To guarantee the success of everyone on earth, God established very many principles. Application of one or few of these principles will make you to achieve any goal you set for yourself.
One of these principles is the one I would call, the Golden Principle. It is golden because it is fundamental to your success, happiness, fulfilment, and sound health.
Though fundamental, the Golden Principle is the most neglected principle. And that is why we have unhealthy competition, enmity, frustration, disappointment, and man’s inhumanity to man; and that is why we are unsuccessful in life.
I travelled from Abuja to Ibadan sometime ago. At Utako Motor Park, Abuja, we waited for the passengers to come in and take up seats. While we were waiting, a slim, fair complexion woman (one of the passengers in the mini bus) was busy quarrelling with a small girl hawking food around. The fact of the matter was that the woman ate out of the food the girl was selling and then went straight to take her seat in the vehicle. When the girl asked her to pay the money and take the portion of the food she ate out of, the quarrel began: “E, e, e, I know people like you. If I don’t pay for this food today, you will never allow me to sleep in the night today. Yes, I know. I am a deliverance minister. I know what people like you can do. Now, take your money and give me the food.” That was how the matter ended.
Now, the focus here is not whether the woman is a deliverance minister, or whether the girl is a witch. The focus here is the failure on the part of the woman to apply the golden principle. If she had applied the golden principle, there would not have been any need to enter into tango with the girl in the first place.
What the woman would have done was to put herself in the position of the girl and say: “If I were this little girl and someone ate out of the portions of food I am selling, and the person refuses to buy that portion of food, would I be happy?” This is what the Golden Principle is all about: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If you cannot tolerate an act, why must you do the same act to another person?
That is the cause of the troubles we are having in the world today. If everyone would apply the golden principle in everything one does, or in relation to other, the world would be a better and peaceful place to live in, and every person would enjoy a richer, happier, and more fulfilling life.
Give No Room to Sentiments
When some people are bitten and battered, they tend to transfer their frustrations on others. Psychologists call this behaviour “transfer of aggression.” People, who behave that way, don’t normally enjoy peace, happiness, and prosperity. The same measure you mete out to people is the measure they will mete out to you. That is the golden principle at work.
Learn to control your emotion. When you are despondent or feeling bad, try to remain calm. Don’t act, take crucial decision, or speak when you are sad, because the tendency to err is very high. “Be angry, but sin not.”
Face Issues Squarely
Many problems and troubles we have in the society today are caused by our inability to face issues squarely. Instead of facing issues squarely, we digress. Digression means talking about something that is not connected with the main point of what you are saying. Many of us are fond of hiding under the cover of religion, politics, denomination, ethnicity, etc to perpetrate atrocity. You don’t solve societal problem by doing acts which may constitute more problems to the society.
If you want to be a problem solver, learn to face issues squarely. You solve problems by facing issues squarely.
It is an act of frustration and cowardice to abandon the main problem you set out to solve and raise issues that have nothing to do with the main problem.
The world is looking for men and women, boys and girls who are courageous enough to identify and face societal problems squarely.
Do What You Think is Right
Two “wrongs”, they say, cannot make a “right.” The “wrong” committed by a person should not lead you to commission of another “wrong.” You owe yourself a duty to be good all the time. One good turn deserves another. If you want to be rewarded with good, do that which is good. That is what the golden principle is all about. It is a principle of nature. You cannot change it. No person can change it.
I notice that many people are compelled to do what is right not because of fear of God, but because of nemesis or because of what the person they offended will do to them.
The reason many people are feeling insecure and fearful is that they don’t fear God. If you fear God, you will do what is right. And in doing what is right, you will not be afraid of anything or what any person can do to you. Clear conscience fears no accusation.
If you fear God and you do the right thing, you become indomitable, because the Creator of the heaven and earth, the God of vengeance will always be on your side to protect you and fight on your behalf.
Think Before You Do
In anything you want to do, try to slow down in your speech and action. Think before you speak and act. Try to weigh the consequences of your actions and utterances. You need to ask yourself: “Does God frowns on my actions and utterances? Will this person be hurt or offended by my actions and utterances?”
Instead of thinking before acting, what most of us do is the opposite. We act first before thinking. And in the course of thinking, we realise that we have hurt somebody. And even when our conscience pricks us, we still insist that what we did was right.
If you think before you do, you will learn to do the right thing and when you do the right thing, you invoke the Golden Principle to work for your good.
Fix the Fault Properly
Here lies the solution to broken relationship, broken marriage, and unfaithfulness. The solution is: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. It is the golden principle enacted by God. And Jesus emphasized this about 2 000 years ago. The principle has not changed and it cannot change. It is because it cannot change that we call it “principle.”
This golden principle is also the panacea to all the problems of mankind.
You can enjoy marital bliss, excellent human relationship, respect, and dignity if you apply the golden principle: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
It is not possible to be rewarded with good when you are dishing out evil to others. No way! The golden principle cannot be reversed. It is either you comply with it and be richly rewarded or you violate it and be punished.
Fix the fault properly by applying the golden principle: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
This principle is fundamental to your success, prosperity, happiness, and fulfilment.
Accept the Blame
One essential ingredient of the application of the golden principle is the acceptance of blame. When you know or your conscience pricks you that what you have done is wrong, or is something you yourself cannot tolerate, you need to accept the blame.
The reason we are having too many cases coming to court daily is because none of the parties to the cases are willing to accept their own share of blame. Both parties want to claim that they are right, and wouldn’t mind spending their time and fortune seeking court’s declaration that they are the ones that are right.
Realising the folly and the futility therein, Nigerian courts always advise parties to settle matters between themselves; and if they cannot settle the matter, then, they can come back to court and reopen their case.
What we do, more often than not, is shift the blame to another, even when it is glaring that we are the ones that should be blamed. This habit portrays us as insecure persons. When you are insincere to yourself, you are already working against your progress in life.
Accept the blame if you know you acted wrongly. Don’t transfer the blame to another. Examine yourself to know if you are right or wrong. Self-examination is the path to reaping the benefit of the Golden Principle.
You are a victor!
Friday 4 November 2011
Greater Success Lies Ahead
Greater success lies beyond our present scope of reasoning, imagination, and lifestyle. But because we do not take note of this fact, we make little or no progress in life.
To make progress in life, we must start looking beyond our present way of life, reasoning, and imagination.
Sometime ago, I was privileged to read the success story of Adi Dassler. Adi Dassler is the founder of Adidas Corporation, manufacturer of sportswear and equipment.
Dassler was a trained baker by qualification. In order to begin a lucrative career in bakery, he went round applying for bakery job, but he could not nail a job. All his effort to get a job proved abortive.
Out of frustration, he set up a small, insignificant shoe making business. Things did not turn out the way he expected. The turnout of customers was nothing to write home about. But he kept on with the business.
With patience and perseverance, he grew the tiny business into a large corporation, manufacturing all kinds of sportswear and equipment, including soccer balls, soccer boots, jerseys and shorts, hose, sports canvas, and a host of others.
Today, Adidas is a household name in the world!
Look beyond
Dear reader, greater success lies beyond your present reasoning, imagination, and way of life. Greater success lies beyond your present condition and field of discipline.
There is great sense in specialisation. There is great sense in carving a niche for yourself in a particular profession. But, then, it is important to note that greater success lies beyond these. You can be better than what you are now. You can achieve greater success than you have at the moment. You can also achieve greater success outside your field of discipline.
By qualification, Dassler was a baker, but when he could not get a job, he went beyond his field of discipline. He employed himself by becoming a shoe maker. He did not keep waiting endlessly to be employed as a baker.
It is a grave mistake to think that it is only in your area of discipline that you can succeed in life. While it is essential that you fit into your field of training, where the opportunity is not yet available, don’t sit down and fold your arms.
You can look beyond your present field while waiting to bounce back into your main field. On the other hand, you may even remain outside your field and turn things around for your own good, just as Dassler did. When he could not get a job, Dassler looked beyond his field of discipline and found goldmine in shoe making. His passion for the shoe making business gave him the strength to go on even when things looked difficult.
Like Dassler, you also can achieve great success in life, if you learn to look beyond your present condition, reasoning, imagination, and field of specialisation.
Don’t Follow the Crowd
You get easily lost in the crowd when you follow the crowd. On Saturday July 12, 2008 to be precise, there was a nationwide recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Board. Thousands of candidates trooped out for the recruitment exercise. In Kwara State alone, about 9 000 candidates participated in the exercise, and eventually, only 50 candidates were recruited to fill the 50 vacant posts. The same situation applies to the rest of the 35 states of the federation and Abuja.
Now, that is not all, in the course of undergoing the physical fitness test, several candidates lost their lives; while many others fainted, sustained injuries, and were rushed to hospitals.
“Is that madness?” you may ask. Well, that is the reality. Now that we are in 2011, it may get worse, unless something drastic is done. Thousands of candidates will be chasing 50 vacant posts!
In this type of situation, what are the chances of the thousands of the candidates applying for these jobs? Slim, very slim.
In this situation of unemployment when hundreds of thousands of people are pursuing, at most, a hundred jobs, it is very easy to get lost in the crowd.
But you can avoid getting lost in the crowd by simply refusing to follow the crowd. The mentality of the crowd has not changed.
They want to be employed and work for others. They believe that is the only way they can enjoy their life. As a result of this, many people spend several years doing nothing but waiting to be gainfully employed.
Dear reader, if you want to make positive impact in life, you must run away from the “crowd mentality”. It is not true that it is only when you are employed to work for others that you can enjoy a richer and better life.
I think the reason most unemployed people prefer working under people is because it is the easiest way out of problem of employment. It is, however, certainly not the best way of enjoying a richer life. The truth is, even if you are making millions for your employer daily or weekly, the employer may not like to pay you millions of naira for your input. The employer pays you only enough to meet your basic needs; he won’t pay you to make you richer than you are.
If you want to stand out in life, you must be ready to stand out of the crowd. This does not mean you should stop looking for employment, rather, it means you should stop tying yourself down to getting a job.
You can think the other way round, for instance, you can think of being self-employed. There are many businesses or jobs you can do to make your life more meaningful and richly rewarding. Think as an individual; don’t think the way the crowd do. Think your own thoughts. Be original. You are more likely to succeed when you follow your own line of thinking than when you follow the crowd.
Swallow Your Pride
You become successful in life not by starting from the top, but from the bottom.
If success in life requires starting from the top, then, many successful people you see today would not have been where they are. Most of them started with little or nothing. For Dassler, the story is not different. Apart from the shoe maker’s tools and the tiny shop, he had no other resources. If he had waited to be employed as a baker or waited until he got millions of Deutschmark, probably you would not hear the name, Adidas Corporation.
The reason many unemployed graduates are suffering untold hardship is because they feel they cannot descend so low as to start a business of their own from the scratch; or because they feel ashamed to do menial jobs to earn some income.
Dear reader, life is not stagnant. Why should you remain stagnant? Things will get better, if only you can humble yourself to start something now, no matter how little. It is the work of your hands that God will bless, not the folding of arms. A radio preacher once said; “Praying and fasting alone will not make you to prosper. You must find something to do.”
Find something to do. Just start with what you have and from where you are. Swallow your pride today and you will be amazed at the level of success you will achieve in a short time.
Take the Risk
One of the greatest qualities of successful entrepreneurs is the ability to take risks.
Every idea or decision you take is laden with risks. There are risks involved in any business you embark upon. The important point is not how you can avoid or dodge the risks. Some risks are unavoidable. The important point is your ability to take risks. It takes courage to take risk. Do you have the courage?
Like any other business, shoe making also has its risks, but these did not deter Dassler. He ventured into the business and took the risks involved. The rest is now history.
On the secret of his success, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of DAAR Communications Plc said: “A good manager must be courageous and capable of taking decisions. He must be able to take calculated risks and to LOOK AHEAD, not behind. There is no born manager or administrator. You acquire the skills. You just have to be in a position to be courageous, to have foresight, take calculated risks and go ahead. When I set up Ray Power FM Radio, people thought I was crazy, but today, I am a super hero. That is simply a calculated risk that turned out right.”
The greater the risk you take, the greater your chances of success. Take the risk today.
Handling Frustration
Whether you are looking for a job or you wish to set up your own business, one skill you need to master in order to succeed is your ability to handle frustration.
In anything you wish to accomplish, you may encounter setback, disappointment, and failure. Sometimes, they come in large numbers, but it is your ability to handle them without breaking down that determines your success.
When Dassler started his small shoe making business, he did not have a smooth sale. He encountered setbacks, disappointments, and failures. It was his ability to handle these frustrations that enabled him to overcome them and grow the little business into a large corporation.
If you can handle frustrations, there is nothing you cannot achieve on planet earth. People fail in life not because they don’t have what it takes, but because they cannot handle frustration.
Take frustrations as those things you will encounter on your way to success. Learn to handle frustrations by refusing to bow out whenever you encounter one.
Create Wealth by Creating Jobs
Although Dassler did not venture into shoe making business for the purpose of creating jobs and employing people, he ended up doing so. And by employing others to work for him in his factory, he ended up creating wealth for himself and for shareholders of the corporation.
If you want to be wealthy, change your mindset from that of a job seeker to that of a job creator.
Yes, you can go ahead and look for the job you wish, but note that great wealth is achieved by creating jobs and employing people to work for you. It all starts from just an idea: self-employment. You employ yourself by setting up your business. As you progress in the business, you begin to expand and employ workers.
You Win by Patience
B.C. Forbes said: “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.”
Patience is the determining factor in anything you wish to achieve in life. Patience is the ability to remain focused when everything seems to go wrong.
Rome was not built in a day. Just as it takes time to build a city, so it takes time to build wealth. You, therefore, need to exercise patience in anything you set out to achieve. Don’t expect to be rich overnight. A proverb says:” “He who desires to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.”
You are a victor!
To make progress in life, we must start looking beyond our present way of life, reasoning, and imagination.
Sometime ago, I was privileged to read the success story of Adi Dassler. Adi Dassler is the founder of Adidas Corporation, manufacturer of sportswear and equipment.
Dassler was a trained baker by qualification. In order to begin a lucrative career in bakery, he went round applying for bakery job, but he could not nail a job. All his effort to get a job proved abortive.
Out of frustration, he set up a small, insignificant shoe making business. Things did not turn out the way he expected. The turnout of customers was nothing to write home about. But he kept on with the business.
With patience and perseverance, he grew the tiny business into a large corporation, manufacturing all kinds of sportswear and equipment, including soccer balls, soccer boots, jerseys and shorts, hose, sports canvas, and a host of others.
Today, Adidas is a household name in the world!
Look beyond
Dear reader, greater success lies beyond your present reasoning, imagination, and way of life. Greater success lies beyond your present condition and field of discipline.
There is great sense in specialisation. There is great sense in carving a niche for yourself in a particular profession. But, then, it is important to note that greater success lies beyond these. You can be better than what you are now. You can achieve greater success than you have at the moment. You can also achieve greater success outside your field of discipline.
By qualification, Dassler was a baker, but when he could not get a job, he went beyond his field of discipline. He employed himself by becoming a shoe maker. He did not keep waiting endlessly to be employed as a baker.
It is a grave mistake to think that it is only in your area of discipline that you can succeed in life. While it is essential that you fit into your field of training, where the opportunity is not yet available, don’t sit down and fold your arms.
You can look beyond your present field while waiting to bounce back into your main field. On the other hand, you may even remain outside your field and turn things around for your own good, just as Dassler did. When he could not get a job, Dassler looked beyond his field of discipline and found goldmine in shoe making. His passion for the shoe making business gave him the strength to go on even when things looked difficult.
Like Dassler, you also can achieve great success in life, if you learn to look beyond your present condition, reasoning, imagination, and field of specialisation.
Don’t Follow the Crowd
You get easily lost in the crowd when you follow the crowd. On Saturday July 12, 2008 to be precise, there was a nationwide recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Board. Thousands of candidates trooped out for the recruitment exercise. In Kwara State alone, about 9 000 candidates participated in the exercise, and eventually, only 50 candidates were recruited to fill the 50 vacant posts. The same situation applies to the rest of the 35 states of the federation and Abuja.
Now, that is not all, in the course of undergoing the physical fitness test, several candidates lost their lives; while many others fainted, sustained injuries, and were rushed to hospitals.
“Is that madness?” you may ask. Well, that is the reality. Now that we are in 2011, it may get worse, unless something drastic is done. Thousands of candidates will be chasing 50 vacant posts!
In this type of situation, what are the chances of the thousands of the candidates applying for these jobs? Slim, very slim.
In this situation of unemployment when hundreds of thousands of people are pursuing, at most, a hundred jobs, it is very easy to get lost in the crowd.
But you can avoid getting lost in the crowd by simply refusing to follow the crowd. The mentality of the crowd has not changed.
They want to be employed and work for others. They believe that is the only way they can enjoy their life. As a result of this, many people spend several years doing nothing but waiting to be gainfully employed.
Dear reader, if you want to make positive impact in life, you must run away from the “crowd mentality”. It is not true that it is only when you are employed to work for others that you can enjoy a richer and better life.
I think the reason most unemployed people prefer working under people is because it is the easiest way out of problem of employment. It is, however, certainly not the best way of enjoying a richer life. The truth is, even if you are making millions for your employer daily or weekly, the employer may not like to pay you millions of naira for your input. The employer pays you only enough to meet your basic needs; he won’t pay you to make you richer than you are.
If you want to stand out in life, you must be ready to stand out of the crowd. This does not mean you should stop looking for employment, rather, it means you should stop tying yourself down to getting a job.
You can think the other way round, for instance, you can think of being self-employed. There are many businesses or jobs you can do to make your life more meaningful and richly rewarding. Think as an individual; don’t think the way the crowd do. Think your own thoughts. Be original. You are more likely to succeed when you follow your own line of thinking than when you follow the crowd.
Swallow Your Pride
You become successful in life not by starting from the top, but from the bottom.
If success in life requires starting from the top, then, many successful people you see today would not have been where they are. Most of them started with little or nothing. For Dassler, the story is not different. Apart from the shoe maker’s tools and the tiny shop, he had no other resources. If he had waited to be employed as a baker or waited until he got millions of Deutschmark, probably you would not hear the name, Adidas Corporation.
The reason many unemployed graduates are suffering untold hardship is because they feel they cannot descend so low as to start a business of their own from the scratch; or because they feel ashamed to do menial jobs to earn some income.
Dear reader, life is not stagnant. Why should you remain stagnant? Things will get better, if only you can humble yourself to start something now, no matter how little. It is the work of your hands that God will bless, not the folding of arms. A radio preacher once said; “Praying and fasting alone will not make you to prosper. You must find something to do.”
Find something to do. Just start with what you have and from where you are. Swallow your pride today and you will be amazed at the level of success you will achieve in a short time.
Take the Risk
One of the greatest qualities of successful entrepreneurs is the ability to take risks.
Every idea or decision you take is laden with risks. There are risks involved in any business you embark upon. The important point is not how you can avoid or dodge the risks. Some risks are unavoidable. The important point is your ability to take risks. It takes courage to take risk. Do you have the courage?
Like any other business, shoe making also has its risks, but these did not deter Dassler. He ventured into the business and took the risks involved. The rest is now history.
On the secret of his success, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of DAAR Communications Plc said: “A good manager must be courageous and capable of taking decisions. He must be able to take calculated risks and to LOOK AHEAD, not behind. There is no born manager or administrator. You acquire the skills. You just have to be in a position to be courageous, to have foresight, take calculated risks and go ahead. When I set up Ray Power FM Radio, people thought I was crazy, but today, I am a super hero. That is simply a calculated risk that turned out right.”
The greater the risk you take, the greater your chances of success. Take the risk today.
Handling Frustration
Whether you are looking for a job or you wish to set up your own business, one skill you need to master in order to succeed is your ability to handle frustration.
In anything you wish to accomplish, you may encounter setback, disappointment, and failure. Sometimes, they come in large numbers, but it is your ability to handle them without breaking down that determines your success.
When Dassler started his small shoe making business, he did not have a smooth sale. He encountered setbacks, disappointments, and failures. It was his ability to handle these frustrations that enabled him to overcome them and grow the little business into a large corporation.
If you can handle frustrations, there is nothing you cannot achieve on planet earth. People fail in life not because they don’t have what it takes, but because they cannot handle frustration.
Take frustrations as those things you will encounter on your way to success. Learn to handle frustrations by refusing to bow out whenever you encounter one.
Create Wealth by Creating Jobs
Although Dassler did not venture into shoe making business for the purpose of creating jobs and employing people, he ended up doing so. And by employing others to work for him in his factory, he ended up creating wealth for himself and for shareholders of the corporation.
If you want to be wealthy, change your mindset from that of a job seeker to that of a job creator.
Yes, you can go ahead and look for the job you wish, but note that great wealth is achieved by creating jobs and employing people to work for you. It all starts from just an idea: self-employment. You employ yourself by setting up your business. As you progress in the business, you begin to expand and employ workers.
You Win by Patience
B.C. Forbes said: “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.”
Patience is the determining factor in anything you wish to achieve in life. Patience is the ability to remain focused when everything seems to go wrong.
Rome was not built in a day. Just as it takes time to build a city, so it takes time to build wealth. You, therefore, need to exercise patience in anything you set out to achieve. Don’t expect to be rich overnight. A proverb says:” “He who desires to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.”
You are a victor!
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