“Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.” – Oscar Wilde.
Everyone desires success in life, but only a few recognize its components, and some of those who do, do not even know how to put them together to achieve success.
This article and subsequent ones will discuss some of the major components of success, and how you can put them together to achieve success in whichever area of your life you need it. The first major component this article will x-ray is preparation.
What is preparation?
According to dictionary.com, “it is a proceeding, measure, or provision by which one prepares for something.” It can also be defined as, “Any proceeding, experience, or the like considered as mode of preparing for the future.”
Someone gave it as “the process of collecting information about a future task or event.”
But before anything meaningful can be said about preparation, there must be a clearly stated dream, goal or vision you intend or desire to achieve. (You can read my post on goal-setting to know more on this). Because the target you cannot see you cannot hit.
Great achievers know the value of good preparations.
Jesus Christ, in one of His teaching, pointed out the importance of preparation.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28-31, NIV).
Building a tower or going to war as described by Jesus Christ can be likened to a dream, goal or vision. It requires adequate preparation. Nobody wakes up to find his or her self at the top without diligent and careful preparation for such position. If peradventure anyone gets there without adequate preparation, staying there may be very difficult. Statistics have revealed that most people who won lotteries or got money bequeathed to them end up in poverty after a short while. Why? Because they were not adequately prepared for the sudden wealth. Getting to the top and staying there requires a lot of diligent preparation.
Athletes invest daily towards their goals (medals). They jog, exercise, lift weights, and train their bodies. Emergencies, changes and weather are no excuses for missing their training for the challenge ahead. Students burn the midnight oil inorder to perform well in their examinations. According to BenJamin Disreali, Former Prime Minister of England, “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.”
Do you have a goal?
Has God given you a vision?
Do you have a burning passion about a dream?
Do you desire greatness?
If your answer is in the affirmative, which I guess it is, then what preparation are you putting in place towards their realisation?
Remember, things don’t just happen, rather they are made to happen. Successful people have linked good preparation with great achievements. According to Oprah Winfrey, “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” As for Henry Ford, the automobile maker, “Before anything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” In Gen. Douglas MacArthur terms, “Preparation is the key to success and victory. The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” And Thoeodore Roosevelt agreed that, “It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.”
Although, you may not see the whole picture at once, but keep preparing diligently towards your dream, goal or vision. Keep putting a brick over the other daily.
Ponder upon the words of this great man, Abraham Lincoln, “I will prepare, and someday my chances will come.” According to John C. Maxwell, “once an opportunity presents itself, it’s too late to get ready.”
So what are you waiting for? Get yourself prepared now!
9 Facts About Preparation You Need To Know.
1. Preparation brings you closer to your vision, dream or goal.
2. Preparation is what makes the difference between winning and losing.
3. Preparation correctly positions you.
4. Preparation gives you an edge over others.
5. Preparation makes you confident – it removes fear and anxiety.
6. Preparation precedes opportunity.
7. Preparation is a process, and not an event. For example, we eat daily to stay health. So preparation towards you vision, dream or goal has to be daily. Some researchers found out that, if you do something an hour everyday, in five years you will be an expert in doing that thing.
8. Preparation for tomorrow begins with the right use of today. Remember, the future comes one day at a time according to Abraham Lincoln.
9. The type of dream, goal or vision you have depicts the kind to preparation required. If you have a big dream, goal or vision, it will require a more intense preparation. The foundation for a skyscraper will not be the same as that of a bungalow. It takes depth to sustain height.
Why do people fail to prepare?
1. Indiscipline.
2. Impatience.
3. Wrong attitude.
4. Procrastination.
How can you prepare yourself?
1. Embrace challenges
The Bible says,“In all labour there is profit:…” (Prov. 14:23, KJV). And according to Hugh Miller, “Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them.” For any problem you solve or any challenge you overcome, there will always be an increase in the deposit of knowledge, wisdom and confidence in you. It was the killing of a bear and a lion of David that gave him enough confidence to face Goliath of Gath. “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:34-36, NIV). Do not run from challenges, face them and conquer them. Challenges are friends that molds us towards greatness. Accept them!
2. Believe in yourself
You have to believe in yourself that you possess something that can make you achieve your dream, goal or vision. Focus on what you can do, and do them to the best of your abilities. “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.” ― Ronald Reagan. All men are not the same, believe in your uniqueness. Use it as an edge and continually reinforce your strengths as you improve on your weaknesses as well.
3. Ask questions
According to Robert Kiyosaki, “The most successful people in life are the ones who ask questions. They are always learning. They are always growing. They are always pushing.” Asking questions is a great preparatory tool. It is one of the ways of seeking knowledge and information. There are wealth of information about your dream, goal or vision, you don’t know. Asking questions about them will help you greatly. And the more you equip yourself with information about them the better for you. Ask the right questions from your mentors, role models, colleagues, friends, etc., and you will get answers that will be helpful.
Ben Carson once ask a colleague a question that has to do with his vision – a procedure about Siamese twins’ separation surgery, and he got an answer. Behold, two month later, what he envisaged came knocking. A Siamese twin was brought to him, and the answer he got from that singular question facilitated the success of that ground-breaking surgery (separation of the Siamese twin conjoined as the head), first-of-its- kind in medical history. So asking questions about your dream, goal or vision can help you prepare adequately for it.
4. Read
Wisdom, knowledge, and treasures are hidden in books. Therefore, make them your companion. Reading opens the mind and sharpens the intellect. And through reading you learn a lot from great people (dead or alive), travel to places you never visited, etc. Like the words to Sarah Caldwell, “Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can, there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”
In my finish year in the university, when the school had just resumed, I walked into a large lecture theater to study (This was not my usual habit, but I desired a better grade that year). To my greatest surprise, I met only two people inside, and they were the best students in my class. I was confused, I had earlier though they were just “gifted”. I never knew they invested so much into reading when others like me were busy playing away. No wonder they had good grades. I also had an excellent grade that year as well, better than all my previous grades. I discovered the secret, used it, and it worked. Reading any available information about your dream, goal or vision will rightly position your feet for that success you desire. Great men and women are avid readers.
5. Write down the cost
Know what your dream, goal or vision is going to cost you in terms of time, money, people, etc. Break them down into smaller bits, and get to work on those smaller bits. Like Jesus Christ adviced in Luke 14:28 -31 stated above.
6. Pray
Prayer has been defined by someone as “an earthly permission for an heavenly interference.” When you pray, you bring God into the picture to help in your area of weakness. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness…” (2 Cor. 12:9, KJV). It is wise to galvanise your weakness with God’s ultimate strength. Don’t also forget that, “… Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” (Psalms 127:1, NIV). So involve God in your preparation.
Finally, I will like to leave you with this, “ Knowing where you can go starts with knowing where you are, and where you’ve been. Success isn’t a matter of luck – it requires practice, study and strategy. Learn all you can about your passion. Master every last detail, and consider all the nuances and possibilities. Then don’t hold back.” – Anonymous.
Thanks for taking time to read. I pray it will be helpful to you.
Stay bless, and see you at the top.