You Can Dream Again!

Have you ever been in a situation where all hope seems lost and it’s like you’ll never come out of it? Have you ever had a situation that just proves impossible? Have you ever been in the middle of a crisis and you couldn't think of a way out? Have you ever believed so much in a thing and it didn't work out the way you planned it? You are not alone.

“Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone was rolled aside from the entrance”

John 20:1 – Living Bible

It's a dark Sunday morning. It’s been dark since Friday. It’s been dark as a result of events that took place in those longs hours between Friday and Sunday.

It has been dark because of Peter’s denial. He had denied his Lord and Master on three different occasions. On one occasion, he swore that he never knew him when confronted by a teenage girl. It was still dark.

It has been dark because of the disciples' betrayal. No one except John had the courage to travel with Jesus all the way. They were all scattered abroad. They ran for their dear lives. Permit me to say that it was not only Judas who betrayed his Lord. Majority of the disciples did. They fled when Jesus needed them most. It was still dark.

It has been dark because of Pilate’s cowardice. Read the account of Jesus’ betrayal and you’ll be amazed at the cowardice of a whole King. His name Pilate means close pressed or firm. You will agree with me that he was anything but firm on this particular day. He was being controlled by the crowd. He yielded to their wish even though he was dead sure it was a wrong thing to do. It was still dark.

It has been dark because of Christ’s anguish. He must have gone through so much pain. How about a slap from one of the military officers after blindfolding him? What about the crown of thorns placed on his head? What about the heavy wood he had to carry most of the way down to Golgotha? What about the stripes that had to go round his exposed body? Consider the spiting, cursing and humiliation. What about the spikes that went through the hands that healed the sick? Oh, what anguish? No wonder it was still dark!

It has been dark because of Satan’s glee. There was a party in hell over the events on Friday. As far as the devil and his cohorts were concerned, they were in charge now. The Son of God was dead and it was their time. It was still dark.

All these happened since Friday but it was still dark on Sunday morning. The only ember of light this morning was with a band of women standing at a distance from the grave. They were the last to leave Calvary and the first to arrive at the grave. However, this morning promises nothing except an encounter with a corpse. They never imagined this could be the 1st Easter. They were not hoping the grave would be vacant. There was a time they dared to dream such dreams but not now. It’s too late for the incredible. The feet that walked on water had been pierced. The hands that cleansed lepers had been stilled. There noble aspirations had been spiked to yesterday’s cross. Their dreams appeared dead and long forgotten.

Have you ever got to a junction like this in your life? A junction where everything seems dark? Where there seems to be no way forward? Where everything just appeared gloomy? Before you give up and throw in the towel, would you please follow me and see what happened afterwards?

Though it’s been dark hitherto, a miracle was just around the corner this Sunday morning. A double surprise was waiting for these women in quick succession!

First, the stone of the sepulchre had been rolled away! They must have been thinking of how to gain access to the sepulchre on their way there. But to their surprise, the stone was no longer there. As if that was not enough, they couldn’t find the body of Jesus in the grave again. While still wondering what could have happened, an angel explained to them that Jesus was risen as it had been written! “You cannot be looking for the living among the dead”, the angel said. Suddenly, the darkness since Friday began to lift! A fresh hope sprang up in these women and later in the minds of the disciples.

After all the darkness, light shone. The greater the darkness, the brighter the glory of light. No wonder it was a special Sunday morning, one that we still celebrate till today. It was a morning with a great message of hope. That resurrection morning had a great message – It is Alright to Dream Again! Yes it is. The resurrection of Christ gives you this opportunity to dream again! To believe, to hope!

Happy Easter.

The Law Of Use

I often speak and write about Laws. I do this for a number of reasons. First, laws are universal. They apply equally to everyone. They are no respecter of persons. Everyone who jumps up will come down - the colour of his skin is immaterial neither is his ability to speak “conc” tongues. Second, laws are inviolable. No one can violate them without suffering the consequences. It takes a higher law to break a lower one. Thirdly, laws are immutable. They do not change. They hold true for ever and are the same anywhere, anyday, and any time. This simply means that laws gives predictability to events. If you follow a law strictly, you are guaranteed of the effect/reward.

I recently read again a story in the holy creed that amazed me. It is often referred to as The Parable of Talents. It opened my eyes to several points on what I call The Law of Use. May I please share it with you?

A certain man gave each of his three servants an amount of money, “each according to his ability” (Mt 25:15). This man (referred to as The Master) knew their ability and gave them opportunity anyway. His basic expectation to them all was to do business with it and make profit. The 1st one, who had five bags of money went and traded with it and got five more. The 2nd one, who had two bags, did the same thing and got another two. The 3rd servant, who got one bag, dug a hole in the ground and hid his mater’s bag of money there. Later, the master had his servants give account of what they had done with the resources at their disposal. In the same vein like this story, God has given us all something (ability, resource, insight, revelation), and He holds us accountable for what we do with it. One day, He will ask us to give an account.

The 1st two servants gave good accounts of what they had done with their talents and how they had made a 100% profit with it. The account given by the 3rd servant is worth examining.

He said, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.” (Mt 25:24-25).

Take note of a couple of points

- The servant claimed he acted out of fear of the master; he placed emphasis on master’s perceived hardness. He was shifting blames and justifying his actions.

- I suggest two motives: fear (servant afraid for his own well-being), or laziness (little wonder the master did not give him much responsibility even from the beginning).

- If servant was afraid but aggressive, he would have done whatever was necessary to earn a profit; but he was lazy, so he simply tried to protect himself.

- Master’s evaluation: “You wicked and lazy servant!” It is wicked to leave resources at your disposal unused! Hmmm……are you wicked too? What are you doing with all the untapped resources at your disposal? I think it’s bearable to be called lazy. But wicked? That’s not a good title!

- Quantity wasn’t as big a problem as laziness: “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest”. It would just have been okay if he made an extra bag of money for his master. He would have made 100% profit too. I am sure that even 50% profit would have showed some efforts and would have been rewarded accordingly. Who wouldn’t be excited with a 50% profit, even in today’s world?

May I just summarize all these points simply? "Use it or lose it!"

God entrusts us all with resources so we can advance His kingdom and He would hold us accountable for those resources. If we do not use those resources effectively, we will lose them.

The Law of Use also applies to our day to day life. It governs the growth of individuals, corporations and nations. If you use the resources available to you, you will improve those resources and also develop new ones. Some other ideas/action points around the everyday life are -

*Exercise your muscles and they become stronger.
*Submit yourself to training and you improve your abilities.
*Read Bible and pray and you will grow spiritually.
*Exercising 5 minutes once a month won’t do much for you; exercising 15mins daily for 6 months will work “miracles”
*Invest money at 8% for one week, have little to show for it; invest it for 1 to 2 years and you get a good return on investment.

Even with a small, insignificant beginning, applying the Law of Use can produce great results.

You are lifted!

No Limit

Have you ever thought about what you could do, if you really decided to? I'm not merely talking about what your skills, education and talents are capable of. I'm talking about what is really possible for you. There is a very real possibility that you can do virtually anything. Not alone, not without new information, but certainly within your ultimate grasp.

Think for a moment. What would you like to do if you are not limited by anything? What is the one thing you will like to achieve if you have all the money, connection, information etc needed at your disposal? Write that thing down. Can I tell you something? You can achieve whatever it is that you have written down! Yes, you can.

You are not limited to the life you now live. It has been accepted by you as the best you can do at this moment. Any time you're ready to go beyond the limitations currently in your life, you are capable of doing that by choosing different thoughts.

We each earn the income we do today because that is the amount we have limited ourselves to earn. We could easily earn 5, 10, 20 times more if we did not limit ourselves through the thoughts we maintain. Don't believe that's true? Surely you know people who earn much more than you who don't have your education, your skills, or your intelligence. So why do they earn more than you?

I love the story of George Dantzig that Cynthia Kersey wrote about in her book “Unstoppable”. As a college student, George studied very hard and always late into the night. So late that he overslept one morning, arriving 20 minutes late for class. He quickly copied the two math problems on the board, assuming they were the homework assignment. It took him several days to work through the two problems, but finally he had a breakthrough and dropped the homework on the professor's desk the next day.

Later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 6 a.m. by his excited professor. Since George was late for class, he hadn't heard the professor announce that the two unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind teasers that even Einstein hadn't been able to answer. But George Dantzig, working without any thoughts of limitation, had solved not one, but two problems that had stumped mathematicians for thousands of years.

Simply put, George solved the problems because he didn't know he couldn't.

Where some of us have seen only limitations of the world or ourselves, others have gone on, with courage and imagination, exploring new worlds, achieving great dreams, ignoring warnings that “it” can’t be done. The evidence of the unstoppable human spirit is everywhere. We have dammed rivers, dug canals, cured diseases, invented thousands of labor-saving machines, and forged roads across towering mountains. We have created global networks of communication and travel. We have touched the moon.

"keep reminding yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you, and therefore you are quite capable of doing anything you set your mind to..."

Bob Proctor tells us to "keep reminding yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you, and therefore you are quite capable of doing anything you set your mind to. All you must do is figure out how you can do it, not whether or not you can. And once you have made your mind up to do it, it's amazing how your mind begins to figure out how."

Isn’t that worth thinking about?

Little Things Can Make A Big Difference

While there's a natural tendency to want to 'think big' , 'do big' and 'be big' in life, relationships and business, much of the results we get are in doing the little things in a consistent way. Doing the little things makes a big difference, much bigger than we are willing to admit.

Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.

Listen to the news and see how people are changing their world by doing seemingly little things. I read the profiles of most of the CNN Heroes of 2012, and one thing struck me - they were ordinary people, doing little things in their own ways, to change their worlds.

I witnessed a fatality some weeks back, on a highway in Cairo. The car involved was almost brand new and all the safety gadgets needed to protect anyone must have been in place. However, the driver was not wearing his seat belt! As 'little' or trivial as that might sound, it was what made the difference between life and death.

Did you hear about the bridge that collapsed in Japan recently? 9 people were killed and several injured. Initial reports shows that a missing bolt (yes, something as small as a missing bolt) was responsible for the collapse. Can you imagine that? Those little things sure can make a very big difference.

I know and work with a lot of very successful leaders and aspiring leaders who set very ambitious improvement goals for themselves. They want to be more strategic, lead change, be more visionary, improve their presentation skills, learn marketing and finance, and improve their work-life balance. Yes, these are all important and impressive goals. They can be huge mountains to climb, and could even take years to achieve or master. However, approaching these goals little by little but consistently, would ultimately get them there. This reminds me of a parent that screamed at her teenager: "if you want to clean up the environment, why don't you start by cleaning your damn room".

If you add a little to a little and do this often, soon the little will become great

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I came across this story a couple of years ago that further explains how little things, like acts of kindness and courtesy, can go a long way in making a huge difference.

Many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the lobby of a small Philadelphia hotel. "All the big places are filled," the man said. "Can you give us a room?" The clerk replied that with three conventions in town, no accommodations were available anywhere. "Every guest room is taken," he said, but then added, "but I can't send a nice couple like you into the rain at one o'clock in the morning. Would you be willing to sleep in my room?" The next morning as he paid his bill, the elderly man said to the clerk, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I'll build one for you." The clerk laughed and forgot about the incident. About 2 years later, however, he received a letter containing a round trip ticket to New York and a request that he be the guest of the elderly couple he had befriended.

Once in New York, the old man led the clerk to the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-Fourth Street, where he pointed to an incredible new building and declared "That is the hotel I just built for you to manage." The young man, George C. Boldt, accepted the offer of William Waldorf Astor to become the manager of the original Waldorf- Astoria, considered the finest hotel in the world in its time!

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble

May I encourage you not to neglect the little things, because you are focusing on the big things? May I encourage you to pay attention to the "little" things, even as you dream big? May I encourage you not to get carried away with the notion that if what we do is not big enough, it could make no difference? It is time for a paradigm shift - do not take for granted the 'little', do not overlook ' the little', and when all you get sometimes is 'little', do appreciate it. In actual sense, the 'Little' things do make a BIG difference.

Double Your Failure Rate

In just a few more weeks, or perhaps days, the year 2012 will come to an end. A couple of people are already taking stock of the year and wondering why they are behind on their dreams and on their plans. I bet you would have at least 1 thing on your list that you didn't succeed at. You are probably wondering why you failed at it, or what really happened. It becomes are bit more serious if it is an item you have been “carrying over” for a few years now. Do you feel a sense of failure…..yet again? You are not alone.

Most people who have become famous have invariably tasted failure early in their lives and careers, lending credence to a view that failure is the stepping-stone to success. Failure is a friend, not an enemy. Failure is a school teacher, not a taskmaster. See it as such and you will benefit immensely. I am always thrilled by the definition of success I saw somewhere a couple of years back. It says “Success is moving from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm!” Of a truth, the mistakes we make are not as important as the lessons we learn from them.

Success is moving from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm

A number of years ago, an aspiring writer interviewed Thomas J. Watson, the President of IBM. Watson gave him this advice: “It’s not exactly my line, “he said, but would you like me to give you a formula for writing success? It’s quite simple, really. Double you rate of failure.” "You're making a common mistake," he said. "You're thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. Failure is a teacher--a harsh one, perhaps, but the best. You say you have a desk full of rejected manuscripts? That's great! Every one of those manuscripts was rejected for a reason. Have you pulled them to pieces looking for that reason? That's what I have to do when an idea backfires or a sales program fails. You've got to put failure to work for you." He folded his napkin and put it beside his plate. "You can be discouraged by failure--or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that's where you'll find success. On the far side of failure."What a profound truth this is!

My point today is pretty simple (I hope) - don’t allow your failures or setbacks to discourage you. Failure needs not be fatal. When treated properly, failure can lead to great success and be a great learning experience. Henry Ford observed, "Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Don't try to hide your mistakes, simply admit them, learn from them and grow from them. Remember that it's OK to fail! It is okay to make mistakes as long as you don’t make the same mistake twice. Failure is like a tuition you pay for you to succeed.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

A couple of years after Watson gave the above advice to the young aspiring writer, Arthur Godson, he went on to become a well known author and editor. He later said of Watson’s advice, “Somewhere inside me, a basic attitude had shifted. A project turned down, a lot of rejected manuscripts –why, these are nothing to be ashamed of. They were rungs in a ladder- that was all”. May I encourage you to do the same? You may be closer to success than you can ever imagine. Giving up now will just make all efforts of yesteryear go down the drain! One more push might be all you need. One more contact might be all that is required. One more trial might be the breakthrough you have been waiting for. Just one more……..

I guess I have shared the story of Sir Edmund Hillary before. Let me share it again to drive this point home. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29,000 feet straight up. He was knighted for his efforts. He even made American Express card commercials because of it! However, until we read his book, High Adventure, we don't understand that Hillary had to grow into this success. You see, earlier in 1952 he had attempted to climb Mount Everest, but failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked him to address its members. Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!" A year later, he succeeded where he has failed.

Failure isn’t bad if it doesn’t attack the heart. Success is alright if it doesn’t get to the head!

I have learnt something about successful people. They don’t avoid mistakes; they handle it. Peter Drucker once said "The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, for the more new things he will try. I would never promote into a top level job a man who was not making mistakes…otherwise he is sure to be mediocre."

Failure should be a teacher, not an undertaker. Failure isn’t bad if it doesn’t attack the heart. Success is alright if it doesn’t get to the head!

Make the best of the rest of the year my dear friends, and double your failure rate and then success would be guaranteed.

A couple of years ago, a colleague sent me an interesting piece. It changed the way I perceived things after that. Over time, I have seen this help me in different situations, especially difficult ones. It taught me, or would I say it reminded me of how to view problems and seeming impossibilities. I have shared this story before, and I perceive it is worth sharing again.

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than their US counterparts and therefore don't have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. "If the supermarkets want a space efficient watermelon,” they asked themselves, "How can we provide one?" It wasn't long before they invented the square watermelon. Yes, they did!

The solution to the problem of round watermelons wasn't nearly as difficult to solve, for those who didn't assume the problem was impossible to begin with and simply asked how it could be done. It turns out that all you need to do is place them into a square box when they are growing and the watermelon will take on the shape of the box! That simple? Yes, it was that simple!

Impossibilities only exist in the dictionary of fools

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in the US - which resulted in the growers being able to charge a premium price for them.

What does this have to do with anything besides square watermelons? There are a few lessons that you can take away from this story which will help you in all parts of your life. Here they are:

Don't assume:

The major problem was that most people had always seen and used to round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question. Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you are likely not to even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things.

Question habits:

The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a regular basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you live your life. Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them.

Be creative:

When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution. This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question probably thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter water melons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish. By looking at the question from an alternative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your live will help you find solutions to many problems where others can't see them.

Look for a better way:

The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something. The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It's impossible to find a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. Always ask if there is a better way of doing the things that you do and constantly write down the things you wish you could do (but currently can't or aren't) since these are usually hints about steps you need to change. Get into the habit of asking yourself, "Is there a better way I could be doing this?" and you will find there often is.

Impossibilities often aren't:

If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error. I like the way a wise man puts it. He said “Impossibilities only exists in the dictionary of fools”. Don’t you think he is right?

Apply the lessons from the square watermelons to areas in your life (work, finances, relationships, etc), and with consistency you may continuously improve all aspects of your life.

The Power Of Your Commitment

Dreams remain as hanging castles until you match them with practical steps to make them realities. Nothing works until you are committed to make it work. There is tremendous power in your commitment.

Do you know the first American to win 3 gold medals at the Olympics? She was born premature with severe Polio and was the 21st out of 22 children. She was confined permanently to braces. At age 11, she started herself out on a self rehabilitation course with the help of her loving family. She practiced 4 times a day (at 6.00a.m, 10.00a.m, 3.00p.m and 8.00p.m) for 1200 consecutive days! No wonder she was the first American to win 3 gold medals! Her name is Wilma Rudolph. She backed her dream and attitude with a commitment. She gave it all it took and booked a place for herself in the hall of fame. What price are you willing to pay to see your dreams fulfilled?

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endevour. There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen. The achievement of your goals/dreams is assured the moment you commit yourself to it.

There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything. I do, and I demand that my players do.

Vince Lombardi

Take a moment to think about the goals you've set for yourself. How committed are you to achieving these goals? Under what conditions would you give up? What if you could significantly increase your desire to achieve these goals? What if you wanted them so badly that you knew with absolute certainty that you would absolutely, positively never ever give up? When you are truly 100% committed to reaching your goals, you move from hoping to knowing. If you want something badly enough, then quitting is simply not an option. You either find a way or make one. You pay the price, whatever it takes. You are committed to it.

When you are interested in something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to it, you accept no excuses, only results. Yes. Are you interested in success or committed to it? If you are committed, then you’ll be willing to go the extra mile. You will be willing to take personal responsibilities and develop yourself. You will register for that course. You will attend that seminar. You will give up that habit. You will wake up early. You will do whatever it takes to get the results!

Most of his life, Thomas Edison worked 18 hour days. Until he was 65, he only took catnaps and occasional breaks to eat on most workdays. By the age of 75, he had cut his workday down to 16 hours. Can you imagine that? He was committed to a course. No wonder we are still talking about him today. There is no overnight success my dear friends. Are you committed to your dreams?

Commitment is like burning the bridge behind. It leaves you with no chance to go back on your words. For instance, if you want to launch your own business, you can begin by making the commitment to quitting your job. Write a letter of resignation, put it in a stamped envelope addressed to your boss, and give it to a trusted friend with firm instructions to mail the letter if you haven't quit your job by a certain date. As Andrew Carnegie once said, "Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket!"

Let me close with the words of a wise man. “Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they never break”

See you at the top!