The Audacity of God's Grace: 10 Strategies To Living Your Best Life Now (27 page)

“Losers of life fortunes are those who quit when life goings get tough.”

Don’t let that be you. Be a focused visionary.

Be Deaf to Negativity

If you want to accomplish your dreams, you must be very decided that you are going to achieve your goals no matter how difficult the process may be. Along the way, people may discourage the visionary instead of encouraging them. However, an earnest visionary should become like the little frog that was determined to reach the top of the tower; deaf to the cries of the negativity from the crowd and those of the other frogs that couldn’t possibly make it to the top. Many a times, life is inevitable with meeting people who are just there to make things even worse by becoming agents of discouragements and burden to your joy and progress. Be deaf to them! Nevertheless, instead of listening and agreeing with them, being a focused visionary qualifies you to be deaf to negative people, negative thoughts, and negative circumstances and environment. Instead, a focused visionary is the person who incline their ears to the originator of good thoughts and great ideas—God. Sometimes, there are also God-given people who will not only believe in the seemingly impossible plans of a person but will also support one’s actions and make things a lot easier. These are the cycle of influence that should surround a focused visionary. For people who are blessed with supporting friends and family, things will truly be easier. However, being a focused visionary means that individuals should still be dependent on God, acknowledging that the people they are surrounded with have been deliberately provided by the choreographer of life success and sustainer—God. The story of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers chapters 13 and 14 portrays the importance of being a focused visionary and being deaf to negativity. From this story, we can see that those who disbelief themselves always get defeated. They cannot eat the fruit of the land. They are easily distracted and discouraged. But a focused visionary who is deaf to negativity is courageous. This courage enables them to rise to the top.

God is Able

On the other hand, if it seem that you lack the supporter you need, do not despair. God will never run out of resources and the good things of life to take care of you. In the Christian Scriptures, the story of Moses portrays the Hebrew leader lacking in self-confidence that is needed to meet with and confront Pharaoh. God gave him Aaron to become his right hand. God believed that Moses could do the job alone through His hands but Moses’ doubted about his own personal abilities and that limited what he was able to do. As a result, he shared his glory and fame with his brother (Exodus 1-15). On the other hand, the story of Job shows how God thinks about His people and makes a way of escape behind the earthly scenes. In chapters 1 and 2 on the book of Job, our greatest enemy—Satan presented himself to God together with the sons of God.

We are told how the enemy reveals that he has been considering Job’s faithfulness to God that Job was only able to worship and serve God faithfully because there is a hedge placed around him by God. He then challenges God to remove all his earthly wealth, Job’s multiple streams of income and everything that makes Job’s life easy and watch how Job will reject him. This is the only time in the whole of the Christian Scripture where God conceded to the enemy not because he wanted Job to suffer, but because God believed that the godly man’s worship is not based from what he has, but something borne out of love and a special relationship with God. This shows God’s confidence in Job. Can God have this type of confidence in you? Can God count on you? Can God say to the enemy on your behalf like that of Job—oh go ahead. He/she will not compromise?

Go for Godly Principles

Godly principles are sound principles. As mentioned earlier, the world portrays different kinds of belief systems and philosophies. Some of them are clearly twisted while others seem good. However, not all philosophies that appear to be wonderful are really what they seem to be. There are certain groups who claim to be Christians but a closer look at how they live their daily lives, their values, what they stand for, and what they do shows that they are only religious people—not spiritual people. Rick Warren acknowledges these drives and agrees that some are driven by material things. In this case, the motivation is based on worldly principles. Acquiring wealth is not bad. What is dangerous however is the means to which one acquires wealth and how many lives destroyed in the pursuit of prosperity thereof. When short cut, blackmail, fraud and deception, corruption and destruction of other people’s lives, progress and reputation becomes the focus of one’s lifestyle in order to attain prosperity and success, it can turn to disagreeable circumstances which could bring miseries instead.

“Those who have known Jesus and experienced his grace should not make the worldly standards their end or as a means for achieving success.”

STRATEGY NUMBER 9
INVEST IN YOURSELF: IT TAKES
COURAGE TO SUCCEED

“If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward”

—Martin Luther King Jr.

COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF OBSTACLES & FEAR

There is nothing that works better than self-empowerment for anyone wanting to break through barriers and develop themselves into an unstoppable force for success. Courage is the bedrock to that self-empowerment which hands you over, the keys of motivation to become whatever you want to become. Deep within each of us, we want to do well in all fronts in life. Beginning at birth, every human is inclined to survive, to excel, and to not gnash in despair, failure, or pain. But it takes courage to survive life. It takes courage to try something new; to do the uncommon, and to challenge the status quo that keeps people in the suburbs of life. One of our greatest fears is being ostracized, and rejected by “the group” whose ideals we have embraced because it has become convenient and the norm too.

Kill the Fear

It could be a group of friends we have forged over the years, family, work colleagues, political affiliates, and even church acquaintances. There are other fears also. The fear of being made to look foolish, the fear of losing our fame and popularity; the fear of being talked about and misunderstood, the fear of losing our cherished groups and circles, and the ultimate fear, that trying the extraordinary or something new will cause us our comfort. Rather than rugged individualists, we are more like Gulliver of old, tied down and immobilized by tiny strands of fear, real or imagined. The outcome is predictably tragic: loss of courage to do the uncommon. Life is surrounded with common things. Getting up to eat some junk food, going to work, attending a class, going over to the bar with friends, avoiding to use the gym or getting some exercise to maximize our health opportunities, smoking the weed; using a restroom, playing some of our favorite sports, spending almost our day in front of the screen and retiring for the day. But have you looked at life from the perspective of leadership?

“A courageous person is that person whose leadership drive is to invest in him or her and invent new ideas that help solves a social or economic problem.”

When carefully executed, such leaders create floodgates of wealth and opportunities, which impart social change for the unborn generations. These are the leaderships that our world is yearning for; it we each become a force for positive social change in the face of stupendous evils, and provide a leadership that will banish you from poverty.

Be Inspired

The story of Thomas Edison, one of the most outstanding American inventors mirrors a life marred with the realities of life difficulties, but a demonstration that, with a great spirit to be courageous in the face of difficulty and unpleasant circumstances, nothing becomes impossible with those who will not give up when the going gets tough. Born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Edison is the quintessential American inventor with a story that inspires. Before he died, he gave us the phonograph, the transmitter for the telephone speaker, an improved light bulb, and key elements of motion-picture apparatus, as well as other bright inventions. He also created the world’s first industrial research laboratory before he died on October 18, 1931, in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Alva Edison was the last of the seven children born to Samuel and Nancy Edison. Thomas’s father was an exiled political activist from Canada. His mother, an accomplished school teacher, was a major influence in Thomas’ early life. An early bout with scarlet fever left Thomas with hearing difficulties in both ears, a malady that would eventually leave him nearly deaf as an adult. In 1854, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Edison attended public school for a total of 12 weeks. A hyperactive child, prone to distraction, Thomas was deemed “difficult” by his teacher. His mother quickly pulled him from school and taught him at home. At age 11, he showed a voracious appetite for knowledge, reading books on a wide range of subjects.

In this wide-open curriculum, Thomas Edison developed a process for self-education and learning independently that would serve him throughout his life. At age 12, Edison set out to put much of what he has learned through his education to work. He convinced his parents to let him sell newspapers to passengers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. Exploiting his access to the news bulletins teletyped to the station office each day, Thomas began publishing his own small newspaper, called the
Grand Trunk Herald
. The up-to-date articles were a hit with passengers. This was the first of what would become a long string of entrepreneurial ventures where he saw a need, capitalized on opportunities, and solved certain social problems which also rewarded him handsomely with wealth.

You Can Do It

By having access to the railroad, Edison took advantage of the opportunity and conducted chemical experiments in a small laboratory he set up in a train baggage car. During one of his experiments, a chemical fire started and the car caught fire. The conductor rushed in and struck Thomas on the side of the head. He was kicked off the train and forced to sell his newspapers at various stations along the route. The story has it that while Edison worked by the railroad, a near-tragic event turned fortuitous for the young man. After Edison saved a three-year-old from being run over by an errant train, the child’s grateful father rewarded him by teaching him to operate a telegraph. By age 15, he had learned enough to be employed as a telegraph operator. For the next five years, Edison traveled throughout the Midwest as an itinerant telegrapher, subbing for those who had gone to the Civil War. In his spare time, he read widely, studied and experimented with telegraph technology, and became familiar with electrical science. In 1869, Edison moved to New York City and developed his first invention, an improved stock ticker, the Universal Stock Printer, which synchronized several stock tickers’ transactions. The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company was so impressed with his invention that they paid him $40,000 for the rights. Edison was only 22 years old at the time. With this success, he quit his work as a telegrapher to devote himself full-time to inventing.

Discover What’s Holding You Back

In 1870, Thomas Edison set up his first small laboratory and manufacturing facility in Newark, New Jersey, and employed several machinists. As an independent entrepreneur, the story has it that Edison formed numerous partnerships and developed his products for the highest bidder. In one such instance, Edison devised for Western Union the quadruplex telegraph, capable of transmitting two signals in two different directions on the same wire. However, railroad tycoon, Jay Gould snatched the invention from Western Union, paying Edison more than $100,000 in cash, bonds and stock, which generated years of litigation. With Edison’s ever-increasing financial success, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell, who was an employee at one of his businesses in 1871. By the early 1870s, Thomas Edison had acquired a reputation as a first-rate inventor. In 1876, he moved his expanding operations to Menlo Park, New Jersey, and built an independent industrial research facility incorporating machine shops and laboratories. After being granted a patent for the light bulb in January 1880, Edison set out to develop a company that would deliver the electricity to power and light the cities of the world. That same year, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company—the first investor-owned electric utility—which later became the General Electric Corporation. On a wide range of things, Edison was known for his ability to turn failure into success. This is why wealthy people who successfully pass wealth to their next generations were known for creating multiple streams of income and multitasking as I discussed earlier.

Remember that Only the Courageous Triumph

The irony is that it takes real courage to effect proactive leadership. Thomas Edison had every legitimate reason not to excel. But he chose to be courageous in the face of unpleasant circumstances. It is only courage that can inspire excellence. I believe that God has given you the audacity to lead your best life now; an amazing and inspiring life that is powered by the grace of God. Living your best life now and performing at such an intense level that will “wao” this generation demands that you take courage because in life, only the courageous triumph. Life victories do not come over night. In a battle, no body hands a warrior victory. Warriors have got to fight or take a flight and face life causalities. Life journeys will not great you with ease, because our capitally driven world is no longer at ease. As our global economy lean more towards capitalism, only the strong will survive.

“A mark that distinguishes strong leaders from bystanders is their ability to be courageous in the face of unpleasant circumstances.”

This is why the leadership of your life on your journey to success is not a funfair; but about sheer determination to thrive without which your life will not drive.

Only the Strong Survives

Great achievers, inventors, and those whose ideas or life stories have inspired the world are people who have guts. It takes a lot of guts to courageously take laudable actions that translate into fruitfulness. God wants you to be fruitful. It is your fruitfulness that will determine your products. It takes courage for your dreams to mature. People who aspired for excellence and became inspirations with their results all learnt and benefitted from courage. To lead and outperform your peers, to maximize your output in life and becoming victorious, you have got to take courage because the durability of your success and to living your every-day life at its fullest potentials lies in understanding the power behind courage. Is it any wonder that one of the most notable leaders of all time, Prophet Moses and Joshua who led the Israelites at a defining moment of their history learnt the balance of power within the corridors of courageousness?

It Takes Courage to Wait For
Your Dreams to Mature

In the book of Joshua 1:6 according to the Christian Scriptures, it is recorded that after wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, a new generation of Israelites were ready to enter Canaan, and possess the land of promise. But before they were to undertake this crucial journey that will define their lives for the next thousands of years, we are told that God step forward to prepare both Joshua and the nation which he was beginning to lead. God did not lay hand on them neither did God provide them with a pillar of cloud by day or fire by night. God only prepared them psychologically and mentally by teaching them that their ability to survive the unpleasant encounters they were about to face in order to break through the land of promise—Canaan lies in understanding the power of courageousness and consistent faith in the promised power of God’s word. God, knowing ahead of time the human nature of both the Israelites and their systemic way of mounting pressure on their leaders, knew that the possibility of the thought to quit by returning to Egypt and in fact, abandon what I perceive as Project Possession of the land of promise was still high in their minds when the going gets tough. He knew that if the people were not courageous, the sighting of the Hittites was enough to paralyze their minds with fear, and cause them to take the easy way out. In Joshua 1:1-8, the Bible exposes us to a fact that one major reason why many people do not enjoy their everyday life and live at their best on a daily continuum missing out God’s material and natural blessings and prosperity is lack of courage due to their inability to finish what they started.

Keep Pressing Upward

In order words, God was telling Joshua and the nation of Israel that for them to taste the real joy of prosperity, they must learn to press on the upward way, and gain new heights every day. The implication was this: their mind needed to be empowered so that when situations that call for extra strength arise, they will be capable to trust in God’s leadership and in their ability to overcome and accomplish whatever task set before them. God was telling them that accomplishing a task or goal without quitting on the way leads to intense success and prosperity. As the book of Joshua opens, the Israelites are at a cross-road where courage was scare, fear looms, and their fate unknown as they have lost a great leader who they have learnt to trust and respect over time. We are told that Moses have just died, and having experienced the mighty works and wonders Moses have performed including the crossing of the Red Sea and all the mighty works Moses performed before Pharaoh could allow them to vacate Egypt; the Israelites were seriously discouraged and drained in thought and felt that they were at odds as the possibility to make it to the promised land seemed unimaginable and insurmountable. The pressure was high, their enthusiasm weak, and hope was far-fetched in their minds as they camped along the east bank of Jordan River at the very edge of the Promised Land completing the morning period of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:7,8).

Only the Strong in Mind See
Opportunities and Seize Them

God understood that only the strong in mind take advantage of opportunities. Thirty-nine years before this time, the Israelites had an opportunity to enter the Promised Land and possess the very best that life has got to offer as God has prepared and graciously fertilized the country for their inheritance. However, because they failed to take courage and trust in God’s leadership to give them victory and their own ability to excel in the victorious-dominion nature of God which was implanted in them at creation (Genesis 1), they entertained unbelief and disobedience and brought upon themselves tragedy as they wandered in the wilderness until the disobedient generation had all died. As Joshua, Moses former personal assistant was now succeeding Moses, to lead the people; God gave him specific instructions as recorded in (Joshua 1:6-9 NLT) to: “be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything that you do. Study this book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command: be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”