
PATHWAY TO FULFILMENT

©2017 ABINDE DARE

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DEDICATION

Dedicated to the gifts that lies sleeping within you.

Let it slumber no more.
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

WEALTH OR IMPACT?

SELF DISCOVERY

Passion

Potential

Instinct

People

CAN YOU SOLVE THAT PROBLEM

Dream

SET YOUR GOALS

Integrity

PERSEVERANCE

MENTOR/ROLE MODEL

Partnership

ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT

HAVING GOD IS A GREAT GAIN

PURPOSE-DRIVEN WAY OF LIFE

Conclusion

ABOUT AUTHORS

FORWARD

The two most important dates in human existence are the day we were born and the day we die. Those two dates reflect on our epitaphs. But there is something far more important, and that is the gentle looking HYPHEN sign lying solemnly between those two dates. The hyphen sign represents everything we were, did and became in life before our last breathe. It is our biography.

We can write our own biographies when we ask ourselves the ultimate question- "Why am I here?" Believe me, it is not about joining the general cycle of life and fading off the radar of time.

"Why am I here" is the question that opens our mind to the purpose of our existence, and gives us a reason to breath. For each breathe, we owe life the fulfillment of our purpose on earth.

This book has simply elaborated and touched areas where we can make life meaningful and purpose-fulfilling. It opens our mind to the true nature of what life is and can be.

It welcomes you to a life of fulfillment.

OLUMIDE OMOTOSO

Advertising and Brand manager.
INTRODUCTION

In the words of former U.S President Woodrow Wilson, "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world and to impoverish yourself if you forget the ERRAND".

In your hand this very moment is a book that will change your life forever. You are holding this book either because you are already on your way to destiny or you do not even know how to get started.

The passion behind the writing of this book is born out of the desire to see every man lead an excellent and fulfilling life. At this early stage, I have to quickly tell you that you have A ROLE to play in making this world a better place for you, everyone around and for generations unborn.

In life, you were not created to be dependent neither were you created to be independent- We are all existing to be INTERDEPENDENT and it is the realization of this amazing truth that struck me and brought clarity to me that I have a major purpose and role to play here on earth just like everybody else.

The world is formed to be governed interdependently- You are created to provide a solution that I will have to depend on to survive and flourish, likewise myself, I also exist to provide a solution that you will have depend on to survive and flourish. All men are created to provide solutions and that is the INTERDEPENDENCY of LIFE.

No man is created without at least a solution to provide to the many world's problems. What do you have to offer the human race? What do you provide that the next man relies on its existence?

You have a purpose on earth that is so very unique to you that no other man can fulfil either born or unborn except YOU.

"The Ability of a man will make a life for him". Notice the phrase "THE ABILITY", it tells us of the fact that every person on earth has been embedded with a particular and unique ability that will make a difference for him and the world at large. The realization of this "THE ABILITY" is the first step in the journey to DESTINY REALIZATION.

Purpose expert, Myles Munroe said and I quote "When the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse is inevitable". This doesn't applies to things only, same goes to men, when the purpose of your life is unknown you ignorantly abuse the reason for life.

There is a purpose for that special gift or ability that you possess. When this purpose is not discovered and pursued, man will continue to pervert the value that life and existence truly possesses. By your GIFT or ABILITY I mean that unique and special one of a kind edge you have over every other man on the planet.

Join me optimistically, as I take you through the journey of discovering your EDGE in life and knowing the real purpose for this special ability of yours.

"Those that make true impact in life are those that discovers their edge and passionately use it in fulfilling their destiny."

ABINDE DARE

WEALTH/IMPACT

ABINDE DARE

Before going too far in this book, I have to make you understand that your purpose in life is never just to amass wealth. We live in a world where success is defined by wealth, where fulfillment is explained as riches. Many of our young people out there are only chasing riches hence, they end up doing anything that will make them rich quickly yet living a purposeless life.

Dear Reader, you can amass a lot of wealth through any means whatsoever, but wealth never guarantees fulfillment. The world is unfortunately filled with many rich but unfulfilling people. Do not misunderstand me, it's really cool to make money, a lot, but is money your driving force? What if money is not in it, would you still give yourself to it?

The secret to discovering your purpose is firstly discovering that thing you will do all day even if you are not paid for it. Wealth should not be your motivator going up in life, because your purpose here on earth is not just about making wealth, it is about making impact, it's about solving problems, meeting the needs of people in your peculiar way. A lot of people who runs after money and makes it their driving force never get to live a fulfilling life, there is still a part of their soul that hungers for the satisfaction of their true purpose.

''The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively."

BOB MARLEY

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

JACKIE ROBINSON

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empowers others."

BILL GATES

"Wealth and fame are not the real purpose of existence, they are meant to be byproducts of living your true purpose."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Do I mean you shouldn't make money, shouldn't make much money? NO, as a matter of fact, people who makes impact in life end up been stupendously rich. Look for how you can passionately make a difference in your community/country, solve problems, impact lives, in these things you will have fulfillment and still end up making good money though it may not be a get-quick rich means but if you will delay your gratification and work tirelessly to make the world a better place, sooner, acquiring wealth will no longer be a problem for you.

Take a look at the people who made true impact in the world, the likes of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Karl Max, Charles Darwin, Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, William Wilberforce, Mother Teresa, these people who really were pursuing how they can impact the world with their gifts ended up living a fulfilled life and were extremely wealthy, even after their death, their legacy and influence still affect millions. The question you should ask yourself is after my death, what will I be remembered for? Just your wealth or how you impacted millions of people. Would you even be remembered at all?

Bill Gates, one of the richest men on earth lives a life of impact, he pursues impact right from his teenage years, he was after how he can improve the world though a drop-out, Bill Gates created his first computer program while still at high school, later went on to co-found Microsoft in 1977 and by 1993 he was the richest man in the world.

You see when you pursue impact in life, great ideas to improve the lives of people is birthed in you, you are less concerned about riches but about the lives. Bill Gates once said that he never planned or dreamed of becoming the richest man on earth but he only wanted to make life easy for people through his inventions. Bill Gates' inventions has impacted all most every human being on earth, if you use a PC (Personal Computer) you most likely have Bill Gates to thank for Microsoft, obviously the idea of this invention that is birthed from the desire to make impact is paying more than Bill's bills.

In 2000, Bill Gates and his wife formed The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is the largest charity in the world. One of it aims is to exempt the third world of polio and other deadly diseases. He still makes impact with his wealth. As at the time I wrote this book, Bill Gates net worth is $85.4 billion (USD). It all started with a passion to improve the standard of living of the people.

What is your own driving force? Wealth or Impact?

You may say, don't worry, I will think about how to impact lives positively when am already as rich as Bill Gates but dear, why don't you start now? Many are impacting the world positively with their songs some with their technological inventions, some with their services, some with their developmental ideas, with what do you impact the world around you? There is something resting within you waiting for awakening and expression. The moment you change your mentality from money, money and money to living for positive impact and influence, trust me that genius in you will begin to showcase itself, then you begin to realize yourself. You are made to live an impactful life, to leave a lasting legacy of service to humanity after your death. Make that decision now.

"Success is not in how much you earn but in how much of yourself you give."

ABINDE DARE

You are asking, how then do I know what I can offer? What do I invent just like Bill Gates?

Good question! What you need firstly is.........

SELF DISCOVERY

ABINDE DARE

"There is such an invaluable treasure in man that if DISCOVERED, the whole world will reach out for."

ABINDE DARE

WHAT IS SELF DISCOVERY?

You may have heard and used the term Self Discovery time over times or even read about it in books. If you have taken books on purpose or destiny there is a great chance that you've come across this term.

Self-Discovery is so important that without it, it is impossible to live a truly fulfilled life. You do not want to live a fake life, do you? Lack of Self Discovery has caused many to live a fake, faux life and died without really finding the sense of purposefulness and completion during their stay on earth.

Self-Discovery is the process of acquiring insight into your strengths and weaknesses.

That is the first step into fulfilling your destiny. You must discover your strengths and also your weaknesses.

In the journey of Self Discovery, many finds their strengths but failed to discover their weaknesses, unfortunately also, some discovers their weaknesses but fails to dig up their strengths. It's very important that you discover both your strengths and your weaknesses also.

Discovering these two will ultimately help you scale through in life and to have good success.

You must have noticed that in defining self-discovery, I said it is a process, discovering yourself is a process, you don't discover yourself in an instant- it takes some time and commitment to knowing yourself.

People that makes impact in life and scale through life's challenges more easily are those that have discovered their strengths and weaknesses. You want to ask, what are my strengths for? And why do I have weaknesses? Your strengths will take you through the journey of life, it challenges, it makes you stand strong through the storms, it gives you an edge where others can't just get to go through and ultimately, your strengths makes you an asset to the world.

The reason for your weaknesses can be found in the longtime wise saying that "No man is an Island." Your weaknesses makes you depend on the abilities and gifts of others even as they depend on yours. This makes the world an interesting and great place to be. Ever imagined how the world will be if you can do all without the need of any support or the impacts of others. Trust me, it will be such a mess. A world where your success, inventions and achievements impacts no one because no one really has to depend on it.

WHAT IS YOUR STRENGTH?

You may have been asking what I really mean by your strength. By your strength am not talking about muscles or your defensive skills or how good you can fight or how strong you are at lifting weight. Your strength is what you are naturally good at. Your strengths are the stuffs you easily can do with no much stress, this could be any skill; singing, counselling, sighting good investments, dancing, sports, administration, maybe you love to talk, solving mechanical problems, solving electrical problems, helping the needy, taking care of the sick ones around, mention them. It could be anything. What is it that you find others try hard to do but you do easily and naturally? That is your strength. It could be one or two or more but these stuffs are easy for you. These stuffs are easy for you not without a purpose (which we will be dwelling much on later in the book). You really have to specifically realize and recognize your fortes. Some call this strengths talents, some call it gifts, endowment, flair- they all point to that thing that you can do easily.

But then, you need to know your weaknesses too. No man is an Island, there are things your friend can do so easily but you find so hard to do, there are careers you shouldn't delve or go into not because you are not diligent enough to be successful in the career but because you do not have natural prowess and strength to go through the hurdles of the career and more so, the edge (extra touch) to be on top of the field is not part of you. It's not all career paths that is meant for you, you've got to know the career that suits your strengths.

Mark Twain told the story of a man who died and met St.Peter at the pearly gates. Immediately, realizing that St.Peter was a wise and knowledgeable individual, the man inquired, "St.Peter, I have been interested in military history for many years. Tell me, who was the greatest general of all time? St.Peter quickly responded, "Oh that's a simple question. It's that man over there". "You must be mistaken" responded the man, now very perplexed. "I know that man on earth and he was just a common laborer"

"That's right my friend assured" St.Peter. He would have been the greatest general of all time, if he had been a general.

Don't you feel sorry for that man?

In the next pages, I will be giving insights on how you can discover yourself, I will be showing you the pointers to your strengths and weaknesses.

Before the end of this book, you will be able to realize your true self- what you are really good at.

PASSION

ABINDE DARE

"Don't worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

HOWARD THURMAN

"Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing. Something we were born with, something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be taught to you or learned. Something that got to be remembered."

BAGGER VANCE

"If you can't figure out why you are here, figure out your passion, for your passion will lead you right into your purpose."

ABINDE DARE

Passion is a powerful drive which is hardly controllable. It is the source of emotional resources, root of energy, and will keep you awake all the night if you have to.

WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?

The first step in identifying yourself is finding your passion. Right now, think deeply, search within, what are the stuffs you love to do even if people around are disinterested in such. It will most probably be more than one or two, is it playing the piano, helping people, solving mathematics, leadership, writing, teaching, singing, engineering etc. Now, get a sheet and list those things out because that's the first step in discovering yourself. You see, those things you've listed out are the stuffs you are so emotionally inclined to that you are never tired of, even without any external motivation you are always interested in these things. Like myself, I found that my passion is in counselling and improving the understanding of people about themselves and life generally, since then have discovered that naturally my interest lies in Psychology (the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes), why Psychology? You guessed right, so that I can understand why people acts the way they do which will in a long way help me in proffering solutions to human problems, understand people better and counsel right. Through following this passion of mine, I have discovered that many of the problems we face in the world is much of unutilized mental capacities, if more people can utilize the great capacity of the mind and the brain, every sector in our countries will be greatly affected, problems will be solved, and there will be a massive economic upsurge. That's an example of how through finding your passion, you realize your true self and discover your reason for existence.

But then having people utilize and develop the capacity of their minds starts with them grasping their passion and purpose for living. That's the drive behind this book, believe me, you have a limitless facility in your mind and brain to improve this world but you've got to start with knowing yourself and what you are meant for.

By now, you should have listed out the things you have passion for, those are really the things you have an emotional drive and mental support for. You may not be able to get a complete list immediately, but keep adding to the list as soon as you discover more, and importantly, be true to yourself in making the list- anything included must be what you really have a passion for. What you are meant to do is locked between those things you've listed out, never go for a career that is not within this list (passion) because if you do, you will in no time burn out and lose interest when the hurdles of the career are becoming seemingly too strong for you. You may end up being frustrated at yourself, thinking you aren't diligent enough or that you are not giving your best, the truth is that it is not that you are lazy, it's just that you don't just have the emotional drive (passion) to make it in the career path you've chosen. The career is outside of your passion-field. Life is not a competition where you have to compete for some "certain careers", you do not need to follow a career path just because your friend is in it and flourishing neither should your career decision be solely influenced by the professions of your parents or uncles.

Only go for what is within your passion-field because that's where your strength lies. If you follow your passion, you will be amazed that you have a "sleeping giant" within you all this while. Invest diligently and tirelessly in your passion no matter what it is, go for it and develop yourself the more in the area, it's not that when you go for your passion you won't meet challenges but your passion will keep you strong enough to scale through and get to the top.

You can only have passion for the things you love to do, there are things as well that you don't just have a passion for, you just find yourself disinterested in such engagement, your friends and associates may even enjoy doing it but the career doesn't just intrigue you naturally, then that's a no-go area for you no matter how lucrative or tempting the deal it may offer. You have got to understand that you are not fit for every career, am not talking about just doing average in a career but being very successful, becoming a leading figure in the field. You may be multi-talented but not Omni-talented. Don't deceive yourself forming a feigned passion (unnatural passion) for a career due to its attractiveness, such passion doesn't stand the test of time. If you are not naturally obsessed by a particular career, don't waste your resources on it, it's a place of "weakness" for you, why don't you invest your energy and resources into what you love doing naturally? "What you are not naturally inclined to is a pointer to who you are not", it's simply telling you that you are not gifted in it. Whatever you are gifted in, you will be intrinsically disposed to, unless you are deliberating avoiding the urge. Your purpose is in your passion.

"Passion is the mother of excellence."

ABINDE DARE

"The most wonderful thing is to be able to make a living doing what you love, getting up every morning with a spontaneous strong drive to follow your dreams."

ABINDE DARE

Authors Rober J. Kriegel and Loius Patler cite a study 1,500 people over twenty years that shows how passion makes a significant difference in a person's career. At the outset of the study, the group was divided into Group A, 83 percent of the sample, who were embarking on a career chosen for the prospects of making money now in order to do what they wanted later, and Group B, the other 17 percent of the sample, who were going to pursue what they wanted to do now and worry about the money later.

The data showed some startling revelations:

  * At the end of 20 years, 101 of the 1,500 had become millionaires.

Of the millionaires, all but one- 100 out of 101- were from Group B, the group that had chosen to pursue what they loved.

The old saying is true "Find something you like to do so much that you'd gladly do it for nothing, and if you learn to do it well, someday people will be happy to pay for it." When that's the case, then true are the words of a motto that Dr. Charles Mayo kept in his office wall: "There's no fun like work."

Your passion reveals what can do without much effort, it is what you love to do so much that you will gladly do it for free.

You still find it hard identifying your passion or you don't just feel certain yet?

Tips to finding your passion:

-Revisit your childhood. What did you love to do? Make a list of those things

You can remember enjoy doing, which of those activities would you enjoy now?

-What do you love to talk about? What you love to know more about or teach

others. That's a clue to your passion.

-What do you love to do so much that you hardly get drained of?

-What do you derive much pleasure in?

You have a long list by now, at least five things you have a passion for, what you will notice is that the things you've listed out are interrelated in one way or the other, that's your framework. How then do you know what you should go for or invest largely into amongst the things you've listed out since focus is very important in having success, the thing is that developing yourself in all those areas will help you but you still need to pinpoint the one to choose as a career. In the subsequent chapters, I will be showing more pointers to discovering yourself and locating the career path meant for you.

What next you need to unearth is...........
POTENTIAL

ABINDE DARE

"You do not become great by trying to, but by expressing the greatness already in you."

ABINDE DARE

"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!"

ANNE FRANK

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

MAHATMA GANDHI

Your potential is the latent ability in you that can be developed into a significant facility. This potential is your best bet to a really great and fulfilled life. It is your underdeveloped innate skill. Everyman is a genius of some sort if he can relate with his potential. Your purpose is hidden within your untapped aptitude, every man has a certain skill/ability that if cultivated, it has the propensity to make him great and successful. Be acquainted with your potential, it is the ability of yours that if you concentrate more on developing, will make you a leading figure in the world. There is an area where you are a "reposing genius", you have to focus on that area, foster it and in no time you will become an "operational genius".

Most of the times, people around you sees and tells you about this innate skill (We will be talking more about this later in the book). Ascertaining your potential always has to do with you looking within yourself, you may want to revisit your childhood, there is always that one skill in you that you are positive of that if you give yourself into, you will do great at. You never know how grand that gift of yours can become until you start acting on it. Many died without uncovering their potentials not to talk of exploiting its immensity, which is a great tragedy for the human race.

Another inkling to identifying your potential is that your potential is a skill that is quite easy for you to practice even when others are finding it hard to do with much effort. If you realize that you easily get round a particular problem that is tough for others, the reason is that you have a natural ability to always see what others could not see (discover) in the question.

In identifying your potential, look within you to see what others find difficult to do but easy for you.

You can as well ask your close friends, you will be amazed at what you've got right inside of you unutilized.

"Every man is a genius, all he needs to do is to discover his area of brilliance, cultivate it and he will be unstoppable".

ABINDE DARE

Potential can also be referred to as a talent or a gift, whichever way you want to call it, it is your key to impacting the world. Quite a lot of people has influenced the world with their potentials:

  * Jack Welsh- Reading his amazing leadership books, you will be amazed at his deep wisdom mixed with common sense. It no surprise that he was able to turn around GE and lift it to a dominant position in corporate America. He is a born leader

  * Cobhams Asuquo- Though born blind, his voice sets him apart from other vocal artists. I always marvel at his giftedness, also a music producer and pianist. He is a born musician.

  * Dr. John C. Maxwell- An internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold more than 12 million books. The quality and comprehensibility of his books is exceptional. He is born writer.

  * Lionel Messi- Professional football in Spain rose to a new level when Messi came to town. His ability to run a football is guaranteed to thrill the crowd every game. He has lifted his team and the Barcelona' fans with his extraordinary gifts. Lionel Messi is a born athlete.

Listed above are just few of the guys who are influencing the world with their potentials. Locate your potential, cultivate it and become significant in this generation and generations unborn.

"Develop the talent you have, not the One you want".

JOHN C. MAXWELL

"If you recognize your talents, use them appropriately, and choose a field that uses those talents, you will rise to the top of your field".

DR. BEN CARSON

Ever questioned why Mr. Bean a Ph.D. holder in the field of electrical-electronics left the field to join the entertainment industry? His ability to make people laugh was of no or of a little value in the electrical-electronics circle, he left for the entertainment industry where his gift can render value to the society, today he is famous and rich, that's the transformation appropriate use of your potentials can bring.

Oh you never knew he is a Ph.D. holder, there he is again everything about him is funny including his story. When you ask from a young person, what his talent is? You have answers like:

• "I can play basketball"

• "I can crack jokes"

• "I can act"

• "I'm good at sports"

• "I can sing"

You never get answers like:

• "I'm good at math"

• "I'm a good reader"

• "I'm very good at teaching"

• "I can extract complex concepts from the written page"

• "I'm good at administration"

You see, anything that makes you unique and can meet a need is your talent. Don't demean your talent whatever it is, cherish it!

Be clear that your potential/talent will also be amongst the list of skills/careers (passion field) you noted earlier, it's only what you love to do that will be easy for you.

You also need to listen to your ......
INSTINCT

ABINDE DARE

"There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen."

ANONYMOUS

"Your heart knows things that your mind can't explain."

ANONYMOUS

"Always trust your gut. It knows what your head hasn't yet figured out."

ANONYMOUS

"Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored."

AGATHA CHRISTE

Instinct is a natural leaning that you have towards a particular verdict especially when in a tight spot, most of the times you cannot explain the why. Other words for instinct are intuition, gut-feeling, sixth-sense, inner-witness or inner-voice. Instinct is a great means of discovery that every man is gifted with. Your instinct sits deeply within your heart and tells you what is right even when you don't have any explanation to back up the verdict. In discovering what you are created for, what your instinct tells you about yourself will always be right. One profound thing about instinct is that it is never sentimental or overly influenced by emotions, and it doesn't make resolve based on people's opinion.

If you find yourself in the midst of a thick bush with some other people without knowing the way out, while every other person might be saying following right is the right way, your instinct can keep whispering left to you, it judgment is not based on a consensus of opinion. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean people's verdicts or opinions pertaining to you will be wrong at all times, I mean instinct do not just conclude based on people's opinion but it whispers what is right whether it is or it is not in agreement with your emotions, sentiments, rationality or people's take.

Your instinct will not necessarily be rational or logical, sometimes it whispers some funny ideas or verdicts to you, but your best bet to great feats is to trust it.

To discover what you are meant to do in a state whereby you have many ideas about yourself (a state where most of us are or were) trust your instinct to give you clarity. The truth is that your instinct knows you better than your head does and this innate faculty of yours has been in there within you all the way from your childhood to your present age, in discovering yourself, your instinct will always be there to convey to you the truth about who you are (who you are meant to be).

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR INSTINCT IS SAYING?

Instinct is hardly explainable, science has not been able to explain how it works, its formation or mode of operation. But your instinct sits in your heart. In discerning what your instinct is saying about any issue, be it about what your life purpose is or any other area you need to make a decision, you will have to listen deeply to your heart and trust it, it's always right provided you do not manipulate it with your emotions or prejudice.

One thing about your sixth-sense is that the more you trust it, the more prompt it becomes in advising you. Many have silenced their instinct by not trusting or acting upon it verdicts. When be-twixt in many things and not sure of what you are meant to do, instinct is your best bet. Many a times, we tend to make our decisions based on the opinions of people or by how we feel, but I implore you to sit and listen to what your inner-voice has to say whenever you have to make important decisions like what career path you are meant to follow. All the successful and great men are people who have developed their sixth-sense to a level where it helps them so much in making smart decisions during crucial moments in their careers and lives generally and this has always given them an edge.

You may want to know how the influential people of our society develops their instincts- It's simply by listening, trusting and acting on it verdicts. You see Instinct is not a scientific or technological invention, it's naturally built-up in you to see things ahead of your head or mind, and the only way to develop it is trusting it judgments.

In discovering yourself, you do not leave out who your instinct tells you that you are, at first it may not be an appreciated idea to you due to what you are making up from logic and rationality but trust your instinct, set out and you will end up loving and thriving in the identity that your instinct bears out because that who you really are. There is a deep-rooted connection between your instinct and your identity, that's why what your instinct tells you about yourself may be quite different from what mine tells me about myself.

"All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis what they need to know

ALEXIS CARREL

"I believe in intuitions and inspirations, I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am."

ALBERT EINSTEIN

"At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover will be wonderful. What you will discover is yourself."

ALAN ALDA

"It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover."

HENRI POINCARE

Don't work with another man's intuition even if he's successful, follow yours! If any person comes to you to tell you that "his" intuition is saying this and that about you, sit yourself down, listen deeply and accurately to your intuition, if it does not bear witness with what the other person says, discard his (the other person) verdicts, it won't work for you- If a person tells you that this is your purpose, and deep within you there's no conviction by your instinct that he is right, honorably discard his information.

"Instinct, the power to unleash your inborn drive."

BISHOP T.D JAKES

"You know how every once in a while you do something and the little voice inside says,

There. That's it. That's why you are here....... and you get a warm glow in your heart

because you know it's true? Do more of that."

JACOB NORDBY

You can also discover yourself by through......
PEOPLE

ABINDE DARE

In discovering what you are meant do in life, you cannot completely knock out the observations of people concerning who you are- your personality, uniqueness, gifts and talents. One of the ways to discover yourself is ask questions about it from your close friends, partner or anyone who stands as a mentor to you. Inquire about your uniqueness, potential and personality from people you think can know such details about you.

Usually, these are people who have known, interacts and cared about you for a sustained period of time, some could have even being with you since birth like your parents or guardians.

Typically, your best friend/mentor/partner would know your strengths and weaknesses, ask what they think about you, what they've seen you done excellently well. Don't leave out your parents or guardians.

One thing about aptitude is that it doesn't wait until you are an adult before it showcases itself, even while you were very young, people begin to notice your special skills and talents most especially your parents/guardian or school teachers. Most of the exceptional vocalists or athletes the world has ever seen has an account of starting to sing or participate in sports at a tender age. Discuss with your parents/guardians, they will definitely give you a clue to the things you are brilliant at.

Though, their observations or verdicts might not be your final decision in the case of if it's against your Instinct or passion-field but their contributions will surely be of help to you in thinning down your list and eventually making a final decision. If what your close associates observes in you is what you love, do effortlessly and your instinct also corroborates, then that's definitely what you are meant to do.

CAN YOU SOLVE THAT PROBLEM

ABINDE DARE

In uncovering what you are meant to do, spot the needs of the people around you, the challenges your community faces, then try to figure out a solution to these needs. This has always been a powerful tool in knowing what you are meant to do, I wrote this book out of the desire to solve a problem which both the teenagers and the youths and many adults faces, "the problem of identity-crises", and as you know that the world will only become better when more people starts to do what they are born for. By this am solving a global problem. Make out solutions to the needs of people from time to time, and by doing this you will end up realizing what you are meant to do.

Most of the times a problem or a need arises within your range of abilities because you are meant to solve it. Believe me, all of the world's problems are solvable by us, we don't need angels to figure out solutions for us, because God has given humanity all the capacity we will ever need to resolve any problem or need that arises in the world, but it takes men who are ready to take up the challenge.

"The secret to success in life is creating solutions to created problems."

ABINDE DARE

Start being on the lookout for issues you can resolve within your community, in no time you will be able to discover "the solution" you carry. It's not coincidental nor accidental that you are where you are now, there is a reason why you are from Africa or America or Britain, maybe an Asian, there's definitely a purpose for being situated there, figure out the problems of the people in your environs and see if you can come up with a solution. It could a problem as simple as the challenge of the people in your community in accessing newspapers, why don't you start supplying newspapers, doing that already means you are solving a problem of ignorance. Great men who started by providing solutions to the evident problems in the world ended up identifying their purposes in the midst of this pursuit.

Sometimes you may even have to start giving your service to the people for free but trust me very soon people will start to see the value of what you provide and they will be happy to pay any amount for your solution, remember people are ready to pay for the value you add to them not just the services.

Your value is in your purpose, a man who has found his purpose and driven by it is so invaluable to the world that we will pay any amount for the value he offers.

You may be thinking you have no considerable value, nothing much to offer to the world but you are wrong, and no you are absolutely incorrect! That's a disempowering belief! Every man is priceless, where the issue lies is in trying to show your value in a career that you know it's not meant for you but just interested in making money, no, your value won't be worthwhile in such a career.

Your real and incalculable value will only be seen by others when you start living what you are made for and you can kick-start by solving one or two problems in your localities. People of purpose ends up becoming very influential and affluent because the world needs their solutions! It's that simple.

But then, if you think the solution you are providing for the people is not what you are meant for (your purpose), the good thing about making sure you are providing a solution is that even if the particular solution you are providing is not your purpose, it will lead to your purpose. It's in providing solution that you will find what you are really meant for. Most of the great and successful people has a history of stumbling into things before finding the right thing, so, in your quest of finding what you are meant for, don't be idle, get up! Do something worthwhile, do it diligently, keep being observant and in no much time, you will stumble into your purpose.

"You will be remembered for two things in life; the problems you solve and the problems you create."

MIKE MURDOCK

"Your real value only comes out when you start living your purpose."

ABINDE DARE

If you've exercised all the Self-Discovery modus operandi I have provided in this book, by now you should have a clear picture of who you are and what you are meant to do. I have so far really enjoyed this journey with you, I hope you also do. It has always been my desire that young people around the world will discover their strengths early enough in life and make lasting impacts on our generation.

In spite of the great significance of Self-Discovery in the journey to destiny fulfillment, it is only the first step of many other steps to living a purpose-driven life. Discovery of talent is never an enough criteria to become successful in life, there are other requirements.

Join me into the next phase of this book.

back to top

Let's continue, You need to have a............

DREAM

ABINDE DARE

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

WALT DISNEY

"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get."

MICHEAL PHELPS

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

PAULO COELHO

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Your dream is the aspiration of the future that you have. It delights you day and night. The world has seen countless records broken in sports, likewise, numerous improvements in technology, freedom has been demanded and granted, the once poor is now influential, great feats is being attained in medicine, and the world has seen and enjoyed these achievements all because some men dreamt BIG. Success starts with a dream. Success has never for once be attained by accident, it is only reached by minds who can draw and paint beautifully the picture of tomorrow from today. Your dream is an imagination of a beautiful tomorrow.

After you have discovered yourself, where you set out from is in your mind- picture the kind of success and impact you want, this picture becomes your DREAM.

As we've established earlier, you are of great value to the world but only knowing that doesn't bring success, you've got to start dreaming big, start seeing yourself making enormous impact and wealth. "The farther you see, the more you get". The power of dreams cannot be overstressed, once you dream it, you are already on the course to realizing it. May I ask you what your dreams are? What aspirations do you have now that you've discovered yourself? You need to start envisaging the kind of tomorrow you desire with your great potentials.

"People who are making it big today are not just seeing their success, they've seen many years ago in their minds today's successes".

ABINDE DARE

How big your dreams are should not be limited by your today's resources. Maybe you are physically challenged or from the lower societal class, you don't pay to dream, dream big. The moment you can conceive it, you can do it. What your dream does is that, the instant you conceive it, it begins to attract the needed assets for it realization. Ever noticed some strange abilities you thought never possible for you starting to express themselves the moment you set a higher standard? Let's say you conceived a dream of becoming a speed-reader, with a dream of 150 pages of an average book per day, probably you currently on 30 pages/ day, the moment you conceive that dream in your mind, you begin to see an improvement in your assimilation tendency which in turns help you to read faster. That is how dream works, that is what aspiring does. Your mind is your "dreamland". As a matter of fact, your "mind enjoys mindboggling dreams". Are you from a poor background? Dream of owning charity foundations that caters for the needy, that of course means you have to become rich, are you over-weighted? Dream of a lighter you, are you not doing well enough as a student? Start imagining yourself being at the top of the class.

You underuse your dreamland (mind) when you dream little, your dreamland is too big to be measured in acres, utilize it. Your dream causes your mind to start operating on a whole new level, it is your dreams that sets the standard at which your mind works, when you dream little, you underutilize your mind. The power of your mind is limitless, you decide the frequency at which it emits through your dreams. In this context, your mind and your dream are inseparable, am not talking about the dreams you have when you sleep at night, am talking about your aspirations and desires, you cook them right in your dreamland which is the mind. When you see a bright future through the "eyes of your mind", that future becomes your dream. Creative dreamers don't fear if their dreams are possible or not, they just dream it and it immediately gears their mind to work, no wonder they do seemingly unimaginable exploits. Big Dreamers don't believe in impossibilities. They believe that "as far they can see it, they can get it". The sooner you take up your dreams, the sooner you realize that impossibility is just a mere lexis made for non-living things, impossibility doesn't have a reality before those that believe in themselves. Ever read of those guys who had a dream of building a tower that reaches right into the sky? Wasn't that a crazy dream? What a presumably impossible ambition. They started anyway, Lo, and behold they are progressing at a massive speed, it seems they are not going to relent, after a short while, God came down to see their pursuit. Amazed and stunned at their commitment, He then said this

"Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined (dreamed) they can do will be impossible for them."

Story taken from Genesis 11:1-9 [AMP].

The moment you dream it, there is a hundred percent possibility you will achieve it. Want to know what happened to those guys and their dreams? God had to personally stop the building by dividing their language. Don't think God was wicked, No, He was setting things right, men are meant to live and stay on the earth not in the sky. The lesson I want you to learn from that story is that God Himself attested to the fact that "nothing shall be impossible for the man who can dream".

Are you a sport man? Dream more of breaking giant records. Are you a musician? Dream of impacting millions of people with your music. Abraham Lincoln had a dream of a better America, a peaceful nation, a world of freedom, He lived a life of service to humanity, today, his greatness and legacy is undisputed.

Nelson Mandela, today, an inspiration to every leader across the globe, he started by dreaming big.

"Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality."

ROBIN SHARMA

What dream do you have?

Moreover, as we've established earlier, a dream is an aspiration. Trust me, your dream can just be a mere wish if you do not act on it. A dream not acted on is a wish, and of course you know that "if wishes are horses beggars will ride".

You've got to act on your dreams! You need to.....

SET YOUR GOALS

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Success doesn't come just by dreaming it, oh how I wish it happens that way, I will be able to have my fantasies the same day I imagine them, but it doesn't work that way. The moment you take your dream serious, then it becomes a vision for your life. Leaders are dreamers but they never stop there they turn their dreams to visions. A vision is the dream you are "ready to make true". The difference between a dream and a vision is that the former could be a mere wish which produces nothing while the latter is a dream you've made up your mind up to pursue diligently.

Ever heard of a vision-statement? It's a large picture containing all your aspirations- a picture that contains the pic-mix of your dreams. Every organization has a vision-statement, in there you will see all the dreams of the CEO for the organization. Do you have a vision-statement for your life? - A statement that contains all the dreams you are ready to pursue diligently. Having a vision-statement for your life is an intelligent way to plan your future.

Right now, I will like you to draft out a vision-statement for your life, it should contain all the dreams you are ready to pursue. Make sure you write them out on a sheet of paper or get a book. It is very important you write them out, if you don't, am sorry they are still classified as mere wishes.

Good that you've drafted out your vision-statement, but do you know each aspiration on your vision-statement needs a deadline? Imagine a guy who wants to be financially independent but with no age set as the deadline, he has nothing to put him on his toes, to wake him up every morning knowing he has lesser time left for the fulfillment of his dreams, am sorry the guy may still be dependent even at 60 years of age.

Any footballer who has a dream of scoring in a World Cup final match already knows he only has 90mins plus some few extra seconds to do that, he won't be joking around the pitch. If he doesn't score within the stipulated time, he knows he will have to wait for another four years, but in life, you don't have another life to come back to achieve your dreams, you have a limited time which won't give you enough room to joke around.

The moment you include deadlines in your vision-statement, your visions becomes GOALS.

That's where GOAL-SETTING comes in. A GOAL-PLAN is what you have when you are done setting your goals. GOAL-PLAN serves as a map directing your way towards fulfillment, it's a document or a book where your goals and plan of actions are written down.

For you to have a purpose-driven goal-setting you must already have the answers to "the who and why" questions of life which the earlier chapters of this book has guided you through. Self-discovery helps you in having an authentic vision- Visions that are compatible with your potentials, passion and instinct.

Any vision you have for your life cannot be realized without a proper goal-setting, so also, goal-setting is needless without a vision. There are people who are living without any vision for their lives, just wandering.

Imagine Michael who is going to the university just because his friends are also in school, obviously he has no proper vision for his life, he ends up dropping out or finishing as an uneducated graduate.

WHAT IS GOAL SETTING

It is a process of establishing measureable tasks and timeframes to your ambitions. Let's see a quick and easy illustration of what Goal-setting is all about. Evelyn setting her goal:

**VISION** ********** ****** To cook dinner for the family

**GOAL** ******** To make sure the dinner is ready by 6:00pm

**ACTIONS ************** Make a list of the needed items (groceries, onions... etc.) by

10:00am,

Withdraw needed cash from the bank by 12noon,

Get to the market by 2:00pm,

Start cooking by 4:00pm,

**ACHIEVEMENT** Dinner is ready by 6:00pm.

Above is a simple illustration of how goals are set: establishing measureable tasks and timeframes to your vision. The illustration above which would normally be in a book/a sheet of paper/document is also what you call "EVELYN'S GOAL PLAN". As you can see, if Evelyn didn't have a vision of cooking for the family, she wouldn't need to make a list, go to the bank, market, and end up in the kitchen. Your actions are directly driven by the goals you set, and your goal-setting is defined by the vision you have.

**DREAM** **VISION** **GOALSETTING** **ACTIONS** ******ACHIEVEMENT.**

Above is the journey of a dream to it attainment. You see, I don't need to see your vision-statement before having a clue of what your visions are, I can predict them through your actions.

Goal setting is a plan of appropriate actions under stipulated timeframe that helps you in achieving your desired result. Successful leaders are visionaries, productive visionaries are goal-setters, and effective goal-setters are goal achievers. Successful leaders don't joke with any of those steps.

The more actions you carry out, the closer you get to the fulfillment of your vision.

To fulfill your purpose on earth, you need a clear sense of direction. You have to design a road map for every stage of your life. If you will accomplish your visions in life, you must move from the position of a visionary to a goal-setter and progress further to carrying out your goals by taking appropriate actions.

LONG TERM GOAL-PLAN:

This is a plan for what you see yourself become in at least five years to come. The kind of vision that falls under this plan is for five years or more. They are big goals that you have for your future, they most of the times looks too big to accomplish when you are setting them, but as we have established earlier in this book, nothing is impossible for the man who dreams. These long-term goals could fall into any of these categories- Financial, Spiritual, Marital, Health or Relationship. This kind of goal-plan contains longer time and bigger actions. Achieving Long-term goals requires long-term dedication to daily, monthly or annual commitments. For instance, Brown, a teenager who has a passion for football and also, very talented:

VISION  To become a world class footballer.

GOAL To become a world class footballer within the next 6 years.

**ACTION 1** Staying healthy and fit

**COMMITMENTS** Monitor my diet daily

Go for medical check-up monthly

Engage in fitness training daily

**ACTION 2** Build up my footballing skill

**COMMITMENTS** Join and participate in the school team

Enroll into a football academy

Play matches frequently

From the above sample of a long-term goal plan, you can see that a long term goal takes dedication but achievable once broken down into simpler terms. Long-term goal setting helps you to gradually unfold your future and it keeps you optimistic about your vision.

To help you in creating a list of commitments you will need for your long-term goal, draft out answers to this question:

"What will I need to commit myself to every hour, per day, per week, per month, quarterly or yearly that will continually move me towards achieving my goal?"

To ultimately achieve your long-term goal, you will have to start by achieving your commitments. Carrying out your commitments makes you obsessed with your goal because it becomes part of your daily routines, it makes goal becomes more feasible and easy.

Long-term goal setting avoids procrastination. For instance, if you have a goal of "becoming an acclaimed Dentist within a timeframe of 15 years", one of your action plan will be "earning a degree in dentistry", included in your commitments can be "visiting the library from 8:00am to 10:00am daily. You can see how commitments helps you in breaking down larger tasks into smaller and achievable obligations.

SHORTTERM GOAL-PLAN:

This is a goal plan for your short-term visions. This kind of goals takes less time in fulfilling them.

Any goal that is to be accomplished in less than five years falls under this category. Most of the times your daily, weekly or monthly commitments makes your short-term goals. Goals like doing a 6-month English course in the college, speaking French fluently in 2 years, becoming a good pianist in 1 year all falls into this category.

SETTING A PERFECT GOAL-PLAN

The law of P₅ states that "Poor planning produces poor performance" and likewise "Perfect planning produces perfect performance". For you to attain your perfect goal, you will have to set a perfect goal-plan. A perfect GOAL-PLAN has these five qualities

****** ****S M A R T**

**********SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ACHIEVABLE RELEVANT TARGETED TIME**

SPECIFIC: Your plan should be specifically built around your goal, simplistically written and clearly defined. Be specific. For instance, Instead of "Becoming a top student" use "finishing with a first class", instead of "To buy a car" use "To buy a Toyota Camry", instead of "To start a business" use "To open a unisex boutique".

Your goal must be specifically clear. If you don't specifically set your goal, you will end up accepting anything that comes close when you can still get your desired goal. A question you have to answer before setting your goal is "What do I really want?" People who are unclear about what they want end up achieving far less than they are capable of.

"You must be meaningfully specific rather than being insignificantly vague."

ABINDE DARE

MEASURABLE: Your actions and commitments must be measureable so that you can know how progressive you are in the attainment of your goal. For Instance, Instead of "To work on my weight weekly" use "To lose at least 2pounds/week", Instead of "To write on Leadership every day of this month" use "To write at least 5 pages on Leadership daily throughout the month".

Setting quantifiable tasks makes your work easier to do and helps in meeting up with your targeted time. Measurable tasks keeps you positive since you know you are advancing towards the attainment of your goal. It's necessary that you can easily know the status of your progress when checking out your Goal-Plan.

ACHIEVABLE: Let your commitments be achievable, they might stretch you a bit so you can feel challenged, but you must be realistic. For Instance, George wants "To improve on his communication skills so that he transact effectively with his clients around the globe who speaks various languages." George sets an action plan of "learning to speak French and Spanish fluently in one month". This kind of commitment is apparently unachievable for George. Be sincere with yourself. Setting a commitment of reading 500 pages of an average book per day might as well be too impracticable for you. Don't set your action plan by copying or trying to compete with other people's Goal-Plan, no, we are not equal, be true to yourself and you will start to grow gradually. If you try to copy another person's Goal-Plan, you might breakdown because your area of strength might differ from his, dream big in your area of strength and plan accordingly, you will rise to the top. Your Goal-Plan is like a direction for your life, no other man should set it for you but you, "it's your film, write it, your life, plan it!"

You can know the achievability of your plan by answering questions like:

What do I need to accomplish this goal?

What do I already have to accomplish this goal?

How will I get what I don't have in order to achieve this goal?

Make sure you put all of these into perspective, go for it and attain it!

RELEVANT: The plan of actions you set must be relevant to the goal you want to reach. To achieve a career goal, set actions and commitments that suits the goal. Like developing your skills, building your network, creating a brand etc. cut actions and commitments that are not relevant to your goal, this helps you in focusing on actions that moves you closer to your vision. Doing this will make you use your time rightly and wisely, as you know that time is priceless, there are only 60 minutes in each hour, 24 hours in a day, and 8,760 hours in a year, use it wisely. The attainment of your goal needs focus and your focus needs relevance to your goal.

"Man's lifetime is like an irreversible book, flipping leaf after leaves."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

"The best way to utilize you time is by spending out of it to make relevant plans."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Time management cannot be overstressed in fulfilling your life's visions, relevance is the key to using your time wisely. Brain Tracy describes time as the most valuable gift everyman has. You can consciously use your time wisely by getting obsessed with relevant plan of actions. Before spending your time on any activity ask yourself, "Does it really worth my time?" "Will the result in any way add values to me"?

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun, of course should have your Leisure Goal-Plan which can include "going on vacations every year", "Watching football matches every weekend" etc. But every commitments you set must be relevant to your goal and your goal must be relevant to your strengths.

**SELF DISOVERY** ** ****RELEVANT GOALS ****RELEVANT ACTIONS** **FULFILMENT**

The link above factors out why no one else can set your plan for you except you, otherwise you will find no fulfillment in what you are doing. For instance, since I was a little boy, about 10 years old, I have a passion for repairing electrical and electronics appliances, growing up, my passion increased the more.

I and my parents were fully persuaded that I will become an expert in the Electrical-Electronics field, we concluded that I'll study Electrical-Electronics Engineering in the University. After finishing from the High School, I couldn't get into the University immediately, I had to wait for a year. I and my parents agreed that I should utilize the spare time in acquiring a skill, I decided to go for a vocational training on electrical works but my parents later disapproved this decision because they felt the danger in the profession is too much. Finally, they decided that I should to go for Aluminum window construction, which I did. At the start of this training I was focused but along the line I became disinterested and lost concentration because I derived no pleasure in the practice, it was never a training relevant to my passion and potential. I was trained for months but I couldn't solve any problem during my time there because I practically gained no knowledge. In my story, you can see the reason why your action plans must be related to your Self-Discovery. Make sure every goal you pursue is relevant to your Self-Discovery. If you discovered that you don't want to be fat, "set a commitment of not eating junks", if you discovered that you love watching football for fun and it helps you in relaxing, set a commitment of "watching football matches regularly during your leisure time', In setting relevant commitments like these you will find fulfillment. If you spend most of your time pursuing relevant actions you will definitely have your dreams come true.

"Do something each day that will move you towards your goal."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

TARGETED TIME [T²]: The T² is another vital feature of a perfect Goal-Plan. You need to set a definite time for the completion of your goal, if you do not have a time frame for your goal, you will become inconsistent with your actions and procrastination will be the order of the day. If there had been no deadline for the completion of this book, you won't have it with you by now, it may take another year, two years or forever. A Goal-Plan that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant but with no targeted time ends up losing the needed concentration. When you don't set a deadline for your goal, it means "when it is achieved does not matter", it is as good as you saying "if it is not achieved it doesn't matter". For instance "To register for the Lagos Access Marathon Race", "To have a 30 minutes' walk everyday", "To study for the upcoming examination tomorrow" - all examples of a goal-setting with no targeted time. Why not try something like, "To register for the Lagos Access Marathon Race tomorrow", "To have a 30 minutes' walk everyday by 7:00am to 7:30", To study for the upcoming examination between the hours of 4am and 7am", You can see this helps to avoid procrastinating your actions.

Without a targeted time for your goal, you become sluggish in taking actions and this ultimately draws back or terminate the fulfillment of your goal. Finally, ensure that your targeted time is also realistic.

"Procrastination is more effective in killing a goal than HIV/AIDS is in killing a life."

ABINDE DARE

Here is a typical page in the SMART GOAL-PLAN DOCUMENT of Ms. Ruth, who discovered that her passion and potential is in cooking delicious meals, she followed suit by earning a degree in Food Science from the University of Michigan, and she lives a purpose of eradicating malnutrition in the under-developed countries.

VISION To write a book on How to cook nutritious meals at a very low cost

GOAL To write a book on How to cook nutritious meals at a very low cost within

"five months"

**ACTION 1** To write 200 pages, 300 words per page

**COMMITMENT** To write 40 pages per month

To write 3000 words per week (four weeks in a month)

To write 500 words per day (To write for 24 days in a month)

**ACTION 2** To improve on my content

**COMMITMENTS** To go for seminars on Nutrition

Engage myself with researches every day

**ACTION 3** To print 100,000 copies ($1 per copy)

**COMMITMENTS** To budget $100,000 for the printing

To save $20,000 every month for the printing

If you carefully look at this GOAL-PLAN and who Ms. Ruth is (Her passion, potential and purpose), you will see that it is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-targeted. That's a SMART GOAL-PLAN!

"The secret to commitment and focus is a time-targeted goal-plan"

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Here are some of the importance of a GOAL-PLAN:

  * It makes you focus and committed to your goal.
  * A person with a GOAL-PLAN is committed to making progress even when the road gets rough.
  * It is a record you can check on when you need help in making decisions in the future.
  * A person without a GOAL-PLAN only goes back and forth even when the road is smooth.
  * It makes you prioritize the steps needed in attaining you goal.
  * It makes you evaluate your performance.
  * It helps in time management.
  * It boosts your confidence
  * It gives you a sense of purpose.

Specific areas of life your GOAL-PLAN should cover:

  1. ARTISTIC: Do you have a creative skill? Do you want to learn an instrument? How can you make it happen?
  2. ATTITUDE: Do you want to stop a negative behavior? How can you make it happen?

  1. CAREER: What level do you want to attain in your profession? What knowledge and skills will you need to achieve this level?

  1. EDUCATION: What knowledge will you need to accomplish your goals? Which additional degree will you like to earn?

  1. FAMILY: How do you make your family happier? How can spend more time with your children?

  1. FINANCIAL: How much do you want to earn as a salary or earn from your business? How much will your worth be in the next ten years?

  1. HEALTH & FITNESS: What body shape do you want? How are you going to maintain or improve your good health? Wants to use the gym more regularly?

  1. PLEASURE: Where will you go for vacation if you can pick anywhere? When? What pleasure will you reward yourself with after every success?

  1. SOCIAL: How can you do that will have a positive impact in your community? Charity? How do want to improve your social life? Make more friends? To spend more time with your friends?

  1. SPIRITUAL: How do want to improve your spiritual life? A seeker? How can you get to know the truth about God?

Spend time to create your GOAL-PLAN around those areas or more. Successful people plans their life ahead, don't accept life as it comes, design and decide what you want out of life.

__ TAKE ACTION

_"_ Gardens are not made by singing oh how beautiful!"

RUDYARD KIPLING

"A plan without actions being taken is like an architectural design without a house being built."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Taking action is as important as making plans, you have to progress from the position of an architect to a builder, if you don't, you will only have a house on paper. Technically, fulfilling your dreams is all about taking actions. For the fact that you've drafted out your GOAL-PLAN, you already took an action. Dreaming, making up your mind, setting deadlines, making a plan are all actions taken towards the attainment of your goal. But after getting your plan ready, you need to carry out the tasks involved. Standing before a door doesn't open it, you have to turn the knob. Having a proper goal-plan but not carrying out the necessary tasks takes you no further to the fulfillment of your dream.

"As good as dreaming big is, it takes you no further than the dreamland when not acted on."

ABINDE DARE

It's good you picked up your pen and note-pad stating what you want and how to get it but carrying out the tasks is what matters now. Don't be intimidated by your tasks, difficult tasks often lead to great destinations.

In 1686, Sir Isaac Newton came about a universal law which is referred as Newton's law of motion.

Newton's first law of motion states that "a body at rest will remain at rest and a body on motion remains on motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force."

This law also governs your goal-plan.

"Unless your vision is actively pursued, it becomes an illusion."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

DILLIGENCE

Diligence is a vital requirement for exploits in life, it's a mandatory tool for success in life. When you engage yourself in an action, without being diligent with it, you become slothful. It's is a character that consists of hard work, commitment and perseverance. Diligence is doing a job thoroughly and carefully with utmost attention being paid on the nitty-gritty of the job. A diligent man doesn't work for just any result but works to get the best attainable result. Diligence makes you a man of focus and excellence. Are you achieving below your expectation in business or education? It's time to add more diligence to your actions. Always insists on getting the best result out of anything you are doing, set a high standard for yourself? Are you a cook? Do you own a restaurant? Make sure your meals are the most delicious in town, Are you into sport? Consider giving yourself to more diligent training. Do you own a hospital? Make sure you offer the best attainable health care in town. Importantly, you must be consistently diligent. Consistent diligence is what keeps you at the top. Maintain your diligence at all times, people are noticing, and it will soon pay off.

INTEGRITY

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Integrity is an important ethic of all true leaders. The dictionary defines Integrity as:

a) The quality of being honest and morally upright.

b) The state of being whole or unified.

c) Soundness of construction.

**ORIGIN** : LATIN- "INTEGRIATS" FROM INTEGRAL MEANING INTACT OR WHOLE.

The definition of Integrity by Psychologists from different parts of the world is summarized to a simple sentence; "Doing the right thing privately and publicly". As simple as it sounds, many often fail to keep this standard in their day to day activities.

Are you being compelled to do the right thing? Don't you always prefer the easy way out? Are you honest with the quality of service you render to others? Do you keep to the speed limit even when the road is free? Do you still engage in any form of examination malpractices? Receives bribe?

Those are some of the "supposed" little things we consciously or unconsciously do that goes against the rule of integrity.

"Hardworking men takes bribe, diligent men does the same, only men of integrity stands to reject entices."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

The world will be a better place if every man lives a life of integrity. Make integrity the principle you live by in your day to day activities going up so that when you get to the top, you can stay there.

"Success gotten without integrity is like a bird on the land, it will soon fly away."

ABINDE DARE

"It is true that Integrity alone won't make you a leader, but without Integrity, you will never be one."

ZIG ZIGLAR

"Integrity is the virtue of being committed to your personal values and morals at all cost."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Ralph Marston is a publisher, and author of "The Daily Motivator", He publishes motivational messages on the web every day and has being so since 1996. HE HAS NEVER MISSED a single day of publication and boasts of more than 4,000 messages of inspiration and motivation as at the time of writing this book.

You see, when your goal-plan is set, Integrity is what mandates you to carry out the tasks under the stipulated time even when exceeding it won't affect your final result or when no other person will be affected.

"Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody is going to know whether you did it or not."

OPRAH WINFREY

As the founder and Managing Director of Amazing Grace Technology, we specialize in providing customized solutions that can meet technical problems, engineering applications, materials management, training of end users and technical support. That's what we stand for, and we don't go below these standards come what may.

"With integrity you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With Integrity, you will do the right thing, so that you will have no guilt."

ZIG ZIGLAR

Integrity is the core factor clients are looking for in your services and products. People are out there who needs the kind of service you offer but they need to see your Integrity intact. To rise to the top of your field, you need people to patronize you, and patrons requires for services rendered with utmost honesty.

Being a man of Integrity means that you are ready to be responsible, trustworthy and accountable to your clients.

"To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity."

DOUGLAS ADAMS

"If you will be known for only a thing, make sure it is for integrity."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

"If you have to lose all, make sure you fight to keep your integrity."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or out of his children, he decided to do something different, he called all the young executives in his company together.

He said "It is the time for me to step down and choose the next C.E.O, and I have decided to choose from amongst you". The young executives were shocked as the boss continued "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. This is one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be of the next C.E.O".

Jim, one of the executives went home and excitedly told his wife the story. Together they got the pot, compost, and soil to plant the seed. Every day, he watered it and watched it closely to see the progress.

Three weeks went by and the other executives were bragging about how well their seeds were growing.

Jim checks his pot everyday but there are no signs of growth, after five weeks of no growth, Jim was pretty discouraged. At the end of six months Jim's pot was still empty (no growth). He presumed he applied too much water or used the wrong fertilizer as his colleagues continued to brag about how tall their plants were growing; some of them were now shrubs.

Absolutely no growth after a full year for Jim's seed. They were instructed to bring their plants into the office for the C.E.O to inspect them. Jim told his wife how embarrassed he was to take in an empty pot to the office, but she encouraged him to be honest. Jim brought the pot to the board room and heard the snickers of the other executives. Their plants were a variety of shapes and sizes. When the C.E.O arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim tried to hide at the back, totally embarrassed. The C.E.O was praising the executives on the growth and beauty of their plants. He said;

"Today, I'm pleased to announce that one of you will be my new C.E.O". From the front of the room, the C.E.O asked Jim to come up, and Jim froze in fear that he was about to lose his job. Walking slowly to the front of the room, there was pity on the faces of the other executives as they imagined Jim was going to be fired.

The boss asked Jim what happened to his seed and Jim told the story of how he nurtured and cared for the seed but it never grew. The C.E.O then asked everyone to be seated except Jim as he announced;

"I will like to introduce you all to your new Chief Executive Officer"

There were gasps and questions "How can he be the new boss when his plant didn't even grow?"

The C.E.O explained, "One year ago, I gave everyone in this room a seed. What you did not know was that each seed had been boiled and was a dead seed. It was absolutely impossible for any of them to grow."

"Jim is the only one in this room with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. He did not substitute it with another seed like the rest of you did. Therefore, he has shown courage, honesty and integrity and I know he will run this company with conscience."

"If you lose all things, do not lose your integrity, a damaged integrity will be very hard to repair; Irrespective of the good character of an inmate, the warden cannot handover to him the key of the prison."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

PERSERVERANCE

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Perseverance is generally known as the never give-up attitude. From this definition, we can infer that Perseverance is a mindset of applying continuous increased effort, giving whatever it takes until your dream is accomplished. It sustains you in the adventure of your pursuit no matter how long or how much your success demands. No doubt, success is adventurous, you need perseverance to stay involved and committed even when you feel like giving-up. To persevere is to have an unwavering commitment towards your goals, ready to pay whatsoever price is required to get success irrespective of the adversities, oppositions, difficulties, past failures or criticisms.

"Seeth a man who is sold out to his dreams, tenacious with his visions, that's a man who will conquer failure at all cost."

ABINDE DARE

"Perseverance will keep you going when the going gets tough."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

"Victory belongs to the most persevering" those are the words of Napoleon Bonaferte, and it's one hundred percent true. If many quitters had known how close they were to their success, they would have waited a bit longer for triumph. Silent labor of perseverance is the lifestyle of all successful people around the world. Which field are you into? Science, arts, sports, politics, spiritual leadership, engineering, I.T, entertainment, business; whatever field you may be in, rising to the top demands perseverance.

Research shows that 50-80% of new businesses fails, yes, this is a hard and bleak truth. This result implies that 50-80% of new entrepreneurs doesn't possess the persevering spirit to endure the challenges of starting a new business. It's also implies that it is only about 30% of new entrepreneurs that fight long enough for their career goals. To persevere in the face of abject failure and turmoil is perhaps one of the greatest character you can develop. Even as you've set down your smart goals, expect challenges and rejection along the way, the road might not be as smooth as you've anticipated but you have to keep your head up, after all success does not come on a platter of gold. The greatest men of all time has confessed to love challenges because it pushes them to do more. See your discouragements and rejections as a call to do more, do not quit, quitters don't win and winners don't quit. Charles Lindbergh never quitted, Oprah Winfrey never quitted, Jerry Seinfeld never quitted, Lance Armstrong never quitted, Nelson Mandela never quitted, Thomas Edison never quitted, Walt Disney never quitted. You know all these guys today because they never gave up of on their dreams. They all had multiple reasons to give up on their dreams but they chose not to by persevering all the way.

  * Walt Disney's request for loan was rejected by 301 banks before he finally got a yes. He went on to use this loan to build the first and most famous theme park in history; Disney Land.

  * Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first television job because she was considered "unfit for TV".

  * Jerry Seinfeld was booed off the stage the first time he tried to deliver a comedy.

  * Thomas Edison had no formal education, his teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being non-productive. As an Inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked him after his breakthrough, "Mr. Thomas, How did it feel to fail 1000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1000 times I only learnt 1000 ways that won't work". Today, he is regarded as the Father of Invention.

  * 12 publishers rejected J.K Rowling's book about a boy wizard before a small London house picked up Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone.

FATE OR FAITH?

Fate has made many to settle for mediocrity, countless people at the brink of success has given up on their dreams because they believed failure was their fate. Numerous people had failed and never attempted to rise again. If today's world leading icons like the ones mentioned earlier had believed and settled for fate, many of them would not be known today. This reminds me of my experience concerning fate; when I was much younger, after reviewing my report sheet, out of 120 pupils in my class, my position varied from 9th\- 15th, my mom would always tell me, "Rotimi, people who took the 1st , 2nd and 3rd positions had got not two heads". I will always reply, "But mum I've tried my best", She will say "Son your best is not enough". Obviously, I believed it was my fate never to be better than 9th position, I believed I couldn't be more brilliant, and this belief affected me throughout my early years even when I was in the higher institution I still believed I cannot be smart but now I know I could have turned things around by giving more..

But FAITH, am not referring to a religious belief, I mean a conviction or confidence that you will achieve your goal no matter the obstacles.

Thomas Edison is a good example of a man of faith, a person who still believed in his dream after 1,000 times of abortive attempts at inventing the light bulb. If he had settled for fate, he would have thrown in the towel long ago before his breakthrough but instead, he was fully sold out to his dream and will not give up until he fulfills his dream.

Will you settle for fate or faith? Do you have faith in your dream? The choice is really yours.

A MAN OF PERSEVERANCE

A 60 year old converted democrat, a man of vision who has a dream of making his country a better nation. He started his journey to the residency in 2003 by contesting under the platform of a political party. That year, he got 12.7 million votes to lose to the then President of the nation.

He never gave up on his dream, his hope was still alive. Four years later, in 2007 he prepared harder this time by improving on the necessary things he needed to. He contested again, despite his improvements, he lost again. He did not only lost, but his performance in 2007 was far worse than that of 2003 because he polled a meagre 6.6 million votes which the eventual winner was three times better off.

After this election, it seems his hope of becoming the President of his nation is fading. He was condemned from many angles; some said he was too old, many said he cannot be a good leader.

But this man never listened to these criticisms, he rather prepared harder than he had done in the previous two elections.

In 2011, he found his own party, once again he aimed a shot at becoming President. It was a solemn moment during his presidential campaign for the 2011 elections when he broke down in tears as he delivered his speech; "I'm in this solely for the love of my country and concern for her destiny and the fate of her people. That is why despite the many disappointments along the way, I am still in the struggle and will remain in it to the end. I have decided to dedicate the remainder of my life to fighting for the people of this country until their right is restored to them." He also said, "For me this campaign is doubly significant. First, because it is an election in which there is more clarity and more unambiguous than the previous two elections in 2003 & 2007, our victory is assured as evidenced by the unprecedented turnout by the people and spontaneous popular acclaim all over the country. And secondly, because this campaign is the third and last one for me, since, after it, I will not present myself again for election into the Office of the President". "My primary mission in the service of my nation as President is to provide the requisite leadership for the actualization of our collective vision- by action and by sacrifice".

Although his major opposition, the then Incumbent President was the favorite to win because of three major reasons:

  1. He was then the Incumbent President.
  2. He belongs to the then dominant national party.
  3. He massively output him in advertisement.

But this man was never discouraged by these three factors and his two previous failures.

Instead he prepared harder, he was focused and committed to his dream. On April 16, 2011, the election was conducted. Hmm! He pulled 12.2 million votes to lose to the Incumbent President. The world thought his hope of becoming The President had ended. Not until we heard in the news after the elections that his party and other two major parties of the nation began talks on a merger that would facilitate a formidable platform to challenge the dominant party.

On February 6, 2013, the new party was formed. For him to be the running candidate of this new heavyweight party, he had to contest against some big name aspirants like a former Vice President of the nation and two State Governors. In December 2014, the new party conducted her presidential primary election. At the end of the election, he polled 3,430 delegates' votes to defeat his oppositions.

On 28 & 29 March 2015, the general elections was conducted where he pulled over 15 million votes to win over the Incumbent President who had over 12 million votes. Finally this man won the presidential election by more than 2.5 million votes. This result makes the first time an Incumbent President lost re-election in Nigeria. This man's name is Muhammadu Buhari, and as at the time of publishing this book he is the President of NIGERIA.

Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, she has over 193 million citizens which makes her the most populated country in the continent and 7th in the world.

Will you also be motivated by the story of Buhari and have faith in your dreams? Don't let mistakes, criticisms, failures or adversities make you admit defeat, put them behind you, increase and improve your efforts and go get your dream.

DILLIGENCE + PATIENCE + FAITH + COMMITMENT = PERSEVERANCE

"It always appears impossible until it's done."

NELSON MANDELA

"It is not that am smart, it is just that I stay with problems longer."

ALBERT EINSTEIN

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

THOMAS EDISON

To get to the top, you need to have a.........

MENTOR/ROLE MODEL

ABINDE DARE

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself."

BOB PROCTOR

"Alexander the Great valued learning so highly, that he used to say he was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to his father Philip for life."

SAMUEL SMILES

"What you want in a mentor is someone who truly cares for you and who will look after your interests and not just their own. When you do come across the right person to mentor you, start by showing them that the time they spend with you is worthwhile."

VIVEK WADHA

"Without a mentor in life one can easily succumb to folly. Without a mentor in life, one can easily become self-centered, capricious and arrogant."

ANONYMOUS

"One who refuses to seek the advice of others will eventually be led a pale of ruin. A mentor helps you to perceive your own weakness and confront them with courage. The bond between mentor and protégé enables us to stay true to our chosen path"

ANONYMOUS

"One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination."

JOHN C. MAXWELL

"We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout."

EPICLETUS

"No man is capable of self-improvement if he sees no other model but himself."

CONRADO I. GENERESO

In his book My Personal Best, John Wooden writes, "There is a choice you have to make in everything you do, so keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make makes you".

Our choices in life matters so much that the choices we make today determines our positions tomorrow- Nowhere is this more evident than in your relationships. Nothing influences your talents as much as the relationships you make in life. Engage in empowering relationships and your journey to success will be much faster and assured, though it doesn't take away the challenges but this kind of relationships strengthens you enough to overcome the blocks.

WHO IS REALLY A MENTOR?

A mentor is simply someone who has successfully passed through the road you are heading towards, who is more experienced and knowledgeable to train and guide you through your journey.

No matter how talented you are, even if you are more talented than Leonardo da Vinci (perceived as one of the most talented person if not the most, who ever lived) you still need a mentor to guide you through your life's voyage. I know when I defined who a mentor is, you may be thinking am talking about being accountable to one old woman or man, but I quickly need to point out to you that choosing a mentor is about who is experienced and knowledgeable and this has nothing to do with age, there are times people who are younger than you are qualified to mentor you, don't be proud or egoistic not to request for mentorship from a more knowledgeable experienced dude even if he is younger than you. The place of a mentor in one's journey to stardom cannot be overemphasized, these are people who can really help you see your better self, they build your confidence, and they make you do the impossible, and they serve as a source of strength and passion. Your mentor can see your growth ahead of you, they also see danger signs before you do. The journey will be too cumbersome if you have no one to run to when the road is rough. Mentors are not there to help only when the road is rough but are also there to help you manage your progress when road is smooth. Do you have a mentor? If yes, build more intimacy with him/her. He/she has secrets that you need to get going. If no, it's never too late, the amazing thing is that you never grow too old that you no longer need mentorship in one area or the other.

I will be taking you through a list of criteria you must look out for in choosing a mentor;

  1. Must be more experienced and knowledgeable: A mentor should be someone who has a wealth of experiences and also willing to share the lessons with you. Some of the most valuable lessons you will ever learn from are where your mentor made mistakes and the lessons learnt. Your mentor has to be someone with much knowledge in your area of interest or about life generally. As I mentioned earlier your mentor does not necessarily have to be older than you in as much he/she has more experience and knowledge, that's what you need.

  1. Must have the desire to build a relationship with you: Mentorship is relational, your supposed mentor must be ready to relate with you as much as you are ready to relate with him/her. In relationships generally as human beings we divulge important information to those who we closely relate to. You need a very close relationship with your mentor to have a fruitful tutelage. Therefore, your mentor has to be someone who has the desire to cultivate a close relationship with you.

  1. Must be someone you can easily access: Your mentor has to be someone who will always be available for you when there is a need. It's important that you mind the distance between you and your mentor, ensure such a person is within your environs or at least you can easily find him/her whenever a need arises. Just like in any other relationship, inaccessibility can have a negative effect on your tutelage. Ensure distance doesn't make him/her completely inaccessible. Mentor-Mentee relationship without frequent meetings doesn't really work.

  1. Must be a Listener: One very important attribute of mentors is that they are listeners. No matter how experienced and knowledgeable a person may be, if he/she is not a listener there won't be a fruitful relationship because communication is key to your education. Your mentor has to be someone who is ready to hear you out, very attentively and ready to find out your perception.

  1. Must be a positive person: Your mentor has got to be someone who has a positive outlook to life. You really do not want to pick a pessimist or a sadist as your mentor. Your mentor has a duty of empowering you. You need someone who can make you confront the seemingly impossible tasks, someone who will believe in your present and your future, everybody needs an encourager. This does not mean there will not be times when they will advise you to back out due to what they can see ahead which you are unable to see just yet but nevertheless, your mentor has to be a positive thinker, a motivator, someone who can strongly stand by you, who can lift your spirit and spur you on. You need someone who will inspire you through words and actions till your vision is realized and even after you are a success someone who will keep pushing you further. That's the kind of a mentor you need.

With those standards in place, you can be sure to have a great mentor, but then, there are principles too that as a protégé you have to put in place. I will be taking you through some the principles you have to put in place before going into a relationship with a mentor.

  1. You must believe in yourself: It's only those who believe in themselves at least to some extent that reaps the dividends of being a protégé. You have to know that ultimately, your success still depends on you, get it settled in your mind that you have to believe in your dreams, this is what makes the job easier for your mentor.

  1. Ready to take action: It is easier to hear than to take action, you must be ready to take action on whatever your mentor tells you. Making moves indicates to your mentor that you are ready to learn and that you believe in his mentorship. Your mentor really needs to see your commitment and when they do, it in turns increases their commitment to you.

  1. Be open-minded: To your mentor, you have to be open. You don't have to keep secrets from your mentor. The more information your mentor has concerning whatever situation you are in, the better the verdict he/she can make. Your mentor is to be your confidant, comrade and constituent, a person who is simply there to make you better. There is no reason in making someone who you cannot be open-minded to your mentor because keeping secrets will only make the relationship fruitless. You must be ready to divulge your secrets to your mentor. By your secrets, I do not mean you have to share everything going on in your life or your private matters but any development that has to do with your aspirations, vision and career which you may not go ahead and share with just anyone, you have to be ready to share with your mentor.

  1. Understand that your mentor is imperfect: You really have to keep it at the back of your mind that your mentor will not always be perfect, there will be times when your mentor will be flawed just like any other person on earth. Many times you will record massive successes together but sometimes you will also crash together, be ready for this.

  1. Always consider some remuneration: By this I mean consider encouraging your mentor by buying gifts and/or giving tips. Though your mentor most of the times will not necessarily ask for anything from you than your commitment, as a matter of fact mentors don't look like someone who will need anything but always be on the lookout for any need no matter how little.

You can buy gifts for your mentor or better still for his/her younger ones. Your remuneration no matter how little shows to your mentor that you love and believe in him/her. Though it may not be on a monthly basis or thereabout but ensure you give something once in a while.

"Find someone who has a life that you want and figure out how they got it. Read books, pick your role model wisely. Find out what they did and do it."

LANA DELREY

"Role Model", am sure those two words are not unfamiliar to you but do you really make the most of Role models than just watching them on air and admiring them? Talking about Role models, these are people watched by others as examples to be copied. Role models serves a role of inspiration to the young and upcoming folks in whatever field. Whatever your field, there are people out there who has made big impact and success in there, they are called Role models. They are famous for their successes and achievements.

To be and to remain inspired you need to have at least a Role model, like myself I model the likes of John C. Maxwell, T.D Jakes, Fela Durotoye, Anthony Robbins and some others, these are people I love for who they are, their impacts, simplicity, sense of wisdom and the exceptional grace of articulation that they all possess. Role models are people who can get you inspired by their successes, by their successes you become sure that if they can go all through the way to make it BIG, you can make it big as well, even BIGGER.

The major difference between a Mentor and a Role model is the distance, you really don't get to meet with your Role models frequently, if you do at all, and neither do you get to have a close relationship with them than taking pictures and autograph, you see them on Facebook, Instagram and all of that but nevertheless you can employ their successes and failures as a means of motivation.

"A mentor is someone who helps you to become your Role model."

ABINDE DARE

For instance, if you are into soul music, your Role model could be Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson or any other successful soul artist, apparently these guys might not know you personally, not even your name due to the reason that they have many people who look to them. Your Mentor could then be your voice trainer who is closer to you and has got time for you. What your voice trainer (Mentor) does is to train you and help you to grow till you become or better the Role model(s) you've always admired. Essentially, you need the two individuals (Mentor and Role model) to succeed. Role models are simply the picture of how great your future can be while your mentor helps you step by step in actualizing that future. The choice is yours to pick the right combination that suits your dream but ensure you "choose wisely". Don't go for a Role model because of his/her wealth but rather for the positive impacts his/her success will have on your journey to fulfilment in life.

As you may have spotted, you can have more than a Mentor or a Role model depending on your areas of interest, just make sure they are people you can learn from.

Then you need to a..........

PARTNERSHIP

ABINDE DARE

"If it demands only your talent to achieve the vision, the vision is not world-class."

ABINDE DARE

"Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championship."

MICHEAL JORDAN

"None of us is as smart as all of us."

KEN BLANCHARD

"One will chase a thousand, two will chase ten thousand."

HOLY BIBLE

"Team work makes the dream work."

BANG GAE

Partnership is an association of two or more people with a common vision. You really cannot go far in life if you will depend on your talents or strengths only, you need the strengths of others to attain any worthwhile success in life. One of the important things you should keep at the back of your mind after setting your goals is that you cannot go far with the pursuit doing it alone, you will always need someone or two or three or more.

The common attribute amongst highly successful people is that they value partnership so much that they always seek the right partners for whatever goal they pursue. Without partnership, this book would never had come to fruition, as mentioned on the book cover, it was written by two Authors, not only that, much work was done by the Typist, Editor, the Publishing Company and Marketers- That's Partnership. We've all come together for the realization of the vision behind this book. In the words of Bishop T.D Jakes, the only hindrance between you and that your multimillion dollar vision is Isolation. You need partners who can form a team with you for your visions to be realized. Don't ever try to isolate yourself into a box trying everything out all by yourself, find the right people who will help you in pursuing your goals. To start with, your partner could be your wife/husband, from among your friends, your mentor(s) or from your close associates. Ensure you don't pursue your goals all by yourself, if you do, in no much time you will become weak, stranded and frustrated. If only we will adopt partnership, we will achieve more easily, everyone has something to offer and partnership will make us a big force capable of smashing the impossible. The success of your vision is like that of a musical band, each person in the band has something to offer no matter how large they are- you have the pianist, drummer, alto singers, soprano singers, tenor singers, music conductor and some other roles, the success of any musical band is in the partnership of these people who offers their skills in order to achieve the common goal of producing an excellent piece of music. From the moment you have defined and planned your goals, you need to find the right set of people to form a team with.

I find the words of John C. Maxwell to be true, "If you want to do anything of value, teamwork is required". Maybe that's why God formed a partnership to create man in His image.

The sense of needing people to help out comes from the realization that no matter how talented you are in a field, you can't get to the top all alone. You don't have all the abilities needed, there are things you will find difficult to achieve which another man will achieve easily and even if you perhaps have all the abilities needed to achieve your visions, you cannot do all that's is needed at the same time.

A sign in the New England Patriots' locker room states "Individuals play the game but teams win championships". Apparently, the Patriot players understand this. Over a period of four years, they won the Super Bowl three times.

Sport teams that wins the championships are models of teamwork. For more than two decades, the Boston Celtics dominated the NBA. Their team has won more championships than any other in NBA history, and at one point during the fifties and sixties, the Celtics won eight championships

In a row. During their run, the Celtics never had a player lead the league in scoring. Red Auerbach who coached the Celtics and then later moved to their front office, always emphasized teamwork. He asserted, "One person seeking glory doesn't accomplish much; everything we've done has been the result of people working together to meet our common goals". It's easy to see the fruit of teamwork in sports. But it is at least as important in business. Harold S. Geneen, who was director, president and CEO of ITT for twenty years observed "The essence of leadership is the ability to inspire others to work together as a team- to stretch for a common objective". If you want to be successful in your field, you need to be a team player, since you cannot be the manager and the gateman at the same time, you need partnership. Your partners could be your employees. Any set of people who are committed to pursuing a common vision together are partners.

"Since your vision is to impact the world, you've got to realize that you will need the world to achieve it."

ABINDE DARE

"Whatever road you've planned to follow in life, always have it in mind that you cannot go through it all alone, lest you exhaust all your strengths and still not go far."

ABINDE DARE

Having partners doesn't only help in having multiple talents and human resources but also helps in making you more committed to the vision. Find the right people, be it for your business or any practice. Having a vision of graduating as the best student in school is not what you can achieve alone either, you need partners who you can study with, who you can learn from and have an identity with.

In his book, "Talent is never enough", John C. Maxwell pointed out that "Teamwork gives you the best opportunity to turn your vision to reality. The greater the vision, the more need there is for a good team".

You might not necessarily have to build a team, you can get on an existing team, partner with a vision that will in turn help and enhance the realization of your dream. Get on a team and find your best place in it. To be successful in life you need a team of right people to partner with, do not run the vision alone, get right people around not those that are disinterested in your vision neither those that will run down your vision with their mouths but people of like minds, before you know it, you will be running at a fast pace.

"If you want to do anything of value, teamwork is required."

JOHN C. MAXWELL

Sometimes in 2002, John C. Maxwell was teaching on the 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork where he challenged members of the audience of ten thousand, "Name one person in the history of mankind who alone, with the help of no one made a significant impact on civilization".

A voice from the crowd yelled, "Charles Lindbergh- he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a plane by himself"

The crowd cheered.

"That's true", John responded, and the crowd cheered louder, thinking John had been stumped. "But did you know", John continued "that Ryan Aeronautical Engineering designed and built the plane? And did you know that ten millionaires financed that trip?"

The crowd exploded. "Are there more suggestions?" John asked...... silence all over, no more suggestion.

I want to give you the same challenge. Think of any significant accomplishment that appears to be a solo act. Then do some research and you will find that others worked with the individuals or supported them so that they could do what they did. You cannot achieve that great vision of yours all alone, you need partnership.

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ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT

ABINDE DARE

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

MARK 8:36

There is even an ultimate fulfillment- Spend eternity in Heaven, the streets of gold, the abode of God.

Dear Reader, there is life after death, if not so, our existence here on earth is of no meaning. If all will end here, you will agree with me that man should not necessarily live for any purpose, neither should man pursue positive impacts. I think it will make more sense if we just gather wealth, party hard, use people to get whatever we wants and do just anyhow if after death, there is no life.

On the contrary, life is of eternal value, how you live your life now will have an impact on where and how you spend your eternity. God has different purposes for each and every one of us to live for here on earth which we've discussed extensively in the previous chapters, more so, He wants us to have a fulfilled after-life.

I believe Heaven and Hell is real, Heaven is where God domiciles and He wants that after you are done having a purpose-driven life on earth, you spend a fulfilling eternity with him in Heaven.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."

REVELATIONS 21:4-7

From the above scriptures we can infer that a time is coming when God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of men- there will no longer be sorrow, bad news, accidents, natural disasters, catastrophes and the likes, during this time, God himself will take away the power of death- man will no longer have to die, and we will live forever during this time.

So, if there is a life after death, which will be without end, then you will agree with me that it will be reasonable for us to seek having fulfillment in this next-life also. Important to know is that the steps needed to secure a fulfilled eternity has to be taken here while we are still on earth.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, nor maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

REVELATION 21:10-27

With all these beautiful descriptions of the place called Heaven, I guess you don't want to miss out on spending your eternity in heaven. That's actually "THE ULTIMATE FULFILMENT".

WHAT MUST I DO TO SECURE A PLACE IN HEAVEN?

Firstly, you have to believe in the existence of God. God exists, the stars, the moon, the sun and all creations are evidences to the obvious truth that God exists. He is the creator of all things.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun."

PSALM 19:1-4

"For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God."

HEBREWS 3:4

"It is impossible to govern the world without God. It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of the Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly implore His protection and favor."

GEORGE WASHINGTON

God is the creator of all things including yourself and myself. You have to believe He exists and that He is the creator of all things.

Secondly, there can be only one means of getting to God, He will not create thousands of religions to cause confusions all over the world, He gave unto all men a means and this one means is JESUS. We can only get to God through Jesus, Jesus is the only way to secure ultimate fulfillment. You have to believe in Him too. Jesus has not come to give you ultimate fulfillment only but to give you everything! When you believe in Jesus Christ who over two thousand years ago came and died to show us the love of the Father (God) through paying for our sins and that He rose up again to live forever more, you already have a fulfilling eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

JOHN 3:16

Your faith in Jesus as the Son of God and as the Savior procures you a bright eternal life- spending your eternity with God in Heaven.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

JOHN 3:18

Fulfillment here on earth is not worth losing eternal fulfillment because no matter how long you live here on earth, you will much longer in eternity, eternity has no end.

As much as you are pursuing your visions here on earth, live with eternity in mind by believing God exists and in His Only Begotten Son Jesus- that's is when you have "complete fulfillment".

If the little details have given on this chapter about the existence of God and belief in Jesus has not satisfied your curiosity, don't hesitate to inquire more, the knowledge of eternity matters a lot, it is more important than the things you've gained so far in this book. You can visit a local pastor within your environment for more explanation on this subject, get books that speaks on the subject, attend a church service, talk to Christians around you and am sure they will be glad to share the Knowledge of God with you.

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

ROMANS 10:8-12

If you want Jesus in your life, if you want Him to personally reveal Himself to you, please say this short prayer:

"Dear Lord, I believe you are the Son of God and that You died for my sins and live forever more. I believe You are the only true way to having a fulfilling eternal life, please reveal Yourself to me, I want to know you and become one of yours, I am saved in Jesus name. Amen"

If you've said this prayer, congratulations you are saved. Welcome to the family of believers. One of the immediate effect you will notice after the said-prayer is that a kind of peace that is unexplainable will flow through your being, no matter what you may be passing through the Peace of God has filled your soul.

Do not hesitate to join a local church, mingle with fellow believers and begin to grow in the knowledge and grace of God. I can assure that you will begin to see His impact in your life, He will shower on you His unconditional love, take care of your needs and ultimately, you will spend a fulfilling eternity with Him.

HAVING GOD IS A GREAT GAIN

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

Having God is a great gain. The value of having God on your side through your journey in life is immeasurable, his support, love and provisions are invaluable. This benefits are limitless, I will be sharing just a few with you.

UNLIMITED JOY AND PEACE:

"Over time, Jesus has proven to be the only source of lasting joy and peace."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

JOHN 14:27

"Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Men have tried many means to derive peace and joy, some drink, some smoke, make money and party hard, all these, to forget their sorrows, but it only last for a moment. After a short while, sorrow is back in their heart. Every attempt at deriving Peace outside Jesus has always been ineffective and gives no real fulfillment, in fact, in some cases these attempts has led to death or ill-Health. Some had drunk themselves to stupor to forget their sorrows which unfortunately resulted to bad health or accident.

"After spending the first part of my life thinking basketball was the be-all, end-all of my existence, a verse finally put things into perspective-

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Throughout high school, basketball was my life. I didn't want to be known for anything other than my accomplishments on the court. But even though I was blessed with many achievements and rewards, I still didn't have peace. The problem was, basketball was a game; but I was treating it like it was a god.

It wasn't until college that I was finally able to see this clearly-

As much as I enjoyed the game, there was no way basketball could ever give me the lasting sense of fulfillment and meaning I craved. The Only One who can provide those things was God.

That truth has become even more real to me since entering the NBA. Even though I now have more success, fame, and money that I ever dreamed, my relationship with God is the only thing that brings me true peace and satisfaction.

What are your eyes fixed on: the seen or the unseen? Don't settle for temporal satisfaction when you can have it for eternity. There is only room for one God in your life. So make sure you have chosen the One who can give your life meaning both now and forever."

Above is the story of Luke Ridnour [A basketball Veteran].

As you can infer, having God on your side gives you peace that cannot be acquired through money, fun, fame or position. It's a divine peace that will always give you an assured state of mind in any situation of life and ultimately helps you in fulfilling your destiny. In fulfilling your aspirations and finding fulfillment in life, the peace of God is of great value.

SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH:

"But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits."

DANIEL 11:32B

God is much more interested in your success more than you are, because without you fulfilling your role successfully in the script He has written, the story will be incomplete. More so, the kind of success God wants for you supersedes material possessions or just fame but He wants you to be earthly relevant and eternally fulfilled as well. No wonder, over 65% of the noble prize laureates are people who believes on our Lord Jesus Christ- these are people of influence in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Peace, Literature, Economics and many other fields. No matter your area of discipline or your visions, Jesus is willing to see you through the journey to the top.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

ROMANS 8:28

God is faithful to his promise, and He's ready to work out whatsoever situation we are passing through in life for our good as long as we believe in His Son Jesus. Even if you find yourself in a seemingly hopeless situation, God is an expert in turning things around for good.

"The most important thing is the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord will be glorified. I want to let the people know that there is God who can raise people from nothing."

MANY PACQUIAO

DIVINE DIRECTION:

"God doesn't work with our timetable. He has a plan that He will execute perfectly and for the highest, greatest good of all, and for His ultimate glory."

CHARLES R. SWINDALL

Many a times people fails in life not because they have no talent or knowledge but because they took a wrong step which hindered them from actualizing their visions. Divine direction is another great benefit you will enjoy in God.

"For each one of us, there is only one thing necessary to fulfil our own destiny according to God's will, to be what God wants us to be."

THOMAS METTA

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delights in his way."

PSALM 37:23

When you give God prominence in your life, you can be sure of Him directing your path till you fulfil your dreams and afterwards. Trust God to lead your path to the realization your dreams, He is the Alpha and the Omega, He actually knows the End from the Beginning. God has the blue print of your life.

How to get directions from God:

When you give your life to Jesus, The Spirit of God comes right into your heart to indwell you and take over your instinct, when we pray, God directs us mostly through our instinct which has been enhanced by The Holy Spirit. So whenever a Christian gets direction from his/her instinct or intuition, it is God directing through His Spirit.

God also directs through The Bible, when you are in need of directions as you will always do, search the word of God for directions, every answer are in there. He also uses an "audible voice" where you hear him clearly as if someone beside you just spoke to you.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

PSALMS 119:105

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

ROMANS 8:14

Whichever way He directs you with, follow His leading, and He will guide you right into the fulfillment of your purpose. He will direct you through every crossroads of life. He will guide you to rightly implement your resources- your time, energy, potential, knowledge, and passion will be effectively guided by God. God can guide your investments even during global economic downturn and make you prosperous like the case of Isaac who God directed to sow in the land during the time of famine, here is the result:

"Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him."

GENESIS 26:12

"It doesn't matter if a million people tell you what you can't do, or if ten million tell you no. If you get one yes from God, that's all you need."

TYLER PERRY

I enjoy the divine direction of God a lot, I can remember when I was in the college, I never retook any course because my instinct always guide me on areas of concentration when am studying for examinations.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

PROVERB 3: 5-6

"The greatest discovery you will ever make is God and His Plan for you, and the greatest decision you will ever make is following this Plan."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

"Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."

PSALMS 25: 4-5

"The Lord's way is always the best! The Lord's way is a way of blessing, protection, and victory even in the midst of life's greatest tests and trials."

KENNETH E. HAGIN

For further study on understanding on how to be directed by God, you can get "How to be led by the spirit of God" authored by Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin.

SECURED FUTURE:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

JEREMIAH 29:11

"For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off."

PROVERBS 23:18

Many folks runs to and fro seeking after worldly riches and as a result of this selfish ambition they follow wrong and illegal means to gather wealth. Worldly riches are more than a million miles behind God's intended kind of prosperity for man. God's intention for you is to have a future of all-round prosperity, success spiritually, emotionally and physically. If God is for you, you have nothing to worry about:

"God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of difficulty."

PETER MARSHALL

"God will not allow any evil to befall you that is not for your greatest good, your future is secured in Him."

ABINDE DARE

"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

3 JOHN 1:2 [ESV]

God doesn't just want success for you, He wants to give you in a grand style, your tomorrow is bright in God and no devil can stop it.

"When God is involved in your life's journey, fear not during times of turmoil, trials and temptations, the end of it all will be triumph for you."

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

PURPOSE-DRIVEN WAY OF LIFE

ABINDE DARE

As this book is coming to an end, I feel the urge to particularly write this important chapter. In this chapter I will be writing extensively on what God calls a purpose-driven way of life.

God has a model of right living for all men, more so for us as believers. God has a picture of how men should live, particularly how we should relate with one other and He has revealed this model to us in His word:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, Temperance: against such there is no law."

GALATIANS 5:22

This scripture tells us about the characters God wants every man to possess as a way of life, and fulfilling in these characters should be a vision that a purpose-driven man runs with. These characters should be part of our life's vision and we should find fulfillment in possessing them.

It's the Spirit of God that helps in fulfilling this vision of right living according to the scripture above. As human beings we need to depend on God for our perfection- in living a purpose-driven life.

By depending on our efforts as humans, we will never truly be able to portray these characters but when we depend on God to work in us, we begin to realize these characters.

"[Not in your own strength] For it is God who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire] both to will and to work for his good pleasure and satisfaction and delight."

PHILIPPIANS 2:13 [AMP]

I want you to know that even after you are already on top of the world, living your dreams, utilizing your talents, if you leave out these characters, you are not yet living a fulfilled life, as a matter of fact it is these characters that keeps you at the top for a long time. God values relationships so much that He want every one of us to have a great relationship with Him and with others- that is a fulfilling life to Him.

It may seem like a daunting task, yes truly it's daunting to try possessing and portraying all these characters all by yourself, all you need to do is depend on God and He will guide you through. Becoming a man of all these characters is a "lifetime journey", you just have to keep growing in the knowledge of God and these characters will begin to form in you.

I will be writing on each of these characters so you can have a knowledge of what each of them entails:

LOVE: To be a person of love is the principal vision of God for every man. Love is really a big subject, and it comprises all the other good characters. As we could see in the life of Jesus while He was on earth, He loved everyone, both the believers and the unbelievers, the priests and the tax collectors, the rich and the homeless, He loved them all.

There was a certain time Jesus was asked a question, "of all the commandments, which is the greatest of all?"

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

MATTHEW 22:36-40

Love is the principal culture, we should all live it. In fulfilling God's vision for your life, you have to depend on God for a life of love- "Loving God and loving your neighbors".

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

JOHN 3:16

It is out of love that God gave His Son (Jesus) to die for the sins of the world, the love God has for us can go any length to help in time of need. Do you not think that if we all live in love, this world may become the paradise we are longing for? Let it start from you, let a world of love begin from you. "You are not only meant to love those who love you but also those who hate and criticizes you", that is what LOVE is about, giving your time, energy and resources for the sake of making the world a better place is a life of love.

"And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers for long, and is kind; charity envies not; love vaunted not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Bears all things, believeth all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."

1 CORINTHIANS 13:3-8

The above scriptures emphasizes that even if you give massively to the poor and go through the fire just for the sake people's praise, vainglory or fame, you have no reward for your act, for it is not done out of love. This means giving or sacrificing should not be a means of getting your wants or for popularity sake but should be done out of love, no pretense, it has to be true.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MATURE/ FULL-GROWN LOVE

\- Love is never envious, this means love doesn't have resentful desire of something possessed by another. Do you boil with jealousy over what another man has that you don't have? If yes, you are not living love, love is never envious.

\- Love is not boastful, this means love doesn't display itself in a way that will bring others down. Love doesn't engage in vain glory.

\- Love is not conceited, this means love doesn't engage in overly high self-esteem, love doesn't make others feel inferior neither does it feel superior to others.

\- Love doesn't insist on its own rights or its own way, this means you do not have to insist on having your way all the time, there are times you let others too have their way to protect their esteem. Love doesn't keep record of wrong doing, love is forgiving, doesn't revenge on others for their past wrong doings.

\- Love does not rejoice at injustice, love is always on the side of the just, love does not bribe its way to the top or cover up it mistakes. Love embraces justice and righteousness.

From this characteristics we can see that a life of love should be a vision for every man that seeks complete fulfillment in life.

JOY: God wants every man to be joyous at all times even in the presence of challenges. You never see a sadist making positive impact in his world. He wants you to be a happy man, that's His vision for you.

"Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God."

ROBERT SCHULLER

It is not that we won't have down-times, times when we will be sober but maintaining your joy is the only way to live above your circumstances and living above your circumstances is what God wants for you.

Every great and successful person I know share the capacity to remain centered, clear and powerful in the midst of emotional storms. They have a rule, "never spend more than 10% of your time on the problem, and spend at least 90% of your time on the solution. This rule helps in keeping your joy intact.

Joy is a proof of right conscience, it shows that within you, you are pure and hold nothing against any man. It is also a proof of God's presence in your life.

"In thy presence is fullness of Joy."

PSALMS 16:11

"Joy is the echo of God's life in us."

ABBOT COUMBA

One of the proofs that you are living your purpose is Joy, you cannot afford to live a low-spirited life if you are to truly live a fulfilled life.

"What I know for sure is that you feel real joy in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth."

OPRAH WINFREY

You never see an unhappy man making his neighbors happy for a lasting period, "you cannot give what you don't have". God's vision is that every man serves as an "Instrument of Joy" to the other, you can't become that if you don't live a life of Joy.

Live a happy life no matter where you are now, cultivate the habit of being joyous and influencing others positively with your joy. Choose to be an instrument of Joy to your world.

******So, let's take up a ten-day challenge of 100% Joy**

In these ten days, what you want to do is to maintain a state of joy and happiness throughout.

RULE 1:

No matter what happens within these ten days, your number one priority is to maintain a state of Joy i.e even if someone annoys you, you have to maintain your joy.

You also have to ensure you put on a smiling face every time and to everyone, to your boss and to your maid, to your partner and to the janitor in your place of work, to your friends and to strangers, have fun, crack jokes, forget your pains. Even if you are hurt by someone within the 240 hours of these challenge, ensure you maintain a state of happiness.

RULE 2:

If perhaps, in any of the days of this challenge you find yourself engaging in a sad mood for a long period, (I suggest a maximum of 20 minutes), you will have start all over again from Day 1.

GOAL:

If you can consistently keep alive your joy for these ten days;

  1. You will be able to realize how beautiful the life God wants for you is.
  2. You will discover that it is possible for you to control your happiness i.e your happiness doesn't have to depend upon whatever you are going through or the actions of people, you can always decide to be happy.
  3. Naturally, our mind and brain is conditioned to retreat to a disempowering state whenever something unpleasant happens, what this ten-day challenge does is that it reconditions your mind and brain that you don't necessarily have to go into a negative mood because something unpleasant happened, that you can still maintain your joy in the midst of unpleasant situations. This is called Neuro-Associative Conditioning in Psychology.

I'm so sure that after this ten-day challenge, you will never want to miss the beauty of life again by indulging in sadness for whatever reason.

PEACE AND PATIENCE: Do you have peace within yourself? Do you follow peace with all men?

"If it be possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

ROMANS 12:18

God wants you to be an Instrument of Peace to your community and the world at large and a troubled mind cannot achieve this. Stop troubling your heart with the pressures of life, once you have God, you can keep your mind at rest and lead a peaceful life with everyone.

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

PHILIPPIANS 4:7

Having peace within you is an evidence of God's presence with you. It's God's vision for you to have peace of mind even during stormy times and to influence others positively with it and if you are going to follow peace with everyone, you will need "Patience". Sustaining peace requires patience, patience in understanding the other person's perception, patience in letting your anger wane, "He who is slow to anger is wise". The secret to sustaining peace is Patience. The way to avoid venting your anger on anyone at any given time is by waiting a little longer, the longer you wait before bursting, the more your anger decreases. As a man of peace, the waiting time is a time of reflection, time of putting yourself in the other person's shoe, time of looking from the other person's perceptive. To become an instrument of peace, you will have to be patient with people, not that you shouldn't react to things but wait long enough to understand the situation better. If spouses chooses to be patient with each other, we will have less record of divorces, marriages will be peaceful.

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city."

PROVERBS 16:32

"A wrathful man stirs up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeases strife."

PROVERBS 15:18

To live a life of all-round fulfillment as God desires, it requires a vision of following peace and patience with everyone.

KINDNESS AND GOODNESS:

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."

DESMOND TUTU

"There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth."

LEO TOLSTROY

"Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained."

LAO TZU

God is good, and that is the reason why His vision is that every man embraces goodness. A good man is a man who acts for and in the interest of others. One of the greatest legacies a man can ever leave behind is goodness. How touching and encouraging it is, to say to a son whose father just died that "Your father was a good man". Ever imagined a world where every man is good to one another? It will be free of lawlessness, poverty, war, and all atrocities.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.

ACTS 9:36-42

This story in the bible tells us of a woman named Dorcas, she abounded in good works, making undershirts and other garments for the widows in the community and when she died we were made to know that the people of the community were very sober and they cried, knowing that a good woman had gone.

What good do you to your community? How do you help the less-privileged in your neighborhood?

Do you know you do not necessarily have to be a millionaire before you can do good?

I like to tell the story of a very wealthy man and a newspaper vendor, the rich man was interviewed, "Sir, is there any person richer than you?" He replied, "yes only one"......

Many years ago, I had been on dismissal and I had gone to New York airport. I read titles of newspaper there. I liked one of them and I want to buy it. But I didn't have change (coin). I abandoned, suddenly a black boy called me and told me "This newspaper is for you" I said but I don't have change. He said, "No problem, I give you free".

After three months, I went there. Coincidentally, that story happened again and that same boy gave another free newspaper again. I said, I can't accept. But he said "I give you from my profit".

After 19 years, now very rich and I decided to find that boy. I found him after one and half months searching. I asked him, do you know me? He said, "Yes, you are the famously rich man".

I said you gave me free newspaper on two occasions many years ago. Now, I want to compensate it. I am going to give you everything that you want. Black young man replied, "You can't compensate it!"

I said, why? He said, "Because I gave you when I was poor. You want to give me when you are rich. So how do you compensate?"

The rich man said to the interviewer once again, "I think that black young man is richer than me."

You see you don't have to wait until you have much before you show goodness, with the little you have already, be good.

"And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day."

GENESIS 1:31 [AMP]

QUESTION- Do you know why God was able to see good in everything He created?

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures forever."

PSALMS 136:1

"For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations."

PSALMS 100:5

ANSWER- Because God is good.

It takes a Good God to see goodness in everything He made and as a man as well, you need to be good to the see the goodness in others. When you start living a life of goodness towards others you will begin to see the good in others and will no longer hold on to their faults and weaknesses. I have never seen a good man who doesn't see good in others, looking for the positive in every person and situation is the secret the sustains their character.

"If you keep concentrating on the weaknesses of others, you will keep seeing more and you will keep losing the desire to be good. Always look out for the good in others and not their faults, then being good to everyone will be easy for you."

ABINDE DARE

Do you know that no matter the weight of sins you've committed, God still sees the good in you? He's ever ready to forgive you at all times, this is because, He is a good God.

Good people are kind people, goodness and kindness are like Siamese twins, and they walk hand in hand. Kindness is about showing affection and benevolence to others in words and in actions.

A kind man treat others as he would have others treat him, he is a man of kind words, warm smile and profound care.

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

MARK TWAIN

Kindness in words creates confidence, Kindness in thinking creates profoundness, and Kindness in giving creates love."

LAO TZU

Do you know that with kind words you can influence and empower an already discouraged person? The profound thing about kindness is that you do not need a dime to be kind, you can choose to be kind through your smile. At times, all that a discouraged person needs is a warm smile, you can be kind by giving an advice to a younger person, you can share your life experiences with someone, run errands for someone, give someone a hug, and those are simply some of the various ways through which you can be kind without having to spend money. Spend some quality time in an orphanage home, play with the kids there, give out your unused clothes, sometimes these seemingly little deeds of kindness is worth more than a great deal of money.

Make up your mind to be good and kind to someone today. These characters are part of God's vision for your life. One of the ways God shows His goodness and kindness to the world is by giving us rains from heaven at it due time, He also gives us fruitful seasons.

"Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."

ACT 14:17

FAITHFULNESS: Are you a man known for faithfulness? Are you faithful to your commitments and values in life? Do you treat others faithfully as you would have them do to you?

God's vision for every man includes faithfulness. Faithfulness talks about loyalty, consistency, and firmness to a cause. Trusting in God requires faithfulness, during challenging times you may want to review your commitment to God's ways but possessing faithfulness will keep you firm. Are you consistent with your words? "A faithful man means what he says and says what he means."

Our God is faithful to his word at all times:

"Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds."

PSALMS 36:5

"O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee?"

PSALMS 89:8

Nothing damages relationships as much as unfaithfulness, many potential great relationships has been cut-short by unfaithfulness. You need to be faithful in your business dealings, no matter how much wealth you've accumulated, if you engage in unfaithfulness, in no much time your image will be tarnished. An unfaithful man is unfaithful to his true self, jumping from one career to another because of wealth even after he has discovered his place of strengths, purpose and fulfillment.

You have to be faithful to your beliefs, values and commitments, a faithful person is trustworthy, and God wants it that people can trust your words and actions. Faithfulness is a virtue and a vision we must all embrace in our life's journey.

GENTLENESS: Gentleness talks about humility and meekness.

"Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong."

LEO BUSCAGALIA

"Jesus never mistreated anyone just because they mistreated Him. He confronted them in the spirit of gentleness and He continued to love them."

JOYCE MEYER

"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time."

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Gentility is most of the times wrongly interpreted as weakness but the gentle man is truly the strong man. When we learn to tackle issues that comes our ways with gentility, we in turn get the best out of every situation.

Your gentility is not tested when you are weak, a weak man will normally lay low but how gentle are you when you are strong? When the final say is yours, when you can do and undo, this is when your true gentility is tested. Jesus is the picture of a gentle man, despite being the Son of God, He was meek and humble enough to go through the abuses, insults, spitting of men.

In the words of Saint Bernard "Who is there that can adequately gauge the greatness of the humility, gentleness, self-surrender, revealed by the Lord of majesty in assuming human nature, in accepting the punishment of death, the shame of cross?"

Jesus could have commanded all the angels in heaven, He could have ordered the sun to smite or thunder to strike but He laid down His life for the cause for which He came. He treated everyman with gentility, both the adulterous and the tax collectors, He treated all with meekness, the fishermen and the market women loved Him for His gentle spirit. His disciples found it very hard to interpret this meekness when He washed their feet one after the other. What a gentle man Jesus was

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

MATTHEW 11:29

"Now I Paul myself, beseech you by the "meekness and gentleness of Christ", who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:"

2CORINTHIANS 10:1

The above scriptures describes Jesus as gentle and meek even as a leader. A gentle man is man that is willing to sacrifice his rights or power for peace to reign and for the good of others. Gentleness doesn't mean you won't ever talk or be bold but it simply means you are ready to give understanding to the other party.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

PSALMS 37:11

The ones that eventually gets to become people of great significance in life are never those of haughty spirit but the gentle in spirit- the meek and the tender-hearted.

"But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble."

JAMES 4:6

God's vision for every man is to possess the virtue of gentility, He's particularly bent on helping the humble reach their goals. Be gentle to all even those that are of lower status, you never can tell who will help you. Be gentle in words and in actions, let both the young and old feel welcomed in your presence, by doing this you create an atmosphere of love.

SELF CONTROL: Having Self-Control means being able to exercise influence and moderation on oneself.

"By constant self-discipline and self-control you can develop greatness of character."

GRENVILLE KLEISER

"A man who cannot contain himself cannot lead a multitude."

ABINDE DARE

There are three areas God wants every man to exercise self-control:

  1. LANGUAGE: Do you control your use of words?

"For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, and able also to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature."

JAMES 3:2[AMP]

We need to exercise self-control over what we say and how we say them. Words can be repairing or damaging, it can be constructive or destructive, empowering or disempowering, it can build and can also dismantle. We all have being empowered through words at some points in our lives and we have also heard some words which were disempowering. Words are so powerful the bible says that the power of death and life are in the tongue. You can shape how you want your life to be by the words you use. Exercising self-control over your language means restraining your speech to only edifying words, expressing yourself only in the manner that will encourage others. "Whoever is able to tame his tongue is a master of life".

  1. **TREATMENT OF OTHERS**

Many a times we find it hard to control our attitude when we are dealing with people who are in some way below or subordinate to us. God wants us to control the way we treat others even when we are superior to them. God wants us to treat everyman equally as we would have them do to us. "Power corrupts", you need self-control to manage the way you treat those subject to you.

What if from now you choose to control the way you treat your employees? What if against any odd you decide to treat your subordinates right? It's all about restraining every urge to overreact or maltreat anyone even when you have the power.

  1. **APPETITES OF THE BODY**

God wants us to exercise control over our body, He never wants any man to be a slave to his body. In appetites of the body, I am referring to food, sex, fun etc. all these are what the body demands, we really cannot do but to satisfy these demands but God wants us to apply moderation over these appetites, so that they won't control our lives. Do you know that fat people are often viewed as people with no self-control? (No offence to you if you are fat) because they eat everything that comes their ways, though this doesn't hold true in every case as not all fat people are gluttons and not all moderate size people are truly moderate in their consumption of food.

God's vision is that we possess self-control in words, attitude and appetites. If you are going to be a person of significance in the world, self-control is a character you should cultivate. There will be times you will have to delay your gratifications so as to engage in a more impactful practice. Embrace self-restraint.

Conclusively, love is the greatest commandment, it is the mother of all other characters. Make love your lifestyle, if you do, every other characters like Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control will fall in. "Love is what keeps the world together", make it a vision, love will make you fulfilled beyond materialism, it gives you fulfilment eternally because it is eternal.

CONCLUSION

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI

As at 2017, there are over 7 billion purposes (people) existing on earth, each of these purposes are there to make the world better. I believe by now you have being able to identify yours- your role in this universe. I believe the greatest problem affecting the world are not the stuffs we place our focus on like diseases outbreaks, religious conflicts, poverty and wars, rather, the greatest problem is that many die daily without ever fulfilling their purposes. The problems listed earlier will be eradicated if we all stand up to input the solutions we are made for.

In your quest to living a fulfilled life, have it in mind that life is not just about schooling, making money, getting married, having children, paying your bills and die at an old age, all these are necessary in life but your fulfilment should be in providing solution to your family, friends, community, country and the world at large and give it anything it requires, you are a solution-carrier, and you are unique. Irrespective of your physical, financial status or your background you are made to be "a man of relevance", God has assigned purposes to every man each according to his strengths.

The effort of this book has been to help people live a fulfilling life, I believe this book as helped you to:

  * Discover Yourself
  * Prioritize your purpose
  * Discover the power of dream
  * Set a Smart Goal-Plan
  * Develop the trait of diligence, integrity and perseverance
  * Discover life after death
  * Know Jesus as the only way that leads to God
  * Discover a purpose-driven way of life.

I believe with the application of the knowledge this book has provided, you will live a fulfilled life not only here but also in eternity.

I wish you all the success as you enjoy a fulfilling life.

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI.

I'm glad to have shared this little knowledge with you, I wish you a colorful and fulfilling life.

ABINDE DARE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Special thanks to God Almighty for his unending grace and for the completion of this book. Many thanks to my family and associates.

Bola Vaughn- Who has being a very supportive Brother and Father.

Bishop T.D Jakes- Who through his messages have been inspired to take up my dreams and face the world.

Abinde Dare.

The outstanding people in my life whose words, lives, teachings, writings and support has influenced me in my quest of living a fulfilled life.

Family- My parents, Abimbola Tomilola, Abimbola Ayodeji.

Teachers/Authors- Pastor E.A Adeboye, Pastor Williams Akinbamijo, Juwon Ariyo, Dr. Femi Fasaru, Cindy Trimm, Kenneth E. Hagin, Silas Olowookere, Kunle Oluleye, Ben Carson, Myles Munroe, Seykou Abodunrin.

Friends/Colleagues- Joseph Micheal, Adekoya Adedeoyin, Bello Oluwadamilare, Fadairo Busayo,

And every other outstanding people I am unable to enlist, your influence is notable and I love you all.

Jesutoyinbo Rotimi.

ABOUT AUTHOURS

ABINDE DARE, is a Psychologist, Author, Public Speaker, Book Editor and Content Writer.

He believes in the everlasting love of God for humanity. Dare's Life metaphor is that everyone is an asset- we all have at least one solution to offer, and embracing this truth will make the world a peaceful and better place to live.

Kindly visit and like my page for feedback, more inspirational write ups and great books update by clicking on Lifted Minds

To contact me and for bookings to speak at your conference/seminar, you can reach me through the following platforms:

EMAIL- dreyposh@gmail.com

WHATSAPP- +2348135454416.

INSTAGRAM- @l.coachdrey

JESUTOYINBO ROTIMI, is an Electrical technician, Writer and Actor, He is the director of Amazing Grace Technology- AGTECH. He lives in Ogun state, Nigeria and believes in Jesus as the Savior of the world. His desire is that the population of people living a purposeless life drastically decrease, so that the universe can be a better and beautiful place for mankind to live.

His motivational insight is that "the greatest discovery a man can ever make is to discover God, and the greatest decision a man can make is following God's plan for his life".

To contact Jesutoyinbo Rotimi for feedback, counselling or any other services that is related his details:

FACEBOOK- ROTIMI RTM

WHATSAPP- +2348164983955

TWITTER- @rotimi_david

LINKEDIN- Jesutoyinbo Rotimi

EMAIL- rotimid@rocketmail.com

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