The Art of Finishing

It not how you start, it is how you finish – Anon

You feel battered, blistered, bruised, downcast spirit, feeble knees, drooping hands or wobbly legs? I have a got a word for you today. Hold on, don’t give up! At the beginning of the year like at the start of a race, on the blocks you were energetic, fired up and full of high hopes. It is a year of favour, open doors, breakthroughs, supernatural accomplishments, great exploits, change et c to different people. A year in which you really wanted to get your life to another level.

The course might have taken a toll on you – your finances might be in the negative, the marriage might be on the verge, that bad habit is now even stronger, you lost your job, the economy is now dead, you have backsliden, the business is broke, the politics has gone back to the dark ages. What do you do? Give up? No way, you have come a long way, too far to give up that way! In competitive sports, the last lap, mile, round or 18^th hole (in golf) is the home stretch. This requires the greatest concentration and unyielding effort. If you have to faint, you would rather faint after crossing the line. The year is not over yet, and always remember, it is not over until YOU win.

Activating The Killer Instinct

Deep within each of us is a cold and deadly primal power known as the “killer instinct.” The killer instinct is a vicious combat mentality that surges to your consciousness and turns you into a fierce fighter who is free of fear, anger, and apprehension. If you want to survive the dynamics of life, you must cultivate and utilize this instinctive killer mentality. This instinct is the difference between those who finish and those who don’t. It’s needed for the thorough execution and accomplishment of tasks. It is a driver for peak performance and vigorous pursuit of personal goals. Without this instinct that opportunity will slip through your fingers, that dream will remain a dream, and you won’t be able to cross the finishing line.

Going for the jugular

The jugular is the vein that links the lower part of the body to the brain. If it is cut; this means certain and instant death. A Spanish matador (bull fighter) does not kill a bull softly, but draws his sword swiftly and cleanly and goes for the jugular. The bull fighter knows that if I don’t kill it, it will kill me. He is clinical and meticulous. It is that instinct which makes you successful in life. Going for the jugular, means clinical execution and full attainment of your goals. Barriers? Limits? Discouragement? Distractions? Detours? Take no prisoners, go for the jugular.

Learn Your Lessons

The year has 12 months for a reason, and there is a reason for every season you have gone through with your life this year. Your success hinges upon your ability to learn lessons from the seasons you have gone through. The omniscient Creator, in His wisdom has allowed the seasons in your life to get you closer to your destiny – I mean both the good and the bad! ‘Even the job that I lost’, you might ask? Yes. Just consider the trees of the forest. They certainly need all the seasons of the year for their perfection; the spring, summer, and autumn, for the development of their leaves and consequent formation of their juice, and of wood from this; and the winter for the hardening and solidifying the substance thus formed. The processes of the rising of the sap, of the formation of proper juices, of the unfolding of leaves, the opening of flowers, the fecundation of the fruit, the ripening of the seed, its proper deposition in order for the reproduction of a new plant; all these operations require a certain portion of time in the year. So it is with your life – the winter, autumn, summer and spring episodes you have experienced this year all have an ultimate purpose – that is to make you the best. Like in a marathon there are ups and downs, detours even, obstructions, but you press on because you know the goal is to cross the finishing line.

The Year is Crowned With Goodness

“Thy crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness” – Psalm 65:11

My desire is that your year may be crowned with goodness, a bountiful harvest, great calm within your borders, uncommon favour, inexplicable joy and undying hope. Don’t give up on that country, vision, marriage, business, job, relationship. It is in the 11^th hour when miracles and breakthroughs happen. Never give up or give in. Hold fast. There is goodness in the air.

May the last few weeks of the year, be your home stretch. Give it your best concentration and effort. Let me counsel you to also hold on to your dream, desire, word, vision for this year because the year is not over yet. Yes, a miracle can still happen in the last few weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds of the year. I am standing with you! Be encouraged to finish and to finish strong.

Anchors and Sails in Life

In the last few weeks I have been sharing about the need to have a dream. In particular in the article “The Audacity of Faith and Hope” I touched a little on how faith and hope are an anchor in life. I have developed a programme called Anchors and Sails™. Based on this programme I would like to share some insights on some principles that will help you gain perspective and stay the course as you sail through life. As you ponder these thoughts, I want to challenge you to learn to navigate your own craft in stormy weather or the deep blue calm sea and keeping upright on a true course. It’s a bit long but is a ‘soft serve’ – light reading.

Principle One – Take The Right Position

The wind can be blowing nicely, but if you are not positioned correctly you go nowhere. When you tack at the right angle, you really get moving. In business, the ‘sweet spot’ is where you take advantage of your internal strengths and external opportunities in the environment to compete in the market. This spot is called positioning and determines your competitive advantage.

Face up to your weakness, as well as your strengths. This knowledge is the power that will fill your sail. Leaders take responsibility for their lives and the direction they take. Leaders cast the vision and set the direction.

Principle Two – Prepare For the Voyage

If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Sailing is not a stroll in the park. You need to sit down and plan before the journey. Where are you going and with who? What are the resources that you need to take with you – fuel, food rations, medical supplies, fresh water, crew etc. You also need to know the navigation path. If you are well prepared there are no surprises.

Your comfort on the journey to your dream lies in knowing what might lie just ahead. Learn to read the wind and prepare yourself for what’s looming on the horizon. Leaders use insight and foresight to navigate through the high seas of life.

Principle Three – Pay Attention To The Hull

The wise Solomon talked of “knowing well the condition of your flocks, and paying attention to your herds” This is wisdom of the ages. A hull is the body of a ship or boat and provides the buoyancy that keeps the vessel from sinking. Seaman will tell you that cracks appear in the hull from time to time from stress, abuse, and normal wear and tear. It takes time to turn the boat over and sand out the rough spots and fill in all the cracks and “dings”. But if you take the time, your boat will stay seaworthy.

It’s important in season to examine your own life…the places where you might be “leaking”. You might be abusing yourself. Cracks from the elements of life might be developing. It may be time to put in a little extra “touch up”. Take a step back and look at the man in the mirror. Leaders don’t shy away from self examination.

Principle Four – Storms Ahead

It is naïve for a sailor to expect smooth sailing. The captain of the Titanic proclaimed that this big ship was ‘unsinkable’. Duh! He did not prepare for the worst, and soon they hit an ice berg. The seas will rage, storms will come and pirates lurk in the dark. Without the wind, you will sail nowhere, but strong opposing winds can at times be terrifying. How can you sail straight when the wind is coming at you? Setting the right course and constantly adjusting it will keep you on track.

Are you staying on course? Are you making the right “course corrections” in your life to help you keep your top lines working and your bottom lines intact? Leaders know how to continually adjust to keep on course.

Principle Five – When In Trouble, Let Go

A few years ago I was driving at night at an above average speed when I suddenly saw a donkey. I had three “no options” – to hit the donkey; go over the road embankment or hit an oncoming haulage truck. I chose the first option. I lightly hit the brakes, released, braked and released the car on the donkey. It was a good gamble. Nothing happed to the car or to us. The releasing helped. It is not uncommon to get caught up in a draft that threatens to capsize your boat. Instead of getting tipped over, all you have to do is let go of the sail and the helm/rudder. The boat automatically positions itself into the wind, and then you can try again.

What do you need to let go of? Your reputation? Your shame? There is a time to be a macho and a time to be strong enough to let go. Letting go will give you an opportunity to bounce back strong and sound. Leaders have great stretch.

Principle Six – Sail With Others

Sailing can be very lonely. You need to take others along with you. The journey is smoother and the burden lighter when shared. Sailing can also be a lot of fun. Imagine watching the dolphins, the sunset, the whales and just enjoying the sea breeze …such a relaxing experience is best enjoyed with others.

You do not want to be a giant surrounded by dwarfs. Neither should others light be dim so yours can shine. Someone needs to hear how you sail into growth or recovery. You’ve faced strong winds and rough waters. Share your story and your struggles. Be an encourager. Keep an eye out for that good soul on the horizon that needs to be invited in. Leaders invite others along.

Principle Seven – Unchartered Waters and New Frontiers

The world is more than two-thirds water and you will never run out of new places to sail and explore. There are always new adventures. You will always enjoy warm winds, colourful skies and deep blue water every time you venture out!

The best is yet to be. You don’t ever have to stop, and it’s not something that is ever “complete” or that you eventually “retire” from.  As you grow you’ll have a greater capacity to lead and influence those around you. Keep venturing out, dream big and execute those dreams. Set sail for the furthest of shores and deepest of oceans. Remember to take your anchors and sails with you. Faith and hope!

The Audacity of Faith and Hope

There are so many causes in this world looking for a breed of people who have two qualities – faith and hope. Yes just two things! History is replete with men and women who embraced faith and hope to accomplish great things. Who is going to champion the cause of millions in Africa dying from treatable diseases; the cause of millions of AIDS sufferers around the world; the children growing up in DRC who have never known peace from the cradle; the global warming scourge; senseless wars; millions of street children….the list is endless. Daunting? Yes. Insurmountable? No. A few weeks ago I wrote on “Wanted: Revolutionaries and Champions”. The call is still pending and grows louder each day. The needs of the hour place a demand on us to think intently about what contributions we can make. There is a higher call on all of us to be an answer to some of the global social, economic and political human conditions. That journey starts in our homes, workplaces, churches, communities, villages, hamlets, counties, nations. Yes we can!

Is There No Cause?

Many years ago in ancient Israel, there used to be a giant named Goliath of Gath who was the champion of the Philistines. Israel was at war with the Philistines and had no chance against the Goliath led army. Just before one of the epic duels, a young shepherd boy named David went to the battlefield to give his older brothers some food. David asked some soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this guy (Goliath) and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is?

David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the soldiers. Eliab was angry at him and said, “What are you doing here, anyway? Who’s taking care of that little flock of sheep out in the desert? You spoiled brat! You came here just to watch the fighting, didn’t you?” “Now what have I done?” David answered. “Is there no cause?” With those few words David stepped into the ring to fight the mighty Goliath and defeated him. Goliath was a dominant juggernaut of a warrior whereas David was just a boy who had never tasted combat but had the audacity to fight for a greater cause. Yes he could!

Audacity of Faith

There are some key lessons from this story: the audacity of faith and the audacity of hope. David was audacious in the faith that he could defeat Goliath. He equally audaciously hoped that Israel could be freed from the bondage of Philistines. This gave him the strength to fight Goliath. Faith is a life beyond the physical. It is the evidence of unseen realities. It is looking beyond your present condition and limitations. It is the connection between the physical and the spiritual. It catapults you into the realm of divine possibility.

Faith demonstrates to the eye of the mind the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body. David did not look at his small frame or lack of experience. He had the audacity of faith. This means believing you can do it against the odds. The idea that faith is ‘blind’ is stupid as well as dangerous. Faith must be based on clear convictions. It is more than positive thinking, but is principle driven based on a clear consciousness of who you are, how you are wired and what your Creator says about you. Yes you can!

Audacity of Hope

What is hope? It is the expected future which the eye of faith has seen in the land of hope ahead. It is an aspirational end state for tomorrow. Without hope for tomorrow you lack strength for today. Let me once again take some lessons from the man of the moment, Barack Obama. Way back in 2004, he galvanised the Democrats and indeed gave Americans hope by a moving speech when he said:

“Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? I’m not talking about blind optimism here — No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope”

He prophesied upon himself – ‘…the skinny kid with a funny name…’ has become the President of America. This is the audacity of hope. You see it in your spirit before it manifests in the physical. The present reality might make it seem like a dream, even impossible, but with faith and hope the dream will reach the shores. Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe.

With the anchor of hope hooked to the cable of faith, you can get there. Yes you can!

Obama Barack: Writing a Piece of History

Kenyan father, orphan, black, extreme poverty, young, inexperienced, strong African roots and American President. Something is out of place here. Oh really, wait a minute, this is Obama we are talking. He is now the 44^th President of America. He was up against McCain who is very American, a decorated war here and experienced politician. If Martin Luther King wrote the “I have a Dream” speech, Obama Barack has fulfilled that dream. History has been made – a ‘nigger’ is America’s new president.

40 years ago, JF Kennedy predicted a ‘negro could be elected President in America in 40 years’ He was right. Obama has done it in style and with crushing victory to just demonstrate its no fluke. He has shattered all records for fundraising, campaigning style and defined new frontiers in the global body politic. This is pregnant with so many lessons.

A Joshua Generation

Obama represents the Joshua generation. This is a generation which fulfils the ideals or realises the dream. Like the biblical Joshua, they are the ones who cross over to takeover. We all have that generational responsibility to stand on the shoulders of previous generations and realise their dreams. Today, nobody and nothing encapsulates that responsibility more than the historic journey and victory that President Obama has travelled. You all have a responsibility to arise as Joshuas in your space, and make a difference. There are dreams which only you can fulfil. A piece of history only you can write. There is a level of grace for you when you stand in your place and submit to divine destiny.

Just Do It

If Obama had held back he could have missed this opportunity. But he decided to just do it. How many times do we hold back and try to rationalise and reason things out. ‘I have no money, I am from poor country, I am black, I am a woman, a divorcee, young…inexperienced’. Why not just ask yourself a question, “What if it works out?” So just do it. You will never know the joys of flying unless you leave neither the ground, nor the thrills of sailing until you leave the shoreline. The future belongs to the Joshua type who will just do it. Time would fail me if I talk of David who took the mighty Goliath. The secret is in just doing it.

Inspiration Moment and Symbolic Victory

We all draw inspiration from this symbolic victory against prejudice, poverty, limited backgrounds. Coming at a time when the world in great financial and social turmoil, it communicates great hope in the inherent ability of the world to self correct. This moment should energise those who were feeling there are so many mountains to climb and so many rivers to cross. It has been particularly a very difficult year for so many people especially those in countries like Zimbabwe. However, on a day like this and a year like this, your faith in a God who makes all things beautiful in His time is reinforced.

You all can write your own piece of history. Salut la President Obama et vive la Monsiuer President!