If

1.
If you say that you are not like your "friend," one way or another you are telling a lie.

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20

2.
If you are thinking of giving up, just remember it's on record.

You yourselves are our letters … known and read by everybody.

2 Corinthians 3:2

3.
If you are going to change the world, you might as well start with changing your world.

… first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:5

4.
If you think you can you can; if you think you can't you're right.

"… we certainly can do it."

Numbers 13:31
5.
If you plan to do something, just go right ahead and DO IT.

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:13

6.
If you want to increase your chances of succeeding in what you are doing, do it over and over again – until it succeeds.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or both will do equally well.

Ecclesiastes 11:6

Just do it!

When people around you expect very little of you, it is difficult to acquire and maintain a healthy self-confidence. Most likely you play it safe and avoid challenges for fear of failing. Without the experience of success and failures, you will not be able to learn from these experiences and grow as a person, will not realize your potential. Instead, your example will confirm society’s prejudice that you are incompetent and helpless.

Adopted from a speech by Dr. Adolf Ratzka (2007).

Wanna Stay Ahead in Your Game? Give Eddie’s 8-Step Goal Review System a Try…

Eddie’s Goal Review System is simple. You can use it to review all your goals at once or each of your goals one at a time. If you do not have a lot of time in your hands right now, you can begin to think through the whole process by looking at the questions that I ask under each step.

Step #1: State your original goal

What is it that you set out to do in the first place?

Be as precisely as you can. Writing it down. Look back at the day that you set your goal and say, ‘When I set this goal, this is what I am/was aiming for.’

Step #2: Measure the progress that you have made on your goal

What are the things that you have done and you believe have moved you a step closer to the achievement of that which you set out to do?

If you are writing a book, out of the number of chapters that you expect to write, how many chapters have you written so far? In whatever it is that you are doing or are supposed to have done, how far have you gone?

Step #3: State your current position

What’s your position in relation to what you should have accomplished by now?

You can either be on target, off target or above target. Knowing your current position will help you decide what you need to do next.

Step#4: Outline the obstacles that have been keeping you from your goal

What are the things that have held you back from the pursuit and achievement of that which you set out to do?

List all the things that you believe would make the pursuit of your goal easier if you had these things. These may be the lack of certain material possessions, the lack of emotional support of your peers or anything that comes to mind.

Step #5: Outline the things that have been driving you closer to your goals

What are the things that have propelled you forward towards the pursuit and achievement of that which you set out to do?

Now, list all the things that you believe have made the pursuit of your goal easier or less impossible.

Step #6: State the strategy that you are going to take towards your goals

In the light of the obstacles that you have faced and the things that have propelled you forward what is your action plan?

Come up with an action plan. Carefully consider the things that are to your advantage and decide what you are going to do to see to it that you achieve your goal. While you are at it, keep in mind the obstacles that you have to overcome as this will help you keep it real. However, if there’s nothing to your advantage in relation to any particular goal of yours do not hesitate to drop that goal.

Step #7: Restate your goal or set a new goal

From this point forth, what are you setting out to do?

What is your goal? Is it still the one you set at the beginning of the year or you have made some changes to cater for the things that have either been holding you back or propelling you forward?

Step #8: State and date the outcomes that you want to see

What do you expect to see and [by] when?

Mark down all the milestones and achievements that you want to see as you pursue your goal. These can also be used as signposts to your progress at every step of your journey to doing whatever it is that you set out to do.

Be inspired.

How TO Prove That You Can – in 39 words!

“I Can. I Can. I Can.”

Sure, prove it to me.

If you are capable of doing what you claim to be able to do, it should not be hard for me to figure that out.

You just do it!

Really, do you have faith in your abilities?

Last time, I closed my article with these few thoughts: Are you ready to save the day? Are you confident enough to say, “I can do it!” where no one cares to ask you? Can you offer a solution to the problem when everyone has long given up on the situation because they cannot see any possible solution in sight? Do you have faith in your abilities?

Today I want to ask you, “Really, do you have faith in your abilities?”

You know, faith in your abilities is demonstrated by your actions. If you just say that you have faith in your abilities and do nothing to change the situation, you are no different to the person that does not have faith in their abilities: You both do nothing to change the situation.

If you have faith in your abilities, you will do something to change the situations.

Consider the following situations that people once looked at and saw as situations that could not be changed.

1878-“Electric lights are unworthy of serious attention.”
1901-“No possible combination can be united into a practical machine by which men shall fly.”
1926-(from a scientist) “This foolish idea of shooting at the moon is basically impossible.”
1930-(another scientist) “To harness the energy locked up in matter is impossible.”

Well, there are people that had faith in their abilities and did something to change these situations; they came up with solutions to the problems that people faced because of these situations. They saved the day.

Are you ready to save the day? Will you be the one who will do something that will change the situation? Will you be the one who will come up with the solutions to the problems that people faced because of the situation? Really, do you have faith in your abilities?

Do you have faith in your abilities?

Are you confident enough to say, “I can do it!” where no one cares to ask you?

Can you offer a solution to the problem when everyone has long given up on the situation because they cannot see any possible solution in sight?

Yes? No? Maybe?

It depends?!

I am writing this article after much reflection on David’s encounter with Goliath. While David did defeated Goliath in battle and killed him, none of the people around him had any expectation that he could do it. In fact, when he proposed that he wanted to do it, the people around him tried to stop him. His brothers were the first to discourage him. They rose up and tried to size him down:

When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." - 1 Samuel 17:28

They could not see how David could possibly provide them with the solution to the problem. The crisis that was before them was something that was beyond them:

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. - 1 Samuel 17:1-11,16

It was hard for his brothers, or anyone else, to think that David could rescue them from the situation. Saul wanted to dismiss David thinking that he was incompetent:

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." - 1 Samuel 17:33

This only prompted David to produce his “credentials”:

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." - I Samuel 17:34-37

David’s “credentials” impressed Saul and he left it all in David’s hands. He did what he knew best to do: he slew the giant. David saved the day.

Are you ready to save the day? Are you confident enough to say, “I can do it!” where no one cares to ask you? Can you offer a solution to the problem when everyone has long given up on the situation because they cannot see any possible solution in sight? Do you have faith in your abilities?

Quote:

"Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy."
–Norman Vincent Peale

Go For What You WANT Without Reservations

In today’s article I am going to share with you 3 principles for going for what you want without reservations – and getting it. You can find the story I refer to in my illustrations in 2 Kings 2:1-11.

Principle 1: Decide what you want
This is very important. Even if you do not tell it to anyone, be sure that you know what it is that you want. Elisha wanted to be Elisha’s successor and was able to articulate it very clearly.

Principle 2: Position yourself to get what you want
Run after what you want; gather the resources, find the people, learn the skill, create the time, do whatever it takes for you to get what you want. Elisha was ready to follow Elijah wherever he was going because he knew that that was the only way that he could get the mantle of leadership that was on Elijah.

Principle 3: Ignore the voices…
… no matter how loud they become. There are voices of discouragement everywhere. You must choose to ignore these voices and go for what you want anyway. Elijah repeatedly instructed Elisha to stay but he followed him. The other prophets could have disrupted his attention but he answered them, “Do not speak of it.”

I sincerely believe that everything that everything that you may ever want is within your reach. Decide what you want, position yourself to get what you want and ignore the voices. Elisha followed these steps and got what he wanted. You, too, can get anything that you may ever want by followingthese steps.

Be Inspired.