits of positive deeds you may have done, doesn’t mean they are not coming. They will surely come!

Buddy, you will always reap what you sow; the chickens will always come home to roost. You will always get what you deserve. Even the smallest good act will always set in motion a good consequence. This is the way things work on this side of the divide. And by the way, if you study any great person in business—and I mean the best of the best—or any great explorer or artist or scientist, not one of them achieved what they did for money. They were moved by a higher purpose.

For the umpteenth time, price comes before prize. It is at a restaurant you would enjoy chill drinks and sumptuous meals and pay later. In life, you pay the price first and then enjoy later. And if there is anything this generation runs away from, it is sacrifice. I have met with too many youngsters who detest the word ‘sacrifice’. All they desire is enjoyment. They love to reside in the comfort zone, but they do not know that when it comes to greatness, it can never be found inside the comfort zone. To become great, sacrificial life must be totally embraced.

Lastly, do not wait till you are given a title before you start leading. Without a title, there is a leadership potential trapped inside of you—waiting to be set free. You can lead where you are. You can serve those who are within your sphere of influence with your flavor and flagrance of value. You can encourage someone who is about to give up and pack it all in. You can lead. And the best time to lead is right now. In the days to come, the title would come. But the truth is, you really do not need it to lead at your best.

See you where successful leaders are found!