On The Path Of Winners By Bayo Ogunmupe Business Of Living Your Dream

On The Path Of Winners

By Bayo Ogunmupe

Business Of Living Your Dream

BUILDING a life of service is the real essence of living. With service to others, you will attain riches far beyond your wildest dreams. The mindset of service to humanity will bring you wealth, happiness and peace.

  Begin by giving to others without expecting anything in return and keeping your deeds to yourself. Resolve from today to make service your obsession. Don't allow your situation to be an obstacle. But the Bible said in Genesis: [It is not good for a man to be alone.” This means you must open yourself for the support of others. You can serve humanity greater by allying yourself with other like minded people.

  Life is a business, you cannot thrive in it alone. The parable of talents comes handy. A traveling merchant gave his three servants his goods for handling while he was abroad. To one he gave five portions. He gave the second two, while to the last he gave one portion. Upon his return, he demanded his servants account for the money he had given them. The first two servants had doubled their money. But the third servant returned to the master the single talent he had given him. The master was upset with him because he had not utilized his gift, but had hidden it.

  This parable teaches the importance of maximizing every opportunity you are presented with in life. It implies all life is business. And you must serve your customers for profit and service. Thus, your dream must be pursued as a business in expectation of fulfilling your vision of serving others. It is the same way in marriage. Your spouse expects fulfillment in return for her investment in you. If her relationship with you isn’t yielding the expected return, she might want to reallocate her resources elsewhere.

  In accomplishing your dream, you need the same resources as you would need to build a business-knowledge, labour and skills. Also you need the ability to leverage your resource, the know-how of others and how to create a platform from where to launch your vision.

  Your most important task in this regard is to let the world know your vision. Then the world will help you get what you want. Remember, people and companies cannot help you unless your plans serve their purpose. And you cannot lose for loving others. Why do you think Bill Gates is still one of the richest in the world? It is because of his unceasing love for humanity. He shared his Microsoft success by producing two other billionaires, Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer. He made his company the one with the largest number of millionaire – employees with robust ownership stakes in the company. Gate isn’t afraid to serve others. Their in lies the secret of his success.

  However, in order for you to succeed in your efforts to realize your vision, you must exude integrity. Integrity, which means honesty and truth, is the very foundation of  your greatness. It is what makes the great great. Wealth with integrity produces peace of mind. In real terms, integrity means being true to oneself. For, if you are true to yourself, you won’t be able to deceive others. Integrity is manifested in how you see yourself, your skills and visions. Integrity includes: a sense of humour, understanding, kindness and gentleness.

  Indeed, the person destined for greatness needs to recruit others to supply the resources and the know-how. Here are the rules to follow to create the lifestyle of integrity. One, never violate divine laws or the rights of others. You will always pay back if you do. Two, develop a code of conduct upon which you deal with others. Otherwise never enter into a transaction that does not benefit all concerned.

  Three, find out the truth about any transaction before you enter into it. Patience always yields dividends. Four, never compromise your code of conduct no matter how expedient. Integrity is a constant, never a variable. It must be upheld no matter the situation. Five, be prepared to stand alone when integrity is concerned. Avoid following the herd, time will prove you right.

  Six, commit only to that which you believe in. Finally, always give your best in all situations and recognition will come to you, no matter how long it is delayed. Continue to nurture integrity until the peace that passes all understanding pervades every area of your life. Maintain your integrity by marching into hell for heavenly cause. When you remain true to yourself, you are aligned with the divine forces of the universe. When you walk with integrity, you are walking with Jehovah God.

  As you make deposits into your integrity account, resolve never to yield to making withdrawals. Because when you sacrifice your integrity, you are sacrificing your dream. Your integrity is the foundation of your dream. Don't be discouraged from starting a good idea for lack of money. With integrity, others will joyfully invest in you. Our champion today is Ehud Barak, the Israeli stateman who served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of Labour Party until 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of Israel.

  Born as Ehud Brog in February 1942 in Mishmar Hasharon, then in the British Mandate of Palestine. He is the eldest of four sons of Esther Godin and Yisrael Mendel Brog. Ehud Hebraized his family name from Brog to Barak in 1972. In 2005, Barak was voted the 61^st greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 greatest Israelis.

  Barak earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968. He had his master’s in economics and engineering form Stanford University, California, USA in 1978. Barak joined the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in 1959. He served in the IDF for 35 years rising to the position of Chief of the General Staff with the rank of Lieutenant General, the highest in the Israeli military. Barak commanded the regiment which helped rescue paratrooper Batallion 890 which was surrounded in the Battle of Chinese Farm.

  During his service as a commando, Barak led several great operations, such as Operation Isotope, the mission to rescue the hostages on board Sabena Flight 571 at Lod Airport in 1972. He also led the 1973 covert Operation Spring in Beirut in which he disguised as a woman in order to capture members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. He was also the architect of Operation Entebbe of 1976, a rescue mission which freed hostages of the Air France aircraft hijacked that landed in Uganda. Jonathan Netanyau was the only victim of that operation. Barak also organized the Tunis Raid of 1988, which eliminated the PLO leader, Abu Jihad.

  Later Barak served as head of Aman, the military intelligence Directorate of the IDF. He also headed the Central command and was the deputy chief of the General Staff of the IDF (1987-91). He also served as the Chief of the General Staff (1991-95) in which period he implemented the Oslo Accords of the Israeli Jordan Treaty of Peace.

  Barak received five military decorations, making him the most decorated soldier in Israeli history. In 1992, he was also awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States. On 26 November 2012, Barak announced that he will retire from politics after the next election in January 2013. Barak found passion and inspiration from his grandparents: Frieda and Reuven Brog, who were murdered in Lithuania in 1912, which left his father orphaned at the age of two. Barak’s maternal parents, Elka and Shmuel died at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust.