Essentials of Your Destiny's Foundation

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ssential raw materials constitute the entirety of any given thing. This is basic and also indispensible. A product cannot be completed until the essential raw materials are combined together. These essential raw materials can be referred to as the vital tools required to complete a finished product.

The foundation is the very base in the forming of any product. Therefore, the essential raw materials required for your foundation are the components on which your glorious product will be built. They are the tools you require to get your base solidly fixed so you can use it as a platform from which you can start the race for your destiny. No great person ever arrived at a destination of greatness by accident. Foundation is essential and plays an important role in every journey to greatness. Ours is no different!

In this chapter, I will be unfolding these essentials so you can profit from them. They have been used by men and women who have imparted genuine, positive changes to the world. It is your duty to carefully adopt them and begin to apply them as a mainstay for that future you hope to see. I earnestly promise you: your life will change for the better. These foundational essentials are divided into two phases. Phase one is the pre-operational stage, and phase two is the operational stage.

Stage One: Pre-Operation

The Pre-Operational Stage is the period of time you spend preparing for the laying of your foundation. It is when you gather all that you will need in the operational stage. At this stage, you first call for the architectural designers to create on paper the structure you hope to erect. You find out the estimated cost, you gather the essential materials, and you actually start building the foundation. Let us look into the steps in this first phase:

Defining Your Goal

            Greatness begins at the point of definition. Without adequate definition, there can’t be motion, attraction, motivation, strength. It simply removes the obscurity on to the pursuit of greatness. It translates ideas and dreams into reality images. The easiest way to attain greater height in life is to a clear-cut picture of the destination. Absence of definition is the source for crash-landing.

 It is the pre-determined end of your pursuit. It can be the picture of your desired result. Until you have a target, you can’t hit it. In the field of play, without a goal post, scoring becomes impossible. Defining your goal is vitally important and absolutely necessary in the foundation stage. In fact, it is the most essential feature because it is the root of every other step. It sets the pace for others to hold. No greatness will ever be achieved without proper definition.

You must know what you want before you can go for it. If you are not aware of your destination, any route may get you there, but you will waste time. Therefore, establishing your goal is the first task; it is inevitable. Without it, there can be no foundation, and if there is no foundation, all hope for a structure is terminated.

The service of an architectural designer must be engaged at this point. It is his or her job to develop an architectural masterpiece on a paper. This is a clear picture of the destination that you want to attain in life. When they are drawn up and properly documented, the plans can be imprinted in your mind as well. These plans can focus your energy and also reveal to all that you need to get there promptly and safely.

The most injured life is a wandering life. When you define your goal, you are stating precisely where you want to arrive in life, what you want to do, and how you want to do it. Clarity makes for distinction. Wherever you see a distinction, you will surely see a clear plan in place.

Defining your goal is stating a clear, well-known, and well-recognized distinctive destination. Discovery is essential before greatness can be established. Accomplishments are made easy when you are racing toward a well-defined finish line. There is no skyscraper standing that didn’t begin with a design or a master plan that was in place well before the foundation was built. What this plan does is bring to your awareness all that you need and how you must implement these things in order to make your goal see the light of day. Every great story is established only after a distinctive definition is declared. Greatness cannot be separated from clarity of purpose.

When night gives way to day, and we wake up in the morning, many of us already have a clear picture of our various destinations. Some of us head to our offices, others to our places of business. Students find their way to their various schools. Why? They know where they are expected to be, and instantly go there. Some people have scheduled appointments they know they must go to. Perhaps if the person does not know the exact way to a scheduled meeting place, he or she will check online or use a GPS unit to find it. This makes travel safer and easier.

The first assignment in the race of greatness is to discover what you actually want to do; for example, what product you want to develop, what item you want to invent, what innovation you want to bring into existence. Surprisingly, there are lots of gaps out there in the waiting to be filled—all you have to do is stretch out and get it done. Undoubtedly, those who struggle because of blurry destinations will miss these opportunities. When the destination becomes unclear, we will never arrive! Show me a confused man, and I will show you a man without a destination. He wonders at every crossroad. Without a destination, he is a victim who is tossed to and fro by the circumstances of life.

It is impossible for an airplane pilot not to know his or her arrival airport prior to take off; neither will you see a ship setting out on a voyage without a destination point. Because they are aware of their destinations, they consult the compass for safe arrival. When you discover what you want to do, you can consult the resources that will deliver you there safely without scars. Discovery of destination is your own responsibility; it is not a choice you assign to any agent.

Establishing Your Plan

You begin to establish your plan when you describe how you are going to reach your set goal. This includes a vivid description of the basic and essential tools you will need to reach your goal. This is the time during which you give form to the permanent establishment. There is a popular saying: “When you fail to plan, you have planned to fail.” It is vital to understand this statement if you are going to raise a long-standing edifice that will be record breaking.

Plan is a detailed explanation to guide you in setting standards or determining a course of action to accomplish your aim.  In your race for greatness, it is series of steps to be carried out for you to be accomplished. Planning helps you to figure out what you need, where to get it, how to get it, the cost of it, when to get it, if you have the financing to get it, when exactly you will get the work done, what type of construction firm to hire, and the phases it must go through before it reaches completion.

The scripture describes plan in Luke 14: 28–32(King James Version): “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? Lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.”

It means “to device” or “to budget”. Planners are people going somewhere in life. One who is not planning has already decided to go nowhere – advance further in life. Every good planner is essentially good thinker. With good plans on ground, it guards your timing. What you want, how your want it, and when you want it. During this stage, you align your priorities in a sequential order for the essentials.

The mental passage to achieve a dream is created as you design your plans. It could refer as sitting tight in order to rise higher. The way forward is designed. Here, you draw the future into now and break it to various departments, to ease the movement into its actualization. It makes attainment of great accomplishments easier. Also, it co-ordinates our energy to focus on the most needful and essentials.

As I said earlier, whatever you don’t know, you won’t control. For you to take full charge of your destiny and arrive at the greatness you anticipate, you must have a well-articulated plan. This plan will boost your speed, improve your work efficiency, and help you eliminate unnecessary sidetrips as you prioritize your needs. At this stage, you draw the graphic representation on the map and work out the routes you will take to arrive at your desired destination.

You also formulate schemes that will influence your accomplishment. You can organize specific steps to initiate action. Without planning, your dream to be great, renowned, or successful may be elusive. Peter Drucker, a twentieth-century American author and educator, once said, “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes … but no plans.” Plans get you headed in the right with a hope to achieve your result. Commitment is what converts action into accomplishment.

However, listen to what Winston Churchill said. He was a British orator and author, and served as prime minister during World War II. “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” Until we convert our worries to brute thinking and planning, results will not be achieved.

The only way to grab hold of that destiny you earnestly desire to have is by planning. In fact, planning is having the roadmap in front of you—or at least a strategy designed for outstanding performance. See you there soon!

Researching Your Options

Those who conduct research are always the greatest commanders of greatness. They see what ordinary competitors don’t see. They increase their chances of success by finding extra information, facts, and requirements that make for exceedingly great results. They do this by investigating thoroughly to obtain all of the facts, which they then apply to their detailed plans. Accuracy and efficiency are functions of diligent research. Through research we thoroughly examine the options available to us. Through research we can uncover the best among the good.

Many who arrive at that “better” place tend to stay there thinking they have arrived. Then there are a few who move a bit farther to get to the “best.” They do this through consistent diligence, which involves research. Greatness is gained on the platform of research—digging into the deepest part of every matter to uncover the hidden truths. You cannot be satisfied with only the presented facts. There is difference between the facts and the truth; it takes commitment in searching to uncover the truth. You will know the truth, and the truth you know will make you free. Freedom is a function of truth and is achieved by an in-depth research.

Researchers are exceedingly great accomplishers. No one can get better results than someone who is committed to know all there is to know about a particular subject. You can operate only by the information you have at your disposal, no more … no less.

In researching, you engage not only your mind but your spirit as well. The greatest advantage of researching is that it perfectly positions you for a life of conquest. Diligent researchers are great commanders of destinies. These people don’t wait for things to happen; they make things happen themselves.

If you yield to an in-depth research, you gain a depth of insight that empowers you toward an unimaginable result. Knowing how to conduct detail research helps you to exert your influence because of the volume of information you have obtained. I defined education as the amount of information at your disposal. When you have more of this information than others have, you have a distinct advantage over them. Your knowledge is what places you ahead of them. The quality and quantity of information you have can be achieved only through diligent research.

Therefore, to get those highest structures standing, you must put a high level of research into action. The amount and quality of research determines the height and quality of the edifice. Your effort shows the level of value you place on that particular structure. Our destinies are like our structures—your level of commitment is indicated by the amount of effort you are willing to expend to make the structure a reality.

Read Your Way to Knowledge

Dr. David O. Oyedepo, a renowned preacher, teacher, and a household name in modern African education, says, “Readers are leaders, and all committed readers are potential leaders.” Ever since I discovered that reading is the greatest tool of the successful people, I vowed not to trade it for any form of treasure. I have heard amazing stories of how committed readers accomplished outstanding feats. Earlier, I shared with you how Benjamin Franklin consistently forfeited his lunch in order to buy books. He would not allow his status, background, and lack of education keep him from his desired goals.

The story of Ben Carson has been transformational to many people who learn from it the value of reading in redefining people and their destinies. From early childhood, Ben Carson and his younger brother were raised by a single parent—their mother. She worked as a cleaner and was committed to see her children better themselves for the future. In her job, she had observed the secret of successful men. She had seen that highly placed people, aristocrats, and successful businessmen were all deeply interested in reading and researching. In his teen, unfortunately, Ben Carson was noted to be a dullard in his class and always came last every academic term.

Mrs. Carson enthusiastically encouraged her sons to do well in school. She knew that they could do so because they had sound minds, but she discovered that her admonitions were not the tool that would refine their minds. She knew her own efforts must be coupled with a commitment on the part of her boys to reading. To this end, she endeavored to commit her boys to reading two books per week. At the end of the week, she required that the boys summarize the books they had read. She did not allow them to watch television; instead, she placed them into a strict reading program. She even restricted their playtime in favor of reading. At first, their mother’s plan seemed like punishment to the boys. But they had to adhere to her instructions, and they began going to the library to hunt for books to read.

Slowly, Ben Carson realized the transition from mental slavery to excellent intellectual achievement. As usual in his class, the teacher asked a question about a particular sort rock. None of the acclaimed first-class students had an answer. But Ben Carson did! When he realized that no one in the class could answer the question, he raised his hand. To the surprise of his classmates and teacher, he not only answered the question, but offered further explanation. Everyone was amazed.

Everyone wondered how little Ben Carson was the one who could answer the question—and give a very excellent answer at that. The teacher asked the entire class to applaud him. It was this applause that changed his mentality. If the class where he was known to be a “nobody” could clap for him because of information he got through reading, then he ought to read more! The amount of information we are able to learn and understand determines the extent of our ultimate fruitfulness.

Ben resolved to go extra miles to read. Shortly after that, his story took a new turn. The well-known dullard became the brightest student of the class, and later won a scholarship. Today, his is the best neurosurgeon in the world; he became the only one who could successfully operate on conjoined babies without a hitch. He is not merely successful today, he is the epitome of success.

Dr. Ben Carson is highly sought after around the world in the medical field, and his name is well known in the neurosurgical arena. His footprints are indelibly imprinted on the sands of history. Reading is designed for our profitable living. It makes celebrities out of nonentities according to Dr. David Oyedepo.

David Abioye, the second-in-command in the Living Faith Church worldwide said, “When you sit to read, you rise to lead.” The secret to reading is that it keeps one ever young both in mind and in action. We should always recognize the essentiality of reading in our lives and its readiness to teach us things that pertain to our lives and pursuits. Until you are ready to ride the boat of reading, you certainly will not arrive at a celebrated destiny. Reading a wide variety of material makes you super-intelligent and converts your weaknesses to strengths.

Ignorance is the foremost enemy to greatness that paralyzes its attainment. All greatness virtually feeds and thrives on the flesh of knowledge.  Several great legacies that never lived peradventure were not energized, nourished and nurtured. Learning is what energizes, nourishes and nurtures greatness. It is the level of our learning today that will determine the quality of our greatness to be earned tomorrow. Our past yearnings commit us for a present learning that will lead us to our future earnings.

I like what Denis Waitley said in one of his books, Psychology of Winning: “Good books are transport of wisdom that can take you to places you can’t be in person.” Reading reveals to you what seems to be hidden, and enriches you with knowledge you can use to sharpen your actions. You study today so you will be furnished with the right information for polishing your life tomorrow. Get ready now to sail the ship of reading; it is the maker of all outstanding destinies. It brings you safely to your destination, sails you along on a smooth voyage, and anchors you carefully at a celebrated shore.