Motivation for Success: What are you telling yourself? Sunday, 19 February 2012 00:00
Arthur Marara Words have a creative ability What affects us most of the time is not what people tell us: it is what we tell ourselves. You need to be mindful of what you say to yourself. Those words you speak have a fathering ability; they create whatever you speak into existence. Our words make us. Every word that we speak to ourselves is an investment into our future. Many a times I have seen people speaking about how boring their lives are, how low business is or even how bad their marriages or relationships are, to mention but a few. This might appear to be a confirmation of reality but it does not take you further than helping you see how "bad" the situation is. Discipline yourself to speak what you want to see and not what you are seeing! You will go nowhere with your life if you speak negatively about yourself. The future belongs to those who positively believe in themselves and maintain the same stance in confession and in conversion. Every word that you speak is a seed; it will give birth to what you are speaking. Your strength and attention will be directed consciously and/or unconsciously to the fulfilment of what you are speaking. If you are speaking defeat, do not be shocked when you meet it; if you speak success, you should not be surprised when you have a date with it. There is no word that is irrelevant; you need to be very careful about what you tell yourself. Choose your words carefully; contemplate the words first before releasing them. You possess the supreme opinion over your life It is not in each and every case that people will have positive words for you and your business. You need to be able to stand for what you believe in the midst of adversity. This is when you now need to know what to tell yourself. You cannot afford to surrender your life into the hands of people who do not know where you are going or who did not see the dreams that you saw or who do not have the passions that you have. I am not saying disrespect people; I am simply saying there will come a time whereby people would want to take the easy way out - giving up and thereby encouraging you to retire from your dream. You cannot afford to throw in the towel as well. It does not matter the amount of negative things that have been said upon your life - business, educational path and career choice - stand for what you believe in as long as you believe that that is your calling and you will score a great victory not only for yourself but also for the people who were criticising you. Thomas Alva Edison, the person who left us the electric bulb, was subjected to a lot of media criticism when he was working on the electric bulb project but he did not give up. He succeeded! This is one of the many nuggets that he left us, "A lot of people say that I failed 10 000 times but 10 000 times I successfully eliminated formulas that did not work." If Edison had decided to listen to what people were saying, he could have missed out on the opportunity to make a difference in the world. If you share my faith, I will say that after God you enjoy the supreme opinion over your life; thus, you should not sympathise with people who don't believe in where you are going.
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Motivation for Success: What are you telling yourself? Sunday, 19 February 2012 00:00
You cannot give what you do not have When you speak negatively to yourself, you are not able to speak positively to others. Negative confessions immobilise you. You will be bound in the realm of fear and trepidation. The few negative words you tell yourself or hear everyday can build a giant monster that will haunt you on your road to enjoying life and accomplishing that which God has set for you to accomplish. The reverse is also true and the few positive words that you tell yourself, they also gather up momentum and spring you to greatness. Sow lots of positive speaking into your life and you will reap positive rewards. Whenever you open your mouth, speak blessings upon your life. Do not wait for anyone to do that for you. Mind what you tell yourself even when you are angry Mistakes will always be there in life and there are instances you can even be angry with yourself. Most regrettable speeches are made by people who are angry and it is also not surprising they will be condemning themselves in most instances. There are people who describe themselves as fools, good for nothing and some of these unprintable words. Do not be harsh on yourself; speak life to yourself even when you are angry with yourself. This might not be easy but it is necessary. A lot of people rob themselves of confidence by the negative things that they tell themselves when they fail. If a business transaction does not sail through, do not be harsh at yourself, look at the reasons for the failure and see an opportunity for correction. If you fail an assignment, or anything that you wanted, find words of encouragement for yourself than to close the door on your future by condemning yourself. Do not kill yourself by the words that you tell yourself. What you confess is what you possess You can do anything to the extent that you tell yourself that you can. Your limitations are only found in what you confess to yourself and ponder upon. The story of the exodus of the Israelites and the exploration of the foreign land by the 12 spies clearly demonstrate this fact. Ten spies said that they saw giants, they could not attack the giants, and they were like "grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Nu. 13:27-33). The best that the other 10 spies could do was to inspire fear in other people. This is because they entertained fear and they spoke it. Do not be intimidated by the word or sight of giant. History has never made room for giants but for people who know who they are and believe in themselves and step over giants. When you speak positively about yourself, you can have a giant among your trophies and fit squarely in the history books as a slayer of giants. Your words should inspire you to action You can speak great words about yourself but if you do not take action you will not go anywhere. There is an interesting account about a woman who suffered from haemorrhage. Mark tells us that, "When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering (Mark 5:25-34). The New International Version says that, "she thought in herself", other versions say that, ‘she said to her self'. Positive thoughts when implemented result in the
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Motivation for Success: What are you telling yourself? Sunday, 19 February 2012 00:00
occurrence of great things. The woman ploughed her way to her breakthrough. Similarly, you can push your way to your goals and make a difference. Practise positive affirmations Compile a list of affirmations; short statements that you speak about your life and your destiny, for example, I am a great person, I am an excellent salesperson, I am a great leader, my future is bright, I am a person of influence, I am a person of destiny, I am a champion, I am more than a conqueror, to mention but a few. Speak these affirmations everyday and no one will ever convince you otherwise. When you speak these affirmations they become part of you and your system. One of Israel's Kings used this secret and when he was being chased by Saul who was serious about killing him, he remained positive and confessed that, ‘I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done" (Ps. 118:17). Not only did David outlive Saul but also he lived to be a great leader in Israel and was even accorded a portion in the genealogy of Jesus. The question that I ask you is: "What are you telling yourself?" You will never succeed in any area of life if you think and tell yourself that you cannot make it. Like Caleb and Joshua you need to say, "I am more than able". If people are discouraging you from doing something that you feel is part of your destiny, continue doing it. You are more than able! l Arthur Marara is an attorney, author and motivational conference speaker. Send your feedback to info@greatnesstrust.com or join him on Facebook.
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