Living A First Class Life With A Third Class Degree 7 Chapter 6: Living A First-Class Life With A Third-Class Degree

about bringing life to your dead dream of becoming a

first-cla.s.s personality in life, although you have a third cla.s.s degree.

Unknown to you, while on campus, the main reason why you

really desired to graduate with a first cla.s.s was not just for your

friends to respect you or for your family members to be happy

for having a first cla.s.s graduate in the family. Much more than

these, hidden somewhere within your heart, is a secret aspiration

to want to live a first cla.s.s life in the future. That dream should

not now be aborted simply because you did not make a first cla.s.s

in school.

Armed with this understanding, you will agree that graduating

with a first cla.s.s in school is only a means to an end and not the

end in itself. The end in itself is living a first cla.s.s life. The good

news is that there are so many means to this end, and this book is

about those means.

All third-cla.s.s graduates aspire to live a first-cla.s.s life after

leaving school. That is why you are reading this book. No one

wants to be left behind in life; everyone wants to belong, to feel

among. However, it is also true that not all third-cla.s.s students

know how to go about it.

Going down the history lane, there are so many third-cla.s.s

graduates who have crossed over the boundary of third-cla.s.s to

become highly celebrated personalities in life. But there are

numerous others who labored all of their lives and at the end of

the day died unnoticed and unsung. What is the difference?

Every third-cla.s.s student in school who ended up becoming a

first-cla.s.s student in life had some things they did and some

things they did not do. So also, every third-cla.s.s student in

school who got their dreams aborted in life also had some things

they did and some things they refused to do. Only that the things

the latter did are the ones the former neglected, and the things the

latter neglected are the one the former embraced!

There are rules that govern every activity here on earth. There are

things you must do and there are things you must not do to get

your dreams fulfilled. The things you do and the things you do

not do will determine if you will get your dream of living a firstcla.s.s

life accomplished or abolished, and how soon you will.

Discussed in this chapter are things you need to do in order to get

your dreams accomplished.

GOAL SETTING

Goal setting, simply defined, means, aiming at something. It

means deciding what you want. No matter how pa.s.sionately you

desire to live a first-cla.s.s life and how hard you pursue it, if you

do not have a set goal, you will not achieve much.

You must aim at something. Everyone who aims at nothing will

succeed at nothing. Undefined goals will cause you frustrations,

loss of motivation and depression. If you do not set your goals,

you won't know what you want out of life and hence you will not

be able to develop enough faith to do what you are supposed to

do so as to move towards the target.

Goal setting matters a lot. Goal setting is to a dream what fuel is

to an automobile. Before you start up with your dream, set your

targets. Know what you want to achieve in a set time. If you have

not set the goal, do not start yet. Only those who effectively set

their goals succeed as dreamers.

Whatever decision you make when setting your goals will affect

the future of your dream. So, take your time to do it. Do not do it

in a hurry. Your set goals should be one that you can cope with

because you may feel miserable if you set yourself impossible

target and then fail to meet them.

PLAN

It is a very natural phenomenon for man to want to act before

planning than to plan before acting. Human beings find it easier

to begin a thing than to sit down and plan for the things they want

to do before starting out.

The temptation to jump into actions is always very strong.

However, no matter how strong the urge is, please do not give in

to acting before planning. Failure to plan, as commonly said, is

planning to fail.

When Jesus said 'take therefore no thought for the morrow, for

the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself' (Matt 6:34),

unlike what most people think, He did not mean we are not to

plan for the future, but that we should not fret, worry, or be

anxiously concerned about the future.

He expects us to have our plans properly in place before acting.

This is why He admonishes us to consider the wise planning of

ants ahead of time (Prov. 6:6-8). If He wants us to learn about

planning, He definitely wants us to plan.

Planning is the life-giving force of a dream. This has been

confirmed in the lives of all successful dreamers. No dream has

ever advanced in the absence of it.

Planning means thinking out ways of doing things and coming

up with creative ideas of making them come to pa.s.s. You want to

live a first cla.s.s life, start thinking of ways to make this possible.

The moment you start thinking about it, more options will be

made available to you even before you start up.

This is one major advantage that planning has; it helps you make

fewer impromptu and emergency decisions. Every major

decision to be made that may affect the future of your dream

adversely would have been made in advance ever before you will

need to make them, at a time when you are not under any form of

pressure and you can think right, so you will make well thought

out and balanced decision.

Planning in advance will also help you tackle problems ahead of

time before you encounter them in reality. It will give you

enough time and ample opportunity to address the problems and

propose the best of a number of solutions to them before you

actually experience them.

Sit down and think. Make well-detailed plans. Stretch your brain

beyond normal capacity and bring out something worthwhile.

Refusing to make concrete plans is reaching the end of the dream

before taking off.

Your big dream cannot survive on a small plan. Your wildest

dream will need your wildest plan to be successful. If your dream

is big, then you need a concrete plan that can carry the whole

weight of your dream successfully. Only a good plan can take

you to your goal.

Contrary to general opinion, proper planning does not make a

man too rigid; neither does it make him behave like a robot. It

does not make him over-anxious about tomorrow but rather it

helps him get rid of most unnecessary concerns.

If you want to make it in the future, you must plan very well

today. Without planning in advance, you will sink mid-way. The

farthest you can get is just some few miles into your dream. You

are definitely sure of getting into a problem before you go far.

Things will get muddled up and you will not be able to advance

any step further.

No architect starts to build without a plan. He first sits down,

spends time with it, produces the blueprint before the building

commences. Properly made plans can be likened to the blueprint

of a house. With it, you have in your hands the direction you

need to follow in order to get your dreams fulfilled. But without

it, you lack the most important ingredient needed for a fulfilled

dream.

Your plan is your guideline, your instruction manual. Your plans

are the maps of your dream. They give your dream a sense of

direction. They aid efficiency, enhance commitment and

discourage laziness and procrastination.

Plan your time, plan your day, plan your week, plan your month,

and plan your year. Other resources available at your disposal

are directly or indirectly dependent on your ability to plan your

time in line with your techniques. A proper planning of your

time, coupled with a good organization of your techniques are

what it takes to soar with your dream and become a first cla.s.s

personality in life.

Without detailed plan, life becomes a gamble. Your life will be

controlled by all situations and external circ.u.mstances. You will

only be going back and forth, wandering about aimlessly. You do

not know when to do what and what to do when. You do things

arbitrarily; anything goes, at any time, in anyway, by anyone, for

any purpose. This leads no one to nowhere.

If the fulfillment of your dream is your priority, you will think

well enough and design ways to attain them. This has always

been the norm: first cla.s.s dreams soar only on first cla.s.s plans.

Noah had a plan for his ark. Moses had one for the tabernacle.

Joshua had for his battles. Solomon had for the temple too. G.o.d

had a plan in place to save the world immediately Adam and Eve

sinned. He is also in heaven planning the structures and s.p.a.ce to

accommodate all that will make it to heaven. You also cannot

succeed without a concrete plan.

Do not forge ahead unless you have planned ahead. To have a

ready-made plan is to act wisely. Carefully, planned strategy

prevents from ending up in tragedy.

Dreams are not produced in microwaves. Anything that will last

will require enough time for preparation; this is the time for

planning. When you have a detailed step by step plan, it propels

you every step of the way.

GOAL SETTING AND PLANING

Goal setting and planning are too intertwined to be separated.

Both are the foundation stone for any dream that must succeed.

Every dreamer is a planner. All visionary are goal setters. Setting

goals without proper planning makes the goals unachievable.

Proper planning without set goals keeps the dreamer wondering

whether he has achieved his goal or not, since he does not know

what his goal is in the first place.

Setting your goal is deciding what you want while planning is

preparing ahead of time how to go about it. In this case, your goal

is to end up a first cla.s.s personality in life, despite graduating

with a third cla.s.s result in school, and your plan should contain

detailed steps to take to achieve this goal. The goals can be

further broken down with commensurate plans to achieve it.

Goal setting is defining your goals clearly on paper while

planning is having a clear-cut, detailed plan of ways to achieve

the set goals. When such decisions are made, it will be easy to

achieve goals with little or no stress.

Planning and goal setting together enhance the quality of your

work and determines the rate at which you move, especially at

this early stage. It is useless to be mindful of time if there is no

end towards which you are running. Unless you know where you

are heading to and how to get there, you do not just jump into the

c.o.c.kpit of an airplane and take off. Goal setting gives you the

end view, while planning monitors your progress per time.

Goal setting and planning require vigorous thinking. However,

you need not be scared because of the mental alertness needed. It

will only make your life better.

What other things precisely do you want to achieve and when

exactly do you want to achieve them. Start tabling your plan on

how you want to achieve them. Life is easier that way.

BREAK DOWN YOUR DREAM

Most third cla.s.s graduates easily get intimidated and

overwhelmed by the size of a big dream and the amount of time

it will take to accomplish it. This is why they always easily settle

for something small and sizeable. They desire to be the CEO of a

multinational conglomerate, but they are scared to admit it

because they think they may never get there since they do not

have what it will take to get there.

Do not be bitten by such bugs. Do not let the greatness of your

dream, or the enormity of the effort involved in transforming

your third cla.s.s degree to a first cla.s.s testimony scare you away

from giving it a trial. Always be willing to make an attempt first.

A good way to unmask the scary face of this giant dream is by

reducing it to smaller dreams. Just like a man faced with a task of

carrying a cart full of cartons up a number of stairs. What he does

is to off-load it and carry it bits by bits until he has successfully

transferred all the cartons and the cart to the last step of the stairs.

This is how to handle a big dream.

Break the big dream into smaller tasks that can be accomplished

in a reasonable amount of time. Break down your long-term

vision into smaller and easily achievable short-term visions.

Replace the big 'mountain' with smaller 'hills' and transform

each of the smaller 'hills' into a set of 'molehills' which can be

crossed with a stretch of the leg. Break down large chunks of the

dreams into smaller chunks and the smaller chunks into tiny

pieces.

Divide the dream over a number of years. Further break it down

into simpler units by dividing each year's dream into twelve

pieces: each part for a month. But try as much as possible to

make each month's allocation both achievable and realistic so as

not to put yourself in a tight corner.

Further break the monthly goals into weekly goals, and the

weekly goals probably into daily goals. Make each day count in

the pursuance of your dream. Try to eliminate every unnecessary

step (this should have been catered for at the goal setting and

planning stage if you had really done what is expected of you).

The great burden of your dream becomes easier when you do it

this way, splitting it into smaller accomplishable portions. It

makes your seemingly mountainous dream become levelled

grounds which you can walk over with ease.

Maximum results gotten through minimum efforts are what you

should crave for in this pursuit of a first cla.s.s life, and it can only

be accomplished by breaking down your dream.

The final success of your dream depends on the successful

accomplishment of each smaller units to which your big dream

has been divided. Daily successes lead to weekly success.

Weekly successes transform into monthly success. Monthly

successes merge together to form annual success, which in turn

opens the way for the successful accomplishment of the dream.

BELIEVE YOU CAN

Your faith in your dream should be as strong as your faith in

yourself. Dreamers are optimists. Irrespective of what the past

records have proven about you, at this point of your life, if your

desire to be a first cla.s.s student of life must be accomplished,

you will need to start building a new faith in yourself.

Believe in yourself. That thing can be done; yes it can. Not just

by only a genius who graduated with a first cla.s.s degree, but by

you. You can do it. You can reach higher. You can reach further.

You can reach deeper and you can reach wider than you have

ever thought possible if you believe in your ability.

Believe you can. Do not question your ability to accomplish

great dreams that will make you live a first cla.s.s life. Do not lose

your self-confidence, thereby giving room to worry, doubt and

confusion. Take your mind off the things that seem to be against

you which you cannot overcome. Why worry about the things

you cannot change? Get busy changing the ones you can and

others will follow suit.

Have a specific dream. Define your dream. Conceive in your

heart a clear picture of what you want. If you can conceive it, you

can achieve it. If you can visualize it, you can actualize it.

Whatever your mind can comprehend, your hand can apprehend.

Living a first cla.s.s life with a third cla.s.s degree is a matter of

personal determination. Fulfilling your dream is a matter of your

own decision. You can decide to live either as a third cla.s.s

graduate from your school, or as a first cla.s.s student of life. Your

background, your present circ.u.mstance of graduating with a

third cla.s.s certificate, prevalent challenging situations, and what

others say concerning you do not influence your dream as much

as your determination to succeed. Your dream becomes a reality

only if you purposely determine that, come what may, you will

give it all it takes, and more importantly that, you have all it

takes.

Build confidence in yourself. Your belief in yourself increases

the level of your motivation and supplies great stimuli to work

hard for the fulfillment of these dreams.

Have no limits. See success where others see failure. Specialize

in the impossible. You cannot afford to die a third cla.s.s graduate;

you can still live a first cla.s.s life. So, sit up. That dream must not

be aborted; it must be accomplished. It must not be miscarried; it

must be birthed. It must not be abandoned; it must be fulfilled.

ACT

After setting your goals on how to achieve a first cla.s.s life with

your third cla.s.s degree, do not just sit down and wish things

would fall into place themselves; you will only fall back on the

third cla.s.s platform. You have to consciously and painstakingly

put things in their rightful place by yourself if you want them to

fall on the first cla.s.s base. If you wait for them to take their

rightful positions themselves simply because you have your goal

and plans carefully laid out, you will wait till eternity.

Most graduate's problem after leaving school is not the inability

to set goals or plan well, but the inability to act on their carefully

set goals. Almost every graduate, first cla.s.s or third cla.s.s, have

nice ideas and great dreams, but the challenge is always on how

to take the necessary steps to transform the dream into reality.

The devil does not mind your possession of brilliant ideas,

setting the goals to reach them and planning how to execute

them, but he gives you his utmost attention the moment you rise

to pursue your carefully laid down goals so as to achieve your

plans. He will do everything possible to scare you away from

taking the necessary steps, especially the first one.

That is why, most times, the most difficult step to take is the first

one. Once you overcome the fear of taking the first step, the

other steps of actions becomes easy.

Do not be afraid to act on your plans. Endeavor to overcome the

fear of inability. Once you can, the battle is won. Corresponding

actions taken after goal setting makes advance planning become

effective.

Life is too short; you cannot afford to waste it. You have wasted

some years back then in the university by not graduating with a

degree that the society appreciates. You cannot afford to be

slothful again.

You sure know that you cannot be young twice. So you have to

make haste now in order to achieve your dream. The time is so

limited that you cannot afford to beat about the bush any more.

Get up and do something definite which will advance the course

of your dream. Do not waste time waiting for inspiration forever.

Start today, and inspiration will find you.

Consciously make up your mind not to waste your life anymore;

bearing in mind that wastage of your time is wastage of your life.

Your engagement in the things that wastes your time is an

unconscious engagement in the things that will waste your

destiny. Do something worthwhile now.

Do what you can do when you can do it. You cannot always do it.

A time will come when it will either be too late, or when you will

not have enough strength due to age, or when, even if done, will

not have as much effect as it would have had if done earlier.

If, since you started reading this book, you have only been

enjoying the book and have been planning to start up something

soon but have not actually taken any major step towards

fulfilling your desire of living a first cla.s.s life, then you have read

too much and have planned long enough. Now is the time to do

more of acting, or else, the time spent in reading this book will be

a waste.

This, most likely, is not the first book of this nature that you have

come across and have devoured line by line just as you are doing

now with this. You have probably had encounters with other

prolific authors in their books encouraging you to do something

meaningful with your life despite the challenges you are faced

with, but you really have not taking them too serious. Why this

claim? Because you have not yet acted on your dream in spite of

all that you have heard and read. I will be too disappointed if you

do the same after reading this also. Have a change of mind, do

something today about your dream.

It is not just enough to dream, actualize your dream. A new idea is

easier to conceive than to deliver. Make sure you deliver the one

you have. Do not only conceive it; be more interested in its

delivery. A lot of people remain stagnant because they are

satisfied with their well-planned goals. Please, do act on yours.

Dreams do not get fulfilled with clear-cut goals written in ink on

paper alone. The careful display of well-planned activities on the

paper must not deceive you into believing that all is well already

when in fact nothing is being done. Things do not just happen.

They are made to. You might be on the right track but you won't

get anywhere if you just sit on one spot. You've got to make a

deliberate move. Until you make the needed move, nothing

moves in your favor.

Take active steps. Pursue your goals with all your vigor. Add

work to your plans. Be committed to it. Give it all it takes. You

might have to 'step on toes' in carrying out the dream. Never

mind; do it politely. Only men who do not leave the same spot

can avoid stepping on toes. To make progress, you may, once in a

while have to step on the toes of those who are so comfortable

with remaining at the same disadvantaged point. You only have

to do it with all courtesy and the application of wisdom.

Do all in your power to safeguard the life of that dream. An

unpursued dream is an idle idea. A pursued dream is the ideal

one. Only what is not pursued is not possessed. If you pursue it

you will possess it.

There is only one way to go forward, by taking conscious steps

forward. Do not stay put; go forward. You can reach that goal if

you pursue it. Dreamers are doers. Do it. Do the right thing at the

right time.

Nothing will ever be achieved if all the possible objections must

first be conquered before you act. If you have to wait until all the

traffic lights on the road to where you are going turns green

before leaving the house, you will never leave the house. Do not

wait until all the problems are solved before you take a step.

Your dream will be terminated in frustration and disappointment

if you do.

If your problem is that you feel you do not have much to offer;

then you do not have any problem. Almost everyone feels the

same way at the commencement of the development of a new

dream, even the so called geniuses. Just follow this simple rule:

Never decide to do nothing just because you can do little. Start

where you are with what you have, no matter how small.

Most great accomplishments are simply made up of small steps

taken one after another. You may not necessarily start in a big

way, but you can start somewhere and with something too.

Whatever thing you have; just start with it. Only very few of the

things that start big in life end up big; most of them end up small.

Most big things in life always start small. Start it anyhow with

what you have; you have waited long enough.

If your problem is money, start with the little in your hand. Do

not throw away the idea because you are not rich. So many

successful men in the world today had little or no wealth to startup

with from the scratch.

If you think your problem is lack of education, so many of the

great inventors the world had ever boasted of had no education.

The few ones who had little education were dropouts in school.

Whatever level of education you have now is enough to start

with.

Start today. The little you have is exactly the much you need for a

start. What you do not have today you do not need today. All you

have to start up is all you need; all you need to start up is all you

have. If you need much more as time goes on G.o.d will provide as

the need arises.

Take one small step at a time continuously. Dreams are useless

when not acted upon. Action makes them real. Make the first

move. You will never know how far you can get, or what you can

do if you do not make the first move.

If you do not make the move, you won't hit the mark. Only those

who make the move hits the mark, only those who hits the mark

makes the name, only those who makes the name gets the fame,

only those who gets the fame makes the dough, only those who

makes the dough ends up living a first cla.s.s life. Therefore

unless you make the first move, and follow it up with the

necessary subsequent moves, you won't live a first cla.s.s life.

Every great step is preceded by small actions and every great

accomplishment is heralded by little beginnings. Be willing to

take the first step. If you do, you will find a great deal of

satisfaction in it so much so that the next steps ahead will be full

of pleasures rather than duress. Do not wait for success; it is

already waiting to welcome you. Take the step to go meet it.

CONCENTRATE ON YOUR DREAM

If you have discovered your dream, give your total life to the

pursuance of it. Be determined to make something beautiful out

of the dream.

Concentrate so much on it till it dominates your entire being. Let

it become a drive that controls every bit of your actions. Set it in

your imagination. Always talk about it. Meditate so much upon

it so it can become so real to you. Let it fill your thoughts, affect

your words, and motivate your actions.

Your dream demands tireless inputs. Give it continually. Give

time and attention to it. Give it all it takes. Let nothing distract

you. Let it obsess you. Until it becomes an obsession, you have

not committed your whole being to it. Sow your whole life into

it, let your spirit, soul and body be totally committed to it. Let

your will, emotions and mind be sold out to it.

When your will takes the lead, every other thing follows because

your will paves the way. A popular adage says, "Where there is a

will, there is a way". So create the will power. Great

achievements come through great desires. Great desires are built

through great drives. Great drives are developed through great

concentration on great dreams. You already have a great dream -

the desire to live a first cla.s.s life with a third cla.s.s result - all you

need now is a great concentration on that dream.

Give your dream all it takes to grow - your time, your energy,

your finance and your all. Do not starve the dream of anything it

desires, especially things needed for its growth.

If it takes burning the midnight candle to pursue the dream,

please do; if you had burnt it on campus you won't be where you

are today.

If it requires cutting down on your relaxation period, do not

resist; too much time spent on relaxation in school is one reason

why you are being referred to as a third cla.s.s graduate today.

If it entails giving it far more than you have planned to, do not

draw back; if you had given it all that is needed at your first trial

in school may be you would have graduated with a first cla.s.s and

would not need to go through this ha.s.sle.

Pursue your goal whatever it costs. Avoid all distractions. Avoid

a broken focus: only those who gaze constantly at where they are

going gets to where they intend. Give all you have today for the

success of your dream, it will give you all you need to be a

success tomorrow. Concentrate all your energy on a limited set

of targets and you will be surprised at the meaningful progress

you will make within a short period of time.

DEVELOP YOURSELF

If you want to be successful in this your quest of living a first

cla.s.s life with a third cla.s.s certificate, you will have to move with

others who have been successful before you.

Provide for yourself G.o.dly role models. a.s.sociate yourself with

those who are willing to bring out the best out of you. Mingle

yourself with people who have gone ahead of you in the same

direction you desire; people who will encourage you towards

reaching your goals.

If there is someone who knows something that you should know,

something that will help fulfill your dream, go to him. Listen to

him, learn from him and observe what he does. Has there been

anyone who had done something close or related to your dream?

Get in contact with him and learn all you can from him.

Search out at least one dreamer who has paid the price to make

his dreams come to pa.s.s and become his student. If he is dead,

get his writings and all available information about him that you

can lay your hands on. Use his ideas as a bedrock on which you

will develop yours.

However, do not be tempted to copy his dream verbatim unless

you have his permission; it is a criminal offence called

plagiarism, lifting, piracy or bootlegging, depending on the

particular field of endeavor.

Only learn from him so you can understand how he did it. Learn

from his successes, his failures and his mistakes. Know where,

how and why he went wrong in order not to tread the same path.

Also know where, how and why he succeeded where he

succeeded. You will definitely need this information.

Just one piece of information can turn a failure into a success.

What you know determines where you will go, how quick you

will move and how far you will get. So, make research. Find out

about your dream. Consult relevant authorities.

Irrespective of their age, younger or older, be humble enough to

learn from those who are already living a first cla.s.s life through

the achievements of their dreams. Do not let your pride destroy

that precious dream. Be cool headed enough to learn. Get all the

details you can from them.

All you know is all you need to start up on that dream, but it is not

all you need to make a first cla.s.s personality out of you; you need

much more. To keep a continuous progressive chart, you need

much more than you know already.

Good information about your dream gives you the power and the

ability to get successful results. So, do not hesitate to draw

strength and knowledge from what they know, irrespective of

what they think about you. Success breeds success you know? If

you do this, their success will rub off on you. Remember, the

best-selling author, Robert Kiyosaki had a Rich Dad to learn

from. Every celebrated athlete has a coach. Go get one if you

desire to be celebrated.

You may begin to have a feeling that you are not polished

enough, or that you do not have what it takes to actually live a

first cla.s.s life, and probably that you are not the right candidate

for the job. These types of feelings are not peculiar to you. It had,

at one time or the other afflicted everyone who is great today. All

they did was to disallow it from overcoming their belief in

themselves.

This is why you also will need to work at developing yourself

rather than hiding who you really are, or lamenting over your

third cla.s.s degree. Give so much time to the improvement of

yourself that you have no time to criticize the dream of others or

listen to the words of critics about your dream.

If you want to be the best in the area of your dream, then you have

to acquire every skill possible. Knowledge provokes wisdom. If

you know what to do, you become wise. Until you know, you

cannot be known. Understanding your dream makes you

outstanding among your fellows.

Ignorance is a deadly disease. It puts a man in bondage. It limits

everyone in its grips. To avoid its limitations, acquire available

data in the area of your pursuit. You can suffer even with having

everything you need for the success of your dream if you lack the

right understanding needed. Men who lack insights into their

dreams end up being sorry sights with their dreams. So, aspire to

be the best you can be in your endeavor by learning all you can

from everyone you need.

Before you can attain your highest height, you will have to

obtain the highest knowledge needed. You won't have a fulfilled

dream unless you are thoroughly informed about your dream.

n.o.body excels in any area of life without the needed secrets.

Whatever it costs you, get the trade secrets of your dream.

Learn new ideas and better techniques: Dependence on the little

you know will get you nowhere. Never be satisfied with the level

you are on. n.o.body knows all they need to know. Everybody

needs to learn something to become someone. If you hold onto

your third cla.s.s knowledge, you will remain a third cla.s.s citizen

forever. If you must live a first cla.s.s life then you must have first

cla.s.s information.

Develop your techniques and abilities. Do not a.s.sume anything.

Pursue every necessary information. Seek counseling if need be.

Read inspirational materials and biographies of those who have

gone before. Invest whatever is needed on materials that will

build you up. Buy books that will give you the facts and

information you need. Buy tapes. Rather than spend

unnecessary money repackaging your wears so as to increase

your outlook, invest much more in personality development. It

will give you a greater reward.

It is never too late to learn. If you will need to go to a training

school, please do. If you need to learn from someone, learn. If

you need to get a professional certificate, please do. Do not be a

half-boiled egg, a semi-illiterate in the area of your dream. Avail

yourself of seminars, conferences and retreats which will build

you up and give you more insight into your dream. Buy

literatures and journals.

Be willing to pay the price to make your dream come true. Pay

the price to find out what you need to know for your dream to

succeed. Every investment done on your dream is worthwhile.

Sooner or later, it will yield great dividends.

GET PARTNERS

You have a vision of living a first cla.s.s life with a third cla.s.s

degree. This vision may start with you alone; but if it must be

fulfilled, it should not end with you alone. You will need people

to work with to help you fulfill this dream.

You need people around you who will support your dream and

make the job lighter for you. The Great Book says, 'Without

vision the people perish'. But the reverse is also true, 'without

people, the vision also perishes'. No dream succeeds in the

absence of people.

Reject the trap of isolation; co-operation is essential for the

success of any dream. There is little you can singlehandedly

accomplish. You need people to help. So, learn to attract others

who are able to help you achieve your dream. Do not try to do it

alone. Conquer your pride. Establish the needed networks with

others.

You need people to salvage your dream from peril. Every Elijah

needs an Elisha to run errands for him: Every Moses needs an

Aaron and a Hur to lift up his hands: Every Joshua needs a Caleb

to give him moral support: Every David needs a Jonathan; and

Every Paul needs a Barnabbas, or a Silas. You also need men to

lift up your hands when they are weak. Even Jesus, the greatest of

all, needed the twelve disciples. So, do not think your dream can

survive on the rock of isolation.

Great power and strength become available to you when you

have others who are in support of your dream working together

with you for its success.

Since the people you a.s.sociate with matters a lot in fulfilling

G.o.d's purpose for your life, do not move with people who will

dampen your zeal. Be choosy. Work with people who are in

support of your dream. If you lack enough motivation from

people around you, your zeal may die, your fire extinguished,

your hopes dashed and your dream destroyed.

Since you graduated with a third cla.s.s degree, the temptation

will be to surround yourself with other third cla.s.s students so

you can really feel like a boss. However, third cla.s.s

notwithstanding, surround yourself with people who are smarter

than you are. It pays you off at the end.

Move with like-minded people. Do not a.s.sociate with people

who do not know what they are doing, otherwise, you will be

confused. If you follow people who are not going anywhere, you

will end up nowhere. If you can get a first cla.s.s student who

believe in your dream enough to want to partner with you, all

well and good. If not, do not just enlist anyone in your team just

because he graduated with a third cla.s.s. You are not forming a

pity party. He must be smart enough to take your vision to a

higher level. Such people are numerous around you; locate

them.

People who will help you fulfill your dream may not be the first

to approach you. They rarely do. Go find them. Ask G.o.d for the

ability to help you know the people He has sent to work with

you. G.o.d's plan cannot be fulfilled by you alone. You will wear

away and die before your time if you try to.

Ask G.o.d to link you up with faithful partners. If you do, G.o.d will

bring you in contact with people you can work with, like-minded

people who will believe in your dream so much that they are

willing to do all in their power to make sure it lives.

They may be your neighbors, family members, co-workers,

friends or probably people who you have never met before, who

just heard of your dream and are interested in it. Once you

discover such people, make your vision known to them and let

them develop their vision within the frame of your vision.

Try to build them up and prayerfully give them a place in your

dream. Get them fixed up before they are distracted by

something else. Develop them into a strong and effective team

which will serve as a foundation for your dream.

Learn more to impact them the more. Edify them spiritually:

Nurture them in the word: and pray specifically for each one of

them.

Make use of the 5 'I' theory to train them.

Inform them of what you want from them

Instruct them on how to go about it

Influence them with your personal life and commitment

Involve them right from the beginning to the end

Inspire them each step of the way.

However, do not be selfish, be interested in them. In order to

encourage and motivate them, crave for every opportunity to

help them. Be concerned with their spiritual well-being as much

as their physical well-being. Help them in times of difficulties by

identifying with their problems.

Study their needs and solve the ones you can. Do not only be

interested in what you can get from them but in also what you can

give to them. Journey along with them on their rough roads in

life. Love them without any human conditions.

Do not be partial. Treat everybody equally. If you are

continually partial to one, especially at this early stage, the

others may rebel - not only against you but also against your

dream. If you are more interested in one more than others, do not

show it openly.

Chastise when necessary, but do it in love. Rebuke when

necessary but gently and honorably. Do not be too gentle with

them so as not to pamper them and do not be too strict so as not to

scare them away. Do everything moderately. Overlook minor

mistakes. Bless the more and blame them less.

Praise and constantly reward every good deed to encourage the

doer and motivate the others. Keep those who are committed to

your dream jealously but persuade the reluctant ones.

Do not become a boss over them but a leader. Do not see them as

your servant and yourself as their lord. See yourselves as

partners in vision. Behave well before them in order to make a

lasting impression on them.

Humble yourself before them, but do not demote or relegate

your personality. Be humble enough to admit your humanity and

mistakes but do not let them look down on your person or take

advantage of it to turn you into an object of ridicule.

Recognize the individual worth and potentials of each of them.

Take note of both the strong points and the weak points of each.

No man on earth is perfect and none is without, at least, one area

of weakness. Every man has his weak points. Emphasize their

strong points and strengthen their weak points by providing, and

if possible, sponsoring training that will make them improve on

their ability and develop their personality.

Mend every broken relations.h.i.+p between your people on time

before it degenerates into something worse. Address every issue

that needs to be addressed immediately. Do not procrastinate. A

st.i.tch in time saves nine, they say.

Ask G.o.d to teach you how to go about it, then go ahead and do

whatever He tells you to do. Do not allow the devil to s.n.a.t.c.h

away those who believe in your vision and are supporting its

course just because of some little misunderstanding. Getting

like-minded people to replace them may not be as easy as you

think. A bird at hand is worth two in the bush.

TAKE RISKS

Most people living a first cla.s.s life today are risk takers. They are

daring, and that is why they excel. The confidence to take risks is

an indispensable a.s.set in the life of every dreamer. The

willingness to venture into the unknown and chart new course is

a common mark in their lives. Hence they are called

'pathfinders'.

Most battles on earth are lost to fear: the fear of the unknown, the

fear to take risks. You cannot live a first cla.s.s life unless you take

some measure of risks.

Do not hesitate to take the risks necessary for your dreams to

soar. Dreamers are adventurous in nature. If you are not yet

willing to take adventures, then you are not yet qualified to be

called a dreamer. Dreamers are entrepreneurs. Decide in your

heart to be one today. This decision, if made today, will create the

future you desire tomorrow.

Each time you are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds,

there is a way to turn the crisis into awesome victory, by taking

risks.

Let your reaction to every problem be constructive. Rise up to

face the challenging situation before you. Always look for what

to do to progress in every situation. You will definitely find at

least one thing to do. It may be risky, but, most times, it is about

the only thing to do to make progress at that point.

Do not sit down with arms folded and eyes opened, watching the

problem. No problem is insurmountable if only you will think.

Every dream is possible. Every dream is achievable. But unless

you think through, your true dream becomes an illusion.

Activate your mind and activate your brain. Dreamers are

thinkers. Great dreamers are great thinkers. Successful

dreamers are successful thinkers.

Do not delegate your thinking to others. None has ever

succeeded using that means. Be uncommon, use your common

sense. Everyone on earth has it, but only a few make use of

theirs. The few who makes use of theirs are the few uncommon

ones around. Be one of them. Frustrate the problem. Do not let it

overwhelm you. Keep moving in spite of your scars. Every

champion has a scar. So do not be scared of having one. Soon

you will learn to turn your scars into stars through the use of your

mental ability. This is what every champion did.

When you think you have exhausted every possible solution and

there seems to be no progress, know this for sure: there is still a

way you have not tried, it is the only way out. Sit down, think it

through and take the calculated risk required to move your

dream forward.

Be your own counselor. Use the advice you give to others to

solve your own problems. Many people do not. They are experts

at counseling others in difficult situations but do not remember

to counsel themselves when faced with challenges. Sit down and

tell yourself the problem you are facing as if you are seeking

counsel from one of the best counselors around. Then honestly

try to counsel yourself.

Do not be afraid of new ideas, new methods or new

surroundings. Look out for all that can be done and do it. Search

out better ways to address every mountain and overcome every

hill that stands on your way to fulfilled dream. Find simple

solutions to big problems.

Do not take it easy. Take it 'risky'. It is highly risky not to take

simple risks if you must emerge a first cla.s.s personality. G.o.d can

and will do the impossible with only those who are willing to

take the risk.

The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who

risks nothing should expect nothing. The equation is simple: He

who risks nothing does nothing; he who does nothing loses

nothing; he who loses nothing gains nothing; he who gains

nothing has nothing; and he who has nothing becomes nothing.

A man who successfully avoids taking risks may successfully

avoid losses, but he has successfully avoided profits too. He

cannot experience any change. Only risk takers are change

agents. If you do not take the risks expected of you, do not expect

the result you desire to see.

The reward of a fulfilled dream is worth the risk. Risk it. Do not

just see what you will lose; see what you will gain. It is even more

likely that you lose nothing and gain all; but it can never be the

other way round with G.o.d on your side. At worst you will gain

more, far more than you will lose. Take the risks. Where there is a

will there is a way. The willpower creates the way.

The way to a fulfilled dream is not very easy. It is filled with

valleys and mountains. Anyone giving you the idea of a smooth

sail is a deceiver. This is a more cogent reason risks need to be

taken often. People who do not take risks on this road will never

make meaningful progress.

Bank on G.o.d's faithfulness in the past. Let it give you enough

boldness to take the needed adventure into greater realms. David

recalled how he was enabled by G.o.d to single-handedly destroy

the lion and bear with bare hands which came to s.n.a.t.c.h his flock

away and this made him risked his life by facing Goliath the

giant. He won at the end. Risk takers seldom lose.

PERSIST TO THE END

Goal setting and planning, properly garnished with continual

persistence on the set goals is a powerful means of realizing

dreams.

Satan's most successful trick is to get us to believe in false finish

lines. To make us think we have accomplished a great part of our

dream and make us relent in our effort when there are still more

rivers to cross, more battles to fight and more victories to be

won.

He works tirelessly to get us to stop half way and say, 'Hurray,

we are through' and see us pull over the sidewalk only to notice

at the last moment that the finish line is still miles ahead. Do not

fall into this trap.

The most important words now are patience and persistence. All

that distinguishes a fulfilled dream and an aborted dream is

persistence. Uncountable numbers of dreams have crashed on

the rock of impatience and lack of persistence.

If at first you do not succeed, try, try, and try, again. This should

not only be a poem to you; let it become a lifestyle. Succeed in

spite of difficulties. Get tough on issues that are related to your

success. Be in charge. When the going gets tough, only the tough

gets going. Be ready to go the extra mile. Every multinational

corporation today started as a one man idea, who knows, your

little idea today can generate into a multinational thing. Ensure

that this and every other dream that G.o.d has given you is

realized.

Being persistent is neither easy nor natural. It is difficult, and has

to be learnt. However, it is the key to the fulfillment of your

dream. Your persistence will demoralize the devil and loosen his

grip on your dream. If you are persistent, it will only take some

time, but you will always end up getting what you want to get in

the long run.

You cannot fulfill your G.o.d-given goals or accomplish your

G.o.d-given dream without persistence. You have to persist all the

way. Life is in phases; do not jump any. Do not be too much in

haste. Life is like a staircase; you take a step at a time. Your legs

have to be carefully placed on each stair if you must maintain

your balance before reaching for the next. Do not jump stairs in

your plan for achieving your dream or else you will go off

balance.

If you want to live a first cla.s.s life, take your time; do not rush.

Skysc.r.a.pers are built a brick at a time. Big and mighty trees grow

an inch per time. Races are won with constant and consistent

strides, hence the saying, slow and steady wins the race. You

need not rush or be in a hurry to fulfill this dream. Just pursue the

set goals and plans steadily and consistently.

Every idea has a life span, whether long or short. There is a time

of fulfillment for every dream. No plant grows the same day it is

sown. It has to take some time to germinate in the soil before

shooting out the first leaf and some more time before bringing

out its fruits. So also with brilliant ideas! Every great idea needs

time to germinate into maturity.

Some plants are called the annual crops; they bring out their fruit

within a year of planting. The biennial crops bring out theirs

between two to three years of planting, but the perennial crops

may take ten years and above to germinate. But it is evident to all

that the annual and the biennial crops do not last as the perennial

crops which take longer years to reach fruition. The annual crops

may produce all their fruits within a year and the biennia within

two to three years after which they die and rot away but the

perennial brings out its fruits over and over again for many

years. Its continual bountiful harvest will make up for the energy

spent during growth and the time invested.

Likewise with ideas. Some ideas take a very short time, minimal

energy and little or no funds before they are accomplished, but

others take a relatively longer time. But know that the longer it

takes your dream to be accomplished, the brighter its future and

the greater is its impact on your generation. The longevity of

your dream determines the greatness of the dream.

Most times, dreams that are achieved within a short period of

time are always small dreams and dreams that take longer

periods before coming to fruition are big dreams. In the biblical

story of Joseph in the prison, the butler's dream came to pa.s.s in

three days but it is such a tiny dream compared to Joseph's dream

which took about thirteen years before it was fulfilled.

If your dream of living a first cla.s.s life is taking longer than you

think, relax: Do not get too impatient. You are going to be

surprised at the end.

Whatever happens, do not quit. Never give up. Never! Never!!

Never!!! Dreamers are not quitters. Even when there is a strong

temptation to quit, resist it. Dreamers know that it is always too

soon to quit. Dreamers are winners and winners do not quit, so,

dreamers do not quit. Quitting is too expensive to be considered

as an option at this stage. Are you discouraged today, remember

this: it is too late to quit. Many are waiting to hear your success

story. Do not let them down.

Get this straight from the start: the devil will not give up on your

dream. He will try as much as possible to destroy it. But G.o.d also

will not give up on your dream. He will endow you with every

needed grace to put the devil to shame and accomplish your

goals.

You therefore have no reason to give up on the dream before

either of them gives up. If the devil won't give up and G.o.d won't

give up either, then it is sheer foolishness for you to give up. Do

not disappoint G.o.d. Do not let the devil rejoice over your failure.
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Do not let h.e.l.l be glad over your aborted dream. Do not quit.

Since G.o.d has not yet given up on you; so do not give up on

yourself.

Never be deceived into thinking it will be easy to fulfill this

dream. You will experience difficulties on the way but keep on

persisting. You will undoubtedly face oppositions, resistance,

doubts and criticisms before your dream is accomplished but do

not stop. Do not expect to get there in a very easy way. Learn to

face and overcome adversity.

Those who had their dreams fulfilled did not find it easier than

you initially. Do not expect a smooth journey. Every worthwhile

vision is always tough at the beginning. Everything will seem to

work against you to grind your dream to a halt. Discouragement

will set in to threaten your perseverance, however, never allow

what you are going through to stop you from where you are going

to.

The beauty of a postage stamp is in sticking to a particular letter

for as long as it takes it to get to its final destination. So, likewise,

the beauty of a dream is in persisting with it until it is finally

fulfilled. A wise man once said, "Do not accept defeat until you

have made the last attempt: Do not make the last attempt until

you have succeeded".

Humanly speaking, the natural spontaneous reaction of man

during adversity is to give up. You will therefore need to resist it

with all your power. Every time you face pressure, press on.

Once you take off, do not back out. This is an indispensable fact

of life. Do not move until you are sure of where you are going,

but once you are sure of where you are going to, do not stop until

you get there. G.o.d is there to see you through, even when it is not

apparent to you.

Whatever the devil is doing to discourage you from pursuing

your dream is enough evidence that there is greatness hidden

somewhere in the dream and you are close to getting it. The devil

will not show you the Red Sea unless you are about entering the

Promised Land - the land of Canaan. He will not bring your way

the wall of Jericho unless he knows better things await you in the

nearest future - a land flowing with milk and honey.

Every opportunity for you to desert that dream is created by the

devil for your failure. That dream, if actualized, will take you to

places. No matter what comes against you, do not abandon it.

Do not let the enemy's intention be your final decision. Retreat is

preferable to surrender. Retreat and re-equip yourself, then refire

and you will acquire your goal. No matter what the

circ.u.mstances may be, do not retire but re-fire. Keep keeping on.

Make sure you nurture that dream to reality. Let the dream grow.

That singular idea will one day become your most prized

possession.

There is only a little difference between ordinary dreamers and

extraordinary dreamers. The difference is the five-letter word

'EXTRA'. The ordinary dreamers do not put in the little extras

that the extraordinary achievers put in. If you also will desire to

be celebrated by life, despite your third cla.s.s certificate, go the

extra mile. Persist a little more and you will be right there on the

fulfillment throne.

G.o.d is taking you somewhere; no matter what comes against

you, keep following him with your dream. Keep persisting. The

end will justify the means. Your consistent persistence will

someday bring you to the realm of prominence.

If you have already forsaken that dream, it is not too late to clean

up the dust gathering around it and revisit it one more time. You

can still start up on it again. 'The righteous man falleth seven

times but he riseth again'. No matter how many times you have

fallen. G.o.d has made enough provision for your rising; make the

best use of it. Most successes come after several failures. You

also can still succeed irrespective of how many failures you have

recorded.

You may have indeed done all that is required of you but the idea

is not yet yielding the desired result. All you need is to persevere

the more. It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of

your dream through the hardwood of success. Although waiting

is difficult, still wait. Only those who wait wins! Those who

cannot wait lose. Many have wasted away because of their

inability to wait. It is good to start taking steps on your actions,

but it is better to finish. Do not die halfway; persist to the end.

Thomas Edison did not give up in his bid to find an effective

filament for the incandescent lamp. He persevered until after

thirteen months of repeated failure. He tried one more

experiment and he saw the filament glow before him. That is the

power of persistence. It turns failure to success. Dr. Jonas Salk

worked unsuccessfully for three whole years before he could

develop a vaccine for polio. Abraham Lincoln failed six attempts

at the polls before he was eventually elected as the president to

the United States. Even Albert Einstein, the respected investor,

often considered to be the greatest genius of the twentieth

century once said "I think and think for months, sometimes for

years. Ninety nine times the conclusion is false, but the

hundredth time, I am right".

Dreamers are finishers. Do not die on the way. Finish the race.

Most people give up before the race starts. Many others, when

faced with difficulties, always tend towards the path of least

resistance, which is spelt -QUIT. But do not join them. Do not be

too much in a hurry to fulfill your dream. Whatever you get in a

hurry you lose in a hurry. The dream may not get accomplished

overnight, but it will someday. Decide that you won't give in,

look back or back out. Keep reminding yourself of all the

reasons why you have to fulfill that dream. Then persist, and you

will achieve.

MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS

A good start, though necessary, does not guarantee a better end.

Your starting well does not determine whether you end well.

This is why you have to measure your progress continually at

regular intervals.

Our dreams and plans need constant and continual revision in

order not to get both out of mind and out of hand. This is done by

constantly evaluating your progress at every major junction.

You need to frequently have a consciousness of where you

started from, where you have been, and where you are, with

respect to where you are going to.

How far are you supposed to have gone? How far have you

gone? What range are you supposed to have covered, going by

your plans? What range have you actually covered? With the

goals you set, what should you have achieved as at today? What

have you physically achieved?

Answers to these questions will help you to measure your

progress. It helps you to know how far you have gone, or how far

you are behind your set goals, and motivates you to adjust and

increase the pace at which you move. It will enable you to know

whether you are on the path to fulfilling your dream or aborting

it.

Measure your progress every inch of the way. Record each one of

your achievements. Disappoint final failure by keeping a track of

the past. Then build on the accomplishment of the past. Count

your small successes. Your small successes will add up to a large

one and your small failure likewise will add up to a great failure.

To avoid this fatal failure, control the small failures.

Huge success comes in bits. The smaller things you have

accomplished will motivate you to accomplish greater things.

The more you succeed at the smaller units, the more likely you

are to a.s.sume greater risks and the more courageous you are to

take the next step in your plan. Keeping the memories of the past

victories help increase your courage.

a.s.sess yourself and see how far you have gone. If you are doing

well, moving at the required and desired rate, do not relax. Keep

moving. But if you are still lacking behind, buckle up in order to

catch up with your plans.

Do not lose your motivation for no reason. Always encourage

yourself by continually remembering the reason why you started

and the achievements you have made. Make sure every

thoroughly planned, well laid out activity is precisely executed,

no matter the difficulties faced. Be better today than yesterday.

Every time you are able to accomplish a small part of your

dream, give yourself a pat on the back. Remind yourself of your

success over and over again. Tell yourself convincingly that if

you can achieve that small goal, you can also achieve a greater

one with less stress.

Reward yourself at every major junction. Celebrate each little

success you make. Plan something special for yourself when

you accomplish a set goal. Set transitional rewards. Give

yourself intermediate incentives. It does not have to be

expensive but let it be something special, as a token of your

belief in yourself and in your ability to achieve a set goal.

However, do not let your success spoil you.

VISUALIZE THE REWARD

You must have a clear photograph of the future of your dream

before you every day. This serves as a source of motivation.

Each time you refuse to see the future of your dream, you will

always go back to the past of the dream. Looking ahead to the

future of your dream will make you accept the situation of today

with joy and get you excited about its future.

When you look at the future of your dream, one major thing you

will see is the reward awaiting you at the end of the road. Each

time you remember to concentrate on the positive reward you

will receive, it will help whenever you are tempted by

momentary diversions which may tend to slow down your

progress towards the accomplishment of your dream. No man

wants to run in vain. Every man who runs a race does so to

receive a prize. Paul, the great Apostle said he pressed towards

the mark of the high calling. You also need to press forward with

the star prize in mind.

Visualizing the reward before you always will help increase

your enthusiasm towards your dream. It propels you towards the

place of its fulfillment. The prize becomes an inner drive, an

impulse that causes you to move and act even in the presence of

opposition, criticisms and attacks. With the end result in mind,

problems become opportunities for progress, pains are seen as

gains and challenges as motivators.

Without visualizing the reward, you can get easily discouraged,

but constantly putting the reward on your mind will keep

encouraging you to continue whenever you feel downcast,

enhance your commitment to your dream, and give you enough

strength to continue in the face of all odds.

Joseph, the dreamer, placed before him the picture of the throne

and his brothers bowing down before him and he was able to get

there. King David kept before him the reward for killing the giant

Goliath – great riches from the king and his daughter for a wife.

With this in mind, he got what he wanted - the head of Goliath.

Even Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith did not neglect

this fact. What kept Him going was His focus on the end result.

The Great Book says, "...; who for the Joy that was set before

Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at

the right hand of the throne of G.o.d". He was able to endure

difficulties and despise oppositions because of the joy set before

him.

If Jesus needed to visualize the reward to have a fulfilled dream,

then you need it the more. It is utter foolishness to pretend not to.

It is not about being materialistic but about being focused. Learn

to envision the materialization of the reward. Think about the

end result. Concentrate on the positive aspect of it and let your

mind dwell on it. It will help you a lot.

PRAY

Fulfilling your dream is not funfair but warfare - real warfare in

the spirit realm, warfare against the true enemy of your dream

and every other negative factor. This is where prayer comes in.

Prayer is very important. If you really want to bring G.o.d into

your dream, you have to pray. Prayer is the only divine security

you have against the a.s.sault of the evil one. It is your insurance.

The quality of your prayer determines the quality of the success

of your dream.

Dreamers are pray-ers. A successful dreamer spends time on his

knees. It is essential to bring your dream to fruition. It will

release you from stress, worry, doubts, discouragement and

whatever thing that will want to rub you of your dream.

Prayer is a disinfectant. It purifies the atmosphere of your dream

and makes it uninhabitable for weeds, unwanted plants and

contagious demons. It levels the mountains before you and fills

your valleys. It makes you achieve all manners of conquests -

demonic, spiritual, intellectual or otherwise. It gives you the

strength to overcome all the weapons of the enemy fas.h.i.+oned

against your dream and the forces militating against its

fulfillment. It is the only medium of drawing benefits and

strength from heaven. It is the key to fulfilling G.o.d's plan for our

lives.

Learn to seek G.o.d's face in prayer. Ask Him every inch of the

way. Take him into the details of your dream. You naturally call

upon Him when in trouble and for bigger things. Let Him be a

part of every bit of your plan. Ask Him to help you. Ask for His

grace. With His grace empowering you, you can do all things.

Take all the difficulties you are facing to Him and He will surely

give you victory over them. Take your inadequacies to Him and

He will strengthen you. The one who fed five thousand men with

five fishes and two loaves of bread can bless your meager effort

and multiply it.

Do not allow anything to discourage you from praying. The

devil will make you neglect prayer. He fears prayers and dreads

its effects. Take time to pray when you do not have time for it.

Schedule a specific time each day to connect to heaven.

It takes a supernatural force to overcome the natural problems

combating your dreams. The supernatural force of prayer is

readily available to all who will want to engage it. When you

commit your dream into G.o.d's hand, you ask Him to take over

and when G.o.d takes over an event, the impossible happens.

Heaven will only reach out to a.s.sist you if only you can pray. If

you do not pray concerning those dreams, they will never unfold.

More than every other thing, pray.

SENSITIVITY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Prayer is the water that irrigates the ground on which your dream

germinates but sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is the fertilizer that

enhances its growth. You must work in conjunction with the

Holy Spirit at all times in order to fulfill your dream. Do not take

a step without His awareness. Get him involved right from the

first stage to the last stage. Do not leave him out in any issue.

Fulfilling your G.o.d-given dream is greater than your natural

ability. You need a supernatural power. This supernatural power

can only come from G.o.d through His Spirit. Every attempt or

struggle made by man to be great without G.o.d's power is a waste

of time and energy. No trans-generational dream gets

accomplished without Him. He is the senior partner you cannot

do without.

You need G.o.d far more than you need man in the

accomplishment of your dream. You need Him more than all

other things put together. You need him more than anything else.

In the pursuance of your dream, He can take the place of every

other thing, but nothing can take His place. Do not insulate your

dream from Him and do not isolate it from His spirit. He does not

need your dream to stay alive; but your dream needs Him to

survive. Your dreams have nothing to do with His existence as

G.o.d, but on the other hand, to a very large extent, your dream

depends upon him for its existence.

If you try to chop wood with a dull axe, you will surely end up

with more sore muscles than the chopped woods. But if you take

your time to sharpen your axe head before venturing to start

chopping the wood, you will certainly end up with more of

chopped wood and fewer or none of sore muscles.

The same goes for your dream. If you try to pursue your dream

without the a.s.sistance of G.o.d, you will end up wasting away.

But if you try to involve G.o.d from the start, you will end up

where you do not expect you could. The pace at which you will

move will surprise even you. All things will work together for

your good because G.o.d will command everything there is to

work in your favor.

Listen to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. Drop all traditions of

men and allow only the Holy Spirit to lead you. Pay full attention

to His restraints and obey His leading. Be sensitive to Him. He is

the spirit of success. Be at the exact place He wants you to be,

doing the precise thing He wants you to do, at the exact time He

wants. Do only the things He commands you to do and go only

where he wants you to. Please Him by all means and at all times,

even if it means stepping on someone else' toes. He is the

number one person to be pleased. Others' convenience comes

later, even yours.

It is a stupid thing to try to operate outside G.o.d. He is the creator;

you are only His creation and it is certain that you cannot in any

way out-think Him. Let Him do the thinking for you. When He

does, you will experience an increment of your intellectual

efficiency: You cannot do without Him. Your reach for Him sets

your dream in motion. He is the merger of the divine and human

ability. A drop of His wisdom is greater than an ocean of human

intelligence.

The Holy Spirit is G.o.d's gift for a fulfilled dream. To fulfill your

dream, His power is not optional but necessary. He makes the

dreamer radiant with new energy, transfigured with a new spirit

and more effective with new power.

In such degrees as you are filled with the Holy Spirit, to such

degrees will your dreams be fulfilled. He is your number one

need. He is needed and He is enough. Only He can

singlehandedly supply all the deficient ability and power. He is

our sufficiency.

If you must remain relevant in your area of endeavor, the way out

is to be sensitive to Him. No matter the circ.u.mstance or situation

you face, if you yield to Him, the situation will bow to you. Let

Him lead you each step of the way and your victory is sure.

G.o.d is the foundation of a fulfilled dream. He has committed

himself. He has promised to lead to the place of fulfillment

through the Holy Spirit. Let us take advantage of His promises.

He is set to help you fulfill those dreams if you will identify with

Him. Dreams without Him end up as illusions. You need Him to

be a fulfilled dreamer. And the only way you can have him is to

invite Him to your life by surrendering your life to him and

handing over your dream to Him. Once you do this, you have

entered into an everlasting divine covenant to succeed with your

dream, and he will definitely not let you down.

IN CONCLUSION

These three things you cannot afford to waste at a time like this:

(1) Your Time

The more time you devote to any task (positive or negative) the

better you become in it and the more progress you make on it.

Devote more time to whatever you decide to lay your hands on.

Make every minute count. You are where you are today because

you did not put value into each of the minute you spent before

now. If you must have a better result in life than the one you had

in school, you must be ready to invest more into your time.

Fill every moment with things that will benefit your future and

not just things that will be relevant for now. It will surely pay you

eternally.

(2) Your Mind

Think before you speak. Meditate before you act. What you

need for the next level is a revelation that comes only through

dedicated time of meditation.

You must be able to sit down and think productively, bringing

out creative ideas that will make those who came out with firstcla.s.s

in your school salute you if they hear of it. At this stage, if

your head cannot think uncommonly, your life will sink

unfailingly and no one will get to hear of you again.

You need to think well in order to take the right decisions. Only

those who think well takes the right decision, and only those

who takes the right decision are qualified to enjoy the best of

life.

Most people do not really think productively; they only think too

much but they really do not think too well. Their thought, though

time consuming, is peripheral and not deep enough to bring out

results. Some who think they are thinking are only worrying and

fretting. These are not part of productive thinking. Learn to think

in such a way that every session of your thinking will bring out

something that will move your life forward. That is productive

thinking!

Let everyone of your thought be connected to your purpose.

Until this is done, your life does not make constant progress.

(3) Your a.s.sociation

G.o.d created us to be interdependent, not independent. No one is

created to survive alone. Everybody needs somebody to rise.

You need others as much as they need you. Therefore, learn to

network together with others; it has great dividends.

You need something that someone else has, as much as others

need something you posses. No man is an island. Everyone

needs someone someday to get somewhere.

Locate the right a.s.sociation. When you locate the right

a.s.sociation you will get the right information. The right

information will help you go for the right skill. The right skill

will motivate you to take the right move in the right way, and at

the right time. All these put together will get you the right result.

The opposite is equally true. Wrong a.s.sociation gives you the

wrong information, and you are led to take the wrong moves

which will eventually lead your life in the wrong direction and

you will end up with the wrong result. There is nothing as

destructive as keeping a wrong a.s.sociation.