The Power Of Faith

Faith is the inner spiritual eye which looks into the land of hope ahead. This is a power that taps into the great within and the Great above. This power once it possesses you, catapults you into the realm of opportunities and possibilities.

Faith makes the world go round. Faith is that something in man that transcends every form of limitation and opens the mind to the limitless powers of the great within. Great accomplishments are born out of faith. Great men and women are symbols of faith. The journey which Nelson Mandela walked is a journey of faith. Nobody could see where he was going, but he knew where he was going.

Faith Is Prophetic

Martin Luther King Jr dreamt of a world without social injustice and divisions. Back in the 1960s it was unimaginable to think of person of colour being treated as an equal. His dream was the prophetic voice of his time.

African telecommunications pioneer the late Miko Rwayitare, originally from tiny Rwanda had a dream to connect Africans who had never had a phone ring in the jungles of the Congo basin, and he created pan African telecom operator Telecel. When Henry Ford was busy working on the prototype Ford T Model, everybody thought he was crazy. What could go faster than a horse? He saw what nobody could see at the time.

Faith is about building your tomorrow today. It’s declaring possibility out of today’s impossibilities. It’s about calling things which are not as if they were. You are your own prophet. With faith you can declare (forth tell) the future, today and explain (foretell) tomorrow’s possibilities.

Faith is Creative

By faith, the Creator said “let there be light” and there was light. Faith is spiritual, because it believes in that which cannot be seen by the natural eyes. It is the midwife for great inventions. It took great faith for the Wright brothers to create an aeroplane. Faith is imaginative. It removes the veil of mystery and reveals to you, the unbounded possibilities of life. With faith you can create miracles and tap into the creative genius in the kingdom inside of you.

The world is waiting for a generation which will exploit resources without damaging the earth. Faith that took man to the moon is the same faith that man can use to preserve planet earth. The faith which created weapons of mass destruction can also create weapons of mass construction and prosperity.

I always keep my special journal where I write the ideas that come into my mind. Sometimes it’s just a picture which I draw, or one or two words which I just jot down. I then work on developing those ideas. It doesn’t always make sense when I start, but as I take steps of faith it all just seems to come together. That’s how I write most of the articles and develop the products and processes of Seedbed Consulting.

Faith is Motivational

There is no greater motivator, no better inspiration, no better hope than that built on faith. Faith can move the mountains of doubt, fear, discouragement or failure. It rises above every obstacle in the world and reaches the greatest heights and fathoms the greatest depth. Great men and women never attribute their success to their genius or master mind, but to their never say die spirit. Billionaire Sir Richard Branson built the whole Virgin empire with no cash but using the faith currency. Whether challenging the giant British Airways monopoly to launch Virgin Airways or challenging mighty Coke with Virgin Cola, faith was the key.

Faith is an attitude of mind that turns you into the inner, the hidden, the unseen, the great beyond, and takes your consciousness into those finer realms where everything is perfect. It taps into the kingdoms of the great within you. With faith the circumstances of your life are subject to change.

Building Your Personal Brand

Have you ever thought of yourself as a brand? What brand are you? A ‘no name’ or a premium brand? Every one of us is a brand. There are two groups of people in this world – the trivial many and the vital few. The trivial many are those who go through life completely unnoticed and without making an impact. The vital few are those who have a presence in life – they can be felt and are seen.

I live in a city where there are so many VW Golf cars; even if one is stunning in appearance its beauty is lost in the crowd. To have the persona of a unique brand one needs to have the presence of a top of the range Ferrari or a Lamborghini Murcielago to stand out from the crowd and not be swallowed in the masses.

In order for one to stand out, you need to step out of the box of familiarity, reassert and reconnect with that which makes you great!

It’s time to buck the trend and not go with the flow. If God wanted us all the same, He would have cloned us into robots. Dare to be different and brew your own brand. In a world full of winching, whining and moaning about the global crisis, the inclination to have a deficit mentality is very high. By appreciative inquiry you can look inside yourself and activate the deposit of significance and vitality in you.

Show the world what you are made of. This is a time to build your brand. The best stand out from the rest.

Position Your Brand

Your purpose gives your personal brand a unique position. Purpose is the foundation of your personal brand. In order to stand out, you need to position yourself in line with the one thing which you were born into this world to do. Take your position in that family, community, company, country. You look the part, so play your part.

President Obama was born to bring change and hope. You read his two books Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope; you get convinced he is positioned in line with his purpose. His whole presidential campaign was based on his brand of change and hope. Identify your purpose and build your brand around that purpose.

Your Core Competency

Businesses build their brands around their core competency. Core competency is the source of competitive advantage. Mercedes Benz is known for luxurious engineering genius. BMW is known for high performance cars. These two brands have been built around their respective competency.

What are you known for? You build your brand around what you are good at it. There are three things which make up your competency namely talent, knowledge and skills. To stand out, you need to play your core competencies. You cannot give what you do not have. Your unique gifting, inimitable knowledge and special skills give you a natural advantage. So, build your brand around it.

Build Brand Equity

Over a period of time your personal brand accrues value. This value is a result of the effort you put in developing your personal brand. You are an asset and you develop value not by what you accumulate but by what you give. In business you sweat your assets to create value. The Coca Cola brand is worth billions because you can literally label coloured water “Coca Cola” and people will still buy it.

What is your value add to the world around you? What difference are you making to those around you? This is what builds your brand equity. You need to consciously invest in your brand by improving yourself. Improve your knowledge, upgrade your image and protect your brand.

NB: Using Appreciative Coaching approaches, Seedbed Consulting offers Personal Branding to help you with developing your personal brand. Please visit our website for details www.seed-bed.com

A Triumphant Generation

Tough times require tough leaders. Joshua who succeeded Moses, the lawgiver is a good example. Joshua represents a generation of people who are ready to make a difference. Moses was a reluctant leader, but Joshua was a “can do leader” He finished the work Moses could not complete and led the children of Israel to victory in the Promised Land. The Joshua generation is the triumphant generation which will change this world.

If the whole world is in a crisis, no one is going to do anything for someone, so we have to learn to do it ourselves. The children of Israel made the long walk to the Promised Land themselves and fought their own battles.

A brief summary of Joshua’s CV provides some insight into this great leader: CEO of Israel Incorporated. He was educated at the Egypt Prep School (40 years), Wilderness School of Business and Moses School of Leadership (for 40 years). He was the Commander at the decisive battle against Amalek and conquered 6 nations and 31 kings in his career. The crowning moment was the listing of Promised Land Properties on the Zion Stock Exchange. Cest impressif!

There are some lessons we can learn from Joshua.

The Promised Land

In order to get to the Promised Land, Joshua had to overcome nations which were already there. These included the Giggasites, the Perrizites and others. He also had to crossover a flooded river Jordan. Joshua marketed freedom to the slaves with his vision of a Promised Land that flows with milk and honey.

The destination of your life is your Promised Land or Canaan. To get there you need to overcome the various obstacles in your way. Your life must crossover the Jordan of financial crisis, failure, poverty, sickness into the promised land of success, prosperity, health, etc.

No Compromise

Joshua was a no nonsense leader. He did not turn to the left nor to the right. He was determined to take over the Promised Land. He was willing to pay the price. He accomplished his mission of taking over. He never faltered from his mission to bring the slaves “home,” even when things seemed hopeless.

You need to have a no nonsense attitude when it comes to your journey to the Promised Land. Avoid detours and become distraction intolerant. Stay focused on the destination.

Strong and Courageous

Joshua was courageous and bold. Israel was still a growing nation and they had a rag tag army which did not know how to fight. They had spent many years as slaves in Egypt. It took the courage of Joshua to say “Yes we can”, and yes they did.

You might have been a slave to debt, poverty, even a paid slave (remember if you cannot determine your salary, you are a slave), but if you are courageous you can crossover into your promised land. Without courage you become a slave of your insecurity and you will not let go of the familiar.

This is a season for you to go to your Promised Land. It does not matter what challenges are standing in your way. Neither does it matter that you have never done this before. Have a strong sense of perseverance. In this fast-paced, short-attention-span world, it’s challenging to stick things out. But stay on track, make adjustments along the way if necessary, and get to completion.

Promised Land beckons!

A Leader Is A Reader

Empires of the future will be empires of the mind – Winston Churchill

The extent to which you can dream and pursue your dreams is determined by your mental capacity. Your mental capacity is made up of your talent, knowledge and skills. Talent is constant, but knowledge and skills can be improved. Improving your knowledge and skills optimises your talent.

For example Christiano Ronaldo is a talented soccer player. What has made him a world class soccer player is his knowledge of modern soccer techniques and sharpening his skills through training. Your purpose, vision and goals are nourished by the amount of knowledge and skills you have. No amount of passion or zeal can substitute lack of skill or knowledge. Without these you are like a boat on dry ground.

You cannot dream of being a world class business person if you do not know how businesses work. Neither can you dream of being the best in your profession, when you are not improving yourself.

Time will fail me if I tell you of my father in law who at 55 is doing an MBA. It’s never too late to invest in yourself.

Invest In Yourself

The only way to improve the quality of your life is to improve yourself. The only thing you can improve is yourself. But when you do, everything else around you suddenly gets better. The life you will live tomorrow is a result of the seeds you will sow today. What seeds are you sowing in your life?

I once worked in Nigeria years ago where there are some well stocked book shops. I bought every good book I could lay my hands on. The family was expecting to see boxes and bags filled with goodies when I arrived at the airport. I disappointed them – I only had bags full of books! Years later I have no regrets because the books have opened my mind and opportunities in life.

Be Teachable

At the beginning of the year I set goals for my personal development. I have since engaged a professional mentor and a coach to help me realise my full potential. I had to overcome pride to realise I need help. I do not yet know all there is to know. We all do have an ego and we think maybe we don’t need help, but the truth is we do. Getting a mentor has helped me to have someone looking at my blind spot and to avoid pit falls. A coach is helping me with areas which I need to improve on or are new to me.

Timothy and Barnabas from the Greatest Book were all good but Paul mentored them to greatness. Without Sir Alex Ferguson as a coach, Christiano Ronaldo might still have been struggling in the slums of Portugal.

Set Personal Growth Goals

You should set aside time to continually learn new things. You must keep improving yourself to build on what you learned yesterday. You should develop a specific plan for personal growth. The starting point is to acknowledge that you need to grow. Ask a colleague, a friend or family for honest feedback about areas you need to improve on. Identify the interventions needed to address the gaps – it could be a coach, mentor, a course, a book, a video or an audio tape.

What you repeatedly read, listen or watch soon becomes your habits. Human beings are creatures of habit. Habits form your consciousness and character. Character shapes your destiny.

Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see” and I say it too. Forget about all the change peddlars, you are the only game in town. You are the change you can believe in. Ultimately the belief that you can change yourself leads to the belief that you can change your life.