THE LESSONS FROM FAILURES™

There was an executive in IBM who lost Ten million pounds. His boss rather than firing him which seems to be the right thing to do in that circumstance decided to do otherwise.

Thomas Watson Jr. the President of IBM invited the man to his office. The young

Man quickly cleared his desk with the expectation that he will be fired. Thomas Watson Jr. asks the young man. “Do you know why you are here?” the young man replied “I suppose you’re going to fire me?” the President replied Fire you! Are you crazy? I’ve just spent ten million pounds on your education.”

Failure is a form of education and experience that one gets on his quest for success unlimited. If you’ve never failed in any of your life’s ambition, I’m afraid the success you’ve attained needs to be questioned.

A wise man once said that it would be impossible to live with a person who had never failed or been defeated in any of his purpose. He also discovered that people achieve success in almost exact proportion to the extent to which they meet and master adversity and defeat.

Those who are truly successful see failures as blessing in disguise. Failure opens one’s eyes to see new opportunity that exist without our knowledge. It brings your weakness to lime light.

When you fail, see it as a thing that must come and go, learn from it, boldly walk pass it and keep going forward. Failure is a temporary thing.

The fact that you failed is a proof that there is still more to learn. Failure and mistakes helps you to learn better. One of the riskiest things you can do in life is to do little and common things so as to avoid mistakes and failures.

Thomas A. Edison failed ten thousand times before he invented the electric bulb. When asked why he decided to keep going on with all the failures he encountered, he said he just discovered ten thousand ways why it will not work. He learned from the temporary failures that would have stopped him from achieving success.

Abraham Lincoln encountered big-time failures on his quest to becoming the president of the United States. He did no chicken-out, he kept pressing on. He learnt from failures and defeats. In 1860, He was sworn into office as the 16^th President of the United States of America.

Learn to see failures and defeats as a platform for a great and rapid learning experience. Vernan Sanders says “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”

The fact that you failed today means that you have what it takes to become successful – why? Because you made a try. You can only be stopped from achieving your success when you stop trying after you encounter failures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The Japanese as a nation failed on their quest to building an industrialized nation. The failure they encounter did not stop them. They interpolated and extrapolated, I mean they looked inward and outward.

They hired Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a Management guru and a Statistician. He helped them learn from their failures and today Japan is one of the most industrialized nations in the world.

You too can become as successful as you desire if only you would learn from your failures and the failures of others.

En-route success unlimited™, we know that;

“Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach”

                                                               - Napoleon Hill

"Most success springs from an obstacle or failure. I became a cartoonist largely because I failed in my goal of becoming a successful executive."

                                                              - Scott Adams

Follow me on twitter @SolomonOchucks

THE WILL TO SUCCEED™

I once heard the story of a great French general named La Variere who made the decision to attack, even though his troops were largely outnumbered. He was certain of victory, but he felt his men's fear and wanted to do something to cut short their protestations.

    

On a country road he stopped before an isolated chapel and declared, "I am

going inside and I will ask for God's help. Then I will come out and flip

this gold coin. If our Emperor's face appears we will win. If the other side

comes up heads, then we will lose. And so, my companions, our fate is in the hands of destiny."

    

After a few moments in the chapel, La Variere came out and flipped the coin.

Napoleon's head appeared. The soldiers shouted and acclaimed their destiny,

and the entire company's moral was lifted. Convinced that they would be

victorious, they fought with such bravery that they rapidly won the battle.

    

After the victory Vermont, one of La Variere's adjutants, said, "Oh Sir, no

one can change the course of Destiny. This unexpected victory is yet another

Proof of that."

    

"Who knows, my dear Vermont, who knows," replied the General, and he

 Showed him the coin on which Napoleon's head appeared... on both sides!

The will to succeed has pulled men out of their graves, state of comas’ and their obscurity and placed them en-route success unlimited. It can transform a failure, a mediocre into success personified.

You need to direct your life with a strong will to succeed, if you really want to enjoy some measures of success in your life time. Take responsibility for your actions. Don’t blame anybody for your failures or give credit to luck for success.

Those that are classified “successful” in our world today are those who have “a strong will to succeed”, they don’t give up easily when confronted with failures and defeats.

What would you like to achieve or become, that you feel you cannot attain because of the present economical, social, geographical conditions or whatsoever that is working against you? You don’t need to allow all these factors to stop you any more, just develop a will to succeed and certainly you will be counted among those who succeeded despite the unfavorable conditions that surround them.

In front of you lies your future, a road leading into the distance. Along the road are ambitions you wish to accomplish, desires you wish to gratify and high level success you wish to achieve – but the gap between your present state and the position where they are, is the will to succeed, without which you can be knocked down, discouraged and humiliated on your quest for success.

I had learned from years of experience with men and from books, that when a man really desires to succeed with a strong will, he’s sure going to succeed, because all the factors that seems to be working against him, will become the same factors working for him.

Remember, all those who succeeded in life did not really start great. They kept persisting despite the setbacks and difficulties they encountered. You too can become successful if only you can develop a strong will for success.

At En-route success unlimited™, we know that;

“The will of men who are put to the test can often supersede the will of destiny”

                                                                                             - Tristan Bernard

“Great souls have wills, feeble one have only wishes”

                                                                   - Chinese Proverb

Follow me on twitter: @SolomonOchucks

STRENGTH FROM STRUGGLES™

 One day, a small opening appeared on a cocoon. A man sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Then it stopped making progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could not go any further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly; he took a pair of scissors and opened the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily; but it had a withered body; it had tiny and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch because he expected that at any moment, the wings would open enlarge and expand, to be able to support the butterfly’s body, and become firm. Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a withered body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and goodwill did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening, were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Most often struggles are some of the basic ingredient that we need in our life to succeed.

If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. Never being able to fly.

“I ask for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom and God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity and God gave me a Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for courage and God gave me obstacles to overcome.

I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted but I received everything I needed.”

                                                                                   - Author Unknown.

Every form of success achieved in this life comes after a struggle. If there were no form of struggles in life, everybody might as well become successful but it is this struggle that differentiate the successful from the unsuccessful.

Les Brown once said “Many of us act as if we were born with the great expectation that life was going to be easy. Well, if someone told you life was going to be one smooth, easy ride, I’ve got a special announcement! THEY LIED!”

Smooth sail doesn’t make a skilled sailor; success comes to those who overcome some form of obstacles to be able to reach their targets.

It’s necessary to apply your brains and brawns if you must achieve success in life. No matter how easy you may see some people succeed, deep down within them, they know the form of internal and external struggle they scaled through to achieve their success.

If you don’t pass through some form of struggle to get success, the chances are that you won’t value it. Struggles develop your character, and it’s your character that determines how long you will remain successful.

Remember, an electric current will follow the line of least resistance, but the truth is that a light bulb glows precisely because there is resistance. Even the lion that is the king of the jungle will always struggle to get its meal and there after still struggle to eat it, because it will still contend with the vultures and the flies that will always be around to partake in the meal.

Come to think of it life from birth to death is a series of endless struggles. So never run away from struggles, embrace it and you will see how success comes.

En-route success unlimited™, we know that;

“The strongest trees are not those in heavily protected forest, but the trees which stand in open spaces where they are in constant struggle with wind and all the element of weather.”

-          Napoleon Hill

“Struggle is a clever device through which Nature compels humanity to develop, expand and progress. It is either an ordeal or a magnificent experience, depending on one’s attitude toward it. Success is impossible – unthinkable even without it.”

                                                                               - Napoleon Hill

Follow me on twiter : @SolomonOchucks

DEVELOP A BURNING DESIRE FOR SUCCESS™

Your capacity to develop a burning desire for success is one of the major requirements for achieving success. You can hardly achieve anything in this life if you don’t have the desire for it. Remember success don’t just happen, you must make it happen and without desire, when you meet obstacles you can easily give up.

The major reasons why a lot of people give up on their dreams when confronted by temporary setbacks is that they lack the desire to go after their dreams. Nothing stands in the way of the person who has a burning desire to fulfill his/her dreams. God made man in such a way that whenever anything fires his soul, the world impossible vanishes from his mental faculty.

When you have a strong desire for success, you will definitely go far in your career; you would want to aspire higher in life, you will find yourself pushing harder to get the things you want from life. The truth is that if you have developed a strong desire for anything, you will never need anybody to force you to start. Desire is the fuel we need to get going in life en-route to success unlimited. It creates a fire of motivation that can never be put off.

I remember when I was in junior secondary school; I loved Engineering, Mechanical Engineering to be specific. I worked hard to do sciences in senior secondary school and also to pass my science subjects. My desire for Mechanical engineering grew stronger anytime I watched documentary on Engineering. I made up my mind to study Mechanical Engineering at all cost and the first admission I got was for Computer Science, I decided to wait for a year. My desire paid off because the following year I was admitted to study mechanical engineering and I graduated as a mechanical engineer after five years.

When you have a burning desire for anything, delays will mean nothing to you. Desire has a way of instilling patience and hope in someone. It makes you see nothing but your target. It will help your mind to fashion out ways to hit your target. You can afford to spend your last penny to get what you truly desire.

I observed that when you develop a strong desire for anything, after sometimes, it will get to a point where your desire will decide the direction that your life will go. Desire has the power to move you towards any direction in life. When you develop a desire for positive things, you will get it, so also if you develop desire for negative thing you will also get it.

Have you been finding it difficult to achieve anything in life? If yes, then develop a burning desire for the fulfillment of your set goals and you will see how far you will get. Nobody can do that for you. You must do it yourself if indeed you want to become successful in life because your lack of desire will never make you successful.

You can develop a burning desire for anything if you can visualize the thing for a long time until it becomes registered in your mind. What you look at the longest becomes the strongest in your mind and in essence, it becomes your desire. Your confession can also help you to develop a burning desire for anything. Dr. Emile Coue a French Psychologist proved that repeated affirmations have a profound effect on human behavior and actions.

Another process that can assist you to develop a burning desire for anything is concentration. When you concentrate on the fulfillment of a particular goal for a long time, it will get to a stage whereby your desire for it will become so strong that you would not want to do anything until you achieve the goal.

If you truly want to fulfill your wildest dreams in life, then you must develop a burning desire for it. Desire has a way of fulfilling its self.

En-route success unlimited™, we know that;

“Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment”

-          Eric Butterworth.

“You can have anything you want--if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose”

-          William Adams.

follow on twitter: @SolomonOchucks

THE COAT OF MANY COLOURS™

“A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes”.

                 -  Mahatma Gandhi

Until recently we didn’t begin to understand the effect of a child’s growing up on him, thanks to Pediatric Psychologists. By omission or commission Jacob who was Joseph’s father had spent seventeen years programming his son for success. The coat of many colours made for him was worn by princes and princesses. Joseph grew up mimicking princes for life in the palace. No wonder he ended up there.

Your growing up years prepared you for your future. Whether positively or negatively, your experiences and exposures – affluence and royalty or was it deprivation and mediocrity   fashion you for today’s manifestations.

Begin to consciously do things, go to places and associate with people who will program your mind for promotion and enlargement. He that walks with the wise shall be wise so, make deliberate efforts to walk with corporate executives. Seek out mentors and friends in them, hang around them and you will find yourself begin to attract the same fortunes like they are.

It’s really all about your attraction – you attract what you are and you are what you imbibe. Deliberately expose your mind to life changing books, seminars, courses and conferences – they’ll improve the quality of your mind. Before you know it you are attracting a better quality and a higher value to your life. Keep this in mind, it’s the things you do to improve your heart and mind outside of your work hours that add more to your career, than the routine eight hours you put into doing the job.

INSPIRATION

The Trees That Wood   

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors”.