Living On The Coke Side Of Life (Part II)

In my last blog, I started sharing the story (and lessons to learn) from a product that has become one of the most powerful brands in the world – Coca-cola. I shared on how this brand has travelled to more parts of the world than any other product known to man. Go to any nook and cranny in the world, and you are likely to find a bottle of Coca-Cola there! It’s amazing. This brand is sustaining several glass industries in the world. It is sustaining thousands of sugar plantations all over the world. How did a recipe from a relatively obscure part of Atlanta turn into a global brand, enjoyed by over 1 billion (yes, 1 billion) people every day? How did this brand become the most recognized product in the world, as well as a common link between cultures and countries, people and places?

In the last post, i shared two of the lessons to learn from this brand (please refer to the last article posted) and in this post, i will be sharing two more.

Add value and get value back

This is one of the most basic rules of success. There are many young men and women today who go into business, looking at what to get! Getting value (monetary or otherwise) is not difficult, if you know the right thing to do. And the right thing to do is “Add Value”! May I say that your current level of income is a function of the value (either real or perceived) that you bring to the table? The more value you give, the more value you get.

One of the striking things about Coca-Cola is the value they seek to bring to their consumers and customers. A look at its renewed vision shows clearly why it’s the leading brand in the world

• To refresh the world...
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness...
• To create value and make a difference.

What value are you bringing to the table? What value do you want to be paid or compensated for? What problem are you solving for people that they should pay you for? Coca-Cola is refreshing the world. They are inspiring moments of optimism and happiness. They create value and make a difference…..and we are all rewarding them with market share!

May I say that your current level of income is a function of the value (either real or perceived) that you bring to the table?

Ideas rule the world

I recently read a story about Bill Gates, perhaps the richest man in the world that interested me. He was traveling through a particular airport and was asked by the custom officers if he had anything to declare. “Nothing, but a billion dollars worth of ideas” he declared. Interesting, isn’t it?

Take a moment and look around your environment. Everything you see from your laptop computer to Post-It Notes® started as an idea. The universe itself started as an idea in God’s mind. The software in your two and a half pound brain spends twenty-four hours per day producing and processing ideas. When your brain is in sleep mode we call the idea production "dreaming." When you are awake and looking out the window, we call it "daydreaming." When you are awake and focused on a task we call it "thinking."

The greatest problem faced by developing countries is not money problem. It is not power problem. It is an idea problem. Ideas are superior to money. They bring in money. Ideas are more powerful that the best currencies in the world. Infact, permit me to say that ideas are becoming a currency of the future. For example, exchange an idea with an associate at lunch. You both walk away with two ideas. If instead, you just exchanged one dollar bills at lunch, you'd both walk away with one dollar. Ideas rule the world.

The greatest problem faced by developing countries is not money problem. It is not power problem. It is an idea problem.

The brand Coca-Cola started as an idea in someone’s mind. In 1889, a man, by the name Asa Candler, bought a formula and a 3 legged brass kettle containing a mixture of lime, cinnamon, cocoa leaves, and the seeds on a Brazilian shrub from a druggist, Dr John Pemberton. Together with an idea he had about marketing, he turned this formula into a money spinner! Ideas indeed rule the world.

I hope we can take a cue from these great lessons from the Coca-Cola brand, and also line on the Coke side of life! It’s an interesting part of life to live!

Living On The Coke Side Of Life

About this time last week, while on vacation in Atlanta Georgia, I had the opportunity of following the story of one of the world’s biggest and most popular brands. Several things interested me about this brand. This brand has travelled to more places in the world than the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s in more hands than the Bible. It has penetrated into cities, towns and villages that the gospel has not dared! It is perhaps the largest consumer of glass in the world today. This brand is sustaining several glass factories and sugar plantations around the globe today – perhaps the largest consumer of both. I am sure you can guess the brand I am talking about now. I am talking about Coca-Cola. Coca Cola sells 1.4 billion servings each day. You could show someone a Coke can and they'll be able to tell you what it is, even if they live in Tokyo. No other brand is as recognizable as Coke is.

This brand has travelled to more places in the world than the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s in more hands than the Bible

A visit to the World of Coca-Cola Centre will be inspiring for anyone. You will practically see how this dream, and this product evolved to be a world brand and then you ask yourself – why not me; why not now? A friend of mine always put it in a nice way – if not now, when. If not me, then who!

It was in 1886, and in New York harbour,workers were constructing the Statue of Liberty. Eight hundred miles away, another great American symbol was about to be unveiled. Like many people who changed history, John Pemberton, a civil war veteran, and Atlanta pharmacist (yes, pharmacist!), was inspired by simple curiosity. He loved thinkering with medicinal formulas, and one afternoon, searching for a quick cure for headaches, he stirred up a fragmant, caramel-coulored liquid in a three-legged pot. When it was done, he carried it a few doors down to Jacob’s pharmacy. Here, the mixture was combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed – this new drink was something special. So, Jacob’s pharmacy put it on sale for five cents a glass. Pemberton’s bookkeeper Frank Robinson named the mixture Coca-cola, and wrote it out in his discticnt script. To this day, Coca-cola is written in the same way.

If not now, when. If not me, then who!

About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expanses, so the first year of sales were a loss.

There are a couple of lessons to draw out from the Coca-Cola story

Start with what you have

This is one of the prominent things in the Coca-Cola story. Sometimes, we are bugged down by trying to figure out all the tiny details before starting anything. We want to have everything ready to go before we take any step. Most times, we focus on what we don’t have rather than what we have. Pemberton started the Coca-Cola company with what he had – a formula. At that time, he didn’t have any business or marketing experience. He could have held back because of the many things he didn’t have but he didn’t.

There’s a story that explains this in a deeper way in God’s word. In II Kings 4: 1-7,there is an account of a woman that shows the power of starting with what you have. The woman, a widow, had a peculiar problem. He late husband left her and her sons huge debts to pay! And as far as she was concerned, she didn’t have the wherewithal to pay these debts. She did what was very logical to do – she ran to the man of God for help (since he husband was also a prophet when he was alive). I am sure she was expecting a display of a miracle. However, the man of God asked a very instructional question

“Elisha said, "I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Nothing," she said. "Well, I do have a little oil."

As far as she was concerned, she had nothing, except a little oil. Guess what? That little oil was enough to get what she wanted. This woman was focusing on what she didn’t have. The man of God drew her attention to what she had! What do you have? May I challenge you to start with that, and then see how you attract and get what you need.

Don’t be afraid to fail

In case you are not aware, Coca-Cola did not make any profit in the 1st year! First year sales closed at a loss. Infact, Pemberton, who invented the mixture, died 2.5 years after his discovery. However, the seed of greatness for this brand has been sown and just needed time to germinate.

One of the best lessons I ever learned was that it was OK to fail. It is OK to make mistakes. Failure has a wonderful way of teaching you lessons, sometimes very painful lessons, that you can use the next time you tackle a problem. You may not learn the lesson the first time, or the second, or fifth time, but eventually each failure will teach you something you can use later.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Every successful person has failed at some time. Everybody that plays it safe, they’re never going to fail, but they’re never going to be a big success,”

How did I learn this? By recognizing one crucial thing – no one starts off being the best at something. All the greats of anything did it through hard work, something you can read about in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and his 10,000 hours idea (that to truly master something you need to spend 10,000 hours on it). And you know what? The first thousand hours were probably filled with failures.“Don’t be afraid to fail. Every successful person has failed at some time. Everybody that plays it safe, they’re never going to fail, but they’re never going to be a big success,” said Peter Kim, Hudson Jeans CEO, requoted from a Los Angeles Times article.

(To be continued)

Lessons From The Wisemen

It’s that time of the year again when everyone around the world celebrate Christmas –a day to mark the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some celebrate because they know the significance of that day, while several others do so just for the fun of it. As another Christmas is here, I have a question on my mind. Do people really understand the true meaning and essence of Christmas? Do they understand what they are celebrating? It reminds me of the story of ants that I read some time ago. A group of ants were marching towards a place all together. The one at the extreme end touched the one in front of him and asked “Johnny, where are we headed?” “I don’t know”, replied Johnny, “I just saw everyone moving and decided to join them!” You will agree with me that this journey will end nowhere. This is the exact way some people celebrate Christmas. They do not know the true essence of it. They are celebrating because others are. They are celebrating the day because it is a national holiday. May I ask you why you are celebrating this Christmas?

Christmas without Christ is just an ordinary mass! Period! Can you imagine going for a birthday party without the celebrant in attendance? I am not sure it will be a great party. The true essence of Christmas will be missing if Christ is missing in your heart.

Can you imagine going for a birthday party without the celebrant in attendance? I am not sure it will be a great party

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Thousands of years ago, a group of people, who witnessed the maiden Christmas didn’t just let the day go by. They made a great significance of the day. They were a group of guys with humble beginnings. I like the way St Luke introduces them in Luke 2: 8

Now, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

They were just ordinary shepherds. They were not people in the top echelon of the society. They sat silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him—so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.

Today, as I read the story of Christmas again, I see a couple of things to learn from these shepherds, who the Bible also referred to as wisemen.

Realized Vision

In Luke’s account of the story, the angel of the Lord appeared to these wisemen with the glad tidings of the birth of the savior. The angel told them that they will see a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Immediately the angel left them, look at what they did (Luke 2: 15-16)

So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us”. And they came in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger

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These men immediately acted on the vision. They followed the vision that God showed them. They sought for guidance as they pursued their vision. In Mathew’s account, they encountered series of hindrances from Herod the king, but they did not allow these to blur their vision. There was no account whatsoever that they stopped to rest on the way. Not until they realized their vision

What vision do you have in your heart? How are you pursuing it? Are you acting on it or giving excuses why it can’t be realized? The wisemen didn’t do this. If you also want to be wise, then act on your God given vision NOW.

Real Worship

My wife and I were discussing of late on the topic of real worship. Today in churches, you see people dancing to praise worship and you wonder if they are really doing it unto the Lord, or to get noticed. Praise worship leaders climb the pulpit more interested in very nice music arrangements, rather than leading us to God’s presence. We see a gradual dearth of real worship. The wisemen here worshiped in Spirit and in truth. The Bible says in Mathew 2: 11

….they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they had come into the house, the saw the young child with Mary His Mother, and fell down and worshipped him

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There was nothing systemic about this worship. No music. No drums. No pianos. I am not sure there was any sound. Only real worship. These men fell down. They literally threw themselves at the saviour! They worshiped with reckless abandon. In the Jewish custom, this was only done to a King. The acknowledged Christ as their Superior King.
May I ask you this question? When last have you truly worshipped Him? When last did you throw yourself at Him in reckless abandon? Selah!

Remarkable Giving

…And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh

Not only did these wisemen worship the Lord, they also gave out of their treasures. They gave in abundance. Notice that they didn’t know this family before. They angel never told them to give. They were not under any obligation to give. However, they opened their treasures and gave abundantly. Those gifts were not mere gifts from shepherds. It must have cost them a lot. They gave generously.

One other thing struck me about their giving. They gave significantly. The wise men…recognizing Jesus as King of Kings wanted to give their best as well. Each of the three gifts given had both a symbolic meaning and a practical use.

Gold
•Gold, as it is today was very valuable. To find gold you have to dig underground and find which was very difficult back in Bible times because you didn’t have the tools you have today.
•Gold has always been a means of exchange…something that for Mary & Joseph would come in handy as they would soon travel to Egypt and would need food, clothing and shelter.
•Symbolically Gold represents kingship. The King that Christ is for us. It also represents the purification process we go through in our trials as a Christian.

Frankincense
•Frankincense is made by cutting a tree named “Arbor Thurisfrom” found Persia, Arabia and India. It’s like a sap that is gathered and then dried for 3 months and becomes a like a hardened resin or gum.
•Frankincense is used as a perfume but mostly it was burned as sweet incense during worship. During the Exodus Aaron would burn Frankincense at the altar as a sweet offering to the Lord.
•Practically Frankincense would be a familiar smell to baby Jesus as this was the same God that was worshiped in the Old Testament. It would also help it getting the stable smelling better with all those animals in there with them. You could say that Frankincense was kinda of the Yankee Candle of that time.
•Symbolically Frankincense represented the divinity of Christ because as mentioned Frankincense was burnt as an offering to God.

Myrrh
•Myrrh, like Frankincense, also is the sap from a tree that is hardened and then used. However, unlike, Frankincense which is sweet…Myrrh has a bitter taste to it.
•Myrrh was mostly used to embalm the dead because it had the property to preserve. It was also used as a perfume, an ingredient of holy ointments mentioned in Exodus but it’s most practical use for Mary & Joseph would be it’s medical uses. Today Myrrh is used today in toothpaste, mouthwash and make-up.
•Lastly, Myrrh represents the bitter cup that Christ had to drink in suffering for our sins and the healing for us that his death brings.

When celebrating with your loved ones this holiday season, take a moment to remind yourself of the first Christmas and the impact that it has had on the world in which we live. Any wise man today will still do what these wisemen did. Wise men still seek Jesus!