Take Action To Succeed

In our opinion yes, there is a formula. In the course of our journey to discover why some succeed in life and others fail, we discovered that there are several ingredients to succeeding in life but two stand out like sore thumbs. The funny thing is that these two ingredients are quite simple and because of this, they are often overlooked since most people who want to succeed tend to look for complicated ways of doing so. These two simple ingredients are what we call personal development and taking action. These are two essential routes that successful people follow but which many out there fail to find. Now let us examine these two simple ingredients a little more.

1. Personal Development.

If you truly want to get out of poverty and succeed in life, this is a very important thing to invest in. You agree with us that acquisition of sound knowledge of any subject you want to dabble into is a must if you want to excel at it. But before we go far into that, you need to ask yourself a basic question. Who am I? It is said that as a man thinketh so he is. So, it means your thinking determines to a large extent who you are today.

Let’s take this simple example, most Africans think male children are more important than females. But as a person, how do you think? How will your thinking affect your success in life? Let’s say you are married and your first four children are females. Because of your thinking, (about the importance of the almighty male child), you decide to have more children or even marry another wife to get a male child. Soon you have much more children than you can adequately cater for. Meanwhile, you are just a level 8, 10 or even 14 or 15 officer and being financially illiterate (forgive our use of this terminology) you have no other source of income except your salary which is barely or even not enough for you. Where has your thinking landed you? Solidly in the land of squalor and poverty! How do you then avoid falling into this trap?

It starts with changing your thinking and your priorities. You must determine to break away from the traditional way of thinking and doing things. To think differently, you must suffuse your mind with positive things particularly in the face of modern day realities. The way you can achieve this is by your determination to develop your self beyond what you have learnt in a conventional tertiary institution. You must be ready and willing to change your thought pattern. Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of species that survives, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. Are you willing to change?

You can achieve this feat through the following means:

• Acquiring knowledge through reading the right kind of books. You will agree with us that books are a veritable source of knowledge. Charlie Jones said “You are the same today as you are going to be in five years time except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read” Of course, knowledge becomes much more useful and powerful when applied. It was after reading George Clason’s ‘The Richest Man In Babylon’ that propelled us to start our journey to success. After reading this book, we wept over our ignorance of true sustainable wealth creation principles and what that ignorance had cost us. We thought back on the kind of resources that over the years had passed through our hands and how we had grossly misapplied them. We thereafter, sat down and decided what we wanted in the remaining life we have and started mapping out the strategies we needed to put in place in other to achieve them before quitting planet earth – but it all started from reading and reading the right kind of book!
  One of the strategies we adopted was to deny ourselves some luxuries and even some necessities in other to invest in the right kind of tools that would thoroughly equip us for what we knew lay ahead of us. We bought and read the right kinds of books needed for our purpose. You don’t read architecture books if your aim is to be a medical doctor. You read medical books! Neither do you read engineering books if you want to be a Lawyer, you read Law books! So, you must invest in the right kinds of books. We can now beat our chests and proudly say that we have moved from being spendthrifts to wise investors. It is clear that we cannot overemphasise the importance of personal development through reading and once again, reading the right kinds of books.

Besides reading, you also need to:

• Listen to audio & video tapes, CDs, VCDs, DVDs e.t.c. on successful people. Get to know what they did to become successful. Make these your bosom friends. Instead of spending your hard earned resources buying the kind of tapes, CDs or other things that do not add a single value to your life, invest in any of the above and listen to them regularly. Use every spare time you have to listen to success stories. While you are taking your shower, having your meal, driving e.t.c. slot in a CD and listen. You will ultimately become motivated to be successful and you will be successful if you are willing to pay the price.

• Attend seminars, workshops and lectures even if they are paid ones. You know that the quality of a free product can hardly be the same as a paid one. We have spent thousands of Naira attending seminars and workshops mostly in Lagos. Apart from the huge expenses, we have braved the attendant risks criss-crossing the highways and our air space. Why? Because we knew what we wanted to be and do and we were determined to pay the price of getting properly equipped in other to successfully achieve our goals. How desperately do you want to succeed? Are you passionate enough about your situation that you want a positive legitimate change without further delay? How strong is your desire for a better life? Are you ready and willing to get out of your comfort zone and pay the necessary price?

• Spend quality time with SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE. If you truly want to be successful, you need to take a second look at the kind of people in whose company you are regularly found. Are they successful people who will add value to your life? Or are they people just managing to survive? Are they go-getters who are ready to thread where the angels dread or are they people who sit over beer with melancholic resignation bemoaning their ill luck and blaming the government for all their misfortunes? Are they people who believe that every man has a destiny and since you can not rise above your supposed destiny why even try? Why would you believe that it is your destiny to be poor? Such belief is a lazy man’s apology! Destiny is by choice and not by chance! What is your choice? To pass through this world as a laughing stock or a laughing colossus? The choice is strictly yours!

Change your friends if need be! Remember the saying: tell me your friends and I will tell you who you are. It is still a valid saying till date. At this stage in your life when you want to create sustainable wealth for the days when you can no longer work, you have no business being in the company of people whose major passion is drinking, carousing and chasing anything in skirts (or trousers as the case may be). Nor do you have any business with people who stay glued to a television set watching home movies or sports like football, wrestling etc (Remember those guys are busy earning a solid living while you are wasting your life away cheering them to their fat bank accounts). Don’t get us wrong. We are not saying you should not unwind when it is necessary. But that should be the exception and not the rule. Know that a few minutes spent in the company of successful people could open a whole new world of opportunities to you. Andrew Croft said “Never be afraid to associate with the ‘greats’. They will make you great by association…Find the best people in the world and then go after them”. John C. Maxwell said “If you want to unlock your hidden potential, spend your time with people who will speed you up. Find somebody who thinks faster, runs faster, aims higher. Those are the people who will lift you up”. You would be surprised to see that a lot of successful people are willing to share their success stories with you but dare you ask?

• · Have a mentor. Yes, a financial mentor. Should be a successful person with integrity whom you trust for intelligent and sound financial advice.

2. Taking Action.

This is what we call the crème de-la-crème of becoming a success! What distinguishes a successful person from a failure is the ability to translate any knowledge acquired into action. Successful people spend time and money to acquire knowledge but most importantly they apply the knowledge acquired. Acquiring knowledge is the first step, it is power but when you apply the acquired knowledge to achieve your goals, it becomes super power.

Knowledge unapplied leads to poverty. And that is why a lot of apparently well read people today struggle to make ends meet. They know all the theory but only a few translate their theoretical knowledge to real on-hands practice. The first key above helps you to know what actions to take to succeed; the second key demands you actually take the step. With personal development, you begin to see the need to set goals and have a financial plan.

Do you at the beginning of each year sit down to make and write a personal and family budget? This is very important and that is why governments and practically any viable corporate organization the world over do it at the beginning of each year. But alas very few of us do same in our personal lives. From drawing up your family budget, you see the need to strive to keep what is referred to as the 70/30 plan. A lot of people may wonder how they can survive on only 70% of their income when it is barely or not even enough for them. You can find this out by obtaining a copy of our e-book After God Me.

In taking action, you must be focused and organized. You must create a clear vision and set goals for yourself for both the long term and short term and you must begin to act on your goals NOW. Do not procrastinate, do not wait till tomorrow! It is said that procrastination is the No. I enemy of success. So, you must take action now!

There needs to be a hunger, a fire inside you which will fuel your passion to achieve the goals you have set. You must not be content with where you are now. You must have financial discipline. It is not spending carelessly but living within your budget. It is knowing what is absolutely necessary and going for it even if it’s against all odds. It is being persistent and innovative. It is doing what you have to do today and not waiting till tomorrow. In summary, It is said that knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do. To truly be successful, you need all three.

At this point, it is pertinent to state categorically that there is no short cut to genuine success. Anybody who tells you otherwise is deceiving you. But you don’t have to toil all your life to succeed, you just need to work hard enough and smart enough. Ebele Toni-Uche said “all great achievements have sprung from dreams, imaginations and fantasies but their accomplishment are from efforts, hardwork and self application.” Always remember that there would be obstacles which could come from relations, friends, associates; even your immediate family. But as Vidal says “obstacles are not meant to be stopping stones but stepping stones”.

What are you today? What do you want to be 10 years from now? When do you want to retire? After retiring, what kind of life do you want to live? Do you want to be able to pick your wife or husband and take a trip to the Bahamas or any part of the world you so desire when you so desire? To be able to do this, you must be willing to sacrifice what you are today for what you want to be tomorrow. Postpone the fleeting pleasures of today for the lasting comfort of tomorrow. John Maxwell said “To reach your potential, you must give up at any moment all that you are in other to receive what you want to become… Many people want to hang on to what they are and at the same time be all they can be” This is not truly possible. Before you reap, you must sow and remember you can only reap what you sow. If you sow momentary pleasure and laziness today, you reap hunger, poverty and want tomorrow.

To get practical guide on actions you can take to succeed in life you might find it just necessary to join our Wealth Creation Forum.

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Remember, we remain deeply committed to your success,

chrisvidal