How Your Faith affects your Success Part 1

What is Faith?
Faith is the complete trust and believe in someone or something. Today we are going to discuss about faith in someone, and that someone is you. How much faith do you have in yourself? Do you know the relationship between your faith and your success?

I am going to give you a true story, names have been changed for privacy purposes. Mary and Jane got employed in a marketing company on a similar date. Mary’s academic papers indicated that she was a A student and always at the top of her classes unlike Jane who was an average student. It was only natural that the company expected Mary to be a better performer as compared to Jane. The company expected that Mary would bring in more customers, more sales and higher profits. Ironically at the end of the financial year, Jane's performance was almost twice better than Mary's and she looked highly motivated too. Mary on the other hand was demotivated, her performance was below target. So what happened to Mary? How was it possible that an average student became a better marketer than an A student?

Mary and Jane came from two different academic institutions. Mary was taught that getting good grades was the key to get a good job, earn good money, have a good life and this was success as far as she was concerned, what else would she ask for. What they never taught her was what comes after securing a good job. On the other hand Jane was taught that good grades were not enough to make her a successful person, securing a good job was not the end but the beginning. She was taught that in order to succeed in life she had to believe in herself and her abilities to handle new situations and challenges. This little aspect differentiated Mary and Jane out of the academic world. Education is important, it is a key to success in life, but education alone is not enough, we must have knowledge on how to handle and use what we have acquired academically to achieve success. How do you build faith in yourself?

“Education doesn’t just take place in stuffy classrooms and university buildings, it can happen everywhere, every day to every person.” – Richard Branson

Belief in Yourself
Faith is believing in yourself even when the whole world does not. The worst thing you can do in life is to stop believing in yourself. There will come a time when no one is going believe in you, that does not mean you have to do the same. You are the only person who knows you best, no one is ever going to know you better than you do apart from God. Seeking approval from other people all the time is not going to take you anywhere, remember everyone has been called for a purpose and each calling is unique. The Lord God Almighty has called you for that purpose and He has planted a seed in you, it is this seed that gives you ideas, prompts you to do a certain task or follow a particular project. No one else has been called so, yes I know many can be called for a specific mission, but every mission has a particular task that only you and no one else can fulfill. People are going to see things differently from the way you do, that does not make you superior or inferior to anyone else, it simply means you are bringing unique ideas to the table to enhance the final product.

Belief in Your Ideas.
Faith is believing in your ideas however small they may look. I work in an airline industry I have had I had a privilege of working in the cargo department for three years as a Ramp Agent and Load Master. Our manager was a good leader and he had introduced brainstorming sessions once a month where everyone including the loading agents could point out shortcomings and give suggestions on how to improve operations. The loading agents used to shy off at first because they were not used to the idea of giving their views in such a forum, this was a forum that had powerful people in the company and they felt intimidated by their presence, however little by little they warmed up to the forum and gave in their contributions. I remember very well, how 90% of the the ideas that were implemented and became successful came from the ideas that were initially thought to be insignificant. The ideas were small yes, one of them they included making a small alterations to some of the loading equipment to avoid wear and tear. The changes not only deterred wear and tear, they greatly improved the rate of consumption of power consumption, reduced manpower per equipment and saved time in loading and money for repairs. This idea alone saved the company over $10,000 per month. Was it a big idea? Most people thought it was a small idea. Did it come from an engineer in the company? It came from a loading agent who saw a problem, came up with a possible solution and someone believed in him but he believed in his idea first.

You have to belief in your ideas first in order to succeed. When you believe in your ideas, it becomes easy to convince others to support you in the journey to drive your idea, project, or mission to a positive end. People will believe you more when you believe in your self and in the agenda you are bringing to the table.

Belief in Your Potential
Faith is believing in your potential. Have you ever been surprised when people tell you how good you are in something you never thought you were good at? It has happened to me many times, this blog is a living testimony of a result of believing in my potential through what others saw in me. People have seen your potential by the time they point out that you are good in something more so if it comes from trusted people and unexpected people or strangers. If you hear it severally from different people it is time you believed in it and move on with it.

Your boss may entrust you with a task at work out of the blue not in line with your key responsibilities, most of us will either find an excuse as to why we cannot do it, or complain of additional workload. Minority will gladly take it up and see it to conclusion. These are the same people who move easily and quickly up the career ladder and we keep on wondering how they manage to do it. They believe in their potential not only in handling normal tasks but also what has been entrusted to them by faith.

“Take a chance. It’s the best way to test yourself. Have fun and push boundaries.” – Richard Branson

When your boss decides to give you a task, it is because they know you can handle it, they have seen your capabilities, take it up and do it, do not give yourself excuses as to why you cannot handle it. In our culture we have a saying that states “ If they believe in you, believe in yourself” One common mistake most people make is belittling themselves and their capabilities, yes you have to be humble and not blow your own trumpet, but that does not bar you from performing your tasks with confidence and to completion.

Belief in God
Faith is believing in God and his promises. If God has said he made you in his own image, believe in it. He is the greatest master Creator of the universe and everything in it. He is the master of knowledge and He says that nothing is impossible through Jesus Christ as long as we walk in faith. When we lack faith we have no stand, we have no focus, we can easily be swayed and tossed around, we hand over our power to others and give them a ticket to use us to accomplish their goals and not ours; this is what many politicians do, they take advantage of our little faith and use us to accomplish their goals. If you have faith, you know your purpose, you have a clear vision and you know the path to take to achieve that mission. Let us move by faith, let us believe in God, let us believe in what God has called us to be, conquerors , high achievers,winners in everything we set out to do.

****Best Words of Advise***

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

**** Best Words of Advice****

"Whatever you want in life other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it"

-Diane Sawyer

How Do I Measure Success in My Life?

There is no definite way to measure success. What I consider a success life may not be successful to another. Furthermore what was a successful life to me when I was 10 years old is no longer a success 10 years down the line. How then can we measure success? How do we know that we are successful in life?

Many of us make a huge mistake when we want to know how successful we are by comparing our achievements to others, I strongly disagree with this concept because it is not a true measure of success. Let us compare these two examples below;

Mary and Jane cleared college together and got employed in the same company, earning the same salary. Within six months Jane has a car and Mary still commutes to work using public transport. Who among the two would you consider successful?

I know you would consider Jane to be more successful than Mary because she has managed to buy a car within six months of employment. Within face value yes, but we are forgetting some important factors here, their background. Jane comes from a well off family, she stays at her family house, she does not pay rent or any bills in the house. She has all her income to herself. Mary on the other hand stays away from home, pays her rent, water bills, electricity bills, she buys her food, has managed to support her two siblings through college and aided her parents to buy that home they have always wanted to have for the past 20 years. She cannot afford a car at this time but has she accomplished some of her goals? Can we consider her more successful than Jane now that we know their background. Great, now you understand what I mean, you can not measure  your success against other people's achievements, you can only measure success against your potential. What you are capable of against what you have achieved.

Factors to consider when measuring your success:

Age

Age is an important factor when you want to measure your success because we have different goals at every stage in life. When in college, you would consider passing your exams successful, after college you would consider having a well paying job successful, 10 years down the line you would consider having your own house and a car successful or running your own business. When you start measuring your success, you should first and foremost establish the stage you are in life and what you consider to be important at that age and time.

Goals

What do you want to achieve in life? The goals you have set for yourself are paramount when you want to measure your own success. I remember when I was in college, I did not only want to pass my exams, I wanted to pass my exams with honors, some of my friends were content with passing, the honorary title was not part of their success. If I had passed my exams without honors, I would not consider myself a failure, but I would not consider myself successful either.

Some people would consider having a roof over their head and being able to provide for their family a success, others will want more that that. They would not only want a roof over their head, they would want that roof to be their own house, a house with no rent to pay at the end of the month. Having a house of your own is an achievement, for another person having a house is not enough, it has to be of a certain design and size, be in a certain location preferably near the beach, at the end of the day, you will only be able to measure your success against the goals you have set for yourself. Consider yourself successful if you are able to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself within the time specified.

Impact

The ability to have a positive impact in society is a good way to measure your success. You do not have to be a prominent person or hold a powerful position to make an impact in society. Helping a colleague at work or in college is making a positive impact, you may not see it that way but you do leave a lasting  mark in every person you interact with. Take advantage and make it count , let that mark be a positive one. There are many ways in which you can leave a positive mark, at the church choir, helping your parents with household chores or paying bills, assisting someone with homework, volunteering within the community, contributing to positive changes at work or helping that old couple around the corner. Positive marks have a way of outliving us and they give us a sense of fulfillment, go out there and live your positive mark.

Potential

If you are living in a comfort zone or have that feeling that you can do more, then you are limiting your own success. Our ability to do a task is not the same for everyone, our potential is different. The fact that you have achieved more than those around you does not make your successful, the question is, is this the best you can do? If the answer is yes, consider yourself a successful person, if not, you need do something about it. Let us take this scenario. John is a bright student who has moved to a new town and registered in a new school. He used to get more than 80 points in his previous school, the children there were very competitive and he never used top in his class but that was the best he could manage. In his new school, he is always a the top of his class, but his points have gone down below 70. Would you consider John successful against his potential despite the fact that he tops in class? Of course not, you know he can do better, being top in class is a comfort zone but not successful. It is the same situation for all of us. You need to evaluate your life to establish if you are successful or in a comfort zone.

Challenges

If you are the kind of person who never gives up when faced with challenges, consider yourself a successful person. I know of this boy back in primary, his parents could not afford to pay his school fees, the boy never dropped out of school like the rest who faced the same predicament. He started rearing chicken which he would sell, he also helped with gardening during his free time at a small fee, he managed to pay his fee this way through primary and secondary school. I would consider this gentleman a successful man. He now owns a wholesale store supplying shops within the village with merchandise. He is not the president or a prime minister, but he has a way of overcoming challenges. The ability to overcome challenges is a good way to measure success in your life.

It is evident that what i consider as success is not the same as the other person. The best way to measure success is to do it as an individual. First you have to define what success means to you to be able to measure it. Refer to my previous article on How to define success in your life.


I will take this opportunity as usual to welcome you to share, comment and give feedback on how you measure success.

**** Best Words of Advice****

" We can not measure  our success against other people's achievements, we can only measure success against our potential." - Evaline Nyambati

How to define success in your life

What is success?

We all have different ways of defining success. We may decide to define success in relation to other people or we can choose to define success in our own terms. I love to define success in my own terms. Success should give me a sense of achievement, a sense of satisfaction, and joy. I love to define success in my own terms because I believe I have been called for a special mission in life and my mission is unique. It is never going to be the same as yours, your mother's or your twin. We are all unique and we have been called to serve unique missions here on earth.

Define success in your own terms and live by it.

Today I am going to share with you different way on how I define success in my life. I hope this will help you to define yours. Unless you define your own success, you will never have clear goals and eventually you will never amount to anything.

Success is passion and determination.

Determination for me is a key factor in life. The determination to go on even when the future does not look promising, the never giving up spirit when things go wrong, the strength to wake up every morning with a positive mind that I will make it in life no matter what. That is success, but remember determination can not be kept alive without passion. You have to be passionate about life and what you pursue in life. Pursuing dreams without passion drains us of energy and we end up with false non fulfilling achievement.

Understanding who controls your destiny.

Success is understanding who controls your destiny. God has made us in his own image and He has given us the power to choose. The power to choose between right and wrong, to do or not to do, to be positive or to be negative, to go on or to give up, to be happy or to be sad. He has given us the power to choose our destiny. Once we understand this concept, then we are successful. We can move on with life in confidence making better choices towards our destiny.

Understanding that our weaknesses and disabilities are stepping stones.

Success is when we know our weaknesses, our disabilities and not let them hold us back from our dreams, it is the ability to believe in ourselves, it is the ability to believe that we can. We create our own limitations by negative thing or worse by believing what others say. The fact that your mother, father, sister or friend did not make it in your field of passion does not mean you will never make it too. We design our destiny by choosing what we believe in and what we chose to do or not do.

Counting your blessing.

Success is when you celebrate your victories however small, it is when you count your blessing instead of what you think you have missed in life. You may have not gotten that promotion at work, be grateful that you are employed, you have a roof above your head and you can afford at least a meal a day. Other people do not have that luxury. Count your blessings and be grateful.

Standing up for what you believe in.

Success is standing up for what you believe in no matter what.Standing for what you believe in is the ability to say no with no regrets. It is better to stand alone than be with a crowd with a false sense of belonging. If you are strong enough to stand for what is right, you may be alone today, but you will meet people along the way who believe in your dreams and ideas. Do not give up, and welcome feedback however negative; “ If you do not have critics, you will likely have no success” Malcolm X.

Success is love.

Success is the ability to love and be loved back. It is not going to cost you much to love, give people a chance to love you back too. It is a symbiotic relationship. If it is done one way, one party is likely to be drained. Take time to celebrate and appreciate people in your life who love you for what you are no matter what. Those people who do not care about your bank account, your beauty or how much weight you have gained in the last few years. Those people who cry with you during your worst moments and genuinely celebrate your achievements no matter how small. Those people who laugh through your stupid jokes and are ready to give you a beating to straighten you up.

Success is self development.

Success is the willingness to learn a new thing every day, to progress, to find ways to better yourself every time you have the opportunity. There is no end to how much we can better ourselves and there is nothing under the sun that is too hard to learn.When you understand that learning is a continuous process,you are a successful person. The moment we stop learning we stop our success.

Overcoming fear.

Success is overcoming fear. Overcoming the fear of what people may say, overcoming the fear of what if i do not make it,  what lays ahead, what the future hold, overcoming the fear of the unknown. We will succeed only if we are able to master our fears, we can only overcome our fears when we know who hold our future, we may not know what the future holds, but one thing is crystal clear he is already there. God is already in the future, trust in Him and move on.

Taking care of your needs while supporting others.

Success is not measured by how much knowledge you have acquired, how much money you have accumulated, or how much wealth you have, but by how many people you have developed along the way.  It is the ability to understand how to be there for others and not leaving yourself behind. It is the ability to be self sufficient, take care of your needs while supporting others at the same time. There is that aura in people who embrace and develop others. Have ever seen the look or a parent when their child graduates with honors? Or a teacher when their student pass and are successful in life, now that is success.

Setting your priorities right.

Success is about setting your priorities right, knowing the difference between your needs and your wants and allocating each the weight it deserves in your life. Family and work, both are important but family comes before the other. A car and a house are important, you must have a roof on your head and a full stomach before you buy a car. You must have a place you call home, a house and family, close knit friends to support you when you need it. You have to put your trust and faith in God before man. When your priorities are right success is eminent.

Setting your goals and doing your best.

Last but not least,consider yourself successful if you have set clear goals and you are doing your best to achieve them. I should have put this as point number one, but if you can not do the above,you will not be able to set out concrete goals. Setting your goals is not enough if you are not giving your best everyday. Do each task leaving no room for improvement. If you want help, go for it, but never leave anything undone.

Many people are going to give you various definitions about success like I have done, but the only person who can define success is you. You have to define success in your own terms and live by it. Remove all boundaries, set your mind free and go for it. Success is for everyone.

*****Best Words of Advise***

Define success in your own terms and live by it.