Success is not the exclusive preserve of some people, race, gender, ethnic group or adherents of any religion. Anyone can succeed, anywhere they may be, in any situation they might find themselves, and at any stage in life. Success only answers to hard work, persistence, endurance, grit, and, above all, the grace of God.
The God factor must never be undermined in our quest to succeed in any venture because He supplies the grace to achieve anything by Christ Jesus. Of course, you can also achieve some level of success by the power of self-will or demonic empowerment. However, it is only the grace of God that gives you a blessing without any element of sorrow added to it. Any other success has a hidden sorrow added to it in certain ways, whether you know it or not. And this is not a homily about prosperity. It is an objective reality.
If God grants you success, he’ll first give you grace and then the blueprint. The basic difference between a successful person and the one who fails is the blueprint. How well you execute your game plan goes a long way to determine whether you succeed or not. Nobody achieves anything concrete outside a well-laid out plan, whether they recognize it or not is another thing entirely.
A blueprint is the road map to every success. You can’t expect to succeed without a game plan of sorts. To wish for success without a blueprint or game plan is to navigate the high seas in a ship without a compass. Plan and reduce your thoughts or ideas to digestible components that could be subjected to a thorough, dispassionate evaluation, if you hope to succeed. Ask champions, they would tell you their secrets. If you are not planning to succeed, you’re planning to fail.
The best blueprint would still require an objective assessment to succeed. If you can find someone you trust, you’d do well to show them your game plan, in case they’d make a valuable input. Usually, such people should be part of your team. No man is an island. Nobody succeeds alone. Even Jesus needed 12 disciples. However, be very careful in your selection process as poor team selection could derail your vision. Remember, Jesus had a Judas. So, be wary of traitors or saboteurs.
Also, know for a truth that every plan needs to be fine-tuned at some point because of unexpected or uncertain circumstances. You are bound to confront weird obstacles every step of the way, but a good blueprint takes care of such exigencies. I always edit and redit all my drafts before I send my final write-ups to my editor, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, who vets my articles before publication in this newspaper you are reading.
No plan is computer-perfect because it is a product of human beings and we know that every theory has a margin of error. And because everyone’s idea is perfect in their own eyes, it is good to seek an alternative view on any blueprint. However, don’t allow anyone rubbish your vision by ridiculing it. So, make sure you show your plan only to people of like minds who are truly sympathetic to your project. Also, deal with your loved ones only. Avoid those who could steal your ideas after condemning it as no good, or substandard. There are people like that.
While no blueprint is perfect, you should make it thorough because it is your road map to success. Don’t do a shoddy job simply because you are the candidate and the examiner in this particular case. Also, don’t expect that a good blueprint would necessarily translate to success. There’s more to success than a great vision. Execution is vital. A faulty execution of a project could spell failure.
In the preceding paragraph, I mentioned the grace factor, which many people call luck, although it is actually the mercy of God. Many things go into the execution of a successful vision: timing, serendipity, etc. Sometimes, things just don’t work out, in spite of a good vision, excellent blueprint and near-perfect preparation. After you have put in your best, failure shows up. Such things do happen, and nobody can explain why.
On the other hand, we regularly see mediocre projects executed shoddily triumph, to everyone’s surprise, such as when a well-organised, well-prepared soccer team loses to a second rate opponent. This is something that happens to remind us that God still rules in the affairs of men, whether we believe it or not.
Therefore, never take God out of your plans, no matter how mundane. Our Creator is very interested in the little details concerning us. Take Him into confidence through prayer, if you want to succeed. This is not being religious or sentimental. Indeed, it is God who drops ideas into the hearts of men. He gives inspiration for witty inventions. I know this because some of my best articles on this page have been products of divine direction.
Finally, be reminded that you can’t succeed by chance. All great success stories have good visions and excellent blueprints behind them. Also, never undermine the grace of the Almighty God. I want you to take that home.
Weekend Spice: The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it – William James
Ok folks, let’s do it again next Friday. Stay motivated.
•Ayodeji is an author, rights activist, pastor and life coach. He can be reached on l[email protected] and 09059243004 (sms only)