MEN THAT WILL SUCEED 24: They just know...

This is a post long overdue. It's supposed to be the last in my 24-part series of the traits of people on their way to success. By success I mean the fulfillment of some transcendent purpose and not just the attainment of some trumped-up human standards.

A lot has been written about knowledge and how it is strongly connected to performance. I have even heard it said that you are what you know. That's true, of course, but I see a special dimension of knowledge that every serious mind should seek.

Today in some disciplines we speak of many types of knowledge: know-how, know-who, know-what, know-when, know-why...but one that is rarely ever mentioned anywhere is what I'd simply call 'just-know'. Call it intuition, unction, perception, instinct, inspiration or anything else you like. The name is not important, all I know is that you'll know when you've got it. How many times have you felt so convinced about something for no obvious reason, even when everyone else seems opposed, and you turned out to be right? That's exactly what I'm talking about.

People who can consistently demonstrate this level of consciousness are often the most successful, and history bears this out. They are the ones who just know that what they're doing is what they should be doing. You see, no matter how much information we could get about everything, there always comes a time when we have to proceed with limited info; that's when we need to 'just know' what is right. This has even become much more necessary because the world we live in today is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain.

How does 'just-know' come. Honestly I can't tell. I just know that it's important. I also know that it thrives in quietness and a consistent habit of useful thinking. Above all, I know that it thrives in the practice of seeking God.

According to Newton's first law of motion, an object just keeps standing still or consistently moving along on a straight path unless compelled to do otherwise by an external force. By extension, every object needs an exogenous force to make it useful, otherwise it will just keep doing what is most convenient for it even when it's totally nonsensical. Two major lessons I see here. First, nothing comes to its full potential unless moderated by an exogenous power. The force that causes a change of state or speed or direction is never internal to a body, it is always from an exogenous source. Second, what is being moderated cannot fully comprehend its moderator, just as car cannot by itself master its engine. Even the most intelligent robots today only know to connect themselves to power when they're running out but they don't necessarily understand how this power gets there.

What should you take away from the preceding paragraphs? One, nothing is truly exogenous to your world - however you define it - except God. Two, the fact that you don't seem to understand why there could be a God does not mean there can't be one. Arriving at such a conclusion would be as vague as claiming that your mum is not your mum just because you were not there when you were born!

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 21: They Keep Good Company

‘Success is as much a product of being in the right company as it is of working hard. If you look for success secrets in the Bible, never read Proverbs 22:29 without reading Psalm 1:1!’

The moral is very simple: hard work, diligence, commitment, passion and everything like these virtues will take you really far but the truth is how fast you go most often depends on what company you’re in. Think about when you wrote the references part of your CV. Except you’re from some planet where nothing makes sense, you must have had two primary concerns when you selected those whose names you put in that section: one, they must know you, at least; and two, you must have some certainty that they know you ‘well’ – ‘well’ in this sense meaning that they know well enough to say some good things about you. In fact, if there’s anyone that knows you ‘unwell’ and you’re aware of that, such person would probably never get listed on your CV as a referee. Why don’t your grades or records of achievement matter here?

In my short life experience, I have seen people’s connections make the difference for them. This teaches me all the more that it’s not only about how much you know, but also about whom you know! People get admitted into top-rated colleges just on the recommendation of the right person; people get jobs by bearing a note from someone that matters; businesses sometimes break through by referrals; and the examples can continue of how the right connections can make. There are also many ready examples of how the wrong connections can mar. In fact, a time comes in the life of everyone when all that matters is just whom we know and/or hang around. That is why the most successful people that you will find around hang around with similar people – and the same goes for the most wretched people.

Give a lot of time to keeping in touch with good people; stay in touch with people who share your values; network with your peers who have a sense of purpose; keep a good address book, an up-to-date email list and a business card holder. Go for that conference to meet people, subscribe to that mailing list, join that professional association – do all you can to put yourself in the right company and stay there, it will definitely pay off!

 

‘A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years' study of books.’ (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion, Chapter VII. Quoted from the Chinese)

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 20: They learn not to be rash

"...Everything starts with one step at at time. So start small and plan to finish big." (http://www.fuel-my-motivation.com/Self-Motivation.html)

One of the most important lessons I have learnt about working towards success relates to the importance of being sensible and realistic. While it is crucial to dream big - as you probably already know - it is often fatal to act big! Why? Because you'll lose your motivation quickly if you experience anything that looks like failure.

When the economic crisis hit Nigeria, I know many people who lost fortunes to the burst bubble (I even heard of people who became fatally sick or died as a result!). Why? Because they acted too big - many people seeing the promise of huge returns from the stock market borrowed recklessly to place on stocks. And how badly hit were they when the bubble burst. The consequence? Even now that the atmosphere is safe, most of these people would not go near the stock exchange simply because the apparent big 'failure' of the last few years has taken their motivation away. And why did that happen? Because they acted too big at the outset.

This is the point in much simpler language. Anyone who wants to be truly successful has to learn not to be rash. We're not born with that, as humans. In fact, if anything, we were born with innate myopic rashness. That's why a suckling baby would bite its mother now, forgetting that it is coming back to feed later! That is why we need to learn, as we grow up, that things are not always what they seem. 

On the road to success, do not ever think you're competing with anyone because as a matter of fact, you are not! Your life, ultimately, will be judged against the standard set for you - and you alone. So why don't you cut down on the rashness; go slowly, carefully, one step at a time and see how far you will go.

"...you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly..." (the town clerk of Ephesus)

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 19: They would rather be right than be popular

 If my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me; if my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me (John Bunyan)

Success, it's been argued, is a matter of choice; and there are choices we make, I argue, that invalidate the opinions of others. For everyone who has lived through the generations past until now, the huge differences in the number of options available for getting things done is much more glaring. For instance, until 1971 it was impossible to send e-mails; you had to wait for weeks to get messages around via regular post. Today, the options are allmost limitless. That's just one example out of many. But with the new possibilities new threats have also come, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for poeople to decipher right from wrong. The end, it seems, always justifies the means.

But for everyone that would truly succeed, there would be an absolute standard of choice: the right things at all times as far human fallibility would allow. More often than not the right choice is unpopular, and could even attract stigmatisation! Nonetheless, the men whose names we remember in honour today almost all made these unpopular choices and that made all the difference. I borrow the words of Robert Frost to finish this off:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

'The Road Not Taken' in Frost, R. (1920). Mountain Interval. New York: Henry Holt and Company

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 18: They are Teachable

"No height of achievement should take you to the level where you think there's no more to learn"  

Have you ever wondered why high-profile sportsmen and women keep their trainers?  Why do you think winning teams don’t do without coaches?  Well, I know that winners remain winners only if they remain under tuition.  Your potentials to be and remain great is determined mostly by how teachable you are.

It might not be easy but you have to do it.  The biggest companies in the world today are all committed to improving their staff quality through training.  Why?  There’s always more to know.  Life, at its best, is like an inverted pyramid.  Difficult to climb but at the top is wide and flat.  That’s how success is.  You learn and strive so much to get to the top only to get there and find out that the largest rooms for improvement are there.

Only teachable people remain on top.  In fact, the only thing that will stop you from learning at the top is pride.  Otherwise, it’s quite easy to do so.  I mean, the best resources are there.  The time is there and the incentive is there too.  

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 17: They learn from Experience

Today I was preparing the next in the series on Loyalty. Somehow, I came to remember that the last time I posted on the Actions of Successful People was on last December, two days to Christmas. I don't seem to know why but I feel pressed to pause the ongoing series and resume the long-standing one. Hopefully, I will finish it this time with 7 more bi-weekly posts. If you've never read any of the previous posts I suggest you simply use the search bar on the sidebar with the text MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED. That is the standard prefix I have used for all the articles in this series.

 

 

Success comes from good judgement
Good judgement comes from experience
Experience comes from bad judgement  (Tony Robbins)

The most successful people are those who learn not to repeat mistakes.  Procedures may be worth repeating but only dullards repeat mistakes.  It’s allowed that everyone make mistakes but it’s not allowed that they make it every time. These is nothing as good as doing things right the first time.  And this is where the experience of others comes in.  You can’t do things right if you don’t know how. And you can’t know how if you don’t ask how.

Risk taking is primarily about defying the odds to go ahead. But the best risk takers (and who have pulled it off most often) are those who have seen others (or who themselves in the past did) make some mistakes in the past, and are wise enough to avoid repeating them.  In fact, the best and quickest way to learn is to observe and then repeat or avoid, depending on what is seen.  That is the default mechanism of learning built into man by God.  That is how babies learn.

Observe what others have done (or are doing) and make meaningful deductions. It’s much safer and less costly to do that. Why must you make all the mistakes yourself, even though you can’t avoid some?  That’s why Sam Adeyemi said that the experience that is the best teacher is someone else’s experience.

As it has been said, if a man cheats you once, it’s his fault; if he cheats you a second time, it’s the fault of both of you; if he cheats you a third time, it’s all your fault. Learn to make them count: what you've seen, heard and been through.

Waiting Patiently, Waiting Right

I did not pray or read my Bible before leaving the house today. I knew that was wrong so I promised myself that I would do that first thing in the office, and I did. The single verse I read was from James chapter 5; simple yet with profound meaning for me.

⁷My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow. (CEV)

That verse admonishes 'friends' to be patient until Jesus comes back again. In that context, a friend would refer to those who are of a common faith that the Lord Jesus walked teh face of this earth, died to save lost man and ascended physically to heaven only for him to be on his way back sometime in the unknown future (all we know is that the future is now nearer than ever). Are you a 'friend'?

The point that struck me most, however, was the parallel drawn from the farmers' expectation. Upon careful thought, I understood the following:

1. No farmer has any reason to expect anything if he has not planted anything. In other words, whether the rains come or not, it makes almost no difference for the lazy farmer who placed no seed in the ground. So, while we await the Lord's return, part of our waiting activities should be that of sowing, that we may have something to look forward to. Are you planting?

2. No farmer would expect to reap something different from what he had sown. That is common sense! It does not matter how much and how long the rain falls, one who has planted corn cannot reap onions. That tells me that the type of seed sown is the type of plant that will grow and the type of harvest to be gained. While James 5:7 does not expressly mention harvest, you and I know that the main reason why farmers want to see their plants grow is so that they might have assurances of a good harvest. What are you planting?

3. I then saw that there is a season of the rains. James 5:7 calls it the 'spring and summer'. Every farmer must have planted before then, otherwise they would not be waiting for the rains to make their valuable crops grow. The message is then simple: Plant now, before the rains come!

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 15: They Prize Counsel

‘Sometimes, a single conversation with the right person can more valuable than many years of study’. (John Mason)

Counsel does not mean advice. Most people take them to mean the same thing. They may be synonymous but they’re not the same. While advice is the adviser’s opinion, counsel is simply the counselor’s analysis or appraisal. Advice comes in pieces but have you ever heard anyone speak of a piece of counsel? An adviser tells you what he thinks you should or could do; a counsellor shows you the options and helps you understand them, then the choice is yours to make!

Anyone who is serious about success will care to know that the most important things are not people’s opinions (honest or not) but their sincere analysis or appraisal of you or what you do. That’s why sportsmen keep coaches. Imagine you are a sprinter. You just ran a race and came last. You meet your coach and all he has to say is, ‘You should have run faster.’ Days turn into weeks and he says nothing more. I can bet you won’t keep that coach.

But if he approaches you and says, ‘You didn’t make it out there because you didn’t run fast enough. Your steps were stiff and your thighs didn’t pump high enough. Again, you were landing flat footed.’ And then he goes on to tell you how to correct those errors. I bet you’ll keep that coach.

By now you should know how counsel differs from advice. People don’t succeed on only pieces of advice - just like you can’t live on pieces of food. You need meals. You need counsel. Your peace depends on it.

‘In the multitude of counselors there is safety’ (King Solomon)

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 11: They are Sensitive

‘There are three keys to more abundant living: caring about others, daring for others and sharing with others’ - Bill Ward

Thick-skinned people go through life half-dead. Being sensitive allows others to get to you. And that’s when you can get to them too. To manage success is to manage people. No man is an island. There are people around who have to do with your success. Your success in dealing with them determines how success will deal with you.

Dealing positively and effectively with people is built on sensitivity, alertness: knowing what the other person is feeling, knowing when there’s a word out on you, knowing when and where to speak or keep quiet. The extent to which you will enjoy others depends on how sensitive you are.

A sensitive man hardly ever overlooks potentials. You can’t see potentials in someone or something unless you are alert. Josh Billings said it all when he said that learning sleeps and wakes in libraries but wisdom is everywhere wide awake on tip-toe. No one will give you the things you need most on a platter of gold. If anybody does that, he’s either a Good Samaritan or he didn’t know that’s what you need, otherwise he would not give you.

Everyone wants something in return for what they do. That is why someone said that whatever God can get through you He can get to you! So, feel!

‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’ - John Cassis

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 10: They are Diligent

‘The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance but everyone who is hasty comes only to want’ (King Solomon*).

Diligence refers to steady effort and careful hard work. In other words, it means using your head and hands. Life does not generally respond well to sudden impulses. If you want the best out of life, then you’ve got to put in steady, consistent efforts. Work hard carefully. Careless hard work amounts to foolishness. Work hard to produce results and not for the purpose of being seen. The efforts that yield the greatest results are often the ones that are not conspicuous.

The essence of diligence is found in the old saying, ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ Diligence minimizes errors because the chances of doing things right the first time are higher. Remember, haste is waste. Successful people are careful people. Diligence is the father of great skill. Diligence produces lasting results.

The most celebrated works of the great artist, Michelangelo are his paintings in the Sistine chapel in Rome. Everyone who has beheld this work first-hand or has seen photos of it has saluted the skills of the artist. Very few people, however, know that the work took Michelangelo two years to complete, many times painting with his back down and face up for days. Steady effort, careful hard work.

‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’ (King Solomon§).

* See the Holy Bible; the Proverbs 21:5
§ See the Holy Bible; the Proverbs 22:29

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 9: They have High Standards

‘The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become’ (Harold Taylor).

High standard is synonymous with excellence. According to Booker T. Washington, excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way. This is something you must strive to achieve if you want to be a success. Having high standards means that the bases with which you make comparisons are the best that you can find. People of high standards don’t believe in joining them if you can’t beat them.

You don’t have to be like anyone else. Why must you be among when there is mass failure in your class? Is anything wrong if only you passed? Why must you cheat because everyone else is doing it? ‘Keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world’ (George Bernard).

Remember this on your road to success: Any buried grasses you leave behind will surely grow again. It’s just a matter of time. Former House of Reps speaker, Salisu Buhari and his Toronto saga should teach everyone a lesson*.

‘Elevate your personal standards of quality … If you want greatness, then forget greatness and earnestly pursue what is right. Then you can find both’. (John Mason).

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 9: They have High Standards

‘The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become’ (Harold Taylor).

High standard is synonymous with excellence. According to Booker T. Washington, excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way. This is something you must strive to achieve if you want to be a success. Having high standards means that the bases with which you make comparisons are the best that you can find. People of high standards don’t believe in joining them if you can’t beat them.

You don’t have to be like anyone else. Why must you be among when there is mass failure in your class? Is anything wrong if only you passed? Why must you cheat because everyone else is doing it? ‘Keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world’ (George Bernard).

Remember this on your road to success: Any buried grasses you leave behind will surely grow again. It’s just a matter of time. Former House of Reps speaker, Salisu Buhari and his Toronto saga should teach everyone a lesson*.

‘Elevate your personal standards of quality … If you want greatness, then forget greatness and earnestly pursue what is right. Then you can find both’. (John Mason).

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 7: They Plan

After the little - but thoughtful - aside that I posted the other day, I believe we're ready to move on with the 8th in our series of thoughts about SUCCESS-MINDED PEOPLE. Today, it's about planning...

‘Praying without planning is playing without knowing’ - David O. Oyedepo

Planning simply means taking a good look at what you want to achieve and deciding how to go about it. Jesus called it ‘counting the cost’ when HE talked about a man wanting to build a tower or a king wanting to go to war.* Failure to do this results in ridiculous failure.

You probably have heard it said before that he that fails to plan plans to fail. Nobody consciously plans to fail but numerous people do it unconsciously when they make no plans for definite achievements. Only planners can achieve.

Big things happen when you do the little things right. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind seems to be blowing in the right direction. You are not an animal so you are not expected to live on mere instincts. Lay out definite plans of what you want to achieve. If you don’t know what you want then you have to manage with whatever you get.

People with plans are always prepared. They are always ready. They are always doing something positive. They are never caught unawares. And they hardly miss opportunities. That’s the only legal reason today why the rich are getting richer.

‘Order – let all your things have their place; let each part of your business have its time’ - Benjamin Franklin



* See the Holy Bible - Luke 14: 28-32