The Ninth Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

By now you're probably wondering when this series is going to end.   To be honest, so am I.  Originally I had three, which become four, then five.   Last Sunday that exploded into nine in a burst of revelation.   This is the last of those, the Ninth Power P. 

However, the revelations keep on coming.   There are now eleven in this series and I feel strongly that there will be one more, that the Lord will reveal to me in due course.   It does concern me somewhat that this series or list of P's may be too long but I have not gone out looking for them, and as each is revealed they add unique value and integrate so beautifully with the others that I have not seen a need to purge.

The entire Purpose of this series was to give you a 'restart' when you feel defeated in life.   To recharge your batteries, give you a renewed sense of confidence and hope, so you can continue on, continuing on.

So far we have covered; Patience, Persistence, Positivity, Prayer, Perspective, Promise, Progress, and Passion

Today we cover perhaps the most profound Power P of them all.

Purpose

WHY?   Why are you doing what you're doing? What is your driving motivation?  What do you hope to accomplish?  What do you hope to gain?   What pleasures will you derive should you accomplish it?   What pains will you suffer should you not?

The answers to those questions will lead you to your true Purpose.   In short: What is your Purpose in life?  What meaning have you given it?

In the end, we all basically want the same thing out of life.   Joy, security / comfort, love, contribution and to leave a lasting legacy.  But how we arrive at those ends will be different for each one of us.  What works for one person may not work for you.   You must define your own path.

I know a lot of people are waiting for God to tell them what to do.   For God to reveal their 'God given destiny'.  In my mind that is backwards.   That is like you telling your children what they must do in their lives.  You MUST be a doctor.  You MUST be a lawyer.  Then directing their every action in life, through school, university and beyond until they reach that point.     I know this sounds good to a lot of people.  We want our children to succeed and doctors and lawyers are very respectable and important positions in life.   But when we impose our will on them what happens?  Generally they either break away, realizing that they have their own dreams to pursue or they crush their own dreams and do as they're told.   While there's nothing wrong with becoming a doctor or a lawyer, wouldn't it be better for them to follow their own dreams?

Now someone is going 'Oh you don't know my kid(s), they want to be a bum rock star', or 'go do charity work in Africa', or 'some crazy, fool thing.'   Sure, kids make a lot of poor decisions.  But where do you think the Bon Jovi's, Mother Theresa's and Picasso's of the world came from?   Obviously, they are people who followed their own hearts and dreams.   I'm sure their parents were very proud of them in the end, even if they worried about how it might all turn out.   It's right and proper to give our children direction, but we must allow them the freedom to find their own path.  In the same way God allows us to follow our own path and supports and guides us along the way.

Some will say, 'But I want God to tell me what to do.  He knows better than I.'   To this I agree.   If you want to know His will for you, you need look no further than your own heart.  The Father / Infinite Intelligence is IN you.  Whatever passion you have already (probably deeply buried, try to remember), whatever skills you have natively, THAT is what God wants you to do.   If you have a talent for writing, then write!  If you have a passion for the ocean's creatures, then go study and preserve them.  If you feel compelled to help the less fortunate, then DO that.   Maybe you're a gifted programmer, or cook, or singer.   Perhaps that doesn't seem special to you.  Probably because you can't see how that talent would benefit anyone.  Your talents are what you make them to be.   Open your mind, listen to the still, small voice inside, it will direct you and show you how your talent, can make a real difference.

"Follow your bliss."  ~ Joseph Campbell

I could write a whole chapter of a book on how to find your Purpose but let's move on here...

Even when we know our Purpose, we need to be constantly reminded.   In the face of current events, we tend to forget what we are all about.   We get so busy putting out little bush fires, we forget why we are even there in the first place.  Not for that!  We need to constantly remind ourselves.

Many workplaces nowadays like to post their mission statement.  Employees and management see it regularly and (hopefully) are reminded what the overall, overarching mandate of the business or program is.  While those go mostly unnoticed and forgotten in workplaces, it's a great idea to do that at home.   Write out your own mission statement and post it somewhere you will see it prominately, every day.

Get into the habit of actually reading it.  At least once a week, until you can recite it off the top of your head.  Then when you're struggling it'll quickly and easily come to mind.   You will know what you are about, and with that knowledge, you will know instintively where you need to head.

"Every decision you make—every decision—is not a decision about what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do." ~ Neale Donald Walsch

Knowing our Purpose fuels our Passion which keeps us Positive, helps us to remain Patient and to Persist when things do not appear to be going our way.   Holding onto Purpose with one hand and our Promise in the other helps us to always have the right Perspective, and to continue to Progress through even the most difficult of times.

Do you know what your Purpose is?  If not, then is it any surprise you aren't seeing your life progress as you'd like?  Find your Purpose and with it, your destiny.

The Eighth Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

Passion

I've taken a break for a few days because I knew the next Power 'P' was Passion and I wanted to be feeling really passionate while I wrote it.   However, I'm writing from work, as that's when I have the most time and least distractions - sad I know - and it's really hard to be passionate in this office.  Lol.  Serious.

Government jobs suck your soul.  Good pay, mediocore benefits, but great job security and pension keep people sticking with them even as the dullness and drudgery take their toll.  LOL.   Yes, this is a great start to a chapter on Passion!

The very fundimental problem with government jobs is that they give you security but at the cost of your passion.   You see a lot of young folk come into government jobs with lots of ideas of how they'll change the system, bring in innovation, make it all work the way it should.  They have tremendous energy and enthusiasm and the upper levels of management always seem happy to indulge them.   They are a breathe of fresh air after all.    However, within five years, the enthusiasm is long gone, replaced by a realization that the system will not be changed.   The system, although it screams for change, hates change; unless it's externally motivated change and then it happens lightning fast, because it must.   

That is not so unlike many of our lives, or parts of our lives.   We acknowledge the need for change, we want the change, but no amount of enthusiastic outpour, no amount of great ideas, no inspiration ever really makes a lasting change.   We do not want the change, because we, like settled in government workers, want our security, even though it costs us our passions.    So we're conflicted.   We associate pain to remaining where we are, but we have some comfort level there, and associate pain to change and to the unknown.

Being in a Pain-Pain situation can bring about learned helplessness.   You just accept that you can't change.  Nonsense.   If someone put a gun to your head you'd change in an instant!   We just need to get that motivation generated from the inside instead of from the outside. 
Without Passion we become stagnant.

When we think about passion we think of fiery emotion.  Like a fire, passion must be given fuel to burn and be fanned to burn brightly.   If we don't add fuel and fan our passion, like a fire it will slowly burn out.

For our emotional passion, as far as maintaining our motivation to succeed, the fuel is our Purpose and our Promise.    I will talk more about Purpose in the next blog entry but suffice to say, it is our reason for wanting to achieve, our reason for being.    Like logs to a fire, the mental logs of Purpose must be occasionally added to our passion.   We need to keep reminding ourselves WHY we want what we want and WHY we're doing what we're doing.    What are the pleasures to be obtained by doing it?   And what are they pains of failure for not?

Hand in hand with our Purpose, we must remember our Promise.   That our success is already Promised to us.   That whatever we ask for in faith, and do not doubt, will be given.  In God's terms and time, not ours. 

Promise fans the flames of our Passion.   We know why we're burning, the logs of Purpose, and the knowledge that it's guaranteed, our Promise, helps us to burn brightly, even when the logs are damp or the wind threatens to extinquish our flame.

Passion helps immessurably to help keep you focused, Progressing and on track.   When you are passionate about something it's a lot easier to remain Patient and Persistent when things are not going your way.  You Pray a lot more fervertently.  The more emotion you put behind your prays/desires the quicker you tend to attract them to you.   You can't help but be Positive about something that you feel Passionate about.  

One thing about living in Toronto.  People here are passionate about hockey and the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Every year you hear those fans saying that this is the year that they'll take the Stanley Cup.   Hasn't happened since 1968 but you've got to love their passion and positivity.

The other great thing about Passion is it's a massive enabler.  When people are really passionate about something they are willing to do more and endure more to get what they want.   I remember as a kid when the second Star Wars movie was coming out or even more recently when the Nintendo Wii came out, people lined up outside the theatres or stores for hours, some people for DAYS prior to the launch.  Just so they could have it or see it first.    Really?  Would it kill them to wait a week or a month or even a year?  No.  But they were so passionate, that camping out on concrete, in the winter, was a Price they were gladly willing to pay to get what they wanted as soon as possible.

So take care to fuel and fan your passion for once it's burning brightly, it takes on a life of it's own and will help drive you through some of life's most difficult times.

The Seventh Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

Progress

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and THAT AINT YOU. You're better than that!" - Rocky's speech to son Robert from the movie Rocky Balboa


I've talked countless time on this site about how life is no bed of roses. There's a reason that only a select few truly live the life of their dreams while everyone else lives the lives they'll settle for. Life is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. But the difference between those who shape life and those that allow themselves to be shaped by life isn't intelligence or willpower or money. The difference is about who has enough burning passion, a strong enough purpose, and a patient persistence covered in prayer, always keeping things in a positive perspective, knowing that they are promised success as long as they are willing to bear the price.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.


In order to break through you need to understand, accept and EMBRACE this one simple concept. It's a concept most of you will not like. Some will reject it entirely.  A few may be so turned off they'll never return to this site again. Fine, go. In time though, you will have to accept this fundamental truth.

Failure IS Progress

Not only is failure a part of life, it's an essential part. Knowledge, wisdom and maturity are the end results of failure. You don't learn anything playing it safe. If you take a risk and it pays off, great, you've learned what works. But if you take a risk and it doesn't work, if you're smart and maintain proper perspective, you've learned what doesn't work - and that puts you one step closer to discovering what does.


"I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work." ~ Thomas Alva Edison in response to a question about his failure to produce a (cost efficient) light bulb.

Reasonable people do not take many chances. They stick to what they can see and what they know. They follow what society deems as acceptable and expectable. But the masses very rarely ever affect any change in the world. Virtually all progress is made by a few people who are considered unreasonable when they begin. People who do not follow the beaten path but strike out on their own, cutting their way through the bush for others to follow. You must become unreasonable.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Unreasonable people keep on, keeping on long after 'reasonable' people would have said it was time to throw in the towel. Why? Because they are not in the slightest intimidated by failure. In their minds, there is no such thing. There are only positive results and results that didn't produce the desired outcome. They learn from the results they get, either way, and progress.



It goes without saying that without progress you simply cannot get to where you are going. Once you have set your goal and made a definite commitment to it, you need to maintain your progress. It doesn't matter how fast you go. It might be cautious baby steps or the weary steps of the exhausted marathon runner, it might be bold leaps or a sure and steady pace but only by continuing to ever move towards your goal will it ever be reached.



The problem is, most people when faced with failure; stop. Heck, most stop even before they face failure. They are halted in their tracks by the mere sight of failure. They refuse to take the risk, instead the stay within their comfort zone.



I hate to tell you this folks but there are only two states of being in the universe, creation or decay. Everything, every tree, blade of grass, rock, drop of water, comet, molecule or galactic cluster is currently in a state of growth or decay. Scientist carbon date fossils based on the amount of molecular decay in the base material and can tell the age of trees by the growth lines (rings) in the trunk. The same goes for your soul. If it is not in a state of growth, if you are not progressing forward, then your life is in a state of slow decay.


Embrace the challenges that life gives you. They are not there to stop you. They are there to help you grow so that you will be ready, willing and able to achieve your God given destiny. There are times when life will beat you down, which is why it's so important to have that fire in your belly, that burning desire that simply will not be quieted. Your Purpose drives your Passion, which in turn fuels your Persistence. Purpose and Promise also allows for the graceful Patience to wait out the difficult times knowing you will and must succeed. But you will not succeed unless you maintain your Progress.


When life knocks you down, take note of why, how and what happened. Then get back up.


"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache, carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit." Napoleon Hill


Maintain your Positive Perspective and always find the good in every situation. Learn the lessons - THEN IMMEDIATELY PUT THEM INTO PRACTISE!

One of the great failings of the Canadian school system is our French Language programs. Kids learn the words they are being taught long enough to pass the test and then immediately forget them. They do not retain the French they are being taught because most children, outside of Quebec or other francophone communities, never have the opportunity to put their new found skills into practice. Without speaking French regularly they simply cannot retain it.

The best way to learn French, is to go into a French Immersion program, where the teachers only speak to you in French, or even better, take a French Immersion course in Quebec. Then the instant you learn a new word or phrase it is being put into immediate and regular use.


In the same way, if we do not take the lessons learned in life and put them into immediate and regular use, you will lose them and have to repeat the same mistakes. Which is why progress is so important. If you hit a roadblock and stop, wait ten years before you decide to give it another go, then you will have lost many of the key distinctions that could have helped your progress in the first place.

Progress also builds momentum. If you've ever decided to go to the gym, you know that hardest part is getting yourself into a set routine. If you don't get yourself into a habit of going, you probably won't last a month. Gyms know this and always give amazing discounts in January to capture all those people making New Year's resolutions to lose weight. The gyms know that ninety percent of those new customers will not be disciplined enough to make the gym a regular part of their routine and will be gone in a couple weeks to a month even though they have paid for an entire year.

If you stick to it though long enough for the gym to become a regular part of the life, it's easy. You start to see results and that motivates you to continue. People start to notice and compliment you and that really boosts your determination to stick with it. The longer you continue your progress the more momentum you build and the easier the journey becomes. That is until something, like a three week vacation or a long business trip comes around to derail it. If you're smart you'll stay at a hotel with a gym and keep going to maintain progress, otherwise you have to go through a period of forcing yourself back into the routine.

The same goes with life. Once you get going, and the best time to start is always this instant, and maintain steady progress it will become easier and easier to continue but life will always through curve balls at you. Expect it. Embrace it. Eventually you'll be able to hit them out of the park. In the meantime, as difficult as it may seem at times, just keep moving forward. Remember the Power 'P's. I think one reason God has been giving me these lessons' in the form of 'P' words is because it make them easy to remember. So when you're feeling like you're about to quit you can start going through the 'P's in your head. You may not remember them all off hand but with some thought, they'll all come back to you. Some may not help much at that time but I'm certain one or more of these Power 'P's will reinvigorate you and help you to maintain your progress.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." ~ Barack Obama