OVERCOMING BUSINESS SETBACKS 3

We began with the story of Brain Icy as found in the 1982 Encyclopedia Britannica year book under the section unusual events of the year. Brain Icy woke up and found a leak on the ceiling of his apartment; in the bid to call the vacuum cleaner he discovered all his four tires were flat, ran back to call on the phone, had electric shock; called a friend to help him discovered his car has been stolen. They found the car, he dressed for parliamentary service was about to go out when he sat on the bayonet of his gun which cut through him and he had to go for surgery.

Now, his friend took him back home after surgery as he opened the door he saw that plasters which had fallen from the ceiling had killed all the canaries in his cage; his birds were dead. As he ran across the wet carpet to get to the cage he fell down and injured his back and was taken to the hospital again.

A newspaper reporter caught up with him and asked him; how can you explain all these happening to only one person in a day and Brain Icy said humorously it looked like God was trying to kill me but he kept missing. Isn’t that interesting for someone who has seen so much trouble in one day. He should have been discouraged at that point in time but he was still humorous, he was still cheerful. The truth was that; that day was going to come to an end.

I want to say also that your challenges are seasonal. This phase will pass. This downturn in business will pass. The world has experienced recession before and the world has always come out of those recessions. If your business is experiencing a recession you will come out of this but on one condition if you don’t give up. Winners never quit but then quitters never win. You may never discover your potential for overcoming adversity until you find yourself in one. Be like the tea bag it releases its sweetness when it is thrown into hot water. Maybe this is the season you will get the best idea of your life ever. Don’t give up your miracle is on the way.


If you have experienced a down turn in business the customers are not coming any longer, the jobs are not there, you have to lay people off work or maybe you are the one that have been laid off work I want to encourage you to realize that things could be worse. You may have lost some money, you may have lost customers, you may have lost some opportunities, you may have lost a shop but there are things to still thank God for; everything is not lost yet it could have been worst than this. You have not lost your life, most of us have not lost our health, we have not lost our relationships, we have not lost our husbands or wives or our children, we have not lost our houses, we have not lost our vehicles, we have not lost our assets; something is lost quite alright but all is not lost yet.

We must not give up and behave like everything is finished. I want to say to you today that you are not finished yet at all. Your opportunities in life are not yet finished; your life is not finished yet. At least something is working and you could afford to give God some thanks. Please realize that things could be worse. At the same time acknowledge where you are, some things have changed that is the truth; sometime we spend a whole lot of time wishing things didn’t change there is no point things have changed its time to move on. Some opportunities have expired, its time to move in a new direction, its time to make a new plan, its time to dream a new dream; but please know that God will never allow an opportunity to expire in your life if He has not created another one. Let’s go for it, let’s find it; take time to pray, to think, to plan, to dream; there is a new day, a new dawn around the corner.

You will succeed!

REAL SUCCESS 2

To multiply our success, we must decide not to go on the journey of success alone. We must help others to move on to higher levels of success. We must admit, of course, that it is hard work dealing with people, but we can overcome the challenges.

Some of us don’t help others to succeed because we are insecure. We feel that if we help others to become more successful, we may lose our position to them. When we are insecure we tend to cut others down so we can look bigger. Truly successful people, however, raise others up. They have discovered a secret: when you help others to rise, you will never go down.

Some of us don’t empower others because we have large egos and enjoy the attention and sometimes worship that less successful people give us. We like to be the attraction at every occasion. That would be okay at a wedding-we would be the bride. But it would not be exciting at a funeral-we would be the corpse in the coffin.

Friend, I challenge you today to multiply your success. Help people around you to succeed. Your success will be so powerful, it will outlive you...Sam Adeyemi

You will succeed...

REAL SUCCESS 1

One day, several years ago, I was in deep meditation and prayers early in the morning when an inspired idea played out on my mind. In this mental drama, I saw that my wife met Dr David Oyedepo, the President of Covenant University and Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Churches worldwide and he asked that I should see him the next day. All of this happened in my mind. And it was true I had wanted to see him.

Two days later, it happened exactly as I saw it in my mind. I have since spent many hours learning from Dr Oyedepo. The things I have learnt from him have strengthened my character and increased my success level in many areas.

What Dr Oyedepo has done to me I have committed myself to do to others. The greatest investments we can make in this life are the investments we make in people. When we think of success, we think primarily in terms of how much money, position, prestige, recognition and similar things we can get. But ultimately, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Douglas M. Lawson once said; “We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give.”

In the church where I pastor, I struggled for a few years to build a large congregation, until I realized it would be difficult to do it alone. Then I began to train people. Today, there are close to two thousand people trained to minister like I do, and the church is growing like I had dreamt it would.

Dear friend, don’t succeed alone. Take others along with you. When you help others to rise, you will never go down... Sam Adeyemi

SET REALISTIC GOALS

Thank God we have seen the New Year. It is the dawn of a new beginning. The opening of a New Chapter.


Exodus: 14:13 says: "And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more for ever."

Dear friend, set goals and make plans for the year.

Planning is a fundamental key to our success. People with goals and plans succeed in life, while people without them fail. People without goals restlessly wander through life looking for what they cannot explain. They are frustrated, confused and filled with anxiety. Unfortunately, they do not understand why Robert Schuller, author and pastor, once said; "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."


A Chinese proverb says; "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." I like to put it this way, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step in the right direction." It is only wise that you determine your destination before you set out on a journey. If you don’t know where you are going, it is not likely you will get there.


Let us discuss six reasons why people don’t set goals and make plans:


1. They don’t know how. We can solve this by reading books, asking ‘how’ successful people or simply listen to our broadcasts: radio and television.

2. It is too much trouble. Well, there is always a price to pay for success. It is either you pay now and play later, or you play now and pay later. It is better to make the effort now.

3. They don’t have faith in their goals and plans.

4. They begin with long-range goals. When they don’t see immediate results, they become discouraged

5. They leave the future entirely to God. While it is true that God has absolute control over the future, it is also His nature to plan and He expects us to do the same. Proverbs 16:9 (Living Bible) says; "It is good for us to make plans, counting on God to help us."

6. The rapture. Some don’t set goals because they believe that Christ will come back any moment from now. However, Christ does not expect to meet us waiting idle for His arrival. He expects to meet us busy doing His work on earth.


My Dear friend, take a pen and paper; write down your short-range goals, for the next one-year. Write your mid-range goals for the next five years. Write your long-range goals for ten, twenty or more years.

Let me ask you; have you heard of the Chinese bamboo tree, which is planted, watered and fertilized year in, year out for four years without showing any visible sign of growth? If you were a farmer cultivating the Chinese bamboo tree, would you not be tempted to abandon the plant and consider it a waste of your time and efforts? However, I need to inform you that during the fifth year, the plant suddenly shoots up and grows to 90ft tall just in six weeks!


Above all, begin to do something about all the goals you have written down. God will bring them to pass. This will be your most fulfilling year.


Let this be the most exciting year you ever lived. Release power into your life through goals.


You will succeed!

Sam Adeyemi