New Beginning: How to Turn Failure to Success

Dear reader, happy New Year! As we step into this year, It is my hope that you will receive inspiration from this article  that will enable you to turn your failure to fortune.


Failure is not final but a steppingstone to success. Failure can be turned into fortune when you realize that failure is not an end but an opportunity for a great comeback.


Years ago, I read the story of the man, Paul Galvin, who had a setback in his business and his company was wound up and auctioned. On the day his company was to be auctioned, Galvin came around. He used the last $750 dollar he had with him to buy back a department of his auctioned company.


With great determination and a fighting spirit, Galvin grew the department into what is now known as Motorola Corporation, one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Galvin thus demonstrated that failure can be turned to fortune if you make up your mind to do so.


Dear reader, if you are down today and you think it is all over, I want you to understand that it is not yet over. Right where you are, you can turn that failure to fortune. Below are six salient points you should master if you must turn your failure to fortune.


1.    Failure is Not Final


The problem is not that you failed. Any person can encounter failure at any time. There is no person that is highly successful today that has not encountered setbacks. But what is important is your ATTITUDE and what you DO with those setbacks.


If you must turn your failure to fortune, you need to understand that failure is not final. The fact that you are down today does not mean you are out. Galvin went down to the bottom. The company he labored to build was wound up and auctioned, but Galvin did not lose hope in life.


The way some people react to failure is terrible. Some people take failure as a crime and inflict punishment on themselves. They regret ever making the attempt. Some people would not do anything because of failure.


Dear reader, how do you react to failure? Do you react negatively or positively? If you react negatively, you are not likely going to summon up the courage to turn your failure to fortune. You need to realize that failure is not final but an opportunity for a great comeback. WHEN YOU ARE DOWN, DON’T THINK YOU ARE OUT. START THINKING AND STRATEGISING FOR A GREAT COMEBACK.


2.    Failure Is Not An Excuse


When some people fail, the common thing they normally do is that they use the failure as an excuse for not trying again. Dare Dean said, “I realize that there are two kinds of people in the world – those who look for a way and those who look for excuse.”

   
If you must turn your failure to fortune, you need to realize that failure is not an excuse. No matter the devastation the failure has caused you, you must not allow it to frighten you from trying again. Failure should be an opportunity for you to look for a way rather than for an excuse.


Philip Adams once told his team of engineers, “Unless you are willing to fail miserably and have another go, success won’t happen.” Instead of using failure as an excuse, start looking for a way out of that failure. Remember the Sorneo proverb: “Where the heart is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses; where the heart is willing, it will find a thousand ways.”


Never use failure as an excuse for not trying again. Paul Galvin came out of bankruptcy stronger and victorious because he never used his business failure as an excuse for not trying again. Get up and try again. The failure of yesterday has come and gone. Get up again and have a shot at success.


3.    Be Optimistic


When you expect the best, you will get the best; but when you expect the worst, you will get the worst. Nothing causes frustration and discouragement as failure or setback, but if you desire to turn your failure to fortune, you must get up from the ground and step upon frustration and discouragement so that you can see clearly the greater opportunities that you can capitalize upon.


Galvin was optimistic. He knew that failure is never final. He knew that using failure as an excuse would not make him to try again. Consequently, he was optimistic that if he tried again, he could bounce back and achieve greater success.


To turn your failure to success, you must be optimistic. You must believe that despite the setback you have encountered, you will succeed when you get up and try again. One thing optimism does for you is that it activates and gingers you to see opportunities or to look for ways of stepping out of failure and into fortune. Optimism enabled Galvin to take positive steps out of failure and into fortune. When you start expecting the best, soon, you will start walking out of failure and into fortune.


Have a Fighting Spirit


Only those that have a fighting spirit can get up and fight again after being beaten. You are not a failure because you failed; you are not a loser because you lost; you become one when you refuse to get up and fight again.


Galvin failed in his business. He went down. But he did not remain on the ground. With his fighting spirit, he got up and fought his way through to victory. When you have a fighting spirit, you will be able to deal with frustration and discouragement. The duo are the negative forces that hold people down in defeat. The way to overcome them is to force yourself to get up and try again even when you don’t feel like doing so.


5.    Pick  Up a Fragment


When you are down but not out, you can still do something. You may not be able to gather the whole fragments, but you can at least pick up a fragment. The fact about life is that you are not immune against failure. But life gives you the opportunity to pick up at least a fragment of your chattered business, life, venture or relationship. And this fragment is more than enough for you to launch a great comeback.


For Galvin, life granted him the opportunity of salvaging only a fragment of his auctioned company. Though a fragment, that was ALL he needed to achieve incredible success. LITTLE MEANS MUCH WHEN YOU ARE WILLING TO TURN YOUR FAILURE TO FORTUNE.


Dear reader, what do you do when you are down. Do you remain on the ground whining and complaining? Do you contemplate quitting?

But why should you keep whining, complaining and contemplating quitting when all you need to rise to greater height is with you right in the midst of the failure? ALL YOU NEED IS A FRAGMENT. YOU DON’T NEED MORE THAN THAT. Start looking for the fragment now. The fragment can be anything, just anything you can capitalize upon to launch you back to limelight.


6.    Invest All You Can


To turn your failure into fortune, you must invest ALL THAT YOU CAN. God is not asking you to do the impossible before He can bless you. God does not expect you to amass millions before He can prosper you. IF YOU WANT GOD TO HELP YOU TURN YOUR FAILURE TO FORTUNE, WHAT YOU NEED TO START WITH IS WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD TO INVEST.


It could be money, your talent, possession, potentialities or any resources that can be put to use. The important thing is: you must not allow failure or setbacks to frighten you from investing all you can afford. It is true that when a person suffers setbacks or fails, he is likely going to be afraid of taking further risk. It is this fear of taking further risks that makes people to remain as underachievers. Galvin did not allow setback to frustrate him from taking another risk. If he had got frustrated, you would not have heard the name, Motorola Corporation. Motorola is a product of failure turned into fortune.


Like Galvin, don’t allow setback or failure to stop you from investing. Every failure you encounter gives you a better opportunity for greater success. If Galvin’s initial company had not undergone the process of dissolution, Galvin would not have discovered the bigger opportunity of launching Motorola Corporation.
WHENEVER YOU ENCOUNTER FAILURE OR SETBACK, REALIZE THAT IN THE MIDST OF THIS FAILURE OR SETBACK LIES THE BIGGER OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU CAN CAPITALIZE UPON TO WALK INTO FORTUNE.


All you need do to take advantage of this bigger opportunity is to invest all that you have. Invest your energy, money, time, etc on the bigger opportunity that the failure or setback provides. Look diligently for the bigger opportunity right in the midst of your failure. It is there. You will find it. And when you do, invest ALL you can with all your might on that bigger opportunity.


Dear reader, you can turn your failure to fortune. Don’t look at the mud; look at the stars. Don’t look behind; look ahead. The fact that you made it successfully into this New Year, 2013, is an indication that God has given you another opportunity to put everything right.
This year is a year of new beginning! All the failures and setbacks of last year have gone forever. Now, you have the opportunity of beginning anew. You can make all things new. You can turn your failures to fortune.


Sure, it is not going to be easy. It has never been easy nor will it be easy anytime in the future. But it is not impossible. The life of victory in not a rosy one, but like Galvin, when you follow the success principles expounded in this article, you will surely emerge victorious at the end of the day!  

Reason for the Season

Dear reader, season’s greetings to you. Christmas is around the corner and it is my hope that you will make it a memorable one. Christmas remains one of the greatest events celebrated by mankind. 

Encyclopedia of Religion defines “Christmas” as “Christ’s mass, that is, the mass celebrating Christ’s nativity.” The birth of Christ marked the commencement of God’s plan of salvation which He had planned since the beginning of the world.

The message of Christmas is that Jesus is born to reconcile us with God. He was born to accomplish the Redemption work at Calvary so that we can enjoy eternal life.

Jesus is God’s great gift to mankind. That is why we cherish Him, celebrate Him and adore Him. As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, let us remind ourselves that in everything we do, we should do it to the glory of God.

And take note: the fact that others celebrate Christmas in ungodly ways does not make Christmas celebration a sin. It is not the event that is bad; it is the manner it is celebrated by some people.

To condemn Christmas event itself because some people are using the period to do ungodly practices is to try to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face.

If we realize that God can raise stone to praise Him, then we ought to know that abandoning our duty of worshipping God will not affect God in any way.

Christmas is not just a season of celebrating Jesus but also a season of rededicating our life Him. This is very important because we can’t continue to live life outside God.

The goal of satan is to draw you away from God. If you realize the folly of living life without God, then you have to be wise to quickly retrace your steps back to God.

The trick satan uses to destroy people’s lives is to draw them from the protection, mercy and grace of God. Once they become vulnerable, he then begins to ruin their lives and destiny.

ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT DRAW YOU CLOSER TO GOD WILL DRIVE YOU FAR FROM GOD. AND ANYTHING THAT DRIVES YOU FAR FROM GOD IS DEVILISH.

The plan of God for us is that we might know Him and the power of His resurrection. Any plan that negates this plan of God for us is not of God, as God does not contradict Himself.

Christmas season affords us the opportunity of letting ourselves loose from the bondage of sin by rededicating ourselves to God. I THINK ONE WAY OF MAKING CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION MEMORABLE IS BY MAKING A COMMITMENT TO LIVE A LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD.

The reason for the season is that Jesus is born so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. I am of the opinion that in this world that is characterized with sinful practices, we can still celebrate Christmas in a manner that pleases God.

As CFVL (Centre For Victorious Living) wishes you a merry Christmas and a happy New year, CFVL is giving out a special motivational eBook that will equip you for greater success come 2013. Written by a famous motivational writer, this eBook is a MUST-HAVE if you want to make year 2013 a year of greater achievement.

To obtain a copy of this eBook, just send me the following: your name/country/phone number/email/”xmas gift.”       

My contact is:

Phone: +2347061016859; or

Email: conqueror.adaji30@gmail.com.

One again, CFVL wishes you a merry Christmas and a happy Now year!

How to Profit from Your Fears (1)

Dear reader, do you know that some people are profiting from the fears of others? They way it is done is this: first, they create fear in people’s mind. Second, they announce that they have the solutions to what the people are afraid of. And third, they sell the solution to the people.

Some marketers are using this method to sell their products. They create fear in you and then they sell their products to you as solution to what you are afraid of.

But dear reader, do you know that you can profit from your own fears? Do you know that there are biblical principles you can apply to leverage on your fears? You don’t have to allow fear to ruin you. You need not allow fear to hold you down from making progress in life. Profiting from your fears is an art you must master, if you really want to achieve great success in life.

The Truth About Fear

The whole truth about fear is that when it comes to success, prosperity, breakthroughs and victories, there is nothing to fear at all.

The starting point to profiting from your fear is realizing that over 98% of those things we fear never happen. Fear is a weapon satan uses to hold us back from getting to where God wants us to be. Prolific playwright, William Shakespeare wrote: “Our doubts are traitors. They make us lose the good we oft might gain by fearing to attempt.”

Outstanding Lessons from the Four Lepers

The story of the four lepers during the great famine in Samaria vividly illustrate how to handle fears and profit from it (2 Kings 7:3-10).

These four lepers were slowly dying of starvation caused by the famine in the land of Samaria. At the entrance of the city where they sat, they deliberated on what to do to survive. But they were afraid of taking an action. They were filled with apprehension of the negative consequence of each action they wanted to take.

As a result of this, they argued among themselves. But the argument was not helping them. They must do something quickly or else they starve. At last, they summoned up the courage to move from the place they were sitting to the enemies’ stronghold (Syrian camp).

It was a big risk they took, but it paid off! The dreaded Syrian troops were not there. Their camp was empty. They left their food, clothes, silver and gold and ran away.

This risky decision they took landed them in fame and fortune as they took as much silver, gold, food and clothing as they could. They also saved the entire country of Samaria when they informed the king of their discovery.

There are great lessons we can learn from these four lepers, which we can apply in our own lives for our own profit. Below are some of these lessons:

1. Take Decision Quickly

Every important decision you wish to take is laden with risk. The fear of risking one’s life and fortune and the fear of failure are responsible for people’s underachievement in life. Many people prefer doing nothing at all to attempting to do something and fail.

Dear reader, the greatest mistake you can make in life is doing nothing for fear of making a mistake or fear of failure.

Don’t waste your time debating on what to do or not to do. After you have considered both decisions, quickly decide on better steps to take and take the steps right away. 

Never sit down doing nothing because of fear of failure or fear of making a mistake. Regardless of all the decisions you are contemplating, the fact is, no decision is entirely free of risk. Every decision has its risk and apprehension, but the worse thing to do is to sit down and do nothing.

To profit from your fears, the first step to take is to decide quickly on what to do. REGARDLESS OF YOUR FEARS, TAKE A DECISION THAT YOU BELIEVE WILL YIELD GREATER DIVIDENDS. You need to ask yourself: “In spite of my fears, apprehension and doubt, do I stand to profit greatly from the decision I want to take?

Once you are convinced about what you stand to gain from the decision you are about to take, never allow fears to hold you down from doing what you planned to do. Ignore your fears. FOCUS ON THE BENEFIT YOU WILL GET FROM THE DECISION YOU WISH TO TAKE. LET THE BENEFIT YOU WILL ENJOY INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE YOU TO TAKE DECISION QUICKLY.

2. What You Fear Holds the Treasure You Are Seeking

It was Walt Disney that said: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you are seeking.” Disney knew this from personal experience. When he set out to build the greatest entertainment park in the world, he had some apprehension about the great project he wanted to embark upon. But he never allowed the apprehension to hold him down from actualizing his project.

He kept working towards achieving his goal. It was reliably reported that Disney approached 301 banks for loan to enable him execute his project, but they all turned him down. The banks were afraid of losing their money if Disney’s project failed.

But Disney kept focusing on the great benefit of his project to humanity and kept searching until a bank finally gave him the nod.

What is that cave you are afraid of entering? What is it you want to accomplish that you are afraid of embarking on? The truth is, what you are afraid of holds the treasure you are seeking. And the way to miss the treasure is to allow fear to hold you down from doing something tangible to acquire the treasure.

TO PROFIT FROM YOUR FEAR, YOU MUST FOCUS ON THE TREASURE. The four lepers focused on the benefit they would obtain from the decision they wanted to take. This gingered them to move from their stagnant position (poverty situation) to prosperity position.

Disney also focused on the great benefit of his project and this gingered him to minimize his apprehension and increase his faith until he eventually found a way of accomplishing the project.

Dear reader, don’t allow fears to rule you. YOU CAN PROFIT FROM YOUR FEARS AND THE WAY TO PROFIT FROM YOUR FEARS IS TO MINIMIZE THEM AND FOCUS ON THE TREASURES THAT LIE BEYOND THOSE FEARS.

Mary Morrissey said: “YOU BLOCK YOUR DREAM WHEN YOU ALLOW YOUR FEARS TO GROW BIGGER THAN YOUR FAITH.”

To profit from your fears, you must minimize them and focus on the profit. When you focus on the profit, fears can’t hold you down. The profit you are focusing on will motivate you to do what needs to be done to obtain the profit you are seeking.

3. Most Fears Are Illusion

One truth you must establish in your mind, if you want to achieve great success in life is that most fears we entertain in our mind never happen.

Someone defines FEAR as “False Experience Appearing Real.” Most things we fear all the time never happen. This is one reason you should not entertain or allow fear to hold you back from moving forward into prosperity.

Why sit there until you die? This is the kind of question the four lepers pondered before they finally summoned up the courage to move into a seemingly danger-zone, but which eventually turned out to be a prosperity-zone.

The four lepers stood the chance of being killed by the Syrian army, but they did not allow the fear of being killed to stop them from getting to their camp. Hear them: “…Why sit we here until we die. If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.” (2 Kings 7:3-4)

And when they got there, were they killed? No! In fact, the blood-thirsty Syrian armies were not there in their camp. You see, sometimes the thing we are afraid of is just an illusion, they rarely happen. FEAR IS A WEAPON SATAN USES TO HOLD US BACK FROM GETTING TO WHERE GOD WANTS US TO BE.

Don’t fold your arms doing nothing because of fear of failure, fear of making a mistake or fear of danger. The truth is, WHENEVER YOU REFUSE TO STEP OUT AND DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE BECAUSE OF FEAR, YOU ARE MISSING GREAT TREASURES GOD HAS PACKAGED FOR YOU.    

Dear reader, it is true that people who understand this principle are making fortunes from their fears. It is true that you also can make fortunes from your fears. You need not allow fear to hold you down from making progress in life. The way to make fortunes from your fears is:

• Don’t waste too much time vacillating, or moving back and forth. Take decision quickly and act on that decision quickly.

• Never sit down doing nothing because of fear of failure, fear of making a mistake or fear of danger. Be ready to fail, be ready to make a mistake and be ready to encounter risk.

• Regardless of your fears, take a decision that you believe will yield greater dividends and act on that decision quickly.

• Focus on the benefit you will obtain from the decision you have taken and never turn back from working hard to achieve your set goal.

• The very cave you fear to enter is the cave you must enter because that is where you will find the treasure you are looking for.

• Fear should ginger you to find ways of executing your project.

• Minimize your fears and focus on the greater benefit of the project you wish to accomplish.

Start making fortunes from your fears by practicalising the instructions contained herein. You are on the path to abundance, success and victorious living!

Until I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!

NB: the second part of this article will be coming your way soon. Watch out for it. You must not miss it!

Shipwreck of Faith: Five Steps to Building the Faith that Calms the Storm

On the sea of life, the storm is a regular occurrence that hit hard on man and his environment. We are all on a voyage in the sea of life. As we sail on, the voyage may turn out to be stormy.

The storm may cause or threaten to cause a shipwreck, but you need to realise that if you are going to reach your destination, you must be ready to deal with the storm that threaten to drown you.

The aim of every storm in your life is to drown you and keep you from being the best that God wants you to be. But whether you will drown or float depends on how you respond to the storm.

The good news is that you are not at the mercy of the storm. God does not create you to be overwhelmed by the storm of life. You are not created to be a loser but a winner.

You can calm every storm in your life. God has given you what it takes to calm every storm that is threatening to drown you. The weapon God has delivered into your hand is FAITH. The Bible says, “THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH.” (1 John 5:4).

It is your faith that gives you the victory you desire. The storm of your life will not bow to anything except your faith. All the obstacles in the world put together cannot hinder your progress in life as long as you maintain an unshakeable faith for victorious living.

The life of faith is life of victory. To calm every storm of your life, you must endeavour to develop an unshakeable faith for that purpose.

How do you develop an unshakeable faith that will calm every storm in your life? Below are four steps you can take. Read them, digest them, practice them and you will surely calm every storm in your life.

  

1. Launch Forth

Victory does not come until you step out of your ‘comfort zone.’ You cannot actually celebrate victory until you launch out, holding unto the faith that whatever happens, you will emerge victorious in the end.

One reason some people may never experience breakthroughs is that they find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone. In the field of motivation, ‘comfort zone’ is a situation where a person feels he must not do anything about his situation.

Comfort zone does not really imply that that a person is actually comfortable, well-to-do, or contented with the situation he is in. comfort zone denotes a situation where a person wishes to change his fortune, but because of doubt and fear of the unknown, he chooses to remain in his present situation.

To such a person, it is better or more comfortable to remain in one’s present situation, no matter how unpleasant it may be, than to step out into a ‘probably’ worse situation.

Dear reader, do you find yourself in this kind of situation? You desire a positive change, you want to change your financial situation and yet, somehow you lack the courage to step out of your comfort zone?

You are not alone in this situation. Most people who achieve very little in life would testify that they never took risk by stepping out of their comfort zone.

They prefer doing nothing to attempting something and fail. Their opinion about failure is that failure is the worst thing to happen to them.

Dear reader, when you hold unto this kind of opinion, you may never be able to develop the courage to step out and do something worthwhile. NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED.

To build the faith that calms every storm in your life, you must force yourself to take the first step. A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. Until you take a step, nothing happens. STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE IS THE STARTING POINT TO BUILDING THE FAITH THAT CALMS EVERY STORM ON THE SEA OF LIFE.

Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is not a crime. In fact, it is better to try and fail than not to try at all. People who tried and failed stand a better chance to succeed than those who never tried at all.

Ponder this: The worst risk you will ever take is taking no risk at all. The biggest mistake you will ever make is making no mistake. Note also that fear of failure is the number one destiny destroyer.

You need a leap of faith to enable you launch out of your comfort zone. TRAIN YOUR MIND TO BELIEVE THAT EVERY STEP YOU TAKE WILL LEAD TO A POSITIVE OUTCOME. BE OPTIMISTIC REGARDLESS OF THE WAY YOU FEEL. KEEP BELIEVING THAT WHEN YOU TAKE A STEP, THINGS WILL START WORKING OUT FOR YOUR GOOD.

When your mind is saturated with positive and optimistic thought, you will soon realize that taking steps of faith is as easy as ABC.

2. Face the Storm

The storm bows to no one except men and women of faith. On a certain day, Jesus and his disciples boarded a ship to cross to the other side of the sea. As they sailed, there arose storm which threatened to drown them. Jesus, who was asleep, was woken up by the cries of His disciples.

Jesus then faced the storm and rebuked it: “Peace be still.” And there was calm! Jesus’ reaction against His disciples’ attitude toward the storm shows the importance of faith in the midst of the storm.

To His disciples He said, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

THE FAITH THAT CALMS THE STORM IS THE FAITH THAT REMAINS UNSHAKEN IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM. No amount of crying, wailing and worrying can calm the storm in your life. The only thing that can calm every storm in your life is FAITH.

Faith will do for you what weeping and crying cannot do. What Jesus expects us to do in time of storm was what he did on the stormy Sea of Galilee. He faced the storm and rebuked it. The next time you come face to face with the storm, rather than cry and weep, hold unto your faith believing that the storm will pass and it shall be so.

3. Measure the Storm By God

The faith that calms the storm is the faith that measures the storm by God. One big mistake we normally make whenever we are faced with problems is that we try to measure the problems by our capability.

In our mind, we imagine the problems as insurmountable and see ourselves as weaklings. On the stormy sea, Peter once walked on water to meet Jesus. When he saw the wind boisterous, he became afraid. He cried out and Jesus rescued Him.

Peter nearly drowned because he allowed fear to grip him. He tried to measure himself by the size of the storm. Seeing himself helpless in the midst of the storm, he knew he was in trouble.

Dear reader, whenever you encounter a problem that looks insurmountable, don’t measure the problem by your strength, if you do, you may drown. By your physical strength, you can do little or nothing. Don’t measure the storm by your power. Great victories are not won by physical and mental strength. The arms of flesh don’t always prevail in great battles.

The Bible says it is God that gives us victory (see 1 Cor. 15:57). It is God that gives us power to get wealth. Therefore, whenever you are confronted with the storm, measure the storm by God.

When you do this, you will begin to see the storm as insignificant before the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and Creator of the storm itself, and consequently, your faith will increase.

THE FAITH THAT CALMS THE STORM IS THE FAITH THAT MEASURES THE STORM BY GOD. The secret of building the faith that calms every storm is to simply put your trust in God who is uncountable times bigger than any storm. In the Book of Jeremiah 32:27 God said, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?”

Don’t trust in your own power and ability alone; trust in God’s power and ability. For, “by the arm of flesh shall no man prevail.” ONLY AN UNSHAKEABLE FAITH IN THE ALMIGHTY GOD CAN CALM EVERY STORM IN YOUR LIFE.

4. Focus on a Clear Coast

What will bring you the victory you desire faster is your focus on that victory. Focusing on victory does not mean you are denying the existence of the storm. Focusing on victory implies refusing to surrender to the storm.

THE WAY TO DEVELOP THE FAITH THAT CALMS THE STORM IS TO PRACTICE TAKING YOUR EYE OFF THE STORM.

The storm will always be contrary. Storm represents opposition, obstacle or problems that threaten to hinder you from getting to the other side where success and victory lie.

The storm may threaten to cause a shipwreck. The storm may slow down your rate of progress. The storm may slow down your effort in the pursuit of your endeavour, but don’t focus on them. learn to focus on victory that is at the other side.

The reason people get stuck and never achieve victory is that they focus too much on all the negative things that are happening in their lives.

By focusing on the negative, they lose sight of the victory that awaits them on the other side. People who focus on the negative end up destroying the faith they have been building over the years.

Victory comes to those who focus on victory. If you are going to be victorious in life, you have got to take your eyes off the negative, unpleasant situations and focus your mind on victory.

A clear coast is what you should keep seeing in your mind. Even when everything is going worse in your life, keep seeing a clear coast. Keep focusing on victory. As you do, you will have the victory you desire. Remember, it is what you expect that you get.

Remember also that no unpleasant condition is permanent. It may be bad, worse or worst today. The situation may look like a shipwreck situation and you may be wondering how you will be able to get out of it. You might have concluded that there is no hope anymore.

But listen: every storm in your life is expected to last only for a while. Every storm has its lifespan. No storm is expected to continue forever. You may not know and in fact you don’t need to know when the storm will pass. WHAT IS HOWEVER REQUIRED OF YOU IS TO HOLD ON TO THE HOPE THAT AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, THE STORM WILL CALM.

5. Exercise Patience

In developing the faith that calms the storm, you need patience. When you have patience, you will have everything you desire. Patience is necessary for developing the faith that calms the storm. John Avanzine said, “PATIENCE IS THE BATTERY THAT RUNS THE CLOCK OF FAITH.”

Can you keep working, hoping and waiting, PATIENTLY, for the storm to pass? Or will you allow the storm to frustrate and discourage you from making progress in life?

Dear reader, the secret of building the faith that calms the storm has been handed to you in this article and it is summed up as follows:

a.    Launch out by stepping out of your comfort zone. A journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step;

b.   Face the storm. Refuse to be frightened by the storm. The storm bows ONLY to men and women of faith who confront it;

c.    Don’t measure the storm by yourself, measure it by God because it is ONLY God that gives us victory; and

d.   Focus on a clear coast. Regardless of the raging of the storm, focus on victory and speak victory over the storm.

Till I come your way soon, go and build the faith that will calm every storm in your life! Go and live victoriously!