ELEMENTS OF SUCESS 2

 the next point we shall consider is character

(3) CHARACTER
Another word for character in this context is honour or integrity. Joe Paterno said, "Success without honour is an unseasoned dish, it will satisfy your hunger but it won't taste good."
In deed character is the pillar of success; it is like the foundation carrying a building without which it cannot stand. We can liken it to the power behind the throne or the hub of the wheel. In fact as a dish is incomplete without seasoning, so it is with success if character is lacking. 

Character crisis is at the heart of the issues that brought about disruptions in the otherwise successful reign of King David in the Bible. (2 Samuel 11,12 respectively). On the other hand, it was good character that distinguished Joseph while in Egypt as a slave. As the chief servant of Potiphar, he had all the space in the world to make his master's wife his sex subject but he refused even though she offered herself to him (that gesture would have denied him bigger position of becoming the Prime Minister).
Character is the ticket to victory and a strong platform on which to touch the world positively.

Character does not only benefit the person possessed of it rather it benefits everybody within the person's circle of influence. The reverse is also true, hence the lack of character in some public officers has been at the root of leadership crises in Africa; a situation which has subjected here people to untold hardships in the midst of plenty.
If Africa must rise above the dregs of poverty, instability and unproductivity, her people especially the youths have to choose to embrace honour in everything they are involved in which was our traditional trademark until we were 'brain washed' to deviate...some of the values that our dead heroes like Thomas Sankara, Nelson Mandela etc lived by have to be resurrected and personified across demographic and political lines in Africa.

 (2) PLANNING
Every enterprise is built by wise planning be it marriage, business, career or even one's life. Planning is the intentional act of bringing future objectives into practical systematic modes of action by which they can be achieved. A plan therefore puts things in their order of priority and sequence of execution.

Planning is a time honoured practice which was put into effect by the Almighty Creator, God Himself. For instance, before He created Adam and Eve, He had already established a luxuriant garden full of aquatic, arboreal and terrestrial animals and plants for their sustenance.

In the business world also, planning is an integral process of management. Planning is so important to business managers that the rest of the management processes namely; organizing, directing, controlling and budgeting depend on it.

Planning is a strategic, broad based, result oriented exercise which channels a man's mental and spiritual energies into a stated course...no wonder Jesus Christ also emphasised on this in the Bible (Luke 14).
The planning process opens up the mind to a large pool of ideas that man ordinarily would not have accessed. When it is done with deep meditation, it causes the mind to intermingle with the higher realm of life thereby broadening one's horizon of thinking. It is in such a mood that one's mind can be developed to the extent of making intelligent forecasts or projections which oftentimes work out.

Many people across the world today fail in their life's pursuits because they fail to plan. They either live by chance or claim they're waiting on the Spirit to direct them whereas God has given us the privilege of meeting with Him in the higher realm if we can take out time to plan meditatively.
Planning gives focus to life and if you must succeed, you must plan and plan well.
If you live your life by chance, life will not give you a chance to live. Planning is a non-negotiable ingredient for success so plan your life well or life will give you failures which you never planned for.

As a Leadership Strategist and Certified International Trainer in Administration, planning helps me to spend my 10hours at work on investment rather than on mere survival.
Plan now, it will move you from servant-hood to kingship because good thinkers make good good planners, good planners make good strategists, good strategists are successful, successful people make impact, high-impact people are people of influence and only people of influence obtain the ticket to leadership.

Let's share our thoughts and build synergies that will turn around Africa for good.

Regards.
Frank Uzo