Writing for Personal Development

The Cambridge International Dictionary of English(1996:1692) defines writing as “the act of creating pieces of writing work, such as stories, poems or articles”.  In the words of Beck et al (2002:31), “writing is a method of passing information from one person to another, or to a group of people”. They, however, did not limit writing’s function to information alone, as they also cite persuasion and entertainment as veritable resources to which writing can be put to.

Of the four communication skills, writing is the least utilized for obvious reasons. It requires a great expenditure of time and mental efforts to write. It is a process of drafting, editing, and redrafting to usually arrive at an acceptable finished product. The more reason it has been a highly prized communication skill throughout history. Its mastery confers great powers and influence on whoever possesses it (Beck et al, 2002), Hence the popular saying that “the pen is mightier than the sword”.

The beauty of writing is not usually in its volumes, but in the style and the effectiveness of the content in achieving the set objective(s) of the writer. Effective writing essentially thrives on clarity, precision, and conciseness. In the words of Adesanoye (1995:115):

Effective writing…is a piece of written communication that conveys its message in the simplest, clearest, most concise and most readable way possible. It is also that piece of writing in which the manner of expression dovetails perfectly with the subject matter; one in which…there is a close fit between what and how.

Simplicity, clarity, readability and conciseness are thus the hallmarks of effective writing.

With this background on writing, we shall now proceed to highlight how it can be used for various forms of personal development.

Writing aids the development of the mental faculty because, more than any communication effort, it involves a lot of thinking. The writer often finds himself writing, cancelling and rewording his expressions in the effort to choose the words that will most suitably convey his heart to his reader(s). In the process of doing this, he regularly consults the dictionary and thesaurus, thereby increasing his bank of vocabulary while at the same time honing his intellect. 

What is Success?

Success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefit others. - John Maxwell

Success is not determined by acquisitions or opulence. It is the ultimate fulfilment of an identified purpose – grand or small – for the benefit of others, the glory of God, and the fulfilment of the person.

- Babatunde Oladele 

Things That Provoke God to Anger

COMPLAINT

 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of LORD burned among them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Numbers 11:1
 Often times when we are embattled with challenges or do not get what we desire, or what we have been praying for, we tend to resort to complaining in a bid to arm-twist/blackmail God to look at our side and consider our petition. We whine and gripe endlessly bemoaning our lot. But instead of achieving our objective, what we usually do by so doing is to provoke God to anger. Complaint is one thing that is highly detestable to God. It is a sure way of displeasing Him, arousing His wrath, and unwittingly attracting His consuming fire. 
Fire? Yes, Fire. Even if the LORD does not send a fire, the fact that He is angry is enough to provoke fire to burn! A grateful attitude is what God expects us to have in all situations. Why? Because even when it doesn’t look like it, He is actually working all things out for our good! That may be very difficult to believe. But the truth is that God genuinely loves and cares about every one of His children, both the obedient and the wayward. His love is as constant as the rising of the Sun to its setting, even more so. You can imagine how you would feel if you were planning a surprise package for your loved one only for that person to start acting up by complaining and picking faults in your conducts. How would you feel? Hurt? Disappointed? Frustrated? 

That is the same way God usually feels whenever we complain about our status quo, which is but a process to Him toward getting to where He is taking us. In the case of the Israelites, God was taking them to the Promised Land. But their constant cries, as they passed through the wilderness on the way to ‘the land flowing with milk and honey,’ was their undoing. They did it to a point that God did not even bother to inform Moses, as He was wont to do, before He dealt with them by pouring down a consuming fire upon them. These days, fire may not come down from heaven to consume, but the feeling of being burned will nonetheless be there, with the same intensity as if one is really under a scathing fire. In order to avoid this kind of divine retribution, let us start to praise more and cry less; thank more and gripe less; sing more and groan less. In other words, let us imbibe the spirit of the passage of the bible that says, “IN EVERYTHING, give thanks. For this is the will of the LORD for you…” God bless you.

THE KEYWORD TO PERSONAL GROWTH (PART B)

To achieve this, you need to break out of your comfort zone, query some of your traditional mindsets and stretch beyond your imaginary limits to the realm of can be. One word that must be your driving force – which I call the keyword to personal growth – is “more”, “more”, and “more.” To this end, you would need to:

See more: open your eyes wider and see on a larger scale. Open your inner eye and see beyond the present. See the big picture. See opportunities. See options. See avenues. See possibilities. See greatness. See seeds. See potentials. See, see, and see!

Ask more: ask more questions. Seek more information. Request for more explanation, more clarification. Increase your curiosity. Double your inquisitiveness about everything. By asking more, you get to know more and be more.

Read more: if you do not have a habit of reading, you need to cultivate it. And if you already have, then you need to read more, read wider, read over, read beyond your field. By so doing, you would be cultivating your mind for sound reasoning and better decision-making.

Learn more: you need to increase your bank of knowledge by consciously seeking information on different things, from different sources. Go out and learn more about what you already know, update your mind with the latest information. By learning more, you will become more.

Try more: you might have failed in an endeavour, try again. Explore more options. Try your hands on new things, you don’t have to get it perfect at first or even at all, just do something. Try this, try that, try here, try there. Don’t stop trying, it’s the key to growth and the best way to increase your capacity.

Work more: do more work than you are wont to do. Organise your life and time in such a way that will enable you to get more work done. Do more work than you are paid for. Whatever you are doing, work more at it and don’t rest on your oars.

Do more: take more actions. Expand more efforts. Do one per cent more of what you are doing. Increase your action ratio. Go an extra mile; and you are on the path to self-development, happiness and success.

Give more: give more of yourself, give more of your time, give more of your resources to your family, your friends, your work, your church and your society. Don’t stop giving, it is the secret of getting and becoming. So give more.

Be more: be more than you are to yourself, to your family, to your friends, to your company, to your church/society. Be more than “me” to yourself, be your own resource person. Be more than a husband/father to your wife/children, be their mentor. Be more than a wife/mother to your family, be their inspiration. Be more than a friend, be a motivator. Be more than an employee, be a value-adder. Be more than a colleague, be an encourager. Be more than a member of your church/society, be a contributor. Do you understand now? So break out of the status quo and be more to all!

The keyword to personal growth and development is “more”. Always ask yourself ‘what more can I do?’, ‘What more can I be?’, ‘What more can I learn?’, ‘What more can I give?’ etc. You will be amazed at how fast you would grow as well as at what you are able to accomplish.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE POWER OF VISION & MAXIMISING THE MOMENT (PART A)

SELF-DEVELOPMENT: 

A Major Recipe For Success Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they, therefore, remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self–crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. - James Allen, 

What is Self-Development? Personal development is the conscious, disciplined, and sustained series of investment in the self through the acquisition of knowledge and skills, as well as the application of the acquired knowledge and skills for an enhanced lifestyle. Areas of Personal Development The development of the self is as composite an entity as the very nature of man. It consists of various interdependent aspects of human, which all work together to produce a better person when cultivated, or result in a debased existence when ignored. The different aspects of man open to cultivation for development are his: Spiritual state Mental state Emotional state Physical state Social status and his Professional/vocational performance If you want to be wealthy and happy learn this lesson well: learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. - Jim Rohn  

Painting The Right Picture: THE POWER OF VISION AND FOCUS 

What is A Vision? Vision is the ability to see what is not yet, so you can create what never was. -Doug Firebaugh A blind man’s world is bounded by the limits of his touch; an ignorant man’s world by the limits of his knowledge; a great man’s world by the limits of his vision. - E. Paul Hovey Visions and dreams are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. - Napoleon Hill The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision. – Helen Keller, 1880-1968, American Blind/Deaf Author and Lecturer Aligning Goals to Your Personal Vision do an Inventory of your skills, Abilities, Knowledge, Character Attributes/Weaknesses, and Spiritual Gifts ¡ What are your God-given abilities? ¡ What skills have you acquired? ¡ What education do you have? ¡ What are your Character strengths & weaknesses? ¡ What is your Spiritual Gifting? Draw A Life Plan How does your Life Vision Statement translate into practical goals? ¡ Do you have a calendar of when you will do what? ¡ What tasks do you have to undertake to accomplish these goals? ¡ How will you know when you have achieved your goals? Goals must be SMART: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Time Limited. A Career Plan: ¡ What are your career goals? ¡ Do you have a plan to advance in your career? ¡ What experience do you need for advancement? ¡ What education do you need for advancement?

M E D I T A T I O N & I N S I G H T S (3)

TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR LIFE COUNT 

 You’ll know if you are adding value to people when your encounters with them make their eyes shine brightly, make them smile, or make them say “thank you।” On the other hand, you’ll know if you are depleting from people if every day your encounters with them make them frown, make them groan “Oh no, not again!” or make them say “I’m sorry.” Now that you know, make your life count every day in 2008!

DISCERNMENT AND SENSITIVITY  

In our bid to enforce what we think is right we sometimes find ourselves fighting against God without knowing. How? Humanly speaking, it was not proper for Joseph to be the favoured son of his father and for him to still be telling his brothers about his dreams. It was not proper for an ordinary carpenter to rise up one day and claim to be the Son of God and be preaching doctrines that were at variance with the law of the day. It was not proper for Stephen to say that he saw God and Jesus seated on the throne (who has ever seen God and live?) and not expect to be stoned to death. It was improper for some people to claim to be of The Way (Christianity) and be practising a religion contrary to Judaism, why shouldn’t someone as fervent as Paul persecute them to death? It was improper for Pharaoh, a pagan king, to rise up one day and claim the LORD asked him to go fight a battle; king Josiah was one of my favourite personalities in the Bible, but he met his death at age 39 trying to stop Pharaoh on his God-assigned task. It takes discernment and sensitivity in the spirit to identify the God-factor in any situation and then act appropriately. Of all the foolish things a man can do, running on a collision course against God (knowingly/unknowingly) is the most dangerous. The result is predictable. 

Shalom

M E D I T A T I O N & I N S I G H T S (2)

While the whole congregation of Israel were in the presence of God mourning, weeping, and offering sacrifices, the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were not represented. Therefore, in making good their word, the Israelites sent warriors to the city and killed all the children, the men and every married woman in that land. 

They spared only the virgins whom they brought to the camp and then gave as wives to the men of Benjamin. Another insight I derived from this new development is that it is those who do not spend time in the presence of God that will be made to pay the price or be used as a pawn to execute the solutions that those who spend time in the presence of God come up with. The people of Jabesh Gilead who were found wanting in God’s presence were the ones who forfeited their lives so that their virgins could be given to the Benjamites as wives. 

This underscores the need for every one of us to cultivate the habit of spending time in God’s presence so that we do not become perpetual tools (for the accomplishment of the purpose) of those of who do. Shalom!

HOW TO KNOW WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS DEPARTED FROM SOMEONE 

The Spirit of God is gentle and at the same very strong. Among other things, He is an inspirer, a motivator, an enabler and an energiser. When He dwells upon someone He enables such person to do great and mighty things that he wouldn’t have been able to do in his own steam or human strength (Check Judges 11:29, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14, 1Samuel 10:6, 1Samuel 10;10-11, 11:6-7, 1Kings 18:46 etc etc). 

However, when He leaves someone, He usually does so in a quiet and unobtrusive way that the person may not even know that the Spirit has departed. Especially if such person is given to routine (as we all are), he will continue to perform his customary tasks and other activities every day without any inkling that he is on his own, without the Presence of God! The Spirit usually departs from someone during a moment of carelessness, un-guardedness, compromise, disobedience etc. So how does one know when the Spirit of God has left him? One may not know when the Spirit takes His leave. On the surface, everything will still look and appear normal. And there may not even be an inner turmoil to indicate the departure. 

However, one of the indications that will help one to know is if he finds himself struggling, perspiring, exerting and experiencing so much stress to accomplish things he used to do before with relative ease. Then such a person needs to do a personal check to know where he has lost it. A case study in this instance is Samson. He was a very strong person because of the hand of God upon him. He tore a lion apart with bare hands (Judges 14:6), killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15), and carried on his shoulders two gateposts with people on them and walked some distance to the top of a hill (Judges 16:1-4)! He was indeed a very strong man; one of the strongest men in recorded history. And that was simply because the Spirit of God was upon him. But when he lost it, he didn’t know it, he didn’t feel it, and no bell rang in his head to announce his loss of Essence. 

The Bible captures it thus: Judges 16:20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said: “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. See what happened after that: Judges 16:21, 25 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with gold fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison….So it happened, when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them… So how does one get back the Spirit of God? It is simple. All you need to do is personal consecration and rededication of yourself to God. He is more than willing to occupy His kingly place in your life and scheme of things. But you have to be willing to allow Him space. It is very important that you note that the race of life is full of ups and downs. 

Therefore, having the indwelling of the Spirit of God or losing the same is not a once-for-all phenomenon. No, no. As often as you become conscious of the loss, so should you do the needful consecration and rededication to get yourself back on stream. May the LORD help us. It’s my pleasure sharing this piece of meditation with you. Shalom!