In Search of Career or Business Success? Look Here:

When seeking the roadmap to success in career and business, you must essentially look in three places:

1. LOOK UP: to God for instructions, the blueprint of what you are meant to do, the direction detailing how you are to go about it, when, where, and for His favour,

2. LOOK INWARD: inside yourself and do a written inventory of your strengths, your skills, your flairs, your talents and the gifts of God in you that have commercial potential, and finally

3. LOOK OUT: for opportunities in the marketplace where the application of your endowments will prove both useful and profitable. Look out for people who can be of use to you as service providers, mentors, strategic partners, amongst others.

These three steps are by no means exhaustive in accomplishing business/career success. But they sure can get you on the path if you do them rightly.

To your success!

Babatunde

What is The Character of Success?

Success is fulfilling an identified personal life purpose with:

• The fear of God
• Integrity
• Sound Ethical Values
• A Sense of Mission
• Compassion
• Character

Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure. - Jim Rohn

If you develop the habits of success, you will make success a habit. - Michael E. Angier

The common denominator of success lies in forming the habit of doing things that failure don’t like to do. - Albert Gray

Wrong Reasons to go into Business

1. Because you are sick and tired of being told what to do

2. Because you want more freedom

3. Because you feel unappreciated or undervalued in your present job

 4. Because you want to make a lot of money

5. Because you want to improve your standard of living

6. Because your friends or loved ones are going into business

7. Because other people are doing that kind of business and making much money from there

8. Because it is the reigning business in town

Christian Entrepreneur?

Who Is a Christian Entrepreneur?

A Christian Entrepreneur is a disciple of Jesus Christ who has chosen to “express himself” or fulfil his stewardship by setting up a business venture to provide essential products or services that will meet the need of, as well as add value to, an identified market (people) in the society. What Are The Qualities of a Christian Entrepreneur?

¡ He is a steward 1 Corinthians 4:2: Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful ¡ He is a Non-compromiser ¡ He is a Non-conformist with the popular conventions of business practice ¡ He is a Faithful Servant Matthew 24:45-47: Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. ¡ He is a Treasurer ¡ He is a Minister/Evangelist in the marketplace Acts 1:8: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. ¡ He personifies Love in his offerings and dealings The integrative principle that must guide Christians in the marketplace is that of love. ¡ Love compels Christians to put their faith into action and to live what they believe. ¡ Love will motivate Christians in the marketplace to follow the example of Christ in the incarnation. ¡ It will move them to identify with those who are lost and alone in a dark world. ¡ It will allow them to share in the sufferings of those they care for and by bringing the presence of Christ into the marketplace also bring transformation and hope. 

The Entrepreneurial Questions

1. What do I have the resources, ability, interest and contacts to do?

2. Do I have the necessary commitment needed to succeed in a business undertaking?

3. Am I prepared to work extremely hard, to devote long hours of labour to my business?

4. Do I have the mental stamina and concentration to meet the demands my project will impose on me?

5. Do I accept new ideas easily? Do I treat other people with respect? Am I able to make decisions right away?

6. How do I deal with problem solving: Am I prepared to spend time analyzing a problem and find a solution? Or am I the type who just closes his eyes and hope for the best?

7. Am I ready to commit to the long term, knowing that a company’s success is never an overnight miracle?

8. What back-up resources do I have? Will my family members or friends invest in my company or tide me over during a rough patch?

9. Am I good at concentrating on details?

10. Am I ready to sit down and write a careful analysis of my business prospects?

11. Am I by nature an optimist? Knowing that mistakes and setbacks are bound to occur, am I able to learn from my mistakes without getting derailed or discouraged? 

Fear Is Universal: Examples of Historical Figures with Fears

We all have fears. 9 out of 10 people are terrified by the thought of speaking before groups. Some don’t like insects. Others fear heights, deep water, financial problems, aging, or loneliness. 

• Julius Caesar, a powerful military general and Roman emperor, feared thunder. 
• Peter the Great, the czar of Russia and an imposing figure at six five feet tall, was afraid of bridges. He crossed them only when there was no other alternative, and when he did, he trembled and cried like a child. 
• Dr. Samuel Johnson, a British writer and literary critic, had a phobia about entering a room with any foot other than his left foot. Anytime he accidentally entered a room wrong-footed, he backed out and entered again with his right foot. He took wanting to put his best foot forward to a ridiculous extreme!

Quotes on Fear

Nothing is terrible except for fear itself. - Sir Francis Bacon

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. - Franklin D. Roosevelt

There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. - J.F. Kennedy

The bottom line is that if you can overcome your fear, you can break the cycle and live to see the death of your ignorance and the birth of your success. Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed. - Michael Pritchard

Fear causes people to draw back from situations; it brings on mediocrity; it dulls creativity; it sets one up to be a loser in life. - Fran Tarkenton

Fear is interest paid on a debt you may not owe. - John Maxwell

As long as I continue to stretch my capabilities, as long as I continue to take risks in making my dreams come true, I am going to experience fear. - Dr. Susan Jeffries

The hero and the coward both feel exactly the same fear, only the hero confronts his fear and converts it into fire. - Cus D’Amato (Professional boxing manager)

The irony is that the successful person who keeps growing, taking risks, and moving forward feels the same feelings of fear as the one who allows fear to stop him. The difference comes because one doesn’t let fear dominate him while the other does. - John Maxwell

To take the plunge, to start your own company, to shed the comforts of the corporate world, takes guts… It also takes more than a bold decision. - Peter Krass

Ignorance is bliss. If an entrepreneur knew all the pitfalls he might stumble upon, he’d never get started. - Warren Avis

I discovered the secret of success: Plunge into the uncomfortable; push… beyond your fears and your sense of limitations. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since, overcoming my discomfort as I go along. - Barry Diller

The largest obstacle between you and your goal is a lack of total commitment. Often we use phrases like, “I’ll try’, “I guess I can”, “I hope I can”. But commitment is expressed in two words: I WILL. - Barry Diller

Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice. - John McCain

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. - Longfellow

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7