Success redefined (2)

Life always operates in two cyclical stages simultaneously: seed and harvest. Today’s manifestation is a result of the quality of yesterday’s seed.

The TRULY successful man begins from the top of Maslow’s hierarchy (which I described last week) and goes on to manifest every other thing on the ladder.

Success is the internalisation and progressive realisation of a worthy, God-inspired goal or ideal. It starts with an inspired idea, which you can also call the seed. Who inspires? Your maker or whoever you consider to be your source. The goal is worthy because it honours the source and brings significant service or value to others and in turn, significant reward to you. The reward is a harvest. Significance or relevance is the seed. Don’t neglect the seed and pursue the harvest.

The idea begins from within. You must embrace and own it first. Then it must be acted upon, pursued with vigour, determination and constant connection to the source of its inspiration. You must be willing to take baby steps which eventually become giant strides. Prayer and fasting alone will never deliver success or the pursuit to you. Those two forces are employed to water the seed and sustain the connection to the source as you work and walk the dream. Diligent work is the platform on which the claims of destiny are delivered.

Success is highly predictable because it leaves footprints. The path to success is shortened by simply following the footprints of those who travelled on a similar road before you. Find out what the people who succeeded before you in your area of pursuit did and replicate the model. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. You may repair it if it is broken, but don’t try reinventing it. Follow their examples while avoiding their mistakes.

Know, however, that not every path leads to your own destination. So be selective about your models of success. To succeed as a parent, you cannot be inspired by a very materially successful man who cannot keep a home and whose three children are strewn between drugs and jail. He may inspire you in other things. But not in parenting. Choose your model or your mentor in line with your goal or ideals. Not every path leads to your desired destination.

Your priorities must line up with your choices. Success is relative to purpose and desire. I know many frustrated rich people and many happy, fulfilled people without a bank account. Joseph in the Bible was labelled successful long before he ever came into prominence. The platform offered by Pharaoh only made it possible to operate the pre-installed success software. Some time ago on this page, we looked at the Japanese philosophy of Ikigai, the essence of living.

Success begins by asking questions. And the quality of questions you ask will determine the quality of answers you get. It begins with a personal inquisition that entails retrospection. You interrogate your past with a view to appropriately situating events and experiences in the light of your desired outcomes. Then comes introspection designed to discover your identity, purpose, power and potential. Power speaks to your current capacity while potential speaks about what you’re capable of doing, but you have not yet done. Capacity speaks about what you can do in a standardised, controlled environment. It is almost always predictable that given a certain kind of situation or environment, this is what you will do. Capabilities speak about what you can do in your own personal space and environment. Ability or capacity is limited by the environment that regulates it. Capability entails an internal dynamic that can do or achieve certain things in one’s own personal space where one’s creative capacity is unleashed without environmental controls breathing down one’s neck. Those are things you are capable of doing, but which you are not yet doing because the environment, social, economic or political, is not conducive.

Subsequently, check your toolkit. This has to do with your skills, ability and knowledge. Then comes the stage of projection where you come up with a vision and goals for the future. Use your vision to design a road map to the destination that you have you have envisioned. Some of the questions that you need to ask in the process include “Who am I?” “Whose am I?” In other words, where do I come from? Recognise that you are a deliberate creation of a deliberate mind that deliberately put you on earth to achieve something. The third question is “Why am I here? What did the creator put inside of me that makes me unique?” Your answer constitutes the platform for your assignment. Next you want to find out is, “What exactly is my assignment?” The “who” gives substance to the “why,” which in turn gives substance to the “what.” The “why” is an abstract question. The “what” codifies the thing you are supposed to do. That is what the world will know and recognise as your platform of activity, engagement and subsequent reward.

After the “what” comes the “how,” a strategy question. That is the point where you develop an action plan as you proceed on a strategic engagement of your purpose.

Following that is the “when?” question. Time is of essence in fulfilling purpose. The Bible teaches us there is a time for everything. There is a time to be born and a time to die. Every idea or vision has a season of manifestation.

The seventh question is, “where?” Not every vision thrives everywhere. There are specific material and human resources that God has positioned in certain places to connect with your inherent value. But you must be in the right environment to access them. Not every seed grows or thrives on every soil. Not everyone would benefit from the value you were designed to contribute to your world. So, stop seeking validation from people who have no value for your contribution. A wrong soil can kill the potential in a great seed. You’re going to have a lot of big dreams and yet.

The final question to ask and find answers to is “Who with?” As vital as people may be to the fulfillment of every dream, you are not sent to everybody and not everybody can help you to achieve your dreams. Not everyone who discourages you hates or envies you. Many of them are genuinely concerned about you. They just don’t understand the vision and to their mind, they’re trying to protect you from yourself.

Note the answers that you get to each of these questions and write them down. What you eventually decide to do with them will determine the trajectory of your life from that time on.

At every stage of action, do a review. Take feedback from people whose lives you are impacting – proteges, customers, family, etc. – on how your life continues to be relevant to them. Use the answers you get to improve your Value Quotient for sustained relevance. Success is a journey, not a destination.

It is more about WHO you become on your quest for WHAT you desire. Without an internal reconfiguration, external achievements will never provide the satisfaction that true success gives.

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

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