Change - You Must Complete!

Transcript

Change: You Must! By Shepherd Magombedze By Shepherd Magombedze 1 Preface By Shepherd Magombedze 2 Change: You Must! …Part 1 Introduction In these dynamic and changing times one can not afford to be satisfied with the status quo. Success and being competitive requires corporations and individuals who are continuously, consistently and effectively improving. Anything else is not enough. Continuous improvement is the only remedy for notable progress. This is where change is the agent which will separate you from the rest. Individuals who will thrive on and embrace positive change will be winners. This paper has one single intention, to fire you up and set you on the path for permanent positive change! If you fail to change and be a person on a path to tremendous success after reading this material, then I have failed. I mean it. You will not fail if you take this material seriously. You are being set up for your next level. This material will separate you from the rest. The difference will be noticeable. Read on. You are not a loser Losers do not read such materials as these. By virtue of reading this material you are not a loser. A loser is a passenger in their own lives, waiting for success to happen. The looser might have some wishful thinking, waiting for success to happen one day. However it never happens, because those who succeed dream about success visualize it, set definite plans about success and ruthlessly execute their plans. The loser is found aimless loitering about, while others are in pursuit of purpose. He buys time or more appropriately sells it. In killing time, he kills opportunities and hence closes the door to success. A lazy person is like a bad tooth! (Proverbs) Procrastination can be defined as counting minutes and wasting time. A looser is good at that. By Shepherd Magombedze 3 If you ask me to give you an unreliable person, I will give you a loser. The looser is not there when he is expected and has a nick for not being at the right place at the right time. Losers are time wasters. Guard against procrastination – it is the thief of time. Let’s exorcise the loser’s demon. Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger (Proverbs). Exorcise the loser’s demon The loser is frequently found in the following situations revealing his lack of the success oriented approach in executing daily tasks: • Eleventh hour rush and last minute rush for completing work hence sub-standard showing due to lack of enough time. Last minute queuing and jostling due to lack of seeking for resources and completing tasks in good time. Implausible excuses for not meeting deadlines Contentment with bits and pieces – to passion for wholesome and completed work. Subdued passion for excellence. Lack of follow through to ensure that standards are met so as to guarantee required workmanship. Consorting with time-wasters and failure to focus on key • • • • • responsibility areas. From now on see yourself as a success. Your life is changing. You are transforming. I will require something from you, since total transformation will require total cooperation and total input from you. I will require the following from you: • A thorough and critical self-analysis and critique of how you have been conducting your life affairs. An evaluation of how and why you have failed. Be honest with yourself. By Shepherd Magombedze 4 • Change in personal attitude and behaviour Once you know how and why you failed grab the bull by its horns. Take ruthless and persistent tough action to purge the attitudes and habits that have caused you to fail. • Change in intrinsic and extrinsic value Start seeing yourself as a special person, a successful person and a victorious person. • A Development plan and goal-setting Develop a vision, plans and actions for the achievement of your success. • Personal mastery, focus and success Master yourself. Only you can change yourself. The Holy Bible says: He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city (Proverbs 16:32) • Self-actualization Aim high. You deserve more. You deserve the world. You are the best. So what is Change? Change is transformation from one state to the other, for the better! It requires a re-look into the status quo and then requires the taking of alterations towards improvement. Personal transformation Who are you? How do you see yourself? Take time, look into the mirror. What is the character in the mirror? Is that character a front-runner, a self-starter or a mere shadow? Is that picture a true paragon of virtue or just a nonentity of no worth? Who is that person really? As a man thinks, so shall he be! “Man is what he believes.” Take care of how you see yourself because you become what your own mind fashions. By Shepherd Magombedze 5 So, who are you for real? Do you have a good positive self-image or self-denigrative views of yourself? Are you confident and assertive or just a person lacking confidence? Average individuals always exhibit a false image, they are ecstatic about minor accomplishments. I trust you are not a resigned person, seeing yourself as useless and merely taking up space and contributing nothing. Who are you? What are your values and preoccupations? • • • • What do you see as value? Is it true or ‘fool’s gold’ What tops your priority list? Is it really important? Is your time spent sensibly? What are the returns? What activities sap your energy? Are they worth the trouble? Take note that time a non-renewable, and should be used wisely. Once wasted, it can never be used again. It is how you spend your time now that determines your future. Destiny tells a story of either prudence or frivolous wastage in earlier time. Imagine yourself at the expiry of your remaining 15-20 years. At that time your knowledge will be serving little or no purpose in advancing years. Your face will be developing irreversible wrinkles and beauty will only be a faded memory. At that time health will fail you and body organs will ache. Nothing will be exciting and almost everything boring. Will you then be a person of no recognition, no influence, and simply irrelevant. Where exactly will you be? • • • • Old people’s home? Dwelling of own choice? Calling shots? Making your own choices? By Shepherd Magombedze 6 • • Living by someone’s decrees? Dependent on someone? Definitely your attitude will tell where you will be. Attitudes define character. They can make or break a person. “Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes.” (William James) Yes you are the only person to blame for where you are today. Your destiny is in your hands. Grab the bull by its horns. Change now! Victims of the blame culture perish in fury, bitterness and hate. They spend their time in fruitless search for obstacles to progress outside rather than deep soul search. They focus on external locus of control rather than taking an introspection or soul searching exercise. Don’t fail to take responsibility for own faults and failures. While others whine about harsh, prohibitive and frustrating environments others are seeing acres of diamonds everywhere. Open your eyes and see your wealth! Do not be a destitute of opportunities. See opportunities. The world has not ended yet. Don’t be an avowed pessimist. A pessimist has difficulty in finding opportunities. opportunities in difficulty. Set high ambitions for yourself. Have an iron will. Being lukewarm and virtually imperceptible will not take you anywhere. Have a rude awakening. Dispel those hopes dashed by chronicles of failure, suffocated by inaction, lack of focus and many uncompleted programmes. Don’t let your ambitions be extinguished by peers selfAn optimist finds By Shepherd Magombedze 7 actualised at low accomplishments. Who do you hang around with? Take care not to build your monuments around failures. Little effort is little achievement! Be a man/woman of action. How much effort have you exerted since you set your ambitions? Take a cue from our contemporaries. What is your purpose? Why do you exist? Did you just arrive into the world to occupy space, consume resources and just depart living no legacy? Oh! What a wasted life! So what must you do? There is still a chance. The cruel age is not here yet but soon will. Do yourself a favour. Now! Only you can turn yourself around… if you really want. Set a personal resolute decision. Define your desired goal. Identify prime time for quiet solitary contemplation e.g. 4.00 am. At that time, set a high and lofty goal which will be a real achievement. This should be a giant leap from where you are currently. Set a concrete definite plan, a clear one not some shadowy notion. At that prime time and in the secrecy of your mind, trace the path to the goal, lest you lose focus. Lay the stepping stones, lest you slip and sink. Believe in yourself, lest you dare not. Do something, lest it remains a pipe dream. Set definite precise actions towards your goal lest you become a loser through inaction. Let all your decisions that follow be determined by these high goals you have set for yourself. Seek knowledge as your vehicle to progress Have you noticed that a knowledgeable last born is listened to more than an unschooled first born. Knowledge and ideas are not enough on their own. So as you seek knowledge, transform ideas and knowledge into wisdom or commercial value. Ideas, no matter how great, if not used will die on the vine like grapes. Myles Munroe says that the By Shepherd Magombedze 8 richest place here on earth is the graveyard, because the graveyard is full of men and women who had great ideas but died without their fulfilment. Surely you do not want to regret in your grave or when you get to heaven. If all you are after certificates, you will get valueless pieces of paper. Start you own enterprise now! You will reap what you sow. Therefore get into serious determined action. Give legs and arms to your ideas. Start your own enterprises now. You will retire when you elect to. Do not be deceived. Working for life is not good enough. Pension and insurance are not enough. The eight to four job has little risk and also meagre returns. You can be offered perks that are invitingly deceptive. Don’t be deceived by a false comfort zone. You will one day be unwanted and will go home. Don’t find any reasons, start now! The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold therefore he begs in the harvest and has nothing (Proverbs). No reason is acceptable! Work hard and work smart! Therefore keep your nose to the grinding stone. Hot collar and brow wet. ‘Sweat not sweet!’ Supercharge yourself on value adding activities. Do the utmost not just the bare minimum. ‘They come to work as late as possible, work as little as possible and go home as early as possible’ (Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation Address, February, 2004) Develop a work ethic. Shun a life of a prosaic lifestyle of half measures. Exert distinguished effort. Do more whatever you do. ‘Go the extra mile’. Shun mediocrity. Averages are not good enough. The soul of the sluggard desireth and has nothing. (Proverbs) Stop ‘bean counting’. You cannot succeed by pointing at failures of others. By Shepherd Magombedze 9 Live by the sweat. Not falsifying facts, claims, overtime. No feet shuffling or time killing. No malingering and false pretences No blackmail by ‘go-slows’. No mob-driven sit-ins. Not even strikes. ……if you are on course to greatness. A little sleep, a little slumber so will poverty come upon you. (Proverbs) Personal Development Plan Therefore develop a continuous improvement plan with stocktaking milestones. Painstakingly evaluate your progress. Give credence to yourself. Cast away doubt in yourself. Do not complain. Out-grow a ‘chip on the shoulder’ type character. Do not quit or throw in the towel. Do not expect others to do everything for you. They have their worries too. Bemoan: Lost time and wasted effort, missed opportunities, sloth and idleness. Clean up your act. Shed off baggage before a fresh start. Hasten to regain lost ground. Assert yourself and unlock your full potential. Be incorruptible, many armchair critics of others are patently corrupt! Desist from: Idle talk, gossip and peddling lies, intrigue and backstabbing, mud slinging and character assassination, bad habits stand in the way of success. Change now! Exemplary Conduct Lead by exemplary conduct. Be a dependable person; sincere honest and truthful, a considerate team player and citizen; empathetic, fair, a reliable business practitioner; your word being as good as your bond. Excercise 1 Give three major hurdles that have always limited your growth. State your ultimate goal and your plan to achieve that ambition. By Shepherd Magombedze 10 (Half a page only). _______________________________________________________ End of Part 1 of Change You Must! Change: You Must! …Part 2 Personal Mastery: The Will to Succeed What is success? Success is a combination of accomplishments. It should be wholesome and cover all areas from spiritual, health wise, financial to social life. However, to different people success is different. To many people success is personal prosperity. Personal prosperity to them means having a fine home, financial security, achieving leadership, and gaining respect and admiration. In other words they want to be able, Intellectually, Physically and Financially. Most have realised that this success requires personal development to the fullest potential and stretching the body, soul and spirit to extreme limits. Now, do you have what it takes to succeed? I say you have it, because you were born to succeed. It’s in born within you. God created you a success and it only takes your decision to fail. Choose success! Master yourself for success. Steer your boat towards success. Success is like a person rowing a boat in a river towards rapids and a fall. You need to have a purpose: To get to your destination safely in By Shepherd Magombedze 11 the quickest possible way. From the purpose you then set goals consistent with your purpose. Getting to the destination requires good quality planning and consistent effective and efficient action so as to successfully reach your destination. Failure to do so will only mean you may hit some rocks or perish over the falls. You should not start rowing furiously backwards when you reach the falls. If you plan ahead you will know what to do when you get to the falls. Life is like that. In order to succeed, have a definite purpose and clear achievable giant goals. Precise definite plans for the achievement of these goals followed by persistent definite action will set you on high. Facts of Life As a matter of fact, every human being wants success. Everybody wants the best out of life including morons and mad people. No one wants pernicious experiences in life. No one enjoys a life of mediocrity. The abyss of mediocrity disenfranchises many a soul. No one likes to be labelled inferior or a nonentity. No one enjoys being pushed around…...yet the majority languish in squalor! The thing that separates the successful and failures is the purpose, goals, plans, decisions and action that these people take. Get it right there and you are done. Even if you only learnt that point from this discourse it will be enough. Everything else is making the story long. Get this right: Sought out your purpose, goals, plans, decisions and action. I repeat again: Purpose, goals, plans, decisions and action. Master these five and you are done. According to the Pareto principle, a meagre 20% of national wealth is in the hands of a whopping 80% the population. The trivial many with ‘chip on the shoulder’, excuse-makers, ditherers, prevaricators, doubting Thomases, lazy bones, ‘hewers of wood and drawers of By Shepherd Magombedze 12 water’ are the 80%. 80% of the national wealth is in the hands of only 20% of the population. These are the vital few bold, decisive, proactive, visionary, risk takers. Who then are you? Do you want to remain where you are? You were born to be great. Take action now! Purpose in your heart to change. It’s not good to be poor. Don’t give up. Giving up is for the dead. Live to be an example, to be an inspiration to others that big success in possible to anyone. You are not faint hearted! You are made of high fibre. You are the best! Take action! Now! If wishes were horses beggars would ride! Wishful thinking cannot bring about a change of status. You cannot wish for a better job and get it. You cannot merely wish yourself a beautiful mansion. No business empire can be built upon mere wishes. Ascendancy to dizzy heights was never begotten by a simple wish. Dispel Wrong Views about Money and Riches The poor think that money is ‘filthy lucre’, however they scrape for it. They spend sleepless nights to have it. The poor beg alms and appeal for aid. They have an insatiable desire for possession. They think that money is the root of all evil, yet the bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. However, Churches and cannot be established without money. Tithes and offerings are good for the any church. Also, great achievements have been possible because of money. People misinterpret the bible, thinking that the rich will never enter heaven. However, Cornelius in the bible was saved because of his riches. See, some of the rich people are the best selfless and serious givers. Not meaning that if you are poor you will not enter into heaven. By Shepherd Magombedze 13 I would rather enter into heaven rich than poor. ‘Blessed is the hand that giveth’ Most poor people think it’s blessed to be poor. Yet they have envious hatred of the rich and famous. They are jealousy of the wealthy. Actually the bible talks about “blessed are the poor in spirit” i.e. those down-to-earth, not puffed up, not conceited. Flee from poverty If poverty is not associated with evil and destruction, then what is it? What is meritorious about lack of funds? Where is the virtue if you cannot pay your bills? How can you have one foot in heaven by running ragged? How can one be next to God merely because of depravation? Where is moral excellence in civil strife for crumbs? Be an entrepreneur. Others have a vision, while common men have none. These few are making vital contribution to the economy. They have broken through and weathered the storm. Only a few individuals can do it That’s wrong. If it’s right, then be one of the few, than to sulk and depend on another for your livelihood. In African extended families, a few work hard, while the rest do little. Change does not need the participation of the whole world. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever is” (Margaret Mead) Change your attitudes and succeed Makeover of appearances cannot change the real thing. A pardoned criminal is soon turned in. A cleaned up vagrant is scruffy again. A By Shepherd Magombedze 14 prostitute reverts to streets. A kerb-crawler sees no value in wife. Exert personal transformation rather than external effort. Attitudes affect self- belief Weed negative thoughts; thoughts such as “I am nothing” “I am afraid”. Why? Attitudes kill self-confidence. Remove words like “I can’t” “I will never make it” from your vocabulary and replace them with words such as: How can I make it, I can make it, I can, All things are possible, I am not afraid. Attitudes cause paralysis of inaction. For example if you tell yourself that “It’s too late” you will not do anything. But if you say even though it’s late I will try, then you will take action. Change your thoughts The bible says as a man thinks that is what he is. Break the negative thoughts. Change your thought patterns. Don’t tell yourself “I have no chance”, tell yourself: I have all the changes. Remove negative, disparaging statements. Modify your behaviour. Act right and act now. Do what you know is right. You have unlimited potential. Remove such thoughts as “I am comfortable as I am” “What if I try and fail” “‘I do not have what it takes” “I am not destined for success” None in my clan has gone that far “This is our family’s problem”. Be the first success in your family. History already has such people who against all odds have traveled By Shepherd Magombedze 15 paths others did not travel and have set new records. If no one will do it, be the one who will do it. Don’t limit yourself! Do it! _______________________________________________________ End of Part 2 of Change You Must! Change: You Must! …Part 3 One African proverb says if you decide to eat a dog, go and eat a vicious male. The idea is that if you set to do anything then prepare for the worst fight. In other words you will have to stand for and through everything that you seriously decide to achieve. Another African proverb says if you decide to make traps in a burnt field then stop minding about getting dirty. The essence is that if you really want anything you have to be prepared for all the consequences and difficulties. For one to reach the top, one has to be prepared for the By Shepherd Magombedze 16 corresponding change of attitudes, habits and behaviors towards the achievement. Now! Get the point. You have to be prepared to let go of a number of things in order to reach the top. I encourage you to aim for the top. Shoot for the stars and you will land on the moon. If you do not attempt, you will never achieve. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Be where the rubber meets the road. Be found where the action is! You don’t wake up one day and find yourself at the top; you grow your way to the top. Growth to Full Potential The greatest achievement you can make is to conquer yourself, your mind, your emotions and your spirit. Start by knowing yourself all round. Set to eliminate areas you do not know about yourself. Check the blemishes, the black holes, the things that can pull you down. Know that your talent and abilities can get you to the top, but your character weaknesses can totally bring you down. Weed out all the energy sinks that drain your energy. Improve your credentials, refine your character. Adopt a positive self-image. Scale heights with care, lest you fall. Think big, dream big and act big. Grow to your fullest potential. Be on the cutting edge. Great Expectations Expect real success and fulfillment. Seek self actualization. Know that you are in the service of God, man, family and self. Build a legacy. Seek true wealth (spiritual, intellectual, material & financial). Remember man brings nothing into this world? Also man will take out nothing from this world? Absolutely nothing! Live today as though you will die By Shepherd Magombedze 17 tomorrow. Take action today! Don’t do it tomorrow, do it today. Tomorrow might never come! The moment that matters is now. Ask yourself this question in all that you do. “Is this the best use of my time at this moment? How can I best use my time at this moment?” Once you answer that question, set tediously to achieve what you have chosen to do for the moment. If you choose and execute your activities this way throughout the day, your day this way through out the week, month and year, definitely we will meet at the top! The Power Within Marden says: “Deep within man dwells those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamt of possessing; forces that would revolutionalise his life if aroused into action”. You have great powers inside you which are just waiting for you to discover them. Your mind is your only weapon. Set to find these powers and utilize them. Traits of Failure If you have read “Change – You Must 1!” you are now aware of the characteristics of a loser. These are traits of failure. They include being inconsistent and lacking reliability. A failure is late at important engagements. A failure can not easily make up their mind but is under frequency change of mind. A failure quickly gives up and lacks self belief. Another weakness of a failure is having a surprising ignorance on matters of work. Again I repeat, you are not a failure. No one is born a failure. One becomes a failure from the decisions that they make. It’s a matter of By Shepherd Magombedze 18 choice. Decide to be a success. Take those temporary failures of yours as learning points. Use them as stepping stones. One author says that if you find yourself in a pit stop digging. Find yourself a way out and get moving. You can never solve your problems by thinking the same way that created the problems. Use pits in your life as pit stops. Pit stops are places where racing cars refuel and are refreshed. The bible says the righteous may fall seven times by they will rise again. Behave like the African tree which may fall, but always rises again when rains come. Set your eyes on the top, acquire the traits of success. Traits of Success One point to note is that hard work alone will not bring success. Creative thinking is required. Also develop a possibility thinking which says all things are possible. If you cannot use your mind you will labour for little returns. Success appears first in thought, and action follows. Nothing is gained without an all-consuming passion. Therefore reinforce passion for your goal. Increase the pitch of your intent. Develop sharpness of focus. You can’t afford to waste your energy. Have a high intensity of motive. Perfect your emotional quality. Package yourself properly: you are God’s product. God only produces the best. He is the greatest manufacturer! Attractive looks and slovenly show are worlds apart. The quality packaging of a product conveys a clear message. A product is bought for its appeal to the eye. Remember, the world accepts you for what you appear to be. Quality plus aesthetic packaging are unbeatable. The “you” within and the “you” outside must complement. A well-clad By Shepherd Magombedze 19 individual conjures an air of prosperity. An unkempt and disheveled person is not taken seriously. Develop clarity of speech and thought. Have you ever noticed that an important looking individual with the air and voice of authority gets first attention always? At a police station or jail, a well-poised stylishly dressed person is seldom ill-treated. A tramp lands immediately in a cell. It pays to look good! Appearance does something to the one inside. It makes one feel new. It gives a sense of purpose and direction and people respect and emulate you . So, do you have eye-appeal? Do your clothes give best appearance? Does your appearance set you apart from many who are unnoticed in crowd? Do you cast positive aura or charisma? Are you sure of yourself? Have you invested enough in your looks, lest you be taken on face value? Please do something about these things otherwise you are chasing shadows of success! Success all round It is not only how you look that matters. Also financial success or achievements are not enough for you. You need to be a well rounded person. You need to develop spiritually, socially, financially, health wise, career wise, education wise, family wise and work on your image. A truly successful person is victorious in all these eight areas. Set goals in all these areas for yourself. Tediously monitor your progress in all the areas. Exercise You could plot a wheel of life. Each axis in the wheel (see diagram on next page) stands for your development in each particular area of your life. For each area now check what has caused the circle to be irregular. By Shepherd Magombedze 20 Set definite plans on your intentions about correcting the lagging areas in your life. Change: You Must! Wheel of Life Name:_________________________ Date: ___/____/___ By Shepherd Magombedze 21 _______________________________________________________ End of Part 3 of Change You Must! Change: You Must! …Part 4 Change is a process not an event. You start now and continue till eternity. You must not stop changing. The minute you stop changing is the minute you stop improving. Improve consistently and continuously. Kaizen! Kaizen! Improve and Improve! Change is a must to those who will do exploits. It’s a prerequisite for World Champions. Find me a champion, I will find you a person of consistent tremendous and effective change. You can not sit down, sleep and dream about change. You have to experience it. You have to drive it in your life! I love change! Change will set you apart. It will thrust you forward. Let’s sail along and change things for the better. Transformation Change involves a transformation from one state to a better state. It involves identifying the forces that are maintaining that status core and then consistently purging them and replacing them with the forces of change. Success in life to a good extent depends on your personal drive and how you view yourself. Therefore change your poise. Walk faster to exude life and display energy. Speak up and clearer when you have to. Take the front seat to dispel fear of the official eye. Listen intently to grasp message of speaker. Watch your body language. Keep your eyes straight ahead without dosing off. Act decisively and avoid prevarication. By Shepherd Magombedze 22 Always volunteer good acts and make contributions to your environment. Observe the required protocol and etiquette. Learn and use the appropriate language and gestures. Exercise the relaxation of the mind. Learn to silence your conscious mind and develop your subconscious mind. Have quiet moments alone and meditate on the creator. Remove worry and anxiety. Concentrate on your current endeavor and avoid mind scatter or wanderings. Visualisation Always focus on your vision. Be focused. Bring the mental picture of your definite desire into your eyes. Vividly visualize what you want to achieve repeatedly to create what you want in your mind. Emblazon in your mind your creation. Explicitly, distinctly and clearly see what you want. You have to see it with your eyes! Cause those things you desire to materialize by your definite plans and consistent, persistent steps of action. Affirmation what you desire by making firm, purposeful self-talk that you are getting what you want. Reprogram your mind to think positively. Be a possibility thinker and get rid of “I can’t citosis”. Strengthen yourself. You are the author and sole engineer of your success. Exert massive effort and expect the best results to come out. Deal ruthlessly and mercilessly with your weaknesses and shortcomings. Eliminate these weeds that have a potential for chocking your success. Paradoxes: Massive Effort! Little Success! Massive effort does not mean massive success. There are many hardworking failures in this world. Also there are many intellectuals living in abject poverty. You also find stronger men losing contests to weak By Shepherd Magombedze 23 men. Some bright children are found dropping out of school, or a pretty girl gets pregnant. You also find a highly paid freak being heavily borrowed, or find an unhappy billionaire turning to drugs. Universal Laws Law of compensation. “Give and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, shall men give unto your bosom.” – Holy Bible. Therefore give what is good and your best. Ask yourself: How can I make it better than this? Always do your extreme. Stretch yourself. Only compare yourself with those who surpass your performance. When you give your best, it will come back multiplied beyond your expectations. Exhaust your options, Think extremely and perform above what is required, you will get back results beyond your wildest expectations. Law of giving and receiving. Whatever you give is a seed which will come back multiplied. We have already stated above implicitly that you will not get back what you give, but you will get what is multiplied, above measure and overflowing coming back to you. This is why the rich get richer: The rich give more thoughts towards money and more money multiplication quality decisions than the poor. As a result, the rich get richer. John D. Rockefeller’s as a young man gave to church and charity. Of his weekly salary of $3.50, he gave $1.80 a month. Also, the Rockefeller Foundation gave hundreds and thousands to charity and needy individuals. Rockefeller believed that whatever he gave would come back to him multiplied tenfold. He was considered eccentric, went round giving a dime only to receive a dollar in return. Since he told his secret only to his sons and close associates, they continue practicing By Shepherd Magombedze 24 the concepts. No wonder, the Rockefellers continue giving and making money faster than they can count it. Catastrophe of the Failures If you have noted by now, I am not amused by failure. You can not enter into heaven by being poor. Where is the glory in running filthy ragged? Failure should only be happily used as a learning process. You do not become a failure by failing once or twice. The Holy Bible says the righteous can fall but will rise again seven times. In other words; never - never give up! Thrive on your failures and use them to refine your character and set you on high. However, if you continue to consistently fail and not learn from your mistakes; then you are on your sure path to being a failure. Wake up, shake yourself. Don’t be self-depreciation. See value in yourself. Don’t expect anyone to come to your help, rescue yourself. Some people degrade themselves. They think they are subservient ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ where ever they go. They live to wait for aid and help from others. They lack the killer-instinct and always end second best. Such people do things in halves always celebrating little success. Life is full of opportunities Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make them (Marden). The lack of opportunity is ever the excuse of a weak, vacillating mind. Opportunities! Every life is full of them. Every lesson in school or college is an opportunity. Every examination is a chance in life. Every patient is an opportunity. Every newspaper article is an opportunity. By Shepherd Magombedze 25 Every client is an opportunity. Every sermon is an opportunity. Every business transaction is an opportunity,—an opportunity to be polite,— an opportunity to be manly,—an opportunity to be honest,—an opportunity to make friends. Every proof of confidence in you is a great opportunity, says O. Marden. Therefore, open your eyes and you will discover opportunities everywhere. Conclusion “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down … so will your poverty come like a traveling robber who travels slowly but surely approaching to make you helpless.” Proverbs 6:10. Poverty does not announce itself, but it can surely come if you do not take appropriate action. Poverty robs the riches that belong to you. It comes slowly but steadily and can render you helpless. Therefore be warned. Take decisive action now. You are meant to be rich, to be wealthy and prosperous. Oh! Rise up! Brace yourself for success. You are the change agent. If you did not learn any lesson in this material then learn the following lesson: Only you will change yourself to what you want. The choice is yours. The decision is yours. The time is yours. The life is yours. “The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop ... Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with an iron will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.” - Robert H. Smith By Shepherd Magombedze 26 _______________________________________________________ End of Part 4 of Change You Must! By Shepherd Magombedze 27