Get Inspired and Motivated

1
BEGIN NOW
Goethe once said;
“Whatever you can do or dream you can begin, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it”
The problem with the world today is that so many people put off what they can do this minute to the next minute, what they can do this hour to the next hour, what they can do today to tomorrow, what they can do this week to the next week what they can do this month to the next month and what they can do this year to the next year. But they do forget that each unit of time expects something from them which if they fail to do will take the time of another when it is done another time. People say “I will do it tomorrow yet I have never seen a day called tomorrow”. Every day is called ‘today’. When you put things off tomorrow, don’t you know that tomorrow has its own challenges? What if you do not live up to tomorrow? What if tomorrow doesn’t come? These are critical questions you need to ask yourself. So many things put off tomorrow go with tomorrow. They are forgotten and not done again. Have you ever considered why so many potentials and talents are being wasted? Have you ever considered why so many people do not achieve what they want to achieve? Have you ever thought about how better the world will be if you just do your best today and not leave it tomorrow? It is because those who were endowed with such talents sacrificed ‘today’ at the altar of ‘tomorrow’. They loved ‘tomorrow’ more than ‘today’. They continued waiting for ‘tomorrow’ but it never came because it does not exist. So many people have died with the precious gift they would have given to the world; so many scientific ideas, so many musical talents, so many football skills, so many leadership skills, so many great and inspirational books. The grave inherited those things because the owners wanted to develop them tomorrow. They waited for opportunities that were to come while those around them never meant anything to them. Why do you look for tomorrow when you have not done justice to today? Ask yourself these questions and have a better attitude towards today knowing than tomorrow can not be good if you do not start today to shape it. The more you run after tomorrow the farther it gets from you but you already have today. Appreciate it. Love it. Cherish it. Use it. Enjoy it. Befriend and make good use of it. I tell you the truth; until you learn to value today more than tomorrow it will be hard for you to succeed. Putting things off to tomorrow never make them easier and it always takes the opportunity for another thing. So many people look at things and conclude they are very hard things to do without giving it a trial. They look at the magnitude of the task without looking at the magnitude of their ability and potentials. They only see how big the work is without seeing how little they can begin. They do not realize that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step and unless you take that first step you will never complete the journey but once you take that first bold step you will be surprised to see how easy it is to complete the journey. That task you are looking at and it seems to be very tedious I tell you, is just like a big forest which at a distance seems impenetrable but when approached many ways of entrance become obvious. Give it a trial. Begin now and take that bold step with faith and in not long a time, success will be yours.
I end this chapter with these questions/ words of encouragement.
Do you have an idea that can change the world? Begin now.
Do you want to be a hero? Begin now.
Do you want to be a leader? Begin now
Time waits for no man. Begin now.

2
HAVE A FOCUS
In the words of William Matthews:
“The first law of success in this day, when so many things are clamoring for attention is concentration – to bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left.”
In everything you are doing you need to have focus. It may not just be enough to start a journey, but when you start a journey, it is also quite important to have a clear cut direction to where you are going. If you are a driver, you might understand what I mean better because it is much related to going into ventures. As you drive by the road, you will definitely see both interesting and ugly scenes like adverts, comedy shows, fighting scenes and even accident scenes but you don’t begin to look at those things and forget to observe road signs or even to watch out for on coming vehicles. The moment you do that, you may end up seeing yourself hit an oncoming truck. Once that happens, it’s either you are dead or you sustain a major injury which can still end up in death or serious deformation of a part of your body. That’s how life is. That is what it means to go into real business of life full of achievements. You always watch your side and look straight to where you are going without allowing distractions. It’s very simple; know what you want, get in, get it and get out. This implies that in every thing you do, you need to have an efficient plan. It is said that he who fails to plan plans to fail. So it is very important that one has a good plan and stick to it. Needless to say that you need to take your steps one after another and very carefully too.

3
BE WILLING TO BE TOUGH WITH TOUGH TIMES
“Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat”
Undoubtedly, it is true that taking the first step is very important and that the way the first step is taken also matters, but we cannot afford to forget the fact that the courage with which we started may not carry us through in times of trouble we did not expect in the beginning. This is why it is very important for you to know that taking the first step requires courage and discipline but moving on after taking the first step requires more. Added to courage and discipline, you need strong will, determination and the ability to be tough with tough times if you must succeed. As for discouragements, they will come, as for tough times, they are the spices of success; as for despair, it seems inevitable and as for frustrations, they are part of life but men who succeed, I think, are not those who allow themselves to be swayed across by these things but those who overlook them knowing they are temporal. If people like Thomas Edison relented because of his failures even in the 9999th trial, he would not have been the great inventor of the world’s greatest source of energy, electricity. Notwithstanding his failures, he forged ahead until he made it. People of the time of Galileo thought he was running mad when he was talking about the telescope. Archimedes never had it differently and so with Albert Einstein one of the greatest contributors to science development and all other great achievers of the world. There is always a time for crises and discouragements in any great achievement. They all persisted until they got what they wanted.
It is therefore not the amount of hardships, discouragements, failures or even frustrations that one encounters in the journey to success that is really important but how one is able to overcome all these and at last grasps the success one wants. The joy of the success always outweighs the hardship encountered on the way.
When Marshal Field’s stall was burnt down along with that of others, the others left to go and begin somewhere else but he called out to them “Gentlemen, on that very spot, I will build the world’s greatest store, no matter how many times it may burn down”. The others left and Marshal stood by what he said and brought it to fruition. That is the kind of determination that one ought to have in order to succeed. Your works definitely may someday burn down but will you stop because it has burnt down. The greatest of failures is to fail and remain where one failed but failure from which a lesson is drawn is just a stepping stone to success. The great achiever does not leave open the doors of retreat but shuts them until he conquers. Only then, will he emerge victoriously through the doors of victory.
There is no such thing as something for nothing. You must give something up to get another. No success exist that is found ‘already made’. Whatever you think you desire, be willing to pay the price for getting it. The economists call it effective demand; a demand that is backed up with purchasing power. For your desires or goals to be attained, for your dreams to come true, you must be willing to pay the price for whatever you want.
Have you been going through hard times? Have you stopped your projects because of discouragements and failures? These words may do you good; “just give it another try”. Remember, a house that is guarded definitely has some treasures; if not, it would be left empty and open. When you dig up gold ore, you never imagine that such a thing can be refined to be so shiny and glittering but when it passes through the refining fire, its true nature appears and it becomes attractive. It is only then that its glowing beauty shines forth. It is only by alchemy that one can get ‘easy gold’ and easy gold do not always last.
You never know how close you are to the treasure until you dig one more time. You can always dig once more and get the gold or leave it for another passer by to grab it with less effort.