How Focus Lifts Your Talent

Focus brings tremendous power to life. Without it, you cannot accomplish much. But with focus, your talents and abilities gain direction and these pay off by producing results. One, focus does not come naturally to humans. Because of our culture of choices, most people are pulled in various directions. Worse still, you find yourself enmeshed in areas you don’t really care about. The solution to such a predicament is focus. Poet William Matthews wrote and I paraphrase: One well-cultivated talent, deepened and enlarged, is worth more than a hundred shallow faculties. The first law of success is concentration, to bend all the energies to one point, and directing all to that point, looking neither right nor left.
Two, focus increases your energy. If you desire to achieve something, get what your target is. The mind doesn’t focus on achievement until it has clear objectives. After the Americans landed on the moon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) attributed their success to focus. Albert Siepert, Deputy Director of NASA asserted that NASA succeeded because it had a clear-cut goal and expressed its goal. By doing this, NASA drew the best of men to the goal and gained the support of every department of government to achieve the goal of landing a man on the moon and bringing him back alive.
Three, focus lifts you. Scholar and educator, David Jordan, said, “The world stands aside to let pass anyone who knows where he is going.” In a sea of mediocrity, just knowing what you want and pursuing it distinguishes you from everybody else. Four, focus expands your life. Narrowing your view or horizon widens your perspective. If you want to expand your capacity or talent, then focus on your objective.
Five, you have to intentionally sustain your focus to be able to attain your goals. What separates the superstar from the mediocre is that the winners concentrate just a little bit longer. In his book, Laughter, Joy and Healing, Donald Demaray narrated the story of a young journalist who was being criticized by his father because he didn’t seem to be making much progress from his career.
Undaunted, the young man wrote back to his father, explaining that he had a plan upon which he was focused. His intentions were as follows: At 30, he would be a great news reporter. At 40, he would be a distinguished editor. At 50, he would be a great writer. At 60, he would be a great novelist. At 70, he would be a great grandfather. At 80, he would be a great admirer of beautiful women. And at 90, he would be a great loss to the community. Demaray said that the father got a good laugh from the letter and was gratified when he began to see his son’s career progressing along those lines.
Several years ago, I memorized a definition of success to guide me in my career: success is the progressive realization of a predetermined goal. From this I realized, success is a process, not an event. And a process takes time and focus; only focused people can direct their talent for achievement.
Therefore, if you desire to be a champion, you must make focus your friend. Six, make every action count towards the attainment of your wishes. Editor, publisher and man of letters, Elbert Hubbard, wrote: “A retentive memory may be a good thing. But the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.” Champions forget because they know the past is irrevocable. You are running a race, so you cannot afford to look behind. Your eye should be on the finish line. You must be magnanimous by being too big to let little things disturb you.
Seven, focus on the present. Make your job your focus. Striving for success is like car driving. It is good to check your side view occasionally. You cannot give full attention to it otherwise you would be unable to make appreciable progress. Eight, stay focused on results. By doing that, you will find it easer to stay positive and encouraged.
In your march towards becoming a champion, you will meet various people. Their impact on you will reflect thus: refreshers will inspire your dreams and energize your talents. Refiners will sharpen your ideas and clarify your visions. On the other hand, reducers will try to reduce your vision and confine you to your comfort zone. Projectors will deny your talent, hinder your efforts and impede your progress. If you remain focused on results, you will stay grounded.
Nine, develop your priorities and follow through. If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Focus on your targets, concentration is the key to achievement. Focus on your strengths, what you commit yourself to determines what you are. It makes you into a completely different person. Focusing on your weaknesses will deter and weaken you. Your goal should be to make every action count towards the results you desire.
Our champion today is Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), the American editor, publisher and author of moralistic essays. As head of sales and advertising of a private company, he became a freelance newspaperman. Hubbard retired in 1892 to found his Roycroft Press in 1893 in New York. He modelled his company after William Morris’ communal press which he had visited in England. From 1895, he issued monthly, the famous “Little Journey” booklets that impacted greatly on the lifestyle of U.S. cities of the time.
Hubbard’s pleasant biographical sketches of famous persons became best sellers. He also started The Philistine, “A message to Garcia” appeared in the Philistine in which  the importance of perseverance was drawn as a moral from a Spanish /American War incident. In 1908, Hubbard began to edit and publish a second avant-garde monthly magazine,The Fra which preaches originality as the art of concealing your source and that human progress comes outside of the rules, otherwise we would never have anything new.
Hubbard’s business expanded to include furniture, leatherworks and an art school. His radicalism paid off with a run-away success. But he died tragically in the sinking of the ocean liner, Lusitania in 1915. Valuable collection of his writing are Little Journeys, (1915) 14 volumes and selected writings, (1923) 14 volumes

Passion quickens your success

Passion propels people to the top of their profession. Passion is more important than plans. Passion creates the fire with which to pursue your ambition. It is the fuel o success. A passionate person without talent will always outperform a talented man without passion.

American authors Robert Kriegel and Louis Patler cite a study of 1,500 persons over a period of 20 years. The study shows how passion makes a difference in a person’s career. In the study divided into groups A and B, 83 percent of people embarking on a career with prospects of making money now in order to do what they want later and Group B, with 17 percent who had chosen their career path from the beginning and worry about money later.

The data showed startling result. One, after 20 years, 101 of the 1,500 had become millionaires. Two, of the millionaires all but one – 100 out of 101 – were from Group B, the Group that had chosen to pursue what they loved. This gives credence to the saying: Find what you like doing so that you will gladly do for nothing; someday people will be happy to pay you for it.

Here are what passion can do for you:

One, passion is your first step in realizing your ambition. Loving what you do is the key to open the door of your achievement. The only way for you to achieve anything significant in life is to really pursue it with passion.

Two, passion increases willpower. The secret to willpower is want-power. In order to possess passion, you have to discover passion as fuel to the will. If you want something enough, you will find the willpower to achieve it.

Three, passion produces energy. Passion gives you the perseverance to enjoy the journey to your destination. Four, passion is the mother of excellence. Passion transforms you from average to excellent. Civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jnr asserted, ‘If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he is not fit to live.’ Where you find purpose, you will find passion. And passion energises talent to achieve excellence.

Five, passion is panacea to success. Revolution is the triumph of enthusiasm. Success is enthusiasm combined with talent. Six, passion is contagious; you cannot ignite fire in another heart, unless it is burning within your own. One of my life goals is to use communication to abolish ignorance and poverty in the world.

To this end, I studied and taught communication and propaganda. More so I have observed great orators in action. With that, I have come to believe that people are instructed by reason but inspired by passion. What is more, lives of great leaders illustrate that their passion caught on with others. Winston Churchill is one good example. Churchill’s passion for freedom and democracy informed his criticism of Adolf Hitler. When Hitler sought to conquer Britain, Churchill’s passion became infused with the British people, prompting Americans to join Britain to tame Germany. Without Churchill,. The history of the world would have been difficult.

Ogunmupe: First Key To Your Abundance

Ogunmupe: First Key To Your Abundance

THE first key to your abundance is the process of exchange in your life. This means as you sow so shall you reap. This also means everything in your life involves a trade-off. In the giving of abundance, it is not for you and me to decide how much is too much. That is God’s business, not ours.
You must be aware that, a father isn’t a father just because he can sire a child. No. He must be able to provide and protect. So is it with God. Jehovah says: “I am your father and am responsible for you. I have a plan for you.” Which is why! I tell you on the authority of heaven that Yahweh will chart the course for His abundance to be released unto your life. God wants you in abundance more than you want to be there. IF you have a need, that is the proof that the supply has already been given by God. Jehovah said that through Jeremiah who declared that He wants you to prosper and not to fail. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil,” Jeremiah 29:11.
Here is how God’s process of exchange works. Before you can receive what is in God’s hand, you first have to unclench your fist and offer the Lord what is in your hand. There are some people who have to be pulled from the world kicking and screaming. They can’t stand the thought of giving up their personal possessions and material resources. The prospect of a life of abundance eludes them, because they are tied to their worldly possessions.
In order to experience abundance, our attitudes have to change. Righteousness is what God does with us. Holiness is what we do. God deals with our character, we deal with our conduct. Jehovah expects us to subdue our minds and emotions. Ultimately, glorification takes place in our new mental domain where every need – financial and spiritual is met. That was why Jesus urged us to pray for Jehovah’s will to be done “in earth as it is in heaven,” Matt 6:10. Heaven’s resources dwell in earthen vessels and what is in heaven now and prepared for us in the future, can be part of our daily life. As believers, it is our birthright to experience heaven’s blessings here on earth. There is no limit to God’s abundance. Economists talk of a new world order, when you move into Jehovah’s faithful realm, you can have unlimited abundance. You are no longer bound by the world’s restrictions. But if God is willing to give everything He has, He expects us to do the same.
Speaking about Abraham’s descendants, God said: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,” Gen. 12:3. Sadly, I see people everywhere who are the mirror image of Esau. They are ruled by their appetites and emotions. They sell their souls for a bowl of soup and are destined for lives of continual hunger. The Bible said of Esau: “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears,” Heb 12: 17. Think twice before you make the wrong choice. The covenant blessing is our birthright as children of God. Never let it go. It holds the promise of God’s continual supply. Abundance is the reward for a faithful soul. To qualify for abundance you must transform your soul thus. Your soul has three areas: Your mind, your will and your emotions. Transform your soul by one, changing your mind through a positive mental attitude which gives you a new view of your resources. As a child of provision, “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” Phil. 2:5.
Two, submit your will to God. Two of the greatest barriers to blessing are stubbornness and conceit. Those who believe they have all the answers, seldom leave much room for God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God,” James 4:7.
Three, control your emotions. When self-discipline is combined with abundance, the results can be phenomenal. Thus, you should know that you cannot have everything you want when you want it. You must know that it is not money but “the love of money,” that is the “root of all evil,” 1 Timothy 6:10. Sex is not sin if inside the covenant of marriage. When we seek to fulfill a desire even a Godly desire, in a way not prescribed in law, we are guilty of iniquity. So, let God’s line of authority to totally govern your life, then you will experience abundance. You will be contented by what you own.
Our champion today is Michael Spence, the winner of 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics and the current chairman of Hoover Commission on Growth and Development. He was Philip Knight Professor of Economics and dean of the Stanford Business School after teaching economics as professor at Stanford between 1973 and 1975. From 1975 to 1990, he was professor of economics and business administration at Harvard University. As professor, he was awarded Kenneth Galbraith Prize for excellence in teaching in 1978 and John Bates Clark medal in 1981 for a significant contribution for economic thought and knowledge.
From 1984 to 1990, Spence was dean of Harvard College, and also overseeing the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Among his many honours, Spence was fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, winning the David Wells Prize for outstanding doctoral dissertation at Harvard University in 1972. His latest book is The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World. He is an authority on economic growth and development in developing countries. He is one we can turn to for the correct diagnosis of our economic ills as a nation besieged by Haramite terror.

Courage as catalyst of success, By Bayo Ogunmupe

Courage as catalyst of success

By Bayo Ogunmupe

          The English writer and clergyman Sydney Smith asserted, “A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.” To discover and grow your talent you need courage. Before he joined the army, Winton Churchill had a desire to create a reputation for bravery. But he didn’t know whether he had the talent for it. In order to discover, he went to Cuba to test his courage in a controlled environment. He understood that a person doesn’t know what he is really made of until tested. If you fear the test, then you will never get the chance to develop your talent.

Our courage is tested when we respond to changes although inactivity is more comfortable. Being inactive, never leaving the familiar may mean that you are comfortable. But your willingness to continually let go of the familiar means that you are courageous. Greatness is due to bravery. It is courage in escaping from old ideas, old standards and respectable ways of doing things.

          To become a champion you must be willing to give up all you have in order to become all you can be. If you are willing to leave your comfort zone and bravely keep striving, you can reach heights you thought were impossible. The opposite of courage isn’t cowardice. It is conformity. It isn’t enough to believe in something. You must live it. Learning and growing require action. Learning is a change in behaviour. You haven’t learned a thing until you can take action and use it. From knowledge comes an inner strength that subconsciously inspires you to push on in the face of stiff opposition.

          No one makes the most of his talent in isolation. That means you must seek the cooperation of others in order to accomplish your aims. By taking the high road of treating other better than they treat you, you make yourself the kind of person others want to work with.

          People admire leaders and innovators. Organizations give them honours, historians write books about them, sculptors chisel their images on the face of hills. However as many lift leaders up. Others want to knock them down. Thus, if you want to make success of a venture, you never wait for a crowd. You strike out for yourself. That takes nerves and grit, so you must have both. Success is the accomplishment of things which people think can’t be done.

          Adversity is always the partner of progress. When you want to move forward, obstacles and problems get in your way. However, every obstacle you overcome teaches you about yourself. Success makes you wiser and stronger. Greatness is gained by facing difficulties with courage. If you desire to develop greater courage, then do the following. One, look for courage inside not outside of yourself. During the great Depression in America, the renowned inventor, Thomas Edison, delivered his last public message. In it he said. “Be courageous, I have lived a long time. I have seen history repeat itself again and again. I have seen many depressions in business. Always the nation has come out stronger and more prosperous. Be as brave as your fathers before you. Have faith, go forward.”

          Edison knew that when we experience fear, we must be willing to move forward. Courage starts from the mind before it is displayed. Two, grow courage by doing the right thing, not the expedient. Florence Nightingale observed, “Courage is the virtue of those who choose to do the right thing over the expedient thing. It is the common currency of those who do what they are supposed to do in time of conflict, crisis and confusion.” Three, taking small steps of courage prepares you for greater ones.

          Most of us want to grow quickly and be done with it. But the reality is that genuine growth is slow. Therefore, to be successful, we should start from small things and do them everyday. Your life changes when you change something you do everyday. Which is why you should recognize that being made a leader won’t give you courage but that courage can make you a leader. Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher remarked, “Being a leader is a lot like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are one, you aren’t.” the position doesn’t make a leader. The leader makes the position. Leadership is an expression of courage that compels you to do the right at all times. Your life expands with each courageous act you espouse.

          People who are willing to take risks, explore their limits, and are ready to experience defeat will go farther than those who timidly follow the safe path of living. The moment you resolve to sacrifice lesser ambitions to your one great aim, to stand alone, firm in your purpose, you set in motion the divine forces Jehovah has implanted in you for your greatness.

          Thus, courageous leadership means you have developed convictions that are stronger than your fears. Your vision must be clearer than doubts. Your tenacity of purpose must be clearer than doubts. Your tenacity of purpose must stronger than popular opinion. Your dissatisfaction with existing realities must be more forceful than the status quo. Your risk taking must be stronger than safety seeking. Your desire to serve justice must be more robust than rationalization and your goal of realizing your potential must be more than seeing people appeased. Only courage can propel you to greatness. You must trade what you have for what’s best for your success.

          Our champion today is Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Also known as, Baroness Margaret Thatcher of Kesteven. Born in October 1925 in Grantham, England as Margaret Roberts, she died in London in 2012. She was the British Conservative statesman and prime minister (1979-1990), Europe’s first woman prime minister. She was the first British premier in the 20^th Century to win three consecutive terms and was the longest serving British premier since 1827.

          Educated in Somerville College, Oxford, Thatcher’s marriage to a prosperous businessman enabled her to read for the bar, subsequently becoming a lawyer specializing in tax matters. She entered Parliament in 1959 becoming a Parliamentary Secretary in Pensions Ministry in 1961-64. She became Secretary of State for Education (1970-74). Thatcher succeeded Edward Health as Conservative leader in 1975. Her party’s victory in 1979 elevated her to the premiership. She belonged to the right wing of her party, advocating greater independence for the individual from the state. She called for an end to the excessive interference in the economy by the government. She reduced personal tax and the printing of money-known in economics as monetarism.

          But unemployment trebbled with more than three million unemployed. Her term in office saw the growth of an underclass. Throughout her tenure, Thatcher pursued the policies that earned her the appellation of “Iron Lady.” She strictly dominated her ministers in pursuance of a strong monetary policy. She privatized state owned enterprises. A split in her party over her policies led to her resignation from the party leadership in 1990. She received the Order of Merit the same year and was made a baroness in 1992.