There is a magic word that can solve almost all the problems other people are causing you. In fact that word can even solve some of the problems you cause yourself. It is a word that works like magic but which most people are scared of using.
That magic word can get you out of major hot spots if you would have the courage to use it. Amazingly, even kings lack the confidence to use it. Unnecessary wars have been fought because someone lacked the courage to say that word.
King Ahab had just won a war over Syria. In fact he just spared the Life of Benhadad, king of Syria after he defeated Benhadad in war. Then after being at peace for three years with Syria, he suddenly felt like going to war with Syria. He remembered that a town called Ramoth belonged to Israel.
At the end of the first war that king Ahab won, Benhadad had promised to return to Israel all the Land that they had captured from Israel. So if Ahab wanted Ramoth, all he needed to do was ask the King of Syria for it. Instead of asking for it, he decided to go to war against Syria.
Meanwhile, King Jehoshaphat of Judah came to visit Ahab. King Ahab told him that Ramoth belong to Israel and he wanted to go and get it back by war. He then asked Jehoshaphat to go to war with Him. Jehoshaphat knew Ahab had defeated Syria before and thus could get from Syria any land he wanted without war.
Jehoshaphat requested that God should be consulted. When a true prophet was found, he predicted that Israel will be defeated in the war. King Ahab still insisted on going to war. It was here that King Jehoshaphat made a critical mistake that almost cost him his life. He failed to use that magic word and almost paid dearly for it.
That magic word is the word NO.
If King Jehoshaphat had just said no to King Ahab, he would have saved the lives of his men that died in the unnecessary war. In fact he could have saved the life of King Ahab.
The word is very difficult to use but those that have built up the courage to use it have been rewarded immensely by it.
Your success in life depends a lot on your ability to say no to a lot of requests that people throw at you. If you have any resource, you will be sure that almost everybody will want you to give them a part of it. All you need to tell them is NO.
If you have friends, they would want you to leave your business to join them on a trip that is a wasteful venture. All you need to tell them is NO.
If you ever travel, people will come to you with some wonderful story and ask you to assist them. All you need to tell them is no.
You will be presented with businesses you do not understand and asked to invest your savings in it. All you need to do to safeguard your savings is to say no.
If you want to be very successful and also want to secure your success, you must learn to make use of the magic word. Learn to Say No.
Want to be Successful – Try, Fail, and Then Recognise the Pattern
Have you tried and failed at anything lately? You will need to, and recognise why you failed if you want to be successful.
I met up with a friend a couple of days ago, we hadn’t seen each other for a while and we were eager to catch up on how the other was doing. We talked about everything, family, making money, running a business and life in general.
One of the things that came up during our chat was what I term “Pattern Recognition” — the act of taking in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the data. For you a simple definition would be the ability to identify patterns from personal experience.
Why did this come up in our discussion? Well, Bob runs his business, and is now enjoying seeing it flourish. But it hasn’t always been like that, he had tried numerous businesses, all of which failed and especially in the early stages.
His determination however kept him going, working on finding a process that worked. He had his mind set on taking control of his life and he wasn’t going to give up on realising his dream. Bob now has a successful business and he intends to grow it using what he has learnt.
Ever wondered why he did not stop at the second or third attempt. My guess is most of us would probably have stopped trying after the first attempt. For many it doesn’t make sense to keep on failing, so we stop, without realising victory is just around the corner.
Here lies the difference between successful people and those who never seem to achieve anything. They realise failing most often depends on the systems or processes that people employ, and not on the people themselves. In other words, people don’t fail, systems fail, and so in order to be successful, you must closely examine your approach to this goal.
Common among the most successful is this ability to recognise patterns of failure, while understanding that failure remains only a variation of success. This small group of individuals recognise the value of persistence in finding the right combination or formula in order to achieve what they want.
You could say then that success — material, emotional, spiritual — in life depends on your ability:
By consciously identifying your patterns of success and failure, you can become a master at building an effective system of personal growth. However, you will have to start by trying and if you fail, understand why you failed, then try again.
