Why Ordinary People Succeed

“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” Zig Ziglar

Success like winning has rules. If you can follow the rules, you can succeed like all others. That has nothing to do with your race, creed or color. It is the rules that count and nothing else even if you are an ordinary everyday folk. Once you follow the rules, you too can succeed. As David Joseph Schwartz rightly points out, "The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time. A house is built a brick at a time. Football games are won a play at a time. A department store grows bigger one customer at a time. Every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments." With discipline and determination while following the rules, any folk can succeed too.

Vince Lombardi adds a very thrilling dimension to the argument when he says, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Those who succeed to win are people and by the way, so are you!

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”

Learn to Plan and Prepare to Avoid Failure

“Everyone has a will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win.” -- Vince Lombardi

In business, sports and many other human endeavors, preparation is a must otherwise all efforts will be in vain. Preparation inspires confidence and the will to succeed. Your plans point the way to the desired goal and act as a guide to attaining such goals. If your plans are good, succeeding requires less effort. If you plan big, you will achieve big. “A bad plan is better than no plan.” No pilot ever takes off in his plane without a flight plan. No General ever leads an army into battle without a battle plan. Nature and creation are all according to God’s plans. Do you know why the universe is in such perfect harmony? As the Holy Qur’an reveals, “God is the best planner” that is why. Before you embark on any venture, it is imperative to plan and prepare. Many times, I have met young people who tell me they are looking for a job. When I ask them, “what type of job are you looking for?” The most ridiculous answer I keep receiving whenever I ask this question is “any job.” There is no job called “any job” so such people usually search and never find “any” because it does not exist. If you want a job, decide firmly on what you want. Put all the plans in place to land you the job before you commence the search. Without definite plans, job hunters in most cases always hunt in vain. A directionless and drifting Ship never gets to port. Lack of adequate planning yields similar results. “Nothing great has ever been achieved without a plan.” 

Michael Jordan made his name playing basketball and has won almost every available prize anyone can win in basketball circuit. That he had a passion for the game is not in doubt. That he enjoyed playing the game is also not in doubt. What is however surprising is that he was not such a good player at the beginning. He could not make his High School team because his Coach considered him not good enough. This singular act spurred Michael to develop a bigger liking for the sport by using every spare-time he had on the courts practicing basketball. He planned, prepared and dreamed of becoming a star. He wanted to prove to his Coach that he made a mistake by dropping him from the school team. He followed his plans and moved on with passion to become a superstar making millions of dollars for himself in the process. His fame and fortune were a direct result of his meticulous planning and preparation.

You Must Plan and Prepare for 2017

Getting ready is one potent way you can stave off getting left behind in a highly competitive business world. 2017 won’t be any different and if anything, businesses are going to get more competitive. Even if you have no concrete plans, it helps if you draw up a list of intentions for 2017.  This is because intentions are the fluid visions and goals of what we want to happen in our lives. You can draw up a very realistic list of the intentions you have and want to happen in the coming year. That done, you have to prepare yourself, fine tune your execution plan and be ready for things to happen, cause they will if you are strategic, serious and consistent.  

Set, plan, prepare, point and go! 2017 here we come! Hurray, we know we will do well in the year because we realize that:

Change happens

We anticipate change

We will monitor change

We will adapt to change quickly

We will indeed change

We will enjoy change

And we will be ready to change quickly again and again as things shape out all through 2017.

And so shall it be!!!!!